Texas_Mike

Not going to lie that was not the performance I expected. You don't get but a few seconds to make a pass in that position and he just wanted so much time it was always goin to end up nowhere.

That said he needs time to settle in so I am still more than hopeful. Smithy needs to play him where he is comfortable for starters.....not sure today was it

I don't know if he would be a good signing or not but people are losing sight of what Villa has to do to become successful. We cannot buy and are not looking to buy the finished product. The cost is too much and we (right now) are not an attractive proposition to someone wanting Europe competition. What we are doing is buying potential and developing them into much better and ultimately more expensive players. Whether we end up selling or keeping we need to buy low and end up with a high value player. Need I say ... Konsa, Cash, Mings, Ollie, etc. If we make top 4 that approach may change but for now we are not a Man City. 

Given that then McNeil fits the profile. If he dramatically improves like we have managed with recent signings then we will have a great buy on our hands, move up the table and have a player worth 2 or 3 times what we paid. If he fails and you know some will then we move him on. I say don't look at what someone has done recently look at what they might be capable of in 2 years time.

4 minutes ago, Mammoth10 said:

Names, I demand names 

1. 1 GK Pierluigi Gollini
2. 2 DF Nathan Baker
3. 4 DF Micah Richards
4. 5 MF Henri Lansbury
5. 6 DF Tommy Elphick
6. 7 MF Leandro Bacuna
7. 8 MF Aaron Tshibola
8. 10 FW Jordan Ayew
9. 11 FW Gabriel Agbonlahor
10. 12 DF James Chester
11. 13 GK Jed Steer
12. 15 MF Ashley Westwood
13. 17 MF Jordan Veretout
14. 18 FW Libor Kozák
15. 19 MF Andre Green
16. 21 DF Alan Hutton
17. 22 MF Gary Gardner
18. 23 DF Jordan Amavi
19. 24 MF Carlos Sánchez
20. 25 MF Mile Jedinak
21. 26 FW Jonathan Kodjia
22. 27 DF Ritchie De Laet
23. 28 DF Aly Cissokho
24. 31 GK Mark Bunn
25. 34 GK Sam Johnstone
26. 37 MF Albert Adomah
27. 38 MF Jordan Lyden
28. 40 MF Jack Grealish
29. 44 FW Ross McCormack

Too many players have arrived and gone from good player to donkey to close this thread yet.

2 hours ago, Barney_avfc said:

Haha 

Ok what this means is.... (50%+50%+50%) 1/3  - We are working on 3 to bring in but will only need 1 of those (1 in)

                                         -50% - 50%                - Trying to remove 2 players   (2 out)

                                          + 50%                       - 50% on bringing in a 2nd player  (another 1 in)

2 minutes ago, AshVilla said:

Bit of a slow news day so figured i'd contribute a joke,

What's the difference between a kangaroo and a kangaroot? One's an Australian animal the others a geordie stuck in a lift.

 

I don't get it....

1 hour ago, Cridontour said:

http://www.espnfc.co.uk/story/2924542/west-brom-planning-move-for-aston-villas-jordan-ayew-sources

Are ESPN a credible source? I hope not.

There are certain teams that if they seriously bid might force Xia to back track on his obvious intent of keeping Ayew......... WBA is not one of them!

Given the fact he is only given end of game minutes I don't see how will suddenly start this weekend but I would start him. He looks the part. I know he is young and needs treating gently but...

3 hours ago, briny_ear said:

If Tony Xia can't or won't fork out to get in a better LB squad player than Joey Bennett, that will be the first tiny increment of disillusion with him in my eyes.

Who said he can't or won't??? Our manager decides, not him and given we have at least 3 already in the squad, I would say it is sensible and prudent to not squander a few million on some crappy squad player so that we now have 4. WE NEED BETTER PLAYERS THAT WILL REPLACE A CURRENT FIRST TEAM PLAYER not add to a bloated group of squad players.

1 hour ago, Villan_of_oz said:

Yes they did but Guz will nbe happier being no. 2 in a Premier League side than no. 2 in a championship side. Will get paid better too...

No 2 at anywhere will probably see him lose his place as USA goalie. Something he has waited years to claim. Can't see him going anywhere he is not the starter

2 hours ago, Gary Thomas said:

Good post, where I am now - 3 weeks away from the start of the season with pretty much the same squad apart from a few fringe players leaving and three decent in.  Still reasonably positive, but need to get our business done pretty quickly now.

Well with anyone who is anyone when it comes to signing players over in China, I doubt any new signing is immanent. What I am waiting for next is the leaked list of players who have been told to find other clubs............ Next Weekend should be good for that as we will have to start playing the team we want to start the season with.

Last season the whole team was a disaster and none of them worth anything of value. But that was then and this is now. It is more than possible Sinclair could score 10 - 12 goals even as a bit player or someone to bring off the bench. Why give that away if we don't have to?

and BTW I happen to think we don't need him if Ayew, Gabby, Libor remain but it is knowing who stays and who goes.... for now he should be valued like that.

