Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)

Talisman Grealish cut a lonely, frustrated figure... he surely knows his time at Villa is over

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ARMS outstretch­ed, Jack Grealish looked at no team-mate in particular, and gave a theatrical shrug.

Late in proceeding­s, he had taken possession, buzzed around but found no options to his liking.

Even in the near-silence of Villa Park, you couldn’t quite make out the words to accompany the gesture. Lads, help me out, maybe. Grealish could still play the key role in the struggle for survival, but whatever tier Aston Villa end up in, it is becoming increasing­ly difficult to see him staying around.

He would leave with a heavy heart, no doubt, and his commitment to, and love of, the Villa cause is beyond question.

But to develop his talent and fulfil his internatio­nal ambitions, Grealish needs to be playing alongside better players.

It is as simple as that.

Too often in this defeat, Grealish tried to do too much, a consequenc­e of being the sole inspiratio­n in this Villa side. Too often, he was dispossess­ed as he attempted to light some sort of flame beneath his team.

Of course, his departure would be guaranteed should Villa drop into the Championsh­ip.

And frankly, this was Championsh­ip form, the inability to fashion even half-chances quite startling.

Wolves’ organisati­on, efficiency and attacking spark came as standard. And their concerted attempt to muscle into the top four, Adama Traore-style, promises to be one of the more interestin­g storylines of the next few weeks.

But Nuno Espirito Santo’s team really did not have to be in prime form to record their third successive post-break win.

In fact, this was a contest that lived down to Project Restart’s fairly mediocre standards.

The level was typified in one first-half moment when Orjan Nyland (left) – somehow keeping Pepe Reina on the bench – shaped to throw to the left flank, but allowed the ball to squirt to Diogo Jota.

Nyland’s distributi­on with hand and boot is not the best, but this was an eye-catching howler.

It must have caught Jota a little bit by surprise, judging by the hasty snapshot that cleared the crossbar by some distance.

That was the best chance of a first half we have seen played time and again since Premier League proceeding­s got back under way earlier this month.

Of the 23 games played so far, 14 have been goalless at half-time.

Some decent defending, with Conor Coady again catching the eye, preserved this particular deadlock but a lack of creative intuition was probably more influentia­l. It was certainly the reason that Villa never looked like getting anything from the match after Leander Dendoncker’s smart finish.

In fact, Dean Smith’s side managed to fashion just one shot on target.

No wonder Grealish cut that increasing­ly vexed figure as the game ground towards its inevitable conclusion.

He ended the match by having a pop at Craig Pawson, but quite how the referee had erred was not clear.

There was only Grealish moaning, another sign of his frustratio­n.

He surely knows this Villa side is not good enough for the top flight. They might stay up if others around are worse, but that is the only hope. Next up is a trip to Anfield followed by a visit from Manchester United.

If nothing else, at least Grealish will get another close-up of the calibre of players he should be alongside.

Grealish will give his all in his final six matches, you can be assured of that. But performanc­es and results, such as this, mean Villa fans have probably seen, in the flesh, the last of their talisman.

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