StanBalaban

3 hours ago, Kingman said:

Will this work in Mexico or do you need a VPN? 

Should work. I've bought match passes before and they've always worked (as well as Villa TV can work) here in Dubai.

For some reason I can picture Dougie giving this a go...

Holding the ball on his foot, before lifting it clear over the defence for an already advanced Ollie Watkins to shoot straight at the keeper's legs.

Genius.

3 minutes ago, sidcow said:

Look at @StanBalaban.  He's all like

 

 

 

 

Mate of mine's parents bought him a CPC 464 with a green screen monitor and tape drive. He was gutted.

3 hours ago, Genie said:

It’s a meme where someone is seen celebrating something very hard where they are not even the best at it.

I think it’s Atari users thinking they were the best back in the day but in the opinion of whoever created it they believe it to be inferior to a number of other devices (but still thought they were superior).

A bit like Everton having a massive party and pitch invasion after finishing 16th in the league.

No way was the ST inferior to the C64 or Spectrum. The Amstrad CPC was typical dog shit you'd expect from Alan Sugar.

I went from CPC 6128 to Amiga with the Batman pack, but it was playing Test Drive II on the ST that was the required catalyst to nag my parents for a new computer.

3 hours ago, CVByrne said:

Look at Bissouma was brilliant at Brighton under proper coaching and system, joins the madhouse at Spurs and under performs. 

Also system football means you need to know what profile the player has and what role they are to play in your system. Mings and Pau are both left footed CBs but are really different profile of player. 

And look at Bissouma this season, under some comparative stability. He's been one of their best players so far.

1 hour ago, Xela said:

Is a strike always collective? Someone going on hunger strike can be an individual?

Merriam-Webster's definition of strike = "to stop work in order to force an employer to comply with demands"  Nothing about a collective. 

10 hours ago, paul514 said:

Yep he’s an international but palace have a reserve keeper in Sam Johnson.

I’d prefer him

I'd prefer him too, but Sam Johnstone is vying with Guaita for the number 1 spot and is getting game time. It's works well for Johnstone to be at Palace, as he has a crack at regular football, especially as Guaita might be leaving.

Our issue is that our number 1 is a dominant number 1. No one is challenging him. Why would Johnstone (or insert name) come here knowing he'll barely play? That's the biggest recruitment issue Unai faces if he were to replace Olsen.

47 minutes ago, John said:

Selling those two would kill our season and UE would be the next one through the out door, if it happened. These people just refuse to accept that we are no longer a selling club and the prices quoted would be ludicrous, even if we were. We should counter this rubbish by making bids of £40m for Saka and £60m for Salah, to see how they like it. 

We should probably caveat that by saying this has emanated from "Twiiter rumour" (unspecified). 

11 hours ago, paul514 said:

Me too, I’m fed up with the line of if Unai thinks this or that is right then there can be no questioning it.

Our back up keeper is crap, simple. I don’t care what anyone else says.

 

It's not just as simple as 'our back up keeper is crap' though. When you have such a dominant no.1 keeper, it's a difficult position to fill, hence why Unai is content having Olsen in the role. He's far from perfect, but is an experienced full international. 

For a keeper to stand in for Emi without there being a sizeable drop in quality, you're looking for a keeper that would be able to play regularly in the PL, or top Championship side. With that in mind, how do you recruit a player of that calibre, with him knowing full well that instead of regular football at another club he should come to Aston Villa and rarely play. 

Given how seriously Unai takes the cups, it's not even a 'gimme' that he'll get to start those early games. What's in it for a good keeper to be a #2 at Aston Villa in lieu of being a #1 somewhere else?

4 hours ago, Ghost said:

To be fair Chelsea have like a thousand players on their books so I could understand Poch's confusion. 

Irrespective of the number (and whilst it's a lot, it's still not enough players for the manager to not recognise the names, as seemed to be the case) these are players that are on the Chelsea payroll and have returned to the club from loan spells. 

I could be wrong, but I wouldn't imagine Unai would let resources like that go to waste by falling through the cracks.

