Indigo

I hope and do have faith that the recruitment team will be casting the net further than Championship players who have played well against us. As much as they're all good players in their own right, if we go into next season with Konsa (as a Tuanzebe replacement), Lolley, Maupay (as an Abraham replacement) and Phillips or whoever else as our additions to that playoff final team...I think we'd be in for a long season in the Premier League.

Completely agree with this. I can just about understand any reservations about how effective he may or may not be in the Premier League long term, but I find the lack of love he gets in some quarters compared to similar figures in Mings and McGinn absolutely bizarre to be honest. He's played as big a part as anyone in our success this season, properly immersed himself in the club (if the words of the players are anything to go by he stuck with us when he had to option to bail in January) and clearly was a big figure in the dressing room. The fact he scored 26 goals in the league and yet could still be critiqued for not being clinical enough if anything shows how good he has the potential to be considering he's still only 21. Sure it's possible we could get better than him in the PL, but I think it's a bit naive to flippantly assume that it'll be so easy, and with continuity being so key if nothing else I'd love to at the very least sign him along with another striker if necessary (assuming we can do so at a reasonable rate...if that exists anymore). His time with Swansea is unfairly held against him considering he was a kid being relied upon by a pretty poor side. To put it in perspective, I've seen Mitrovic being mentioned as a better option by a good few people, but when he was Tammy's age he managed 4 goals in the season Newcastle got promoted... If he wants to stick it out at Chelsea and make a go of it then good luck to him, you should have that belief in yourself as a footballer. Whatever the case I'll always have a lot of love for him after this season.

I think you're thinking of Barbet. His name gets thrown about on here a bit and it seems strange as he's in his mid-20s, was sometimes in and out of Brentford's side and has been let go on a free without many of their fans seeming to mind too much. We do seem to look to Brentford a lot now due to the Smith connection though.

In the interview with Smith and Purslow, the former mentions having options on three of the loaned players. El Ghazi, Hause and...? I'm presuming he just means that clause in the Mings deal about matching an accepted offer by another team but I'm holding onto some faint hope that it's something more concrete than that for him to have grouped it in with the other two.

What a guy Have to hold my hands up and say I was wary on whether or not he was the right man for the job way back in the early days of this season when the tide was beginning to really turn against Bruce and his name was being thrown about, I grew more warm to the idea of him being manager the stronger the Thierry Henry links got though (small tangent but Jesus, can you imagine where we are in the alternative universe where he actually got the job...). Still and all I expected him to have to take stock for the remainder of the season and then still be left with a massive job on his hands come August without the likes of Grealish, increased financial woes etc. It's been a collective effort but what an amazing feat from him, especially given the context of the borderline professional negligence of Bruce that he had to take over from (the Chester story shines is one SB should rightly take a lot of criticism for). I'm at the tail-end of a Grealish-esque celebration and feeling emotional but I couldn't be any happier for him, comes across as a great man and I hope he can take comfort in knowing how proud his dad must be of him.

We've barely been a Premier League side again for a day and have already been linked with 3 or 4 players, it's gonna be a long summer... For what it's worth I think we're getting a bit blinded by the fact Lolley is a Villa supporter. It'd be great for him and he is a very good player (I've a mate who's a ST holder at Forest that loves him) but that aside...£10 million+ for a 27 year old player that didn't cut it for one of the worst sides in the PL a couple of years ago goes against much of the sentiments espoused over the last few pages of this thread. I certainly wouldn't be unhappy to sign him but I'd be sceptical if we were to shell out a decent amount on him all the same.

There's obviously a balance to be struck between the two extremes here which are people just naming random young players from the lower leagues they've barely seen play (/Brentford players that even Brentford fans think they can improve on), or bringing in as many former players as possible for some reason. Each player is a case by case basis. You can't really lump Milner in the same bracket as Albrighton etc. I'm all for the approach of signing younger players and not repeating the mistakes of the past but he is an outlier in this case and a player we'd be mad to turn our noses up at if he became available for a season on two. If anything a player of Milner's quality and experience right in midfield would be the perfect supplement for everything else we're doing. Purely hypothetical of course but that's a no brainer for me.

...who cares? Derby celebrated heavily themselves, much like Jack it was well before the game and preparations for it began. Feeding into this shite and making a story of it is exactly what the people taking and publishing the photos want. He's hardly going to still be pissed at Wembley and as long as we make it up I couldn't care how Grealish or anyone else celebrates.

Some people are staggeringly miserable. What's the point in football if you can't celebrate something like last night. Genuinely surprised by how WBA approached the two legs (when they had 11 men on the pitch anyway), naturally I've not seen as much of them this season but I'd associated them with being a decent attacking side with some talented players, especially at this level. There's a balance to be struck between pragmatism and negatively and they strayed too much into the latter I think, they could have easily set out to maintain a lead but give us something to think about on the break at the same time, but outside of the the occasional flashes it was largely the stereotypical West Brom. Wouldn't be too critical of our tactics, ultimately once they nicked a goal it was always going to be a struggle to break them down. When you're parking the bus as they did you tend to overload the middle, so the attacking team usually rely on width where unfortunately we're lacking in quality relative to Jack/Tammy/McGinn/Hourihane. They're our most effective players but easiest to stifle when you're playing the way WBA did. Whatever the case we won't be presented with the same problems in the final, whoever we play. Will still be shitting it either way mind, but for now I'm just enjoying the moment while it lasts. That was some night.

