villabromsgrove

I wouldn't be at all surprised if both Keinan and AEG aren't playing Premier League football for Forest next season.

I love this post .... I'm 73 and I enjoy every moment of supporting Villa, win, lose or draw. I"m excitedly sharing your hopes for a couple of seasons of golden Villa. I thought I was the oldest on here Antrim, so I raise my hat to you out of respect to you my mature friend! I've supported Villa since the 1950's and if we never win anything more during my admittedly time limited lifetime, I will still be a very happy and contented guy. Perhaps the handful of anti Gerrard posters will read this and realise that you don't 'support' Villa with a limited agenda .... you support Villa (warts and all) for life. Cheers Antrim.

As a couple of other people have said, I think we'll see the best of Mings next season with a dominant and experienced right centre back partner.

I like Matt Targett as a player and personality. He only had one deficiency which in the end saw him replaced (imo). Matt is too slow. A player can improve most weaknesses but a total lack of pace is irrevocable. I would say exactly the same about Douglas Luiz. Lovely technically adept player but his lack of pace leaves him beaten too often and causes him to make silly fouls in dangerous areas as players go by him. It seems as though Gerrard is addressing this issue quite ruthlessly.

Speaking selfishly as a Villa fan a good few weeks rest is exactly what Mings and Watkins need before coming back to a really important pre season period of intense work.

I can see the potential of a young CB like Botman (although we need a right footed CB) but I believe that a strong experienced Premier League CB pairing is what we need for next season. Mings and Tarkowski would hit the ground running as a pair with no time needed to "learn" the very different challenges of the PL. Tarkowski is the best available RCB who ticks all our required boxes at this moment in time. (imo)

I think you guys are under rating Tarkowski. In my opinion he is exactly the type of RCB that we need to replace Konsa. He is a totally focussed defensive CB who does a no nonsense job of a "Stopper" which is what Mings badly needs alongside him. He's a leader both vocally and by example, and even though he's not tall (6ft 1inch) he's very good in the air and can be dangerous at set pieces. He's built like a light heavy weight and never backs out of a 50/50. He's still 29 so is in his prime for a CB, and I believe he would relish playing in a back line between Mings and Cash. I like the guy and can see him doing an excellent job for a couple of years for whoever he signs for.

It's true, lol .... I support Villa win, lose or draw. My philosophy is simple. If we lose this match, there's always the next game. Losing doesn't kill me any more, and winning is a huge buzz. Villa is in my blood. Being almost guaranteed wins like Man City and Liverpool must be boring. I enjoy the challenge and the uncertainty, because when we win it's immense.

I'm a life long Villa supporter and I'm an optimist, so I sometimes wonder why I continue to browse on VT on a daily basis. For the first time in a long time we have owners who have a long term plan and the wealth to fund it. We have a manager whose name alone will attract players who would not normally give Villa a second glance. Gerrard is key to bringing in the players that we desperately need. I know that we are a long way from where we need to be, but I'm excited by the journey on which our owners and management want to take us. I feel genuinely sorry for "fans" who let their personal agendas override the unstinting support and patience that the club needs from them. Up the Villa!

This is the most encouraging reaction from inside Russia since this murderous war began. Will enough Russians get to read this for it to make a difference, or is their media closed down too tight?

A win, win situation would be for Bissouma to play well and show us what he's got, and Villa still thrash Brighton.

I'm looking forward to today's match. Anyone else looking forward to it? I'm not thinking about our last match, or the one before that, I'm thinking about this afternoon. I hope we put a couple or more in the Brighton net, and I hope the fans have a good time. I'm also looking forward to watching how Bissouma plays, and more important "where he actually plays'. Let's hope it's a good entertaining match. Up the Villa!

Gerrard is as frustrated as we are at our inability to score the goals to beat average teams below us in the league. He highlighted our inability to work Foster yesterday despite having about 20 shots, almost all off target, and thought that he and the team were deservedly booed off after the final whistle. He's a winner who is hugely annoyed with himself and the team. He and his coaches are trying to sharpen up the physical and mental state of a bunch of players who have been coasting for too long, while trying to implement his style of play .... and it's taking time. SG will sort out his own tactical errors, and also bust a gut to turn things around on the pitch. He won't blame the players because he takes the failure to win very personally.

I am more excited about Villa's potential than I've ever been, and that's down to our brilliant owners, our professional admin and most especially Steven Gerrard. I'm going to be patient with this transitional phase, because our future could be golden.

I'm getting frustrated with the fact that a couple of posters with their own agendas make threads like this an unpleasant read. I've already given up joining in the Match Day thread 'chats' because a handful of posters make it such a toxic unenjoyable experience. I've enjoyed browsing VT for many years on a daily basis, but I'm going to have to back off as it's no longer an enjoyable place to be or inducive to managing stress levels. I know there is an "ignore button" but the regularity with which these 'anti' posts pop up means that a thread becomes totally disjointed if I use the ignore facility. May be it's just me getting old and out of touch, but when did supporting your club with patience and common civility, and discussing your concerns reasonably become out dated? When did 'fans' decide that, insults, continual disparagement and regular vitriol were the way to support a team?

