MadridVilla

2 minutes ago, Dave-R said:

I'm sure you lot pretend to know Spanish, I've read around 10 different Translates from around thirty people now, god knows how that has worked out

You called my bluff, it actually reads:

"Emi Buendia injured his abdominal muscles this morning from laughing too hard at all the Arsenal fans on Twitter who can't believe he would choose the mighty Villa over some circus act. It is believed that Jack Grealish has suffered a similar injury, having laughed for 12 hours nonstop at the idea that this clears the way for him to move to Arsenal"

1 hour ago, Dave-R said:

Sorry could I have a translation please?

It will be an Aston Villa of Emis - Aston Villa buy Buendia for £33m. He will be the teammate of Emi Martinez who had a breakout season last year, which earned him an Argentina callup.

10 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

Tory MP to boycott England games in row over taking the knee

'A Conservative MP has vowed to boycott England’s games in the European Championships over players’ decision to take the knee before matches.

Lee Anderson, the MP for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, said that by taking the knee the England team was supporting a “political movement” and risked alienating “traditional supporters”.

“For the first time in my life I will not be watching my beloved England team whilst they are supporting a political movement whose core principles aim to undermine our very way of life,” he said in a Facebook post.

After players were booed for taking the knee before their match against Austria on Wednesday, the England manager, Gareth Southgate, said the team would continue to do so throughout the championship and were “more determined than ever”.

“We are very disappointed that it happened. We’re all trying to move towards equality and support our own teammates because of some of the experiences they’ve been through in their lives, but people decided to boo,” he said.

“We’re totally committed to supporting each other, supporting the team, and we feel more than ever that we are determined to take the knee throughout this tournament.”

Anderson said the FA and England team had made “a big mistake” and “now run the risk of becoming like the Labour party and that is having nothing in common with their traditional supporters”.

“All forms of racism are vile and should be stamped out – but this is not the way,” he added.

[...]

Earlier in the week, Southgate said it was down to a lack of understanding from fans. “I think we have got a situation where some people seem to think it is a political stand that they don’t agree with,” he said. “That’s not the reason the players are doing it. We are supporting each other.”

The Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith, who represents Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire, said Southgate’s comments were “an insult to fans’ intelligence”.

“Fans understand perfectly well – they are just sick and tired of being preached and spoken down to. They are there to watch a football match, not to be lectured on morality,” he said. “Find something we can all support and ditch this ridiculous empty gesture.”'

more at: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jun/06/tory-mp-to-boycott-england-games-in-row-over-taking-the-knee

What an idiot.

Boycotting a football game because it's 'too political', while simultaneously taking a political stance to not watch the game.

Never mind the fact that taking a knee is simply not political in just the same way that wearing a poppy is not seen as a political symbol by many people in the UK. It is widely accepted that a poppy is a peaceful, non-political way of remembering the fallen, and in the same way taking the knee is a peaceful, non-political way to raise awareness of racism and show it is unacceptable.

As it has been discussed a number of times, taking the knee is not an endorsement of the Black Lives Matter political party, the players have stated a number of times why they take the knee which is to make their feelings clear that racism and discrimination is unacceptable, which is very hard to disagree with unless you are racist.

If you disagree that taking the knee is the right way to send an anti-racism message, that's fine but there is no need to boo or boycott a game over it.

If you come from a position of privilege, then equality will feel like you are being oppressed.

3 minutes ago, tomav84 said:

i doubt we'll get a formal announcement until he's back in the country

Villa won’t want it to be announced by Norwich that he’s left, just to leave it a few more days so he can have his photoshoot and interview done. 
 

When the deal is done and the social media team have thought of an imaginative hashtag, it’ll be announced

5 minutes ago, VillaChris said:

Tyc Sports is the sports channel that shows all the Argentina games and regularly interviews their players so I'd say that's a pretty hot source given they'd have someone in the camp talking to the squad.

Looks like we've stepped things up in last few days and he's ready to join.

Also suggests that Arsenal only wanted him as a squad player, but Villa saw him as a star signing - that could be the key reason why he chooses Villa, even if Arsenal have put in a bid.

Like you said it suggests they've got their information from the player's representatives, which would make more sense than English journalists having sources within the Argentina set up.

5 minutes ago, PieFacE said:

 

Dunno who this dude is but he seems to think Arsenal are still well in the race.

Just makes it even better if he signs. If they've made a bid and we still beat them to it, that would send shockwaves around the rest of the league in my opinion. 

It would show what a force we are becoming, bit by bit, making our way towards the upper echelons of football once again

Just now, PieFacE said:

 

 

Hardly an exclusive when it's been reported elsewhere 

Isn't James Nursey known for being a little sensationalist? There's no indication he really knows what's going on, other than just a vague claim that the deal is close, but with enough wiggle room to change the story in the coming days.

(please please please be true)

He would fit the Villa recruitment brief. Young, hardworking, experienced in the PL, with potential to grow his value (provided we buy at the right price). Because he's coming from Burnley and has less than amazing stats, he won't excite the fans, but it could be that one element of his game in particular is why we want him and he would suit our team better. I haven't seen much of him, but I know Burnley fans rate him very highly - they think he will play for England one day.

