WallisFrizz

This match is now being promoted as United’s inevitable return to the top of the table. I was listening to the radio earlier and heard an entire match preview in which Villa weren’t mentioned once. I would so like to cause an upset.

That Spurs game

Cavani banned for this match, definitely good news for us.

Gary Neville already tweeting that they are joint top as if the game against us is already won. Our boys need to get fired up by that.

United will be totally motivated for this game as they could go joint top. They will definitely up their performance levels from Wolves. We will have to be completely on it to get anything. I think 2-2.

When you look at our bench vs their bench, it is exactly the reason why I’m glad the 5 subs rule didn’t get the green light.

Chelsea can play a whole different side and still be competitive eg Giroud didn’t feature yesterday and is one of their joint top scorers. Not saying we won’t win but I’m just starting to think that the optimism levels might be going a little OTT. We need to still back these boys even if the next 2-3 results go against us.

No way will we be playing second string against a revenge seeking Liverpool in FA Cup.

Apparently we’ve kept most clean sheets in the league. Burnley joint second. Maybe the writing was on the wall for this one.

Club has dealt with it (fine and public statement), courts have dealt with it. Media have savaged him, police have released the footage to embarrass him further. I’m not saying any of the above is undeserved but I think it’s time we move on and continue our support of him. I hope he remains as Captain and his teammates rally round him.

He can’t complain at that, could have been worse. Needs to make sure he’s only talked about for his positive exploits on the pitch between now and the Euros. A bit of contrition wouldn’t go a miss either (I did like his distraction car stunt tho!).

Or that Fred’s getting match fit in preparation for Burnley.

I thought he had a good game. If anyone reads The Athletic, there’s a really positive article about him today, mainly around his leadership on the pitch and how he contributes to the overall organisation of the team during matches. I think people forget how much we missed him when he was out injured at the end of last year.

I don’t think our defending has declined over the past few games I just think we defensively flattered to deceive in the first four games: 10 man Sheff Utd who had backs to the wall Fulham who were dreadful. Liverpool- we conceded 2 Leicester- without Jamie Vardy and one of the least creative sides in the prem this season.

The main content person for Whoscored is a massive Villa fan (Martin Laurence on Twitter). Even last season, our players were scoring far more favourably than I would have expected.

The replies were basically saying it was the club saying f**k you to the The Sun or Grealish announcing his Tier 2 status. I think the club may have decided better of it.

This was on the official av Twitter and Instagram accounts this morning. Only lasted an hour.

Well, silence is exactly what he is opting for right now. I think he is probably hoping that it will blow over again. He will probably now only speak up if it prevents him getting jobs and needs to win back public favour. Time will tell I guess.

I watched it and found it interesting. He had every right to make it and hopefully found it healing. It has also prompted further valuable discussion. There are many people including yourself saying Terry should got involved and discussed it. I go back to a previous point I made about how surely this would be an impossible situation for him as he gave evidence in a court of law that events had occurred as he said, he also gave that account in interview to the FA. If he suddenly publicly started saying these were lies and tearfully apologising to AF, couldn’t it leave him open to further charges? Or he sticks to the original story in which case what would be the point of any meeting? Genuine question, what would you expect him to say that wouldn’t open up a whole further can of worms? Surely it would be better to strive to improve himself going forward. I’m not supporting him in this, I just think it is not so simple as having a cathartic chat about it when it has been subject to legal proceedings.

To be fair, I hadn’t thought of it in years until it was subject of a BBC prime time documentary and loads of tv and news articles.

Thing is, if he had met up with Ferdinand, what would he say? They would talk about the incident and Terry would likely stick to his version of events which Ferdinand would dispute and that would resolve nothing. Or Terry would tearfully repent his sins and doing so would be admitting that that he perjured himself in court. I think it’s a lose lose for him but like I said before, I don’t have a lot of sympathy for him.

I think Craig Shakespeare was brought in for the eventuality of Terry leaving.

I like him actually but his head has gone. He looked distraught after he missed the sitter, not just immediately after but a good couple of minutes after. Ollie Watkins had to have a word with him to calm him down. Traore seems altogether calmer and I thought showed some decent skill last night. Think Traore needs to be starting and let Trez build up his confidence coming off the bench. Trez will score some more for us, I still think he’s an important part of the squad. It’s times like this that I’m glad that fans aren’t in stadiums to get on his back, he’d be getting destroyed.

More: Telegraph Sport has been told that the Premier League’s general view is that games must go ahead if at all possible. If a team is allowed to postpone a fixture, when they have enough members of the first team squad available to put 11 players on the pitch and three substitutes on the bench, it would set a dangerous precedent. Newcastle say every player and member of staff was tested at home on Sunday after two more players tested positive at the end of last week, several days after the initial three employees had been sent home to self-isolate after also testing positive. That raised the alarm within the club’s Benton base that they were at serious risk of a mass outbreak, particularly given the amount of time those infected had spent indoors with team-mates and backroom staff in the build up to the 2-0 away win at Crystal Palace last Friday night. The training ground has been closed for the last three days, with sessions and treatment for injuries planned on Sunday and Monday cancelled and those expecting to be involved ordered to stay at home. Due to the nature of Covid and the fact one can initially test negative even when carrying the virus in the early stages of infection, the number of cases at Newcastle could still rise. That is likely to mean they will have to test the entire squad again later this week. The worry for football authorities is that with winter approaching and lockdown restrictions easing in many parts of the country ahead of Christmas, an outbreak could occur at any time at any club, which could lead to a fixture pile up and further harm to player welfare in terms of recovery between matches. There are also risks attached to the Newcastle players’ families and friends, particularly as some of the squad are known to share their homes with elderly relatives who have been helping with childcare during lockdown. One solution being considered is that players should be allowed to train outside from Wednesday onwards, but not enter any of the buildings at the training ground – thet could arrive in their cars ready for the training session and head straight home afterwards. Newcastle were without Andy Carroll, Jamal Lascelles, Emil Krafth, Allan Saint-Maximin, Isaac Hayden and goalkeeper Martin Dubravka at Selhurst Park, although it has not been revealed which of those absences were Covid-related or due to other injuries. The identity of the staff member who had become infected also remains confidential.