OxfordVillan

The GK position is now a position we have stabilised for the next few years, injuries permitting. We now have a very good No.1, and two very able back up GKs (if a little injury prone). Martinez should prove to be a top signing.

Last night’s game simply showed us what we really already know, which is that Hause is ideally a 3rd or 4th choice CB in the Premier League. We know his distribution is too below par for him to improve to the level the team aspires to. He is part of our squad, though, and has served us well. It could well be that squad is improving quickly and that by next summer he may have been left too far behind, and might need to move on to play football. And that’s no bad thing for the football club, it’s a natural progression that needs to happen. No need to hate players that can’t reach the new levels that the club is aspiring to.

Winning football is the answer. A midfield trio of Grealish, McGinn, and Luiz isn’t physical or fast enough against the better teams......that’s if we’re to play 4-3-3. It could be that we go 3-5-1-1 in some games, or 4-2-3-1. Or any other formation. We could use a better quality depth in CM, more athletic and powerful

Encouraging to see the signings made thus far and the potential signings to come. However........I’m still waiting for that big, powerful CM?! That would be the icing on the cake for me if we land Traore and Rashica. We need a player like Everton now have in Doucoure.

Very happy we’ve got Martinez in. We are markedly improved with Martinez, Heaton, and Steer as our goalkeeping options. We just need find new clubs for Nyland and Kalinic now. UTV

Admittedly I only watched two full games with Benrahma, the playoff semi-final and the final. After watching those games I was left thinking that he was neither fast enough or powerful enough for the Premier League, certainly not playing as one of the wider players in a front three. The fullbacks in the Premier League are a whole lot better than in the championship. At 25yrs old, I think Benrahma would find the premier league a bit of a struggle.

Couldn’t agree more. If our spend moves towards the £150-160m mark, then that for me would be a flag that a move for Grealish is probably on the cards. That said, I also wouldn’t be surprised if these owners of ours spent another £140m this window and retained Grealish. I still maintain that Grealish’s peak value will be post European Championship 2021. I expect his performances to have forced England/Southgates hand to select him for the tournament, and for Grealish to come back from that tournament as more of a world star. He’ll be 26yrs old and at absolute peak value. As it happens, COVID has probably helped us as a club, and Grealish. It seems Southgate wouldn’t have taken Grealish to Euro 2020 had it have taken place, so the delay has almost certainly helped.

It could be that there’s an agreement in place whereby Villa do all their buying first, and that when that’s complete the sale of Grealish goes through. That would help to stop us getting royally fleeced by clubs who knew we had a huge chunk of money and desperately needed to replace our talisman, we’d be over a barrel. It would be sensible and good business to go about any potential sale in that manner. I’m not saying I think this is the case, merely that it’s a possibility and would be sensible. I think our owners are the type of successful, sensible businessmen that would maximise the situation.

What was the tweet?

What about the stripes on the pitch, are they ok or should they be circular?!

Last season was one poorer season in the last four or five that were much better. Like other Bournemouth players and manager, he probably stayed a season too long, they were stagnant and needed freshening up. I think whoever gets Josh King will be getting a very capable Premier League performer, certainly not just a squad player.

I think, rightly, we are targeting a stronger and more physical front 3. Watkins is a good start, something like a Josh King on the left of a front 3 would be a good 2nd step. More pace, more goal threat, more defensive prowess from the front, higher up the pitch. That’s vital in the modern game. We lacked physicality once Wesley was out injured. ElGhazi and Trezeguet* just didn’t bring the required levels of physicality as the wider players in a front 3, they couldn’t press aggressively enough to slow the opposition down. If we get King we just need the right hand side sorted, and we’ll see a big improvement. *much improved in the final 4 or 5 games

Heaton is a really good shot stopper, but I did have reservations with his athleticism and distribution, I think Martinez will improve us in that respect. Bottom line is that if we get Martinez in there is no major panic to rush Heatons recovery, and when he is back 100% fit we’ll have two GKs we know we can rely on. No doubt to me though that Martinez will be No.1 when fit. We’re in a much better place if we sign Martinez.

You must be crazy letting Nyland anywhere near hot drinks, he’ll drop them!

I’d settle for this against Sheffield Utd

In breaking news it’s being reported that Josh King has been found diddling kiwivillans wife!

If it was possible I’d try to get Davis to sign a new 2yr deal this summer with a view to loaning him out to the best possible club for this coming season. The lad has good attributes, he just needs to find the back of the net a few times to raise his confidence. A Keinan Davis with a few goals to his name would be worth a decent amount of £s in the current market.

Yes, persuading these players to move on is equally as important, we need to shed some fat and be as lean as possible moving forward. Fair play to Hogan if he moves as that would mean a significant pay cut. I think we’re almost certainly stuck with Lansbury for the final year of his deal, even loaning him out and still paying 50-75% of his wages would be better than the current situation.

Purslows comments regarding not being able to compete with salaries is slightly misleading. There is no cap/ffp on salaries, it’s the entire income/expenditure of the club over any 3yr period. So if you set player budgets at a total (wages + transfer fee) of £30m per player, then you could sign a player for £25m and pay him £5m over 3yrs. Or you could pay £20m for a player pay him £10m over 3yrs. Or you could get a free transfer and pay him £30m over 3yrs. So we’re not being restricted in salaries, we’re restricted overall. As much as I’d love to say b0ll0x to FFP, I can’t rid myself of the nagging doubt that the Premier League would love any opportunity to come down on Villa like a tonne of bricks. So I don’t think we can give them the even the slightest opportunity to do so.

Whilst Haller has a decent record, joelinton has a 1 in 4 scoring record pretty much throughout his career thus far.

That’s up to Villa and how much they rate him and want him.

Isn’t Wilson a Coventry boy? If that’s correct then it’d be almost any other club before Villa.

If we really want Edouard then just go and put £40m on the table. No add ons, no future percentage of sell on. We’ve seen clubs spend £40m-+ on players like Joelinton and Haller. That’s the market.

Which part of Taylor/Lansbury do you think would be tempting to anyone? If anything that drags your £25m down to about £20m.