Michael118

Done.

Adama Traore Age: 21 Main Position: RW Premier League Appearances: 37 Championship Appearances: 13 Goals: 3 Assists: 5 Mins Played: 2656 *Spain U16, U17 & U19 International *La Liga 2 Team of the Year - 2013/14 *Debuted at the age of 17 for Barcelona and appeared for them in the Champions League the following week. *Linked with a £20m transfer to Chelsea last season. Also been linked with Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Everton, Stoke, Newcastle and West Ham. *Named man of the match 4 times in his last 6 games. Now has a 30% record for man of the match performances vs total matches played in the Championship. Leandro Bacuna Age: 26 Main Position: RB Premier League Appearances: 85 Championship Appearances: 44 Goals: 8 Assists: 10 Mins Played: 9910 *Netherlands U19 & U21 International *Linked with Arsenal in 2014. *Most assists for Aston Villa in 2014/15. *3rd in the Premier League for average assists per game in 2014/15. Albert Adomah Age: 30 Main Position: RW Premier League Appearances: 2 Championship/League Two Appearances: 426 Goals: 75 Assists: 66 Mins Played: 34210 *Bristol Player of the Season 2010/11 *Linked with Wigan in 2011 *Equal 2nd for assists in the Championship in 2016/17. *Equal 3rd for goals scored in the Championship in 2017/18.

Take off your claret & blue specs and I'll pm it to you.

Traore Bacuna Adomah

We've certainly lost some. Including Bacuna, who Reading fans are more than happy with so far.

It will be his 4th man of the match from their last 6 games.

Do you mean Jordan Amavi who has become a French international since joining Marseille? Or Idrissa Gueye who is now arguably the Premier League's best defensive midfielder? Or Ciaran Clark who was Newcastle's Player of the Season when they were promoted? Or Carles Gil who has had 2 major operations since joining Deportivo, yet has still averaged more assists per game in La Liga than Christiano Ronaldo since he joined? Or Ashley Westwood, who despite not yet establishing himself in their starting XI, has impressed at Burnley, who are currently 8th in the Premier League? Or Adama Traore, who finally has a decent manager, has started scoring and assisting and has been named man of the match for Middlesbrough in his last 3 games? Or Alan Hutton, who I never claimed was a world beater, but has now established himself in our starting XI as one of our better players?

He didn't score for Lazio in the League in 12/13, but made only 5 starts and played a full 90 mins only twice that season.

The dots are there, you're just not seeing them.

Or you're still having difficulty connecting the dots. I have a feeling I know which one it is. Everyone was itching for him to score so fairly confident he would have taken it.

His scoring record in Serie A is distorted because of the low number of mins he played. On the surface it looks like 10 in 58 but if you calculate it by mins played it goes up dramatically from 0.17 to 0.41 His goal scoring record in the Premier League, Europa League and Serie A combined is actually 0.48 goals per game which is basically 1 in 2.

If Kozak gets awarded the penalty he should have received in his last full game for us against Leicester, where he was man of the match - his average Premier League goals per game for us goes up to 0.43, which goes alongside his average of 0.61 goals per game in Europe. A more than decent scoring record especially considering the lack of opportunities he was given and injuries he sustained. Our record from 2013-2016 with Kozak featurung for more than 45 mins... 4W (33%), 4D (33%), 4L (33%) Our record during the same period with Kozak featuring for less than 45 mins or not featuring at all... 19W (19%) 20D (20%) 63L (62%)

How can you tell the difference?

I don't rate Mitrovic either, but the comparison with Kozak, for me, is askew. Kozak was a level above in terms of potential at least. A smarter player, had more heart, a stronger work ethic and was better at bringing others into a game.

Just pointing out that not everybody out there felt Gabby's contract extension in 2014 was 'undeserved', irrespective of the length or timing of it. It was in defense of Tom Fox who gets a fairly harsh ride on here and was being criticized for it on the previous page.

Darius Vassell calling for Gabby to be signed up about 6 months earlier while he still had over a year to run on his previous deal... https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-darius-vassell-says-6911475

Below are all 5 comments from the Daily Mail article which was published when Gabby was given his contract extension - Was superb against Hull. Can be frustrating at times but still a good footballer who generally gives 100%. Local boy who'll play his entire career for the team he supports. Very proud to be a Villa fan. (2 Likes, 1 Dislike) Agree with you 100% apart from supporting us, he grew up an Arsenal fan unfortunately and mentioned this when interviewed with Young a few years back. (4 likes, 0 dislikes) Great news! Now let's get Vlaar, Delph and Grealish signed up too! (13 likes, 0 dislikes) Good to see that much loyalty from both club and player. (25 likes, 0 dislikes) Looked like the old Gabby against Hull, unplayable. Had a terrible season last year but I'm optimistic he will step up this year. Let's get Delph and young Jack signed now. Think, sadly, Vlaar will go at the end of the season - hope I am wrong. (23 likes, 1 dislike) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2750982/Gabby-Agbonlahor-signs-new-four-year-contract-Aston-Villa.html 2 days later Gabby scored the winner in our 0-1 win against Liverpool at Anfield, which took us up to 2nd in the table with 10 points after 4 games - our best opening tally in 16 years. The last time we made an equally impressive start was in 98/99 when we went on to be top of the table at Christmas and finished 6th. Lambert's contract was extended after the win at Anfield. Both their contracts were due to expire at the end of that season. While you can argue with the timing or length of the extensions, the decision was a more than reasonable one. Our signings under Fox were decent enough. Gil in the January transfer window and a mixed bag the next window, but for me, Gueye, Amavi and Traore were top quality signings. On the other hand, I assume he was responsible for appointing Sherwood which was a big, big mistake.

I don't rate him at all. Am really pleased we've missed out on him if the news is true.

Yeah, the broken leg was the initial injury which happened during an incident with Ciaran Clark at training. The 2nd injury was a fractured ankle which was the one he sustained during the West Brom game.

Kozak's first game was the 1-0 win against Crystal Palace which ended our 20 game winless streak. He was man of the match the next week in the 0-0 draw against Leicester, then broke his leg during the 0-0 draw with West Brom. The Liverpool loss came 3 games later. For me, they're all players who were good enough to hold down a starting position for a lower to midtable Premier League team and all had some potential in them to go up a level.

Yes, the players were Premier League quality. The issue was we were relying too heavily on players who weren't - Gestede, Ayew, Veretout, Richards, Lescott, Grealish & Richardson. When Garde finally got the team right we went 3 games unbeaten, then Kozak and Traore both suffered season ending injuries. If we stuck with the team below from the beginning of the season we more than likely would have stayed up if we strengthened again in January. Guzan Hutton Okore Clark Amavi/Cissokho Bacuna Gueye (Westwood, Sanchez) Traore Gil Gabby (Ayew, Sinclair) Kozak Sherwood, MacDonald, Garde and Black would have relegated half the teams in the Premier League in 2015/16.

Yes.

If we had a different manager in 15/16, we would have finished midtable and the general perception of these players would be completely different.