MaVilla

Fareed Zakaria is a journalist!?

ye there was one a few years ago that clearly worked at the club, or at least was linked to it in some way when transfers happened, he called loads of stuff, including when players had medicals, which made me think he was something to do with that (or at least met the players before their medicals). Cant remember the facts, so i could be wrong, but sure i heard a rumour somewhere that Villa set out to hunt for the leak, and he abruptly stopped, not sure if that was because he just went quiet so as to not get caught, got caught and was reprimanded, or got caught and sacked etc etc..... Im 99% sure this person was a genuine ITK tho, but many have tried to claim to be this person with new accounts, but with zero of the credibility or consistency of getting it right, so the original whisper ITK account, clearly isnt operating any more, for whatever reason.

Archer really needs a loan out imo to as high a level as possible, he's way too good for u23s and not quite in a position to reasonably challenge for a first team starting slot, would be bad for him to just sit on the bench for the next 6 months. Would be interested to see how he does in the Champ or League 1 with his recent scoring streak etc.

I would love to know if this was just "to add a third senior keeper", or whether it was actually more "we dont really trust Steer as backup".............maybe its both.

wasnt sure where to put this...but thought it was funny.

gotta say, this is pure gold!

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.