Radness

I would say replaced him with a very creative player, a speedy winger who can do it all and a proven Premier League quality striker, all positions/qualities we wanted filling. Also I look at Buendia and Bailey as two players on the cusp of the top top level, not as players that can fail so badly that we are mixing it in the bottom 5. I agree improvements can be made but with everything else going on in the world you should feel safe in the knowledge we will stay up comfortably.

Does he want to celebrate or not?

AEG probably lost 5mil in valuation on the weekend. Hes a good bench option but can’t see him repeating last years numbers, so if we get a good offer we sell. We need a better Marv but we wouldn’t get much for him and he would be more valuable to us as a backup.

It just feels like there’s so much space between our players. In attack no one close to relieve pressure, in defence one pass bypasses our front 4, one more pass and we are all holding our breath.

Looking for positives, Traore just made two tackles in a row!

Keep the faith boys, I know it’s looking (friggen) bad right now but we all knew it would be tough straight away. Bad lineup, bad general play, but it can only get better, right?

As it stands I don’t think we can afford to play a CAM, one pass and the opposition are on the attack

When everyone says what’s wrong with McGinn, it’s that. No pressure n needlessly gives the ball away. He’s good but too hit n miss.

Bailey got 9 assists to go with his 9 goals last season. I think his pace and unpredictability will stretch oppositions and create space for others.

I’m trying to watch in Australia but both channels were showing women’s high jump

Cut that out, no agreeing with Aussies on Bledisloe Cup day.

Now we hav all this cash + bargaining power we should be poaching a wonderkid CB from Europe. Surely we can find a mature 20yo for 20-25mil, hopefully one with good passing abilities that can move to DCM if needed.

“It feels like a family club” u have to be kidding me right? “Seems like a proper football club” = little old Villa just a weekend knockabout club

That would be worse.

Gouiri, Bellingham, Jens Petter Haug (who is apparently joining Eintract Frankfurt on a very cheap loan to buy £12m) and some guy called Mbappe who seems gettable.

Don’t know about u guys but I’ve been scouring Football Manager to find the right way to spend the $100mil

I’m a bit surprised at those worried about his age. 29 is peak for a footballer and due to better rehab, diet etc they don’t see skills fade as soon as they hit the 30s. Having someone who has proven consistency and can explain the intricacies to the kids is exactly what we needed.

Too many Jeffries for you!

I think he will stay. Between the euphoria of keeping us up and the selling of the clubs vision he signed a new contract, obviously with assurances made. Fast forward a year and you would definitely say we hit our kpis, we have added EmiB to take some of the creative responsibilities off his shoulders, EmiM has emerged as world class and we are bidding on other players with serious class. And all the while he can see the talent pool in the u20s being stocked with potential. Now he can play most teams with swagger thinking we can outplay them, swap that to be a sub half a season and be just another star, not “the man”?

We would be in a fantastic position if we had McGinn coming off the bench as a super-sub, able to go bananas for 30-40 rather than conserving his energy.

I would expect Villa Park to sound like a Bob Marley concert

Chris Wood

He would be a liability in my indoor football team.

Sounds great, but the do have Busquets, probably the best DM on the planet.

There’s so many reasons to like him, but a highlight for me is free kicks/corners. How often in the last few years have we won a crucial free kick, everyone on the edge of their seats, only to see it completely wasted?