Adman

Massive onana skin this one.  I just feel a draw at best is what we'll end up with.  We won't just keep winning especially without deserving it...

Great win, another at home. Top of the group, what's not to love. Well done boys

35 minutes ago, tomav84 said:

i thought he was great in his cameo sunday. did exactly what we needed him to do...had fears of him trying a 40 yard screamer and giving them the ball back

Wasnt that what he did which went about 40 yards wide?

7 hours ago, ThunderPower_14 said:

The frothing for a retrospective red etc are pants on head insane. It's about as textbook a yellow card tackle as you'll see.

People have lost their actual minds.  Very odd 

27 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

Not great for that extra CL spot. United and Newcastle fluffing leads

I know, I almost cared too but couldn't

18 minutes ago, allani said:

I think we have a challenge figuring out how Pau, Carlos and Konsa all play (especially when Mings comes back - if he comes back and finds his form from last season).  Defensively it works OK - but against Spurs, Konsa received the ball with space in front of him and he didn't have the instinct to attack that space like a "proper" RB would.  I know that pre-Villa Emery has played a more attacking LB and a more defensive RB (for which role Konsa or Carlos would be fine) but this season we've seen both Cash and Digne push forward and either Kamara or Luiz drop into the back-line so that our 3 "defenders" can cover the width of the pitch.  So I do think we might be looking at a more attacking RB.  The question is whether we can get one who can compete immediately with Cash in January or whether we'll be better able to sign that upgrade in the summer.  I like Cash but he's probably not quite good enough defensively or offensively to fill either of the roles that we need to be as strong down the right as we are down the left (once Moreno and Ramsey are back fit)

Maybe Cash is already the backup in an ideal world.  

                Watkins.   Diaby

Ramsey.  Kamara. Luiz.   Mcginn

Moreno.  Pau.   Carlos.  Konsa

Looks pretty good to me

1 hour ago, Steero113 said:

Bottleham Hotspur stacking up real nice I see. Big Ange workin his magic. 

Probably Matty Cash's fault?

I've not watched Angeball before this season, has he always ragged the **** out his players in the first hour so they all get injured and run out of steam?

8 minutes ago, Monkeypuzzle said:

Agree mostly but one question. Who do we play if Cash gets injured? Is Konsa really the long term answer in that position? I think a new right back is worth investigating in January. Whether or not we can find one, I think we will be looking.

I think emery probably sees either Carlos or Konsa as the answer.  That's why we let Young go

I was listening to the claret and blue podcast (Dan Bardell) today and I think they're right about our intent this window.  They don't hink we need anyone, and there's a good arguement to not sign anyone.

Backup keeper - perhaps we reason that the drop off would be that big from Emi that it's not worth the expense to bring someone in now.

RB - who are we going to get as an upgrade to Cash in Jan who's not costing a fortune?

The rest of the squad looks pretty good with Ramsay and Moreno due back imminently.  We also have to consider longer term injuries (and any players sold that we might want to buyback) and how they will affect the squad in the summer.

If we sell Traore, Chambers and Dendonker, they haven't really played so wouldn't be missed that much.  We've got some really good options on the bench that need more minutes. ..So if we keep our powder dry, see where we finish and go from there

Start cash so that he gets straight back on the horse in a less hostile environment.  Think he could be a bit fragile with all the spurs nonsense.  He's probably been sent death threats and god knows what...

37 minutes ago, allani said:

I kind of agree and don't agree with your conclusion here. 

I think the priority for most young players would be to be given the opportunity to improve and develop so that they can become professional footballers ideally at a good level.  The number of players who could realistically aim to go on and play for the Villa first team will always be relatively low (assuming that we are operating at the top end of the PL).  The big clubs don't tend to have many players who have come through their academies from a young age - indeed for many their elite level academy players are likely to have been bought for big money at youth level and the academy has really been a "finishing school" to refine an exceptional youth prospect into a first team squad player.  The draw for players is (a) to train and play at an elite club and (b) how good that club is at developing them to a point where they can realise their dream of being a professional footballer.  Sure most young kids will dream of playing for a top club side and representing their country - but at the end of the day if signing for Villa's academy improves your chances of playing Championship, League One of even League Two level professional football then that's what will encourage young players to sign.  Obviously for kids who are Villa fans then their dreams of playing for Villa will be greater.

