cheltenham_villa

Watkins looks very lively, I dont think hes lost a challenge yet. His link up play with Barkley is good and I think both are creating lots of room for AEG and Targett.

They all sound a bit like players we would have tried for last year when progressing from a relegation threatened side to a mid table side. Are they players to take us forwards?

It's very hard to determine whether this is a labour issue until they are the party in power or close to being. The only areas you can draw parallels are where they have mayoral representation and arguably the situation in liverpool doesnt paint a great light. I think their are 3 scenarios: 1. Awarding of contracts illegally. 2. Awarding of contracts within the law where some moral questions exist. 3. Awarding of contracts, no problem. I think the vast majority are in point 3. Some of 2 and 1 will exist but probably not as much as people like to think. I don't think the recent year has helped where we have seen a huge rise in investment in very short timescales without the governance to support the decision making. The scenarios will be exploited in the same way that fraudsters exploit the public.

I dont think it's that simple. Their are clearly some abuses of power but theirs a narrative now that all lobbying is wrong. It's not. It's how companies are able to share plans and opinions with politicians. For the tory party, their lobbyists may also be sponsors. Some of those sponsors will also own large companies who look to gain services from the government. When those services are awarded it doesnt always mean something bad has happened. It's sometimes just because two parties have similar goals.

Agree. I was following your statement that unions were public, legal, etc. In my option that does not mean all of their actions are acceptable.

I assume your experiences of unions are different to mine. The point I attempted to make however was If labour were in power, their decisions, the awarding of contracts would all be heavily influenced by the unions that gave them power. This is how I see the conservatives operating today just with different paymasters. The point around around open, public, legal and democratic is subjective as these people are the law makers. As much as you seem to dislike it, it currently appears that the Minister of Health may have ticked all of the boxes much to your dismay. I'm not here defending the tories, I think these contracts are disgusting. It's just something I've come to expect from politics and all of the parties involved.

I couldnt really care less about this to be honest. I just dont think it's any different to the relatively closed shop that is already the champions league. Were already a league where the tv company decides how things will work and the fans have no input. As a villa fan this may open up opportunities due to the wealth of our owners.

I dont see it as any different to the unions influence over labour and I dont mean that in a labour vs conservative way. Individuals or groups with money and power find ways to influence the outcome of politics and how the country is run. It's a sad reality. A labour run government would be most likely awarding contracts to the people that had put them in power.

May make sense, I'm sure we were told that Smith had made him 3rd choice though.

Absolutely scandalous posting a perfectly rational explanation to a non story.

Does anyone know why he was loaned out and we stuck with Elmo? He was number 1 at the of the season, promoting Cash names sense but I just dont know how he ended up below elmo

I wondered this. In the plus column, he seems gettable, he would definitely improve the starting 11. In the negative column. He often seems involved in arguments during games, against us this season we had the issue with Mings. I'm not sure if he'd be the best team fit? Also it probably isnt where we see the team going. The recent accounts suggested we'd be looking at younger players on the way up. Not sure that's Zaha

Completely agree. We are making do with luiz in this position. I think he does brilliantly at taking the ball with his back to everyone else but doesnt have the steel to win and turnover the ball. I'm not a fan of a big lump in these positions, I really liked when Petrov started to play there. Anyway, back to Kienan. Probably not the striker to support Watkins.

I get the sentiment and I like it. The big difference though is that gaming starts on a level playing field, everyone has the same chance. You cannot say the same of ownership in the premier league.

I think it's not just breaking in. Its being able to do it year after year. I agree though its absolutely crucial. Part of that is also being able to retain your best players.

I'm torn. A CDM would hugely improve the first 11 but I think our biggest risk is not having cover for Watkins or the full backs.

Given the recent reported losses it's made me wonder, what's in it for the owners? No real affiliation for the club, losing a bucket load of money and it will take a hell of a lot more to achieve success as Lerner found out. I assume at some point they sell. Can we realistically expect them to keep pushing in hundreds of millions?

I really like him but i dont see him making an England squad, such competition at right back. If Trent and AWB cant make it into the squad, it would take some going for Cash.

I was thinking the opposite. Hes so worried about his selection he doesnt want to come back unless 100% fit.

How do the roll out stats compare across the different vaccines? I assume it possible that other vaccines have similar rare side effects but the low level of roll out means we havent seen them yet.

None of us know but the injury and recovery seems odd. Hes been very vocal about his england dream, it wouldnt surprise me if he is a little more cautious than previous.

I wonder if this delay is the england impact. Jack previously would have ran through a wall for villa, now having worked so hard to get into the euro squad he knows that he is one rushed return away from missing that whole tournament.

I know what you mean. It's a lot of money and with Jack out hes on of the players that we look to step up. On the other hand hes been very unlucky with a couple of disallowed goals and will likely finish around the 14-15 prem goals mark which is a good return.

Not sure. Sometimes it's about being on the same weve length as others on the pitch. For trezeguets second goal he makes a superb near post run. If Davies looks up it's a tap in for Watkins and another goal. It was good to see him getting in the box a bit more yesterday.

As well as positions, I think we also need to consider the quality of additions that we bring in. If we want to progress then surely we need players that are ready to come in and improve the first 11 from day one. I think west ham is a good example, Benrahma looks a useful addition for the future but Lingard was the player that has really boosted their push towards top 6. I think we need to balance our arrivals. I'd like to see someone like Ings.