MarkLillis

Or is that when it comes to football they turn into idiots. It seems to me that whilst most people would give a young lad some leeway in the workplace when it comes to making mistakes,they wouldn't dream of giving a young player in playing for the team they support the same consideration...

I can see your point about WBA and Fulham they both need significant reinforcements. As do Villa. To say that none of us will add to our existing squads is not realistic, none of the above mentioned teams will go into the season without stronger squads. The difference between us and them at the moment is our squad as it stands now has survived a season in the Premier league So we have a stronger starting position and (yet to be proven)deeper pockets.

Still......a full back quartet of Target Henry Guilbert and Cash would be an improvement. Without a doubt wingers and a striker will be on the list too.

Whilst i think HUGE is probably a bit over an overstatement, JAMAICAN VILLIAN states the attacking full backs are important in the modern game. Liverpools full backs provide frequent passing options going forward to their midfield. Do you not agree that better options in this area would support Jack? I think his link ups with Target this year were quite important to us in some matches.

I read an article about this. Basically it was attributed to Wilder and he was saying that there is some “lazy recruiting” going on because us and Fulham had come in late on the deal. He seemed to be saying that nobody else knew about the guy until Sheff Utd went in for him

Why the obsession with made up transfer values? Ive seen Matty Cash play he looks like a decent player. Swift as well looks like he can play. Both would improve us.

With all due respect can I point out that this window is still open and will be for another 5 weeks.

Are we having a third kit this year?

Agreed Stoke have a good manager in O'Neil he knows his football ,they have been working quietly in the background at Stoke and I think they will be top 6ish for sure.

Very disappointed for Jack! What more can he do?

Pretty sure we buying the top level of players available to us after we sold Dwight Yorke back in the late nineties. The likes of Merson and Dublin came in and you could maybe say they were the best we could have got. Also when Big Ron rebuilt his side after David Platt left a lot of players we brought in were well know established players Staunton, Richardson etc. None of them were top level players though and none of them were statements because of course the statement we made was "we are a selling club" because our best players had just left. It would be a massive statement if we could go to any Prem club and take their top player! That would be a statement to make I think!

Check out The Story of Don Revie & "Dirty Leeds - Considering how into their history they are its a surprise that Leeds fans can consider themselves anything other than provincial club that had a lot of success under one manager. They are very similar to Brian Cloughs Derby or Forests sides of the 70s. Whilst you can see why a certain generation of fans sees them in a particular way...….its mystery why any younger fans think different?

Still can’t believe this was not a penalty

I know it’s not the be all and end all but I think this is a underestimated skill.

Spot on.Find it amusing when fans of other clubs tell us to stop living in past. Why would you want to forget a great history like ours? It’s part of our club we are the Villa we are today because of our past. Leeds wouldn’t be Leeds without the early 70s. Wolves wouldn’t be Wolves without the 1950s Aston Villa aren’t Aston Villa without the 80s You can’t just drop a period in your history because it doesn’t suit the modern day narrative that Villa are nobodies.

Did I imagine a Sun headline back in the O'Leary years that said "Smith signs for Villa" Of course Alan Smith never did sign for us.

The whole frontline needs shaking up. So based on links. Rashica Tammy Watkins Based on the fact that I really like him as a player James Ward-Prowse - although I realise it is entirely unrealistic.

Massive opportunity isn't it? The chance to rebuild our team around him...I hope we don't miss it!

That's what I used to say...…..now I just agree and say "yeah,he goes down to easily....yeah! He's not worth more than £25m you're right,we'll be lucky to get that!"

Well most supporters I talk to about seem genuinely surprised at how highly we rate him, its not just Utd fans. I don't agree with them but I given up trying to explain why he is so highly thought of at Villa as they just don't see it. We seem on our own here when it comes to Jack. If he moves anywhere in the UK he will not be valued like he is at Villa MAYBE IN Europe they will see what he brings......but there's not many teams in Europe that could afford him.

Baggies were obsessed with Villa a few years ago with all that "we know what what we are stuff" mainly aimed at us (where i live anyway). Coventry were the same in the 90s as were Stoke when they had some success. Now Wolves (mostly younger fans admittedly) are very keen to talk about "the gap" My experience tells me its not got much to do with Wyness and Xia so I'm just pointing out that this is always what happens when a midlands side has some success.If Wolves keep it up and i suspect they have a better chance than the others.You may notice the pattern yourselves after 10 or 20 years as the regions top side. We will just carry on being Villa and hopefully now we are being run in less of a shambolic manner maybe we can make it a two horse race for top dog

See my benchmark theory posted above yours. All the clubs around here have had decent teams over the past 20 years (Stoke,Wolves, WBA,Leicester,Coventry...further back though and even Blues for a little bit under Bruce) They all started directing banter at us when it wasn't there previously. Its simple if a midlands team is good they laugh at Villa If a midlands team is not performing well they look to their local rivals for the banter and jokes.

First there was nothing to link us to this guy.... Then there is a breadcrumb trail of tenuous links which seem to be backed up by people quite close to the player and fans of the team which he plays for which all sounds quite positive. Since then Sky sports Germany have said he favours RBL. Sky sports says loads of stuff all the time about everything........why is this report more credible then the other million BS stories Sky put out there? Is Sky Germany different to Sky UK? Are they more reliable?

I thought Jack looked (sometimes) as if he had the world on his shoulders. Id like us to sign players that take the pressure off him, players that show for the ball and have good movement. They would also need to be able to take over the job of carrying the side when he is not his normal self. that's the job description,should be easy enough....off you go recruitment department put that into your algorithm.

Villas fall from grace over the last 10 years highlights this really well. Success has to be benchmarked somewhere and over the course of Villas history until just recently we have been a top 6 side (that's averaged out and points based...….do a quick google search.) we are that benchmark around here. But we aren't that side anymore...….but it clear we are still their benchmark.So first WBA and now Wolves hold and 7th/8th place finish in such high regard because Villa are nowhere near them...... whereas Villa with a good side would consider 7th/8th as failure. If Wolves continue their ascendance we can chase them back to where we belong they will be doing us a favour...…….whereas us being crap is actually harming them!