villabromsgrove

I've been really excited about the possibility of signing Gonçalves, but the more I've read about his stats and history makes me wonder whether he is exactly the player we need. His stats are excellent, but when you factor in the number of penalties he scores (as part of his goals total) and the obscure names of most of the teams he's scored and assisted against ,the stats become less impressive. Ramsey has played the same number of games for Villa in the PL as Gonçalves has played for Sporting, and JJ has played twice as many age group internationals as PG just to compare experience. Also PG has only played two senior internationals for Portugal (a friendly against Spain in 2020 was one, and I couldn't find details of the other). He was in the initial group of 55 players named for the World Cup, but didn't make the squad. In his two years at Wolves he played only one competitive game and that was an EFL cup game against Sheffield Wednesday. One of the reasons he gave for returning to Portugal was homesickness. I know he was young then and that wouldn't have helped him. I'm glad that Monchi has joined us because I watched him say on his YouTube videos that he looks at the person just as much as he looks at the player, which is hugely important when you're thinking of taking a player out of an environment that may have become a comfort zone. I'm still very impressed with Gonçalves, but I wonder whether he is a perfect fit for us. At his asking price that's what he has to be .... a perfect fit!

Speculation is fine and is the life blood of forums, but can we have more "Positive" speculation please. These are exciting times.

Welcome Pau and Paula to the Villa family.

Tielemans and Torres. Already a big technical improvement.

I noticed this morning that Jonathan David has been left out of the Canadian CONCACAF squad, apparently because he is sorting out a move from Lille to a "bigger league". He would definitely improve us imo.

I genuinely thought that Madueke was one of our weakest players. He fumbles the ball and gives away possession regularly. Ramsey was much better physically and technically.

I'm 74 and I feel the same. Villa Park is my spiritual home.

I had to laugh at this. Back in the sixties when I was a rampant young man, you could get your collar felt by Plod for comments like this.

UEFA tv. simple and free to register.

Ramsey must be waking up a lot of top managers and football directors right about now.

England U21's look so comfortable on the ball. Our players are finally as technically proficient as the best teams. Villa under Emery will delight neutrals in the near future.

Archer scores from Ramsey assist.

Great build up and finish.

he has now

I think some of us are still thinking in financial terms of 'lower/mid table Villa'. If we are going to become 'top six Villa' we need to pay the going rate for players of the quality that Emery needs. To lose gettable targets because we start doing a 'Daniel Levy' would be unacceptable given the assurances Emery and Monchi have been given. I'm sure NSWE will rise to the occasion!

I've just looked at his instagram, and your reason for him not having signed yet is a lot better than mine, lol. His new wife is both intelligent and breathtakingly attractive. I'll look forward to welcoming them both to the Villa family. Now I am going to be really disappointed if he doesn't sign for us!

Being an optimist I like to think that the reason he hasn't signed yet is because he can't until at least Saturday when the European transfer window opens. Also it makes a lot of sense to let Monchi announce this signing early next week. It will be a good start for him, even if he hasn't been the one doing the preparation for a cracking signing. Of course it might be that he isn't coming to us, but I'm ignoring that possibility for now and going with the positive .

Countdown to the weekend .... Monchi starts his job at Villa officially on Saturday July 1st in just four days time, and the European transfer window opens on the same day. Next week could be exciting! When do the players return to training? It should be by the end of next week, with our first pre season match against Walsall happening on July 15th. Emery will want them to have a good ten days fitness work to avoid strains and injuries. Monchi will be rolling his sleeves up and working hard so that Unai can integrate new players into his system asap.

I agree with you CVB. I can't think of another club who would be willing or able to give Unai Emery so much control. This is a unique once in a lifetime project that can satisfy all Emery's ambitions going forward. The chance to build a team totally in his own image, and to have both great financial support and top quality experts working in tandem with him, is an amazing opportunity. It could be a job for life.

I'm looking forward to Unai Emery buying players who naturally fit his intended style of football. Pau Torres is a prime example of a player who will allow us to play the ball out from the back with a greater degree of technique and safety. Tielemans should add a similar improvement to our pass completion rate in front of Torres. That would be two positive additions if Torres signs.

John McGinn deserves to be team captain. He leads by example as he gives 100% every match. His commitment can be inspirational to his team mates this coming season. Tyrone Mings should be made Club captain as that position has just been vacated by Ashley Young. He has the respect of our players and is a genuinely caring and likeable person.

As a lifelong Villa fan I'm in my happy place right now. I know the transfer "links" are almost all made up by desperate journo's and wannabe's, and I'm waiting patiently for the days when AVFC tell me who we have signed. I don't think we need to argue about targets because none of us know who will actually sign until the deal is done, but we can certainly enjoy speculating. My wish list is .... Jonathan David, Pedro Goncalves and Pau Torres. Even if my wishes come true, that would still only mean that there would be three days of this transfer window where I would go wild with delight! The rest of the time I will pass in relaxed contemplation of what's to come. This is the best time to be a Villa fan in my opinion.

I haven't got a clue who we will sign, but one thing I'm certain of is that Monchi will know every single detail about the suitability and availability of each of Emery's targets. Meanwhile as fans of the same club we should be able to speculate in a friendly manner while waiting for the signings to happen. UTV.

I'm genuinely baffled by some of the negativity on here. Nasser and Wes have both shown a more hands on approach now that after five years they have manoeuvred the club into their intended "ready for take off" position. they have recently employed three absolutely top professionals in Heck, Monchi and Emery to run the most critical aspects of AVFC. Does that sound like NSWE are shaking their heads and giving up?

I don't think the Saudis are trying to improve their "Pro League" which is the equivalent to our EFL division two. Only one of their teams (Al Ittihad) has a decent attendance of just under 40,000. The next best is 16,000 then two teams have 12,000, one 8,000 and the rest have 6,000 or less. This sudden attempt to buy top named players for big money and huge wages is not about football, it's about gaining considerable financial leverage in the biggest most successful football league in world football. The fact that "PIF" have now shown that they are in deed acting on behalf of the Saudi state by taking control of the top four Saudi clubs should immediately disqualify them as fit and proper owners of Newcastle Utd, as they gave a legal undertaking that they were totally independent of Saudi state control. This is now obviously untrue. The PL should act to rectify their mistaken trust in PIF.