PompeyVillan

Try watching the Barry Bannan interview with auto captions on.

That was in the Spectator? Surely not.

I'm intrigued by this and I think it's almost certainly going to succeed.

I've seen an interview in America with Wes Edens and it's about a new sports channel in the US which is all about sports betting alongside sports coverage. He's bigging it up, about how betting increases engagement, he thinks it's a good thing. I think if we get a nice offer from a betting company, we'll take it.

Amazingly terrible news. A big lesson to learn from though. I should imagine we've paid him off either in full or agreed to pay a significant percentage of his remaining contract. I wonder whether this is going to some sort of smart accounting that allows us to report a lower wage bill next year or some such?

From a marketing perspective surely kids kits should be sold at cost price? The kids are the future of the club, we should be encouraging as many as possible to support the club and wear the kit.

How can it ever be a lie? 'Austerity' is a semantic construct to describe the Conservatives willful dismantling of public services and social support. They implement 'austerity' whenever they are in government. They've claimed to have ended 'austerity', when in fact they've continued to implement 'austerity'. What is the tangible defining line for where 'austerity' begins and ends? There isn't one. They might come up with another word for it soon. It might be that they're making 'efficiency savings', more likely that they're 'implementing the will of the people'. Whatever. All it ever ends up with them mucking the country up. Sorry, off topic.

With this leadership contest it appears to be, 'Who can tell the biggest porkies?' in order to please gammons.

I've left the Labour party. I agree with so much of Labour policy, but the leadership, stance on Brexit and the utterly toxic infighting between members and supporters is something I don't want to be part of. I also didn't want to vote for them in the EU elections and wanted to be honest about it. I'm not abandoning Labour, I just don't want to be a part of it again. Or any political organisation, it creates a rigid mindset that is unhealthy. The only other party I would consider voting for would be the Greens at the moment. I love the freedom to be able to express that view without feeling disloyal.

I don't think he's good enough for the Premier League.

I'm interested in ticket pricing I'd love to see a full Villa Park each week, but it won't happen if tickets are too expensive. I'm also interested in their plans for the stadium, if they have any. Renovation of the North Stand has been on the agenda for years.

It's a yes from me, we've never had VillaTalk representation in the squad.

That's because the females are not always female.

What striking about that interview, is the interview itself. Not often you will see a chief executive sit down with a manager and do a joint interview. I think it shows a massive show of faith in Smith and also shows that they trust each other enough to give the same message across in an interview regarding the future of the club. I think that's one of the fundamentally beneficial things about having a head coach over a manager. Smith undoubtedly has a significant influence over the club's strategy, but ultimately it's not up to him to, it's up to the team of three, the CEO, the sporting director and the head coach. It's seems like a good model for us, a club that have lurched from one failed strategy to another with each different manager.

I very much hope that we do sign El Ghazi.

That's a bit harsh, I was thought he was a sensible poster who came across well.

Disgusting, I saw this too. Shame on them, I hope they are caught and banned.

Some lads sat in front of me in the pub got excited and bought some champagne with 10 minutes left. They'd been smashing back the bombs since 12:00 so they were heavily refreshed gentleman. When the whistle blew they turned round and let off the champagne. I got soaked from head to toe, I didn't try to get out of the way because I was so freaking delighted. I've spent all day today at work watching Villa videos, and I haven't stopped smiling all day.

Sadly I think his injury could mean that his opportunities for us will be limited. If he is suffering now from a long term injury, it will take something from his game. Also I think physically he might find it tough in the PL, he isn't quick or strong. We'll see.

They've rescued us from Championship obscurity. I don't sense that they intend to bankroll the club and spend big money on established talent. I think we'll go down the route of trying to sign young players with alot if potential and I'd be more than happy with that.

What an unbelievably loveable player. We fans want nothing more than for players to work hard, show that they care and to entertain us. John gives all that in spades, and more. He's got that knack. It might not sound profound, but he's an effective footballer. He's involved in every game, he does something significant every game. It's not always a goal or an assist. Sometimes it's a lung busting run through midfield, and you know he's doing it to lift his teammates. Sometimes it's an amazing interception or a ©McGinnArseTurn that's sets us off. His never say die attitude is infectious for his teammates. I watched a video this morning of all of our goals this season, every single one of them. Who keeps cropping up? Not always the goal or the assist, but he's involved in so many goals. And to top it off, he comes across as a genuine, humble guy, and speaks well in front of a camera. I would say he's the perfect representative of what I want our club to be like. More McGinns please.

A good championship player, who has served us well, is he out of contract? If he is, I'd thank him, give him his promotion bonus and let him go in his way. He'll serve someone else well, but I do think he's probably past his best. On the other hand, he's not a bad player to have in a PL squad, but we certainly need better.

Rapidly trying to sober up for work tomorrow.

Can anyone quite believe that we are back in the Premier League? We will be playing Manchester United, Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham next season. Yup, that's what that game means. It's not just winning a game, it's a ticket back into the big league. More importantly, Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham will be playing Aston Villa next season.

Whatever happens I think the next appointment will signal the Conservatives evolution into being a genuine far right party. They've been on the cusp for a while, but they've not had a leader who epitomises that ideology. If Johnson and Raab are the party member's favourites then I do hope the more fair minded Conservative voters show their disdain at the polling stations. What is interesting to me though is that I think their support is being splintered between even more hardcore far right/borderline facist Brexit party and the more moderate Lib Dems. I'm sure Thatcher said something about getting knocked down by traffic from both sides.