ejs1111

I don't think Villa will win more games next season.  Maybe 1+...getting us to 17-18 wins.  But I can see us turning more losses into Draws.   That will help us climb the table, dropping less points.

Assuming our injuries are similar to this past season (no season ending ones) I can see us in that 65 point range next season.  That is typically top7, and occasionally top4.

I too am very hopeful that we make a deep cup run this coming season and grab a trophy.  Given our success against the top teams this year, we certainly have a good shot with an improved squad.

21 hours ago, TRO said:

I'm not sure he would.....my passion is more for Villa than England.

Dean??

13 minutes ago, Okonokos said:

Chris Wood?

would

I refuse to believe any of these Emi rumors until this thread reaches the Rashica level of fish puns.

111 million

4 players.  2-3 will be big money, the 4th will be cover/youth/backup type.

DM

RW/IF

CAM/W

LB/CB type for cover

Thats my personal order of importance.  UTV

I posted this on Twitter...  what I'd like to see if this SuperLeague actually happens:

The Premier League says: 

Ok Big6...  you can stay in the Premier League, however each club is fined for this breach every year for participating in the SuperLeague.  The sum of the fine is EQUAL to the payout ($350mil).  That is the price you pay to remain in the Premier League and continue moving forward with status quo.  All fines collected from the 'SuperLeague Tax' every year are distributed equally between all 20 teams.  So the Big6 will get some of that money back, but they will get the same amount as everyone else.  Problem solved...  enjoy your little closed shop ya pricks- and thanks for the extra $2.1bil for the Premier League teams.

If they don't agree to these terms- they are expelled from English football.

As much as I'd love for us to squeak into Europe this season and accelerate our progression...  I too agree with Rigo- I think we have left it too late.  Especially given the uncertainty with JG.  At the beginning of the season I was predicting/hoping for 50-55 points this season.  We are well on our way to achieve that- which is significant progress from last season.

In order to get Europe imo, we likely need to break 60 points.  16+ points from our final 9.  Likely 5W 1D 3L from 9.  That sounds pretty doable until one looks at the squads we play.  Very tough matches.  We need to win WBA, CP, Everton, then likely win 2 more games against teams we will be underdogs against.  Could we beat Everton twice?  Beat ManU?  Spurs?  Citeh?  Maybe 4 wins and 4 draws?  Its a tough ask- but I'm looking forward to seeing what happens!

That doesn't take into account the teams above us need to struggle down the stretch as well.  2-3 teams are around 50pts already and we need to catch them, we need them to drop points and struggle to the finish.

4 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I’d be a lot more optimistic about a strong end to the season if we knew Jack was returning. 

well according to Dean he's 99.9% chance of returning...  so its 50/50

On 21/02/2021 at 03:44, Vive_La_Villa said:

I had a dream he turned out to be injured. I need to spend less time on the internet.

come back when you have a dream about us making top4 nostradamus 

glad to hear its standard.  But given that he had stopped training and will now resume training... I wonder if this has affected his timeline at all?  Frankly I'll be stunned if he's fit and playing in March like the reports are claiming.

2 hours ago, nick76 said:

That’s my problem though is that this excludes the Luiz part.

So let’s say Man City buy back for 35m and sell to Arsenal for 38m.  

Man City then have to sign Luiz, pay him a signing on fee and then pay off his contract he literally just signs with Man City before they sell to Arsenal.

Yes, it will get settled to a much lower overall cost to Man City but I bet Luiz would get from Man City a huge slice and it won’t be tens of thousands, it’s at least high hundreds of thousands but more like north of million plus.  

It’s going to leave Man City no value in doing a deal for just a few more million than what they buy Luiz from us.  Only if Luiz was sold for 45m, 50m or more would it be worthwhile for Man City and he isn’t worth that really.

I agree with this.  COVID has really helped us with Luiz imo.  Many clubs are struggling financially in Europe.  I just don't see how it would make sense for Citeh to spend precious FFP money on a player who would only be a rotational squad player for them.  Given the reports of his buy back being north of 30m, it would be very difficult for them to flip him for a profit in today's market.  The world market for football players is depressed right now.  I've always felt that Luiz will not be going anywhere- still feel the same.

