Greenfly

1 hour ago, Jono62 said:

Just watched the brief highlights and he takes his goal incredibly well, something we have lacked. Compare to El Ghazi and his snatched shot, it was chalk and cheese.

He made a great run where Watkins should have played him in, however I can understand why Watkins did take the shot.

I'm excited to see how many goals he will score. I'm predicting 22.

I imagine in a competitive match he would've made the pass. I've seen him enough to believe he wouldn't be selfish in that situation. I absolutely don't blame him for having a go in a friendly though.

I've wanted Ings at Villa for ages. I'm so thrilled we managed to get him.

4 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

I wonder what kind of knock it would be which means you can train but aren't included in any of the friendlies or contact training games??

It seems like he's not that bad, but they didn't want to risk him in a friendly.

I would understand if that's the case, but it's not ideal that we'll be starting the season proper with two of our potentially most important players nowhere near ready.

22 minutes ago, hippo said:

It's sort of football evolution though. If a player becomes very good at a certain thing you will rely on him doing it.

 

But hopefully not solely.

3 minutes ago, hippo said:

If we could sign a player to do what Jack did we would. We wouldn't not sign him because we might become to reliant on him !

Football is a simple game.

Of course we would and I'd be more than happy if we did. I'd just like us to have other options, which seems to be the case with the signings we've made.

2 minutes ago, hippo said:

If a player does good stuff - it's only natural you want him to do more of that good stuff.

Peter Withe was good at header - we puts loads of crosses in for him.

Tony Morley was good out wide - we shovelled it out wide as quick as we could.

The players you have available dictate how you play. If Chuck becomes a master of going past people and killer passes - we will rely on that.

There will always be some players your more reliant on than others. Those players become heroes.  

Not quite sure why you would want to pursue a different path. If a player is kickin ass - let him 

 

I agree with you mostly, except the bold bit. This was the problem I was referring to. I don't want us relying on any single player because it limits us, makes us easier to work out and hamstrings us when they're injured. I get that we should utilise their strengths, but we should absolutely not rely on them.

4 minutes ago, WooJung said:

It's been one of those cameos where virtually everything he did was the wrong thing to do. He's had and he will have games like this.

Still like him a lot regardless

Still did a fair few fun things, like the pass to El Ghazi before his cross that nearly led to a Hourihane goal. He's an entertainer, and I'll always respect that.

3 hours ago, bannedfromHandV said:

What does that even mean?

 

It's a crude way of saying only teams that have no realistic chance of reaching consistent high level football rely so much on one single player. There's really only Messi at Barca in the last couple of years that has been the exception imo.

2 hours ago, HalfTimePost said:

Messi, Ronaldo, Gerrard (Suarez, Torres), Lampard (Drogba, Hazard). Henry (and every other hero Arsenal have had and lost)

Just because it hurts to lose them doesn't.mean we shouldn't want heroes. We just shouldn't be reliant on them difference is we only had Jack. Those others had more around them but still very much the heroes of their respective teams and squads. 

We should be targetting more great players but nothing wrong with wanting a new hero.

Unless Louie Barry becomes world class tough I'll never feel the way about any of our academy kids as I did about Jack

That is a small list of truly elite players though, which have proven to be the exception to the rule. Even then, in most cases they were hardly talismanic; for the most part, they had other high level, exceptional talents around them at one point or another.

For me the problem isn't an emotional one - losing Jack hit different for sure, but what I was getting at was that if we really want to break into the top six consistently we cannot be relying so heavily on a single player. Our gameplan revolved entirely around him and it was clear. I'm all for heroes and that, but I hope that situation never arises again.

Maybe I said it crudely, but that's the point I was trying to make.

I'm seeing lots of people on social media saying they hope he (or Barry) becomes our next hero.

I hope he comes good and does well for us, but I don't want him to become our next talisman or anything. No club competing at the very top of football has a talisman (with the exception of Barca until now, but Messi is a whole different level of player so it's bound to happen). Talismans are for wannabes.

2 hours ago, macandally said:

Didn’t do the open session today, got a knock?

Didn't he? There's pictures of him there though?

On 05/08/2021 at 23:04, Mark Albrighton said:

So following on from Purslow’s video, is his first name pronounced “Lay-on” rather than “Lee-on”?

