Godders

So you're suggesting we would be able to build a better squad in the Championship than we would in the Prem? That we could get better players as a Championship team than we could as a Premier League club? Two reasons why it's better to go up this season: 1. TV money 2. Ability to attract better players to the club.

I'm afraid it does. Going on a cup run means having more games to prepare for. We will mostly have a week to prepare for league games not having to worry about the cup. On a cup run though, we may have 2-3 days to prepare for a cup game, then 2-3 days to prepare for the league game. Playing an extra game means losing training sessions as well. If we want to go deep into the cup as well, we'll have to play our better players, which puts more strain on them running the risk of them getting injured or needing extra rest, further compromising preparations for league games. In this day and age I'm afraid, it really is one or the other. Once we're established back in the prem, in little danger of going down again, then we can focus on a cup run if the club wants to. Not until then though.

Well I do consider myself to be a self respecting Villa supporter, and I would much rather see my club competing in the premier league next season than turning up to an FA cup 5th round match at the Etihad in a few weeks time.

To those of you who seem to be disappointed/annoyed we didn't make more of a game of it, I have to say I'm surprised at your reaction. The club is much better off not being in the FA Cup this season. If we had an opportunity to officially opt out of it, I'm sure we would have done. The only focus this season has to be getting promoted. Everything else that does not help us achieve that is a distraction, including the requirement to turn up at WHL today for a game. Our gameplan today was to not lose embarrassingly. It was not to try and get a win, and it wasn't to try and force a replay. We achieved what we set out to do. Job done. Now lets focus on what really matters this season and not a meaningless dead rubber.

A key difference for me today was speed. Speed of thought, speed of passing, speed over the ground. Spurs were quicker than us, and seemed to do everything with a bit more intensity. Hopefully was good experience for a few of us today. Thought we did well though against some quality players.

SB fancies this I think. Can't see why he'd start Johnstone if he's expecting to concede a few goals. We may have a go here boys.

Ah f**k it, I'm now very confused. That's what I first thought, before seeing the picture. When I saw the picture though, I thought it was saying he's moving from East Midlands to West Midlands. Dunno what to think now. Apparently I've had enough to drink tonight.

Now that I've seen the picture, I realise I interpreted this completely the wrong way. The 'V' sign you referred to I assumed was the sweary one. The East > West I read as "East Midlands better than West Midlands". Basically, I thought you were describing an elaborate Lansbury troll. Glad to see that's not the case and we still seem to be likely to sign him.

"Name?" "Nick Mashiter" "Specialist subject?" "The f**king obvious."

Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. If he doesn't want to work hard for the club, focus the resources on the ones that do. He's hardly the finished article. I did feel a little for him when he made his debut though. He looked like a rabbit in headlights stood on the touchline waiting for Benteke to jog over.

Oh I agree, I'm sure every person on this forum could pick 30 other players who would improve the midfield more. I doubt that most are readily available though. Anyway, I think it's probably a moot point. As others have said, he'll go to another premier league club if he goes anywhere.

Is all the club should really focus on. Nothing personal, just business.

Delph won't be happening I'm afraid. He's just done a club photo shoot outside their training ground, saying how loyal he is, how he loves the club and how it's his club. Shame, I'd have him back.

Sanchez has limited passing, but the reason he looks so good for Columbia is because he always has a midfielder 2 or 3 yards away showing for an easy pass once he's broken up play. Hopefully when we get a midfield in, we can do the same with MJ and remove his passing from the equation.

You seem to be forgetting it's Levy we'd be negotiating with. He'll probably ask for £350m from Real Madrid for just Alli in the summer. He'd probably want closer to £3.5b from us for the entire first team.

Henri Lansbury Characteristics + Strengths Long shots Strong Key passes Strong Taking set-pieces Strong Blocking the ball Strong - Weaknesses Crossing Weak Discipline Weak Concentration Weak Henri Lansbury's Style of Play Likes to play long balls Plays the ball off the ground often Commits fouls often © WhoScored.com * Strengths, weaknesses and styles are calculated from the current season statistics https://www.whoscored.com/Players/32858

Welcome! Plenty of clean sheets please. I assume he's in in time to start in sticks v Spurs on Sunday?

Source to back this up please? I'm sure the club said recently in a fan forum that we had no FFP issues this season at all, and should be fine next season as well if we don't go up. Has that now changed and I've missed it?

It's said that the mark of a good team is one that can still win when not playing well. It's another 3 points. It's another win at our place. This season, we're unbeaten at home. Only team in the Football League to be able to say that. We're making Villa Park a fortress. They always find a way to get the job done. This is a good team we've got.

Barcelona last 6 at home = W3, D3 Aston Villa last 6 at home = W4, D2 Clearly we're better than Barcelona, so why shouldn't we lower the pitch?!

Folks, don't forget SB's away approach is to play slowly in the first half and batter them for the last 30mins. I'm sure things will liven up

Best opportunity in a while to break the Sky hoodoo. Interestingly, Norwich fans seem to have no confidence they'll win tonight. God I'm nervous for this one!

I've just watch Chelsea struggle to break down West Brom. they won thanks to a brilliant finish from Costa late on in the game. Chelsea created less than we did against Wigan, and allowed West Brom more chances than we did Wigan. Does this mean then talking about Chelsea as genuine title contenders is misleading, and that actually, they'll be lucky just to qualify for Europe? I mean they will face much better sides than WBA during the season, so obviously based on the performance today they'll get absolutely battered against some of the better sides.

Ah, perhaps this is where the confusion arises. Three points is the maximum available against any team in a match this season.

Im confused. Surely Gestede is playing center forward? So why the hell is he never in the box when the cross comes in? If I were SB I'd be telling him to camp on the penalty spot.