A'Villan

I was watching it. Very poor. 70% possession to City. The contrast in effort was huge, as soon as Chelsea touched the ball they were chased down and as possession shows, more often than not they turned it over.

How has Ozil been for Arsenal? I haven't watched them in ages, but he was a big influence at Madrid.

He's certainly not in my bad books. I wasn't at the training ground or directly involved with the club outside of watching the football on the weekend. I don't know what transpired and I'm sure Adama has his reasons as we have ours. Completely agree we made the right swap. I don't think I've said anything otherwise. Sure, I would've like to of kept Adama, I think he's an exciting prospect and I enjoy seeing youth develop, as I hope to see O'Hare, Davis and Grealish fulfill their potential here. It didn't work out, I'll live.

Settle down, Sunshine. You make some understandable points and I can see why he might not be in your good book.

Sane from City looks as if he's going to be a mainstay and maybe a great.

What was the first thing that happened when he came on for us? If that's not a sign of potential at his age I don't know what is. My point was not to be critical of Grealish, it was to highlight that players, at their age, are rarely consistent.

How some of the players ever made it to the PL let alone the same team!

As I've said previously, I like Onomah and would be happy if he became a permanent signing. No way do I think we should be breaking the bank for him though. Unlike a lot of views on here I think Onomah has shown as much quality and potential as both O'Hare and Davis so far. He is however, like both Davis and O'Hare, not a gauranteed starter and Bruce's stance is not only slightly concerning but could be detrimental to everyone involved.

I just don't understand how they manage to fall apart every season. I haven't watched them consistently for a while, but with the teams they have had, they shoud've won the league at least once in the past 8 years. Having Sanchez, Ozil and Cazorla in the same team was as good as I see it getting for Arsenal for the next few years.

How would you rate Jack's season that year, on a whole? What about Ayew? Gueye? Our team had issues. It fell apart for everyone. I am of the belief that Gil is one of very few from that team who could contribute to a worthy PL outfit. Though I have to agree with you, it's not known whether or not he would be more consistent or have a better level of play with better players around him. I haven't watched him for any other club, but I thought he had more than a few good moments while here.

I am a semi professional in basketball and a coach of 6 years as well, and have to agree with you completely on team culture and spirit. I don't know that Gil's return would have a negative impact though, that is an unknown, if he earnt a place on merit then I don't see why it would be a problem. Heynckes has returned to Bayern 4 times now. I personally have returned to two seperate clubs, one where I was no longer good enough due to promotion, the other where I left to play in a higher division, I have nothing but positive relationships at both these clubs. I do understand that ego clashes and the nature of Gil's departure could go wrong though. Gil and Grealish actually had a bit of chemistry together on field, but I do take in to account what you and others are saying about how others might feel. I think my point of view becomes redundant if what NeilS said, very sensibly, is true. I was coming from the angle that he is still our player, and we are going to have to make additions and face the reality that not everyone will be good enough for the PL. Why not have him as a squad player, he's contracted here 'til 2019. Do you remember the three goals he scored for us? All superb. Or any of his assists and general build up play? He is a bit lightweight and not very pacey, but he showed he can cut it from my POV.

Jack is no doubt going to be miles ahead of Gil in a very short amount of time. That said, Gil was better than Jack by quite a considerable margin for us in the top division. I think Jack's weight of pass is superb, but we're in the championship atm. Gil has shown he too has a gift for the weight of a pass, and we've seen it in the prem. Don't get me wrong though, Grealish over Gil without question.

Has to be 3 points here. Haven't watched them once but truly amazed at how poorly Sunderland are doing.

Because he's a bright spark. I'd have no issue with him being included in a return to the Premier League. Would be interested to see what he can do in a team that actually plays football and works for each other. I think Jordan Ayew is a good example of our relegation squad who can perform in the top division and I'd say Gil, Amavi, Traore, Gueye and possibly Veretout could join him. We're going to need some additions on return to the PL, Jack is our only option at AM, and whilst I wouldn't want Gil to hamper Jack's deveopment, I reckon Gil would give Jack a hard time for that starting place.

Massive potential for his age. Think about how we rate Grealish and how poor some of his contributions have been at times over the years. He's young. Already shown he can be dangerous in the Premier League. He's one I would have liked us to keep, but obviously not meant to be. To say he will end up at a top 4 club is not OTT imo. Albrighton left to win the league. Delph the same. Stranger things have happened. Just ****' better not be Jack Grealish next, that would hurt the heart.

Disapprove of this. Wins the ball back, can dribble past a few, good build up play, excellent lob pass. Just needs to add goals and he'd be a very good player. Cares about the game too.

Not to be nit picky but Wilshere's ability to win the ball back is quite immense. He goes in hard and is often rewarded. It's just not his role to be a DM.

We're easily still in contention for 2nd. What, in my mind, will determine if we do or don't finish there is our ability to stay focused and consistent. We were top 2 recently. If we can also perform better than we have against the top end teams, we're in with a good shout.

Definitely showed signs of having what it takes in the league for us. Now he seems to be fulfilling that. He's no Benteke, he won't keep you up single handedly, but from my memory of him he was decent.

Ronaldinho is my favourite of all time. Yaya Toure is perhpas under appreciated. If I had to choose between eleven Messi's on a pitch or eleven Toure's I'd probably go with Toure. Why? Although he is not the offensive genius that Messi is, he is so well rounded. Finishing, free kicks, physical presence, crunch tackles, through balls, you name it he can do it. Arjen Robben is a freak. Drogba was great. Malouda, I nearly forgot about. Agree with above posts about David Silva. Magic.

Correct. Substantial difference in what was on the table, we were never going to keep him.

I started watching weekly in 2010. That threee players from our current lineup make the cut shows our predicament over the last 7 years. Friedel L. Young Collins Terry Amavi A. Young Milner Delph Downing Bent Benteke Subs: Vlaar, Walker, Petrov, Grealish, Albrighton, Kodjia

I haven't watched him since he left, but I think Snodgrass and Grealish would be a bit more consistently influential than Gil, although it's an unknown as to how he would fare in the Championship. Definitely a bright little player though and would welcome him back.

Bit of a random question. In Australia, we have football teams that are labelled as whether or not they are 'good in the wet', which means their ability to perform in the rain. Do you guys have this kind of classification in England? I've never heard it in my 8 years of supporting Villa.

Regarding McCormack, I think VillanousOne said it well when he mentions ego. That's not to say it's a bad thing, but it's certainly a clash of the ego. Bruce has drawn a line and McCormack is not towing it. That doesn't mean McCormack is trash or unprofessional, it just means Bruce is displeased. I was hoping Bruce would find a reconcile here, but to be fair to him, if you're missing training then you can't be fully engaged in team strategy, unless you're playing in a division below your ability, and even then you're not necessarily engaged with those around you. McCormack is not above the championship, I won't speculate on whether he thinks he is or not, but I would have to assume that Bruce is being reasonable. Regarding due diligence, as mentioned above, sometimes the only prerequisite is the manager seeing you as someone who can provide victory for the football club, and you have to respect McCormack's record in the Championship and I will even mention Australia. Some managers are going to see him as a prospect without a doubt, and he is just that, but if he has issues others will experience that. I'm glad we're in a position where we are not dependent on Ross, and can take a stance on any undesirable behaviour, most teams in the division can't afford that luxury I'm guessing.