KMitch

25 minutes ago, il_serpente said:

Two 17 year-olds and a 20 year-old on the pitch for Villa the last 15 minutes and the team are holding their own.   Very promising for the future.

Scared Burn and Joelinton so much they got yellow carded for kicking them too much.  

Damn!  Kellyman almost with another. 

Olsen looks like Bambi on ice in possession. Need to replace him with a keeper that isn’t afraid of the ball at his feet. 
 

Also, Buendia is a man possessed tonight. Holy cow!

Another brilliant Summer Series match. All of them have been electric so far. Buendia was a man possessed for most of the half, JPB showing he should be a part of the 1st team squad next season, and very well drilled shape throughout the team. Showing very good stuff on offense while our defending is a bit rusty. 

Kamara has gotten his pocket picked 4 times this half, including the one which led to the goal. Needs to figure that out. 

Best 15 minutes of football Buendia has played for us so far. He’s pulling all the strings out there. 

Is anyone at the match?  Do you know if they're selling Villa merch there?  Asking because I'm debating rush ordering something for Sunday's match or if I should just see if I could pick it up there.  

Just now, VillanousOne said:

Yep dragged them all out there for no reason tch

Could be injured, could have had offers come in since they traveled, could be saving them for Wednesday, etc.  Saying it's a waste of time/bringing them for no reason is a bit much...

Happy to see JPB getting a run out with the 1st team against a strong Newcastle side.  He looked like a proper world beater two preseasons ago and I hope he can push on more being in the 1st team this season.  

Palhinha looks like he's broken his arm or really messed up his shoulder.  Bad news for Fulham, but I guess it will mean that West Ham will back off trying to sign him as the Rice replacement.  

What a signing!!!  Hope he can hit the ground running!

Champions League is expanding after next season so it's most likely that the top 5 finishing clubs in the Prem will get a Champions League spot.  This is the time to go all out.  Another senior striker/forward, right back, and figure out a solid replacement for Olsen and we're a very strong squad to compete in both the Conference and the Premier League, as well as the cups.  

27 minutes ago, wishywashy said:

In a good mood after Diaby so will believe this link regardless of how Italian media love to lie for no reason

https://tuttomercatoweb.com/calcio-estero/tmw-aston-villa-all-assalto-di-almada-da-atlanta-chiedono-20-milioni-zaniolo-un-alternativa-1855222

 

I'm so scared at buying anyone from the MLS because that league is so shit Carles Gil has been a top player for years there.  Their best teams are maybe Championship playoff caliber at best, while most of the league is lower Championship to midtable League One quality. 

2 minutes ago, QldVilla said:

Football would be ruined in that scenario, and I don’t see the governments of major league countries accepting that scenario.

You don't think UEFA/FIFA (both organizations who have been embroiled in serious bribery scandals in the past 10 years) or European governments (who have NEVER turned down significant Saudi business opportunities before) will turn down a ridiculous amount of money from the Saudis for entry into UEFA competitions for the principle of it?  And you call yourself a realist who isn't naive? 

53 minutes ago, QldVilla said:

And play for what? Your making gross exaggerations when you don’t even know whether the Saudis will still have any interest in 5-10 years.

They can’t play in European Competitions and will never be a premier league, or other major league, becuase they are limited by their appeal to anyone outside of Arabia.

You think they're going to stop at players?  I guarantee that the Saudis will buy their way into UEFA, just like they have with golf and the PGA tour.  Once they pull a lot of the talent away from Europe, they'll pull ad revenue/TV broadcast money away from UEFA as well and before long they'll realize it'll be better to partner up with the Saudi League instead of trying to ignore it completely.  Newcastle is their backup plan, but I'm pretty sure their end goal now is to make Saudi clubs the new juggernauts instead of Saudi owned European clubs. 

5 minutes ago, Mazrim said:

Are there no Villa supporting journalists who could do it?

I suspect that the Athletic doesn't want to pay for another writer, so they'd rather have some cover multiple clubs instead.  

1 hour ago, wishywashy said:

Not sure where else to put this, but looks like the rumoured changes are taking afoot in Villa media...

Good F'n Riddance.  I sub to the Athletic for the NBA coverage because the beat writer for my Pistons, James Edwards III, is so good I want to pay him for his work.  He travels with the team to all away games, has exclusive interviews/pieces on the team that you wouldn't find from other journalists, is a tier 1 source for all trade rumors and often breaks news before or alongside Shams/Woj, and is trusted by the team, so he is able to have a lot of off the record conversations/sources on what is actually happening behind closed doors.  Seeing how dedicated he is to his job and the quality of his work compared to what Gregg Evans phones in every month is embarrassing for Evans.  I've never seen a sports beat writer like Evans who has no insider sources, rarely breaks news, and only puts out a handful of articles every year which require multiple interviews and research.  

1 minute ago, BleedClaretAndBlue said:

We never had an Unai Emery before

I know...  It's like having a history of dating batshit crazy exes and when you finally manage to start dating someone stable and emotionally intelligent, you keep thinking it's only a matter of time before everything falls apart again.  Just need more time to pass before you can completely shake that feeling.  

Just now, BleedClaretAndBlue said:

We’re gonna win the transfer window

Which is why I'm scared...  Whenever we seem to have a great window we never seem to meet expectations afterward.  

5 minutes ago, Villarocker said:

I admit that I've never seen him play but, for some reason, I get carried away when I see a foreign name being linked with us that costs tens of millions. I read somewhere that he's the French Bailey. I hope not. Someone who watches German fussball please tell me that he's a million times better than Bailey. 

I mean he plays the same position, has the same build/attributes, and also had 1 huge breakout season for the same club as Bailey.  It's hard to not make the comparison.  

Just now, allani said:

Going to be controversial with some posters - but I do think that Bailey will be better this season.  I think he's taken a while to know what we want him to do and was then probably trying too hard and was short on confidence.  I think that towards the end of the season he set up some really excellent assists (i.e. pretty much put on a plate) by driving into the box and then cutting the ball back for a late arriving midfielder.  If Diaby comes then maybe that is something that will help Bailey even more - someone who can give him refind his mojo if you like.  I think some people have written him off too soon and so that makes writing off Diaby because of the "similarity" to Bailey even weirder.  We've been crying out for years about being linked to genuinely good players and now people are writing off regular French, Italian and Spanish international players as "high risk" / almost certain failures.

I mean, he can't get any worse.  I do agree that he got slightly better near the end of the season, but he still isn't at the level we need him to be at to be starting for a club pushing for the Champions League/Europa League spots.  Hell, Traore offers more goals for us off the bench than Bailey ever has.  

4 minutes ago, WallisFrizz said:

One of the hottest properties that doesn’t seem to have anyone else in for him.

 

He's not the finished article...  Needs another huge season at Neverkusen or someone else for the big boys to spend that much on him.  He's raw but better than Bailey and could turn into a world beater with the right coaching.  I think he's our #2 option after Williams decided to stay at Bilbao again.  

6 minutes ago, david-avfc said:

Fabrizio just tweeted confirming the Diaby links, looks like it could happen 

 

 

7 minutes ago, John said:

He's a bit of a bucket hat himself and that's me being very kind. 

Buckethead*  FTFY...