Aston Villa manager Dean Smith's position as manager has been called into question, after defeat against Wolves made it eight Premier League games without a win.
Relegation-threatened Villa have been the busiest of any Premier League side since football resumed after an enforced three-month break, playing four fixtures in 11 days.
They are yet to taste victory, though, with Smith's side picking up just two points from a possible 12. Villa have scored just twice in that time, and the Daily Mail now claim that Smith is coming under mounting pressure from the club's hierarchy.
The report claims there are concerns about whether or not the former Brentford boss can halt Villa's slump in form; concerns that are perhaps understandable given the huge financial investments they have made over the course of the season.
Around £140m has been spent on new signings, but Smith has been unable to steer the club he supports away from a relegation battle. Currently, Villa are 19th, and they have the worst defensive record in the Premier League - shipping 60 goals so far this season.
His position may be strengthened, however, by the fact that he led the club to promotion in his first season in charge, and also because they remain in contention to stay up because of the poor form shown by Bournemouth, West Ham and Watford.
As for Smith, he was critical of the Premier League's playing schedule after the Wolves defeat, pointing to fatigue as a reason for his side's laboured performance.
"This was an average game from two teams who were very fatigued,' Smith said. 'They’ve [Wolves] had three games in seven days, we’ve had four in 11 and that’s the spectacle you’re going to get — few chances, littered with mistakes and fatigued bodies."
"We more than matched a top-six team but the only bit of quality in the game was the goal. 'It’s ridiculous to ask the players to play this amount of games in such a short space of time."
Source: 90min
