OxfordVillan

As things stand Nyland would be my 1st choice. Heaton & Steer both out with injury/fitness, Reina frankly an accident waiting to happen.

I’m not going to advance a preferred starting 11 as there are too many variables as things currently stand. What I will say is that the break in play came at a good time for us, and should perhaps help us more than other clubs. IF play starts up to finish this season then we have players in McGinniesta & Drinkwater who were/would have been off the pace in March, but they will now be much closer to the levels of match fitness as everyone else. Grealish also has had the time to refresh and shake off the mini slumber that I think he’d gone into. The cup final loss will be well out of the system. I personally would be quite confident of winning the points required to finish 14th or 15th if football starts up again.

Can ppl not employ any semblance of balance? I appreciate we all have an opinion, and opinion is all this is. But for me Trezeguet has been neither shit or good enough! He’s shown brief moments of quality, and a good number of moments of being very ordinary. It’s the 1st season for an £8m overseas signing. A difficult season in a struggling new Premier League team. Unless an offer comes in that Villa can’t refuse (perhaps £10-12m) then maybe we should give the guy a chance to find another level in a 2nd season?

The evidence is the sums of money the owners have put in. Not to mention the statements/interviews they have given. It mightn’t have worked out as well as hoped thus far, but have you forgotten the summer spend that the owners sanctioned? Or the groundwork being put in place around Villa Park? Nearly everything these owners have done has pointed at ambition, the only negative thus far was the January transfer window, and we can look to FFP for the likely restraint at that point.

I think some ppl here are getting too hung up on the word, “integrity”. How you define integrity is almost certainly different to how those at the head of the Premier League do, and to where it applies! Assume the worst and work back from there. You’ll be less disappointed when the final result rolls in!

Unfortunately @nick76 most of the evidence around us is pointing to some sort of finish to the season, whether games are played or not. My belief is that if enough clubs vote to block the restart then we’ll end up with positions being awarded as it stands now. I’m certain now that positions will be awarded for the 2019/20 season no matter if games are resumed or not. The wagons are beginning to circle.

It’s beginning to look like the only thing that will stop the Premier League restarting is government intervention, enough clubs voting against, or players refusing to play. In the space of a day or two we’ve gone from a story of no relegations, to talk this morning that there has to be relegations. For the integrity of the game, obviously. FWIW I’d agree that without relegation there is no integrity to the competition if it restarts, I never thought that kite would fly. We’re getting closer to the dirty, nitty gritty politics that will decide the outcome. And FWIW I think enough Premier League clubs would vote to throw a few Premier League clubs overboard and out of the league to save their “integrity”. It feels to me, now, that the Premier League will award placings whether football starts again or not, It doesn’t now feel like there is going to be a voiding of the season. I’m now, unfortunately, believing that Villa’s sole chance to remain a Premier League club is by playing the remaining games BCD at neutral venues and winning enough points to stay in the league. Grossly unfair and makes the task even harder than it would have been. But my belief is that if clubs vote to block a restart at this coming Fridays meeting, then the next step will be to hold a vote on awarding positions as they stand, and I feel fairly confident in saying that I think there’d be enough clubs voting for that for it to carry. There will undoubtedly be clubs talking to each other, and there will be back stabbings galore in the coming days as “understandings” between clubs are broken left, right, and centre. Things are close to getting ugly. Really ugly.

Exactly this. What about promotions into the Premier League? If they start up playing again and offer no promotion into the Premier League, will there not be a legal case to answer?

There absolutely should be a momentum gathering amongst the players to stand against a resumption of playing, they’re human beings, not machines that can be put forward as cannon fodder to achieve the Generals ambitions. I think I’m still, just about, of the opinion that most of the noise coming from the Premier League is just that, noise. Noise & words designed to display that, legally and ethically, they tried everything possible to fulfill their contractual obligations, that no loopholes have been sought. I simply cannot see any but a handful of clubs agreeing to the whole St Georges Park fiasco, or any other idea of playing behind closed doors during the summer break and transfer window. The season either gets finished as it started (with games played in front of home and away crowds), or it gets stopped and reset. I couldn’t care less if someone decides to award Liverpool the title or not, but if they do then I would imagine they would then legally be forced to nominate promotions and relegations. Which would then bring further legal proceedings from many clubs. The cleanest way out of all of this is to void the season if it cannot be completed, and so no title for Liverscum. Never mind, next season will be their season!

Some of the things you say are so outrageously wide of the mark that I have to assume that you’re simply looking to get a reaction, a bit like I’m doing now! Vlaar & Clark “much better”.......seriously?! Had you have said Vlaar & Clark were better, that might have been debatable. Sure, Mings has dropped form since his England cap, but he earned that cap for very good reason. For me Mings is a good example of a leader, not exemplary as a player, but a very decent player and leader. I think you’ve conveniently forgotten the rickets that Vlaar & Clark both dropped during their time at the club.

I can’t imagine a single club, with something to play for, would be willing to play vital games at a neutral venue behind closed doors. Why would a club throw away that advantage? I simply don’t see agreement coming from the likes of Villa, Norwich, Bournemouth, West Ham, Brighton, Watford etc. I guess we’ll see at the vote next week, but anyone signing up to this is putting their neck in a noose. And I don’t believe ppl/businesses tend to do that. And still they bang on about “integrity” in their statements. It’s a sick joke.