22 minutes ago, Daweii said:

His errors leading to a goal stat was 0.04 last season. De Gea was 0.03.. That said Guzan was 0.07 so not fully knowing how the scale works it's hard to know just how much worse a 0.07 is compared to 0.04. Either way it seems he doesn't make many mistakes

Made half the mistakes than Guzan did?  

40 minutes ago, tommybread said:

Are ye being seriously linked with Ravel? He just has so much ability, I've seen very few with the talent he has. I even have a shirt with his name on it. Unfortunately, it isn't just about effort or knuckling down, by all means Ravel has some serious educational and mental problems. He has learning difficulties, he has been called educationally challenged by someone who worked with him for years. He was afraid to eat foreign food while at a youth tournament in Azerbaijan from fear it would poison him. He didn't have energy to play through games because he was living off of Mars bars and Lucozade. He is by all means a genuinely lovely chap but he doesn't know right from wrong. He doesn't realize he is making poor decisions. There isn't much more I'd like to see than Ravel turn his career around but many fear he just isn't mentally capable of it. 

Wow... I assume you have good lawyer.

Out of all of our signing last summer, I think he needs 1 more year to see what he can really do. He arrived young, not able to speak English with no home and a pregnant wife. What he needed was to be slowly integrated into a winning team, not a team that lost every week. Who would look good under those circumstances.

Keep him, play him and lets see what he is made of.

1 hour ago, LakotaDakota said:

I would imagine it would be something more along the lines of Resort world next to the lg arena at birmingham international.

Casino, Spa, Hotel, shopping, cinema, bars, restaurants, conference centre etc all under one roof.

Slap some villa/recon branding all over and incorporate villa village/clubshop etc and it would seem to be a good idea.

 

Would even be good for fans in this country/europe who travel a distance to games, stay within walking distance of the ground, with plenty to do to make a weekend of it etc

Finally comments that make sense. It would surely have to be indoors, could have a football museum, some neat electronic footie games and tests of skill with the cinema, restaurant's and conference facility, etc. Tourists at weekends, business conferences during week. having said all that I still don't know how it would all work given the location and what is available around it. Great for home games trips but the rest of year???

The smile on my face is slowly getting bigger!!! Debts paid off, 50 million sitting there to be spent and an owner with a plan. If we can make him love AVFC we could be set for years to come.

22 minutes ago, Richard said:

If I may summarise for you

1. Hollis said he was involbved in the Birds Nest - the FT disputed this.  So a statement not made by XIa but by AVFC

2. In the official announcement yesterday it was said he owned 5 compa nies.  Again the FT have disputed this and it turns out they are negotiating to buy five companies .  Again a club statement not a statement by Xia

3. There have been concerns about uncertain issues since yesterday and that there is little "clarity" on Xia and his business.  So again nothing XIa has said,  more things that he has not said.

4. There seems to be general unease because he is Chinese,  this may be being unfair but comparisons to the unwashed persist.

So in a nutshell nothing Xia has said more reports from others which people on this site seem to be losing their mind over

 

For me it is not what he said or didn't say but more of where is he getting his money from? You can not become super rich through 1 company that lost millions last year. 5 companies yes but he doesn't own 5 and if he is buying another 4 then .... where is that money coming from? If it is all via borrowing then we may live to regret this in the future if the economy tanks or China has some sort of major slow down. If he has private backing or government backing then I would be happier but he has denied this. I live in hope but 2 and 2 is not yet equaling 4.

King Power, Emirates, Etihad Stadium.... do you think they have a problem? All in top 4. All in Champions League.... however, let us drift down the leagues because we have our head in the sand over what it takes to compete in today's football world. It will always be Villa Park no matter what it is called. I therefore have no issue. Bring it all on Tony!!!

6 years ago he didn't have enough money to pay his taxes. I am sure it is all sorted now but I am not sure someone with recent cash flow problems needs to be in charge of AVFC. We will  need that much just to pay off Pearson.... at Xmas!!!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/financial-woes-plague-nashville-owner/article4294037/

3 hours ago, rodders0223 said:

More often than not he comes out on top. Yes, that's why he plays for Aston Villa. I am starting to think his performances for Columbia are a myth to be honest.

They are not a myth. I get to see some of the games here live on TV and he has been excellent. Was given man of match against Brazil or Argentina (I forget which one). He sat deep and broke everything up. I just don't know what happens at times for Villa. I will not be unhappy if he is still here next season.

He does a lot of off the ball work and that is good but it often goes unseen. What is seen are his mistakes which or too often and in dangerous positions. He will probably move on in the summer. although the Copa America runs all through June I think so if he doesn't leave before then it will probably be still be a Villa player when they come back for training.