GREALISH IN WONDERLAND! Lifetime Villa fan back with a flourish
JACK Grealish is in dreamland as he prepares to captain his club in the first second city derby he is set to feature in at St Andrew’s.
A week today, lifetime-fan Grealish will be leading Villa out at Birmingham City with the armband on his sleeve.
He will be living his dream after a stunning return yesterday from three months of injury.
Boss Dean Smith made Grealish skipper for the first time and he responded with a cracking goal in the second minute of first-half injury time in the destruction of dismal Derby.
Grealish did a knee-slide celebration when his stunning 20yard volley hit the back of the net, and was then in the middle of the pack of Villa players as they jumped up and down in delirium.
Even keeper Jed Steer ran from his goal in front of the Holte End to join the party in front of the dugout.
There were pictures on social media last week of Grealish as a fresh-faced little boy getting Paul Merson’s autograph at Villa’s training ground back in the day.
Now here he was, being mobbed by players, staff and blowing kisses to the main stand.
“He’s a top player,” said Villa boss Dean Smith.
“I made Jack captain because he has a long-term future at the club.
“He can grow as captain, he leads by example anyway. I knew it wouldn’t be a burden.
“I told him on Friday. We were in the physio room with John McGinn for an hour having a chin-wag and I asked them who should be captain.
“They threw a few names out and then I said ‘Well, you’re captain tomorrow’.
“It brought a big smile to Jack’s face. It was a proud moment for him because, like me, he’s a Villa fan. To captain the team and then score a goal like he did, that tops it all.”
Derby were buried, four down at half-time, yet another promotion season dying.
Grealish was behind most of it, setting up goals, getting chopped down, getting back up and getting on with it.
Rams boss Frank Lampard trudged off and said: “There’s an apology needed to our fans for coming here in numbers and us losing like that.
“We were poor. We allowed Villa to be good. It’s a harsh reality check at where we are at.
“Now we have to absolutely learn the lessons of this. We have to seriously address it.
“There were strong words said at half-time because it deserved it.”
Derby traditionally bow out of the promotion race at this time of year, but Lampard insists: “I know there has been a negative feel, I know we are a club that unfortunately expects a dip or a failure because it has happened in recent seasons. I don’t buy into that.”
Nothing really worked, Villa could have had two more through Tammy Abraham and Anwar El Ghazi, and Derby are left seventh, three points outside the play-offs.
Grealish-inspired Villa ignited their season with their best performance for months.
For Scott Carson in Derby’s goal it wasn’t the best of comebacks after a nine-game injury absence.
He dropped a cross inside the first five minutes, then had Ashley Cole clear off the line for him, and was left in no man’s land when Villa went ahead in the ninth minute.
Grealish played a long ball over the top and, as Abraham took it, Carson came out like the cavalry to the rescue, got stranded, and a squared pass brought an easy goal for Conor Hourihane.
Abraham helped himself to Villa’s second as slow-witted Derby were caught by Ahmed Elmohamady’s rapid sprint and 37th-minute cross It didn’t end there. Abraham and Hourihane were back just before half-time and it was Hourihane who took the pass to get his second.
None of it matched Grealish’s bomb though. What’s he got left for Birmingham?