Philosopher

Disappointed with us selling him. For me it sends the wrong message. He's had two championship loans, done well in both. Been our best wide player in preseason, but selling for peanuts! If he goes we only have 3 winger / wide forward players including the injured JJ. This seems ridiculous. Monchi seems to be behind this. He wants to sell off all our young talent, replace with an injury prone (but talented ) Zaniolo, while sending Digne on a loan while paying most of his wages to Nice. And to top it off Coutinho's just had his millionth hamstring injury. Pardon me for being sceptical! But our squad is thinner now than at the end of last season. Also we need to be mindful of the disruptive effect lots of incomings and outgoings can have on a squad.

So Bailey a goal and assist. Is he still shite?!?!?

He is very talented. If we can keep him fit, and get him performing he will improve us. If he does get back to his best, the thought of him, Diaby, and Ramsey behind Watkins will terrorise opponents. Pace, power, ball carrying, and all three score goals too.

Johnny Sins is the rough night!

Massive loss. Get well soon Ty, we're going to miss you.

No the preseason heat didn't affect anything. In hindsight there were signs. The defence that started tonight didn't start one preseason friendly. Cash has shown In preseason that he isn't tactically aware enough when running the offside trap. Buendia would've relished this game, and Ty is the real leader of this team and the man that runs this defense. Huge loss is Ty, Buendia not so much but he would've been perfect for this game. At 3-1 the ref stopped giving us anything. But let's be clear we lost because we defended criminally. Bailey was decent, you're just wrong here. He got some rough stuff, and didn't get protection, when he tried to do the same to Gordan as Gordan was doing to him the ref blew. Bailey wasn't at fault for the goals. We got penned in by the high press for much of the first half. The defense and midfield did a poor job of playing through them. Bailey had bugger all to work with. Konsa's mistake cost us the game, at 2-1 we are in it. That mistake was horrific, but Konsa gets a pass and Bailey who did little wrong gets hammered?! Also Konsa does deserve stick, after that mistake his game fell to pieces. Not good enough. McGinn performs well when the team does, bit he rarely drags the team with him. He isn't anywhere near our best player or leader. Good player, but left midfielder he is not (Unai made a mistake there). Talisman he is not. Mings on the other hand is the real leader. The one barking instructions, organising the defence. Our lynchpin. Pau is the man to take over, but no English means he need Spanish speakers around him. Our defense fell apart after Mings departed, we should be concerned. He is almost irreplaceable currently, as Pau doesn't speak English and isn't properly integrated.

Firstly, that was atrocious defending throughout. People criticising Bailey need to realise that Bailey is not on the pitch to defend, he has nothing to do with the offside trap. The first 45 minutes we created chances and were in the game. Second half Bailey isn't on the pitch, we conceded 3 and created zilch! The first goal nobody spotted Tonali's run. It wasn't Bailey's fault. The manager got this wrong. Cash and Digne continually ruining our offside trap. What was Pau doing for the 5th goal I don't know. Konsa threw the game away with his mistake for the 3rd goal. Cash and Digne playing the assister onside for the second goal. Where was Carlos for the 4th goal? Just disgusting defending all round Bailey wasn't the man for this game, in hindsight it should've been Coutinho. Beforehand I wanted to see Philogene. Not because Bailey was particularly bad (because he wasn't), but we needed someone to move into that central area between their midfield and defence where there was acres of space. It's why Buendia has been so effective against Newcastle. McGinn on the left didn't work. Tielemens for Bailey made us worse. Pau doesn't speak English, Konsa doesn't take charge, there was no leadership or organisation once Mings went off. 5 - 1 was the fair score. Second half we got ripped to shreds, Martinez made some top saves. Martinez - 7 Cash - 2 Konsa - 3 Carlos - 4 Mings - 6 Pau - 4 Digne - 4 Kamara - 4 Luiz - 5 McGinn - 4 Tielemens - 3 Bailey - 4 Diaby - 7 Watkins - 5 Philogene and Coutinho never had a chance to make an impact. Lots of work to do with that defence. I believe Emery will go Pau and Carlos in the centre, so Pau can lead, Konsa right back probably. We have been badly exposed at the back, we have problems that new signings can't fix with Mings injury.

Exactly, so if they are reporting something, then it must be close.

Unless BBC and Sky are reporting it then I have doubts. Monchi signed him for Roma and he spent most of his time injured. Then went to Galatasary for 16.5 m euros plus 13m euros in add ons. Half a season later they're willing to sell for 30million euros (what they paid for him). This kind of deal seems very risky to me. I trust in Emery's vision and managerial abilty, but Monchi has to prove himself. Zaniolo is a huge risk.

Not to me. Almost done is terms agreed, coming in for medical.

Yes, but not convinced we're after him, also think he'd be poor signing

Fortunately JPB's emergence this summer will soften the blow of Buendia's injury. But we definitely need another body in now in that second striker / wide forward role. To be honest I have a feeling JPB would've usurped Buendia this season. (I don't think Buendia is that good). But hey that's probably just my bias talking!

