KMitch

I don't know why everyone is complaining about this being a loan. If the kid turns out to be a diamond in the rough, we have a fixed fee already agreed for him. If the coaching team doesn't rate him this season, he goes back to Wolves and we pass on overspending on a dud. Either way, we now a have a left sided CB who can fill in at LB, instead of Hutton in both roles. Welcome, Kortney! UTV.

I'll let the legend that is Jim Mora sum up our situation...

He has the passing ability we need in that deep midfield spot, but his tackling/pressing is horrendous. If Hourihane can't track runs into the box from midfield, Lansbury isn't going to do better.

Well, I guess everyone knows why he hasn't been playing. I didn't even realize he was on the pitch until around the 25th minute when a chance fell to him that he squandered.

Yep. I love that he isn't writing off the cup. Sounds like Taylor is fit as well. I'm looking forward to seeing how our new defense will fair. This will be, on paper, the strongest defense we've sent out all season. Will be interesting to see how we do. Kalinic Bree - Elphick - Chester - Taylor

Staying with us for the remainder of the season seems like the best option for both Tammy and Chelsea. Going on loan to a struggling Premier League team isn't a great idea. We're creating chances for him left and right to put away, a struggling Premier League team won't give him that luxury. He's the current Championship top scorer, and has played less games than all the other people around him on the top scoring charts. If he keeps this form going through the rest of the season, Chelsea will be able to get more for him in the summer, Tammy will have more interested clubs in him to choose from, and we might possibly have a chance at signing him, if we go up. The only reasoning for Chelsea selling him this month is if they think his stock is at an all time high and will be able to get more for him now than in the summer.

Hope he grabs a goal tomorrow and puts himself into contention for more minutes. I know Tammy is a monster and the first name on the teamsheet right now, but if we can find some way to play both of them together to try to grab a late winner, it can help us get more points added to the tally this season.

Smith likes to play with a very high line. The pace will help when the opposition tries to go long on the counter. This was one thing Tuanzebe brought to our backline this is really lacking right now. Another rapid central defender will help us make up for our fullback/midfield issues.

...and we got McGinn for £4m. Shows what they know!

I think we're all so used to everything going to shit when it involves the club, that it's only natural for some of us to start to question things that aren't exceeding our expectations. We're a miserable lot, us Aston Villa supporters.

Or maybe we're being sensible for once? We still don't know what league we'll be playing in next season. Dropping a lot of money on players this month isn't a guarantee that things will pan out in our favor. I'd rather haggle over a few bargains this month and spend more on targets this summer when we know more about our situation next season.

Sounds like his awareness and positioning are the weakest aspects of his game. Physically, the guy is a monster. If Terry, who survived playing to his late 30s because of his awareness and positioning, can't coach those into him, he won't make it as a footballer. Also 2-4 mil isn't that big of a loss if he turns out to be pants. It's not like dropping 15 mil on a player who rots in the reserves while seeing out his contract.

I honestly wouldn't be bothered if we let everyone in that 2019 list go, if Smith & Co. don't rate them. I would like to try to sign Tuanzebe on a permanent, regardless if we get promoted or not, and Tammy if we go up. The others? I think our scouting team can find better players to replace them and fit within our budget. This has to free up ~200k/week in wages to work with next season. I also like that 3/4 of our long term contracts are for our best players. The jury is still out on Hogan, though. I still think he can come good under Smith again, but he's going to find it hard to get time on the pitch, playing behind Tammy at the moment.

Remember Steve Bruce chasing Joe Bryan down the freeway to London? hahaha

The club doctor must have had a wicked hangover from the NYE festivities...

I'm going to guess that most of the supporters calling for him to play haven't seen any of his play in the reserves, even highlights. His hype/reputation is based on the echo chamber of fans talking him up left and right. I remember before Jack went out on loan there were people on here screaming for him to start. When Jack played most of a season in League One, he looked decent, but obviously not ready for Premier League football, which showed in his first season for us under Lambert/Sherwood. Throwing kids into the starting lineup without knowing anything about how they're performing in training or taking to things off the pitch isn't the best strategy. I remember Houllier didn't rate a lot of our first team players and benched them for kids (Albrighton, Bannan, Herd, Hogg, Clark, Baker, Lichaj, etc.). He was slated by fans left and right for playing players who were out of their depth and not good enough. Besides Herd, every other player in that group is an established Premier League or Championship player today, which showed that they needed a more time to development than we supporters were willing to give them.

Anyone remember David Nugent? Was scoring for fun in the Championship and got a call up to the Engerland squad because of it.

He was 20-21 playing for Wolves and was playing well enough to get in the England U21 side. Wolves replaced him with better, more experienced defenders that are already the finished product. They fell into a lot of money and didn't need to develop players anymore. Doesn't mean he won't be good enough for us. He may take a half a season of playing time to shake out all the rust of not playing first team football for 2 seasons, but after that he could be a bargain. He looks a lot like a left sided Tuanzebe to me. I still want to try to sign Axel this summer...

Leicester did last summer...

I'm pretty sure Dale Stephens is still locked up in JulieB's basement.

With Kalinic coming into the squad, Elphick filling in for Axel, Bree at RB, Taylor coming back from injury for Swansea, and hopefully a new DM this month, our defensive issues will be a lot less prevalent in the 2nd half of the season. I mean, we looked a lot better at the back today with Elphick & Bree. Get Taylor in at LB on Saturday and someone else besides Hourihane playing at DM and we should dominate the match.

Excellent today. Glad he is back and will suit Smith's style of football. Looked extremely comfortable in possession and solid defensively.

Spot on... We'd be battling relegation without him this season. Not even joking.

Wolves Forum reaction to the Hause Rumors: https://www.molineuxmix.co.uk/index.php?threads/hause-to-villa.208696/ Overall, the consensus is that he is a promising prospect who isn't getting any game time under Nuno. Most are happy for him leaving to play, some aren't happy that he is coming to Villa Park, many are trashing Villa, most think they're going to get more than 4 million for him, but he hasn't played much at all over the past 2 seasons.

Hause would be excellent. Left sided CB who is a true athlete. Strong, good in the air, quick, and is very comfortable with the ball at his feet. Looks like a slightly more physical left sided Tuanzebe. SIGN HIM UP!!!