I heard a French football reporter on TalkSport yesterday, and it’s in the French football rules that if this type of thing occurs then you award places as the table stands when football ceased playing. I think I’m right in saying that isn’t the case as we currently stand in this country, and so I don’t think we should get too carried away thinking that’ll set a precedent for us to be relegated. It’s also worth noting that the only clubs to have played a game less in Ligue 1 are PSG & Strasbourg, and neither of those teams winning a game in hand would alter the current league table significantly at all. Very, very different to the situation in English football. There is much more finance at stake in the English game.

Might be worth remembering that the Premier League and the EFL are two separate sporting bodies. Different outcomes could be put in place. I’d quite happily award the scummy bin dipping 5lag5 the title as they’ve all but won it, and would win it. But relegation cannot happen from the Premier League because, if the league cannot continue, it is too close between too many teams. In the space of 4 games it’s viable that Everton, in 12th, could end up sitting in the bottom 3. Villa could, in the space of 4 games, sit above Newcastle. The Championship probably shouldn’t award anything to anyone as nothing is clear cut, nobody has a lead big enough at the top that you could say with any certainty is unassailable. Very different to the top of the Premier League. I’d leave the problem of awarding European places to Uefa, it’s their competition and their problem. They’ve been quite useless during this pandemic.

Out of interest, how highly have you rated Wilder throughout his career? And how do you rate the signings Wilder made for this season, how have those signings fared?

If the season cannot complete, then I honestly don’t see any Premier League club being relegated. The legal ramifications would just be too time consuming, not to mention costly. I could, however, see two clubs being awarded promotion from the championship by the EFL if agreement can be made with the Premier League. I still believe the simplest legal route is to void the season completely and start the 2020/21 season as we started the 2019/20 season.

100% agree. Nyland should not have been dropped after coming in and doing well. Reina has dropped clangers that ppl would have slaughtered Nyland for making.

Rush goalkeeper

Have to say that I do care about getting relegated, but that I also agree with everything else you say. My problem would be starting up the league again now behind closed doors, no fans. It’s not a level playing field and if we were relegated under those circumstances I will be bitter for quite some time, the utter unfairness of it. Football should not seek to complete the 2019/20 season until fans are allowed into the games, as per the 28 ties already played to date. If that proves impossible without impacting on any potential 2020/21 season then the choice has to be made between which season to shelve, the current season or next. No club should sign up to cramming in games, potentially getting relegated, no gate receipts, very small summer transfer window, no adjustments on FFP. If they do get underway again, as they are currently talking of, then there has to be some very special compensation scheme in place for any clubs being relegated from the Premier League. FWIW, I still can’t help thinking that most of this talk about starting again is just propaganda designed to make it look like everything possible is being done to complete the season, when the reality is that it can’t. “Everything has been done legally”........blah blah blah.

Way too late for April fools day? Dyche? Not a chance. Let me think how the Sean Dyche style of football fits in with the identity that our hierarchy has put in place. It doesn’t. Not even close. That aside, it’s worth remembering that Dyche got relegated in his 1st Premier League season, Burnley stuck with him and they’ve been relatively comfortable in the Premier League ever since, due in part to the experience gained. I’d much prefer we keep Dean Smith and let him learn from the season so far, an experienced Dean Smith is way more preferable than Sean Dyche. Had the headline have been something along the lines of, “Villa eyeing up Bielsa or Nuno”, then I might have sat up and taken notice.

It wouldn’t surprise me at all if the Premier League tried throwing the bottom 3 overboard in the name of “integrity”. Honestly ppl, don’t rule anything out. If there’s a vote tomorrow on finishing the league as it stands then there’s more votes in that than there would be against.

I think we need to be realistic about the cost of players, in the current market. It’s all opinion, of course, but players that we might consider good enough to take Villa to touching distance of the top 8 regulars would be costing £40-50m. With wages that would mirror the purchase cost. Remember that players such as Bellingham are being talked about in the £30m bracket. I don’t see us paying the big transfer fees and the big wages just yet, I think it’s one or the other for a couple of Premier League seasons to build solidity. If there’s a really good player available on a free then go for it with the wage.

Agreed. The price tags being placed on players who’ve had a few decent months in the championship is now making signings from the championship prohibitive, high risk. I’ve liked the look of Benrahma at Brentford, but not so much at £30m. The only player I’ve seen in the championship (and play against a Premier League team and look good) that I’d spend £30m on is Kalvin Phillips at Leeds.

Jota not good enough. Wesley, Nakamba, & Engels have shown glimpses of their ability and deserve a 2nd season. Samatta also looked decent, Targett has shown enough. Trezeguet & Guilbert very much borderline for me. I thought ElGhazi would be better than he has shown thus far. Konsa also should have a better 2nd season as he gains experience. We need better wide front men, and I’d like to see us find a young Pepe Reina type at GK, think we need an alert young GK with good, quick distribution. If we’re a Premier League club next season and have a £140m budget again then we should look to sign 2 or 3 very decent players.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52375947 Yes, Newcastle’s future does indeed look idyllic.

FWIW, if the season is to be completed then I think we’d need 7weeks to do it. Every club should have 2 weeks of training, followed by games every Saturday and Wednesday, perhaps culminating with a final super Sunday. The clubs with a game in hand would start a few days earlier and play the “game in hand” on the Wednesday before everyone else starts on the 1st Saturday back. If the timeframe available is any less than 7wks then the clubs should refuse. Any condensing of time to finish the season will invariably favour the bigger, stronger squad clubs.