Traore is undisputedly talented and can be a joy to watch when he's given a bit of space to play, although I agree with the point TRO made earlier about the rest of the 90 minutes when he's not on the ball. I don't think he has the work ethic, the stamina or the bravery to be first to every ball however painful that may be. That puts him firmly in the "luxury player" category for me. Will SG think that his occasionally outstanding play outweighs his generally poor 'off the ball' efforts, when writing out the starting eleven list? I doubt it. We have Coutinho who is truly gifted and a team player, and Buendia who is both technically gifted and a real physical dynamo. We also now have a mix of midfield footballers who work hard and have the right aggressive attitude and technique. I don't see a place in the starting line up for Traore, but I do see him being excellent as a 65/70 minute sub against tiring opposition on a regular basis. If this doesn't suit him personally, then we can probably recoup most of his price in the summer, because he does have eye-catching talent. SG is turning us into a "14 man first team" as opposed to our previous reliance on keeping our best "11" on the pitch for as long as possible. A talented and committed 14 man Villa match day team, all giving 100% physically for the minutes that they are on the pitch, is going to be difficult to beat going forward.

Here's an idea .... Let's just watch the next seventeen games and enjoy them. Stats are a side show to the game we all love. C'mon the Villa!

I agree. Ashley Young looks really sharp in training clips and is adequate LB cover, so letting an unhappy player go out and play for his future is good for Targett and good for team morale as well as being cost effective. Imo Young could become an excellent coach and motivator with Villa's squad, as he transits from player to his next role in football.

You and I are in the same happy place Paul. I guess that comes from the many years that we've both supported Villa, and our familiarity with being regularly disappointed. Nothing is ever perfect but I think we can now start to anticipate winning games with more confidence than was previously possible. I would love to be privy to the regular conversations between Purslow, Lange and Gerrard but that's never going to happen, so I'm content to trust these guys to do a good job on behalf of us all. The indications so far is that they're up for it.

I was surprised and delighted when we signed Coutinho on loan. I was gobsmacked when we signed Digne permanently. I didn't see either of these moves happening. I was happy with the Olsen signing as I've always thought that Steer struggled to cover the posts sufficiently. I was blindsided by the Chambers signing, that was another one that I couldn't have guessed at in a month of Sundays. Now that the window is closed I am satisfied with who we brought in, and the reasoning behind it all. It makes sense both financially and tactically. I guess we'll learn from Gerrard the reason for not signing an expensive "defensive rock". Was it money, or was it the fact that he prefers to play a different type of midfield? To recap, we've brought in creative talent, an athletic, technical attacking wing back, an experienced big cover keeper, and a utility defensive player who can cover as right CB, RB and can play as a strong central holding midfielder. I think we've had a good transfer window.

SG has made it clear that DL is not a number 6, but is doing a job for us in that position even though the role doesn't suit him. MS is suited to a more attacking role as well. If SG thinks we have too many attacking midfielders, it makes sense to sell one or two players to finance the expensive defensive midfield upgrade.

I've been trying to look at our signings and departures from AVFC's perspective rather than just as a fan. SG has commented that he believes Luiz can go up a couple of levels and has challenged him to do so. He is already a fairly valuable asset and can retain value even with his contract situation if he finishes the season strongly. Sanson is looking really sharp in training and now looks to be the player we signed before his lengthy injury problems. His value may also be enhanced by regular game time putting him back in the shop window. Both DL and MS need to play regularly between now and the end of this season to attract big money approaches this summer (if we intend to upgrade their positions). The pair of them could be sold for a considerable amount if they showcase themselves in our last seventeen games. Signing Chambers (who was player of the season for Fulham in the DM role for Fulham) gives SG the cover to to complete this season without too many problems. We are acting sensibly and leaving ourselves in a strong position this Summer, by not being dictated to by other more desperate clubs. I would have liked us to sign Bentancur or Bissouma, but I understand the reasons for not doing so if that is the case.

If you genuinely believe that then you must have someone in mind although you don't mention who, otherwise you're just posting for effect which is tedious. Who?

This is an unusually public bid negotiation for AVFC. Perhaps Juventus are leaking to show they've got money coming in to assist getting the Vlahovic deal over the line (seems to be just awaiting a medical and signature now), or maybe this is just the loose lipped way deals are done in Italy. I'm sure Villa would prefer to work quietly at the margins until a deal is agreed. One positive I take from this is that Bentancur must have agreed to come to Villa in principle otherwise the protracted negotiations wouldn't still be happening. The only thing that could stop this deal happening in my opinion is if Juventus start to take the p*ss by inflating their demands even further. NSWE/Purslow would walk away for certain if they thought that was happening. Juventus must know that Villa don't have to buy now, and can wait until the Summer to look at other available targets, whereas Juve have to sell to cover a portion of Vlahovic's huge transfer fee.

I was just typing exactly the same thoughts as yours when you posted .... Great minds think alike Phil.