dukes

I can only see this being his agent, i can't imagine any of the teams he's been linked to promising him more first team football than us. Surely the sensible thing for him is to sign a shorter contract extension of 2 to 3 years, and see how much football he gets. That puts him in a very good bargaining position if he progresses as well as Ramsey has done, and he'd still be very young at the end of that contract.

Isn't the point though that you're not comparing them at the same stage of their development ? Archer had a relatively fruitless loan last year at a much lower level. Barry is 2 years younger than Archer, and has first team experience at a higher level than Archer at a younger age. It's crazy to write him off now.

I can't believe we will let him leave on a loan. It would be madness.

Have to agree, the Ings signing does seem like a panic buy, i'm not entirely sure that Purslow was responsible for it, but Smith couldn't find a way to make room for Watkins and Ings, and Gerrard doesn't seem to be trying to. I have a feeling that Watkins could be sacrificed in the summer.

If as a Premier League team you need to scout Coutinho and Digne then something is seriously wrong. The same would go for Bissouma, although I think with him legal advice is more important than scouting. I honestly think supplementing a young squad with some older players is more a sign that we are bringing our push for top half a few years forward due to the Newcastle takeover.

The speed at which this has been done (especially given Gerrard's comments when asked about the Newcastle job "Do I look happy? Do I look settled? Don't ask me silly questions then") shows that the board have a ruthless streak, as well as high demands (which would be appropriate for any business that has spent £200M Net over 3 years). Purslow and the board have previously shown loyalty to Dean Smith when we had that dodgy run from December 2019 - March 2020. Football is a results driven business, and given the squad we have 5 straight defeats is simply not good enough. I'd say if Dean wants to blame anyone for his sacking it would be whoever was to blame for the loss of Terry and ROK, this seems to have greatly affected everyone (as well as the embarrassment of having the set piece coach running up and down the touchline barking orders, having Martinez take free kicks at 60 minutes, and passing notes around the pitch like a group of giggling schoolgirls). Purslow and our Billionaire owners have done what good business men do. Changed things at the bottom, given those at the top the chance to make it work, and then when they have failed sacked him. Dean Smith did a fabulous job on the whole, but we should undeniably be in a better position than we find ourselves in, and so it's on to the next man. Gerrard wasn't my choice for the job, but the more i hear about him and his backroom team the more excited i become, and what must the board have told him of their plans that made him so happy to join us, when just 3 weeks earlier he was so ahppy and settled when Newcastle came knocking with their huge sacks of cash ?

Surely we should at least be looking to draw against the top teams, i find your reasoning totally defeatest. After Christmas, Barkley was a crock of Sh1t and we were generally better without him. In the last 5 seasons we have the 5th highest net spend of any club in Europe, Smith has overseen the lions share of that spend (Euro 330M over the last 3 seasons). Without the Grealish money, we'd have the highest net spend in Europe over the last 3 years. Are you saying that we should just accept losing to Burnley (for example), because we had 4 players missing ? It's the managers job to make sure the team can compete with all teams as best as possible, at times We were excellent under Smith, but all too often form dipped, injuries happened and Smith (and his team) failed to get the most out of the players available to him. Teams get injuries, suspensions, loss of form etc etc, but you have to change your tactics to suit what you have and in game to suit your opposition, ultimately that was Smith's failing, and his undoing.

We've lost more Premier League games in 2021 than anyone else. Our form before the first lockdown was woeful, and many were calling for change then. Yes, we had a good first half of last season, but let me repeat we've lost 18 league games in 2021. I understand that taken on it's own the 5 losses on the bounce don't seem like reason enough to sack him, but look at t he results throughout his tenure in the Premier League and given the money spent it's just not good enough. I would liken it to when Ron Atkinson got sacked in 1994, which happened at a similar period in the season having won the league cup the season before (after which his players seemed to have their minds elsewhere) and had finished 2nd in the league the season before that.

It seems like a wasted opportunity to me. if the board are giving him one game then that basically means the decision is made, so it would be better to sack him now and get the next guy in while there is some time to get it done rather than rushing things. I think Smith has been great, but the resignations of Terry and ROK in the summer have clearly affected the squad more than expected and Smith seems to be bereft of ideas. In-game tactics are a thing he doesn't seem to know anything about and the players don't seem to be playing for him. The next appointment will tell us an awful lot about the real ambition and ability of the board to sell it to candidates.

well he sure has a Villa name.

I'm happy overall with our transfer window. Buendia, Bailey and Ings are fantastic aquisitions, Young is a sound addition, particularly as he will help with the younger players, and can replace Terry as a senior figure they can look up to. Tuanzebe is a decent loan, and a known quantity Particularly the signings of Bailey and Ings stand out for me as these are players that have constantly been linked to champions league clubs, and the Ings signing and speed that it happened indicates that players are buying in to out 5 year plan. Losing Grealish was expected and I think even without signing a CDM we've improved our starting 11. I give the window an 8/10 and am optimistic that we can improve on 11th position.

