Thug

Doesn’t start

Olise

I wouldn’t say terrible player, but at €145m it’s appalling business.

And this, ladies and gentleman, is why they were so desperate for the super league. The rest of the super league clubs will not be far behind. And I hope they all get hit with 20 point deductions like they do with the smaller clubs when they hit administration. These clubs have been collecting players on ridiculous wages for far too long. And their ridiculous contracts have been forcing everyone else to compete. Average players getting huge salaries.

The stumbling block here wouldn’t be SHOULD we buy him. The guy is a goal scorer. If he plays, he will score. Doesn’t do as much as Ollie for the team, and honestly that can not be under-estimated. He is a capable finisher, and I would be delighted to have him back. The transfer fee is not of our (as fans) concern. He is young enough and proven enough for us to recoup most of it should it not work out. A lot of people will compare the quoted prices to those available abroad, but of course you pay a premium for someone who has demonstrated their ability in the league you are buying for. Daka just cost £23m, but he could easily struggle to adapt here. You don’t have that question mark over Tammy. The stumbling block in this transfer would be ‘does Tammy want to come play second fiddle to Ollie?’ He no doubt would get game time for Ollie’s sake, but he’d probably want to be a guaranteed starter somewhere else. But where?? Can’t see that anywhere in the top clubs, apart from Spurs if Kane moves on. If they’re not interested, then I can’t see much competition for us, and as such we should hold out for a cut price deal. if we’re interested, this one will be a slow burner.

My honest appraisal of my own thoughts: Do I want Jack to start because he plays for Villa? Yes. Do I think Southgate had an issue with picking him at the beginning and came out with totally bizarre statements trying to justify his decisions and avoided giving Jack any kind of praise at all? Yes Do I think the above statement still applies? No. Do I think Jack is anywhere near the fitness and form he showed before his injury? No. Do I think this affects whether Southgate is picking him? Yes - to a point. Do I think Southgate would pick him as first choice if he was 100% fit? No. Has Southgate formulated a system in his mind that has certain players in certain positions as first choice? Yes. Does that first choice team include Jack? No. Has Southgate got all his calls right so far? Yes. Are we going to win this tournament? We bloody well just might! Will Southgate be a **** hero if he does it? Bloody hell YES! If he doesn’t win it, will I believe that not picking Jack Grealish in the final/semi was THE reason we didn’t win it, and Southgate is a word removed? Yes Is ESR better than Jack? Are you off your rocker mate?? If Jack moves to Citeh and we buy ESR and he plays really well, will ESR be better than Jack, and will Southgate be word removed for not picking ESR ahead of JG in the World Cup teams even though this may be debatable? Am I a biased villa fan? Yes.

The last thing you want to say to Jack Grealish is ‘sorry, you’re not going to the Euros, but can you sign this new contract please?’

You have this rather strange habit of answering with randomness. Did I say that he should start every game? I said that he didn’t start even when his shins were fine. your reply to that Is ‘why should he start every game’? Who said he should start every game?? What are you actually going on about? And wtf has being a relatively new member of the squad got to do with anything? Philips is a relatively new member, starts every game - but that’s irrelevant. He’s playing well. To make it easier for you, I said that even without bad shins, he wouldn’t be playing Nothing about needing to start every game, and nothing about him being an established member of the squad. By all means disagree about the shins, but don’t attribute stuff that I didn’t say to me.

Southgate had to take him, because he was taking Maguire and Henderson who weren’t fit, and he knows there would be a backlash.

Yes, you’re right. Up until Jacks shins got messed up he was starting every England game.

Southgate can **** off. I hope we lose. (will calm down before kick off)

You need to take things in the context they were posted. Those are replies to a poster that says £35m for a player who has 20 senior appearances is a rip off. I didn’t suggest that the transfer is happening, and quite frankly I don’t think it will happen, and even if it did it would be for a lot more than £35m.

If we had paid £35m for Bellingham after 1 season in the championship... £35m for Smith-Rowe is an absolute bargain.

