Enda

Just now, MaVilla said:

exactly.

Emery plays with our LM as more of an inside midfielder when we go forward, and the left back acts like the winger.

On the right side, that RM acts like a winger, or inside right forward.

We’ll need to add a second strategy/formation for next year though. Otherwise teams will catch on and we will be too predictable.

He has 45 goals from 187 appearances. That’s 1-in-4 consistently over five or six seasons. On top of his assists.

He’s an excellent footballer, not a bang average one.

50 minutes ago, Adam2003 said:

I get what you mean. Equally if anyone in any field asked me if they should just sign a contract or should spend a few days doing due diligence and checking it’s the best fit for them I would tell them to take the time and make the right decision. Better for everyone in the long run than if they rush the decision and regret it. 

1 hour ago, QldVilla said:

I just don’t think fans see what coaches do when it comes to playing style and ability. Stats only reflect the outcome, they don’t take into account other important factors that affect performance.

Bingo.

Barnes’ defensive statistics could easily be explained by managerial instruction.

I believe Watkins did something similar this season, easing up a bit on chasing every ball to conserve energy for when it counts. It worked out well for him.

Barnes would track back more if Don Unai told him to. The Lucas Critique, innit.

19 hours ago, TheAuthority said:

Unai's PPG is 1.96 (after 25 games)

…

I think it would need a huge drop in Unai's standards for us to even drop to 1.75 PPG let alone below that. He will be looking to improve upon that figure and so will NSWE.

Good post, but I think you’re underestimating how much variance there is over the course of a season.

We had a remarkable, belter of a season with Don Unai. But teams will start to figure us out, starting on Day 1.

We were lucky enough with injuries. How many points did Ollie win us in that purple patch? How many wins would have been draws had he been a bit off the pace or, worse, injured?

And then we’ll have the Thursday games. That will cost us 5 points anyway.

All in all, I’d be very happy if we had some decent cup runs and a 1.75 PPG in the league. I think talk of coming 5th etc is very premature.

11 minutes ago, picicata said:

Couple that with the assumption he would probably be our most expensive club signing ever…

Not at all, on the other thread I was reliably informed that Barnes is only worth £15m.

Lads is Mings actually a rocket polisher in real life? I’m sad to hear that, he seemed very decent.

Well @Newry_Villan don’t leave us hanging how did it go?

At £20m nearly half the league would want him. The likes of Forest and even Brighton would snap at that price.

2 hours ago, AshVilla said:

15 - 20 would be my ceiling for him fee wise.

 

Chap has just got double figures in the Premier League.

Fifteen million pounds gets you one-third of an Anthony Gordon these days.

I’ve done DUB-BHX plenty of times so Belfast will be similar. Train to New Street, then a small a change to Witton. It’s cheap and cheerful and a good experience for a young land to see public transport in a different surrounding. Twelve o’clock landing is fine, you’ll be at VP before 1:30. You get to see St Andrew’s on the train, and you can stop in Witton Tesco for a sandwich before the match. It’s a 5 min walk from the train to the North Stand. Stadium only opens about two hours before kick off so don’t get in tooooo early. Do a lap around the stadium (Holte is opposite North) and plan on spending 30 mins in the club shop (also North).

Keith Wyness and the HMRC winding up order in 2018.

23 minutes ago, Dillon66 said:

' tis the punishment you deserve for the blasphemous behaviour of watching egg-chasers......come back to the true faith before tis too late to save your soul'

This except the true faith is played in Croke Park.

5 hours ago, bickster said:

Nah, 28. The Alliance Party are still Unionists, just much less insane than the others. Protestants have just started voting for the less nutty option

Alliance are officially neutral on the matter, I believe. Neither nationalist nor unionist, and thus the BBC tweet was technically correct (albeit because of how it was worded.)

Of course, in reality Alliance are a gateway drug to the actually sensible approach

Tangential to the Brexit thread, but it’s interesting how the long-run effect of leaving the customs union (and thus putting the DUP in an impossible position with regard to the Northern Ireland Protocol) continue to play out.

8 hours ago, av1 said:

 

Im still amazes me that I get a better informed answer on most subjects, on what is essentially a fans football forum than I get from most media outlets. Love you VT 

 

Seconded.

Thanks to all you nerds sharing military technicalities with us. Much appreciated.

IF we get Europe, can you imagine the impact Coutinho’s through balls will have on Cameron Archer? He’ll flourish.

7 minutes ago, NeilS said:

Ok, MOTD showed the non foul on Watkins in the first half. Why was that not reviewed? I know why it was not reviewed, you can guarantee if that was Kane VAR would have found a way to give that!

And the panel gave the decisions exactly zero mentions.

1 hour ago, tinker said:

Russian war ships are cruising around a defenceless Ireland. The UK has leverage, its not a subject that would be played out in the open but behind closed doors it will be on the table. 

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/british-and-irish-forces-monitor-russian-warship-off-ireland/

This drives me mad. The UK has leverage with members of the EU but not with the EU itself.

The Commission and the Parliament would be absolutely dead set against anything like that. Not happening in EU colours.

Now it might happen that many members of the EU sit down with the U.K. on defence. Most are already in NATO for example. But, nope, the Commission and the Parliament are never doing anything military behind closed doors.

Just now, TRO said:

I wish we could find a player like Edin Dzeko.

Same age as Duncan Ferguson at this stage.

27 minutes ago, Pinebro said:

Would not pay anything above 25M for Harvey Barnes.

5 minutes ago, John said:

I think he probably is. One of us will be proved right. 

He’s worth £25m in yesterday’s money. In today’s terms he is a £40m player imho. Nathan Collins is what you get for £25m in today’s money.

Awful seeing so many peaceful protestors arrested by the police. Such an undemocratic thing to do on the day of the coronation.

8 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said:

Little wrong with the performance yesterday, I’d we’d won 1-0 instead of the reverse we’d all be calling it another Unai masterclass. We did enough to win the game, certainly didn’t deserve to lose. I’d be more worried if we were playing badly.

Yeah if Mings keeps his volley down then it’s a different feeling. We were both unlucky and not very good at the same time.