Intercourse_The_Penguin

Always a pleasure to see Bell in form. Not only a Villa fan, but a wonderfully graceful player of cover drives as well. Always a pleasure to see the Aussies befuddled and labouring in the field too

In conclusion, Libya is a land of contrast.

I have to be honest and admit I had never heard of this guy before he was linked to us. I know only a little more now, but I do feel quite excited. Really hoping he's a complement to, rather than replacement for, Delph, but this signals an intent in the transfer market I wasn't expecting us to show this summer.

Yes, quite a buy for such a guy.

Profesor, without knowing the impact of this potential transfer on Villa's dealings, would you say now is the time to panic? Yes, Kent, I would.

Cambiaswho?!

Have heard Leicester supporting mates argue that Cambiasso was more instrumental than Pearson in rallying the team late in the season and that their ongoing situations at the club are linked. Not sure how they'd know this, but it's tradition to include gossip from mates of other clubs at this time of year and I'm a great traditionalist...

Well, this is a kick in the teeth.

This was supposed to be the summer of George Villa!

Also feel a bit sad at him leaving because I remember feeling confident we'd got a great prospect on our hands with him a few years ago and he generally worked hard and seemed a good character. In the end he clearly wasn't good enough, but I really hope he has a good career and I don't have anything in particular against Derby so wouldn't mind seeing him do well there. (If he's half as good a Whittingham was in the second tier he'll be a great buy for Derby too) (Edit: assuming you meant Guy, not Peter)

Reasons to be optimistic: Jack! This guy is going to be special next season, I sense. Continued development of Clark and Okore. I think both could turn out to be pretty damn tidy centre halves and forge a good partnership. Okore needs to cut out his mistakes, but he's very young for a CB and lost a lot of time to injury. Delph. Seems to keep getting better and I don't think we've seen his peak yet. Bacuna. Really like this guy, but not sure we've found the best way to play him yet. I also have the feeling he's going to have a big role to play next term. Clutching at straws a little: Gardner. Not sure if I quite believe this guy is going to turn into the player we all hope he will, and also not sure of his best role in the team, but the reports from Forest do suggest he might finally be fulfilling the early potential we heard so much about. Please, please, please... Sinclair: there is something about this guy that suggests he might be really useful, but I'm not sure how much he fits into TS' plans. £32M+: this could give us a sizeable kitty and although we'll be losing our match-winner and star player it could help us address glaring weaknesses we've had in our squad for too long now. Sanchez: with a full pre-season and a better defined role in the team, could he reproduce his Columbia form for us? Reasons for dread: Full-backs: what seems a perennial problem for us in recent times. Have no real faith in any our options. I like Bacuna a lot, but still wonder if RB is his best spot. Loss of Benteke: we may need the money to fill out the squad with more quality, but we're losing a proven match-winner and who knows what we'll replace him with (I am resigned to losing him this summer, sadly) Gabby: If we continue to rely on him as a first-teamer we'll have problems over next season barring the five or six games he somehow looks like the unplayable pace machine a lot of us thought he might turn into years back. Strikers in general: minus Benteke, who the hell do we have/will we get?! CNZ: Has had a few really good games under TS to be fair, but needs to be improved on this window. Sanchez: okay, he might come good, but he also fills me with dread when I see his name on the team-sheet Overall, that seems to be a net balance for pessimism. Which is about how I feel: pessimistic, but with dull embers of hope flickering somewhere, somehow...

I thought the reports from his time at Forest were overwhelmingly positive? I might be clutching a straws, though. But then again in these dark times, I see a straw, I clutch!

So yeah, that was pretty rancid and quite worrying. And I'm not one for omen, portents, precognition, superstition, or the like, but... I do remember in 1994 our last game before our league cup final vs Man U - we lost to second-bottom Oldham (what a pain they were to us in the early nineties for a shit team...). The Argus' front-page match summary I remember especially well: "on this form Villa have no chance at Wembley". Well, we know what happened. Yes, grasping at straws, searching for hope in the dark, but... does anyone have Graham Fenton's phone number...

Right, I think I've got it. We're trying to given Spurs maximum incentive by making sure they need a win to move back into sixth place. Right?

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quite sniffing glue.

You think he'll stay for 30 years?! We'll do well to hang on to him for that long tbf.

Well, three points versus Leicester at home and they're a point ahead of where we are now... Only if we get nothing at Southampton and they've still got Chelsea and Arsenal away to play. Yes, that's true. I was saying that we've still got work to do before we can count ourselves safe, and that we can't count on safety based on the fixtures of other teams.

But if Sunderland win, Leicester still have QPR at home where I think they'd be favourites for three points.

Well, three points versus Leicester at home and they're a point ahead of where we are now...

Cool and in charge at the back today in very nervous circumstances. Love this guy.

Am absolutely not ruling out four points for Hull from their last two games given how things have been going with the other bottom seven sides recently. Also, both Spurs and Man U are on dreadful slumps and look eminently beatable. It's looking unlikely we'll go down, but we still need to do some work against ourselves against Southampton to avoid a potentially nervy final day, imho...

Was bit casual with the ball in the last 10-15 minutes a few times, I thought and we lost possession as a result, but am loath to criticise this lad because he's such a joy to watch in general. And how easily did he keep drawing cheap fouls from Song?

These last three games his late runs into the box look almost (dare I say it...) Plattesque. Superb stuff. Hope he can keep it up.

Phew!