I'll be honest I really rate him, but it's clear his face doesn't fit so we just have to move on, and at the same time pray that Cash finds his from from last season and doesn't get injured.

Lol "Chuka" has played 60 minutes, and you're writing him off ? Nakamba hasn't ever played in the Championship and does the simple things well. Luiz and McGinn.... temperamental ?? What does this even mean ? Sanson has played 9 games only 3 of which were starts...how can you have already decided he's not going to make it? Really, I blame Sky Sports, everyone is suddenly a pundit and players get no time to settle into teams before being written off by fans. Football is not an instant sport. The secret to team sports is that the sum of the parts is not always the sum of the whole. We need players like Nakamba, Sanson and Guilbert. We also need to blood our younger players to find out if they can make it, but you can't give players 60 minutes and then write them off. On the first day if your job hiw did your first 60 minutes go ? Did you contribute much? Personally I'd love for us to sign a strong DCM today, but only because with the attacking options we have our DCM's are going to be under pressure and likely get injured. Any new signing should complement what we have, not replace.

I thought there were some flashes of brilliance, and in possession he did well. What surprised me for a young kid was when he didn't have the ball or lost possession he looked a bit lazy. Young players normally bring energy, but lack presence, I thought he had the reverse. A good debut, and very promising player who I hope we see a lot more of in the bear future (for his progression he needs games at this level now).

With Chelsea seemingly looking at Bellingham or Sarr, do we think it would be realistic to loan Bakayoko ? I know he hasn't been a regular starter for them for a while, but when they bought him he had been fantastic for Monaco, and he's certainly the style of player we need.

Or necessary, surely we should be looking to sign a 20-30M DM and turning him into a 60M one ? That’s why I think the Sarr and Doucoure links could have something in them, is this not what McKenzie is paid for ?

For us and our position you could easily argue that Ings was a marque signing ? I mean what are your actual expectations ?

Time to get some jungle in the field ! One for the Top Buzz posse in the place.

It doesn't seem like this one was planned as the timing is awful. Is it possible that Shakespeare's influence is growing and ROK didn't want to be pushed aside ? I suppose it makes it cheaper to sack Smith now if things don't go as planned (this is partly said in jest).

Nobody's denying that, but your statement that we need 2 players of £70M+ is simply not true. We need to find the next Kante, the next Vardy etc etc the amount we pay is relatively meaningless, and i think our recent recruitment has been excellent. Maybe we've already got the players we need, as you say Barry and Chuk look to be the real deal, only time will tell. Every team in the world needs players to play well, tactics to be right, that's in no way unique to Villa.

You do know we’ve replaced a free transfer signing with 3 players who cost £90M ?

Sorry i just don't see it that way. Grealish has been constantly linked with moves away, he's moved now at a time when his trajectory simply is steeper than that of our club. When we were relegated he made it clear he wanted to stay and help us get back in the PL. He nearly signed for Tottenham, but didn;t and never said he WANTED to sign for them, it was more that the club before the takeover needed him to be sold. He could i'm sure have forced his way out when United apparently wanted him last season, but he didn't he signed a new contract. The point i was making was that he's had opportunities to leave, and he's leaving now with us in a much better position thanks mostly to him, and he deserves to put his career first and go off and show he can compete at the top level. In exchange we've got £100M and a much better squad, so everyone is a winner.

I really don't understand why people can't wish Jack all the best. When we were relegated, he stayed. When we didn't go up at the first attempt, he stayed When we were penniless and nearly ruined, he stayed When we went up, he stayed When we nearly went back down, he stayed Now that things are looking good, he's leaving in exchange for £100M. He hasn't slagged the club off, he hasn't demanded a move, he has played his heart out and he deserves to go off and win a few trophies (real trophies like the Premier League or Champions League). Villa are at least 4 years off competing (assuming we can continue to improve), this is a very competitive league, and for a team so reliant on the form and fitness of one individual this move gives us a chance to improve as a team even if we lose our star. Nobody is bigger than the club, and it's small time of us to bleat about him going. I wish him all the best, i won't look for Man City results, i don't really care how successful he is or isn't but i thank him for what he has done for us and for our club, and i hope that one day he might come back and wear our colours again.

You’ve got to be codding mods, please open up the Rashica thread, we will dolphinately scale back on the fish puns, and without it the atmosphere is just too trench in here, let minnow when it’s been re-opened, as I thought it was brilliant, and we all need to know what AVFCRigo has been herring about. This is an opportunaty not to be missed. Don’t be so Koi and make it ofishal again, have some sole and don’t be such a pain in the bass. Or do you need more time to mullet over ? Don’t make this site just a load of pollocks ! That is my first and last post including any fish puns, so i can guarantee i won't use any if the mods reopen the Rashica thread.

After yesterday he's changed his name to prosciutto curtains.