Purslow seemed to mispronounce “Grealish” so I can’t be 100% sure. 

His own dad pronounced it "Lee-on". I've not heard him say his own name yet though, so we'll see.

8 hours ago, MrBlack said:

And occasionally Traoré 

And also Buendia. Ings has a touch of WTF about him too.

We're going to rip some teams apart with this lot.

9 hours ago, parisvilla said:

Been a REALLY long time since I've read this thread. So glad to see it's lost none of its magic. Terrific content. Craig Gardner Technical Director had me HOWLING

I look for it every time I come on. It's always good for comedic value.

40 minutes ago, sidcow said:

I'd never heard of C J Golson and he seemed convinced Jack Grealish was staying. 

He turned out to be a Leeds fans taking the piss.

14 hours ago, Tumblerseven said:

Lets all stare at Manchester City!

I will stare but  full of hate.

Let's all glare at Manchester City!

5 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

stopped 44 seconds in when he said "i dont know what he does"

Few people do. We've always known, though. Nobody will ever appreciate him like we did.

14 minutes ago, ThornburyVilla said:

Does anyone think Jack might be doing this out of his love of villa?

Perhaps he fears his shin problem is worse than we all think, and he knows that his career will be hugely limited, so he is sacrificing himself and playing for the club he loves, to give us a huge boost and lift up in our quest to reach the top 4. 
 

If his shins deteriorated he would become near worthless and would also not contribute in a team that over-relied on him. 
 

With this move he sorts out out investment in the team for several years, he levels out FFP, which has to be a consideration, he allows us to significantly strengthen and better balance our team, and he sets himself up for life. 
 

who knows Will Jack wear villa pants under his City shorts???

 

I'm choosing to believe this.

7 minutes ago, Tommo_b said:

Kinda feel sorry for this guy, supposedly a world class signing that’s not getting the fan fare he deserves 

A fitting welcome to the bonkers world of Villa and the Premier League.

1 minute ago, tomav84 said:

you do realise whatever he says will be carefully put together by a PR team and not his actual words dont you?

Don't break my heart. It's fragile enough already.

37 minutes ago, rjw63 said:

Just had a text from  a mate, mate (you know who, @SuperTed) saying at work the scummers are singing "where's ya Grealish gone". That's so funny.

Where do I start?

1. We are getting 100 million quid. More than every  small heath transfer fee combined since 1875. That's funny!

2. We've already spent over 80 million before the transfer has even happened. That's funny!

3. The difference between Villa and small heath on a financial AND playing level is like the distance between earth and Pluto. THAT'S funny!

Only a thoroughly brain dead and inbred person would take the piss out of anyone, let alone a Villa supporter, because we've sold a player for a British record fee.

They make ya laugh.

Mate.

I work with a nose. I thought he'd be all over this Jack leaving thing, but I think he realises the silver lining is actually pretty thick. It's literally four times better than the deal they got for their best ever player. They really don't have any argument at all.

19 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

Sky reckon release clause was activated so Villa had no other choice. Also reporting jack is not going singing and dancing, still loves the club and has found it extremely hard to leave, being with us since he was 6. If this is the truth, I'll keep my respect for him.

 

It depends on what he says after signing for them, how he acts, etc. He gave us such great times, I don't want to hate him.

2 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

Can certainly take a free kick, the Villa ones were stunning to be fair.

https://youtu.be/hXk-_LA0dCs

Best set piece delivery in the league. Austin McPhee would be jizzing in his pants, I'm sure.

It's a tough pill to swallow for sure, but I'm getting used to the idea of losing him. For I've thing, we've been overly reliant on him for far too long - we as a club need to step out of his shadow and price we can kick on and thrive without him. I think we're making all the right moves to do that.

I'm looking forward to not having a complete meltdown when one single player in our squad suffers an injury and derails our whole season. I've forgotten what that feels like.

I'm chuffed about this. I've wanted Ings for ages, and for a reported £25m, I'd say it's fair for a striker of his quality and consistency. If it does rise to £30m, then that would be worth it too - that's the beauty of add-ons.

Villa are putting in the work too soften the blow of losing Grealish, and it's nice to see. We're going to be fine; I dare say we might even thrive.

20 minutes ago, Tommo_b said:

Least he can’t score against us anymore

Technically he can...