peterw

A Norwich mate of mine says he's good if your knowledge of Norwich is just watching highlights. Gives the ball away far too much and caught out of position far too easily. Not for me.

When I were a lad I was quite good at football and did wonder what I'd do if called up for Ireland (maternal grandparents) rather than England. I decided then that I couldn't play for a country where I have no feelings towards other than a generla nod as the birthplace of grandparents. However, if I were good enough to have turned pro then the game has little to do with emotional attachment in the main so who knows. If cash wants to try and get to Qatar I suggest he does go down the Poland route. Southgate is stifling England and picking Cash for these upcoming games would serve no other purpose than to thwart any long-term plans at international level.

So if Villa win the Carabao Cup this season but get relegated, for you that translates as a successful season?

It was a mishit cross - didn't he actually come out and admit as much?

Doesn't mean one coach didn't out-think the other. We were on top at the start of the second half also until the error, at which point Chelsea could just manage the game without having to attack. Chelsea didn't change tactics but personnel.

I remember it all of the time in the 80s and then it dies away for a while. I heard it made the odd comeback in some games I've seen but not that fussed about it.

let's not use (Villa fan) Potter as a convenient excuse to not give Smith praise. He out thought Tuchel and out thought Benitez. He said that Everton wouldn't come to use with 3 at the back and I honestly think he doubled bluffed them into playing a system he wanted them to play. They were quite narrow and we just tried to play around them. Pushed higher second-half on the wings and got our rewards. In what other games would you see the wing-backs replaced by wingers (okay 60 mins and 85 mins in, but you get the point)?

and many wonderkids disappear too. Other players develop later. One size does not fit all.

When Dennis Bergkamp first went to Arsenal many questioned him and his ability until he scored his first goals for them v Southampton (I think) - maybe he got 2 - in around October/November. It just took him and many other new players at clubs, time to settle in. Here we have an 18 year-old at his 'first' first-team squad team who is trying to play with older players, fit into a whole new system than that he is used to, having to earn the trust of the players, management, fans, and then produce the goods. Its a lot to ask of any individual never mind a young kid. We should just relax a little and let him, Jedinak, Ipswich work it all out together.

I think part of the problem is that we yearn for a leading centre-half not in the McGrath mould as that would be nigh on impossible, but in the mould of great centre-halves that are imposing and lead a team. Sides with them tend to be hard to beat. Mings has it up to probably 85% of his game - and yes that's just a random number - so the outpouring of angst and anti-Mings stuff (maybe 'anti' is far too harsh) is the disappointment that we have probably our best centre half for quite some time but that he's just not quite top TOP quality and we want to drag him there, as he would drag us there if so. I am a fan of Mings and think he's been a hugely influential figure for us from the Championship days, and he has improved wholly from that half season - that is palpable. He has also won 12 England caps because of that improvement. I think just about every Villa fan secretly or not, had a moment of panic knowing the whole of Europe would be watching him against croatia and Scotland in the Euros, and he was actually rock solid. You may argue that he had little to do, but what he did was excellent. Its also easily forgotten that although we lost 2-0 away at Belgium Mings actually played well that night. For what we have on our books there is no better centre-half pairing than Konsa-Mings. It was also a centre-half pairing that kept many clean sheets last season. We may lose some more over the next few weeks so the panic button will be being smashed by many. But calm will eventually prevail and our best and most experienced players will guide us through it all to calmer waters as we propel ourselves up the league. The leader of whom will be Mings.

And now we're getting closer to the point that Smith must be licking his lips at. Genuine competition all over the pitch which in turn should drive performances of players up, as they strive to keep hold of the shirt. Come off the bench? Earn it. I doubt Buendia will come straight back in against Everton (he might) but the message will be simple when he does come on - as to all subs - you have to take your opportunity when it arises. El Ghazi did that last season and got his returns. Now its for Bailey, maybe Buendia, Traore, Sanson, maybe Ings if he's dropped...take your chance because you'll be on the bench otherwise.

I just don't get this 'not good enough for where we're going' argument. Its like an astronaut wearing his moon gear when walking around downtown Miami because he doesn't think his normal clothes are good enough for where he wants to go to. Is Mibgs good enough for where we are now? Yes. Is he good enough to try and get us into Europe? Yes. Is he good enough for pushing on thereafter? We'll see.

The difficulty for Barry is that Ipswich didn't expect to be in the position they are in. That puts extra pressure on the manager, not only to produce results but also to not look like he's losing his mind (as it were) by throwing in a young kid. That would be turned against him (Cook) as that he doesn't know what he's doing and hoping the young kid can bail him out. For all parties concerned what we need is bit of stability so Barry can then get some minutes under his belt.

On his own or in the pocket behind Watkins?

