John

12 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

SIGN HIM UP!

 

Sign the commentator too! 

14 minutes ago, Aston_Villan4 said:

Ideally. But that’s assuming Mings returns to full fitness as he was prior to injury.

He's come back from serious injuries before and I for one, wouldn't want to bet against him doing the same again. We shouldn't always fear the very worst, losing him for most, if not all of the season is bad enough. 

13 hours ago, Tayls said:

As this will be the 39th transfer window where we do not sign Smith-Rowe, will people then accept that we just aren’t going to sign him? And quite frankly, rightly so. 

So are you telling me, we aren't going for JWP, Benrahma, Rashica or Tammy and Phillips either? 

11 hours ago, The_Steve said:

The bitterness about this alleged deal makes it even better

 

One for the future like Rory Wilson and Aiden Borland. In this case, the lad has had first team opportunities. Looks like clever business. 

I kept thinking that we would get the winner yesterday, but it wasn't to be and had it not been for Emi, we could have lost the game. It seems the referee has learnt nothing from his abysmal performance against Brentford and he was back to haunt us again yesterday. You could pick any referee from a parks pitch and he would do a better job than this idiot. 

We aren't going to win every game this season and we didn't win them all in 1980-81 either. The problem is that teams like Manchester City and Arsenal are capable of winning multiple games, that will pull them away from us, if we don't do much the same. A point was the very least that we deserved and Everton are a tough team to beat on their own patch, even without the assistance of VAR and an incompetent official, who gave Tarkowski a licence to injure. We now need to beat Newcastle and Sheffield United in our next two league games. We can finish in the top 5, anything better than that would be a bonus, but one that our season to date merits. 

12 hours ago, Kiwivillan said:

Did he say this or based on VT posts?

Jas has kindly already posted some of the sources. As I understand it, there are two separate press conferences, one for the written press and one for TV/Radio. UE might possibly have said slightly different things in each case, hopefully things will not be as bad as we fear, come the next window.  

Hopefully we can make enough by qualifying for the CL to be able to keep the best of our players. It makes it so clear how vital qualification for the CL is, in comparison to winning one of the cups (although winning one would increase our status too). It also explains why the club are seeking some unpopular means of increasing our cash flow.

HDE would be loving this talk of income, at a time when we should be able to focus on what we need to do, in order to increase our chances of winning things. What should matter to us, is what is on the field playing in our shirts, but our balance sheet largely determines what happens to us as a football club now.  

19 hours ago, nick76 said:

I would be totally gutted if we sold Luiz for £100m and brought Phillips for £50m as an example.  Even selling Luiz for £120m and buying Phillips for £40m would still be gutting.  

I would be gutted if we sold Luiz for £120m and brought in Phillips on a free, particularly given the wages he would want. 

To be honest, I'm already gutted that at a point when we are so near to doing something really big, our manager has had to contemplate selling one of our prize assets during the next window, to weaken us just at a time when we are putting pressure, on the type of club that player would be likely to sign for.   

56 minutes ago, duke313 said:

Are we just stockpiling left footed players? 

Sign all the left footers! This signing would be just for starters in this window for us. I can't wait to see Barghji bringing tears to the eyes of opposition supporters. I hear he is a hot prospect and is known for his runs,  Arteta will soon be in touch to ask whether we want Rice with that. 

2 hours ago, Follyfoot said:

Do you remember the Hans Krankl link John ? 

Like it was yesterday! 

1 hour ago, Jas10 said:

 

He's got too big a head to fit into UE's project! 

I have heard rumour and speculation of Dybala, Bamford and Zaha, this week. These links get us talking and clicking, but only Monchi and UE know who we might really want, if anyone. We will likely find out shortly before something happens, but I do hope something does happen and between now and then, I'm loving the speculation, it's what transfer windows are made for. Bring those links on!

22 minutes ago, Lerner's Driver said:

Isn't Steviiiieeeee's job at risk?

I've heard Rooney's after it. 

48 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

 

Sign him up! 

Wait until Stevie G hears, he will be in for his mate in a flash. 

23 hours ago, est1874 said:

Pretty sure they don't sponsor blues. Pretty sure blues buy their kits off them

Nike? I thought it was from the JD Sports Sale? 

Franz Beckenbauer passed away on Sunday aged 78. “Der Kaiser” played at Villa Park during the 1966 World Cup against Argentina and Spain. He had the job of man marking Bobby Charlton in the final, as did Bobby him. He was a ball playing defender (sweeper/libero), who was comfortable on the ball and dangerous when moving forwards with it. He won the European Cup three times with Bayern Munich and he twice won the Ballon d’Or. He captained West Germany when they won the European Championship in 1972 and the World Cup in 1974, and he later managed them to another World Cup win in 1990.

