El-Reacho

Neville and Keane going on about United finally turning the corner after this result. How many times have they said that and United go out and get hammered next game? We need to replicate this performance on the run in and we’ll be well clear of United.

12 hours ago, Spoony said:

Sometimes he’s as good as Hogan. Other times he’s as good as Messi. The enigma. 

Still find it incredible that there was so little scouting talent at villa that there was no one to step in and stop Bruce from spending what he did on Scott hogan.

Wonder will we try to upgrade Diego Carlos with someone who can pass it through the middle of the park the way Torres can but who’s right footed.

Maybe send him back to Arsenal on loan so he can continue to develop before being ready for us next season?

6 minutes ago, daggy_333 said:

I hope Liverpool don't look at Emery to replace Klopp.

They'd be crazy to not consider him.

9 hours ago, Lord Willard said:

Don’t we have the hardest run in? And essentially the easiest Christmas schedule. Feel like we’ve dropped a lot of points. 

But we perform much better and seem to get points out of seemingly harder opponents. On paper it was an easy Christmas but it was opponents that were desperate not to lose to us and grind out draws with low blocks. We’ll be competitive on the run in. We need to pick up points against teams lower down the table who’ll try to do an Everton on us.

1 hour ago, Jas10 said:

 

Think most players that age are playing in different positions as they develop their skillset so I'd hardly have versatility down as an attribute more than any other 18yo.

11 minutes ago, Lichfield Dean said:

Huh? The players tunnel is great as it is isn't it? It's a million times better than most other stadiums I see on TV. When I did the stadium tour I thought it was brilliant.

Yeah it looks well on TV, but you take his point that it’s a nice open/airy/comfy space for away players before the match.

Hasn’t really helped away teams in the last year or so having said that.

He also says the days of bigger clubs coming and taking our best players are gone. 
 

“They can try all they want,” says Heck, firmly. “But maybe we’ll try to buy one of their players. I think this idea that we’re here for the taking is dated. And we need to move on from that.”

1 hour ago, MrBlack said:

... care to elaborate for those of us without a subscription?

He says the planned new north stand was cancelled because there was no sense in having a 50k+ seater stadium that didn’t have the surrounding infrastructure to support it (parking and train capacity). 
Says the brick warehouse at the entrance to the north stand will still be converted to a large F&B destination.

Says he cringes at our players tunnel so they are redesigning it to make it much more intimidating for away teams. He says it currently resembles a council leisure centre.

He picks out 3-4 areas of the stands from where they are on the pitch that need redevelopment but it doesn’t give anymore detail on those.

Profile on him in the Sunday times today. Nothing too groundbreaking in it but he comes across well. He’s very well thought of at the 76ers and if he replicates the financial growth he managed there at Villa we’ll be in good shape.

1 hour ago, MrBlack said:

I'll be surprised if the Adidas deal is below £25m.

Newcastle got £30m with champions league secured,  but they're already out of it and don't look like getting it next season either.

The stats have us very likely to land champions league,  so I'd hope we got the same, but realistically it will be a huge improvement on the £3m from Castore whatever.

And we get better kits to boot :).

It's maybe a flexible deal where they pay us more if we qualify for CL. Maybe more again if we qualify for the knock-outs.

12 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

From the bits I've read and seen from people who've watched him more, they describe him as similar to Ollie, but with a higher ceiling?

Jonathan David that is.

If true, having two Ollie's would be pretty

Similar to Ollie but with a higher ceiling is an insanely high bar. That must be relative to Ligue 1?? If he’s capable of emulating Ollie in the PL and an even higher ceiling he’d have snapped up ages ago. Clubs will pay £100m for that type of striker.

1 hour ago, Spoony said:

Ooo no VAR!!! Thank Christ. If a goal goes in we can actually celebrate and no pissing around with offsides being massively delayed. 

This is quite interesting actually. I think VAR is the reason inventive coaches such as Emery and Postecoglu are now playing insanely high defensive lines as they know they'll not get punished by a bad linesman's call and can take much bigger risks pushing forward. It'll be interesting to see if he changes things today now that there's no VAR.

Out for the boro cup game. Hope this injury doesn’t drag on any longer.

5 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Couldn't find the exact article, but found another one which shows it.

We are basically just behind Everton and Chelsea. Not pretty is it

https://sqaf.club/premier-league-ffp-table/

Wonder will we look to offload one of the crown jewels to get us back on track? Absolutely galling that Man City are almost breaking even on that table.