Pretty average. That was back in the days foreign players got no help from the club beyond getting paid. So struggled to adapt. When I think of how Savo did, and how young he was. And little support was available to him, I feel like the club let themselves down with him. He was a good player for us, but he could've been great for us. Doug Ellis was such a backwards owner. At a time when football in this country was undergoing such a huge upheaval, and changing at breakneck speed, we had a dinosaur at the helm. Villa were stuck in the 80's until Lerner took over. It only in the last decade or so English football has caught up to the leading European leagues in terms of infrastructure, youth coaching, and tactical awareness. This why we still have a lack of quality English coaches, that's the last part of the puzzle, as they're the last to come through.

Alt Nouri would be an exciting alternative to Moreno. We can breathe a sigh of relief that we aren't signing JWP and Maguire. Just not suited to us!

Also JWP's work rate, aggression and set piece delivery will be right up Moyes street. The likes of Soucek, Maguire, and Dawson, with JWP's delivery will be a dangerous combination. They are still light up top though. Ings, Benrahma, and Bowen will not be sufficient. Paqueta is a good player but simply doesn't fit in there. Alt Nouri is a good shout to nab from Wolves.

Maguire is a decent ball player, very good at carrying the ball out of defence. His problem is not his abilty, but that Man U over-estimated his ability. He is a good centre back but not a world class one. He has a couple of weaknesses that can be exploited. If they had a world class cb to partner him he'd have been decent for them. West Ham's deeper defensive line, and counter attacking style, combined with their emphasis on set pieces should see Maguire fit in well there. Villa would never have signed him as with our high line and his slow speed, and poor agility means we'd get murdered at the back. Pau was one of the fastest centre backs in Spain. Tyrone is one of the fastest in England. Konsa and Carlos have a good turn of pace too. Any right back we sign will be rapido! Moreno = Rapido!

Is that Fernando?

There is no guarantee Kamada would be successful at any of those clubs. In fact I'd say they probably already have better players in his position. The attraction for them is the benefit to their profile in Japan. So if he wants to retain his image rights, a portion of the point in signing him is immediately lost. From Kamada's perspective he wants the best deal possible, and probably backs himself be successful wherever he goes.

Me too. He performances definitely gave me more happiness than the unhappiness his departure gave me.

I'm hearing this, but I haven't seen it for myself, and thus am sceptical. I watched the game and the highlights, but I still haven't seen a good replay of this. But it doesn't matter its only a friendly.

"Money doesn't buy happiness, it buys choices," this is very true. In this life the more choices one has the more freedom one has. So the money you have the more freedom you have. "Some choices can make you content but happiness doesn't exist," this is a crappy statement. Some choices can make you content is obvious, some can make you happy, some can make you sad, others can make you angry. This is just hot air. You're not really saying anything worthwhile. When Villa signed Diaby were you happy? Happiness is a state of mind. It can be lasting or fleeting. My daughter was born 44 months ago, I still feel warm happy loving feelings when I think of her or see her. When Villa signed Diaby I was happy, now I just want the football to start. If Diaby does well then I will still be happy we signed him. But that happiness is only in relation to my love of Aston Villa. For some people what they covet most is freedom, if such a person became super rich, I'm sure they would be very happy for the most part. Of course that depends on what was the cost of becoming rich was! Happiness is a state of mind, if you covet happiness then you have to nurture your state of mind, you have to do and act in a manner that not only has positive outcomes, but makes you feel happy about yourself and the person you are. If you covet money then you just have to find a path to riches that suits you. There are many paths to wealth. However you get out what you put in. If you invest considerable efforts into making yourself and those around happy, you will create a lot of happiness, if your efforts are minute however, then so will the happiness you create. The same applies to money. Whatever you desire is in life, but you won't get it unless you put in concerted, and consistent effort. If you're not happy, you need to put more effort into being happy (if you want happiness that is). Money gives you freedom, but also security, and control. It's the ultimate life hack. It becomes easier to make yourself happy, because you can use it to create a bubble around you that is far more resistant to outside pressures. But that is merely one way to use money. Money for moneys sake is worthless. Money only shows its worth when put to use. So money can't buy happiness, but it can make finding happiness a lot easier. Especially if you place emphasis on the material. But ultimately only you can make you happy. Nothing else or no one else can.

You're right, but in preseason, with experimental line ups and a centre back playing left back for the first time while integrating into a new team. We have to accept that they are really ready to achieve those levels yet. But we can certainly have optimism that those level will be attained purely based on past achievements.

I feel this is a debate on semantics. Watkins ineffective days are extremely rare, and were basically all under Gerrard. So for proprietary I'll rescind the never, and replace with Almost always contributes.

What's with this shite poll. Keep Bailey, keep Philogene obviously. Bailey can contribute, and is our best alternative to Diaby. Philogene for me has shown he is the best man to cover for Ramsey. Buendia is the wild card.

Watkins is ideal for us right now. Suits our system perfectly. He is a solid finisher. His goals to shots ratio last season was very respectable. Strikers have days where they can't find a finish, it happens. But Ollie never has a day where he isn't beneficial to or performance. And he never gets injured. Simply put, he is just so incredibly reliable! This makes him a managers dream.