Adam2003

4 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

thats a weird one, isnt the guy he is competing with, playing at championship equivalent level or something?

To be fair that other guy is probably Polish which might work in his favour (the manager who persuaded Cash to declare and was chasing similar second-generation connections has left, right?)

3 hours ago, Delphinho123 said:

Sell Ramsey for 65m. Buy MGW for 45m. Who says no. 

Forest paid up to £42m for MGW*, can’t see them selling for £3m profit…
 

*£25m plus £17m add-ons says the internet and a bunch of those will have been hit already.

2 hours ago, est1874 said:

How are you reporting this as fact? It's not at all provable that this was the case. Pretty sure Gerrard bought him for depth as cover for Luiz and/or McGinn in the roles Gerrard was deploying them. This was long before Kamara came in remember.

I’m reporting it because I remember having the conversations on the day when we signed Dendoncker and Arsenal were upping their bid for Dougie at £5m a pop and he was expected to move. It was all happening on the same deadline day and hanging on to DL was the best business we did that window.

Poor Dendoncker. Signed on deadline day in a panic to replace Douglas Luiz and then that deal didn’t get done. Which is also why sometimes when we say “get our business done before we sell players and leave ourselves short” it doesn’t quite work!

3 hours ago, rodders129 said:

I think he has a very good shout for the Euros now. Was a very tidy, confident performance against top international opposition. A ball playing RCB as cover for Stones and effective cover for Walker at RB. Well done Ezri 

Agreed, Southgate sounded like he was pleased with him as well. Suppose a lot will depend on fitness of TAA, Trippier, Walker etc as to how much the right back cover matters at the time but he did what he could. Must have a shot of starting against Belgium as well if Walker is anything more than sore?

Just so calm on the ball, casually stepping around two England players in his own area

1 minute ago, GingerCollins29 said:

Hows he played? 

Been ok, poor service tbh, run the channels well, had one great chance that the defender got a nick to. Solid enough but nothing to cement a spot ahead of Toney if that’s his competition. Has played full 90 so wonder if Toney will get the Belgium game.

Our 77th England player?

2 hours ago, Tom13 said:

My question is with his character - if you're a passionate countryman - you do anything to help

I have a great character - one of the best! - and couldn’t care less about my national team. Not sure those two things are connected

12 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Alot of Jamaicans are pissed.

I never watched the full I terview but some of the snippets make horrible headlines.

Bit of background though, this has alot of Craig Butler written into it, he's been " beefing " with the JFF for years and will undoubtedly have been instrumental in his ear.

Leon definitely DOES love Jamaica and the National team, but he's been " spoilt " throughout his career with facilities and a bloke who has always made him believe he's the best player in the world and deserves the best.

JFF is also a terrible organisation but truth is somewhere in between.

They are both wrong and now it's gotten petty.

As I mentioned yesterday, a few of the girls from the World Cup no longer play for Jamaica ( Bunny Shaw from City for example ) and have come out with similar ( less harsh ) rhetoric, but due to a much lower profile it hasn't made news or wound ppl up like this.

Let’s be honest if we look at this dispassionately it’s a bit of a spoiled baby (most footballers) and a bit of a joke organisation (most FAs) having a spat. And as you say it isn’t just Bailey - Antonio is also skipping squads isn’t he, but without speaking about it?

Can only be good for Villa though. Last thing we need is Bailey needing to take a flight with three changes from the UK to Jamaica (his big complaint) then the same again home, and expect him to perform in the PL. I’m all for players playing for their countries but if you’re Emi Martinez this week you took a private jet to Philadelphia for the Argentina game and you’re staying in the Ritz there - coming back and performing after that is a bit different. And yet what can the Jamaican FA do if they’ve got no money? 

1 hour ago, HeyAnty said:

Well is he not supposed to be their next big hop

Not sure tbh, haven’t really followed the Colombian media perspective on him! Have you seen them presenting him as the next big star?

