HolteExile

That's a fairly monumental issue, in fairness.

Ron Bendall and co have to feature more prominently in this conversation, Shirley. Mismanagement of the North Stand building project to the point that the rozzers were even called in at one point. All paving the way for Ellis to return as a solid hand at the tiller (ha!). And robbing us of the chance to push on from a position of strength.

There's clearly quality there with Tielemans. But if we were looking to boost that area of the park, a player with a bit of edge might have suited us better. With Ash gone Emi is our only real shithouser now. Guendouzi or similar are the sort of players that get under the skin of the opposition. And get the side firing if we are up against it. Vibe I get with Tielemans is he's fine if we're on top and dominating possession but goes missing for the hard yards. We'll see. Lange et al have watched him for a while so must know what they're getting. And how it fits with the overall plan.

Loads of supporters from other clubs were happy to see us drop. Prob for the novelty of it, as much as anything else. And the fact that we stank the league out for about five years before we did go. Don't actually mind Lesta. A league title and FA Cup bagged in the last seven years. And none of this 'mind the gap' nonsense we get from some of our other neighbours. Their fans give us a bit of stick when we play (as it should be). But don't have the obsessive tendencies of the other lot.

Young was reportedly on £25k a week, apparently. Which seems mad for the current era.

Hmm. These 'no brainer' free transfers aren't so if the new guy gets more than Martinez, Mings, Ramsey, Luiz and Watkins etc. You very quickly have 4-5 players banging on the CEO's door looking for parity at least. So either wage bill banjaxed or a heap of unsettled players. I'd trust if the club have pushed for this one they know what they're doing and Emery is fully on board. He was mentioned as one of the main targets we had last summer (along with Conor Gallagher) so it's prob not a total shot in the dark from that point of view. But your higher wage earners should be amongst your very best players. It's not the case with Digne and Coutinho (post 2018 version we have) and I don't think this bloke comes in as an immediate upgrade for the first team either.

Gerrarrd doesn't belong anywhere on this list, BTW. Hopelessly out of his depth, but not a wrong 'un. Chelsea 'wipe the floor with us' oddness apart - he usually spoke well of the club. O'Neill (for the manner of his walkout) and O'Leary from fairly recent history would be stand out arsewipes. The latter edges it in the drip, drip drip effect his negative comments had on the morale of players and fanbase over an extended time. Houllier came in in part time consultant mode and thought he was doing us a favour just turning up. Herbert missed many opportunities to cement the club truly amongst the elite. I'm sure he loved the club, in his own special way. I would probably love any entity that made me £30 million richer, too. It's not the same as true fan devotion. As his stints at B-lose and Wolves confirmed. He was just one of those Ken Bates-types that needed the kudos of being associated with a football club. Xia engineered a state o' chassis so grave the words 'Aston Villa' 'unpaid tax bill' and 'administration' all appeared in the same sentence. So he takes the cake. The shit-shoed barsteward.

He's a bit of an arse. But the mild disdain he seems to have for the club post 91 doesn't diminish his impact on the pitch for us between 88-91. He's just got that standard Manc misplaced swagger coupled with delusions of grandeur from his time in Italy. The kind of sad middle-aged tryhard Engish bloke who would sit next to you in a bar and bore you about correct serving suggestions for farfalle (whether you asked or not) and the magic of Umbria. On the plus side, he now looks like the back of a spoon. Mother Nature always finds a way to even things up.

Aye, that should rule him out in any sane analysis.

Greggg just looking at the overnight odds and banging a story out. We might be in for Tielemans, but nothing in Evans' previous suggests he'd know.

I get that Lesta fans have been critical of his performances this season (as they have been for most of their players). But - aside from the goals and assists he has managed these past three seasons - anytime I have seem him against us he has been a nuisance. Don't think workrate will be an issue.

We owe Neil Cutler a lot. He's the one that pushed for this deal. Dean Smith was so so on the idea initially, but was convinced to act. Says a lot about both men. Emery is obv a more 'out in front' coach who does the lot and is a bit of a control freak. But there's a lot to be said for Deano's collaborative approach too.

Not overly fussed about the Kyle Walker links (from Football Insider anyway, so most likely rollocks). But if we're looking at aging Citeh types, wouldn't say no to Mahrez. Even that lot have to tip the wink to FFP occasionally, so there might be a deal to be done. Him and Harvey Barnes would give us that bit of guile in the final third we sometimes lack. Al Musrati at Braga might be a decent shout as defensive midfield cover. Linked with FC Porto amongst others.

That's how they do.

Aye, it's not as if he needs that vital North Birmingham demographic onside to make movies is it.

Doesn't matter how he came to us. He's gone to Villa matches in his own free time when we've toured in the US. Now he's visited the home of football. He's one of us. Although I don't think he'll be answering questions on the Villa on Mastermind anytime soon.

Sure I read something about one of his security team from Gloucester being a Villa fan and that's who got him involved way back in the early 00s.

I'd start with the platform of Martinez, Mings, Douglas Luiz, Kamara and Watkins (at the very least as a squad player) and go from there. Moreno is Emery's first signing and -even though I haven't been particularly impressed so far - there's an argument to say he needs time to adapt and all the rest of it. Duran is one for the future. I'd be open to offers for the rest - Jacob Ramsey included. Problem is it doesn't work like that. The two players we would prob most want to keep (Emi and Boubs) are the players most likely to attract bids.

You can pretty much 'call it' on every manager not being good enough at some stage in the future and getting the tin tack. Great insight, that. If a popular guy like Dean Smith isn't immune after the degree of success he had, Emery will feel the heat too if we're not in contention for Europe in the next 2>3 years.

This all seems a bit capricious. His saves have kept us in games in fairly recent history - Leedzzz at home and Soton away in particular. If you do need a whole barrage of saves from your keeper against two of the worst sides in the division that illustrates deeper problems IMO. We've now played better sides, still looked as ropey at the back and the fecklessness and general shite decision making has caught up with us.

Secret weapon. Definitely a weapon.

Bert makes the game interesting. Interesting is good. He's dangerous - both to the opposition and us - because even he has no idea what he's going to do next.

Augustinsson is still with us (just about). Even though Emery has spoke about him returning to his parent club. But with Ings, Bednarek, Guilbert and Sanson being offski that's £240k per week (at a conservative estimate) saved. More with Archer being away on loan as well. £13.5 million saved per year just with that little lot, so FFP shouldn't be an issue - not that it seems to bother other clubs anyway.

At the very least it'll be interesting to see his reaction tonight, as he'll likely be asked If he plays it straight and is non committal about his future it's on. If he's emotional and talks about how much he's enjoyed his time at the club etc it could still be on. If he flat out says he's not going anywhere and it's just speculation so be it.

£3 million is nowt in today's mad, bad football funhouse. West Ham, Everton, Wolves and possibly Leedzzz (longer term) being relegated or struggling badly enough to be out of contention for Europe aids our progress far more.