FLVillan

7 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

But that's the thing, unless it's a foul they'll never judge that as interfering

The "block" by the dippers midfielder in the league cup final wan't be a foul either but that was chalked off because he impeded a defender from an offside position....

1 hour ago, The_Steve said:

Chong was offside and interfering with play for the second goal also. Dived all game too. So glad to see the back of him and 3 points. 

Glad I'm not the only one who saw that.  EXACTLY the same as the situation in the league cup final when the dippers first goal was chalked off.  Player in an offside position impedes a defender.  Offside all day. 

Rest In Peace Big Man.

Will never forget the 1977 League Cup final marathon, being behind the goal at Old Trafford when he thumped one in from what seemed like the halfway line and went on to lift the trophy as our captain.  The team he captained was the foundation being set for the glory days just four years later.

Holte Ender in the Sky. 

11 minutes ago, paul514 said:

If Tim is a DM then he must get a run of games in Kamala’s role. Sink or swim

Vice President?  Couldn't be any worse....    

7 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

What? Macphee knew Onana would try and steal a few yards? He ain't a wizard.

He wouldn't "know" that Onana would do that specifically, but it's clear that they've done the research that has seen Onana be highly affected/distracted by players around him - it happened away at Manure too and actually indirectly led to our first goal.

11 minutes ago, Tom13 said:

Kamala may give the ball away occasionally, but he's quality. We'll miss him immensely.

You're wrong - she never gives balls away.... 

3 hours ago, Mr_Dogg said:

Cruciate ligament injuries do not prevent walking, so I wouldn't read too much into it.

Yes.  When I tore my ACL I was up walking after a few minutes and actually tried to play on afterwards.  Got this nasty, horrible pain initially that was unlike anything I'd ever had, but then once that subsided I was walking and moving quite comfortably. The ACL is responsible for stability in the knee when pivoting.  I did mine at age 36 and the surgeon actually gave me the option of doing nothing and living without the repair - he said it would have stopped me playing most sports though, so I got the surgery.  Surgery was relatively straightforward.  Long and often painful rehab was the worst part, you basically have to rebuild your leg muscles, especially the quad.  

4 hours ago, supermon said:

I think the Ezri injury had pissed him off

Nah, I think the stupid journo who asked him about magic wands REALLY pissed him off.  I loved it when he slammed the pen down..... and gave the journo a five-minute version of shut the f**k up, you pillock." 

MY MANAGER!!! 

Just watched Unai's press conference.  Bad news on Konsa, but his response to the stupid "if you had a magic wand" question was absolutely brilliant.  In a 4 minute response he essentially told the reporter to shut the f up.  Love it Unai!   

2 minutes ago, turvontour said:

Are there more injuries nowadays, or are there more players, and therefore it seems like there's more injuries.

A bit of both me thinks.  Game is played at such a frenetic pace nowadays and sports science has these lads playing right at the maximum of their physical capabilities.  And, yes with the bigger squads it's not unusual to have 6-8 players out and still have a full bench.... 

Potentially three centre-backs out injured yet we still have two established, experienced players who are playing on their correct side in Carlos and Lenglet.  Kamara, Chambers in reserve.

It doesn't seem that long ago that it was a half-fit James Chester and Jedinak as the pairing (with Hutton at left-back)!  

Even more recently it was Konsa, Mings, Hause.

4 hours ago, Jareth said:

For Emery to point out 'he's from Birmingham' is significant I feel. Points to the scouting technique, that it's weighted with his talent.

I also think that with it being a January transfer, they will have seen this as a significant plus, as it should take him less time to settle... 

Curious to know how many ex Sandwell youth players we've brought in since Harrison became youth development manager.... Irogbunam, Azaz, Rogers...I'm sure there's a couple more too...

17 hours ago, Zatman said:

Bizarre we gave him a 3 and a half year deal when Arsenal gave him away. Said before that January 2022 put us back this year

At the time he signed it's likely that a decent contract length was what attracted him and sealed the deal.  3 or 4 years is not unreasonable for a 27 year-old centre-back, especially as they don't typically peak until 28/29.  He was coming into a lower mid-table squad with Mings, Konsa and Hause as centre-backs and Cash at right-back.  We were short of right-footed defenders.  Literally no right-footed cover for Konsa or Cash at that time.

