Beastmix

He doesn't set the budget though. He's told how much he has to work with and works within those parameters. If those setting the funds can't get their numbers right, it's not exactly his fault.

Imagine if everybody in our current upper management/recruitment team stayed. Purslow, the smarmy PR-centric businessman to grease whatever important social wheels need greasing Alemany, the master negotiator with top tier football-world contacts and Lange,

None of these things are down to Alemany. It's a recklessly run club, in a poorly run/marketed league. If they split the TV rights the way we do, I'd have a crumb of sympathy for them. They already take the lion's share and still can't sort themselves out.

We're certainly not prepared to be left behind. This is a big statement of intent (along with everything else we're doing). An exciting summer ahead!

I think the game was perhaps a bit too big for Jarred Gillett to be refereeing, frankly. Not quit Phil Dowd levels of shocking, but extremely poor. Could put this down to not being a good day at the office, but why we were time wasting while LOSING is beyond me. Anyway, clean slate. Onto the next.

Pleased with Mazi Smith. Guy's an absolute beast.

I thought as much.

Win is a win is a win. Players were noticeably tired tonight with the build up of games. Good rest before Sunday now!

We made our own luck for the point in the end. I don't think Unai will be happy. It felt like a couple of players went a bit rogue with their bizarre decisions today.

I'd love it if Unai was rocking a £120 watch.

Nevermind getting your passports ready, imagine the atmosphere for them Europa Conference League walkovers at VP...

I love (and am simultaneously infuriated by) their complete incomprehension of how to defend yourself without a gun. "But what if somebody invades your home?" "What if you get attacked on the street?" "What if somebody tries to steal your car?" As if these scenarios are USA exclusive or exacerbated by the fact the perpetrators, ya know... usually have guns, which they would be less likely to have if they banned them.

Looking forward to re-living the game at 11:40 on MoTD, following by a 20 second pundit review where Lineker will deliver a characteristically twee topical quip to Shearer about Newcastle 'not being at the races today'.

Can anybody figure out what Unai's watch is? It's been bugging me for months, mainly because I can never get a proper good look at it (despite the fact he's always touching his face). The thing throwing me off the most is the casing. Got a decent angle of it today, but from distance:

Another great win for our beloved overachievers... Everyone was brilliant today, but shout out to Dendoncker for coming in and looking so assured.

After seeing what we did with free agency, I genuinely can't see what Dallas really needs. Perhaps a tackle and another tight end. Maybe another RB later on. A lot of pundits saying Stroud will go #1, but I still think it will be (and should be) Young.

As much as I agree with the original post being ridiculous, these stats-slanted 'journalists' have conveniently ignored the fact of there being various different ways to win matches and not all of them involve absolute statistical domination. They've also focused on 'bad luck' of our opposition and overlooked any/all unfortunate things which haven't gone our way in games. There's a definite bias to which specific metrics are being used, which creates a bit of a strawman argument. They really shouldn't be talking about luck in a video with a core emphasis on statistics anyway. The unpredictability is why we love this sport. It's not a cold, sterile, calculated endeavour. The only stat which matters, or determines anything, is points on the board. End of.

A martini glass in an earthquake is more durable than Kalvin Phillips.

Ultimately, Unai will know what's best. The Vitoria option would be great though. Especially if they get European football because he won't miss out on the European experience we're going to have...

That's the scariest thing. 18! He's built like a 30 year old. When he does develop his 'man-strength' he's going to be a horrifying prospect to play against. Most world class strikers weren't playing first-team top tier football at 18. Kane was on loan at Millwall, Benzema was just making the jump from Lyon B to the 1st team, Haaland was dossing around in Norway/Austria, and Zlatan was at Malmo. Basically, Jhon's in a really good spot. There's no rush.

The most impressive thing was the extent to which we slowed the game down in the 2nd half. Considering we played Saturday evening, it was such well executed game/energy management. It's things like this from Senor Unai which set him apart from anyone we've had before.

Big Bad Bert. What a total and utter legend.

I think I have an altitude nosebleed...

Sky Sports News*: "Villa are now in the bottom 12" *probably

Gritty win. ...and we're STILL not 10th