FLVillan

Agree with all of the sentiment above but Luiz JUST shades it for me. He's at the fulcrum of all our play from the back to front. He dealt with being dropped by Gerrard as the consummate professional, didn't sulk or throw his toys out after the move to Arse didn't materialize, and after signing his new bumper contract he got even better. We've barely missed Kamara in there with him and that is saying something because Kamara is a very good player. Mings would be a worthy winner for me also, not only because of what he has dealt with from Gerrard and Southgate, but he has also eliminated all of the things that made many question him. He now holds the defensive line instead of dropping behind everyone, he engages opponents 1v1, and he's attacking the ball in blocking situations. Proper leader and an excellent defender. Martinez would be my third choice and also a worthy winner. It says something about how well the other two have played when he is literally the world's best goalkeeper at the peak of his career, making game-winning saves week after week, and he's third choice for our POY.. Young is my fourth.

I watched that game and it was like watching us at our very worst under Deano. Shape of the team was non-existent. Everyone slating their defence, but you could have driven a tractor through that midfield at times....

I actually think Sterling is quite decent tbf. In that 2-3 reverse at Citeh last season it was he who made the difference when he came off the bench. Set up 2 of the goals. He left Citeh cause he wanted more minutes and ended up walking into a cluster f*** at Chelski. He'd be an upgrade on Bailey/Traore for us.... Maybe a cheeky bid in the summer?

Interesting final set of final fixtures in the championship coming up... Still any two from five can get into the playoffs to join Boro and Luton... Blackburn (9th on 66) away at Millwall (6th on 68). Sunderland (7th on 66) away at Preston. Sandwell (8th on 66) away at Swansea. Cov (5th on 69) away at Boro (already secure in 4th).

Trevor Hockey, Tommy Craig and Alexander Tonev are with them...

I picked up on that, but he is/was quite possibly exhausted. Mad couple of days of travel, combined with staying up all night watching video of his new team, planning training sessions, team meetings, meeting with new staff. Bloke probably has barely slept for a few days. As for the "being up there with Pep etc." I think its a very valid argument to be honest. Guardiola has never had to get the best from an average/poor group of players, or be in a relegation fight. He has been at three clubs who are the very elite in their respective leagues with unlimited budgets. Stick him with a mid-table/lower half club with a limited budget and then see how much of a "genius" he really is.... Getting Kevin DeBruyne to play to his potential is far easier than getting Kevin Nolan to become a midfield general and boss games...

We can live in hope...

FIFA just following the recent trends.... Western society is so far down the rabbit hole of political correctness now it's become laughable. "Equality" in pay is only possible when there is "equality" in revenue. It's simple, logical, basic economics. We've got these so-called activists like Rapinoe who, by their own so-called well-intentioned arguments for equal pay are actually hurting the women's game. Can't tell you the number of people I know who basically can't be bothered to watch the US women now and have lost all enthusiasm for them.

Not saying it shouldn't be there at all, it is a very logical choice for the font/wording. We actually had a home shirt a few years ago (think it was one of the macron kits circa 2012ish) that had some gold piping. It's just that I think making it (along with blue) the predominant colour of our badge was a poor decision, not only in terms of history but how it actually looked/looks. Yellow and sky blue are not a good combination. None of our last four badges have looked good when viewed from distance. Claret and blue are magnificent colours when combined due to their contrast. Funny aside - when I was selling my last house in Rhode Island, the family room was painted with sky blue walls with a white wainscot rail and claret doors and carpeting. When the realtor showed up to do the assessment I'd convinced myself that she would tell me to repaint the room to help the house sell. Instead she walked in and said "what a wonderful use of colour." There is some historical bias in my opinion also though, as the last four badges revive my own memories of the worst I've seen of Aston Villa! These owners and now manager have revived my optimism not felt since I was a wee nipper standing on the Holte in 1980! The fact that they've given us a predominantly claret and blue badge just elevates them further....

One thing that is almost certain from Unai's next press conference is he'll get asked about Ferdinand's comments. And Unai, as always will deflect the question away (or speak with respect about Ferdinand as a player) with absolute class, humility and dignity. Because that's the GENTLEMAN that Unai is, unlike Ferdinand.

The current badge, imho is god-awful with the yellow-on-light-blue contrast. It was designed as an improvement on that horrible stripey abomination from the 00's, which had supplanted a slightly-less-awful stripey monstrosity from the 90's - both of which had replaced the round badge synonymous with the best years/team in our modern history. The stripey badges were where the "gold" lion first appeared, and for me that was the single biggest mistake. Our colours are claret and blue - at no point in our history was "gold" (yellow) a part of things, other than a short period in the 1970's (and two single seasons - 1986 and 1993) when it was our away kit shirt colour. If you had seen the official club publications prior to the internet (football albums etc.) our club colours were always listed as claret, blue and white. Never gold. The only gold you ever saw was in lettering/font when a contrast was necessary (ie, the badge, letterhead etc.). Personally, I like the new badge and would have been perfectly OK with the "gas lamp" option also. I think the club/designer did an outstanding job with the new designs.