The reality is that the team has improved dramatically in the 2 years he's been here and he just isn't able to improve to keep up.  We are looking to move him on now for exactly the same reasons that Arsenal did two years ago.  We have evolved and bought better players in.

2 hours ago, Dom_Wren said:

yep Troy went to school at C of C!

Good program.  We actually played them when I was assistant coach at Brown.  Sometime around 2008-11 if memory serves....

On 19/01/2024 at 12:50, Dom_Wren said:

One of the kids (man now!) who played for me just got hired as an assistant coach with DC united!

Sent me a video of him working Benteke out 1 vs 1 and nothing but good things to say about him on and off the pitch!

The new head coach (former red bulls head coach) got hired at DC, he is a SC boy and a top top man/Coach!

So, College of Charleston? 

2 hours ago, alreadyexists said:

I’ve heard that he covers a lot of ground.

Very good on the floor too

2 hours ago, villan95 said:

Looks like the 'record fee' reports were a little off then

It's a record fee for a goalkeeper, from Adelaide United, on a Wednesday, in a leap year.... 

6 minutes ago, LondonLax said:

Probably about £5m / square meter. 

Can't wait see him rolled out at Villa Park...

5 minutes ago, one_ian_taylor said:

Pitch at Villa Park should suit him. It's  like a carpet

Good effort... younger gen may not get it - "vinyl sheet flooring" is the new lino... 

5 minutes ago, paul514 said:

Diaby is a fantastic player but I wouldn’t play him into form whilst Bailey is looking hot.

He needs to sit on the bench for a bit.

Whilst I agree with you, I do think it's a delicate balance between Unai seeing if he can play himself back into form or benching him.  If he is benched it's entirely possible that his confidence will drop further and then we have a 50-million pound dud.  However, if he continues his current levels (especially if the team is not winning) the same could happen, especially when the fans (inevitably) get on his back.

I recall the majority of fans couldn't fathom why Bailey kept playing week after week last season, yet now he's arguably our most potent attacking player....

Who'd be a manager eh.... 

One thing is for certain, his teammates want him to come good.  When he hit that tame shot tonight and there was a collective groan from the Holte, Watkins rallied... 

47 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

Do we sell everyone who wants to leave?

I hope so...

7 minutes ago, Kingman said:

Makes no sense paying £15m for this lad when we let JPB go for £5m who IMO is far more of an advanced prospect. 

Agree that 15 million is steep, but JPB plays predominantly on the right (or at least he did in preseason) and I believe his buyback is about the same.  JPB wanted a move because he wasn't content with being 2nd/3rd choice and wanted to play more (can't fault him for that).  I also believe there's some accounting advantages with selling the likes of JPB, Ramsey and Archer that would exceed the advantages of selling someone who didn't come through the youth.  If this lad Rogers is good enough and/or has the belief that he can come in and compete straight away then I trust that the club will be getting it right with the accounting/FFP side of things. 

24 minutes ago, thabucks said:

I trust a seasoned marketing executive to get it right and do not for a second like some think it’s ego driven to ditch the round badge. Rumours NSWE  disliked the round badge pre-date Heck so again it’s not just one man’s crusade to piss off the fan base. 

Well that's the first time I've ever seen anything about NSWE disliking the round badge.  Have to say it seems bizarre that the owners of the club would have signed off on something they didn't like.  Purslow left the club seven months after the round badge had been approved, confirmed and added.  I find it hard to believe that the owners would have sat on their hands that whole time.

It may not be a one-man crusade to piss off the fan base, but had he been transparent in his reasoning for ditching the round badge and shelving the north stand plans (two projects that the club had already spent significant funds on) then he may not have made a rod for his own back on that score. If he had simply said that he (or the owners) didn't like the badge then he possibly would have gotten a very short-term backlash.  Had he not made a really poor excuse for not building the new stand (ie. we have 200 empty seats each match) and immediately contradicted that statement by saying "we can add seats in other ways."  Had he properly consulted/surveyed the fanbase on a new badge design instead of a deliberately slanted survey and a "consultation" that was actually a one-way presentation of the finished design, then the current long term backlash wouldn't exist.  

Would follow in the footsteps of our other great signings from Iceland, Joey Gudj...... Birkir Bjarna.... I'll get my coat....