MaVilla

Ye. Of Ings' 110 goals, 64% of them have been in the PL or cups (70/110). Of Watkins 96 goals, 26% of them have been in the PL or cups (26/98).

ye as follows for AFCON: Final - 6th Feb Semi Finals: 2nd Feb. Quarter Finals: 29th & 30th Jan. Round of 16: 24th, 25th, 26th Jan.

if he wants those wages, i would offload him, he's good, but not that good.

yep i also have us only 4 points worse off in like for like fixtures, for 20/21 vs 21/22 (even though we are actually 9 points different at the same game week position - without factoring like for like games). Interesting.

Sanson played well overall versus Manure, its that simple tbh.

Firmino offered to Barca for 16.5m, apparently. (Daily Mail)

If we want to be a club on the rise, players cant allow themselves to be "unsettled" by competition, the hallmark of a top club is literally competition for places, thats not an excuse for poor form, if a player cant handle competition, they pretty much arent capable of playing at a top club (not that we are yet). Blaming Deano & Gerrard for Watkins poor form is just.....strange tbh, not sure even what to say to that, does Watkins bare no responsibility for his performances!?, i agree the managers have a level of control of start position, adherence to tactics etc, but a ball bouncing off a player, or just poor play, is the player...not the manager (in most cases). I also agree that Ings hasnt blown us away either, i think both have a lot of improvements to make if im honest. Ings isnt a luxury player, not sure of the stats right now, but a few games ago Ings' pressing stats were higher than Watkins per 90, all this "Ings is a lazy player" is just absolute nonsense, and anyone who claims it is purposefully lying, or just doesnt watch the actual matches, or doesnt look at the data, Ings works his a** off, and to be fair, so does Watkins. I do think they shouldnt be playing together when everyone is fit, thats for sure, one of them leads the line, the other comes off the bench, competition for places, i dont care which it is, as long as they perform. However, can we stop this habit of just making c*** up please. tyvm. Love you lots. x

any news on how his is? He looked in a lot of pain tbf.

its an interesting one, because i have no doubt that he could have chosen from a number of clubs, many probably a "higher profile" than us, Gerrard obviously persuaded him, so if he does well here and feels the love, i think we might have a decent chance to sign him if we wanted, compared to what i would normally think for this type of loan/transfer. who knows though.

so basically, you are saying he is nothing like Targett???

i am fairly sure Birmingham does not look like that!

the transfer links seem to have gone a little quiet, any genuine ones out there?

i think its laughably brilliant, that we managed to snatch one of Evertons best players, after he fell out with their manager, who then got sacked 3 days later.......amazing stuff! We dropped lucky with this piece of business.

i dont want Phillips tbh, would prefer someone else.

i bet newcastle fans will be wanting Rafa now!

not sure of the validity of the links to Wataru Endo, however signing a Japanese player would be huge for our growth, its well recognised that purchasing a good and highly regarded player in Japan can make the transfer fee back and more in merchandising etc, as well as grow the fan base via the player. Maybe we should look at players like Kamada, Endo, Kubo etc, and see if we can pull one of them off, even if its for the wider squad depth.

tbf tho, its not purely about "size", you can have a wet lettuce 6ft 4 dude, and a complete animal of a player who is 5ft 10in. Keane was an animal, Kante is really good, but Veira was also really good etc etc etc. We just need a DM who is capable on the ball (preferably good), who is also an animal and aggressive, now.....preferably height is an advantage, but its not the be all and end all, but it does help in other areas of the game.

to be fair, that japanese player Arsenal signed has done really well.

Seeing the upgrade digne clearly is at left back, also shows the deficiencies we have at RB to a lesser degree. Cash needs to be careful!

someone really needs to do an "all Buendia's touches vs Manure".......i think it would be a right highlight reel. @Villa_Vids

i dont dislike Watkins, he's a decent striker, he has a lot of positives to his game. However, i dont think he suits Gerrards system, I dont think Watkins has the vision or technical ability to play close link up play with players like Coutinho and Buendia, its possible Watkins is just having a run of bad form, but i dunno, i watch him this season and he just has bricks for feet, he doesnt see good passes, he's selfish and loses the ball a lot, he just isnt technically very good in my opinion. the "he feels threatened by Ings" thing doesnt wash with me, if you are a player at the top level who cant handle competition, then thats on you, and isnt an excuse, now im not saying this is or isnt the proposed case for his poor form, im just saying if what some people say in relation to this is true, then it shines a not very good light on his mentality within an improving club......but ye....im not saying this is the case, as tbh none of us know one way or the other, so i wont say this is or isnt the reason the his poor play/form. In a nutshell, i just dont think he's good enough for the direction we want to go.

such a pity that they will likely get rid of Rafa just before we play them. derp.

ye 100% i agree he wasnt performing at his current levels when he first joined, but that isnt the same as "omg this guy is c***", "omg we bought a dud who cant kick a ball" etc etc. My point was more people were questioning his ability, which for me wasnt ever in question, anyone who had seen the best of Buendia pre Villa, would know he has talent. Granted its taken time for him to settle, get fit and get up to speed etc, and apply that talent here, but it didnt change the fact that, that talent was always there, was my point. A bit like us signing Coutinho, he may not have shown his talent recently due to "circumstances", but you cant deny he has talent.

Buendia is a complete baller, all those people questioning his ability need to have a head wobble, clearly a baller. What i love about him is he is absolute quality on the ball, some of the passes he tries are sublime, but also he works his a** off tracking back and hustling, what a player. Buneida should be one of the first names on the team sheet, and with Coutinho, as a pair they are going to cause some teams nightmares.