MikeMcKenna

Sorry but this is laughable.

You are the manager; the team are constantly on the back foot, getting hammered in the 2nd half, a new player Trezeguet is seeing very little of the ball. On the bench you have a player; Jota, that fans were raving about during the friendlies and were predicting would start. Do you stick or twist? The criticism Jota is receiving is pathetic. If Smith hadn’t made a change, he would have been slagged for not making a change.

There really is a load of tosh about Hourihane being made a ‘scapegoat’. Long before yesterdays game I and many others on VT agreed he wasn’t a DM. In fact I don’t remember many claiming otherwise. We didn’t lose because of him v Spurs but that doesnt change the reality about his lack of ability as a DM. We lost because we are not yet good enough.

Amazing how we see players so differently.

CH is never a DM and I doubt even a PL player. Yes he is good a set pieces but in open play he has no confidence on the ball. We desperately needed strength in the middle today and he just hasn’t got it. When Luiz settles I reckon CH will be on the bench.

In the first half I think he showed some touches of class, however we were just over-run in the 2nd and he like the rest of the midfield, had to play DM. We just couldn’t get out of our half. The stats tell you everything, it was real back to the wall stuff.

Don’t understanding some of the criticism. Imho Grealish did very well, given the pressure we were under and that he couldn’t play his normal game in the 2nd. My Spurs mate texted after the game ‘Grealish is a tremendous talent, I reckon he will have a great season’.

Always disappointed when we lose, however Spurs are a very strong and settled team. We on the other hand are very much an unknown quantity with so many new players and need time. In the first half we played well but in the 2nd our midfield was over-run. IMHO we will not get relegated and can only get better.

I wouldn’t give Wesley stick. He is keeping their CBs occupied and creating space for others.

Hourihane playing or not is a real enigma. When we are on the front foot he is an excellent player to have on the pitch. When it’s the reverse..... It will very much come down to who we are playing whether he starts or not.

HI Andy I have met Leighton many times at Villa Park which he still visits occasionally. Think he was there at least once last season with one of his best mates, Frank Carrodus another Villa player from the 70s and one of my heroes. If you write to Ken McNaught who represents the former players at Aston Villa, I am sure he could put you in touch with Leighton. Saw Leighton play many times during the 70s and he was a very solid defender. He still has a great sense of humour and is a very nice guy.

That is a very, very good result. Leipzig were definitely not playing a “friendly” and we were much better team in the 2nd,

Whatever, I don’t need a ‘chill pill’ thanks. I am very relaxed.

McGinn is staying. People need to calm down.

When is the ****** paint going to dry in this thread?

Behave!

Nah, Wednesday is the new Sunday. Nothing ever happens on a Sunday. However, even though I don’t like Mondays, the silicon chip tells me something might happen then

I detect a Yorkshire accent.

The old ones are the best!

Villa fans over the years have trusted the owners too much.

Apologies if this is old news. Just saw it on one of the Villa Facebook fan sites.

I predict tomorrow or Monday will be Wednesday.

I have painted a wall several times and watched it dry waiting for ‘Wednesday’ to come. Is ‘Wednesday’ the new tomorrow that never comes?

Waiting for......? VLADIMIR: We wait. We are bored. No, don't protest, we are bored to death, there's no denying it. Good. A diversion comes along and what do we do? We let it go to waste. ...In an instant, all will vanish and we'll be alone once more, in the midst of nothingness. POZZO: The tears of the world are a constant quantity. For each one who begins to weep somewhere else another stops. The same is true of the laugh. VLADIMIR: Tomorrow when I wake or think I do, what shall I say of today? That with Estragon my friend, at this place, until the fall of night, I waited for Godot? ...Let us not waste our time in idle discourse! Let us do something, while we have the chance....at this place, at this moment of time, all mankind is us, whether we like it or not. Let us make the most of it before it is too late! Let us represent worthily for once the foul brood to which a cruel fate consigned us! What do you say? Why are we here, that is the question? And we are blessed in this, that we happen to know the answer. Yes, in this immense confusion one thing alone is clear. We are waiting for Godot to come. ...We are not saints, but we have kept our appointment. ESTRAGON: And if he doesn't come? VLADIMIR: We'll come back tomorrow. ESTRAGON: And then the day after tomorrow. VLADIMIR: Possibly. ESTRAGON: And so on. VLADIMIR: The point is— ESTRAGON: Until he comes.