Buendia would fit the brief as well and I would imagine he is our number 1 target, with McNeil number 2. I don't know this, just speculating based on the fact Buendia has more impressive stats.

After the recent successes in the transfer market I think the recruitment team probably deserve a bit of trust.

There is absolutely no way City would pay £100m for someone with shins made out of papier mache (in my opinion).

Having said that, it would be interesting to see how steadfast Purslow would remain on his 'not for sale' label if a bid of £100m came in. Arguably it is all down to the owners and CEO to stay true to their word. It seems that they share the opinion that selling Jack is akin to giving up on their plans - not only do you lose your best player, but it becomes harder to attract other players to the club, and from a commercial perspective Jack is worth big bucks.

I can't imagine Jack would ever force a deal through, not publicly anyway, because of his love for the club. But there is also no doubt he would love the opportunity to challenge for multiple trophies and play alongside some of the best players in the world, as any footballer would. Villa's aim should be to bring that to him as soon as possible, but we are light years away from competing with City at the moment.

An interesting parallel is with Wes Edens' Bucks team, which has been mentioned before. They managed to tie down their superstar Giannis, one of the best in the league, to a franchise that hasn't won a championship since the 70s. Now they're flying, going deep into the playoffs for the last couple of years and about to make another charge for the title this summer. I really hope that Villa can replicate that strategy with Jack.

Just watched his end of season interview and once again I am very impressed by what he has to say. Having had so many well-spoken but ultimately useless CEOs I assumed Purslow would be just another corporate type, but it is such a pleasure to have someone in charge who truly understands what makes Villa special, and owners who are willing to back him.

I think they have clearly hit on a more sustainable business model by trying to bring through good young players into the first team, obviously there is a long way to go before that will pay dividends, but it does make us fans feel more comfortable that the club is in good hands. 
 

I have been really impressed with Purslow so far and I get the feeling this is a club that has already been on the rise and is going to continue its progress back towards fighting for European places and hopefully some domestic silverware. 
 

1 hour ago, Don_Simon said:

How seriously are people taking this supposed interest from Dortmund or City?

It's paper talk. Some bright journo in Germany has seen a good young English player and decided they should run a story that they're going to Dortmund like Sancho and Bellingham. Then throw in a few extra clubs to make it seem like they're wanted across Europe.

Could also be agents meddling and trying to get Carney in the first team more regularly. If there's rumours he'll be off to start for Dortmund it might force our hand to give him some more game time.

Either way it's a non-story, which is par for the course for a paper like Bild.

With Harry Kane reportedly leaving Spurs, would it be a surprise if they targeted Ollie to replace him?

Personally I think they will target a bigger name with European experience, but I would imagine Watkins will be somewhere down the list. 

If they want to move it to the UK then Villa Park isn't unreasonable. Wembley already has the playoff final on the same day, can't believe they would want to play it at Old Trafford/Emirates/Spurs seeing as it's the rival stadium of the finalists. 

That said it will more than likely still take place as planned in Istanbul, but good that someone at the club is switched on to at least offer it to UEFA.

16 minutes ago, sidcow said:

I dont like this from Purslow

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/football/56812305

Sounds like they are ready to cave in to some symbolic concessions

Could well be the other tournament he is talking about is the Champions League in fairness. But if it refers to the Super League like it appears to, that's a huge concession they would be making.

Something to think about. What happens if a club is voted out of the Super League? It's not inconceivable that a permanent member who consistently underperforms (Spurs/Arsenal) would be removed, and replaced with the next big thing from the domestic game, especially seeing as this is all about money. Or maybe Florentino Perez decides he doesn't want Atletico Madrid in the Super League anymore, as he wants to avoid competition from his local rivals? What happens then?

Presumably they will try to come back to the domestic leagues, but what league do they come back into? They aren't likely to be welcomed back into the top division straight away, if at all. I would argue that no league would welcome them back at all. You could be looking at a situation where if a club is removed from the Super League for whatever reason, the club has nothing to compete for, and simply ceases to exist.

I want them to just go and make a massive failure out of it, leaving the way for the rest of football to actually play competitively. If these clubs want to become football's Harlem Globetrotters then they can go

Related to the penalty am I right in thinking we had a similar one go against us earlier in the season, only for the rules to be changed? And they’ve still given a handball from close range?

Perhaps someone can enlighten me

Very odd memory to have but the same rule was used against Villa against West Ham about 10 years ago, it made no sense to me then and it makes no sense now. Yes the goal was given to the letter of the law, but the law itself doesn’t reflect the fact that Rodri clearly gains an advantage from being in an offside position. So really that rule needs to be looked at because it’s not fit for purpose. 
 

edit: it was 2012 

10 minutes ago, ender4 said:

Any chance of this game also being postponed?

Will depend on the latest round of testing, but almost certainly not. Given they haven't been mixing over the last 10 days even a number of positive tests wouldn't mean the whole squad has to isolate, so the game would go ahead.

'Gloves are off': Steve Bruce lets rip at Newcastle players amid tactics rift

I see Bruce is already at the final stage of his managerial cycle - declaring war on his own players. 

Only a matter of time before he's gone now.