AJ

6 minutes ago, meme said:

Or he could always come on for some underperforming midfielder if a game's turning out to be a bore draw. Would give the boys a wake up call and a huge morale boost.

Me likey. Makes good sense.

1 hour ago, StanBalaban said:

Exactly. If he can inspire the like so Jack to push themselves further than they thought was possible then surely that can only be a good thing for us.

 

I love Stan as much as anyone, but the thought of him running around the championship at 37 I wasn't sure of. I was on the fence, but this pushed me off it. Give him a damn contract!!!

Having trouble providing the link, but there was an article on HITC Sport on a possible way Villa will ship off some overpaid wasters. The article states that if, on the very likely possibility that nobody wants the likes of Richards, Gabby, Lescott etc,, Tony will sell them to the Chinese league. Apparently they can afford their wages, and it would be considered a way to improve the profile of Chinese football.

6 minutes ago, Godders said:

Yet.

At the moment, I've no reason to beleive Dr X was lying when he said he wanted to make us a top 5 global club, biggest club in China etc. 

It may be wildly optimistic and excitement on his part, time will tell. At the moment though, I reckon he'll be sticking his hand into his deep pockets when we get back to the prem and we could well see some £20-30 mill plus players coming in if we're chasing Europe in the next few seasons.

For the avoidance of any doubt, when I say sticking his hands into his deep pockets, I'm not talking about romantic nourishment on promotion, nor is it a slight on his tailor. I'm refering to the cash he'll spend.

Sometimes you have to spend cash for romantic nourishment. Just ask a stripper.

1 hour ago, useless said:

I hadn't quite finished my sentence. I was going to add that, then they must have someone better lined-up, I think we'll end up signing a striker who will be seen as a coup, for a Championship club. Probably not Berahino, but someone with a good reputation.

6 minutes ago, meme said:

how did they see through my disguise?

You fooled me. You actually signed someone.

35 minutes ago, sne said:

Has a beard too!!

Always liked his movies...

Despite being dead for over 20 years, we would probably get more movement out of him than Gestede.

3 hours ago, alreadyexists said:

Sounds like impressive stats. The only thing in my mind is how strong is the Spanish second tier of football, I don't really watch it so I've no idea? Both Sanchez and Gil came from Elche, although Gil was loaned there from Valencia. I don't think Leon's playing time overlapped with either though. 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ax9-bZwESi0

Sergio Leon's goals from last season. Some penalties, and some "right place, right time" goals and questionable goalkeeping, but some brilliant ones too. He has pace and excellent footwork. He is worth at least a look.

Maybe we should look at Sergio Leon from Elche? He was the top scorer in the Segundo Division last season with 23 from 41 appearances. He has one year left on his contract, and apparently Elche are skint.

3 minutes ago, dn1982 said:

Last year we underperformed so badly it's easy to write off every player.  We lacked leadership on and off the pitch. Once the confidence had gone we became so brittle it was unbelievable. A confident player coached properly will perform a lot better. Once RDM has assessed the squad he'll know who he needs. He'll find out a lot in the training camp as he'll see them up close for a week I then expect us to see him shape his squad. He is already addressing the biggest issues we've all spotted GK CB CM and we are linked with a few CF that's the start. Then I think he'll start upgrading on the players here by shifting the ones out he don't want and upgrading to ones he can work with. Gollini Richards Okore Elphick Amavi Tshibola Gana Grealish Traore Ayew Gestede isn't a bad Championship side.  

What concerns me is that there might be a bit of " Jeckyll and Hyde" going on with some of the players. What they say and how they apply themselves during training might indicate that they want every success for the team, but once they are on the pitch, they leave their care factor in the change room. I hope RDM has a fully functional bullshit detector when assessing the squad.

1 hour ago, hippo said:

Assess last years squad ?  - how long is that going take ? - we won 3 games, couldn't defend, couldn't score. I don't see what seeing the players training will tell him that he doesn't already know. I hope (and suspect) he is further down the line with in-comings than assessing last seasons squad !