He might also have managed Aston Villa. When HDE was looking for a replacement for Graham Taylor (according to his book “Deadly”) he thought of Franz, having  once shared a meal with “Der Kaiser” and his wife. HDE rang his home to establish whether he would be interested in the Villa job and a lady answered. Our then chairman “chatted to her for a moment or two on the basis that, as she would no doubt recall, we had dined together (how could she possibly forget) and had also met at the (Austrian) Ski resort. After a while she broke in and said: “I’m sorry I think you must have the wrong wife”. HDE continued, “How was I to know that, in the interim he had changed partners? However, I passed on the message he could ring me if he were interested in being Aston Villa’s manager, but he never did take up the option. “That of course, could depend on whether the “wrong wife” ever passed on my message”.

So it could possibly have been Beckenbauer rather than Dr Jo Venglos who took over the Division 1 Runners-Up in 1990. Another in the long list of “What If’s” that is associated with our late chairman. One thing that is for sure is that a great player and a very decent manager (now is not the time to raise the matter of FIFA investigations of his later financial dealings imo) is no longer with us.

16 hours ago, R.Bear said:

Probably because those clubs have won it in the last 70 years.

So have we...just about. It seems we are going under the radar in the FA Cup too. 

4 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

 

Make it so. We should be able to raise £4.5m.

49 minutes ago, DakotaVilla said:

A hard no to Henderson. His decision will haunt him professionally and there will be a media circus at every game. We just don’t need the hassle. 

If he goes anywhere it will be to Newcastle, they would find some way to get near to the salary demands that he would make, with a little help with their Saudi investors. Him and Phillips should offer them the pedestrian midfield they seem to be looking for (perhaps Southgate is giving Howe some helpful tips). I would have perhaps taken Henderson 3 or 4 years ago, but as has been said, he's way past his best now and wouldn't be worth the high wages he would anticipate getting. 

1 hour ago, HongKongVillan said:

Hull at home would do

Or away... Jumping ahead, Sheffield United at home in the 6th Round too, we owe them one! Pity Stevenage were subject to their own giant-killing (not).

2 hours ago, villan95 said:

Brennan Johnson hasn't quite been firing for them from what I've seen so could see Werner replacing him in the starting 11. 

We could offer half of what Spurs paid for him to rescue him from his "nightmare move" to London, it would be worth it to see Levy's reaction. 

9 hours ago, Kiwivillan said:

He won't be starting at Spurs every week. Maybe the couple of games while Son is away

They have Richarlison, as well as Johnson too, so I agree that he would be more likely to get games with us, but I think he probably prefers the West End to Broad Street. It didn't work for him last time and it seems he may be keener on another shot in London than he is, another shot in the PL. His loss. 

On 05/01/2024 at 13:49, useless said:

Spence wasn't recalled by Spurs, Leeds sent him back, I had a look on a Leeds forum, I was expecting the opposite, but none of them seemed to be bothered that he'd left and were saying that Farke had done the right thing, saying Spence didn't look bothered when he played. Maybe the fact that Leeds were playing a seventeen year old midfielder out of positon at righback tells us something.

When Spence puts his mind to it he can be a good player, but even at his best he isn't as good as Cash, he wasn't as good for Forest as Cash was, if you don't believe me then believe Forest fans who will say the same thing, so Spence not going to be good enough for us now.

Spence looked really impressive at Forest, but seems to have not progressed since he left them, in fact the opposite seems to have happened. Like other young players before him, a move to a London club and a wad of cash burning a hole in the pocket, doesn't seem to have helped his football progress. in In any case, even if UE thought that he could pull him round, I doubt Levy would want to do business with a club that he is probably targeting to finish above this season.  

10 hours ago, MotoMkali said:

Probably bollocks but it would make sense as sort of a part exchange for azaz and why we got so little.

https://fbref.com/en/players/ba397562/Hayden-Hackney

Statistically looks like the profile of what we need. 

 

I hear he's one of the "Hackney Diamonds" and I'm sure that UE would get a tune out of him. Edwards would also be a great signing at anywhere near that price, the EFL is well worth a look for young talent imo. 

1 hour ago, veloman said:

Did anyone see the piece on BBC today about Coventry wanting to put up a statue (or something ) in honour of Management the team that won the F.A. Cup ? George Curtis was there, so is anybody else old enough to remember when he came to Villa ? We were in the Third Div IIRC and a very poor team. George made a huge contribtion to the defence, just as ,argueably , John Terry did.   If you got past George once, you probably wouldn't do it again 

I am and have said before that I will never forget seeing that giant of a man emerging from the tunnel for his first game at Villa Park. Players just bounced off him. He had thighs the size of my waist back then, not any longer though... His best days were behind him by then, but he did a lot to improve our central defence in the third division, as did JT more recently in the Championship. They both played a big part in getting our club back up to where we needed to be. 

I see Sutton has said "I think they (Boro) can cause the upset this time if Unai Emery makes as many changes as I expect". Bring back Lawro BBC, I think you have to be anti-Villa to do these predictions.