4 hours ago, Zatman said:

I saw on one of the gambling sites that we are 6th favourites for the title

Stop the count! lock the title thread!  

1 hour ago, Keyblade said:

I can't quite put my finger on what to call this style, but I have to say it's one of the most entertaining styles of football I've watched. Every game is a joy to watch.

The Villa Engine??  

I'll get my coat...

Just now, wilko154 said:

Hands down the stupidest post I've seen on this forum.

Give it a few hours.  This is VT after all. 

Westy is a solid player...  a good squad player.  Nothing more.  Unfortunately- we don't have anyone better to supplant him.  So he is 1st11 every week instead of a rotation player like he should be.  Personally I think Veretout is more talented and will surpass him, however- he is having difficulty adjusting to the Premier League so far- Westy has had 3yrs, Veretout has barely had 5 matches.  Sanchez is a better DM, but he is more limited than Westy offensively- and cannot play more than 60minutes it seems.  Westy cannot play DM as effectively as Sanchez...  but he is a better passer, and can last the full 90. 

What never seems to work is when we play both Westy and Sanchez together at the same time, neither are mobile enough, zero pace.  It leaves us too limited in MF and we are overrun.  It needs to be one or the other.

We need a mad scientist to combine Westy and Sanchez into one player...  Sanchwood!  holding midfield problem solved!!!

UTV

He will get games when we get the inevitable injuries.

That is very true- that past couple years our CBs have been as brittle as graham crackers.

i'd say its 50/50.

I'm very happy with our summer dealings!

but i'm a 'glass is half-full' type person also

All this is based on the assumption that he even sees the field for Villa.  Which is not set in stone.  I now see Richards (captain) and Lescott as the No1 CBs, with Clark, Okore (when healthy), and Llori all battling for the No3 CB slot(s).

For all we know this kid might be a bench warmer all season, regardless of how 'highly rated' he may be.  I'm sure Lescott didn't come here to sit the bench either, and we are not going to bench our captain.

Given Sinclair's current purple patch...  he cannot be out of the 1st11 right now in my opinion.  I'm assuming TS will ride the hot player(s) all season- and thats how we will get our goals.  Frankly, I like that strategy.  (We have many players capable of going on a purple patch and going on a scoring run).

If we play a 442 <> formation I can see Sinclair up top on the left side with a target man like Gestede or Kozak on the right.  If we play 433 or 4231 he will play on the left out wider cutting in and finding the openings that he is has that knack for doing.

Assuming he stays healthy- Sinclair is good for 10-12 goals this season for us.  He can replace over half of Benteke's goals by himself.  Not bad for such little money outlay!

UTV!

If we stay healthy this season I can see us pushing top10. If we have injury issues like previous seasons, players that flop, etc... I'm thinking 13-15th.

Either scenario we have too much talent to be in a relegation scrap imo.

i would be happy with Berba showing the kids how to put the ball in the net.

Despite my previous post...  I also agree this has been the best window in many years at Villa- the quality of players we have signed have been several steps 'higher' than we have previously been signing.  We have addressed all the major weak areas.  I'm hopeful that TS will 'ride the purple player' at ST during the season...  right now that player is clearly Sinclair.

At ST we rotate between Sinclair, Gabby, Gestede, Ayew, Kozak

Behind them we have a nice stable of flair players to create chances:  Adama, Grealish, Gil, Veretout, etc.

I guess TS is going with the youth movement for goals??  I must say- that is very risky. 

I was certain that we would bring in a veteran ST on loan at the very least.  And given the tremendous increase in TV money this season- wages should have been a non-issue for a loan deal.  Overall i'm very pleased with our transfer window dealings...  but i'm disappointed we didn't completely address the glaring need of goal scoring that appeared obvious to everyone.  TS must really be confident that when the team gels and everyone is fit- we will create enough chances that 'anyone' can score.  That is my hope too. 

This still feels a bit like when Lambert was here and for 3 windows he never bought an attacking MF when everyone knew we needed one.

Overall I'd give this window a B+...  if one of the young ST comes good...  easily becomes an A- or A.