burchy

I also like the way they’ve had one colour on each sleeve more recently

I always thought the Lyon designs would suit us for our away shirt instead of the red and blue we could have claret and blue.

Needs a new contract ASAP I think as he’s Grealish levels at the back

I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised how good he is in the air, that one, forget the game, where he knew El Ghazi was behind him (think it was El Ghazi) and he had the nous about him to head it with back of the head to make sure it reached him. I don’t think he gets enough credit for how good his football brain is, seems a top bloke as well

Wanted the Dawson blubbing one but couldn’t find it, so Patrick will have to do

Amazing keeper, simple as that. just compare him to Pickford in our goal, Emi is streets ahead, how we got him off Arsenal i have no idea. That goodfellas gif of everyone laughing comes to mind (I haven’t worked out how to add gifs yet..lol)

Watching the French at the Euros he reminded me of Greizman a bit. There’s a bit of a look similarity there I guess, head band and all, but the way he played seemed similar to how Barry played on the wing and looking to come inside. If talk of the conditioning work is true it will help him with the step up. As long as it’s not too much so he loses some of his pace (ala Gabby that one season).

Would like Kamara, he seems quite dynamic and has a good range of passing but I also quit like Caqueret at Lyon too. He seems a bit more ‘Kante’ esque to me. Does the simple break up play stuff that’s vital and often overlooked for more flair players.

I have to admit Fbref has become a bit of a thing for me recently as it’s good to compare players that were linked to. It’s also good as it gives you a nice comparison table at the bottom of similar players. as good as it is though I think it’s still down to watching the player closely, getting a feel for character and how they’d ‘fit in’ here. Watkins stats aren’t that great on Fbref but he’s been amazing for us and just fit. that’s down to the people in charge here doing their research so I just them to get it right more time than not. I do want us to widen our net a bit though so enjoy the links to that Flamengo guy, Alvarez, etc. Staying with tried and tested players in the league itself costs you more in the long run. I’m hoping for a bit of both really. I have to admit though I’m not onboard the ESR train though, tidy player but we can do better abroad.

No idea if we’d even consider it as he’s in his 30s but he looks a handful and very Watkinesque. Have no idea what he’s on at Atalanta though. Colombian as well so perhaps I have my Angel goggles on.

I’ve been worried with his lack Avfc official retweets recently, seemed to be all for retweeting admin stuff previously but it’s been noticeably absent. Fingers crossed it’s not bullshit, massive statement of true.

Also for a Watkins back up I wouldn’t be adverse to going for an older striker, someone like Luis Muriel at Atalanta. Might be costly but he’d be a great back up option/competition for Watkins. A cheaper option might be Amine Gouiri at Nice. 21 yr old with decent stats.

I mentioned Paqueta a while back based on him looking quite pally with our Dougie. Presses like a demon and has super quick feet. Him or Kamada all day long instead of ESR. Nkunku in Germany looks decent as amazing as well. The DM team mate of Paqueta at Lyon looks good too, a fella called Maxence Caqueret

Personally I think there’s loads of ‘meh’ links at present. The Buendia link excited me as I thought he’d be brilliant for us and really help take some of the burden of Grealish. Links to Winks, Cantwell, etc do nothing for me. I have to admit I’m a bit like that about Smith-Rowe as well, better players and value in Europe.

Not sure if anyone’s mentioned him but think Lucas Paqueta at Lyon would suit us as Barkleys replacement, he only signed for Lyon last season but weirdly nothing of any links or even transfer speculation for him. It all seems to be about his teammate Aouar. I think Dougie is close to Paqueta judging by some insta pics whilst on Brazil duty

Been a member since 2007 but seeing as I haven’t logged in since 2011 thought it best to post here first. Based in Shropshire, love the villa, not sure why I ended up being a Villa fan as my dad hates sport and I was born in Walsall! Should be a saddlers fan but f#%$ that

