VillaFaninLondon

Really liked Pulisic when I saw him in a CL game a couple of seasons back against Spurs. Very direct and his dribbling was exceptional. Not sure he’s anywhere as good as Hazard right now but in a few years he could well be. Seemed to have lost his way last season at Dortmund though. Will be interesting to see how he gets on at Chelsea.

Absolutely spot on.

Very pleased with the Benrahma bid. He is someone from the Championship I really do rate and him and El Ghazi on either wing (once El Ghazi deal becomes permanent) would be very exciting I think. Maupay scored lots of goals for Brentford but I think Benrahma was their best player and it was his first season in England.

Wolves did sign Ruben Neves in the Championship though. In the summer after they finished 15th in the 2nd tier they signed one of the biggest talents in Europe ffs. Yes, they had Mendes assisting, but Mendes is also working with us as far as I’m aware (helped us get El Ghazi). Maxi Gomes is an interesting one and if he adapts could be a huge signing. Would cost a lot but goals keep you up and if he clicks with the team he will score. A risk but then so would signing Maupay who is only proven in Championship.

Jota won’t be first choice I don’t think. First eleven: Steer/Kalinic/? Guilbert ? Mings ? McGinn ? Grealish ? El Ghazi Tammy/? A few things I’m unsure about. Is Guilbert good enough for RB position? Are the goalkeepers good enough or is it worth going for another (Butland)? Is Tammy worth £25m and will Chelsea sell? Who do we get for the other positions? We’ve been linked to players like Lolley, Maupay, Phillips, good Championship players but are they good enough for Prem? Lolley couldn’t get in Huddersfield’s team which is concerning, but did very well for Forest last season. Is is it worth looking at players at big clubs like Spurs like Wanyama, Dier, Lamela and aiming a bit higher or will these players be mercenaries/not interested? It’s a big, big summer, first and foremost I would get the loan players tied down from last season who helped us get where we are and try to sign players who can take us to that next level. If we are to compete in the PL we need to be upgrading the players we go for, and that will require very intelligent scouting, hard work, time, money and experience. We’ve got lots of work to do just to stay up, but we probably have the finances and management team to be midtable minimum. Let’s hope they can pull some amazing transfers out the bag.

People getting sily here, clearly Nuno is a great manager. Taken Wolves from 15th to 1st in his first season in the Championship and 7th in his first season in the Prem. Yes he's had access to a lot of quality players through Jorge Mendes, but it's still an amazing achievement. I rate Dean highly but he's not achieved with us what Nuno has with Wolves yet. I've thought about this Jota deal and actually think it could be ok. He's their 2nd best player after Che Adams and got 10 assists last season so clearly has some creative spark. I definitely don't think he should start, but as our 2nd option at right wing he could be decent. Will have to wait and see, but we'll of course sign bigger names as the summer goes on. Benrahma from Brentford should be on our list of other right wingers, as others have said - top assister in the Championship last season and easily capable of playing PL football.

Just seen this and not really impressed at all. Even if it annoys the scum, I thought we'd be showing a lot more ambition to be honest. I wasn't even 100% convinced by the Lolley rumours, but I could understand the rationale given his excellent season for Forest last season and his Villa connections. I just don't see the rationale of the Jota deal at all, unless it was Diogo Jota who plays for Wolves. Personally I hope the deal doesn't go through and it's just paper talk.

A player I would absolutely love is Steven Bergwijn from PSV as well. Huge talent and him and El Ghazi on either flank would be frightening, even in the PL. That would be a statement signing for sure. I honestly don't know how much pulling power we've got, but I know we have ambitious and wealthy owners, a big following, a very strong management and coaching team, and a few very decent players. I wouldn't be opposed to signing a couple of Championship players who could potentially step up, but I do feel a couple of statement signings (provided they had the right character and were prepared to work hard) would really push us on. Quality in the PL is essential and if you are lacking it you can quickly find yourselves struggling near the bottom. I'm sure with the right contacts and scouting in place we can quickly find the next Jota and Neves who would be prepared to come and play at this club in front of crowds of 40,000+.

Amavi, Veretout and Gueye would be for under £25m would be nice wouldn't it. Who's Paddy Reilly got his eye on? Hard to believe those players were part of that awful 2015/16 squad. Would be star players in our team now. Shows we did actually make quality signings that summer, just couldn't mould them into a team and get them to gel.

Rather have Delph back than Benteke tbh. Don't rate Benteke at all any more and he is that typical powerful striker that causes teams to lump the ball rather than play out. Delph on the other hand would form a formidable midfield trio with McGinn and Grealish and all of them can play football. Just whether Delph can stay fit and age isn't on his side either. The way he left for City might still rile a lot of fans too.