Today showed the difference a couple of high quality players can make. Erickson and Casemiro are world class. Dougie and Donk are not. The fact that we're going toe-to-toe with teams who have the spending power of ManUre is credit to Unai Emery. This is his strength - to raise the level of the collective.

Bruno Fernandes. I despise you more than any footballer I have ever witnessed. You're a cheat.

Looking at the table tonight, (sadly) a familiar pattern seems to be emerging with the top of the table, with the exception that Newcastle have replaced Chelski. Dippers are coming into form and will probably get fifth. Our best hope is that Spuds continue their decline, but their fightback tonight will undoubtedly give them some confidence. I think we're in a straight fight with them for sixth. Citeh will probably beat Arsenal to the title and it's more-or-less business as usual at the top end. No doubt that Sky will get their way again courtesy of a few dodgy decisions in favour of the dippers and spuds during the run-in.

I've been thinking the same thing over the past few weeks. Their lack of experience in this situation could cost them. I think they needed to build a really strong lead in the title race to be able to relax during the run-in. Instead they've dropped points and have a very experienced title-winning team breathing down their necks. Xhaka and now Ramsdale have now made silly mistakes to cost them wins against the dippers and southampton.

Guimares is a one-way player. That's why the neutrals love him but proper football people see his limitations. Players like him need a purely-defensive midfielder behind them. Dougie is, dare I say it, more in the Dennis Mortimer mould, in that he plays both sides of the ball.

Well it was 13 years ago so my memory is playing tricks. Could have been Lennon or Wright-Phillips. I do remember how bloody awful we were and that the right side was beyond poor with Gerrard and Glen Johnson.... . he brought someone off the bench (and reshuffled to not hurt Stevie's feelings) to play on the right side because Gerrard wasn't disciplined enough to keep the shape. Maybe it wasn't even the Algeria game, who knows... but it was definitely in South Africa

This, 1000000%! I always believed that he was incredibly tactically ill-disciplined as a player. He would just roam around wherever he wanted. No coincidence that the dippers best run of consistency in his playing career was when Rodgers gave him a specific disciplined role as a holding player as he got too old to do all the running. I was in South Africa in 2010 watching the England-Algeria draw. Capello started with Gerrard on the right side of midfield and he was constantly drifting into the middle trying to be the billy big time. Poor Capello was doing his nut on the sidelines (we were seated behind the England bench) constantly telling Gerrard to take up the correct position. Eventually he brought on Joe Cole to play on the right.

100% this was in the scouting report. Said exactly the same to a mate after the match. Pope really struggles to get down to stuff that is hit close to his body and low down. It's either a kick-save or it goes in. He can't/doesn't get his hands down fast enough. Another outstanding finite detail that we get with this manager and massive credit to Watkins for having the discipline and intelligence to execute the plan.

And the fact that we are keeping a 'clean ' every week....

I think that's called hitting the nail on the head. He's just perfectly suited to Unai's style/system. As a "traditional" left back he'd be seen as being average defensively. In this system his emphasis is attacking with the ball from deeper areas. Reminds me very much of the role that Kenny Swain used to play for us (a converted winger) where Gary Williams on the left would stay deeper behind Tony Morley while Swain had free reign to bomb forward from right-back.

Moreno is an outstanding player. To play at the speed that he does while exhibiting close control and picking out teammates with passes is simply sensational. When you look at the speed he was traveling when he intercepted the ball before picking out Watkins with an inch perfect pass for the disallowed goal, it's incredible. Last left back of the same ilk was Colin Gibson. Could argue for Staunton too I suppose but he lacked (any) pace.

I actually think we are better on the right wing with SJM out there. Dendoncker was superb today, just as he was when we beat ManUre. I wish fans wouldn't define him by his single mistake against Stevenage. Other than that moment he has been very good for us. Versatile, mobile, efficient, technically sound and can tackle. Good player, and outstanding squad player.

Interesting. I was watching TV coverage here in the US (on a laptop sitting in a highway rest area) and the place sounded like it was rocking.

Talked to a mate last night who's a Leicester fan. He said that was a typical Barnes performance. ie. producing a moment of magic but then being entirely unproductive and failing to capitalize on the obvious. I told him they can have Bailey if they want...