I think the Davis comparison falls down slightly when you consider Duran has already scored twice as many PL goals as him and should overtake him for goals in all competitions in the next 6 weeks or so

2 hours ago, HeyAnty said:

Strange hes not in colombia squad especially when they are playing in London tonight 

He’s played about 1.25 games since being injured for months and months…

On 17/03/2024 at 19:46, Villa_Vids said:

He is going to be judged every game he plays for us that is the true nature of football, it doesn't get any easier for Rogers in terms of criticism and judgement. No hiding places.

I don’t mind him being judged, or think he needs a hiding place, it’s just frustrating that many of the people judging him (and all footballers) are very stupid

4 hours ago, Czarnikjak said:

Most likely he will end up somewhere in Italy.

Speaks the language apparently 

1 hour ago, Made In Aston said:

That's not what I'm saying at all . They clearly had doubts, as it was a loan with an option rather then outright purchase. Those doubts have materialised and we won't be signing zaniolo permanently.

Think as much as anything this may be because we didn’t have £30m available without breaching FFP. I agree with you it was sensible but not sure we would have had another option at the time.

9 hours ago, DJBOB said:

I don't agree with this all too much and I think it's okay to question starting both Duran and Watkins. Starting one or the other makes more sense.

Starting both is like when we played Ings and Watkins at the same time - they just got in each other's way. It makes little sense to play two out and out strikers especially in Unai's system (and is exceedingly rare in the prem these days).

Watkins and Duran had the least amount of touches in the first half and we struggled to really impose ourselves on the game as a result.

Yeah agreed, that’s why I said “not every selection gamble pays off” in the post you responded to.

22 hours ago, DJBOB said:

The thunderblasts are amazing but the majority of the match for him is played off the ball and he’s got a long way to go to come close to matching Ollie. 

For sure, but comparing him age 20 with a bunch of sub appearances under his belt to a 28-year-old who is probably the best off the ball striker in the league is a tough comparison. I didn’t watch Watkins for Exeter when he was Duran’s age but I’m sure he also had a long way to go to match where he is today.

On 17/03/2024 at 09:35, MWARLEY2 said:

Chaos incoming. He earned this start on Thursday night . Take this chance Rocketman

Think this is the thing - lots of crying “what was Unai thinking?” and I even saw someone say “what would Diaby think with Duran starting ahead of him?” but if he hadn’t started Duran, after coming off the bench and scoring a screamer vs Ajax, we would be thinking “well what does he have to do.” We have more than 11 players now and not every selection gamble will pay off but all these lads are learning the PL as they go so the minutes are valuable for our future whatever.

I think we will win the Europa Conference and I think we will get CL.

And I can easily see a world where John McGinn plays a couple more seasons for us then goes to win a title or two with Celtic. 

And that means I can quite easily see a world where McGinn’s career has him winning the Scottish League Cup with St Mirren, the Scottish Cup with Hibs, joining Aston Villa in the Championship, winning promotion in his first season from his goal in the play-off final, captaining the club in the Premier League and Champions League, winning a European trophy, then going back to Scotland to win the league. And along the way probably getting very close to being his country’s all-time top scorer while playing in multiple international tournaments.

Feel like in 2030 people will look at his career and say “wow I didn’t expect that in 2015.”

1 hour ago, villa89 said:

Luiz and tielemans can't play in a two in the middle, neither has the legs or movement to cover enough ground. 

Of any player regularly used in a two in the middle this season, Douglas Luiz has probably been the best in the league.  

19 minutes ago, omariqy said:

West Ham are either world beaters or relegation fodder. No in between.

It’s funny because you look at them and they have more players than most teams who I would love to have in our squad - Kudus, Bowen, Paqueta, I’m personally a fan of Soucek and Coufal - and then a few who are nowhere near our level. Means you can get a completely mixed bag depending on who shows up for them on the day

1. Douglas Luiz
2. Allan Evans 
3. Stan Lynn
4. Anwar El Ghazi 
5. Phil King that time