MrBlack

Goal aside, we look exceptional so far. Keep it up Villa

Good decision and does suggest we may be after one more. Assuming this was on the cards for a while it's possible the club was doing him a favour giving him time off the bench against Stoke. He looked good so you'd expect there'll be a few championship clubs that will take a punt on him.

the point about him faking injury... wasnt it just that he was lying on the floor following a tackle he felt was a foul? The foul wasn't given so he tried to act it up a bit? He did nearly headbutt Mings after TM had a go at him for not tracking back, but he obviously felt he was doing his job. It's not something to kick him out the club for. It is something he needs to work on to be considered a viable choice on the wing. Incidentally, all his good performances came from the left wing, and he hasn't had chance to play there for a long time. Another factor to consider.

Wasn't he seen in the background of some of the pictures from Barkley's first training session ? Would back up the comments that he's back in training. Edit: missed the direct quote from Dean above. This is good news then. Suggests no falling out, and simply a longer road to recovery than expected. We do get unlucky with our long term injuries don't we

Agreed, was my most wanted signing at the start of the window, albeit based on my entirely UK centric footballing knowledge. I reckon he'd have been fine in the PL. Hope that if we ever find out he can cut it that its with us and not someone else.

Impressive to get that level of recognition as a right back at that level. Its he purely a right back or can he play right wing? Or is he more a defensive type?

Still need one more for me, and would like 2. I said the max I wanted to see coming in this window was 7, with 5 the minimum. With us signing Cash, I really think our minimum needs to be 6. But don't want the max to go any higher particularly. So if we do manage to remove a couple, I'd be very happy to see 2 more come in. Ideally CB and then one of a cdm, striker, left winger. Any of those positions would likely be back up for what we have, but if we're clever and get someone that could cover two of those positions in one, it would make us so much more resilient to injuries. Make it happen boys! A Dier esque cb that is also a cdm. And a rashica/king esque forward that can play cf/lw. Would be so perfect.

It would be incredibly harsh to drop CH for the Liverpool match, after the goal in our last game, but it would be totally the right decision from the perspective of that one game. Conor will offer very little against Liverpool as we will have very little of the ball, unless he puts in a performance that we have not yet seen from him in the PL. But dropping him after a goal could seriously impact his morale and confidence, that may not be in our interests long term this season. Despite that, i'd still start Barkley and bring Conor on if we're behind with 20 minutes to go. Try and manage the fallout by starting Conor in other games (although the Leicester game may not be any better for him either), but totally understand if that isn't what Dean does.

Glad to hear he was decent last night. Sad to hear about the abuse he got despite that. Idiots everywhere. May have not reached his potential, but still got us into the PL. It does come across as though he doesn't try when the going gets tough, but fans hurling abuse at him isn't going to correct that. Disgraceful behavior that should result in their accounts being blocked/ deleted. Would be great if he could ram the insults down their throats and come on to score against Liverpool. Can't see it happening, as I doubt he'll be on the bench, but that sort of one off performance could really inject some confidence, assuming he isn't too jaded by the club thanks to what a minority of idiots have said to him.

I'll be extremely shocked if we dont finish 11-17. We've significantly improved the team on last year, both in absolute terms and relative to others around us. Given the intense fixture list, everyone will likely struggle with injuries this season, but obviously we're at risk more than others given anyone that we bring in as a replacement is a large part of the reason we finished 17th. With that in mind, moving up a few places is to be expected. Even a few more may be achievable if things go swimmingly. But to go from 17th to 10th would be a massive improvement and is incredibly unlikely. Still, I won't complain if we do it :). 11-17th Feeling optimistic

if he doesnt score a hateful then yes, it wouldn't bode well. If he makes it look easy then a step up next season to league 1 or higher is not a concern. He's a small player so being small he'll lilely take a lot longer to compete at the top level. Some confidence building first should fit the bill quite nicely.

Echoing my thoughts exactly except for the second last sentence on Watkins. If you saw him last season he is definitely a natural finisher. Had a few unlucky breaks for us so far, but once the first one comes he'll be in everyone's dream team.

Cod you be mora specific?

Was most peoples preferred choice at centre back before his mysterious injury. Konsa then started playing well and people have erased the memory of any good he did. Admittedly, the competition was poor when he was first choice, but he's a reasonable backup to have if he's fit. Hopefully whatever was going on is behind him and he can push on. Be great to see him play in the cup.

Everton fans hate him after he was leaving for a big fee, then stopped the move because he was injured. He got back to fitness after a long time, then moved the second he was back fit again for less than the fee originally agreed. They refer to him as a rat. They have our snake. I call it even.

A few interesting things in that interview: - talking to Jack for last couple of weeks about how good it would be "when he's here". Looks like it's been in the pipeline for a while. Makes you wonder what the hold up was as Chelsea didn't need him, but were playing him anyway. - Specifically mentioned linking up with McGinn and Jack when talking about where he sees himself playing..then mentioned that he only knows the English lads. Suggests he was sold that line up when he was signed. - whilst he wasn't overly smiley, like our last couple of signings, I dont take it as necessarily a bad thing. He doesn't seem like that kind of person in general, so think it's just his nature. Here's hoping for a cracking season of him linking up with Jack and them both scoring/assisting a shedload.

Makes you wonder if there is some truth in that. They got shown up last window with our under the radar signings. How can they milk the hype and the betting market if they don't know what we're doing. F**kers

True but at the same time if Lerner had been more sensible with where he spunked his many millions, we'd have got there a lot sooner. Our new owners haven't spent any more then he did, just way more wisely.

Villan by day, Villain by night.

All I see now is Thanks @rjw63

Keep it up boss! Times are good (for Villa anyway)

Hard to justify dropping him unless Ross starts tomorrow in the cup and plays a blinder (is he eligible?). Can see him getting the start against Liverpool and Dean using that as the excuse to drop him going forwards. Shame as with Ross in the team I think we'd actually stand a chance of getting something out the game, but Conor will not provide the pressure we need against someone like Liverpool. Great when we're on the front foot, below average when we're not.

The 11-17 bracket needs splitting its the difference between predicting a season of struggle or an exceptional season by our recent standards. I think we're heading for 12th or above as it stands. But injuries could have a huge impact on us, more so than many other teams outside the bottom 5 or so.

Always wondered...who is it you support? Sound like a fan, but badged as visiting? On topic: he was at the fulham game, when Jack didn't have a blinder but still scored and created an assist. Expect he'll be watching us many more times this season!