ramshackler

Genuinely if this is how you feel you must not have watched him a great deal, he is an absolutely superb keeper and up until his shoulder injury last year was in running to be England's number 1. Some of his performances for Burnley have quote literally been out of this world. Remember his old Trafford performance where he made about 12 World class saves to get them a 0-0?

Great deal, he is a better keeper than Butland currently and likely will be for at least a year or two when Butland will have next to nothing left on his contract. Next summer Butland won't be worth half of the 25 mill they asking. He won't be an England International and he won't have much left on contract.

If and its a big IF matt Phillips is available for under 8 Mill then for me definitely worth a punt. He has insane pace and strength and when he is fit was a handful against Premier league defences. Always been a fan but has terrible injury record. Personally don't believe WBA will let him go on the cheap though. Would be perfect as backup winger who would genuinely challenge ge starters

Goal scoring isn't all about instinct and natural ability. A huge part of it is getting a run in the side and being given the chance to hit form. Goal scoring is about confidence, if you get one or two in a row then the next chance you hit instinctively. If you miss two or three in a row the next chance you snatch at or hesitate. Now I'm not saying he could be a world beater, but the lad hasn't had regular football with anyone to develop him. He needs a loan move to a good championship club for a year and then see what he becomes. Harry Kane didnt score by the bucket load as a kid, he needed some loans before finally looking like a prolific marksmen. Don't write him off until he has at least had a chance to develop. If we aren't going to use him regularly we will only damage him in the long run by keeping him here this year

With the signings coming in I can see hourihane being the one to miss out. Lansbury if he can prove he is fit offers more in play. Hourihane did well but relies on set pieces. Definitely feel lansbury is smiths preferred optio.and personally feel CH will be out of his depth in the PL. We've given him a new Co tract which rewards his performances but also maximises our resale value as I'm sure with current prices there are EFL teams who would pay upwards of £10 mill

Regardless if we sign them all we have terrific squad depth in midfield and real competition. Marvelous

Heaton for me is absolutely superb. At 33 he could have another 5 years potentially at top maybe more. He was incredible before his injury and when he came back last year immediately got back into side and their defensive stats improved over night considerably. Just remember that performance at old Trafford 0-0 one of the best GK performances I've ever seen

Correct. The same clause was used in the Adams traore deal. It should see a very healthy profit if activated and would mean he has done very well for us. So while it may see him move on in the short term it's good news for us

Apparently signing Douglas Luis DCM from man city Brazil under 23 captain. 21 years old for £15 million. Could signal the end of Phillips deal. Hope so price quoted for Phillips is ridiculous

Love that kit. Just hope they do a fat man fit

Personally I believe had Ming's shown a bit more class in the aftermath of the season then Bournemouth may have let him go for 12-14. As great as it was rocking up at Bournemouth station in full villa kit, I cringed as if the situation was reversed we would have been livid (as Bournemouth fans rightly were) and probably reinforced their desire to play hard ball with the player himself.

I'm concerned that despite all the talk of mega spending spree, we are actually on a very tight budget. Wesley aside (we all knew money needed spent on a striker) our other signings have all been bargain basement under £5 mill. Despite all the links to Butland, Benrahma, maupay, Webster, Ming's, it doesn't look like any big bid has been tabled. It's as if media have decided we are going to blow £150 mill + and everyone trying to fleece us. Getting a bit worried. Of course it could be we just need one deal agreed to align our budget target and the rest will follow but it's a risky game leaving it late and won't help with gelling a very new team

Think there is some very harsh criticism on here on his highlights reel! What I saw was a goalkeeper who stays on his feet right until the shot, leading to very good saves often off his head shoulder or arms. Also while there were a few camera saves, there were alot of genuinely excellent stops. Very strong hands / wrists. And watch it again, almost every parry was out of danger or straight to his own player. Even the punch back out down the middle at the end which on first glance looked poor. It was very controlled and straight to his own player in space. In fact every parry in the video either went safe or straight to his own player in space Looks good Not much shown in terms of claiming crosses though

