cheltenham_villa

My assumption is he was one option but maybe not preferred (Torres, Felix may have been higher). Or we had a certain budget and needed to see if we could move on others first or didn't know how much we would spend on Diaby etc. I always hope we start the window with a huge list of well thought out options.

Has anyone spoken about the buy back clause. The only basis for comparison we have is Dougie Luiz I think. His fee from city was c15m and I'm sure we always thought the buy back was 30-35m. I'm assuming Ramsey will be the same. It feels a lot but I suppose it has to be worth it for Burnley to agree it.

I think there is something in that around property and landlords. So many large pension funds are heavily invested in buildings that are leased commercially.

I work in a leadership role within banking (one for the tory board) so i am quite torn between thinking about whats best for our organisation and whats best for me. Its not also lost on me that a couple of us are tapping away on VT during the working day

dont miss those days, a lot of my work is with India and they are largely back in offices now, during covid you would see some working conditions that really made me question how people get anything done. My general position is that its more productive for people to be in an office when working, my personal position is that i dont want to start commuting 2 hours a day again.

The other thing i notice a lot more at the moment, its really hard to be productive at home during the school holidays. Im lucky enough to have an office but the kids are still running in and out, you get distracted by the noise and its very hard to stay focus. I suspect a lot of people have taken to opportunity to save money on child care which does come at the detriment of productivity.

I see lots of similar situations in my organisation, particularly around London. People have relocated and are nervous about returning to the office due to the commute, my nearest is Birmingham City centre but I still don't really want to be heading in every day.

The few reasons im aware, not everyone is more productive at home. Some of the measures I've seen suggest a large number of call centre workers and ops workers aren't as productive. It's harder to give them bespoke training and support. People collaborate better face to face. But mainly companies have big office spaces on long leases and they like to see them full.

Get every pre season game to finish in a penalty shoot out, genuine chance to take a pen in front of a crowd, it at least emulates the walk from the half way line. Im sure i heard that Arsenal have been doing this ahead of the community shield.

He hadn't signed a contract yet because the terms aren't favourable enough for him. No other reason The club is trying to get him to sign a new contract. If they do sign a replacement/strong competitor it may make their negotiation harder.

Mine and my sons cards arrived individually. The save this money on a second class stamp but then send out two letters. Very frivolous

I wonder if he's holding out on signing a new contract to see what we do in the window. Bring in a big name forward and he probably doesn't sign.

Makes me feel a bit more confident if true, though I remember lots of people saying traore could also play through the middle of needed. Watkins and Emi are our biggest risks for me, if we have a long term injury we don't have natural replacements for either without changing the way we play. The same is probably true for nearly every prem team though.

The same could be said for Mcginn..... He's bounced back alright. The return to form is a pleasant surprise.

Has Diaby previously played as a through the middle forward though? I thought he'd always been a wide player. The other players you name certainly have.

Cup is the only answer. We've only won 2 really in my villa watching lifetime. I remember both days so well, I'd give anything to share a cup win with my son.

Striker is surely a priority. If Emery won't give Archer more than 15 minuted in a friendly when 2 nil up its a problem.

Yeah it suggests Unai thinks he is a long way off the starting 11. Hes coming on now, hopefully he can have an impart.

Maybe both will be sold

Why do you think that? On the basis that the rest of us have head of a buy back clause, it's hard to believe that it's a brand new sporting director to suggest one. I'd suggest it's more the fact that for the very first time we are in a position where a player would consider signing a buy back clause with us. It's worth remembering that the player also needs to agree to it and up until now we were attractive enough that anyone would think about doing that.

I think this team is likely the one that status vs Newcastle.

i dont think you can really be a prem striker these days who is just clinical in the box. You need to do much more. Ings is the only example of that i can think of. Everyone else has attributes outside, creativity, work rate, hold up play. We all (generally) excuse Watkins finishing record because of what he does off the ball.

agree with all that you have said. I would like Archer to get a good chance. I dont think Archer is in a position to be relied upon should we lose Watkins for a while. The player profile makes it tricky. Personally i still expect to see another forward come in, i think its a very difficult position to recruit for.

I had been thinking very similarly. The drop from Wakins to Archer is large, particularly because we are a team set up to play to Watkins and Archer is a very different type of player. I dont think hes been bad in pre season, I just think the boro move may have set a high bar. In reality though when you are in a good championship side, you do get 2 or 3 good chances, particularly when players like Akpom or dominating defences. From there to largely playing up front on your own and having to do a lot of work outside the box against better quality defences is a huge step. Personally i still think he would benefit from a full year in the championship or prem where is the main striker.

Maybe unpopular but I really hope we get as strong a group as possible. I remember so many nothing games on a Thursday night under MON. You can't beat a competitive game under the lights at VP