trom_borg

Most people seem to miss that Philogene and Archer, at least in terms of europa registration, cant be replaced by bringing someone new to the club in. In the europa squad they have to be replaced by a home grown talent. Even with the current squad (and if we get anotehr defender in which looks likely), either Couthino or Traore misses out.

Being fresh is not only a physical thing, it's also about the mental state. To me it looks like he could do with a little break, Sanson has done enough to earn a start as well I'd say

Underwhelmed and disapointed we've gone from Smith to Gerrard I have to say... But he has my full support and of course part of me is excited to see what he can bring. I can see the potential for success there, inbetween the IFs and BUTs. Its a big gamble though.. I loved having Villa men as manger and captain, and our success in that context just felt more special, unique. That has all unravelled in just a few months, killing some of my connection to the club that has been built since over the last few years. Gerrard has some job on his hands to turn that around, if its even possible. Some big team scalps and inspired performances would def help thoug Couldn't care less about the added media attention either, it'll be for the wrong reasons for me, but prob not from a buisness pow... Anyway, welcome to our great club and the best of luck Steven!

We also know Deano turned around sinking ships before with us, and we know we were capable of playing very good football under him, even this season. Keeping him would be a gamble, but with his history and connection to the club a gamble worth making imo. SG is also a gamble, but an unknown one. Imagine if he comes in and we don't immediatly turn this around, i.e 2-3 more losses. What confidence do you have in him fixing it? He has never have to do that before, let alone in a league like the PL.

Then every debate is moot. We also don't know if Smith would've turn it around or not. No one knows the future, and Gerrard might be the next messiah. But with him having very little experience and having faced different types of challenges as a manager so far, appointing him would be a huge gamble, more so than many other candidates. That is true regardless of the outcome or wheter the Saints fans got it wrong in the past reg Poch. If we wanted to go with a huge gamble at this point in time that gamble should've been that Smith has what it takes to turn this around.

5 of the 7 first games have also been against teams currently above us in the table. It's been a decent start with some great performances, lacking a bit in consitency and our pre-season didn't help. We'll do good against the top teams again this season I reckon, win some lose some. The key will be to consistently pick up 3 points against teams from the bottom half. If we can do that a real push for europe is still very much in the cards

We lost away to Sheff Utd last season.

Fair enough but why not wait a season or two to see if he can get it at Villa? If he keps performing, which he'll have to do to play at City anyway, he would easily get a move in couple of years time to a CL team and he'd still be only 27

I just cant belive he'll leave us at this point in time. After everything this club has gone through after the MON days, and him being the center man of the revival to now starting a new season in 10 days with the most exciting Villa team in my 25 years supporting the club. If you know what we've been through and how much it means to the Villa family to be back in the top, ST waiting list and crowd back for first time since covid ect. How can he leave that now, knowing how dissapointed everyone will be and how it can really dent our chances of progress? How can plastic trophies at City be more important the chance to create a uniqe legcy that'll last decades? If he goes its a shallow and coward decision for me and I dont wish him any success there

IF he truly decides he want to leave this project now, then good riddance... I want him to stay for all the obvious reasons, one being that for once the narrative could be different. Regardless I can't belive its not resolved one way or the other by now and its pissing me off. This is probably the most exciting time I can remember to be a Villa fan and I just want to look forward to the season which is fast approaching without this stupid ongoing drama. So if our leader and talisman want to leave the Villa family now and instead opt for plastic life and easy bought medals with his dear idols Pep and kdb then so be it. He'll be just anotehr footballer walking the same old path, when a very different and unique story could be written. It would be very disapointing ofc but I'm getting very fatigued at this point. IF it happens, thanks for the service and money you generated Jack, hope we'll reinvested well and make you deeply regret your move

Nah I haven't forgot that, I just think that for certain games and situations he'd be suitable for a more advanced role. Running inbetween and behind defenders, arrivng early in the box instead of late. I just don't think our "10" needs to be all that creative when surrounded by a triangle of Grealish, Buendia and Luiz. And especially when adding a Nakamba style DM to that mix I think McGinn's skillset can be suitable for a more advanced role. With that said, happy to see him as a more traditional box to box 8 with Sanson as well, or even as one of two 6s. We have the personel to tweak our mdifield into very different types of beasts and that's great. While McGinn clearly has some shortcomings I think he's able to play varous roles in different setups with success

Yes this is a big one for me, for 35punds that good value. Just hope it'll be possible to start those vids without reading the result anywhere...

