nick76

Wasn’t there an interview in Italy last month I think where he wouldn’t rule out a move back to the PL this summer. Probably means nothing but at the time was a surprise and led to some tentative speculation from journos.

Samba wanted to go back to France.

If we want a sell on it would likely be at the expense of a smaller upfront fee so would cause harm. So it’s just whether we want the money now or risk for a future possible fee. I’d rather the fee upfront with him to be honest.

This thread is really starting to hurt my eyes. Surely there is a law against the abuse my eyes is getting from this thread. I’m starting get too old, I’m not cool anymore if I ever way, i don’t have design bone in my body but I’m thinking of starting a career in shirt because I could do better. The fan designs are generally better than professional, highly paid designers which is certainly messed up. There has to be a better way of designing kits.

Secession - It’s just bonkers, there would go all their federal jobs, military, federal funding and grants. Like a child who wants to run away and doesn’t understand the implications or life. It would be funny to see!

Their club might have leaks, we generally are only aware of Villa buying anybody before it happens from the selling club. Villa is a fortress when it comes to leaks but the selling party or the buying party in this case, as we know, other clubs have more leaks. We were the same before this current regime came in so it wouldn’t surprise me if their fans heard snippets from their club but we haven’t from our club. It’s probably guess work but you never know, it does however seem strange they are buying a player similar to Davis and is not Davis, it tends to point to cost.

That’s the disagreement, some think he’s ok, some think he’s an upgrade on our current midfield. You obviously on the former argument.

He is if Chelsea aren’t looking to sell him and we want him. 22 year old, England International with some PL experience I think it’s a very low risk purchase, with a likely high resale value. If we want him then if it’s £50m instead of £40m the benefits outweigh the cost.

I love McGinn, I also think Zinchenko is a quality player that when I’ve seen play in midfield has looked quality. I think he would be a starter in our midfield here.

Their fans don’t think they will now given they are similar types of players and we are asking too much for Keinan

Nah the break sends people mad!

From Tommy? Never seen that before from him so I’d be surprised.

I agree, that European money is so big though and that's why I think they sacked Smith when they did and brought in Gerrard and also why I think we still have a s few transfer surprises to come before the season starts. the owners know how big a prize Europe is money wise and we need to get there quickly given the field for European places is getting bigger with Newcastle new owners.

I honestly have no clue. I did not enjoy last season at all under either Smith or Gerrard. I enjoyed small patches like the Old Trafford game, the first six games of Gerrard where the team played like Gerrard himself used to play it was great. The three wins early this year were good as well but 75% of the season was painful under both managers from Smith's losing run that got him sacked to Gerrard's second half of the season poor run including 9 points in 10 games at one stage. With injuries and change over of manager, I just didnt enjoy it and on the pitch we had such a soft underbelly and made what seemed countless individual mistakes. It makes me not have any idea what we'll do this season. With a few more players, we have a talented squad that should be pushing for 7th but we know the competition is hard. I want to aim for 60 points. In terms of what I think will happen, I have no idea, I cant even predict. Sometimes I can see a real strong push for Europe with Kamara being a massive piece that we have been missing, Coutinho settled and him and Buendia somehow connecting and surely either Watkins or Ings will really start firing with that supply line. Carlos for some reason I feel can become a cult hero and hopefully a rock at the back. Then sometimes I think, I havent seen anything on the pitch in 2022 that I have really been excited about, we seem to lack cohesion, Gerrard and the team seem not to be able to get the best out of players or at least working together. I watch Coutinho, Mings, Watkins, McGinn, Bailey all go off and play well for their countries and all scored in one international window and looked like they never met when they came back to Villa. I dont get it and thus I worry about another 45 point season. Honestly, what I want is come away from Villa Park proud of the boys, whether that is win, draw or loss. To feel like we have played together, there is cohesion, energy and a determination and I will be happy. If that get us 7th or 10th I'll be so much happier either way. So I dont have a prediction of where we'll end. We should aim for 7th and I think anything less than 10th isnt really acceptable. Given you have asked the question, I predict 9th. The only way Gerrard leaves given his relationship with the management is if he has a similar start to Smith this season, then I could see him being in trouble especially if there is a quality manager floating around like Poch will be (He'll be snapped up quickly though). I think Gerrard will at least be average which wont get him the sack, I'm just hoping though that Gerrard will be awesome and gets us really going and give us a good go at an European place even if we dont eventually get it. We do need a few more players in though to give him a chance of doing that.