Hi General I’m a man of very few words on here but wanted to ask something if I may. You very kindly helped me about 18 months ago to get a signed Villa shirt from Fabian Delph for a wedding gift for my best man at our Wedding He was/is a Leeds fan and me a Villa fan – was a nice fit). The club went above and beyond and made this happen for us and I am eternally grateful for this. I am happy to report 18 months down the line and we are still blissfully happy together. Anyway, the reason I'm writing is as follows. As a life long Villa fan I would love to have a season ticket and attend all the games, but as I work sometimes on the weekend and have other commitments (family) I am limited to the odd 5 or 6 home games a season. As I would ideally like to support the club more I was wondering if there was a scheme in place whereby fans, like me, could contribute via donations to the club itself? I know there are ways of supporting the club financially via shirt and merchandise sales, etc, etc but these obviously cost money to print and make the shirts/merchandise. I myself, and I’m sure many other fans like me wouldn't be averse to donating on a monthly basis, similar to charity donations, direct to the club. I know loyalty schemes are in place with some clubs, maybe even our own, but I wanted to ask, if we wanted to donate on a regular basis and donate without too much hoo hah i.e. loyalty schemes, newsletters, etc, is there something in place for us to do so as I would like to support my club as best I can, even if it is a small amount each month. I knwo this type of doantion gives charities a good dependable income, one that can allow them to earmarked projects and services well in advance (i know this because I am a fundraiser for Teenage Cancer Trust) and so see the benefits of such a donation scheme. If this type of thing is already in place then I would love to know more about it. Financially I can afford a season ticket, it’s just that I wouldn’t get to use it that often and so would like to support the club in other ways if at all possible. Cheers for the good work you, Randy and the board are doing Up the Villa

will there be any plans to get the villa kit in london at all this year? as cant find the villa anywhere but can get the leeds kit! also will the black training top be avaiable in men sizes on the OS? as at the mo it only has it in kid sizes I asked at the Nike Town Store on Oxford Street whether they would be getting the Villa kits in and they said they were going to be stocking all of them, so might be an idea to try there. They did have all the Barca, Inter and other nike kits and training tops in there when I was there, no Villa back then as the shirts hadn't been realised yet. I was in trying to see if I could get a sneak glimpse of the new kit designs from a member of staff

Hi General Complete newbie on here after getting a bit fed up of all the kids and idiots on the main message board. Other than coming on here to say a big well done lads for this Sunday's result against Chelsea, which having lived in London for going on 6 years and having a fair few mates who are Chelsea fans, I was well chuffed we did them over so to speak. You'll be happy to know that I have since seen the light and moved back to the Midlands and plan to get my arse down to VP a lot more than I have done while living down South. The main thing I wanted to ask you and the club was whether there was any plans to try and get the Villa merchandise sold in all of the major sports retailer outlets such as Sportsworld, JJB, JD Sports, etc, etc? I only ask as I was in Derby recently (girlfriend's a Derby fan for her sins) and tried to buy the new Villa kit while we were out on the Sunday. Every store I went into in that area (I made it a mission of mine to try pretty much every store) didn't have the new Villa shirt in, at all. There were Newcastle shirts, Liverpool shirts, even Birmingham blooming city shirts but no Villa ones. Now I always had trouble getting a shirt down South just because it was monopolised by all the London teams down there but thought with Derby only being the East Midlands that I'd pick a Villa one up no probs, safe to say it wasn't that easy. I'm now going to get both the home and away ones via the club shop online, but if we're going to try and turn the local kids away from their Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool shirts, something that annoys me when you walk around locally, especially kids in that god awful new Chelsea away shirt that they played in on Sunday! We need to have our shirts in high street sports retailers if we're going to compete. Anyway, apologies if this has already been mentioned, like I say only a newbie, just thought I'd mention it as it proper annoyed me that I couldn't get one, to the point of saying to the bloke working in Sportsworld Derby that I thought they should stock them. Anyway rant over, UP THE VILLA