QldVilla

If someone said 12 months ago you'd sell your best player for 100m and sign Countinho on loan, not sure whether you would call them a clown or bite their hand off? In my mind Countinho is the better player and if we get the player anywhere near his best football it will lift the whole squad. I have concerns about the player, but not as many as I had with Barkely. It's going to be an interesting second half of the season.

Was a pretty ordinary back 5 if I remember with Nyland in goal...

Not sure how I feel about Coutinho, just smells like someone who the game has passed by, but then Barca have been seen to be wrecking players careers lately with the likes of Griezman and others. Ive thought we’ve needed an AM with time who can pull the strings in attack, but will his work rate in pressing be sufficient? Agree a loan is harmless to find out.

We all grow old differently, you can have 100 people who are all 28 years of age, but due to genetics all of of their bodies have aged differently. He may have an underlying genetic condition that is brought on around his age, or may have been brought on sooner because of the stresses he has placed on it as an elite midfield player over several years. I haven't raised whether he should play or shouldn't play again. What I have said is that he cannot continue to play an elite level due to the risk of reoccurrence and that risk will become higher as he becomes older and his body is unable to meet the external presures he is placing on it. I've had two friends over the years who have kept really fit, both competed at a high level in sport and both continued their fitness levels as best they could. One died at the age of 38 after going to the gym for three hours, the other 46 after completing a 15km run after work, he was still trying to run over 80km per week. You can either take the hints the body sends you and reduce the loading/intensity as you age, or you risk something more severe possibly occurring. The point is the risk and the body can only take so much physical intensity during a life span. His body has sent him a message, just because the risk of death is reduced by artificial means, doesn't mean the long term affects don't become more serious.

Well the data says most people with a pacemaker are over 60 years of age, and the pacemaker doesn't reduce the risk of it occurring again. Increased blood pressure through exercise causes stress and will be the major contributer to it occurring again. There's been numerous elite athletes over the years who have had similar issues, most not lucky to survive it. There is a correlation and it is the intensity of the exercise. To think that at some point through your lives that your body will not push back is naive.

Yeah it does. Increased blood pressure occurs during exercise, as you get older the body reduces it's ability to control these stresses. He may have always had an underlying congenital condition which decided to come forward, due to the stress his body as an elite athlete has been under for the past 10-15 years.

I didn't mention his commitment or health. What I said is if you push your body to hard, it will push back. He may be able to play in a lessor league and get away with it, but at some point the body may push back. That a majority of pacemakers are installed in people over 60 and it does not reduce the chance of cardiac arrest occurring again, should send a clear message. His health should be the priority.

His heart stopping is a sign that his body can no longer handle the stress of a game at an elite level. This isn’t a one off scenario, it could happen again. Yes he will live a long and happy life, but not as an elite football player.

Think everyone's being a bit tough on Trez, he's not played for a year, it takes time to get those dives just right...

Thought Brentford started slowly today and allowed us to look very good for the first 35 minutes and we should have killed the game in that time. They got better and started to be more physical and knocking our players off the ball and we started to give the ball away cheaply. I look at the spine of our team today and there are no leaders, no one to take control of the game and that showed in the result and in the second half we were just kicking the ball around like a bunch of headless chooks. Gerrard has a lot of work to do, the honeymoon is over.

I believe Kane’s issues where more to do with not getting his move to Man City and played a part in the dynamics of the rest of the squad. In regards to my point, there’s some things managers can’t control and that’s the personal motivation of players to have pride in their performance and setting high standards.

There’s a balance between what the coach brings, clear messages and strategies and the players professionalism, abilities, motivation etc. You can’t compare our squad to Spurs and Conte to Gerrard, it’s not apples with apples. The reality is both teams weren’t playing great football under their previous managers and both have improved with the new manager boost. But the Spurs players wouldn’t dare not turn up under Conte, Gerard hasn’t earned that respect quite yet. Gerrard will get that opportunity over the next 12 months, with the signings he makes, the clear messaging and the standards he sets. I expect some current starting players not to be at the club or be warming the bench if he makes the changes I believe he will.

