HanoiVillan

1 minute ago, DaoDeMings said:

Surely the only reason they're apparently selling Gallagher is PSRs, and nobody is buying Reece James now given he's just had another season ruined by injury

Well quite. It wouldn't make much sense if they actually *preferred* selling Gallagher and keeping James for footballing reasons. 

10 hours ago, VillaChris said:

Chelsea fans would go into full riot mode if they ever sold him, he's the last player they'd let leave and he's actually their captain when fit I think so 0%.

Have to think though we'd have a decent chance of signing Conor Gallagher if he became available and Unai felt he could improve parts of his game.

He's still very young with plenty of top level experience and a McGinn clone pretty much so we could do worse looking for a 30-40m additional player for central midfield to keep things ticking over before Kamara is fit again.

Nothing would surprise me with Chelsea but honestly, keeping perma-crock Reece James who hasn't looked good for about 18 months over Conor Gallagher would be the dumbest thing they could possibly do. Gallagher has his weaknesses but he's consistently one of the best pressers (if not *the* best) in the league and hasn't even hit his prime yet. 

5 minutes ago, Richie k said:

Dr Tony said we would make champions league football within 10 years and he was right lol

Well, I hope he's either left whatever Chinese dungeon he got sent to a couple of years ago, or is at least able to find out how we've got on. 

40 minutes ago, duke313 said:

To me he’s having a go at the fans, not the players. They got no support tonight, it was like a morgue.

Was funny listening on TalkSport, Danny Mills arguing that they had turned up to support the team and as he was saying it you could hear a pin drop. Pretty sure they won a corner to ironic cheers shortly afterwards. A lot of them really didn't want to win, and I do get it, but it does seem like kind of a small-time focus from the perspective of a manager and players. 

10 minutes ago, Tubby said:

 

Get the feeling watching this that we might not be in tip top condition on Sunday lol

This was never in doubt. 

Do Matterface and Danny Mills hate each other or something? Like listening to an old married couple bickering. 

Just now, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Don't like this momentum atm

They'd need to score twice to bother us. Frankly I'd rather they scored one, would rather Arsenal won the title. 

Of course it's true that the podcast only presents one side of the story. Doubtless if you ask MON or Houllier or Lambert they'd give a different account which was more flattering to themselves. But we do know what happened in terms of results and performances, and it's not like 'we didn't do any training so we blew up before Easter' doesn't fit what we actually saw. 

6 minutes ago, VillaChris said:

Early days but he has looked very good in his few months at this level so far. Palace signed him for 20m so not a stretch he'll be in the 40m bracket already with guys like Gibbs White as I can see him getting England call up in next 12 months as he's one of those tempo midfielders England are allergic to producing generally.

Not knocking him, he looks very good indeed, more just that his value has x5'd over about 10 games. 

The whole segment on Villa is dire to be honest, a dismal progression of everything getting worse through a lack of professionalism and people acting like total dicks. 

11 minutes ago, VillaChris said:

They've been linked to Adam Wharton haven't they?

Chelsea wanted Olise last summer but don't think he wanted to leave. Would be some right hand side with him, Palmer drifting in and Reece James so hope that doesn't happen.

I believe they've been quoted £60m

Just now, foreveryoung said:

So even if Tottenham beat City and Sheffield. We could still get 4th on goal difference now?

Ohh hang on, just worked out the maths, maybe not.

Yeah we can, if we draw with Palace. 

1 hour ago, Random Precision said:

And he isn’t an NUFC fan.

No, though he does support a team owned by a Gulf monarchy. 

(I'm actually not completely unsympathetic to the point, but let's not pretend he doesn't have his own reasons for making it)

On the positive side, he's won immortality there, will doubtless be featured forever in clips of all-time open-goal disasters.  

Just now, PieFacE said:

Doesn't look off to me

Me neither. 

They're likely to find the same problems we have (presumably) encountered: the main stadium-builder has gone bust, construction cost inflation is through the roof, time spans are extended, projects are overrunning both time and cost. Unlike us, they'd be looking at building a whole stadium, not a stand, and presumably a very large one since it wouldn't make sense to build one with a much-reduced capacity. 

They're obviously a very wealthy club but it would be a giant project and I'd have thought once they took a look at the cost they might well conclude patching up OT makes more sense. 

14 hours ago, Hornso said:

The reviews I read on Twitter prior to him being replaced by Kelly were not nice.

The highlights are here:

Safe to say he did not cover himself in glory here, especially the first two goals, there should be no chance of either going in and in both cases it's because his starting position is way off. 

2 hours ago, VillaChris said:

It was just a year ago that Fulham and Bournemouth stayed up very comfortably. And Forest scrambled clear and confirmed their status with a game to spare.