13 hours ago, Mantis said:

I don't understand how he's gotten so good since Emery came in? This time a year ago it felt like he could barely pass a ball at times and now he's playing like prime Iniesta?

SJM has always had the talent, but under the Scouse fraud it seemed that he was playing under a lot of pressure to bail the manager out. Always looking for a quick Hollywood pass to provide the 'manager' with a moment of magic to bail him out.

He's said a few times now that he's always played under a British manager, and wishes he'd had someone like Unai much earlier in his career. Unai has slowed his game, and given him control over his play. In return, McGinn has lapped up every last bit of Unai's coaching and is probably our best player every week. Genuinely believe he could walk into any team sheet in the world right now.

1 minute ago, OutByEaster? said:

Goal scoring opportunity, last man and he sweeps his legs - sympathy has to be with the official, what else can he do? 

It's an absolute no doubt, nailed on, simple as you like red card.

 

Plus after not giving Trent what technically should've been a second yellow, there was no doubt here.

Only argument VVD could have had was that he went for the ball. However, it's a clear trip.

Did he job by stepping in for Emi and helping the team get 3 points.

Can't be that easy not looking rusty after months of sitting on the bench.

1 hour ago, AvonVillain said:

Struggling to find the point of cheering on the youth anymore. Guess he'll just be sold like the others.

Do you think the majority of our academy players dreamt about becoming an Aston Villa player? There's a few that grew up as fans, but most would want to play football for a living.

Our academy gives many of them a great grounding to succeed in their career, but the players will want to play where they can. They're not clinging on to the hope that it's here - they'll want regular football with the best team they can get, along with a good wage.

Elite sports is always going to be ruthless, but that cuts both ways. It's not always the big bad club. Many players will try to jump ship the moment a better offer comes along.

1 hour ago, HalfTimePost said:

I know it's minor and that he may well be fit for Sunday. But Emis injury is exactly why we should've had an Olsen replacement right up there on the list of requirements this summer.

This has been covered a lot, but when you have such a dominant no.1 keeper, it's very difficult to bring in a backup that is good enough to play regularly, but knows he won't.

Anyone that is likely to come here knowing he'll be sat on the bench, will have flaws in his game. With Olsen, Unai has been able to work with him for 9 months now, so he knows how to step in and maintain our style of play.

I honestly think some people think we could bring in a keeper near in quality to Emi, but expect him to be happy to sit on his arse except for the odd League Cup game.

2 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I actually thought Burnley looked ok against City but were abit naive in their approach. Will be a difficult game but we should beat them.

Pressure will be on them to go for the win, and their fans seem to expecting points from the game. I think that works well for Unai, as we know they're unlikely to just sit back.

We'll need to be on our game but, if we are, then we should be able to find space to play through them. Hopefully Ollie can bury whatever chances come his way and I'm backing Bailey to score another.

8 minutes ago, CarryOnVilla said:

You’re correct about the away pattern, Yet the lions were chucked in the blender and created a random pattern out of them. And it looks gash, we both agree with that 

3rd kits are always the “fun kit”, but why can’t it still be traditional at the same time? Or at the very least some time spent on the aesthetic design elements? 

The closest we had to what I’m talking about on all 3 kits was the Luke kits. Mostly traditional style and patterns on the home and away, and with a “wacky” 3rd kit, that wasn’t a random mess of a pattern. And the Luke kits are a majority fan favourite. 

what the club is and what we had with the Luke kits is some solid foundations to have a design ideal to create great kits in the future 

 

 

I think the difference is down to the execution, rather that whether it's traditional or not. Get the design on point, and it starts to matter less whether it's futuristic, traditional, edgy or safe.

FWIW, one of the training tops would make a better home kit than the actual home kit IMO, and the travel gear is more than decent, so there's definitely some capability with the design team. 

Can clearly see he's been integrated into the style of play that Unai wants. Seems to be able to invite the press and find a pass, although I think he's more likely to release the ball earlier than Emi.