Don’t know how to quote from another thread, but here’s what I wrote 21 Feb in the Barkley thread: I’ve been a harsh critic of him for several weeks now, but I agree words like hate are a bit strong. At the end of the day, if he’s not picked, he wouldn’t play. I love Dean Smith for turning this club around, and what he has achieved has been nothing short of remarkable. However, he’s clearly not without his flaws - and blind faith in ‘has-beens’ coming good is clearly one of them. Yes, it’s clear that he shouldn’t be in the team - but the punishment for poor performances should be not being picked - not being hated. I would LOVE for him to come good. Play superbly, fire us into Europe, and earn a permanent contract with us. unfortunately, it’s just not in his DNA to work hard. Which is not just something he’s doing at Villa - but rather a criticism that has followed him around throughout his career. This is not Ross Barkley’s fault. It’s poor ‘scouting’ and misguided persistence when it is obvious that the qualities that he lacks outweigh the qualities that he brings to the side. We’re just the wrong fit for him. And to be brutally honest, the role of the traditional no.10 is no longer a viable one at the elite level. It’s a shame it isn’t working out. But let’s face it, it’s not HIS fault he’s being picked to play.

For every game you point out where he won us points, there is a game where his total lack of effort cost us points. Traffic cone is is an apt description.

Omg. I’d forgotten that was even a thing.

100% mate, as don’t mine. The only criteria that do are the recruitment team’s. I don’t mean to imply anything else. This is a discussion, and last year I posted that I wouldn’t want him anywhere near Aston Villa, so go figure. Your opinion is equally valid as anyone else’s, and this place would be very boring if we all had the same opinion.

Well Exactly my point. IF they want £50m and he wants £150k a week then that’s a no from me IF they’ll take £20m and he’d sign for £75k a week, then you have to consider it. Point being, you don’t apply YOUR criteria of ‘no career revivals.’ with a big full stop at the end of it. You take each deal on its own merits. That’s the important thing here. I’m not saying we SHOULD buy Alli. I’m saying if we DID then I’d be happy about it.

Alli is younger than Grealish, not exactly a ‘has been’ wasting time and resources on trying to revive careers could just as easily be interpreted as taking an opportunity to buy a player that’s fallen out of favour at a cut price deal. Lingaard got 9 goals and 4 assists in 16 matches - and fits your definition of ‘has been, career revival player that would hinder our progress.’ Actually no, turns out he’s a recent England international that fell out of favour, who is actually pretty good, and almost dragged West **** Ham into the champions league, Everyone loves a fairytale obscure player picked up from the remote village of Botswana -swapped for a zippo lighter- story, but let’s face it, when there’s an opportunity to pick up a good player for a good price, we can’t be silly about it. IF the price is right, the wages are right, and the player fits the mould of what we’re looking for, it shouldn’t matter who they are. As for the right attitude, and not having trouble makers, that part I totally agree with. So maybe that would be a reason to steer clear of Alli, but quite honestly I know nothing about that to make a judgement call on it.

And note, dribbled past stat should be the other way around, RB should be red, not 94% centile but rather 6th centile for getting dribbled past. Basically a traffic cone. Alli is 85th centile

Well I may be generalising, but I think that would pretty much translate into defensive input. When he had the ball, he'd put in the effort, and when we were breaking forwards he'd get himself up there - but the real lack of effort came about when we didn't have the ball. Alli is a completely different kettle of fish. I know stats shmats and all that, but for lack of any other objective way of comparing here they are. Sorry, fbref comparison page doesnt seem to be working right now so I've had to do a snapshot side-by-side Alli certainly gets the work in.

That interview of him after the germany game made him look so dim.

As a player, Dele is much, much better than Barkley - and form a footballing point of view I would be very happy with that transfer. Barkley's biggest downfall was his complete and utter lack of providing any defensive input at all. Alli is significantly better from that point of view, whilst still being a significant attacking threat. My big concerns would be from a party-boy reputation point of view.

That soooo should have been 11-2