Owners have categorically stated we won't fall foul. We have all seen the various workings made behind the scenes reflected in tit bits seen from companies house since Eden's and sawaris took over. We will be fine. Had we not gone up it would have been a struggle. May have required similar tactics to derby by selling VP. But thankfully we went up Anyway there is strong precedent. Even if we fail, as Leicester did when they came up, they were made to lay a paltry fine. Can't move the goalposts now FFP is so vague and unenforceable at the best of times, so with such clear precedent there is zero chance of a points deduction. And are we bollocks under a soft embargo

Hope the Ryan Kent rumours are true. Genuinley quick skilful winger, young and at ten million, cheap as chips in today's market

If we win the play off final surely JT has to embrace it and run on full kit rocket polisher!? Would be legendary

It's is kind of incredible just how rarely Abraham makes a clean contact on the football. And how often he seems to trip himself up or get his legs tangled when attempting a shot /volley. Looks like Bambi on ice at times. Yeah he has scored 25 goals you can't argue with the figures but in tight games he has missed easy chances and for me I don't want him at the club next year. It would be a waste of money if we are in premier league as he isn't good enough. Certainly not on his own up front. Looked far better before Christmas when played with a partner occasionally

Whelan definitely the right call. Livermore is out and they playing front three of Phillips Rodriguez and Gayle. They going for it. We need to boss the midfield and win the right to play

I think it's fairly obvious we are talking about potential rather than actual ability. That couldn't really be clearer considering we are talking about a striker who has barely played!!! My point is that Heskey was a brilliant player whose game revolved completely on power and pace. We have already seen with Davis he has more about him that. Hence my comment. Calm down dear

I've said since last year we are missing a trick with this boy. I will admit he is unlikely to be a 20 goal a season striker, but neither was peak Emile Heskey. But at Leicester and Liverpool he created so many goals for team mates I think he has a bit more in his locker than Heskey though, he has intelligence and a deft touch and ability to beat a man. From what I've seen the only thing missing is that he isn't a natural finisher. But when he was in the team last year he got a respectable amount of goals but totally transformed our form and got goals for others playing off him We are a better side now and he would create even more this year. And sorry to keep harking on, but Abraham won't be here next year, playing him doesn't benefit our future long term, playing Davis does. Abraham was undroppable before Christmas but he certainly isn't now. For me Davis must be knocking on the door.

Credit were credit is due. Second half showing was quite possibly our best performance of season. Seemed to create something everytime we went forward. If it was not for their goalkeeper it probably should have been 6/7. We really needed that, that performance will give the rest of the team such belief that they are good players too. No matter what you say in the back of their minds a few of them probably believe that without Grealish they will struggle. That should put that well and truly to bed. Taylor, jedinak, tuanzebe and Elmo were outstanding. Taylor and Elmo also great bombing on. McGinn his usual brilliant self, but special mention to the often much maligned Glenn Whelan. Make no mistake he was outstanding today. Absolutely ran the midfield. Hourihane SHOULD have had four goals, not great overall but credit him for keeping going and getting into good positions. El Ghazi was a beast today, looked like a cross between Ashely young and Ronaldo. Unstoppable, his crossing deserved better finishes than hourihanes. Abraham was **** woeful again. I'm not just having a go for a gos sake. He has been woeful in his hold up and link up play for months. Davis when he came on was an absolute monster. We saw last year when he was fit, defenders cannot handle him. With him up top holding the ball up with the midfield threat we have now (that we lacked last year) we will be great going forward. For me he really has to be knocking on the door. Really believe we have a potential gem on our hands. He may never be a prolific goalscorer. But he just physically dominates like few others has pace and skill to boot. And he is ours. Tammy will be off next year

Get in. Well done CH for keeping going. Shown good character at least. Very pleasing how well we are playing as a team with so many big players out!!!

At least we are genuinely playing well, hunting in packs and have a good tempo without Jack

My god Hourihane. WTAF