If he plays on Sunday, I hope he's given the backing and confidence from the fans. As @luckyeddie said, the role of a second keeper is a difficult one for the club to get right. Especially when the first choice keeper is Emi Martinez.

We have an experienced, international GK that knows his role and seems happy to play his part. He's made errors for sure, but what player wouldn't be rusty when asked to play once every 6 months or so? He's not some 38 year old, over the hill stand-in that many other clubs have. He will have benefitted from 9 months of Unai's coaching, so hopefully he just needs to get the confidence of the support to help him further if he's called upon. 

2 minutes ago, CarryOnVilla said:

I’m talking about the pattens, not the entire kit. The patterns are bus seat patterns on all 3 kits. as I said, I chose two random clubs that embraced the random pattern generated patterns on their kits. I could have chose anyone. 

my overall theme is an idea to use traditional patterns rather than random patterns, because we are fortunately have a lot of traditional aesthetics already at the club, what a lot of clubs no longer have.   

The pattern on the away kit is not a random pattern though. It's a showcase of all the lions that the club has used since 1874. I'm not saying they've executed it well, but it's trying to connect with our heritage and history. 

The 3rd kit should be an opportunity for the designers to show us what they can do. They've not covered themselves in glory, but I disagree that the 3rd kit should be bound by the same criteria as the home and away. The home kit has a bus seat pattern for sure - not that anyone can see it after 90 seconds of being on the pitch. 

1 minute ago, villa4europe said:

i dont think anyone should be represented by random patterns personally and i hate this current trend

take the wolves kit and our kit, throw in the arsenal away kit and the utd away kit the liverpool 3rd kit the newcastle 3rd kit

now take the badges and logos off and swap them all around...would anyone notice? would anyone pick out that kit and say yep that villa? i've got no problem with the 3rd kit being out there, it should be different even to the point where its marmite....but ultimately it still needs to be a villa shirt

I agree that the execution leaves a lot to be desired, it was more the sentiment that Villa kits (even the 3rd) should stick to their lane in perpetuity.

3 minutes ago, CarryOnVilla said:

My statement was reference to all our kits. We can’t escape how traditional how club is. We have old fashioned colours, an old fashioned stadium and our “history” is mostly from a bygone era. Rather than trying to keep up with the two random clubs I chose who embrace the random pattern, let’s embrace our “classic” situation and run with it. 

when football branding zigs, villa should zag

But we always do have pretty classic home and away kits, including this year. They may not be to everyone's tastes, but they're hardly avantgarde.

I think the 3rd kit carries the licence to experiment. Whether they've pulled it off is a different matter. 

BTW, how are neither Wolves nor Spurs 'classic clubs' though?

1 minute ago, Demitri_C said:

Add me to the list

I actually prefer some of the training range

But the  main kits suck

Training range on the whole is pretty decent.

39 minutes ago, VillaParkAvenue said:

They will never be good enough to play at the top end of the Prem right away, there's always an adapation period. If Jacob Ramsey had been a couple of years younger and come through the academy now, he'd have been sold too. 

He may indeed have been sold, due to us being a better team with better players ahead of him stalling his opportunity to get minutes. However, seeing how he's blossomed, he would also be in-line to come back. 

22 minutes ago, chrisvilla4 said:

Sadly, this is modern football. I love the romance of the local boy done good and is a hero, Jack was that generational talent and villa fan and got us 100m when sold, he wanted success over loyalty and we did well in terms of a fee. Hopefully JJ will emulate this but more importantly can stay with us and win things. 

If we are wanting to break into the elite we have to make decisions with our head and not our heart. Ultimately if these players do come good and we have a buy back in place, it's the best situation for all concerned.

I don't think it's as much of a modern day football thing, but more so that we've not been a good team for quite some time. The better we become, the fewer academy players will make the grade unfortunately. Jack and JJ are the exception, not the norm.

Look back at when Delfouneso, Chris Herd, Ciaran Clark, Liam Ridgewell, Gary Gardner were all good enough to get into the first team squads.