Great article in The Times about Wesley Moraes - paywall. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/how-wesley-moraes-arrived-at-aston-villa-via-brazil-slovakia-and-belgium-6pcslldb How Wesley Moraes arrived at Aston Villa via Brazil, Slovakia and Belgium Gary Jacob June 18 2019, 12:00pm, The Times Moraes has scored 23 league goals in his past two seasons in Belgium Wesley Moraes had never played on a proper football pitch until about seven years ago but that is the least remarkable part of the forward’s journey from poverty in Brazil to become Aston Villa’s record signing. Villa have agreed to pay Club Bruges £22 million for the player, eclipsing the £18 million they paid for Darren Bent in 2011. A brief précis of Moraes’s life is that his father died from a brain tumour when he was nine, he had an unplanned son at the age of 15 and a daughter a year later. Two years later he was working on an assembly line sorting screws and bolts, earning the equivalent of less than £150 a month, to support his family. He started to play football more seriously around 15 or 16 and after various trials he arrived at Bruges in Belgium via Trencin in Slovakia. The most painful and sad moments of his life have been captured in tattoos on his body. Paulo, his father, is pictured on his neck and there is also a drawing of him on his left arm which symbolises the desire to be strong and overcome adversity. His father taught him to play football. Another image depicts the loss of his sister’s son, Gustavo, and on his other arm are tattoos of the Virgin Mary, after whom his mother is named; his daughter and Fé, the Portuguese word for faith. They are references to the religious values instilled in him by mother. On his right shin is a tattoo of a football with wings. Now 22, his experiences explain why he has searched for a father figure and has needed a lot of care and attention to keep him on the right path during his career. He joined Bruges in 2016 and initially had an eye for the nightlife. His lifestyle was poor and his diet contained too much sugar. He was taken to a supermarket and shown that he needed to buy more salad, fruit and yogurt and to avoid takeaway meals. Moraes would send the team manager photos of the meals he cooked and the results translated into his becoming leaner, fitter and better on the pitch. Dévy Rigaux, the Bruges team manager, said: “There used to be not enough vitamins in his afternoon snacks and he sometimes just skipped breakfast.” Early on at the Belgian club he received red cards for elbowing and swinging his arms at opponents. Bruges tried to channel his aggression in the right way, prevent him reacting and made him calmer. In a game against Antwerp he played with tape on his hands, without having an injury, as a reminder to him not to respond. He showed he was fairly fast but poor in the air despite standing at 6ft 3in. Bruges worked on his heading ability, making him practise for hours with Philippe Clement, the assistant coach. It bore results and Moraes scored 13 and 11 league goals in the past two seasons, respectively. Moving to England will seem a world away from his upbringing in Brazil. He grew up in Juiz de Fora, a city in southeastern Brazil, about 200 kilometres from Rio de Janeiro. His father was a midfielder who although not professional, made money from the game. He became partially disabled later in life and used the benefits to support his family before his death. “After his death, I almost broke,” Moraes has said. “He did everything for me. And he taught me to play football.” Moraes became a father at 15 to Yan — Maria Eduarda, a daughter, followed a year later. At the time becoming a professional footballer was unimaginable. He played four-a-side indoor matches and his trials came to nothing at various clubs in Brazil. Eventually he was picked up by Itabuna Esporte Clube, in the sixth tier and based in Itabuna, Bahia state, and did well enough to be sent for trials at Atlético Madrid in Spain and Nancy in France. But they ultimately ended fruitless and he returned home to work in a factory sorting screws. Then a chance opportunity came when he was spotted by Paulo Nehmy, an agent who has become his second father. Nehmy suggested to Trencín in Slovakia that he should join them and they offered him a place in the Under-19 side and then a contract. They had a cosmopolitan academy of Chinese, Dutch, Nigerian and Serbian players and wanted to turn him into a classic No 9 striker. Trencín is a city with a population of about 55,000 in western Slovakia, about 120km from Bratislava, near the border with the Czech Republic. He was helped to adapt to his new surroundings by Ramon and Jairo da Silva, two fellow Brazilians, and learnt English playing with James Lawrence, the Wales defender who had previously spent two years at Arsenal and now plays for Anderlecht. Trencin, who sold him to Bruges for €1 million (£900,000), has been a youth pool for Belgian clubs in recent years. They have nurtured the likes of Leon Bailey, Samuel Kalu and Lawrence. Moraes has supported his family in Brazil and bought two apartments in his home city as an investment. His younger brothers call him Pai, Portuguese for father, by way of thanks. Rudy Heylen, the Bruges mental coach, arranged for a video message from a member of each of the player’s family before a match against Anderlecht. Moraes’s mother gave a talk and the forward cried. Rigaux has said: “I have seen photos of his family and friends, who sit around the table in a tiny kitchen — 25 men who count on him. Sometimes we underestimate that moral pressure. He wants everyone to be proud of him and gets goosebumps when supporters chant his name. If others say he played well, you see his face light up.”