StanBalaban

I think it could be good for Lenglet to feature in the Legia game. Having a French international on loan from Barcelona with plenty of European experience allows us to protect Konsa, who is stepping up to the void left by Mings this season.

1 hour ago, Seal said:

I am surprised. I don't consider the source to be reputable. I don't necessarily find the arguments that a lot of people were involved therefore there would be lots of whistleblowers to be convincing. Firstly the process of compartmentalisation has been used plenty of times in secret projects so that the people involved have no idea what is going on holistically. Secondly, particularly with the moon landing if there were 400,000 involved, it may well be that 399,990 think that we have been to the moon. I think there was a channel 4 reality show once which basically showed how easy it was to trick people into thinking they went to the moon. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Cadets_(TV_series)

I know someone who works for nasa. He makes satellite technology to go in high altitude balloons. 

I do think it would take a sample of vastly more than 400,000 until you found someone whose name backwards was gnortsMr Alien to be selected to go to the moon ;). What are the chances eh?

I think it was @Mandy Lifeboats that mentioned the reflector on the moon - I think there are multiple reflective panels on the moons, used to calculate and constantly measure changes in distance. Are you suggesting the scientists around the world using their lasers and providing data from numerous sources, are making up their findings too? 

If they're not, and you agree the panels are on the moon, who put them up there?

We're in a fortunate position where we can rest some players and still play a very strong line up for this game. 

I don't know what the travel schedule is like - do we fly back after the game, or go to the hotel and fly the next day? Either way, it doesn't leave much time to prep for Chelsea. Rotating the squad allows some players to be fully focussed on the Legia game, whilst others are purely concentrating on Chelsea.

Also SJM looked a little leggy on Saturday after the international break, so maybe a good opportunity to keep him on the bench. Konsa is stepping up to be a vital leader in our defence and hugely important for our League campaign, so maybe Lenglet and Torres could start the game. Dougie is just so important, so I'd wrap him up in cotton wool too, but Watkins could do with a goal or two. If it's not working, then we turn to the bench.

                    Martinez (c) 

Chambers    Lenglet    Torres    Digne

Cash    Tielemans    Dendonker    Zaniolo             

                  Kellyman Watkins

Bench: Olsen, McGinn, Luiz, Kamara, Duran, Diaby, Bailey, Konsa, Moreno

I think rotating Konsa, Luiz and Kamara with French and Belgian internationals is still taking the competition seriously. Kellyman has shown he's a special talent, and Chambers is an experienced Premier League player. 

5 minutes ago, gwi1890 said:

I think we’ll field a strong side and show the competition respect.  I think his first start will be in the League Cup vs Everton.

Oh I don't doubt for a second that we'll go strong. Thankfully, we have some good options in the squad that can ensure we take the competition seriously, but still keep key players like Dougie, Bouba and possibly SJM fresh for Chelsea.

Let's not forget that the Donk is one of the first choice CB's for Belgium. If he's back to fitness, these are the type of games that he's for.

Wonder if he's being considered for the Legia game, perhaps alongside Youri in the centre?

1 minute ago, OutByEaster? said:

Ah. I must admit, I was hoping it would be a larger story than Russell Brand being a monster - I mean he spent the early part of his career encouraging that idea, so it's not too much of a shock to move from dickhead to monster. 

Thank you though.

Over on that there Twitter X machine, it seems that this may be the first domino to fall. 

Not 100% there's not more in the show later, but focus seems to be on Brand. We shall see. 

1 minute ago, OutByEaster? said:

I'm playing catch up a bit here - is it "just" Russell Brand now?

Is there a tweet he's posted and a video that the chap above made?

 

There's a few names in the world of comedy that are rumoured to be on the cusp of being exposed, but the Dispatches / Times stuff seems to be centred around Brand - who has posted a video early to try to get in front of everything.

The video above is like a Michael Spicer "Room Next Door" thing.

I thought McCormack would be just what we needed. Yeeesh!

Believed Richards was going to be an astute signing too. 

Had high hopes for Jean II Makoun, and also thought Remi Garde was going be a good manager for us.

No one should ever listen to my opinions again

Fine margins can make a difference. All the preparation in the world can go out of the window in a flash after some sloppy play in the opening minutes. Those fine margins when applied to all can make a good team look like a pub team.

Everyone was off their game today, including the coaches. The combines effect looks massive when nothing goes right.

This will eat at Unai now. I think the Newcastle game was harder to judge as it's the first game of the season, buoyant crowd and an horrific injury to our biggest leader. This was just a bad performance.

Thankfully we have a little break, and getting a win at home against Palace gives us the same amount of points as a win away at Anfield. I back Unai to leave no stone unturned in motivating the players and putting right the wrongs from this game.

The most annoying aspect.is that Liverpool didn't need to be particularly excellent in order to comfortably beat us.

Something was definitely missing from the team today, and it seemed to be across that board. Even McGinn seemed lacking in energy for some reason.

12 minutes ago, Dodgyknees said:

Was it similar to this?

 

 

Yes. In fact due to the positioning of his microphone the writing was obscured. Could have been that same jacket.

Wasn't able to get a pic, but it was just the lion facing left. No outer shield or circle, and just Aston Villa written.

Looked very clean.

Elmo on BeIn with a blazer on with what I hope is our new, new crest.

3 minutes ago, Spoony said:

If he’s good enough for Villa to be considering him at that point why would he consider Villa? Is he actually bound to sign for us if we have a buyback (I genuinely don’t know)? If not surely he’d go to another team and not the one that essentially didn’t believe in him. 

It's not about us not believing in him though is it. If that was the case Unai wouldn't have said that we want control over where he plays football.

It's about us not being able to offer him the minutes he needs to develop as a player. Archer would have been very keen to get regular minutes somewhere.

7 minutes ago, alreadyexists said:

 

I think it might be worth reading the player's name out loud again.

Did well after a long lay off. Shows that he's versatile, reliable and surprisingly capable playing in Unai's style.

Starting CB for Belgium is our utility man. Who would've thought that would be the case a few years ago.

7 hours ago, gwi1890 said:

I think he just needs to gradually play himself to form and fitness he’s that type of player that takes a bit of time to get going.

Agree with this. He's had very few minutes in comparison to Dougie and Bouba, so will be less match-sharp than those two.

Gave the ball away more than he should've, and made a couple of sloppy passes, but he's a very good player. 

9 minutes ago, TheAuthority said:

Angling for likes I see

5 minutes ago, Keener window-cleaner said:

I think AVTV works perfect, and good commentary.

Was just about to say the same. Definitely gone up in quality, especially with Michelle Owen as host.

Just now, IrishVillain said:

Can you let me know where you found it? Did the same thing and now no idea where to find the match

Went to the match centre and clicked on the buy matchpass option (even though I already had one).

It then just took me to the video. Hope that works for you.

Atmosphere looks great at VP

1 minute ago, Buffs said:

Is it me or is there no sound on Villa TV coverage at the moment? 

Sound is on now

Just now, Buffs said:

Is it me or is there no sound on Villa TV coverage at the moment? 

Same here