Villa Gaffa

We badly need a midfielder who can retain position and always be available for a pass. Doesn't have to be a Big name player. I have no idea whether Sanson is that player as we have hardly seen him play ! Someone like Dougie but with a bit more Grunt !

I have no idea who the new manager will be or when it could happen. I really think the Club, New Manager (when it happens), Purslow and the players would be best to stop talking about Villa pushing for European football and Top 4/6 etc. Any fan of this Great Club knows by now that our owners are ambitious and pushing for the top. All this talk has convinced fans that's its going to happen and they have made it sound like its a certainty and its imminent. As a club we should be knuckling down with our main focus finishing consistently inside the top 10 and internally working on the plans and structures to build towards those European spots. We have great owners who have ambition and wealth but our last Premier League Top 10 finish was 9th in 2010/2011 with 3 seasons in the championship since then. We are a Big Club but there are plenty of Big Clubs these days. You cant just flick a switch and finish where you want on the table because you keep saying your ambitious and wealthy ! Ever since Gerrard arrived he has talked the talk about Europe without us even showing anything close to being at that level. We are publicly setting ourselves up to fail !

All the owners good work off the field just isn't being backed up on the field. I'm sure they would be frustrated at the moment and wont just sit back doing nothing.

Johan Lange and the scouting team might be coming up with plenty of players that are worth looking at. Purslow and Gerrard would still have the final say on signings though I'd assume.

I think the 3 kits are all pretty good

We seem to have a lot of players showing no real form at the moment. We went through pre season without losing any games including a draw against Man U in which we finished the stronger team. I thought team morale would have boosted the teams confidence and creating a good environment to build confidence. McGinn - out of form Coutinho - out of form Konsa - out of form Digne - out of form Ramsey - out of form They are the obvious ones. Bailey - encouraging form Buendia - encouraging form Ings - encouraging form Kamara - encouraging form They are the only ones to show something so far. The rest of the squad either havent played enough minutes to judge form or are neither in/out of any kind of form. Why are we so low on confidence when we had great hype leading into this season ?

Bailey is doing well so far this season considering he is still getting used to the premier league. He gives us some spark and is a goal threat that we need considering our midfield issues at the moment.

Gerrard must be feeling the pressure now ! The ship looks like it is starting to sink !

The staffroom at the lunch break must get pretty hectic !

That's a great point you make and something I didn't notice

Far too early in the season for a poll like this !

I think he really deserves a crack at CB with Mings for a run of games !

The comparison was just based on numbers compared to say the " big 6 ". Really just to see if villa is on the up or if its just all talk. In Australia its hard to keep up with everyday stories and behind the scenes info. You just rely on social media really. I think our coaching staff are under a bit of pressure to deliver us a decent result on the table so I thought I would google who are staff actually are to see who we have !

With Watkins pace and pressure he puts on the defenders I think he has to be starting. With Ings finishing ability he has to start too. I'm just not sure that starting 2 up front suits the rest of the squad. How do u fit Watkins, Ings, Bailey, Buendia into the starting 11 with Gerrard as manager ? They are our best chance of scoring goals.

Palace is a good test for our manager. Can he come up with effective tactics for this game ? I think this is the unknown with Gerrard, having specific plans for each opposition. We need to be able to beat mid table teams to keep climbing the table and build confidence within the squad.

I've always been curious as to why the club don't list the coaching staff on the club website. It would be good to see how we compare with other clubs since we are always talking about being ambitious. I know we would employ plenty of others within the academy staff but how does this list compare to other teams staff ? Sporting Director : Johan Lange Head Coach : Steven Gerrard Assistant : Neil Critchley Assistant : Gary MCallister GK Coach : Neil Cutler Technical Coach : Tom Culshaw Set Pieces Coach : Austin MacPhee Coach : Aaron Danks Head of Fitness and Conditioning : Jordan Milsom Performance Director : Jeremy Oliver Physical Performance Scientist : Aman Singh Shergill Strength and Conditioning Coach : Oli Stevenson Physical Performance Coach : Patrick Moore Head of Nutrition : Marcus Hannon Psychologist : Martin Littlewood Head of Sport Medicine and Science : Ricky Shamji Lead Physio : Alan Smith Physio : Steven Polley Physio : Rob Marshall Lead Analyst : Scott Mason Head of Performance Analyst : David Stewart Performance Analyst : Scott Adey-Linforth Performance Analyst : Joseph Ure Head of Research : Frederik Leth Lead Data Scientist and Engineer : Arjav Trivedi Operations Manager : Matt Bennett Player Care Manager : Phil Roscoe Loan Player Manager : Mile Jedinak Development Coach : Nick Haycock Academy Manager : Sean Verity Chief Scout : Robert Mackenzie Scout : Kristian Heames

What changes in the way we play has anyone noticed now Critchley has replaced Beale ? Has anything changed or is it still too early to notice considering Critchley didn't go to Australia ?

I think its a great shirt and hopefully mine arrives in Australia before i go to the perth game against Man u. Really looking forward to seeing the other shirts revealed. It really feels like exciting times are ahead with the club at the moment.

Hes not the most gifted player in our squad but he deserves some credit for improving since he first came to the club. He is superb in the air !

when it comes to passing he is a toe poker

Its starting to look like we have already done our big signings for this window. Maybe the uncertainty with FFP is playing a part. We obviously have money but don't seem to be making bids so the club could be restricted by whatever they have been told is happening with FFP. If we wanted a player then I think we would have bid and got the deal sorted to get the player asap so we can have the squad sorted as early as possible.

This is how I want us to start the season. Traore El Ghazi J Ramsey Nakamba Wesley Trezeguet Chukwuemeka and Philogene -Bidace and Barry still provide decent depth

a fresh start in a positive but familiar atmosphere might be what he needs. We need someone to come in for engels who wont be signed as first choice starter. Its not an obsession its a suggestion for a player the club knows in a position we need to fill

They wouldnt let engels leave unless they were confident in completing a deal or have already have completed a deal for a replacement. Will we see a new signing this week ? if we do then the club is absolutely steam rolling through this transfer window

If sergio ramos goes to man utd then axel tuanzebe would surely be sold. We would be a good chance of landing him now engels is gone.