I've nothing insightful to say other than what a beautiful fella he is. Thank you Jed

It was mentioned in the commentary at the time but even Hourihane's goal shows you some of the subtle differences in quality that just have him a class (or ten) above others. McGinn - for how good he's been this season really struggled yesterday I thought - tries to lay the ball off for Jack at the edge of the box, but despite shaping to hit it first time there's too much pace on the ball and it's played between his feet, so he's instead force to control it. He then carries the ball into a similar position to where the pass he received was played from and then puts it on a plate for Hourihane, perfectly weighted and right on his left foot. Seems simple only because he makes it look so.

Just short of 20 total goals and assists from midfield this season now isn't it? There are definitely critiques to be made of him as a player but after that truly embarrassing shite he had to put up with earlier in the season (and dealt with very admirably also) there isn't a player I'm happier to see score for us. Fair play Conor.

Genuinely think he gets underrated in comparison to Jack/Mings/Tammy/McGinn. They're the main 4 and Tuanzebe is probably regarded as the best of the rest but he's right up there in his own right. It's such a shame that he's spent so much of the past two seasons injured as he's improved at a staggering rate with every game he's played. Desperately hope United will go big on a centre back or two in the summer and there's a chance we can keep hold of him. Complete class act.

As in he'll literally be standing out of the team, hopefully.

I think if we've learned anything from our transfer policy (or lack thereof) down the years it's that it's about signing the right players rather than just making broad brush stroke signings based purely on criteria like "up and coming" or "proven and experienced". Tonev and Lescott are two signings on the opposite ends of the spectrum that show how disastrous either approach can be when a lack of nuanced thought goes into it. There's a balance to be struck between youth and experience. I understand that it's a good idea to on the whole prioritise younger players, but ultimately if an obviously option who happens to be in their late 20s+ comes up then it'd be careless to turn our noses up in favour of signing the potential next Ashley Westwood. The vast, vast majority of top clubs around the world have at least a couple of players in this mould, and though we might not be anywhere near one of those sides at the moment, if we have aspirations of climbing the ladder to eventually even being in contention for the top 7 of the Premier League then a few mature heads will be absolutely necessary. Speaking hypothetically, if there was any realistic chance of Milner coming back next season in the event of us getting promoted (*furiously knocks on wood*) we'd be mad to turn it down.

Villa View's podcast is very good, the three lads that rotate presenting duties (well the the two regulars of Dan and Tom and occasional stand-in Chris) are all really likable and level-headed. Their other stuff can be hit and miss, gave up on all the stuff done by the camera man and that Rushton bloke a good while ago though, nothing against them I just can't get into it at all. The young lad that does Villa on Tour makes some good stuff too, very well done for someone his age that's working with very modest means. Offers something different from the Villa View too. That's about it for me in terms of extra-curricular Villa media.

Thought outside the Mings-Tuanzebe partnership he was our best player on the pitch. Was great in the first half until the game obviously drifted into madness in the second.

He was brilliant today. I was critical of him after the Rotherham game when many weren't, but I think that made me more impressed by him given how he managed to hold his cool when everything was descending around him, when previously I'd have thought he'd be one of the first to go the other way. The first half in particular he was unbelievable, alongside Tuanzebe who deserves the same amount of credit. Been said already but they're a ready made Premier League partnership, Axel I could see us getting on loan again but at this stage Bournemouth would be mad to let him leave for us unless we stayed in the Championship and they were willing to drop £20 million+ on a defender.

He's out of form at the moment but fortunately enough it's come at a time where the rest of the team are compensating for it by playing out of their skin, as opposed to earlier in the season where he really was carrying us at times. Kodjia's last couple of showings have definitely given him a fair shout of getting in the side, but I've no doubt Tammy will come good again sooner rather than later. He's too good at this level not to.

Another important cameo tonight, he really has been coming in for some undeserved stick recently in my opinion but he put in such a shift tonight as well as the usual you'd expect from him that nobody can deny him that performance. Definitely benefited from playing down the middle and probably from having a partner alongside him too. He just isn't a winger, as much as I understand why people wouldn't necessary trust him to lead the line by himself he just has to play centrally to be at his most effective. May well have earned his chance of getting in over Tammy but it's a tough decision to make that.

He's just a phenomenal player at this level and far too good for it. He was quiet by his standards in the first half (though still played objectively well) but as said above he really, really turned it on when it mattered most. Needless to say I'm praying we go up anyway, but aside from the obvious also because if not I think we'll regret not appreciating every moment we've had him for over the past couple of seasons.

He was unbelievably good tonight. Stepped up and absolutely dominated the game once we went down to 10 men which says a lot about him. Think it's probably his best performance yet given the circumstances.

SUPER JACK

King Kodj getting one over on the doubters again.

He leans in with his arm and the ball strikes it - by the book it's a yellow card and completely his own fault.