By Graham Hill
VILLA boss Dean Smith has been praised for his ‘genius’ move to give Jack Grealish the captain’s armband.
Since Grealish was made Villa skipper last month, Smith’s side have a 100 per cent win record in the Championship and have put themselves firmly in the play-off race.
Villa’s latest win, a sensational 3-1 victory against Steve Bruce’s Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, was their sixth in a row.
And that did not escape the attention of former manager Ian Holloway in his role as a pundit on the EFL on Quest programme.

Holloway noted that Grealish started the move that led to Villa’s second goal, scored by Albert Adomah in stoppage time.
And he clearly believes Grealish’s new found role is the spark behind Villa’s recent revival.
Holloway admitted that Bruce had made a difference since joining Wednesday.
But he said: “How interesting is it that Steve Bruce was judged not to be good enough to be the right man for Villa – and he’s making Sheffield Wednesday look wonderful.
“But what a game that was.
“And making Jack Grealish captain is a stroke of genius.”