Maybe, D Mat wants to see things for himself and answer the questions, is the team full of bad players, or is it just a bad team, or maybe both? We have had players who we considered crap leave Villa and play out of their skin for another team. ( eg. Albrighton ) We also had players that had some degree of promise upon buying, but have also turned crap. ( almost any player bought last summer). Sinclair, for example, was terrible this year, but quite handy towards the tail end of the season before. So what happened? Watching the way Villa played last season, you would not think that they were trying to win a game of football. Players running nowhere, passes straight to the opposition, and a general fear of taking players on. Is there a rift in the dressing room? (Probably) Do the players throw any sense of tactics out the window once they get out on the pitch? ( Survey says yes) As Leicester surprised everyone by winning it without using  a budget similar to a small to medium country, by playing good football as a team, Villa were doing the complete opposite. It is all well and good to think who needs replacing, but some players may need to relearn how to play football again. If new players come in, and we are just served the same crap as last season, well, Villa have just wasted their time and money.

Sincerest condolences, Villarocker. Losing our Mums is one of, if not the most hardest times we go through in life. God bless and give you the strength to pass through this difficult time. " Where is our claret and blue army?" you say? Right here, buddy.

1 hour ago, Wainy316 said:

Guaranteed to score past us for them though.

Like Deeney for Watford both times last season. Birmingham's best off field striker. That was painful.

4 hours ago, bobzy said:

He's the Darren Bent of the Championship but only compared to when Darren Bent was in the Premiership rather than Darren Bent's current spell in the Championship during which, of course, Darren Bent is the Darren Bent of the Championship.

I went cross eyed reading that.

I am really curious about our player ratings now that Villa have dropped to the championship, and have definitely not shown the form which befits their ratings. For FIFA 16, Richards..78, Guzan ..78, Gabby..73, Bunn..71, and so on. Would these ratings take a hit, and, how much?

2 hours ago, slovenian said:

 

Thank you!

I actually like the away kit, and think it is nicer than last year's. Any news on the GK strip, or will it be green pyjamas again?

Last January was a major disorganised crime.

4 minutes ago, Gary Thomas said:

Early days but so far our transfer activity has been very underwhelming. Around 5½ weeks until the championship starts and at the moment (with the exception of Elphick) we have the same squad that won 3 out of 38 games and accumulated a measly 17 points.  Not panicking yet as I am sure there is work being done behind the scenes but we really need to start getting some business concluded soon. I am starting to worry RDM thinks he can reform players (names) like Gabby, Guzan, Bacuna, Lescott and Richards and we know how that will end.  I want to see us be more assertive and aggressive in the market - it was only a few weeks ago we were told we were going to be one of the top clubs in Europe again; that's great, but lets see some action to back that up. 

Its at least an improvement on the last transfer window.

3 hours ago, It's Your Round said:

Oh my, things just worsen. 

The Berson person and Merson will only bring the curse on.

2 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

its f***** horrible.

We can 100% believe now how we play in the qualifiers means f****

Sorry for the French:)

Not really. They get to play Iceland.

13 hours ago, Michael118 said:

 

Vision, pace, power, directness, versatility, solid defensively and offensively, our best free kick taker, our 2nd best cross. 

I'll be disappointed if he isn't starting at RB in the first game and want to see him tried again in CM next to Gana.

 

Is that you, Eric?

I must admit, my knowledge of British politics is quite vague, but was this one of those referendums in which the choice is either logical common sense or the ridiculous, and the madness had somehow snuck in? From what I gather from a lot of intelligent and well informed VT posters, this is kind of like waking up one morning in the lounge room after a heavy night of drinking, there is a donkey wearing a sombrero beside you playing FIFA on your playstation while rambling about the tourism boom potential of Luton, and you think " Where the bloody hell did you come from? Something like that?