Agree on Sessegnon, only 19 and Smith could really bring him on. Would have to move El Ghazi to the right I would imagine. Was on Spurs radar last summer but I think he's moved down on their list, def one we should be keeping an eye on.

I wouldn’t say Wolves are established, it’s only been one season! This is true - but I wouldn't bet against them being in the top half for years to come. Most likely team to break the top six imo if they continue to invest.

Next season will be interesting for sure. Four of the last five playoff winners have gone straight back down which isn't a good omen, but we have strong finances and good football men in charge, plus it's fair to say we're a bigger club than the likes of Fulham, Norwich, QPR, Hull and Huddersfield. In Huddersfield case, it was their first ever season of PL football if I'm not mistaken. We went down because we were run extremely badly and Lerner's sole aim was to survive the last five seasons he was there. Our new owners will have bolder ambitions as they have said so themselves. Recruitment will be key - we shouldn't fritter away lots of money like Fulham did, but at the same time we do need to spend and improve our team, that much is clear. And good players cost money. We may well need to spend £30mil minimum on a couple of players, but at the same time bargains like McGinn are around. Sides like Leicester and Wolves who went up recently are now established top half teams, we need to be aiming to get to their level at the minimum. I think that the top 6 teams plus Everton, Wolves, West Ham and Leicester are all gonna be tough to beat next season, but the bottom half teams are all pretty average. Bournemouth can be good but can also be awful, esp defensively. Sides like Southampton, Burnley and Brighton aren't great, Newcastle have off the field problems (new investment will help), and Watford can be got at. The two promoted sides, Norwich and Sheff Utd, don't scare me either. Palace are unpredictable and have some good players but have also lost to some really poor teams this season. All in all, if we invest well, we can compete against those teams in my opinion. Our aim should be to finish 11th or 12th but of course getting to 40 points is the priority.

£5mil for this guy would be a steal, reckon he'll flourish in the PL and get back the Netherlands team. If that's what his price is to sign permanently we should pay it all day long.

If we keep the loan player we still need: For me we need a new LB, Taylor has been good since March but we need cover. We need defensive MF to break up play, can we find another Gueye? I think we need a top class winger and this is where I would spend most. Then if we keep Tammy happy days, but if not the only way you stay in the Prem is goals. So a striker is essential. Busy summer ahead for DS. And a lot of money will need to be spent.  Don't think Taylor is first choice Prem standard, again decent backup option though. Both our full backs are getting on as well, would like to see young ones coming in that are 21/22. That's why Tierney makes a lot of sense and Guilbert is only 24. We def need a Gueye/Kante type player to break up play. Both of those players came from France, maybe we can find another gem there. Shame we signed Gueye when we still had Lerner in charge, think he'd do really well in our current team. Not sure on bringing Milner back, he's getting on a bit and his wages would be high too. Still a good player though. A top class right winger I think is achievable, we got El Ghazi as a Championship club and he was one of the most promising wingers in the world a few years back. But I actually like the look of Wilson and reckon he can become an absolute superstar so would go for him and match the £25mil Liverpool are asking for him.

Tierney is an excellent left back for sure, would be a great signing. Can see him slotting straight into the team too. Mitrovic is a good shout, though would prefer Tammy. Also Mooy from Huddersfield could be decent and Sessegnon from Fulham but reckon he'll go to a top six club most likely. Don't think I'd take anyone from Cardiff. There's a few decent players in the Championship that could step up to the Prem potentially - Maupay, Bowen, Janssen (Leeds CB), Mount and Wilson on loan at Derby (technically not theirs though). I'd also like us to use our scouting system in places like France, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal etc and try to find the next Eriksen or Ronaldo. Wolves picked up Jota and Neves from Portugal, wonder if we can find similar players there. Hopefully Guilbert coming at RB will be good, would like to see Elmo staying on as a backup option though (if he's happy with that role).

Be interesting to see our targets now we've gone up. Justin and Aribo are bright prospects, not sure if they're ready for PL yet though. For me personally, I'd look at Tierney for left back, Tielemans for holding midfield, and maybe Harry Wilson for right wing. All young players as well. Ambitious targets yes, but we do have owners with money and ambition and these players would improve us significantly. Tying up Mings, Tuanzebe, Tammy and El Ghazi on permanent deals should be the first priority though.

Back where we belong in the PL! Sign up Mings, El Ghazi, Tammy and Tuanzebe. Then we need to spend wisely and astutely - a left back, defensive midfielder and right winger should be priorities. Mount and Wilson should posiblly be on the radar but both were pretty poor today. Still cannot quote believe we've done it. UTFV!!!