4 minutes ago, nick76 said:

 

Can imagine him going the same direction as Doku. RB is where City will spend big this summer. If they can get him for a bargain transfer fee they'll be able to throw all kinds of wages at him.

15 hours ago, Jas10 said:

Yeah… it just seems a silly suggestion. Like Gibbs-White and Gallagher too… but Philips is even worse…

One minute these sorts of players are suggested and the next we are worried and concerned about FFP and limitations makes no sense…

Kind of find it shocking how far “fan opinion” from some repeatedly strays from the logic and strategy that we are actually employing at the club… what evidence is there that Unai, Monchi and co are happy or even interested in splashing out big fees and/or big wages on PL or English/British players? Especially those who are nothing special and are being massively overpaid? Even worse those that have huge asking prices…

Everything we have implemented is designed to find and research talented players all over the world (probably Spain and South America moreso) that combine potential and value.

There is no value to be had in/from the PL… many of the legends and stars that we look back on and admire came from obscure places or foreign leagues and became or developed into that calibre of player… some of them were bargains too… some/many of the best British players were developed by their own clubs or from a young age… 

None of the targets or signings so far suggest we would ever employ this approach either…

Just find it a bit weird tbh but hey ho… each to their own I guess.

 

I agree with all of this to an extent, however given the threshold for success is so high in the PL there is value to players who've proven themselves at PL level. For every obscure player that arrives from out of the blue from South America or eastern Europe and becomes an elite level PL players there's probably 20+ flops. The richest clubs can afford to take those risks and stockpile players who aren't good enough for their first team - we can't (at this stage).

Is Finn Azaz not one of the best players in the Championship this season? £2m seems crazy low for a goal scoring midfielder with his stats. He must be out of contract this summer.

8 hours ago, Jas10 said:

We don’t need squad filler or options, we have the numbers (especially in forward areas) but we can definitely enhance the quality.

It’s also a waste of resources (fees and wages) to sign players who aren’t going to make enough of an impact/contribution and can’t displace/push players in the first team.

Other than a backup (or, even better, actual competition) for Kamara at DM and, eventually, an Olsen replacement… the only signings we really need to make or target are upgrades or genuine competition. E.g. a better or more suitable RB than Cash. And we can bide our time on those targets too…

We don’t need to look in the bargain bin anymore, unless we can find an exceptional player such as we did when we got Kamara on a free!!

Keeping an eye on genuinely top class players whose contracts are running down would be wise. But… we can and should spend on top players who can make us even better… those that Unai wants, rates and sees fitting into and enhancing our team.

But… all we need is quality not quantity. If it’s not available or we can’t convince those higher level players to join… we don’t need to sign anyone. Our squad and especially our first 11 are great… with Unai at the helm, we can beat anyone on our day and we’ve shown it. The problem is, we suffer when those key players are missing or out of form/fitness…

If we really want to compete for CL qualification (or the title! )… we have to stop signing so-so players and continue setting our sights higher.

Good to see that most people are realising what a great signing Pau has been… continue in that vein…

Tbf… there’s a lot more to come from certain individual players like Diaby, Zaniolo and the return to sharpness for Ramsey and Moreno… more from Tielemans too…

 

Moreno would’ve been considered a squad filler option this time last year and ended up being one of our best players in the run in. Was nearly 30, never played for a top club, never played in Europe or internationally, and cost relatively little. I’d say Monchi and Unai will be looking at similar profiles this January.

4 hours ago, Indigo said:

Agree with this. I think RB is the most obvious position you'd improve in the starting XI rigjt now, and relative to other positions isn't generally the most costly to do so. Otherwise if you look at Villa's bench relative to a lot of other sides we're actually doing quite well really, 

We’d need to spend big money to get someone who can play right back better than Konsa right now. I think Ezri is exactly what Emery wants in that position.

Keen to see dendoncker come in for him on Friday as a straight swap rather than shuffling Luiz / McGinn / Tielemans back deeper. We need to keep those guys higher up the pitch to make our high line work.

33 minutes ago, PerryBarrPet said:

Yes but does anyone outside the club really know our true situation? I am sure our owners will operate within the rules as they stand but being the men they are a way will be found if the right opportunity presents itself. 

Maybe we'll sell Villa Park again??