Aston Villa lost 2-0 at home to local and Championship rivals West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
This was the sort of performance Aston Villa were hoping they had put behind them when they sacked Steve Bruce and appointed Dean Smith back in October.
But Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat against bitter rivals West Bromwich Albion was a flashback to the dark days. In truth, there have been too many of them in the last few weeks.
Villa have won just one of their last ten games in all competitions; a disastrous run of form that looks to have consigned any hopes of a play-off place to history.
Hal Robson-Kanu and Jay Rodriguez were on target for West Brom, who did not have to get out of second gear to take the three points home from Villa Park.
And that only made things worse for Villa fans who were expecting so much more ahead of a game that produced little quality to justify the vociferous build-up. In the eyes of some supporters, West Brom are little more than average and would be lucky to play Premier League football next season.
The table does not often lie, however. West Brom are fourth, six points off the top with a game in hand, and they are the most prolific team in the Championship with 64 goals to their name.
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