Following on from a post I read earlier about average ages of the teams - the team that started at Leeds recently has an average age of 24.5 yrs old but at Wembley we will use Ashley Cole who is 38 so that would change to 25.4 years old Roos 26 bogle 18 Keogh 32 Tomori 21 Cole 38 Johnson 32 Wilson 22 Mount 20 Holmes 24 Bennett 22 Lawrence 25 thats based on the formation we used at Leeds by the way for information purposes  ................................................................................................................................................................................ Age of our team that started against West Brom away: Steer (26) Elmo (31), Tuanzebe (21), Mings (26), Taylor (30) McGinn (24), Grealish (23), Hourihane (28) Green (20), Abraham (21), El Ghazi (24) Average age: 24.9 I’d expect the same team against you except maybe Adomah or Kodjia in for Green, which would mean our average age would go up to around 25.9 at most. So both teams are youngish. I don’t expect Whelan to come in for Hourihane but may be wrong. It's actually our full backs that are the only players in their 30s in the team that started at West Brom - probably where you're most likely to get at us as well.

what's worrying me is that Derby were fantastic at Leeds and we weren't against West Brom, in either of the two matches. Derby were very poor in the home, didn't even have a shot at goal. And I think at Elland Road Leeds were a shambles. Taking nothing away from Derby though, they went for it and got their rewards in the away game and fair play to them, but I think they're being somewhat overhyped and we're being played down. From what I've read, a lot of pundits are backing Derby to beat us. If that isn't motivation for our lads I don't know what is. Yes, Derby are dangerous but we have a more experienced manager and I would say have more threats in the team - there's probably seven or eight players who you wouldn't bet against scoring for us. We weren't great against West Brom but still absolutely dominated both games. We're favourites from this game and the lads need to show why - if they turn up, they should win, we are a very good side when we're on form that's for sure. Scoring the first goal might be key as this bunch of lads are resilient and I don't think they'd implode like Leeds did. That's why turning up from the first minute is hugely important. Our recent record at Wembley is bad but you would think it might finally click this year and we get some luck there - the big pitch suits a younger team and we're much younger and full of energy when compared to last season's ageing team. I think our average age is 24 or 25.

Agree with Snodgrass, not sure about Terry. He was great for us, but I actually think Chester outperformed him last season and he's now lost his place (injuries to blame I guess), plus Axel is much better than Terry on the ball and quicker. I like both Ax and Mings as our central duo, they work well together. From last season's team, I'd probably take Snodgrass over Adomah and Johnstone over Steer, but that's it. Last season's team was experienced but too old, Fulham had a younger and more dynamic team and were more attacking. This year's Villa team is younger, attacking and in excellent end-of-season form - that's why I'm more confident this season than I was last season, but we still have to turn up and play at our best if we want to beat Derby. That's where Smith will earn his money in preparing them for such a big occasion.

I'm a big fan of Conor's so would prefer him over Whelan, but I think Whelan might do a better job of shackling Mount. Hourihane offers much more of a threat going forward though and that could be the difference if we play on the front foot. So I'd like to see Hourihane, McGinn, Grealish in the middle. Same back four I'd imagine and El Ghazi and Abraham. Big question mark on the right for me - neither Green or Adomah have looked great when they've started. Would be tempted to start Kodj and move El Ghazi to the right, but Kodj's lack of defensive effort is a concern. Wilson up against Taylor is worrying so whoever plays on the left needs to track back. I'm confident Dean will get it right on the day either way.

We've beaten them twice convincingly this season, but it's a one-off game where anything can happen. They have some really decent players - the two loanees, Mount and Wilson, will need to be watched very carefully. But at the same time, I said all along I'd rather them than Leeds. Leeds are dirty, their fans are loutish, and we haven't managed to beat them this season. They'd have targeted Jack from the start and put us off our game and quite possibly a brawl could have started. Against Derby it will be two attacking teams going for it with respect for each other. Those wins against Derby won't mean anything if we lose the final, but if we turn up and everyone gives 100% we have proven what a good side we are. We need to perform much, much better than last night that's for sure - and both Jack and John need to be at their creative best as they were against Derby in the league matches.

I've got to four home games this season but not a ST holder, hopefully I get two tickets. If not and someone manages to get a spare, I'd love to go so please let me know.

Thank god we beat those dirty Baggie scumbags. We were woeful though and need to be much better at Wembley. Steer man of the match by far with two massive penalty saves. McGinn, Grealish, Tammy all played within themselves and seemed to let the occasion get to them. We've got one more game that we absolutely must win so hopefully our key players play out of their skin for the final and give it one more push to get us to the promised land. I genuinely feel if everyone in the team plays to their maximum we can do it, but we have to be much better than tonight.