Selling Ramsey would be a poor decision (in my opinion) for many reasons - mainly because he'd likely be sold to a rival club (based on what we can expect his transfer fee to be) and because he's not reached his full potential yet.  So that scenario would simultaneously strengthen a rival and probably weaken us (unless we can sign someone for less money who will reach a higher level).  But I'm not sure we should be worrying about whether seeing a player come through our academy, represent his country at youth level, play for the club at PL and then be sold for £40m + on a pretty hefty contract to another good PL team will impact on the reputation of the academy or demoralise kids within that academy.  It's more likely to impact on the first team players who we're selling the "we have huge ambitions" message too.  To me it has a Brightonesque feel to it - come here we'll develop you into a really good player, give you your PL break and then sell you to the highest bidder.  That's going to make you really attractive to players looking for the big break (especially if you can demonstrate a track record for making that happen) but it's going to make it very hard to hang onto your other first team players who will be asking why they should be showing loyalty to the club rather than just following suit and jumping at the first big offer.

That said, where you probably do have a point is that I do think that some clubs / academies do feel like they are little more than a gravy train.  Chelsea are probably a great example - buying up far more young players than they can possibly need and either dumping them, repeatedly sending them out on loan and / or selling them as soon as the next great hope emerges.  That kind of model definitely doesn't breed the kind of loyalty and sense of "family" that we seem to have at Villa.  But I feel that we are a long, long way from that Chelsea model.  I suspect the number of first team players who feel any kind of real connection with Chelsea is pretty small.  However, I would also suggest that the number of first team players who feel a strong connection with Villa is pretty high - many still see Villa as the club that gave them their big break (Emi, Konsa, Mings, McGinn, Luiz and Ramsey) and if we can continue to keep pace with their ambitions (some will be higher than others) then I think it will take a massive offer to tempt them away.  I'm not saying it won't happen but even with Jack - the only way he was leaving was to get an unbelievable contract and sign for a huge club where he would be winning things.  I know it isn't everyone's cup of tea but the "buy back" clauses we seem keen on with our younger players and specifically the fact that so many of the players have been willing to sign them - suggests that (whilst there are commercial benefits in selling these players) we aren't just dumping them for financial benefit and we're keen to give them a chance to play at a good / high level whilst maintaining an option to bring them back if they are successful.  The fact that so many of the players over the summer were happy to have the buy back clause in place suggests that they didn't feel like they were being abandoned by the club for profit.  Whether any of them come back is another question - but I don't think they are leaving with bad or even indifferent feelings about Villa.

I agree that turning the academy into a "separate money making enterprise" does not sit well with the concept of the Villa family that Emery bangs on about (in a good way).  However, I think that showing young kids that there is a pathway to a career in professional football (whether that is with Villa or not) through the Academy and making the academy a strong revenue generator - are not necessarily contradictory things.  It's more about the way that you treat the kids and look after them whilst at they are at the club.  Making them feel welcome, well looked after and valued and then releasing (selling) them to pursue a career at the highest level their ability merits is not a bad thing.  Having a reputation for allowing players to sign for another club to try and realise their dream rather than keeping them playing reserve football until it is clear that they can't make the next step - again is not a bad thing.  Like I say these buy back clauses all suggest that the club is leaving a huge door open to players and saying "go on, do your stuff and try and prove that you can make it to the top level and if you do we'll give you that chance" but hey if you don't prove that you are ready for a Top 8 team then we've given you a route to PL or Championship or League One football.

For me the measure of how successful the Academy is shouldn't be measured just be how many players come through and play for the Villa first team OR by how much money it generates in player sales.  It should be about how many players we develop so that they can play at a higher level of football than they could have realistically achieved by going somewhere else.  And for those kids that don't go on to play professional football it's about having given them a chance and the skills / attitude / confidence to find success through another channel.  Indeed at some level the true success of the Academy is how well the kids that drop out the bottom fare in life after football and after Villa.  Is the true value of the Academy driven by the success of the cream at the top or the success of the kids that don't make it?  In many ways I want both of these things to matter to the Villa Academy.  To me that's what the "Villa family" notion is all about.

