Kuwabatake Sanjuro

2 hours ago, Villatillidie95 said:

Al-Ittihad want Jota from Celtic for 25 mil. They are throwing around crazy money now!

Jorge Mendes getting very well in with the Saudis 

Ah a throwback to an awful kit from 89/90 season

They settled out of court with Ancelloti yesterday, a case of him not getting Usmanov bonus money owed and them not wanting that brought up in court. They should be penalised for the dodgy ownership situation.

Havertz is very talented and in the right system could be a Bergkampesque signing for them. However I don't see him fitting in to the way they played last season as Odegaard and Saka take up the spaces he would be most effective in.

He would have been incredible for us playing as a right sided number 10 behind Ollie Watkins.

Luton Town have signed Chiedozie Ogbene on a free transfer after his contract expired at Rotherham, I always expected that he would play PL football someday. Will be a shrewd signing for them as he is a good character, flexible tactically and his pace can be a weapon.

6 hours ago, Leeroy said:

Really disappointed we didn't try to get him.

Would be an expensive squad player to have, a level below Ramsey and McGinn and not mobile enough to play behind Watkins.

He is starting to look a lot like Tony Mowbray now too.

8 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

I’ve probably mentioned this before but Adams is a good player. Leeds best player by a mile last season. 

But. How many central midfielders do we need? You’d have to assume that one was leaving if we were to sign him. And that’s even if we switch to a 4-3-3.

Leeds were doomed as soon as he got injured. They never recovered with McKennie and Roca not being mobile enough and Forshaw is a championship player at best.

Would be delighted with this if the price is not insane. Will play right back.

How is the 3-7-0 formation working?

52 minutes ago, MrBlack said:

Looks better with more white. Explains the retro vibe, but that Southampton kit is still vile. 

Yeah the raglan sleeves on the old one or current Denmark one make it so much cleaner. Plus the awful sponsor.

28 minutes ago, The_Steve said:

The way the collar meets the top of the front template is vile. Looks utterly cheap. 

Compared to the quality and class of the early Nike Barca kits it is sad to see.

On 14/06/2023 at 23:02, HanoiVillan said:

fwiw you can put me on team 'this is a slightly concerning way to behave'. 

It's really very common for footballers, and especially former footballers, to struggle with addiction issues. It's a short career; he'll be retiring with more money than he can ever need. He'll go from a world where agents and physios and trainers and minders and god knows who else look after him and care about his movements, to one where he's completely on his own. He hasn't shown any interest that I can tell in forming a long-term relationship, let alone having a family. He is also - and there's no way to say this nicely, but I think it's important to say - really quite thick, so I personally find it hard to see him being very successful at the two most common post-professional careers of coaching or punditry.

I'm sure nobody wants this to happen to him, certainly I don't. But alcohol really is an addictive substance, it's not just a conspiracy of prudes, people really do become addicted to drinking and if you're a guy who likes to go on a semi-public 3-or-4-day bender, cheered on and encouraged by millions calling you a 'legend' for how wasted you are, I don't think it's unreasonable to consider you at higher risk of forming a habit you can't easily kick later. 

Don't rule out punditry based on not being the most articulate

5 hours ago, sne said:

Looks a bit weird.

Would be a below average Levante kit.

40 minutes ago, tonyh29 said:

If rumours are to be believed £120m for Rice and  then they will have to drop another £80m for Caicedo 

How do Arsenal have £200m for 2 players ? 
 

 

I can see a lot of teams holding out for stupid money this window and a lot of disgruntled players running down contracts.

13 minutes ago, thunderball said:

Like him a lot, one of the big surprises was his disappearance last season after looking red hot the season before

Would be a big risk given his fitness/injury struggles.

32 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

The black bit down the side does nothing and ruins it

A bit of throwback to this, the most navy theyv'e had in it since

8 minutes ago, Jono62 said:

 

I'd imagine players will be looking at future retirement plans in the Saudi league to further incentivise the moves to Newcastle,  there will be no trophy's for non authoritarian state owned clubs in future anyway.

1 hour ago, sne said:

Not bad in itself but looks more like an LA Galaxy kit than Real Madrid.

46 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

I'll put it here rather than the Grealish thread

Kevin De Bruyne.... City's best player, real argument for best midfielder in football... Just hasn't got that star appeal has he? Watching a bit (not a lot tbf) of the celebrations and not seen him once

I'm sure theres the right appreciation of him here but do kids really have KDB posters on their wall? He just seems biege

Spending the vast majority of his career at such a soulless project will have an affect on how he is perceived after he retires. 

Might be the final end of the weird cult following he had from Liverpool fans too, his reputation taking a big hit from taking the blood money.

2 hours ago, villa4europe said:

2nd one

There's nothing fair about it, the big clubs have protected themselves and will remain big and the gap is getting worse not better, you look at spurs having 3 times the revenue of us for example

Secondly I hate that football has become a whore, official bed and pillow partners... Who wants that shit?

And lastly the cost has been passed on to the fans, you look at rising season ticket prices, stuff like this holte terrace and ever increasing kit prices it's all squeezing revenue because of FFP

 

FFP did not stop Spurs sprinting ahead of us from a financial perspective from a similar base. FFP has its flaws but should be no excuse for how inept the running of our club was under Lerner. 

The bigger problem has been the champions league itself and the inequal sharing of tv resources and prize money towards the top clubs. This has destroyed leagues throughout Europe and any solution is not easy.

51 minutes ago, Zatman said:

Pep legacy will always be tarnished because he is a drugs cheat and it was suspected at Barcelona too

You wouldn't let Lance Armstrong run a cycling team and not be suspicious

The referee bribing scandal at Barca too.

Have BT mentioned the 115 charges at all?

Hull city's owner has bought League of Ireland club Shelbourne, multi club models are only going to get more prevalent now. I know they have their downsides but I think it would be a good idea for Villa to take an Irish club too, they would cost peanuts to buy and provide a better learning environment than league 2 clubs for our youngsters to develop.