Flynnchin84

50 minutes ago, Thug said:

Maybe we should send him out on loan to a League 2 side, let him manage there for a bit.

Totally agree, then maybe we should hire Pep or Simeone and sign Mbappe.

If that doesn’t work straight away we can always get Tuchel or Mourinho 🫡

5 hours ago, Keyblade said:

We weren't in a dogfight. If we were, then we're in one now.

Also as you say here, Klopp had an exceptional CV to fall back on in terms of giving patience. You can't translate Gerrard's success at Rangers in PL terms.

You could also see the roots of what Klopp was trying to build there. Their football was dramatically different, they were very good in attack but weak in defence which was an issue with the personnel, which they fixed with Van Dijk and Allison.

There's nothing you can point to under Gerrard and say "I can see what he's trying to do here...he just needs X/Y". There's nothing there.

15 months prior to SG arrival we survived on the last day of the season. 15 months prior to Klopp appointment they were 4 points off a CL spot.

Of course the levels are different. You say Klopps success at bvb gave him leniency/patience in building his team, and your spot on.

Do you think a manager with that success would come to us? At the moment it’s hard to see any sort of Gerrard philosophy I agree, but the signings he’s made so far have been positive and overtime we’re bound to see progression.

6 hours ago, Zatman said:

In Klopp first season they got to the Europa League final and his 2nd season they qualified for the Championa League

As mentioned our situations aren’t identical. The appointment of Klopp was a statement from Liverpool after his success with Dortmund, and once he rejuvenated the squad and implemented his philosophy, over time they became unstoppable.

Similarly with SG, after his rangers success…(albeit not on par with Klopps at bvb)… the board rightfully appointed him with the hope he can bring us success and long term stability.

Yes Liverpool got to EL final and got a CL place the next season, but they weren’t in a relegation dogfight 1 year prior to his appointment like we were when we got SG.

I think some of us are rushing to panic station far too hastily. Given our recent performances and results it’s completely understandable but if you look at the bigger picture, we are, as a club, in a good position and it could certainly be worse.

First thing to acknowledge is the premier league is the most difficult league on the planet. Admittedly at times, our performances have been woeful and we have looked clueless, but that could be down to the quality of our opposition / oppositions manager.

With our recruitment, investments and the talent we have, our performances should non-deniably be better. On the flip side, at times we have looked solid and have played some excellent stuff. 

I would like to talk about the early Klopp-era with Liverpool. Over the years he completely made the team his own team, believed in his system and cut off players who wasn’t suited to his philosophy. 

It wasn’t always plain sailing and had quite a few bumps along the way. I know our situation is different, and with recent developments involving Sarr it looks like we have no idea what we’re doing - basically panic buying. 

With promises of pushing for Europe this season, there is certainly pressure on Stevie G. Like every single one of us I’m praying for a great season and it ruins my whole weekend when we play shite. 

We have fantastic owners, fantastic youth, fantastic facilities and most importantly fantastic fans. Let’s try to trust the process and get back to enjoying being a villa fan, and we will see what happens.

Last thing I’ll say is that it could be worse… think back to Bradford away 2013

Not sure if this is allowed, so I apologise in advance if this post gets removed…

But, would anyone here like to swap an upper trinity ticket for a holte / north ticket? 

I really don’t expect much success here but worth a shot

Sorted!

2nd time he’s needed medical attention 36 minutes in.

subbed off, precautionary I think, he seems okay

Do we know if Konsa is back?

12 minutes ago, Farlz said:

How did this end up being such a waste of a transfer? He was rated at Barnsley 

Guess it just wasn't meant to Bree

Caleb Ekuban is the latest rumour 

Benteke, Bowen, Benrahma, Barry

Id be chuffed with Benteke 

Does anyone have any idea about the Defrel rumour?

1 minute ago, Delphinho123 said:

Is he struggling to make the Stoke squad too because of Bruce ball? 

Haven't really followed stoke much this season mate so couldn't tell you...

1 minute ago, hippo said:

I hope he still makes those intelligent runs ! 

Sure he was banging them in under Smith at Brentford. Only reason why he struggled with us was due to Bruce Ball. Would he fit into our system?

Id go for:

Nyland; Targett Konsa Engles Elmo; Lansbury Hourihane Ramsay; Jota Kodjia El Ghazi

Batshuayi, Benrahma, Bowen and Brewster 

On the way back from the game, I don’t post often however thought I’d share my thoughts.

First half was arguably our worst half of football we have had in years. No identity and absolutely no game plan. The players were flat, didn’t look arsed. 

Completely forgot Hourihane was on the pitch, didn’t offer anything and didn’t look like he wanted the ball. Our right side was abysmal, AEG and Fred looked like they hadn’t ever played with each other. The atmosphere before the game was flat. 
 

Kodjia needs to start over Wesley on Thursday, I think Jack needs to go back into the middle, and Douglas is a CDM, not a CM.

The worst thing is, Southampton weren’t even that good today, and we were absolutely slaughtered. On another day that could’ve been 5 or 6-0. 
 

Has anyone got any idea what the buy back amount would be?

1 minute ago, bobzy said:

Rotational player I imagine.  Looking at what we're doing, I think there's one more wide player to come in.  Ideally giving us (I suppose), El Ghazi, Trezeguet, Jota and <x> as our options.  Would expect Green to be loaned again, unless we don't manage to bring in <x>.

<x> = Benrahma hopefully ... or is that being greedy

7 minutes ago, AVTuco said:

I wonder what his personality is like? Will he be able to fit in with this squad that has some sort of an inner circle from last year?

Other than that, he seems like an awesome deal.

Perhaps himself and Wesley will go out for weekly gatherings like Jack and John did 

So, if we sign Luiz, does that fill the role of the CDM we need, or do we think we would still be in for Philips? 

Ideally, with Konsa being able to rotate to a DM also if needed, if this guy is good enough and available for £15m, this could work out a better deal.

13 minutes ago, Wainy316 said:

£20m is the new £500k

Going by this we spent £1.2bn on Hogan and McCormack 

17 minutes ago, RadioTom said:

There will be a delay because they'll be putting together a fancy announcement video. My front runners are: 

• An 'Announce Mings' parody (like they did with Bolasie)
• Lord of the Mings: Return of the King 
• If You Like It Then You Shoulda Put a Mings On It 

"Alexa, who does Tyrone Mings play for..."

Crazy. 5th most expensive English defender behind Stones, Walker, Wan-Bissaka and Ferdinand.