trom_borg

19 hours ago, VillaChris said:

As I've said before just loan in a player or two and get it done permanently at a later date. Wolves loaned in Raul Jimenez for 18/19 and then signed him permanently the next summer and we've obviously done it with Barkley. It's also a way around FFP as you can dump the signing in the next year's accounts or whatever.

In normal circumstances I'd be o.k with just getting in another striker and leaving everything else until the summer but it's not a normal aseason and many of the top clubs look pretty vulnerable.

Can't help thinking back to the MON years aswell. We generally sat on our hands in the January windows while others around or below us strengthened and our results would always dip around March as we simply didn't or couldn't rotate much.

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.

Saw him listed as having a muscle injury with no end date. But Ive seen nothing official from the club. It was a shame as he could've given us better presence in the box.

I love Keinan and so want to seem him do well for us but injuries always seem to come at unfortunate times  

21 minutes ago, blandy said:

due to ACER and EU rules most of the profits go to shell companies abroad ”. I smell something there - where does that info come from? I might be wrong, but what you say sounds like it was gleaned from an anti EU, anti wind farm, global warming denier “source”.

Even the bit about the roads smells iffy.

Personally, concern about wildlife, raptors being killed, in particular is a real issue. Communities hosting wind farms should see benefits to counter the downsides, but what you’ve written doesn’t ring right with my understanding.

It is possible to have two thoughts in the head at the same time. It is possible to be pro EU collaboration and a believer in global warming while at the same time question and criticise implementation of the renewable energy transition. 

In my opinion global warming is a problem which exists in a bigger context which also includes resource depletion and biodiversity loss. The renewable energy brigade sometimes seems to completely ignore these other aspects and the complex landscape these issues exists in, believing we can overall continue bau as long as we switch our energy source from fossil to green. The space is filled with actors acting in their own self interest with profit as the ultimate goal, wrapped in a green and environmental wrapping. 

The day we can build and maintain wind turbines and solar panels, with the corresponding battery needs, without the need of fossil fuel or extraction of rare minerals, (both of which are in limited supply and woefully short of actually being enough for a complete green energy transition on current energy consumption levels) we can have serious talk of a proper energy transition. Currently this is far from reality, and therefore the only realistic future very much includes lowering our energy use. This doesn't really fit anyones agenda though so it's not much talked about.  

33 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

(just need to make sure he works as hard as Trez).

Not sure if the drug to make that happen has even been invented yet

11 hours ago, Delphinho123 said:

I actually thought Trezeguet was poor tonight. His work rate was fantastic...

To me this is a oxymoron, makes little sense. He sometimes lack quality in his delivery or decision making, but his work rate is setting an example for the whole team and he's earned every minute so far this season, dropping him now sends the wrong signal imo.

With that said I'm excited to see what Traore can bring when given starting games and I'm sure he'll get plenty of chances to prove his worth as the season goes on. 

4 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

Because it's only entertainment for villa fans.

Can be said about literally any Villa memory no? Hardly makes it cringe...

16 hours ago, nick76 said:

Did I say that! No

Whatever we’ll not agree on Davis, he needs to go out on loan now to build up confidence and score “some” goals because however good your other attributes are if you score virtually no goals you won’t make it as a striker in the PL.

You used an analogy of a math teacher that was a lovely guy but no good at math. So either you're saying he's no good at football, or you're saying his value to the club should be mostly based on his poor goal scoring record. None of which makes much sense to me. 

Your second statement I agree more with, but I'd say its too early to conclude this and theres been PL strikers that made a long good career without being prolific goal scorers, i.e Heskey.

7 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Just spoke to my brother and my nephew has been struggling with maths at school.  Turns out his maths teacher is no good at maths but he’s a lovely guy so we are going to persist with him.....

If you argue here that Davis has no attributes as a footballer I simply have nothing else to say to you on this topic 

5 minutes ago, nick76 said:

Should give Nyland another chance then because he has a lot more to him than his goalkeeping

Yes the Nyland and Davis situation is clearly exactly the same...  

Don't care much about the numbers tbh, but would be very sad to see McGinn switch away from 7. Two of my absolute all time favs Hendrie and Taylor made the number special for me and McGinn is carrying the torch further, no need for change! 

8 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

Again. At what point am I freaking out? I am perfectly calm. Perfectly rational. We either go down again or we don't. What will be will be.

At what point yet again is rightly questioning how transfer activity (lack of it) "freaking out" and "panicking"

I am fine mate. I can objectively look at something and say it it shit.

Do we have another famous villafan to add to the list?

I like Hause, hes a little rough but still yougish and finding hes feet at the top level. Good in the air and can send some great balls through, if only he'd cut out the silly passes.

Can't imagine we will get much for him anyway, and his replacement will be fighting Mings for a starting spot so might have limited game time. Dont see a reason to swap a cheep back up for another, I'd rather he stay. Can also cover for LB which is useful

Not really the most exciting transfer, though mostly due to the RB position being one of the least in need for an upgrade/addition imo. With that said his versatility is a big plus and it also indicates he has lots of natural talent. Will be very interesting to see where and how he slots into the team if he joins!  

1 hour ago, TRO said:

if we get over the line on Sunday, it provides a great opportunity for the club to grasp the opportunity.....to achieve real stability.

Which opportunity for "real" stability are you alluding to here?  

My gf, whos not really interested in football and Villa but ofc cant help but being exposed to it and watches the odd game with me, said when the penalty was awarded: " Oh that referee again, he always hates you and make stupid decisions against you!" 

When someone whos hardly following Villa still picks up on this detail without me even commenting on it first, it really says it all

13 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

What is the meaning of 'personal racism'?

