KMitch

Cash is finding all sorts of space on the right... because they're giving it to him. They know he has no end product...

This... We'll be able to recruit more expensive players to stand around and watch our CBs pass back and forth to each other before hoofing it up to Watkins to lose...

I've said this a lot this season... but that was one of the worst halves of football we've played so far... Watkins is a shadow of himself last season when he ran every ball down and won most longballs up to him McGinn is having his worst performance in a Villa shirt tonight Douglas Luiz doesn't know if he's supposed to be playing as a 6 or an 8 Cash made a few good runs down the right, but his lack of end product was on full display all half JJ, Coutinho, & Buendia all missing because of the tight marking and/or booting the ball over their heads to a lazy Watkins Defense is shambolic. Nobody is on the same wavelength and we're lucky to only be 1-0 down. Lots to sort out, but TBH, it looks a lot like the same things are still happening when we lost 5 in a row under Smith. No energy, no off the ball movement into space to try to create a pass for the person in possession with the ball, and way too many long balls to nobody in particular.

Playing like we did during the run which got Smith sacked... No energy, losing every challenge, nobody is on the same wavelength, and resorting to long balls up to Wakins.

Teams are figuring out how easy it is to defend against us... Don't give our midfield/forwards any time on the ball or space. Mark us tightly and hit us on the counter. Leeds gave us all kinds of time and space and we ripped them apart at the back. Teams who mark us closely don't allow us to string together more than 1 pass before winning it back and we look a shambles at the back.

I still can't believe that he plays for us... Hands down the biggest profile signing in the history of the club.

Tactically naive tonight. We tried to go toe to toe with Leeds at their own game -> Press & Counter... Usually, Leeds can't score even with extra players crowding the box on the counter and Premier League quality opposition rip them to shreds on the break, but tonight Daniel James has the best performance of his career and our defense looked completely lost and unsure of how to defend against them. I like Gerrard so far, but this was arguably his first major tactical gaffe as manager. If we didn't have Coutinho's brilliance, we would have lost that match.

Still no yellow for fooking Ayling...

Shhhh! Don't you know that Konsa is the best English CB and Mings is shit? How dare you say otherwise...

Have any of you watched Leeds play before? This is textbook Leeds. They counter attack and overload the box extremely quickly, which will usually catch teams napping at the back. On the flip side, it leaves them extremely vulnerable on the counter themselves. When they're on like they are tonight (Daniel James is having a career performance), this works and they tend to score just as many as they concede. When they don't take their chances, they get ripped apart quickly and fall into a hole they can't get out of. That said, Coutinho his brilliant. We're so lucky to have him. Konsa needs to step up. Poor performance from him tonight.

We've spent a lot of money over the past 3 seasons and are struggling to break into the top half. It's not going to be easy for them either.

Everyone is expecting them to just throw around money offering ridiculous wages/transfer fees and somehow build a Champions League quality squad within a few seasons, like someone playing Football Manager 2022, but that didn't happen in January... Guimaraes was the only quality player they could lure there with large amounts of money, and he isn't going to be the type of player that will attract others to Newcastle (like Coutinho/Digne to us or Robinho to Man City back in the day). They had to resort to signing: An England international fullback in the twilight of his career on massive wages A Championship quality striker, older than Ings, for a similar fee/wages we paid for Ings A backup left back from a mid-table Prem team on loan They won't be in the same discussion with us for transfers any time soon.

This... The level of player we'll be able to attract to the club this summer will be higher than it was last year. Need to capitalize and continue to push on with more quality.

I read the article Gregg Evans posted about SHA this weekend. I didn't realize how bad it was for them over there... Stadium falling apart, sketchy/dubious ownership, debt piling up, no assets to develop or sell, and Craig fookin' Gardner as their Director of Football... Sounds the full Tony Xia experience drawn out over a Randy Lerner timeline. Side note: Can you imagine if things had gotten so bad that Dr. Tony had appointed Gabby as our DOF??? I almost feel sorry for the fookin' scum with Slabhead Craig in charge.

I won't slate Jack for his antics off the field... Every one of us had nights getting blackout drunk and doing stupid stuff when we were his age, we just didn't have social media, smart phones, and the paparazzi sniffing around trying to catch us in the act. Also, when you have knobheads like Gabby and N'Zogbia being the senior figures around the club, it's hard to develop good professional habits as a young player. It's no coincidence Jack's consistency started after our locker room leadership changed with signings like Terry, Whelan, Jedinak, Elphick, and Taylor. He's a good kid who happens to have a lot of money and visibility.

6-0 to the mighty Villa. Let's start the relegation spiral for these scumbags.

Everyone seems to forget how shit Jack Grealish looked for us until he was 21 and got a significant run of games in the Championship. Sure, he had a few magical matches, like the Liverpool semifinal and that appearance against Hull where he drew 4-5 yellow cards in less than 10 minutes, but most of the time he looked completely anonymous and lost in a shit Premier League team. By his own account, he didn't start to knuckle down and take football seriously until he started rooming with John Terry and started learning how to be a top professional off the field.

Shhhhhh!!! Don't let the English know what they look like!

June 2024 per Transfermarkt

Jack Colback...

4-1... Forest ripping them apart. Lots of good young talent in this team. Spence & Johnson in particular look a class above.

Archer being subbed off now. Was arguably MOTM.

This. His finishing is his strongest attribute, but his strength, control, & pace are all very good too. Out of all our youngsters I think he has the most potential to break into the first team next like JJ has done. Still has a lot of work to do in the press when the team doesn't have possession, but he's been electric this season so far.

Beats the offside trap for a deep cross and with just the goalkeeper to beat, buries it from around the penalty spot. Clinical finish.

His finishing is something else...