BG_Villa_Fan

He definitely is both. His value was that at the time we bought him from Brentford. Only cost less because of a release clause. I'm not saying he's untouchable or he wouldn't be sold, but 30m isn't enough for him. Wouldn't be able to find a replacement for a similar fee. Tarkowski, Ben White, etc. cost more.

Jack has very good work rate as well tbh. I don’t think we’d be able to attract players that are a tier above Barkley, especially as it seems we’d need to make a mini rebuild of the squad with a few players leaving. We attracted him because he wasn’t going to get games at Chelsea after their new arrivals. I wonder what kind of player you’d have in mind to replace him with? Prem teams rarely sell regular starters to other prem teams unless it’s for obscene money.

Some of the criticism is way over the top. He's been good, he's won games and points for us, he links up well with Grealish, he gives us an extra dimension that no one else in the squad does. So he doesn't have Ollie's work rate? Boo hoo, not many do. Villa aren't likely to be in a position to attract better than him in the summer.

I agree that his price would likely be around 5 mil, but Purslow doesn't strike as someone who'd be sentimental about these things. He seems way more cutthroat, although admittedly we haven't yet been able to see how they act when they're in a position to sell.

I've no love for West Ham but how they can look at this incident literally 50 times and decide it's a red is beyond me.

Love his confidence 'I don't concede goals from these angles'

Brilliant game. Everyone was fantastic especially 2nd half. Targett or Mings for MoM

Wait, so you trust your eyes, yet you blame him for the goal that everyone has concluded shouldn't have stood?

I agree, I think this is exactly what Dean Smith is doing, but it still means you'd need Jack and another player on the left, as Barkley does currently. Practically all the goals Watkins has scored have been due to something created on the wing, not centrally.

It's also easier to commit more defenders centrally and leave less space than on the wing. Southampton consistently overcommitted men on their right side against Jack and we can expect this to happen even more in the future as teams try to find ways to defend him. He still found a way to create the goal because he's a genius but there will be games where we'll have to exploit such a tactic because it leaves the defending team in an unbalanced position. This is also why having someone like Traore on the other side would be important over someone like Trez, who works hard but isn't nearly as direct and can't really exploit space.

In theory. But in practice he's always played better on the left. It's easier to get the ball to him on the left, instead of in the middle, as well as easier to find space for his dribbling there.

I thought that was too expensive. I wanted Edouard over Ollie, as well as a couple of other names I wouldn't mention because it's embarrassing. After watching him for half a season I wouldn't want any of them over him. Don't care about the fee, he's great and will improve.

No need to overreact. Freak result, it happens. Happened to Liverpool last week. Learn the lessons and move on. We’re by far the better team.

I'm surprised Heaton hasn't already been loaned out to a championship team fighting for promotion. Guilbert too.

Not even an attempt to block Rafinha’s shot. The players know Bruce will be gone.

There was Aston Villa before Smith of course. It existed somewhere between SHA and Bolton.

Although I disagree I can accept the point that he 'stopped the rot', however this ^ is a step or three too far. He hasn't set any foundations, not here, not anywhere he's been. He was well on his way to have another wasted season when he was sacked. Everything we have now was built from the ground up by Dean Smith.

Classic 'we're right even when we're wrong'. What's funnier is everyone on twitter/message boards lecturing people who rightly thought this was in fact offside. At least with that clarification now everyone can say they were indeed ... right what a mess.

I share your optimism about the squad and manager. Really depends on defining what "The next level' is - if it's top 6/7 then it's not that far away, consistent top 4 is very different though and we're a long way from it. In my opinion the only player who we couldn't replace is Grealish, everyone else can be improved on, although Emi Martinez is quickly becoming close to irreplaceable too. I agree about Luiz, he's a good player, has potential, but losing him to Man City wouldn't be a disaster and 35 mil can buy you a very good replacement if spent wisely. Barkley is a tough one to have a strong opinion on, as he's not played that much yet, he might be critically important to the way we play. Or not. Also, as discussed so often, strength in depth is important and there's some squad building to be done there. It'll be interesting to see how the club approach this in the summer with some players going - would they sign squad players or will they look to buy quality that go straight to the first 11 like last time? What's important to remember though, is that we have such a young and balanced team right now, that getting to the next level might only need some internal improvement. We're seeing some of it this season and it's something I've rarely seen from Villa teams of the past.

An offside goal, a penalty and a red card. What more can you wish for...

Offside offside offiside

I'm hoping for the opposite - Frank is sacked and the new manager comes in and needs money for his own signings, so they sell us Ross and Tammy

Maybe, maybe not. I imagine it's more about playing regularly before the euros but if Swansea are promoted and he's playing well they might buy him.

Why are people talking like he's been sold. It's only a loan, he'll be back. Some prem league teams could have used him - WBA, Burnley, Brighton even.

I imagine if any player's had it serious they won't be playing against Everton. It could be a very makeshift side for sunday, on top of the preparation and fitness issues they'll face after not being able to train for so long.