david-avfc

15 minutes ago, zab6359 said:

I only think we are selling Donk in January if he asks to leave he’s been doing fine when called upon, no he’s not a perfect fit for the way we want to play but as third fiddle to Kamara and Luiz I think he’s more than capable of being that rotation in domestic and European cup games, even the league for the rest of this season. The summer window is the most change will happen.
 

I really don’t see us buying squad players in a January window unless we sell squad players, if we buy I think it will be a marquee player that goes straight into the team, what position is anyone’s guess though. 

His lack of minutes speaks for itself, Emery doesn’t want to play him so I expect the club will be actively trying to move him out.

Emery is smart enough to know he needs to keep squad players on side (unlike some of the previous clowns we’ve had in charge) hence Dendoncker has played a bit here and there but it’s clear Emery doesn’t trust him to play the way he wants his midfielders to play

1 hour ago, rodders0223 said:

Doesn't really matter but I thought the defending for the goal was absolutely disgusting, I'm so disappointed with him. I think it's understandable he's lost drive and motivation, this was a move where he dropped down to play football , kick on and it looks like his career is now really on the slide, any aspirations at PL level are gone.

...but when you play a game you've got to do your best and my abiding memory of him in most appearances this season is just trotting back, not getting tight and pushing people where you want them to go , just being 5 yards off, letting them dominate you and then letting them come inside.

I was one of the most vocal under Gerrard to give him a shot, but he's been so disappointing.

I think you just have to give credit to their guy, it was a cracking goal from him and yes maybe our defenders were a bit slow but the tempo of the entire team was off, it was like a training game.

49 minutes ago, DakotaVilla said:

Circa 22n euro for a fully fledged Italian international is too much? The rest is bonus based is it not? 

Surely it’s better to judge a player on what they’ve done on the pitch for us rather than whether they’ve played for their country 

Looking at the squad it’s obvious Chambers and Dendoncker have barely featured and realistically should be replaced to give Emery better options.

If Chambers could be swapped out for a new first choice right back that would be ideal as a serious improvement to the squad. For Dendoncker a like for like replacement but someone more comfortable on the ball.

We could also look to replace Traore who has also barely featured, but unfortunately to me it looks like we already had the perfect replacement for him but sold him in the summer for just £5m

3 hours ago, paul514 said:

No one has mentioned it yet, but the new tv deal being announced ups our revenue to raise the allowances for spending within the rules.

BBC reported it’s a 4% annual increase, so not really a material difference. If anything it’s actually down significantly on inflation adjusted terms from the last deal.  The reason the headline figure is so big is because it’s spread over an extra season.

I voted conference league - I understand the argument of the prestige and financial benefit from the champions league, but if we qualified there's no guarantee it won't be a one off to which the long term benefits aren't that significant. 15 years ago when we were pushing for top 4 in the MoN era CL qualification would have been a game changer as it was a completely closed shop back then and there was a bigger gulf in finances which still exists to some degree but not as badly.

Considering the club hasn't won anything for over 25 years a trophy would completely shift the mentality of the club and the fan base IMO. Out of either FA Cup or Europa Conference either is good but I think European success just has a bit of a different sense of authority about it, you've got to be good enough to qualify for a start, good enough to be able to juggle competition on multiple fronts, and then good enough to beat other good European sides. I'd also guess that from an international perspective winning in Europe is better than winning in domestic cups which helps the club grow and get better transfer targets

On 15/10/2023 at 15:22, The Fun Factory said:

That's rubbish. He was a good squad player in the Smith years when we got promoted and re-established ourselves back in the top flight. He cost about 3 million and has been injured mostly for the last year. He has earned his contract on just the 10 minutes alone in the play off final when he came off the bench for us to hold out and beat Derby.

He was a great pick up at the time in the championship and after promotion and did a solid job for us for several years, there’s no debate around that.

But it was obvious we should have parted ways 18 months ago when his original contract was up rather than renewing it knowing full well he had no real future here and was only ever going to be 4th or 5th in his position at best. I assume that was the “criminal” contract alluded to in the previous post.

1 hour ago, John said:

It used to be said "If he's good enough, he's old enough", is he perhaps worth an occasional place on our bench, given our current lack of striking options?

He's playing kids football in the u18's so probably not

6 minutes ago, Mark Albrighton said:

I’m sure he can improve. 

Just not at all convinced he’s performing in a way that means triggering a permanent deal is a no brainer. 

As it stands I’m of the view the loan will be ended in January before any obligations are in place.

Agree I'm not convinced, I haven't worked him out yet whether there's a player in there ready to burst into form at some point or if he'll just continue to frustrate. In terms of the loan deal it depends what flexibility we do or don't have, Galatasary have already confirmed the future fee is €22m + €15m addons + 10% sell on clause and it was reported at the time the deal becomes mandatory under certain conditions.

