Kuwabatake Sanjuro

We can see now that if apartheid South Africa had the same amount of oil that Saudi has then there would have been no successful boycotts. A depressing thought.

Jack Grealish, left to join some sports washing project for a middle eastern authoritarian regime.

You'd wonder if Luton or Sheffield United would take a punt on him, would be a good signing for either.

3 hours ago, Villatillidie95 said:

McGeady gone to Ayr United from Hibernian. Surprised he's still playing

I like to see players staying on playing at lower levels, seems like it doesn't happen as often as it did back in the day probably as a result of the higher wages at higher levels these days.

McGeady never fulfilled his potential though, should have gone to somewhere he could develop more in his early career, Russia wasn't the right move for his peak years.

Just browsing other teams forums about the Diaby thing and came across what one thinks is Villa's best 11

Amusing.

On 12/07/2023 at 15:50, YLN said:

I've seen very little of him, but I think he's rubbish based on one match i saw him in. He is not within a million miles of Villa's first team. He was 4th keeper. Steer second and injured, Olsen 3rd and terrible, then Sinisalo. On the bench with Olsen just so he could be there as a third keeper in the pre match warm up to get the strikers' confidence up. Never going to play. 

I've staked my entire reputation on him not making it. Do Exeter need a new keeper? 

People might have said the same of a young Emi Martinez 

13 hours ago, The_Steve said:

Kappa W

 

Had we stayed with Kappa and secured an inoffensive sponsor I'm sure we could have gotten some classic kits. A claret and blue version of that would be acceptable as a once off.

Surprised there hasn't been any move for him yet, you'd expect Brentford or West Ham to be the main suitors for his set piece deliveries. Delighted we never got him in to replace Douglas Luiz, that would have been rather stupid in hindsight.

3 minutes ago, villaglint said:

I was trying to think of some examples of players who have made their name as a wonderkid in lower level leagues > flopped when exposed to a higher standard > then been a success when exposed to an even tougher league. 

Thierry Henry is a good one - any others?

Bergkamp flopped at Inter, the only thing with him and Henry though was that Serie A was the stronger league at that time.

Just now, MrBlack said:

Who is he? And why did Coventry have anyone worth that much?

He would have been a good signing for a Sean Dyche Burnley, a big lump of a lad, mobile and a handful. Will do well in Portugal but would not have set the world alight in the PL.

If I was trying to put together a good first 11 for them I'd go

                              Kepa

Gusto       Fofana          Colwill       Badiashile 

                 James           Enzo

Madueke            Gallagher              Sterling

                           Nkunku

Silva is good but only suitable for a back 5. Gusto is excellent, James is the cover in central midfield unless they buy Caicedo or Andrey Santos is very good. 

3 hours ago, Rds1983 said:

I watched a bit of League One last year as loosely follow Argyle. 

I even saw Trafford play at Wembley in the Papa John's final and win the cup. 

He's a very good young keeper with a high ceiling, however, I probably prefer Cooper at Argyle who is going under the radar a bit. But he's a couple of years older and I'm probably biased. 

Yeah I've seen a few mentions of Cooper bring excellent, no chance Plymouth Argyle will get the same sort of money though unfortunately.

1 minute ago, bobzy said:

Link please. 

Was close to what was said on the BT commentary at full time.

1 hour ago, bannedfromHandV said:

What? He barely played in the premier league? We’d have been underwhelmed if we’d signed him when we weren’t in the Prem, how is it a poor villa decision (and another one at that)?

Paying a moderately large fee for Joe Bennett who was not any better than him was a mistake. That being said Stevens didn't really peak until he got his fitness up to scratch later in his career.

29 minutes ago, Steero113 said:

Every single year. Exactly. The. Same. 

Apart from having the same sponsor and manufacturer for 8 years now there has been a lot of variation to be fair to them. They have more leeway to mess with their sleeves than we do to.

Ian Foster will be doing his job for him out there, good appointment but expect him to take over at QPR in October.

46 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

He's not though is he?

There is a reason he can't make a Spain squad that isn't exactly blessed with goalkeeping quality.

2 hours ago, HanoiVillan said:

Not really. Even when we signed him no-one could understand why we'd spent that kind of money on him. 

It was assumed that Steve Clarke had inside knowledge of his potential, unfortunately didn't unfold, not even when he brought him to Kilmarnock.

37 minutes ago, sne said:

One of the very rare cases where a monochrome badge was the right choice. Would have looked a bit odd with their regular blue one. Apparently they played in green and black when they fist started.

The Nike template works well there 

It is fair enough what they are doing to protect the integrity of the competition but needs to be enforced with the red bull clubs along with any other group teams who are also in the same competitions.

1 hour ago, StanBalaban said:

They are not, unless you're in an Embassy. He'll most likely hop over to the UAE for a piss up.

His drug cartel friends are holed up in Dubai 

1 hour ago, Mr_Dogg said:

Jota going to Saudi from Celtic for £25 mill. I wonder if Celtic have stopped laughing yet.

You have to wonder how much Mendes is making out of it, the Ruben Neves transfer was equally inflated too given his contract situation.

1 hour ago, The_Steve said:

Wolves going to be a sinking ship - can’t see them replacing Nathan Collins with similar quality now he’s off to Brentford 

I'm a big fan of his but to be fair they did better when they replaced him with Dawson last season. Still a good prospect and will suit Brentford perfectly. He is on the level of a young Harry Maguire at the moment for me.

2 hours ago, villa4europe said:

I don't like the lack of symmetry, red both sides would be better

Throwback to the assymetrical puma one they had so acceptable for Fulham, not sure if @NurembergVillan had any input in those at the time?