I always think it depends what sort of team comes up. If it's a fallen giant like ourselves, Newcastle or Leeds who actually have decent money to spend more often than not that team stays up.

If it is a complete minnow like Luton then that is very difficult.

Sheffield United also came up in complete turmoil with the owner trying to sell the club and they spent nothing up to the final few weeks when Archer and Hamer came in. Next season they start championship on -2.

I think this year Burnley were the biggest disappointment considering they are experienced in the last decade as a premier league club. Just signed too many young players and Kompany was too stubborn to change his style until it became too late.

This is the first time since the late 90s that all three promoted teams have gone straight back down so this isn't a regular event and I think it was just exceptional set of circumstances.

I think Leeds will be o.k if they come up. Southampton probably be like Burnley.

 

Agree with all of this except the last line. We've seen what Farke can do at this level before. Maybe if they sack and replace him, or they happen to find two or three world-class defenders in smaller leagues that they're able to sign. Otherwise I can't see it. 

13 minutes ago, Czarnikjak said:

Interesting, thanks for that. Assuming his info is correct this is indeed weird.

But Chelsea must still feel very confident about the case, hence they went ahead with another transaction even though the previous one was still not approved.

They're either very confident, have a flagrant disregard for any potential negative outcome, or both. My money would be on both. 

17 minutes ago, Genie said:

I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad apple in a certain role. When you have a few wrong’uns in the dressing room it drops the standards of everybody.

Rashfords body language, lack of effort, and occasional swipes on social media are appalling but they they keep picking him when fit. It’s completely wrong and sends the wrong message. 

Whilst AWB and Dalit might not look so disinterested they are probably not tearing up trees either if the dressing room is toxic. Look at Sancho, he lost interest very quickly and just couldn’t be arsed at United. Once dropped back into a proper squad with proper discipline he’s tearing it up again. 

Rashford, Bruno, Casemiro, Antony, Martial, all look like they have stinking attitudes and any decent manager / football director would have shipped at least some of them out by now. The fact they don’t just adds fuel to the fire behind the scenes. They even offered Pogba a last minute £200k/w contract even though he was shite on the pitch and a nightmare off it.

They have to prioritise getting harmony in the squad before adding players.

They just don’t learn.

I think we probably aren't going to see this the same way. I think it's very very hard to tell what the dressing room is like or what players are like behind closed doors, but FWIW my impression is that Bruno in particular - while he may be a word removed on the pitch - is very professional and hard-working. Of those you've listed, I only really think Rashford (who I think also has other issues going on mentally) and Martial are actually players whose professionalism I would call into question. Probably Sancho too, but he's not even there. Antony seems like a clearing in the woods, but he appears to be committed. But as I say, that's all just impressions and guesswork. 

What we have clear hard evidence for is how the manager sets them up, and he does so incompetently, game after game after game, never fixing the obvious problems. 

4 minutes ago, Czarnikjak said:

I think you are referring to his appearance on Talksport,I listened to it as well. He said it's not been approved as of November, right? When the accounts were  audited.It might have been approved since then, you would imagine it was, otherwise Premier League would charge Chelsea for breaking psr alongside Forest.

Regardless, I don't think Premier League have a strong case here if it came to legal dispute.

He did say it on TalkSport, but just looked at his Twitter feed and this was posted one minute ago, so he's definitely still saying it:

Very difficult to predict Ipswich I think; on the one hand they look to be a side who may have 'achieved too soon' but could also imagine them being hard for PL sides to figure out. The rest of the Championship contenders look weak to me. Leicester have a transfer embargo and are likely to start on minus points, surely dooming them from the off, while most of the playoff teams are uninspiring. West Brom and Norwich just aren't very good, while Leeds are managed by Daniel Farke, a man who we know for a fact cannot set up a defence that can cope with Premier League attacks. Really that leaves Southampton, who are the only one of the four I would give a decent chance of survival to. 

8 minutes ago, meregreen said:

Haven’t we done the same. Sold Villa Park back to ourselves.

16 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

Yes, and frankly we shouldn't have been able to do it either. 

Just now, Czarnikjak said:

Yep, although that rule you talking about only deals with the value of the transaction. Ie it can adjust its value for PSR purposes to be in line with fair market value. So as long as Chelsea valued the transactions fairly I don't think they have anything to worry about.

The point that Borson has made about this, again as I understand it, is if they are likely to be perceived as having sold these properties at fair market value then why haven't they been given the permission yet. It's not like it should be incredibly hard to work out what a fair value of two hotels is, it's not like that's some esoteric accounting that requires a phd to resolve.