He had a lot of ball but failed to do enough with it. He attempted 11 crosses today according to the stats but I’m not sure any of them resulted in a genuine chance to score. To be fair Forest defended their box exceptional well but given the time, space and positions which are afforded to him on the ball  the output just wasn’t there

3 hours ago, skarroki said:

Dunno if this is completely irrational but found the BBC commentator greeting Unai Emery at 4pm for an interview with "well Unai congratulations, good evening, another 3 points..." a bit unnecessary. Unai responded saying good evening perfectly. Felt like he'd plucked the courage to say something another reporter dared him too a couple seconds too late but danced back to it anyway. 

I just listened to it and it seems like reporter is just saying it as a polite and friendly greeting probably in response to Emery being polite and friendly to him in previous conversations 

On 27/10/2023 at 11:24, Kiwivillan said:

One of funniest thing about Alkmaar win is I've seen several posts last few months suggesting Matt Ryan as backup GK. 5 shots on target and 4 goals and the 5th shot was Bailey parry to Watkins 

If Olsen was in goal he would have conceded 6!

42 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Striker and a right back for me are the key areas.

Obv would like a bettee no 2 than olsen too

Watkins is in form and Duran has shown he is a competent back up option with 4 goals in all competitions already, I just don’t see another striker as a priority at all

4 hours ago, Adam2003 said:

Right, you could tell Grealish was annoyed but I agree that’s exactly what any striker should do!

Grealish’s reaction was pathetic, it wasn’t going in and even if it was why take the risk of leaving it just out of politeness

I think Watkins did well but realistically he is only really in the mix for 3rd choice behind Kane and probably Toney when he’s available 

On 13/10/2023 at 11:06, Vive_La_Villa said:

Where’s this come from?

“An agreement has been reached with Aston Villa FC Limited regarding the temporary transfer of our professional football player Nicolò Zaniolo for the 2023-2024 season with a conditional compulsory purchase option”

Only speculation what the conditions for the compulsory option are but presumably it’s going to be something along the lines of games played

2 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

He should be able to play for the next few months thought right.? That’s all I’m bothered about the moment. The fixture list looks scary. 

Problem is if there’s an obligation to buy after playing a certain number of games, the club won’t want to be forced into paying £30m or whatever it is for a player who’s about to be banned 

1 hour ago, El Zen said:

I honestly don’t care. They’re obviously as valuable as any fan, but making someone sit somewhere else to make room for a singing section is a sacrifice I make every day of the week without even a hint of hesitation. They can enjoy the game just as much from another seat, and a proper atmosphere (which improves the experience for everyone) requires organisation. Not having a designated singing section is absolutely nuts imo. 

Very immature comment to be honest, you not believing people are singing enough isn’t a valid reason to want to kick other fans out of their seats. Every fan has the right to experience the game as they want.

As for a “singing section”, the concept is pretty cringeworthy and besides, everyone knows the atmosphere comes from the Holte End so in a sense we already have a “signing section”, as that’s where all the fans who want to be part of the atmosphere will naturally go.

The atmosphere’s can be improved but there’s a lot more to it than such contrived ideas as “singing sections”.

10 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

The stripped down lion and year thing - the one we see on the blazers, that worries me.

I think it's beautiful.

But it's very much a right-now kind of beauty, it's on-trend, it works and it's a very sellable design. It'll be outdated in two years and need replacing. That's what I'd like to avoid, the constant state of change around the badge/crest. 

Sure is pretty though.

Maybe it's just something I need to get used to, that the future of club crests is similar to that of club kits - the colours stay the same but we get a new one every year. I dunno, it just feels to me that it shouldn't be something so disposable.

We could easily do what Liverpool have done, which is have a simplified modern crest for the kit and merchandise, but also retain the historical style crest with the two designed to go hand in hand together.

The problem for us is because we keep changing the badge over the years we don’t really have a “historical” badge to use alongside a simplified version. The Lerner badge is universally disliked, and the new round badge is disliked by the management team probably for not being distinctive enough to have any value 

Funny how he scored probably the hardest chance of the season today. Hopefully he’s now shaken off the goal scoring hoodoo and it’s back to normal Ollie from here

If you wanted to eat out with a budget of £60 per person you’d go to a fancy restaurant for a proper sit down meal, not an all you can eat “street food” buffet with a couple of drinks vouchers. Ultimately people can spend their own money however they wish but objectively speaking it’s not good value at all once you remove the claret and blue tinted glasses

17 hours ago, villaglint said:

I think main problem with Chambers is he needs to be playing consistently. 

When he does that he can be a relatively solid pair of hands. Not great by any means but as other have said he is a lower PL/upper Championship standard player. Not a trainwreck like Olsen. 

However when he comes in for the odd game once every few months he does look awful and seems to make mistake after mistake. Later in game he looked like someone who's confidence had fully gone and he wanted to be taken off. 

He doesnt suit being a backup at all in my view. If I was him I'd be doing everything I could to make a move elsewhere work for all parties. 

Yeah when he signed first he was actually pretty good for us. Problem is he plays so infrequently he’s permanently trying to work off the rust but I can’t see him getting regular minutes so it’s not really a situation that’s going to be resolved. 

Seems to be playing a different role to last season, playing further forward which I know some people think is his strength but really his strength is being an all round box to box man - play him too high or too deep and his game is severely limited, he’s barely been involved in anything all season which is really unlike him