Then my friend you are not a reader of the game if you play football. The ball was played in between Luiz (I think) and Tuanzebe. Nothing wrong at that point as the defender then has time to react and the telling point is how the defender reacts to potential dangers. As it went in front of him Tuanzebe has then two options, to go towards the ball (which is a 50/50 decision as he didn't know exactly where Lukaku was) or to carry on running forward and putting himself between the ball and the goal hoping that it allows cover to then come across and snuff out the danger, whilst slowing Lukaku down. He did neither - as the ball went past him he stuttered and looked towards Steer despite it being too far out for the goalkeeper to commit. At that point a potentially dangerous situation became a very dangerous one. Because of that stutter it gave Lukaku the run on him and he was able to use Tuanzebe's sprint momentum against him, cut inside and he took the goal well. Tuanzebe 100% made an error, and because of it he allowed a £100m player take full advantage of it.

Nothing wrong with an opinion but one that seems borne out of knee-jerk reactionism needs to be called out. Do you similarly want Tuanzebe out for the first goal error, and Konsa/Tuanzebe for the third goal error? The 'stat' above just mentions defensive errors not that goals were conceded because of it, what were the defensive errors? If you look at Mellberg's time at Villa he was also massively error-strewn but his good outweighed his bad to the point that people rarely mention them. Same with Laursen, his distribution and lunging in was quite woeful at times, but again that's forgotten about. Mings has been largely excellent for us bar some mistakes. He sounds like just about every defender out there. Maguire had been pulled from pillar to post last season (around this time) for his errors and yet he is still captaining club and country. Does he need to be sold? Not yet, in my opinion, and unless you have a track record of arguing why he should be sold then your opinion is based on short-term results and emotion. Which is the worst possible way of trying to argue one way or the other.

I am most certainly not a finance expert and am just guessing...BUT...from an individual perspective the better off financially that you are, the higher the overdraft you may ask for and receive. With Villa getting a lot of money last season from finishing 11th (I'm not counting the Grealish money because we/I don't know how that is being paid but of course its there), we have better revenue streams, better sponsorship deals are we now not a more viable financial big business? With that in mind, it is possible we have just asked for the larger overdraft at a time when there is relatively low interest on those loans or overdrafts. Businesses are savvy with their money so if there is a chance of 'free money' to protect themselves (we could have a crap season) then having this overdraft may help next summer rather than being a pointer towards owners selling up. I genuinely don't know and all it takes is someone with an economics CSE to shoot my opinion down. I would also suggest that the overdraft is for Aston Villa and is a season insurance against the club which is why it is not being used for one of the many tributary companies around Villa. Also, I can't see this as being a sign of the tap being turned off considering we have had bids of around £60m turned down for Ward-Prowse and Smith-Rowe.

Have to be honest - I haven't liked one thing that has come out of the Bailey circus since we signed him. There's a lot of background noise and wonkily affixed pictures on walls. He's more Ivo Stas than anything at the moment, with the sounds of laughing in the background.

I don't think he is - a better defender maybe, but as a footballer I don't see much range in Konsa's passing nor am I particularly confident when he is either carrying the ball into the midfield areas, or being closed down in the defensive areas. In both situations I'd have him behind Mings and Tuanzebe.

He's better than that though. We see this mostly as our style calls for him to pass down the channels for Watkins to run onto. Yes, he's no Franz beckenbauer but there are easily called-upon memories of his decent passing that have contributed directly to goals - diagonal long ball at Wednesday for Green to run on and cut back to equalise in a game we went on to win 3-1, down the wing and great ball across into the box for Trezeguet to score at home v Fulham last season (again to equalise in a game we go on to win 3-1.). Actually, bit of a pattern there...

Did we sign him from Wakanda FC?

Have we signed Jim Carey?

I think he'll have a great season for us. He's getting stronger, wiser, and better at his job. He's more of an interceptor than a tackler , surprisingly good in the air, skilful, and can pick a pass. he's what? 22? 23? plenty of time to develop and when he's fully up to match speed I think he'll be identified as one of our major players by next May.

The problem wasn't so much thw width but it was the quality in the final third and in particular what we were getting from central midfield to be able to find those pockets of space. McGinn is good and transitioning through the lines and getting us moving - we didn't have that on Saturday, and Chuk and Young for different reasons were not able to do the job that you want from a number 8. buendia didn't create a great deal but he didn't have the usual triangles we employ, or that he could use to shift the ball quicker. Ings wasn't able to run the channels or drop deep for varying reasons (not his style; doesn't have the pace etc) but mainly because there were no runs from the central midfield areas to get into the space left by him if he did come out of the middle. We noticeable had a press in the first half (when the keeper had it Ings often went and the midfield 3 then pressed and we usually got the ball back, but then everyone was looking for someone to run rather than moving the ball quickly and them getting into the box. I don't remember seeing Young, Chuk, Buendia in there that often. So, its not really a worry just that when better players come back we will be able to the things that will make us create and dominate the centre of the park more often.

maybe the manager wants to get him in and around the squad to learn (as stated above) as much to play. Can only be a positive for the Player and for us.