I prefer McGinn as an box to box 8 as well, but flanked by Grealish and Buendia I reckon he could do very well in a more advanced role. Him and Watkins constantly running into space when we have the ball, and applying high pressure when we don't have it. Its all about haveing a range of varous options for me and McGinn is very useful in that sense, he can be deployed in different systems and tactics. He is not a strong DM though, and like many others on here I'd love for us to complement our midfield with that type of a player.

Its written to clarify any biases they might have, irrelevant here maybe but it can also be quite useful. As for the tweet itself I don't understand why its doing the rounds here, must be many worse examples to pick from? Yeah the dude is utterly confused about Marxism and has been sucked into the narrative that fighting racism is another battleground for left/right tribal politics, when it really shouldn't be.. But at least the tone is respectful, which is more than can be said about lots of commenters. With that all said, well done Tyrone for a very eloquent and timely written tweet that hit home. Fantastic rolemodel and leader to have around the team, we're very lucky to have him at our club!

I'm Sure its a good deal for the club so wont bash them for doing the business, but a betting company on the sleeves rreally drags down the aesthetics of the shirt for me. Sleeve sponsors in general is an abomination imo

A whopping 12 days younger actually, will surely make a bid difference... Kind of agree with the general point though, don't think we can expect players to go through a similar improvement trajectory as Targett who's been one of the most improved player from one season to another that I've seen. Lots of things affect that, not only coaching staff

I have nothing at all against Elmo but doubt he'd seen much pitch time in Inter last season. Young clearly has more about him still and while I don't see him starting much on the wing he can be a useful substitute there when defending a lead for example

The continuous effort and determination in finding new ways to bash our own players on here never cease to amaze me...

Yes the lack of bigger picture thinking by many actors in all of this is quite baffling.

Why are City and Chelsea getting getting hailed for quitting this abomination? Even see some comments saying they've saved football... FFS, football is not saved, its fighting a desperate fight to no completely loose it core values to money and corporate interests. The ESL was just the last battle, but the war has been going for a long time and the overall trend is (still!) going in the wrong direction. The only thing Chelsea and City saved was the last fractional part of the delusioned idea that they deeply care about anything else than money. Journalist could've just wrote: Greed saves football! By greed itself realising that the thing it wanted to do to get richer might end up making it poorer, greed reverts to the thing that already makes it rich. Day saved

Just another sad manifestation of money ruining football. I think its a result of the proportions getting out of hand, the risk of loss are getting to big. When the needed investments are as high as now (player salary or purchase price, stadium costs, agent fees ect ect.) there is really no room for failure, there is no room for loosing those big bucks caus ethen you cant pay your bills. But you also can not skip thos eheavy investments cause then you'll loose ground to those who spend. Solution? Secure your stream of income so risk of investment is minimized. Our whole society is becoming money obsessed, all other values and virtues are sacrificed on the altar of profits, because without it you become irelevant/die. The monumental negative response to these news are encouraging, but let's see where we end up. For me its clear though, we should use this difficult time to push a new structure which has sustainability and perseverance of the WHOLE footballing pyramid as its core value.

I could see the logic of putting him on against pool and maybe have some old derby feelings to inspire him to kick on, but in hindsight it was a terrible sub and I disappointing that Davis was kept on the bench. I don't understand how someone can fall so badly off a cliff as Barkley and it shows just how important confidence and believe is to once performance, but the most disappointing thing for me is that I don't see any real urgency to recapture that form or at least maintain a workrate..

His improvement over the last 12 months in defensive reading and timing of tackles is on a level I havent seen before. I liked him from the beginning but still felt it was a position we needed an upgrade to push on. Now he's one of my fav players, absolutely killing it atm and long may it continue

A bit surprised to see the critics of him after the game, thought he had his best Villa game last night and showed both skill and workmanship on several occasions. He lacks consistency for me and poor decision making at times, wasting a lot of hard work in the build up with disappointing end result. Think there is a useful PL player for us there though if he can be more consistent and clinical in deciding moments.

Oh I remember when we badly needed a goal scoring forward to help cement our top 4 place back in 09, and then picked up Heskey. Nothing against him but he wasnt the right man at the time, and combined with a few other factors that led us to fall off the cliff that spring and it was a long long way down... This januray hardly feels that consequential and I don't want us to make any big or impulsive move for the sake of it, but on the other hand it feels like we have a great opportunity to push on a create a great foundation for future success if we can continue our form throughout the season. We might need a couple of good squad supplements for that to happen.