Jas10

Steady on mate! The season’s only just finished!

Originally on BT sport but you may be able to find it online.

Everton Soares? Gremio winger Would be nice if we can attract another South American or two and Wes & Luiz will help them settle.

My pleasure, hope you enjoy. Quite a fun watch & a good laugh also

How about we just give the Belgian league a complete miss this time? Would like us to expand on our targets and look at Italy, Germany, Spain & South America. With Wes & Doug here we could maybe attract and integrate more talented and skilful players from those regions...

Good times indeed... If you haven’t seen it yet, I recommend watching “Golazzo The Football Italia Story” A fun look back...

I like, we really need to be looking at a higher calibre of player now that will significantly enhance the first team. Watched a lot of Italian football in the 90s (big fan), Enrico Chiesa was more of a striker or support striker (at Parma he had a great partnership with Crespo) and would score some ridiculously stunning goals. Became more prolific at Fiorentina but not as “stylish”. His son Federico is more of a winger or wide forward. Looks a good player and I would love us to try for the top talents in Italy such as him & Belotti.

Also wanted to note, with an ineffective attack it puts more pressure on the defence n causes our better players such as Jack to fall back, not great when the ball keeps coming back & invites pressure from the opposing team... Jack wins a hell of a lot (record breaking in fact ) of fouls & free kicks which we really should be taking advantage of. As well as strengthening in attack, we really need to take make the most of set pieces. We have some big lads who should really be getting goals from corners too. I would like to Jack removed from free kicks & corners as I don’t think it’s one of his strengths. We need a specialist (who can also play). We can really improve with the right signings now and attack is the priority, maybe Deano will be able to makes us much more of an attacking force then and there will be less reliance on Jack (who can be even more effective).

Love him n he loves the Villa. Best manager we’ve had since the MON era n he will continue to improve. Not your old fashioned dull, dour, boring type. We’ve been through a heap of dross n poor ownership but I think we’ve finally come out of it since the new owners n Deano arrived (just look at his achievements so far, he’s done a hell of a lot better than anyone before him since our crap period) - we just need to look forward to the future and be positive. He’s been let down by a poor quality side & injuries to key players but we have a chance to fix that now. Desperately need goalscorers, as previously stated he has done so well to keep us up with pretty much non existent or ineffective strikers. I feel fortunate that we have a young, progressive manager (that actually favours attacking football) who cares deeply for the club along with a captain that loves the club also. It was never going to be easy n the task was fairly huge to begin with (look how long we’d been struggling for without getting anywhere) but Dean has done so well and deserves to continue. One of the things that I enjoy and appreciate the most is, and I don’t think this is an exaggeration, the transformation and team unity & spirit and relationship to & connection with the fans. We are in drastically better condition than we have been in for years and Dean deserves a lot of credit for that. As fans, we can be impatient & desperate for success n often miss the bigger picture n fail to realise the work & effort it takes to build a successful team & club. As long as there is (continued) progression, we should be appreciate and positive about the future. Now for some tasty signings!!! UTV

Need to majorly enhance the quality of this team now, such a great opportunity and platform to build on - we must take advantage and re-establish ourselves as a mainstay and competitive team in the PL. Hopefully we can convince Jack to stay and surround him with a few players of comparable quality so the attacking and creative load is shared... Hopefully now, the only way is up. UTV

Well put & exactly my thoughts. I’m so sick of seeing or hearing about the thought of Jack leaving (and resignation or encouragement of this, especially from some of our own “fans”). Why not see the season out and see where we are at that point? I definitely agree with the “destabilisation” point. We have been victims of it in the past e.g. when the likes of Yorke & Bosnich were tapped up (I’ve always despised Man U) and tempted away from us when we were looking like genuinely competing at the top end of the table & when we we managed to stay in 1st position (for about half a season?) under Gregory and so many were waiting for the “bubble to burst”. We’ve never had much backing or support outside of our dedicated & loyal fanbase. They can all f*** off for all I care, can’t wait to shove all the crap back down their throats. For that to happen though, we need to stay up and continue to build a side around Jack so that we can progress and at least become a mainstay in this division. Judging by his comments and interviews, I get the impression that he genuinely loves the club and would ideally like to stay here for his whole career if possible. But we need to be competitive and keep progressing so that we can retain him and attract a similar level of player to the club.

Are they not off on warm weather training? I doubt they’ll be allowed to go “off the rails” then. Just hope they all come back reenergised and ready for the battle ahead.

This man could be the difference... looked promising in his 2nd game and could fire us to safety. A regular goalscorer would help us massively. Just need to tighten up at the back & show a bit more strength & physicality in midfield. I think we need 3 rather than 2 in there. Hopefully the players will be refreshed and raring to go when they get back from their warm weather training trip. Don’t lose hope. UTV

No probs Yeah, if he had better players behind/around him (or those that are here actually step up and show some confidence & belief instead of just relying on Jack), the kind that can pick him out with a decent pass or two and play him in, then he could focus on being more deadly in that attacking third. Atm he is having to do too much and dropping back too far to receive the ball... just shows how talented a player he is that he can manage all that and still get goals and assists for us. I agree on AEG & Trez too, they are just not good enough. AEG far too inconsistent despite possessing a fair amount of talent. Trez works hard but lacks technical skill/ability/co-ordination, just comes across as a headless chicken who tires easily. Luiz is our 2nd best player in terms of technical skill and ability but I don’t think we have established a position/role for him in the team. If he could link up & play with Grealish that might help us. Let Nakamba & Drinkwater focus on the defensive side of things, at least until McGinn returns... I just hope we manage to stay up and then we can strengthen this team further and really kick on & progress. No reason for Jack to leave then.

? We have one of the very best ball carriers or dribblers in the game in Jack... imo he’s better than all the players you mentioned (Gabby?! ) The problem is a lack of quality and support around him. We really miss McGinn in that sense... Plus we are too weak or lightweight in central midfield.

Defensively, we rely too much on Mings (he needs a steady partner who is not too inferior to him, I think we need to re-establish his partnership with Engels) and we rely too much on Grealish for attacking & creativity. The load needs to be shared and others need to step up and be encouraged to do so. Nakamba battles to win back possession in midfield (can’t expect much more from an out and out DM) but can’t do that alone either. The only guy who seems to be able to hold onto the ball is Grealish but he needs help and support. Something needs to change. Maybe a return to a 4-3-3, 4-3-2-1 or 4-3-1-2. Since we changed to 5 defenders, we have become more cagey and overpowered more easily. We’ve managed to get a few results but I’m not sure whether it’s a long term solution. We don’t have the strength or physicality in midfield to just have the 2 in there. It’s a shame we have been so restricted and couldn’t add a strong, quality player in that department (like an N’zonzi) so we will have to make use of Drinkwater. He wasn’t bad against Watford and seemed to enable Nakamba to perform really well. Luiz can get forward and help create and link with Grealish if needed or continue with his cameos from the bench if we decide to stick Jack in CAM or SS. We looked decent at the start of the season but a run of tough games and losses knocked our confidence & belief plus the injuries to key players. We miss McGinn (as we have & would miss Mings & Grealish) badly. Samatta was one positive from the last game at least.

Almost sad to say but we need him. We badly miss McGinn & his dynamism. A physical CM/DM would’ve helped us but the window is over now and we seemed restricted in what we could do (bloody FFP!). We’re too lightweight in the middle, I do admire Nakamba’s battling qualities but he can’t do it alone. Sooner we can get Drinkwater fit and in form, the better. Luiz & Nakamba need a stable, calming influence around them. Who else do we have?