Yes, there were positives. Aston Villa played as well as they have all season, but the goals and the results remain the same, and suddenly 4 games unbeaten, become 3 games winless. As speculation mounts over the direction going forward, Pete the Canadian Villa fanatic revisits (for the last time) the lead up to Dean Smith’s dismissal a year ago, and wonders whether the same principles and process will occur with what is arguably a more expensive and older squad of players. There’s a Poch reference, and even some All or Nothing Tottenham talk, as we invite you into the Villa Parlour to try and make sense of a bizarre and confounding season.