The Fun Factory

If this keeps on going any longer this thread will be full of innuendo and Kenneth's.

Had we beaten Fulham he would probably have tried to flog Villa as a premier league club and cashed in with a small profit. Had Wes and Naseef not bought us we would have gone into administration, and could well possibly be in League One at the moment. A complete chancer and I am surprised that an experienced businessman in Steve Hollis fell for it at the time. It smelt dodgy from day one. Xia just chucked the parachute payments at players and hoped for the best. It was total cringe when he turned up at the playoffs in 2019.

Well we just have to dust ourselves down and go again. We need the big W at the weekend to get back on track after a tough run of fixtures. Shocking refereeing again.

Blues and Albion goal would be enough to put Conor in a modern Villa hall of fame. Brillant scences for both of them.

It's only a loan so lets see if he will come back. If not I thank him for his four years of service and some really important goals and assists along the way. A real class act who had to get to the Premier League the hard way by going up through every division in the Football League. I think the Swans have got a cracking signing for the rest of the season.

Would somebody please think of the children.

They let him going thinking he wasn't good enough, and they have the still the same manager and probably different transfer targets. Luiz might be happy being first choice for us for now, its hardly affecting his international career. We are a catch now. Lets be positive.

Call in JFK? (Joe sweary Kinnear)

Will people stop assuming Dougie is going back to City? I have never seen anything in either body language or words from Smith or Purslow that is this is going to happen. The last few years has been constantly talk of Jack and McGinn leaving us- and now both have signed new contracts. I know when have been scarred with previous times of Barry, Milner, Delph etc but this is a new Villa in a new era. This fella will probably either replace Conor or Marvelous in the match day squad.

15 Million is pocket money nowadays and fits into the fairly young bracket the club is looking for. However he is in his mid 20s and has yet to play for France so I don't think he is top, top level but perhaps a useful addition to the squad. Probably suspect it may be the end of the road for Conor which is a bit sad.

Wes never looked comfortable in the box, his natural terrain seemed between midfield and the penalty area in which he had good vision and hold up play. I still don't really think you can play him as a lone striker, which goes back to the question why we thought just buying him and him alone was a good idea considering we have always played one up top under Deano. Probably one of the reasons Suso was let go. Watkins is a completely different player, arguably not as talented but fits the system and is obviously a Smith signing.

I don't think we lack DM cover, we need a midfielder who is a set piece specialist and a bit better than Conor.

With Rooney walking into a manager's job with barely any experience and about 5 years younger, I do wonder if JT really wants it. I think he is happy with his work/life balance being a number 2. Insert joke here.

Apart from being the all time England goal scorer and having 120 caps. His best 2 seasons in terms of goals were 2009-2010 and 11-12, in which he was in his mid 20s and at his peak, not when he was a teenager. He was a bit of a flat track bully for England and he was not consistent as he only scored 30 plus goals in 2 seasons, which marks him down for me in being truly world class. Also by about 30 he really declined quite a lot and lost a lot of mobility.

He usually did the job in the qualifiers but not for the tournaments. 2010 and 2014 he was poor and he was in his 20s and therefore career peak. Bar Becks and Red Nev a lot of Man U players in that era I would say underperformed for England, I wonder if that was the Fergie effect.

Made some comments in the Championship thread about Wazza. You can't knock his record but he was too inconsistent for me to be labelled genuinely world class. He did have a couple of great seasons but more often it was a streak of 10-15 games and then looked average. From about 30 he was shot, compared to Ronaldo at 35 who is still going strong. Also for England bar 2004 he was rubbish when it came to the crunch.

Rooney now full time manager at Derby and has ended his playing career. It sounds churlish to have a go at his record. All time goal scorer for England and Manchester United. 5 times Premier League winner. Champions League winner. And yet he career was remarkably up and down. Periods when he did look world class, followed by long periods of looking bang average- often even in the same season. In the 2 seasons he scored over 30 goals in all competitions the following seasons he did not even get 20. And for England feels a bit of a what if. His best tournament by far for England was Euro 2004 when he was still a child. Every other competition he flattered to deceive, often out of form or carrying a injury, or both. From about 30 his career went into a rapid decline. You get the impression he was hardly the most professional player in looking after his body. Look at Ronaldo who is his same age and is still playing at Juventus. I will be interested in how well he does as a manager. People say he has done a good job at derby but a 30% win percentage so far is not that impressive for a underachieving side.

It would be pointless getting rid now, maybe the summer. However he has recently signed a new contract so if he did drop back down to the Championship he would probably have to take a pay cut, or we will have to agree on a loan.

Drinkwater is still available? He cost Chelsea £30 million. If that is what Barkley is worth then I think we could have a bargain.

Has anyone bought a player yet? Has covid finally affected even the Premier League? Need another striker/forward as an alternative to Watkins. I wouldn't expect Big Wes to play much at all this season. And maybe another winger. We are a couple of bad injuries away of really wrecking our season. However after the last window buying in January can be 'mixed'. Apart from signing Barry.

Surviving 4 years at Villa is the equivalent of lasting for about 10 at other clubs.

I have always said about Bruce as a bloke he always a decent person and you wouldn't mind having a pint with him (post covid) but after 2 years of his style of play I wouldn't have him back! You would think he might be a touch more inspirational this time as Newcastle is the one job he has always wanted, being his hometown club.

I know others have said that they are limited coaches but i amazed they have not got a job again. Not given a fair chance at Huddersfield who had a lot of problems adjusting to the Championship again.

In fairness to Bruce as a club Newcastle have been treading water for well over a decade under Ashley. He is a very much a meat and potatoes manager and hardly an inspired choice but until they get sold Newcastle are going nowhere. I think they will stay up but its hardly sparkling stuff from a fanbase that wants to be entertained.

That doesn't count.