BG_Villa_Fan

Hit on the counter when playing with 10 men. That’s as tactically naive as it gets.

Ref is terrible but that was a poor tackle, poor discipline. Smith must have warned them at half time. More awareness needed.

At some point Smith will have to think about altering that formation. Grealish is wasted playing so deep and unlike in the championship he doesn’t get any opportunities to get forward behind Wesley resulting in a huge gap there. In games like this they should try to play more narrowly and get another player in the center with Grealish allowed a little bit more freedom.

I like VAR. A small price to pay for getting more decisions right.

Professional job by an established premier league team. There were positives though: * pressed them and created good chances in the second half * Jack and Douglas Luiz found their groove and had good games despite of early struggles * the team showed fight and on another day they could have got a result Negatives : * Heaton. Ugh * Taylor is useless when they have to attack. WTF was Dean Smith thinking... * Not sure what Jota does, he’s ssssllloooowwww Onto friday. Hopefully less nerves then and getting the first point.

Exactly - they’re building a reputation among club executives and if they show they can be pushed around, that they don’t have alternatives, etc. they’ll always find it hard to negotiate with anyone without being ripped off. A lot like Man U seem to be the last few years. On the other hand, if they show that they’re serious when making a bid and not just fooling around trying to drop the price and are willing to turn around, say no and move to alternatives then people will take notice. This seems to have happened with Butland -> Heaton, Phillips ->Nakamba and probably others. The only poor bit of business was Mings, imo but hopefully he stays healthy and prove them right. I like how they appear to be doing their business, very much unlike how it was under Xia and Wyness.

At that price it’d be good business. At the previously quoted 25-30 mil - no way. I don’t think buying Marv and Doug makes this deal a no go, in fact I can definitely see Smith’s approach with a lot of central midfielders and with only the full backs covering the wings. Last season he couldn’t play this way due to personnel but I can easily see Villa playing all 5 of Phillips, McGinn, Doug, Marv and Jack in the same team with no out and out wingers. It’d be a very fluid system especially with Wesley dropping deeper.

Not a big fan but I can understand how it’s a sensible signing after failing to agree fees for Butland and Etheridge. Not all signings can be 20 mil ones and we did need a whole new team, so hopefully he stays healthy and gives us a couple of solid seasons.

Same way that Villa held all the cards but paid through the nose for Mings.

Anyone with the name Bjorn is welcome to my Villa. Seriously, would be a good and needed signing. He has experience and would be a safety net for Ezri who might take his time adjusting. Also with the injury history of Mings and whatever Chester’s situation is another center back was a big need. He probably won’t cost 20 mil either.

Good signing, well done Villa for quickly moving to B and C list signings instead of dwelling and waiting. Not the time for this when we have a whole squad to assemble. Still, I hope there’s another center back to get, even on loan. Not sure what Chester’s situation is but I wouldn’t trust Konsa to play 30+ games or for Mings to have a 100% healthy season with his injury history.

I like him but that price is crazy. Hopefully he lives up to it. Welcome.

Leeds can ask for whatever they feel like, it’s their prerogative, however I don’t want to see Villa being bent over with fees like that. Next up even the Brentfords and Bristols will start asking for 25 mil instead of 20 for their unproven players. Hopefully just paper talk.

Yes of course - survival would be amazing, relegation - not. Kind of an easy choice tbh. I think people have taken Purslow’s comments too literally. Besides it’s not like you’re only developing another club’s player - you’re also getting value from said player’s good performances for the club.

^ Why are you only looking at it from the perspective of loaning out a player the club doesn’t want and neither would anyone else? We’d be looking to loan the likes of Tammy and Axel, who’d easily have many suitors if available, not someone like Phil Jones, for example. There’s no way the selling team would be OK with a preset fee. Would you like Villa to loan Green, O’Hare, etc with such options?

El Ghazi and Hause being complete bargains for Villa is exactly the counter argument - it’s a terrible business model for the selling team. In your example with Hogan the set price would likely be much lower, however even at 5 mil if he scores a ton of goals then his value will skyrocket while Villa would have no chance but to accept a cut price deal. This is poor asset management at its finest. And in case he’s bad they just send him back to Villa. Again, not in the interest of the selling team. But the idea behind possible loans for Villa would more likely be about young up and coming players like Tammy and Axel, that Villa would otherwise be unable to attract. There’s no way it’s ever in the interest of Chelsea and Man U to agree to a set fee at the end of such loans, just like it wouldn’t be in Villa’s interest to send, say Green, on loan to a championship team with a pre-arranged fee.

I can't see a pre-determined buyout clause to ever be in the selling club's interest. It's like selling a played but getting the money a year later, however if he fails to impress you get him back. No way would I want Villa to send players on loan with such options and I do not see too many teams willing to follow this model. Purslow's comments shouldn't be taken literally, I agree. It's more like a statement that Villa will no longer be pushovers. However, it wouldn't be prudent to completely deny loaning players. It's a way to get talent that is superior and wouldn't otherwise be able to attract.

I agree, if they’re trying to negotiate in bad faith and expecting to milk us then I think dealing with Purslow will not be a nice experience for them, really doubt he’ll allow them to play him for a fool. I like Tyrone but if they want too much for him then I’m sure there are better options elsewhere while they’ll be left with an unhappy player that they don’t even seem to plan playing in the first team.

Like others I hadn’t heard much about him until yesterday, however how could you not be excited about a new brazilian no.9 for Villa when a couple of weeks ago we were a result away from discussing the possibilities to get the best out of Hogan and how to try replacing Jack. That said, after watching a little bit of him I don’t see the comparisons to Tammy at all. Wesley looks like a much more well rounded player who drops deeper, can control the ball better, can pass and create space and opportunities for others, as well as being able to dribble way better than what you’d expect from a 6’4 target man. Sure he’s not the finished article, he’s not prolific enough yet and his heading must improve but then if he had this too then he wouldn’t be available to Villa in the first place. A couple of 10-12 goal seasons with good overall impact and he’ll be worth 50 mil. Great signing and hopefully he’ll adapt quickly.

End of october to beginning of december looks pretty horrible to me but otherwise a decent , balanced draw. About as good as one could expect.

We'll have to wait at least a couple of years for the second star, so one will do for now. Great work on the crest!

With Smith as a manager and all the goodwill Villa should be in the rare position where the fans would be prepared to give the manager more time than the board would, unlike 99% of clubs. I don’t think Smith should be sacked even if we go down.

Hope people won't jump on VAR because of this truly ridiculous referee decision. VAR did its job, everyone but him saw it.

I’ve seen this argument a few times but there will be a lot of games where Villa will sit deep and defend. It’s not like we’re at a level where we could go away to a mid table established team, say Watford, and dominate the possession. I’ve no idea whether Cahill has anything left in the tank as he’s barely played but him being slow is the last reason to care about when it comes to signing him. Besides, neither Mings nor Axel (potentially if we get them back) are experienced and disciplined enough to survive playing a high line against PL quality , so I doubt Smith will be so open to that approach right away.

Eh not exactly exciting but oh well. Probably one from the if-we-don’t-get-promoted list. Hopefully our business won’t be mainly from championship players.