rjenkins

Up the VAR. Duran starting today was an odd one as I thought Diaby had a good game against Ajax, but fair play Unai recognised the errors at half time. The Luiz / Tielemans midfield wasnt as bad as I feared it would be but West Ham were inconsistent in their press. Relieved we take a point from the game and onto the next one.

What a ball Tielemans

Definitely think we can still get something from this, but we need a lot more movement to unlock openings.

Most of the knowledge I have of Johnson comes from Wales games. Wales are entering a lean period after Bale and Allen's retirement, Ramsey aging etc. Rob Page is also absolutely not up to the job in my opinion (helpfully on a long term contract). Having said all that, Johnson hasn't impressed me yet and still looks a bit raw sometimes. I think overspending on him is risky personally.

Was discussing this table with some mates and an interesting question came up. I wonder when the last time the top 20/24 teams in this list were all in the top division together, or if it's even ever happened?

I actually don't hate the AC Milan kit as much as some others on this thread. Not a vintage year so far though.

With the rumours about the potential appointment of Gerrard gathering momentum, I asked some friends I know with a better knowledge of Scottish football than me for their opinions of him. I'm in a Madden league with two Rangers fans and an Aberdeen fan. Here is what they thought: Aberdeen Fan: He was fortunate that Celtic imploded when they did and won the Covid asterik season. He's done a decent job with them overall. Rangers Fan 1: He's not a tactical genius, but I'd imagine he's a good motivator based on how he conducts himself. His name could help you attract players as that's what has happened here. Rangers Fan 2: He's been here 3 years and I still don't know if he's that good or not. What I would say is that Rangers have progressed every year under him (until this season, but last year's unbeaten season and 100+ points set the bar high). He has a good European record, especially at home (again, until this season) Things I don't like about him is that he can be slow to make subs or change tactically and that I think he is overly loyal to players who could do with getting dropped from time to time. It's just some opinions from random fans, but they've watched a lot more Scottish football than I do.

I've probably watched 2 Rangers games on Sky since Gerrard became their manager, so I'm not going to pretend to have an informed opinion on his abilities. If he's the choice he'll get my support. What I won't have is people claiming he single-handedly won the CL for Liverpool in 2005 when we all know it was Didi Hamann coming on at half time that changed the game

I've spent so long looking at the above options. Honestly I just don't know. I don't think I'm alone in saying I like Smith, and I want it to work out for him. Obviously I want every Villa manager to do well, because it means Villa are doing well, but I'd be lying if I said I've been equally supportive and patient with say McLeish or Sherwood. Maybe it's just perspective because I've seen how things have turned out post-O'Neill by and large, or maybe it's just more difficult to be objective when I know our manager is a Villa fan living what would be a dream for millions of others to manage their club. Going into the season, my expectations were that we'd probably be a bottom half Premier League team, and that it may take a while for our new signings and staff to settle in. Circumstances beyond anyone's control like the international schedule and injuries will be a factor too, but I'd be lying if I said I thought the performances would be this bad. Even when we've won, the Everton game stands out for me in particular, I didn't think we looked that impressive honestly. Probably the first 70 mins against Wolves was our best performance in retrospect. There are limitations to our squad but I know we're capable of better than the performances so far. At some point we need to see improvement, and there are only so many winnable games in any given season. 4 points out of the next 3 games feels imperative to me as a minimum, but if we're woeful against Southampton is that enough to make a decision? There was a time when I wanted us to stick with Smith even if we got relegated, but I don't feel that way now. Sorry for rambling. The TL;DR is ask me again after Friday

I wasn't being serious

It's a good thing I'm not a football manager, because I would be so tempted to try and stink out this game and keep it close for as long as possible. Martinez Tuanzebe Hause Mings Targett Cash Luiz Nakamba McGinn Watkins Davis Get the ball up to Davis to hold up and go from there. Make MacPhee earn his money from set pieces. Make Sean Dyche open a bottle of wine for the game. Villa win 1-0

It may be wishful thinking, but I don't think Jack getting picked in the England squad or not has any bearing on whether he'll leave Villa. If Southgate doesn't pick him now, he either flat out doesn't rate him or has an issue with Jack's character. The fact that he sets hurdles for Jack but is not consistent with other players indicates to me it is the latter. Southgate wants to see how Jack responds mentally, or at least that's how I read it. Moving club won't necessarily change that. Jack is better off staying in a system built around him until Southgate inevitably gets the sack or is reassured over Jack's maturity.

Reina Guilbert/Elmo Konsa Mings Targett/Taylor Luiz Nakamba Hourihane Anwar Davis Grealish I think we're done for, but it will only take 90 mins to make everything look much different. Don't know how fit Guilbert or Targett are but I think we need our fullbacks to help us more in attack, so Elmo and Taylor would be my second choices there.

I'm in two minds about it. It's a big drop off in quality from where we are currently, but how much worse it is than say Cardiff's squad for example who are in a play-off spot currently? At the end of the day we'll be going into a very unpredictable off-season. It could be nowhere near as as bad as that in terms of player departures. If it is I don't think we should be making excuses either.

I don't disagree with you, I was just trying to speculate which of our players would generate transfer interest. I also tend to want to start from the worst case scenario and anything else is a bonus.