Troglodyte

The "Villa Engine":

Snodgrass seems like a good footballer but he's very predictable. He'll get his way out of situations with his technique at times but generally if he's well marshalled his impact will be limited, and he completely lacks any pace to get in behind or keep defenders too much on the back foot. Hutton's playing a typical Hutton game: lots of effort and his forward runs look like creating openings at times (we so rarely push forward quickly with any conviction that it catches them on the back foot) but his final balls are woefully lacking. I just really hope Hogan can get a goal and pick up some confidence because it would help no end. I'm also worried about Hourihane as I can very much see him getting a red today.

We do look a bit lethargic and slow but should still be able to get another and win this. We've got more quality. The only individual player I'm really concerned about is Taylor - I think he's had a mare. Hopefully we can grab another early in the second half to free us up to bring subs on a little earlier and give some of the lads a rest.

Yes but the interest lies in seeing who will come out on top when the very best teams meet. Of course the spectacle itself often fails to live up to the media hype but at the end of the day it's understandable that there's generally more interest in who's going to win the Manchester derby than there is in Swansea v Crystal Palace. And for what it's worth, there are obviously a huge number of dull games of inferior quality produced by those types of side, too. A tightly fought 5-5 draw between a couple of pub teams might be a gripping game to watch but at the end of the day I'd rather spend my time (if Villa aren't playing, of course!) watching a contest between elite players/teams.

It all depends on whether we loan Januzaj or not.

Very poor after a decent opening. I like Onomah but he's been caught out of position defensively far too many times. With Vassell coming off hopefully we'll push out a bit more and regain some control.

I'd be surprised if Wolves don't win the league. We need to keep pushing on after this and go for at least the play-offs. Not a great performance but if we don't lose momentum as a result then we should still be looking to go up. I'm not Bruce's biggest fan but don't think there's any point opening up the debate about whether he should be here again on the back of today. Regroup and get on with it.

The ref was shit but you can't really argue with that.

Conservative prediction of 4,781 - 0.

Well you're just being pedantic there.

Jesus **** wept.

Yeah, let's bring in Thomas Tuchel. And we'll hire Klopp as his assistant and get Pep Guardiola in to clean the bogs.

Well you should probably follow our youngsters a little more closely

Good news. Hopefully O'Hare and the aforementioned Clark will follow.

Passlack is off on loan to Hoffenheim for the season. Still gives them a choice in the future and it's possible that Passlack will be pushed further up as you suggested, but in terms of their potential it seems like two good options to have.

Go away please.

I don't understand people wanting Onomah off. I think he's looked good.

But we've already got 16 Man Utd players on loan. Does that affect things?

I listened to two or three episodes of MOMS but couldn't get on with it.

Needs signing up on a new deal asap.

In one sense it's quite nice to see the Doctor being so open and honest with the fans - and I know they debate regarding the extent to which he should be is one that's already been had - but that does seem to be the clearest indication yet that he's not happy with Bruce. It appears Wyness/Round agree with Bruce that someone with experience, such as Snodgrass or whoever this signing might be, is the best way to get promoted quickly. In terms of doing it soon, they're probably right - unless you have a great coach, which Bruce isn't. Tony would rather build up young players but knows Bruce isn't necessarily the right man to do so, but is going with the 'football men' he's put in place. It's good that he's doing that, too, because even when he might have been better trusting his own instincts, I'd rather he took advice than went down the Randy route. Over time, though, he'll gain experience of his own and be more willing to call the shots, which hopefully will be a good thing. The issue now is that he's publicly undermined the people he's put in place to make decisions at Villa. At least I know now that signing people like Snodgrass (or whoever) rather than giving our kids more of a chance isn't his decision, but at the same time it probably doesn't help the club for the fans to be aware of that. Also, Bruce is probably making such decisions anyway because Tony wants us up asap.

Maybe he'd be better suited to a career in horticulture.

I can't quite believe the top choice is a manager of the side who are bottom of the Championship. He might be a Villa fan, and Brentford might have looked far better than us when we played them last season, but I really can't see Dean Smith being the answer.

Kodjia ist der Fußballkönig.