We’ve had a week to prepare for this game and as much as Brentford are well organised, they do have a small squad and played twice this week already, hopefully we might just get them at the right time. 1-2 Villa.

Maybe. But at the elite level if you can’t perform at a high level and motivate yourself, there’s a problem. Not saying it’s every player, but there are a few who let themselves down with their inconsistency.

Agree, with you on that front. IMO its some of the players who have question marks over them and whether they can play a part in taking the club forward. I'm happy with Gerrard, I believe he can take the club forward, but won't be judging him till around this time next year.

I'm not dwelling on losing to Chelsea, the facts are they weren't in great form and we had the opportunity to get something from the game. Brighton a team we beat 5 weeks ago, just got a point from them away from home. That's my point.

The players have reacted to Gerrard’s appointment, but it is far too early to say whether we will take the step forward under him, we will know a lot more in 12 months time. From what I have seen so far, hopefully it will be seen as an astute appointment long term. IMO some of the player’s inadequacies have been exposed and although some can react for a few games, the standard cannot be maintained, that’s the job for the new manager to resolve. We also beat the Champions of Europe about 10 days before they won that title. Titles are irrelevant, it’s what happens on the day that matters and the team let slip an opportunity.

Agree with what your saying, but we also got at those good teams last season when they are at 98%. Chelsea hadn't been in great form and were vulnerable on boxing day, we scored first, but let a goal in virtually straight away and lose the game from some poor defending in the second half. It was quite obvious early in the second half that Chelsea had changed their tactics with the introduction of Lukaku and to get him one on one with Mings. Tuchel saw it. We can accept its the Top 3 and don't deserve anything or take the opportunities when they arise and on boxing day thought we should have got something from the game.

Clearances is only one part of the defensive structure and can mean that the defending team is more under the pump on a regular basis. He continues to make the same mistakes, it would be different if he learned and reduced them from his game. Chelsea targeted him in the second half, Tuchel obviously sees a weakness and it was exposed.

I think we have the player there in Bailey, we just need to get him fit and stay fit, that's why I don't see the club going for the loan. It's obvious the balance isn't right across the front, but how much of it has been down to injury and no consistency?

He’s a solid defender on his day but when under pressure from quality attackers, always seems to get beaten or prone to a mistake. Poor at the start of the season, but improved with Gerrard’s appointment, but was targeted in the second half for a reason.

Merry Christmas everyone, I hope you are able to spend the day with family and friends. Received an expensive bottle of Bourbon and underpants from the wife, I'm sure there's a message there somewhere.. UTV

No, all good. Had a radio show in Brisbane which was football based for nearly six years in the early 2000's, you are always going to get a small technical issue. With regards to the socios, I get that the club is looking to explore every avenue possible to improve the club's financial return in order to grow and become more competitive. The club has a lot of fans around the world and they have been poor in engaging them outside of the odd email to buy more merchandise from the store. This is obviously a way of monetizing fan opinion and engagement around the world, but I'm highly suspicious of anything that can be voted on being actually endorsed by the club. I've been a member of the supporters trust for many years and although the odd CEO has made the gesture over the years to attend an AGM, they've never gone away taking feedback and implementing some of the bigger ideas into the club to my knowledge. Should we be involved in socios, personally I don't believe so. But there's two sides to the argument. Those fans wanting to "invest" in the club with the hope it contributes to a larger transfer war chest etc etc. And possibly fans like me who see this as another form of lip service for ticking the engaging with fans box, with the club getting all the benefit and the fans more out of pocket and nothing real to show for it.

Was listening to the latest pod today and you were talking about salary caps. Most of the leading sports in Australia have caps, a-league (football), Australian rules and rugby league. It throws up different winners each season, but the well run clubs with the best coaches still seem to be regularly competitive and challenging for the title. Even Man City that own Melbourne City in the a- league aren’t dominate like in the PL only recently won their first championship. IMO a salary cap would create a level playing field, every team would have a better chance of being competitive and it would come down to the best run clubs with the best managers who would be successful. The salary cap also moves talent around, so teams can’t stockpile the best players. I doubt we will ever see it in the PL or European football, but football would be more competitive and financially stable.

Really happy for him, continues to develop his game and obviously working hard on the training pitch.