May-Z

I've been impressed whenever I've seen him against higher opposition. I wonder if he could give us the Moreno-on-the-right option to alternative with in some matches. In the future. He's definitely comfortable enough on the ball, in my opinion.

I don't disagree. I feel that's necessary as well. However, I think Emery prioritises a defender who can play the ball over one who is better at the physical elements...which is why this link could be a goer. I think Carlos is probably the perfect hybrid of the two elements but I don't think there's too many of his ilk about at this point.

Looks like a cover option for Mings more than anything else. I think we're happy to defend by having a high line and keeping the ball...rather than dominating in one v one duels constantly. Seems a reasonable option for low funds. Why not? Especially if Hause ends up going.

Part of me wonders if Zaniolo was bought as the the Coutinho replacement.

I'd be surprised if it isn't someone we haven't been linked with before. I just don't think we work in the way in which we'd set up a brand new deal at this point before the deadline. So it will be one we made initial contact with, got put on hold, then we go back to complete. I think it's a forward from Torres, Felix, Johnson etc....and a left back if Digne goes. We might even try to actively make that happen by working on the replacement first. I think Emery is happy with the options at RB so probably nothing happening there. Outs could be interesting though. A lot that could feasibly move on.

Is there a more pointless skill than the no look pass? Not even sure it's a skill tbh. He looked very encouraging though. I think once he's got used to our system he's going to be very productive for us.

I look back on the Reebok 95-97 kit and think they emphasise part of the point quite well. All different, but all definitely transmit 'Villa' in their design. I like how the shorts/socks can all interchange nicely as well from a design perspective. Not sure how you would repeat this every year to keep it 'fresh', but I'd argue claret, white, yellow, light blue (maybe navy and black too) included in some way in all shirts in some way would be a start.

Remember on his debut when we were trying to work out if he fluked the volley against Bristol... The crazy bastard just spent the rest of his time scoring bangers to show us it was genuine.

I think we're seeing the last step in meeting Purslow's famous 'if you're not around the first team by 18, the you aren't good enough' strategy. The players we're selling are the ones that could've been doing that, but weren't. A bit sad, as they're good players and it's nice to see them come through, but ultimately we are being a bit more ruthless whilst still holding a bit of control with the buy backs. The 'new' youngsters like Feeney, Smith, Kellyman, Wilson, Young, O'Reilly are the ones expected to break through before 20 imo and this clears the way for them. ...and if they don't, sell for a bit of profit each time.

There's an angle from behind the goal that shows him try and go the exact opposite direction to where he ends up. He made up for it well though! Lovely, calm finish. 10 secs into this vid... https://twitter.com/AVFCLatam/status/1693668576178196865?t=GMszlYL2RU7oc7MBYVrQdA&s=19

Castore just need to give up and go home. They're so shit. The offer nothing except putting an extra zero on the price of their kits.

I like the way he still celebrates goals. There's a lot of managers who still there, emotionless, trying to maintain that it was what they expect anyway....but Emery is different. It's almost like he's celebrating the players rewarding themselves for their work in training. You can see that is isn't driven by emotions either. He still has a moment of composure before celebrating, before making sure everyone on the bench is thanked and congratulated. A class act.

Such a confidence player. Never quite seen someone affected like he is. It almost seems to even affect his balance. I have a feeling he knew he'd done well against Everton before and that gave him the ammunition to feel confident today. Hopefully he can use it as a boost for other games coming up.

This is part of Unai 'managing' the players imo. If he rips up the line up and makes a raft of changes, the targeted players would lose confidence and from the outside it would look like he was abandoning his initial plan...after one game. We know these players can produce results, especially at home, and there will have been some serious work on the training pitches this week to correct what went wrong at St James'.

They did have Barkley and Aaron Ramsey in their squad...they are a a little bit out there with their ideas.

Nice have a bit of money about them now (I think) so would probably be reasonably placed to Dela with his wages. And if the loan fee does enough to cover a year of Digne's costs for FFP then it may work for us and let us get another signing in.

How is this Adidas deal going to play out? Are Castore just wiped completely at the end of August and Adidas will get a new kit out for Geordies to spend another whack of money on?

Too many puns going on. Mention an egg once, that should be un oeuf.

I like how the others nod along expecting him to say Newcastle and then wonder if he has lost his marbles when he explains that it's Villa he's referring to.

Yes, in thinking that main take-away from the game was that we'll be ok from relegation, he's definitely wrong. His inclusion of the word 'probably' in reference to a finishing position the top 10 is a bit dismissive of our progress as well. IMO, it's the same as saying Man City will 'probably' finish in the top 4. It's not wrong, but it neglects any actually understanding of the team in question.

We actually leaked goals right, right, right, right, and right yesterday

As shit as the result was, I'm not accepting 'probably finish top half' as a valid commentary on where we're at, at the minute...just in the same way I'm not having the 'Newcastle are going to push City all the way' nonsense.

Offside or not for their second, surely it's just a foul on Cash. Jacob Ramsey Vs Man U in the cup anybody?

Pat Nevin after the match Villa won't be in any danger, they'll probably finish top half again. What. A. clearing in the woods.

Meh. Wank result. So disappointing. Pretty much in line with what we know though. The high line works really well for us...but a mm out through miscommunication and you let the opposition in. (Not to mention dubious offsides not being called) I wonder if the constant changes of defenders in preseason may have hampered the unit in playing the tight offsides. Newcastle are up there with the best at pressing and bullying teams physically - and for some reason the officials are keen to let them do it. Watkins is a great player, but not as clinical as we need when we want to take advantage when we're on top as Isak did. We need an alternative striker to use in games. Bailey has probably run out of time. Swapping Buendia for him in the starting line up would've helped Newcastle get on top. We could probably use a midfield with physical presence as well as passing ability. We play some good football and will always create chances. Wilson and Barnes will always score whenever they play Villa. The media bumming of Newcastle is gross and relentless.