We also need to acknowledge that the higher our ambitions - the harder it will be for players to come straight through our Academy and into our first team.  Ramsey and Jack were able to because we could "afford" to give them a chance to develop into decent players.  Hopefully we're now in a position where those young players need to be able to come in and play at top 8 PL level (which is a big ask as most players at that level are regular internationals or at least on the fringes of international selection).  So maybe the most realistic model now is to develop them into Championship / lower PL level prospects, sell them to a club to develop for 2 or 3 seasons and then have generated enough "mutual investment" during their time with the Academy that when we (and other elite clubs) try and sign them that we're in pole position.  Let's say we bring through Player A and sell him to Forest for £15m.  If he does well in 18 months then we have a 2 year buy back clause that allows us to sign him for £30m.  If that player's market value is £40m then we've got a great deal and we've got a player with 2 years PL experience that he wouldn't have got with us.  Even if his market value is £30m - we're still signing a £30m player for £15m so financially it makes sense.  If after 18 months he hasn't quite made it then he stays at Forest for another 18 months and suddenly everything clicks and he becomes worth £60m.  Then hopefully we're still a great option for him as he remembers his time at the club fondly (and he's always had a good welcome at VP from the fans) - even then we'd be signing a £60m player for effectively £45m (and he's had 3 or 4 seasons of regular PL football to hone his talents far more than he'd have done on the bench - or worse - for us).  Maybe long-term loans would achieve a similar thing and if so then they'd represent better value - but on the flip side, they represent very poor value if the player doesn't develop.  How many players could we have sold for £10m but have gone on loan, not done as well as expected and then we've struggled to shift them for any fee at all.

Heads will roll for this.  Or hands...or arms, that would be fitting.

content://media/external/downloads/1000007954

Son nearly broke that Fulham players leg with a much worse tackle

Ban slow motion, and replay it 5 times.  If you can't see a mistake in the original decision - move on

I wonder what his number 1 concern is that he wants to nail in the transfer window.  There must be 1 position/player that hes desperate to get sorted...

4 hours ago, Tomaszk said:

"Profit" is fine.

It's just a horrible phrase that has really boomed the last few years.

Funnily enough when people use it, it's not even 100% profit.  Ie buying a player for £10 mill and selling for £20 mill is not £10mill "pure" profit due to wages, agent fees, and loyalty bonuses etc and when using it in reference to FFP, usually the last thing it is is profit. 

9 minutes ago, thunderball said:

Just dipped back in here after the dust has settled, and WOW, how salty, entitled and unlikable are the Spurs fan base?? And further, if you ever need to evidence of main stream media’s predisposition toward their top 6, and unashamed bias you have now.

Apparently this result was only about injuries to Spurs, it’s that simple, that is the only narrative in evidence. Spurs firmly on my “dislike list” now, I will look back with interest to see where they are at the end of December…..

I would add that some of the more cerebral outlets are generally notice/beginning to credit Villa, and specifically Emery, with doing something here at the moment.

They literally couldn't have played better in the first half whoever they'd have played.  It ended 1-1.

Second half they had ran themselves into the ground and yes without injuries could have brought some better options on - but I'm not sure it would have made that much difference.  I guess we'll see if / when they get their injured players back - if they top the table again, or if Ange Bielsaball doesn't keep the injury list full for the season

9 hours ago, Kiwivillan said:

Didn't he post on social media recently regarding Arsenal speculation "They can buy me on FIFA" #AVFC

I think the blocking move to Arsenal was usual transfer rumour bollocks. 

We rejected three bids on or close to deadline day.  

I've said it before,  but I'm terrified he's got a release clause in his contract.  I don't know why else he would have signed it after us blocking the move to arsenal he supposedly wanted.

I think Emery will look to replace Cash (ai like Cash a lot).  I think we will want to play 3 of our 4 CBs with Moreno / Digne on the left and a new RB / RM on the right

  Looks so solid and plays to our strengths imo

Attack down right:                          New

Moreno.  Pau. Carlos/ Ming's. Konsa

Attack down left

Moreno

Pau. Carlos / Ming's. Konsa. New

Chasing a game

Moreno.                                      New

        Pau.  Carlos / Ming's. Konsa

Holding on

Moreno Pau Carlos/ Mings Konsa New

10 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Ergh id agree but donk is a backup player bentacur wouldnt come here to play 2nd fiddle 

He seems a bit injury prone too

7 hours ago, Aston_Villan4 said:

The Carlos elbow to Gils face probably.

Just because Gil is 4ft 5, doesn't mean he should get a pen when he's screened off the ball.  

11 minutes ago, jayEm said:

The save of Hojberg's shot is insane.

It was outside / behind the defenders so he had to feel it rather than see it.  If the terminator was a goalie, he'd be emi martinez