MrBlack

It's a win for us if we get a fee that covers the remaining amortised ffp cost of his purchase price + the salary we owe him. The remaining book value is 2.2m. The salary we owe him is about £1.8m. So presumably we're looking for at least a 4m fee. Given Nakamba is going to get most/all of that 1.8m by way of loyalty fee for not submitting a transfer request, surely he'd accept whatever salary they're offering him on top. And presumably they're offering a reasonable amount even if it isn't normal PL wages. Maybe his expectations are misaligned because of when he signed for us.

This is weird. She's now saying that she didn't ask them to make a fictional bid, but merely asked them what they were going to bid. So everyone calling her out on her bizarre comments before was right. She was talking bollocks before. It never made sense in the first place because I don't see how asking a rival to bid for a player they don't want helps you get a deal over the line with your club for the same player. Not least because why would the rival help you, but mainly because they're not going to waste their time on something that doesn't benefit them. Now if she'd said "City will bid, with no intention of actually signing Rice, but just to try and get Arsenal to spend more"... then maybe that would make sense. City doing that off their own back and trying to shaft arsenal in the process (either by making them outbid City or actually ending up getting the player that Arsenal really wanted).

It's forever the Tommy Johnson kit for me. Loved that kit.

I knew it wouldn't be exact, but was quite surprised how far off it was. I won't try using one again that's for sure. There obviously is an rgb equivalent of what that colour appears like on my screen but the converter doesn't get close to it. I used the colour picker in pocket paint and it's 120:61:67 for reference. So quite different really. I assume that we provide that holte claret cmyk reference to out kit designers anyway, but what we end up with is at their whim and then impacted by whatever material it gets printed on

I agree that the whole football world is morally bankrupt. I don't agree that we can't call out the most egregious examples of shit happening in the game. Self-funding owners that circumvent the rules the rest of the league comply with go beyond morale issues, and make the game a complete non-sporting event. It's quite possibly going to end up the straw that broke the camels back.

Agreed, there's a difference between that and being schooled though. Not that he was, but would that even have been a bad thing? Young was probably the most experienced wingback he faced and defies all logic regarding his pace and stamina for his age. To struggle against Ashley Young is hardly a stick to beat him with.

If Romano's mumbling yesterday were accurate and he was having medicals and signing on the dotted line etc, then maybe this morning was spent doing the photo shoots. Surely the announcement is coming this afternoon if it all went well? They can't possibly be waiting for Wednesday just because can they?

Venturing far away from the really important point here though ... we're about to sign Pau Torres!!!

It's been thoroughly covered above by various people but just to add my thoughts on the side of Gnonto's... Young was the hardest opponent he faced... and yet he still got an assist. That tells you how he reacts to adversity. He's got speed, skill, and determination. He's 19. He's already been capped by Italy. For 21m he is an absolute no brainer signing. Especially comparing him with the signing of Duran we made last season.

I also imagine the development that goes on between now and the start of the season will see the offerings of all the stands upgraded to be more like the Holte's quick serve things. Note the concerts are done work can get moving too upgrade those facilities. There aren't many venues in the region that can host as many fans as villa Park, so it will continue to be an attractive offering to touring acts regardless of the beer service. But I'm sure they'll upgrade them after the trials in The Holte.

He played on after the stamp. The injury seemed to start when he was tackled whilst running, but even the he carried on for a while after that. Hopefully, on that basis its not too bad but he's the kind of player that wants to play and would probably carry on with a broken leg until someone told him to stop. If it is a longer term injury we do at least have a nearly full transfer window to get cover in if. needed.

Realistically he shouldn't have even been at the tournament. A 22 year old with over 80 PL appearances doesn't belong in a development tournament. Stretching his season by those extra fee weeks when he's already played a full season of competitive football compared with the rest of the squad is always a needless risk. Let's hope it's not serious and the recovery is quick.

You didn't answer your own question Gregg. I'm glad someone pasted the article here beyond your joke of a pay wall when it comes to villa articles. But let me tell you...yes, it is. Whether he delivers to the expectation or not, its absolutely a coup and a sign to anyone else that we're interested in that we're a better option than a lot of champions league clubs

Interesting. They do need to make the line bigger and give the benefit of any doubt to the attacking team, rather than the current microscopic yes or no that they must get exactly right (only got it to be got wrong still). Just admit that there's uncertainty, and that the error of margin favours the attacking team to encourage more attacking play. Giving the attacker a whole body head start is probably taking it a bit too far down the attackers benefit. Ultimately, keeping it the decision of a two pixel line is still going to trigger arguments over judgement calls.

They own most of London and oil is just going to get more lucrative for them over the next decade before the world figures out how to live without it. I don't see them ever having financial issues with the investments they PIF have made. They might not sustain a league in 40 degree heat though.

There's definitely elements of hypocrisy floating around. And whilst the villa part of me would love us to get Coutinho off our books without making a loss, the side of me that hates the sportswashing take over by Saudi Arabia would rather they didn't legitimise their league any further. Who knows, maybe they'll use the increased exposure as a catalyst to improve their human and women's rights. I won't be holding my breath though.

I didn't complain about them signing a Wolves player for near enough market value. Not sure I saw many do that to be honest.

Yawn.... The difference would be we're not owned by the same people that own the club that's buying Coutinho. Obviously, I'd rather they didn't have a coutinho to help their sportswashing, but that isn't what you're complaining about so that's moot.

Interesting. Tried to convert that to rgb to test something in my phone and it looks nothing like that colour. Looks purple... R: 109 G: 19 B: 61 According to a converter? Appreciate the lighting of the location, the quality of the camera, the quality of the picture upload is going to affect it, but it's not even close to claret

Interesting. I'm convinced he would have picked him if he had evidence that he was fit. I'm also convinced he'll be back in the next squad. I think he would have been irrespective of being at Chelsea or United, although i do find the joke that he'll now get picked again quite amusing.

4 is purple on my phone... but 2 and 6 I agree with.

So you think Southgate wouldn't have picked him if he'd played the last game for Chelsea?

True, it's just a vision. Not sure I even like it, but giving a feel for what the current full lion looks like facing the way people are used to. The star can stay or go ... I think it's the best lion we've had personally.

That just seems so unlikely. They have a 30k strong waiting list. The stadium capacity increase has zero negative impact to our FFP spending, and long term improves the ability for us to spend more. That said, I suspect some change hold ups are to do with the fact transport improvements look like they wont be happening. And if we were to get Euro 28, then transport improvement costs could come from central government and maybe make them more likely so who knows.

New lion, unleashed Facing the right way. Angled forward so he doesn't look like he's falling backwards trying to swat away the star. Less purple, more claret.