I love that this thread is still going, it just keeps lingering and doesnt want to die away. At first I was thinking why hasnt this been moved to Other Football but now it has become very interesting to see how long it can last before the death nail of the mods....it's a little sideshow on the thread board to see if it's still there when I come onto the site.

Sounds like my usual weekend so you're not far wrong!

Our problem is the barrier of FFP. The European clubs are generating far more revenue than we are, the London clubs can generate bigger revenues so our model to compete with those clubs is investment from NSWE but that is limited by FFP and while we have headroom at the moment it's going to become an issue as we keep buying better players with fees and huge salaries unless we can get into Europe to increase the revenue side of the business and all that money it attracts.

I drank a lot and partied during those years, so it's a little hazy to be fair

that's hyperbole and certainly not my view and given I'm one of two people who seem to be on the "negative" side tonight I assume you are putting me in that category. It's amazing that we cant analyse, scrutinise, praise or criticise without silly statements like that. I want the best for Villa. My family and I have paid for our season tickets again even though we werent going to, increasing my 77 years old mom whose a loyal season ticket holder and has not the greatest health by 32% is taking the pee almost too far but we did renew. We put our money where our mouth is and 100% support at the ground throughout the matches, and have done for generations. We have the right to come on here and discuss concerns about Gerrard or any manager because that is part of the reason for fans to discuss, and the site is kindly run by Limpid and the moderators. I want Villa to succeed, I want Gerrard to succeed, I've never wanted Gerrard sacked. I think he's brilliant with the media, I think he's brilliant so far at getting real quality in the door which none of our previous managers could've attracted but I have concerns about the game play, the coaching and the tactics, and yes too early but I can only judge based on what I saw to date and not some fantasy about next season. If, like some have said, we have to wait for next season then this forum would be a waste ground because we cant discuss until then. I am hopeful he can turn the form around, that he can get some consistency but i have reservations about it certainly because he couldnt get the best out of the squad he has for over six months. Will time and some more of his players make a difference, we all hope so but this narrative of we want Gerrard to fail is just plain silly. There obviously will be one or two who think that but the likes of me and others who discuss generally dont think like that and i feel it's unfair for comments like that to be directed.

I thought the fans want another destroyer but aren’t the hints from the club suggest Gerrard wants an 8

Yeah but loan is different from a permanent move for a number of reasons but it’s certainly a good sign

Interesting to see if he’s one of these “London Only” type players if he leaves Chelsea.

He did have a run of 9 points from 10 games, which included wins over relegated Norwich and Burnley from the West Ham game onwards so not the level of Sherwood but wasn’t a great period.

That’s only your view about Smith, it makes no difference and we’ll never know. The question is, do you think Gerrard turned our form around? After the initial burst of six games our run rate was very similar to Smith’s so did Gerrard turn it around? I agree Smith wouldn’t have attracted Digne, Coutinho and I’ll add Kamara. We know that Gerrard is brilliant at interviews, the media loves him, he’s brilliant at getting quality players in. Nobody has denied that. The question or the concern is, can he get the best out of players once he has them? He didn’t with the players he had last season but can he with some new players and some more time on the training pitch? That’s the million dollar question that we have to wait until next season to see. We are all hopeful!

But the second half of the 20/21 season was really poor so I’m not sure that’s the comparison you really want to make mate.