M_Afro

He will join Everton on loan. Hopefully that will raise his value a bit and we can sell him next summer.

He was an odd signing. It was rumoured that Gerrard didn’t want him but we signed him anyway. It was always doomed to fail.

Barkley has had a fantastic season. I am really excited at how good he could become with Unai as his coach. He suits our style of play and helps to strengthen an area where we lack any credible depth.

His fee and wages will be low and he brings lots of experience. This is a smart signing. I suspect we will give him a 2 year deal with the option of a third. I mentioned him a few weeks ago and got shot down but he will really help us next season. 

What a season this guy has delivered for us. To finish fourth with our squad decimated by injuries is incredible. I think doing it again will be even harder and we really need to improve the quality of our squad to have a chance.

As we have heard, in order to be able to build further, we will have to move some players on. This is going to be very difficult but whatever happens, I trust this guy completely. He will make the right calls. So whatever happens we need to keep the faith and back Unai. He is simply incredible.

I like the new badge. It’s cool. It will look great in our new Adidas kits, with our champions league badge on the arm. Happy days Villans. UTV.

6 minutes ago, sharkyvilla said:

His better games seem to have come against the better centre forwards, so maybe in some of the big CL games he may actually be an asset next year.  Brazilian defenders seem to go on until they're 40 anyway so he's a mere whippersnapper

Ha ha. Maybe. I don’t think he’s bad but he is expensive for the role he plays in the squad. Ferguson was the King of selling players at the right time and I think the time is right for him now. He’s a big old unit and I doubt he will be playing top level beyond 33 or so.

1 minute ago, foreveryoung said:

We are a CL team now mate. We can't be having £5 million kids on the bench ready to come on to mark Mbappe.

 

I didn’t say that’s what we needed mate. A £25m 23 year old on lower wages is better than having an older player like Carlos who is on very big wages. Hopefully he wouldn’t be needed for the big games as we would play our first choice defence. It’s just very simple economics really. Selling at the right time is an essential part of squad management.

Our biggest challenge now, is going to be moving players out. We would probably be happy to move Olsen, Digne, Chambers, Hause, Cash, Carlos, Coutinho, Donk, Tim, Archer and a few youngsters out. The more we can shift, the better for our squad building next season. I suspect we will struggle to shift half of that lot. 

I really hope we can move Carlos on now. He is too expensive to be a bit part player in our squad. We need a young, cheaper alternative with a lot of potential. Carlos always tries hard but now is a good time to move him on. He would go with my best wishes though. You can’t fault his professionalism.

He has been our biggest loss this season. Add to his loss the fact that Doug has completely forgotten how to play football and you can understand why we have had so many problems in the final third of the season.

We desperately need someone to replace Boubs and Doug so that injuries and loss of form do not have such a derailing effect. 

This must be their greatest ever premier league win. Embarrassing 

Duran is 20 years old and has made seasoned top professional defenders look stupid and panicked at times. He is a total athlete, is as strong as anything and strikes a ball more cleanly than anybody else in our squad. He has also backed it up by scoring some big goals for us in big matches. He’s also on a relatively long term contract.

If he were at another club we’d all be talking about his value being at least £40m.  There’s no way we sell him for less than that. He is a top talent.

Unai Emery is so good that I still expect Villa to win the 2023/24 European Conference League.

Thank you NSWE. You have not only breathed life into our great club, you have elevated it to levels that I thought I would never see again. I feel so emotional right now. We owe you everything. Thank you.

I have never seen New City look this poor. This is like Old City levels. Utter garbage so far. Let’s hope Pep can sort them out at half time. Come on City.

I think we will put in a good performance tonight. Whether that will be enough, time will tell but I think the fact that nobody is expecting us to win, will help the lad’s enormously. I also expect that the fans will be on it too and maybe that will be enough for a monumental victory. Let’s hope so. UTV. SOTC. COYVB.

There’s a huge amount of angst on here today. I don’t think that’s at all surprising. I’ve been a Villa fan for years and if bad things are possible, they do usually happen to Villa!!!! With this in mind, I’ve jumped into my Time Machine and travelled forward to next Sunday night. Here’s what happens!

Villa do Villa things and in our true benevolent manner lose both of our remaining games, leaving Spurs in a strongish position. Good old Villa, they never fail to let you down when it really matters!!!

So, over to Spurs. The thing is, the only team in the PL more Villa than Villa, are Spurs. They actually put in a performance of the ages against City, beating them 2-0. Unbelievable!!!!! Unfortunately, Spurs just love to do Spursie things. Simply needing to beat the worst team in the league on the final day, they have three men sent off and lose 2-0. Champions League qualification goes to Villa and to add salt to the massive Spurs wounds, their fantastic defeat of City hands the title to their North London rivals!! It’s a funny old game!

1 hour ago, cheltenham_villa said:

The tide seems to be turning on Heck. He's not going to be a guy speaking every week but showing signs that's he balancing fan sentiment with club objectives. 

It's impossible for him to keep everyone happy. 

Totally agree mate. We’ve had loads of leaders who talk a great game, look great in interviews and achieve very little. This guy is making things happen and should be applauded. I’d much rather have leaders who let their achievements speak for themselves whilst they remain quiet. I love his respect and ambition. He’s a top bloke in my book.

I’m convinced that Tim has got the ability but he just looks so nervous. He needs a top end Championship loan in my view. A chance for him to build confidence and hopefully return more ready for first team action.

35 minutes ago, Risso said:

Duran had our only shot on target in the second half, until Ollie's header right at the end. At least Duran doesn't wuss out of 50:50 balls, and you get a bit of a shift out of him, even if he is a bit erratic.

I like Duran but in the last two  games we have been more effective before he entered the pitch. If you are going to bring Duran on then Ollie has to come off.

We can win one or even both of our last two matches. We are due a bit of luck. Maybe Youri and Morgan can come back. We’ll find a way. These boys have just got to go to the well another two times. Keep the faith Villans.

Looked decent. Another thing to be positive about 

We looked a much better team with him on the pitch. Replacing him with Duran absolutely ended us as an attacking force.

I thought he was our best player. Konsa’s form is a much bigger concern. He looks (not surprisingly) absolutely jaded.