Yeah sorry thats prob not the best term. I meant assuming that the cops themselves are racist and that that is the main cause of the issue.  

14 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

I think I said a couple of pages ago that this was too muddy a case to pin any great actions on. It will always attract lots of interpretations of what happened and why. So as an individual case, it’s problematic for everyone. There will, unfortunately, be other more clear cut cases less open to debate over specifics and detail. This is not the modern day Rosa Parks point.

I’m finding lots of the U.S. stats quite difficult to navigate. Not least because sometimes they are including Hispanic and white as one grouping, and sometimes not. Then there’s the definition of poverty, the definition of a family. But averaging out a few websites and a few stats, it’s looking like there are very roughly 8 or 9,000,000 black people living in poverty in the U.S. and there are roughly 16 to 20,000,000 ‘white’ people living in poverty.

The prison population (even the definition of prison and jail looks awkward to navigate) appears to be made up roughly of 40% white and 40% black. So I’m struggling to pin this problem with police and the justice system on poverty or economic opportunity. If we only count poor people, then black people are still twice as likely as white to end up in prison.

 

 

I agree with most of this and appreciate your effort in getting finding some numbers. I think theres no doubt the prison and legal system has been used to oppress and divide minorities and the lower class in political power games through US history. Just to muddy the water even more I'll add this from US department of Justice.- In 2013, African Americans accounted for 52.2% of all murder arrests, with Whites 45.3% and Asians/indigenous Americans 2.5%. Of the above, 21.7% were Hispanic

I guess my final point here is just that this is very complicated, and racism do play a big part on several levels, but we should be careful about assuming personal racism by the police every time an incident like this happens. I think it it ultimately is counterproductive and take importance away from all the other factors at play.   

55 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

 

So, this would be pure conjecture, a guess. But what would be your guess for why its 3 times more likely you’ll killed by the police if you’re black than if you’re white?

Do you see it as an education thing? A poverty thing? Luck? False statistics?

As soon as that incident started, he was 3 times more likely to die than I would have been in the same incident.

What’s your guess as to why that might be if skin colour is ruled out? Not something that can be proved, what’s your hunch?

 

 

I do think there is a very important reason for why not to connect single instances with the overall picture.

Firstly, the fact that its a 3 times higher chance of getting killed by a cop if youre black is a disturbing stat. I'd think that a part of that problem lies with the police themselves, racist individuals, poor training, macho culture and other factors attracting the wrong type of people with various degrees of conscious or unconscious levels of racism to a very consequential and important job.

But I believe it is even more due to socio-economic differences. These differences work as feedback loops as well, poverty and segregation leads to poor education which leads to more poverty and bigger differences ect, which leads to more crime and a bigger percentage of the male population in prison, which leads to more single moms and more poverty ect ect ect. And I think these class differences stems from history and the failings of the capitalist system to correct it and create equal opportunities. 

To start thinking about solving all of the above you need deep police reform as well as a reform of the economic and political system that perpetuate this. 

That is a monumental task, and I think its counterproductive to that goal to see any police killing of poc in light of racism and this 3x chance stat. If a person open fire on the police the chance is they'll get shot no matter what the colour of their skin is.

This is a very difficult debate with lots of emotion and I am worried that its developing towards a more binary state where nuance is a sign of treason or weakness to "your" political side. I see this as a recipe for escalating conflict rather than important reform

23 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

Biden seems like quite a poor opposition for Trump. 
but there are countless examples of Trump stumbling over words and talking absolute shite into a microphone. 

You're ofc correct on that. But if we all zoom out for a moment and think about the implications of this argument in relation to what politics and elections really should be about, it is just mind boggling and numbing tbh... One candidates obvious mental impairment is not so consequential because his opponent is as bad. What a time to be alive, we truly live in bizarro world  

25 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/11991633/fa-tells-womens-super-league-and-championship-clubs-that-season-will-end-early

Women's league ended. Not voided, ended.

Try reading your own linked article one more time

12 minutes ago, nick76 said:

The problem is that it’s going the opposite way with more games because in turn that means more money.  Expanded European competitions From straight out knock to modern day Champions League, International tournaments including more teams, Pre and Post season club tournaments rather than friendlies.

Yeah I know it is going the wrong way man, thats partly my point. Instead of rushing to get back on that same road this is the perfect time to ask; what are the long term consequences of continuing that path and is that really where we want to go? 

50 minutes ago, ozvilla28 said:

All about $$$$$$ nothing more simply.

Yes, though part of that is very understandable as the flow of (big) money is essential to keep the lights on. So while its very sad to see the integrity of the game continuously washed away by the lust for money, some of that is simply born out of survival instincts.

Which brings me to a point I feel is largely missing in the discussion around the economic impact for football and society as a whole. There is this urgent need to get back to business as usual to avoid devastating consequences, without acknowledging that BAU was what got us here in the first place. And if you argue that it is in fact the virus that got us here, I'd say sure, but a virus of this sort (or another event with similar impact) was 100% predictable and merely a question of time.

So, before urging to get the game back on in a time when we still know very little about the virus, the effects of government measures, the long term health impacts ect, we should grasp this opportunity for real reform of the structures around the modern game. How can we ensure the sustainability and resiliency of the football pyramid, the grassroots organisations, the connection with the fans (of all classes!) and decades long local fan culture, the integrity of the game as a whole (World cup in Qatar played in stadiums build by modern slaves is just one horrible example of how far its gone the wrong way).

I have very little hope for such reforms but I'm disappointed by the lack of mainstream discussion around it.