WallisFrizz

There was a story along those lines last summer. I thought was more along the lines of we were in talks with a player, then the news gets leaked, probably by players agent and it turns out we were being used to progress said players signing to another club, so we backed out of talks. Im thinking Weston McKennie? Can’t remember exact details.

This x10. Quick thinking by Emi, sublime from Jack, loved him shoving Bellerin aside and then a great finish from Ollie. Definitely my favourite.

More money and a release clause?

I think he will get game time here though as Cash will probably get injured and suspended now and then so he will have a chance to edge his way into the team. Interesting to hear that he can also play left back, didn’t know that and a position that we definitely need cover. All this is irrelevant however, if Smiths plan is to start integrating the academy players more.

Excellent post. I agree fan opinion matters, also that some of our opinions are well researched/based on many decades of supporting the club/ playing at some level. My prediction...they will stick with Smith (I’m not against this but I suspect he is limited), next season could be interesting if we don’t start well.

Out of interest, when did he say this?

I think it was the level of your excitement based on a couple of tweets of unknown reliability that was a bit Rashica-esque (and that saga did my head in). I have nothing against foreign players and it’s a bizarre leap to suggest I do. I also like transfer gossip but I can’t find myself getting excited yet as I imagine we’ve got the feelers out over loads of players. I like the rumours to gather a bit of steam before I hit the YouTube montages, doesn’t have to be at the John Percy/Fabrizio Romano stage though. Each to their own though, crack on.

Hmm, most of us never heard of this bloke and now we’re desperate for him. Sounds familiar, nothing to go wrong there..

Not the whole game but the highlights are on the bt sports website

Oh I totally agree re set pieces. We could have had 100 corners and wouldn’t have scored any of them. I wish we had someone like James Ward-Prowse or actual James Ward-Prowse. But yes, it’s an area Smith needs to work on.

I was actually surprised at the negativity. We kept a clean sheet, McGinn and Luiz both played well. Jack got some minutes. We looked a bit toothless up front but they have a very good defensive record away from home. Yes it was boring but I felt pretty positive about things until I came on here and Twitter. The worst things for me were the injuries to Cash and possibly Mings (who I thought was excellent and his shot on goal was in no way as easy as the commentary made out as he had an Everton player stood right in front of him).

Think we should get Fred back as he’ll get plenty of game time. Cash is brilliant but I suspect this hamstring issue is going to be an ongoing problem. Was it same leg as last time?

You said it better than me.

Yeah but these aren’t your mates at work, these are playing sport at the highest level in a completely public arena. If I’m honest I hate the “he’s shit get rid” stuff, but then that’s not how I would talk about someone in real life. But if a player, particularly one who has just dropped a clanger, comes on a fan forum out of curiosity they probably aren’t going to be pleased. I think football behind closed doors has exacerbated a problem. No one can grumble to the bloke stood next to them on the Holte or their mate at the pub or their dad on the sofa so firing something nasty off on Twitter is a release for them. People need to handle their emotions better.

No, completely different. This is a fan forum. As long as it’s not racist, homophobic, threatening etc fans are in a safe space to post opinions positive and negative. Twitter and Instagram are for those who want to interact with the players. So completely depressing that certain fans insist on being so vile (although in true internet spirit you can’t be sure that they’re actually our fans at all-probably are tho).

Great interview with him in the Athletic, seems a lovely guy. Extract re the abuse he suffered: “Everyone has an opinion. That’s fine. If you think I cannot play football or another team-mate should play in League One, then fine, that’s an opinion, it’s normal. But when it gets personal, it’s not good.” In a bid to draw a line under the topic once and for all, the forward has agreed to share the reasons behind closing down his social media accounts last year. “I’ll tell this story now but after that, I want to leave it behind because these things happen in the past,” he says. “I don’t want people to feel sorry for me because I’m a strong guy, I’m a big boy, and I’ll be fine, but you’ve asked, so I’ll explain. “Last year, when we were almost going down, a lot of players were getting abuse. It was getting so personal that it made me feel aggressive. “It didn’t feel right. An opinion is fine. I respect that — but one example of a message I received read: ‘I hope you die and never play for my club again’. “When I looked on the profile and saw that it was from a season ticket holder of Aston Villa, I thought, ‘No way’. Also: “I got a lot of support from my team-mates. Tyrone Mings really stood up and supported me because he’s our leader and he believes strongly in these things.” On fasting: El Ghazi is fasting for Ramadan and therefore plays without eating or drinking for as long as 15 hours before kick-off. Has it affected his performances? “To be honest, it gives me extra strength. I’m used to it now because I’ve done it since I was 13 years old and, anyway, I’ve played two games in Ramadan and scored two goals, so it’s not too bad! On inconsistency: “I don’t know why but my games against West Ham and Fulham were my worst of the season. I need to get rid of this. It’s not me. I have no clue why it happens. It’s nothing to do with the willingness or desire to do well. It’s just that sometimes, I’m not on it. seems like a lovely guy. Interesting what he said about Mings being their leader. I think we all know that though.

I wish Man City hadn’t lost last night, will give Utd extra incentive to win this. They won’t want City winning it at their expense. However, I’m going against the grain here and saying I’m strangely optimistic. I don’t know why, just think we’ll get something out of it.

I would put money on some of them doing it. Mings and Jack (or his family/friends) deffo.

Having just seen Aguero’s terrible panenka, it’s reminded me that El Ghazi is our only decent penalty taker.

He’s on loan from Arsenal who I imagine will want him back asap.

You see I listened to his comments and thought they were a respectful way of saying that the transfer chat could be revisited after the Euros ie if he is fit and sets the tournament alight. Also within minutes of this interview with his agent, Jack posts as Insta pic of him in red tracksuit with a blue bag next to him (cue loads of bed wetting comments from fans of Manc clubs). He’s not particularly bright but I do think he’s social media savvy and timed that very deliberately. Obviously he would have known that his agent had just been on tv talking about his future. What will be will be. I think unless he has an amazing Euros and can prove a return to form, I think he’ll be a Villa player at the start of next season. (I am hoping this doesn’t feature on the worst predictions thread in 3 months time).

The social media blackout means that my Twitter timeline is abysmal at the moment.

Been linked to Carlos Soler and Nabil Fekir. I know Fekir all about them.

The scenes at Old Trafford yesterday were a deliberate attempt to get the game called off in protest, and they succeeded. I hope that Villa Park is well policed/protected on Sunday. I don’t care what they do at their own ground but they must not get into VP.

Isn’t he Dutch?