wishywashy

Because his performances were at a time when the alternatives were Kalinic or Nyland. Our alternative is Martinez Mendy got goalkeeper of the year after he signed for Chelsea to replace Kepa during his bomb scare years. All of data suggests that he was a bang average goalkeeper, but the comparison to the very poor Kepa made him seem immense. It's kind of the other way round here, where Martinez is so good that the backup keeper is always going to look utterly crap in comparison. This was definitely not the case when Steer had to start.

Funny how it's quite widespread among fanbases that teams are "replacing 2-3 absolutely useless players" away from being good. It's clearly not true. McGinn and Luiz were among this group during the Gerr*ard era for instnace . Some of the crap I saw being hurled at McGinn in particular was shocking. Now he's arguably our best midfielder. Who knew that playing badly might be more nuanced than "he's starting, it's over because he's utter crap"? There also seems to be an obsession, especially on Twitter, with overhauling the squad and signing a bunch of players in a window even if there really isn't a need to. That often causes more bad than good.

There was anger and vitriol because he had the nerve to *play* in the bloody friendlies (where he ended up playing completely fine). It always goes far beyond valid criticism.

The Villa fanbase always has to be unbelievably toxic towards 2-3 players. It's embarassing. Now that we're a good team it's clearly becoming quite difficult, given how the target is now the backup keeper.

, per Spanish fans and some of the weird stories they've put out (like Raphinha to Villa for £70m)

9-8 to them. Bugger.

Fair enough, but then people would be demanding a goalkeeper better at shot-stopping! Ultimately, nobody is ever going to be truly happy with a backup keeper, the nature of the role means they have to be pretty mediocre (and if they aren't, they're leaving the next chance they get).

For backup goalkeepers, you're not going to get someone who is both a strong shot-stopper and adept at playing out from the back at a Premier League level. If they had those capabilities, they're not going to be a backup goalkeeper. It's a pipe dream.

Backup keepers aren't meant to be good. If they were Premier League level, they wouldn't be backups. The second Martinez showed he was Premier League quality at Arsenal, there was interest and he went. It's just a very odd position to recruit for. Liverpool managed with Adrian for years, we'll live.

I think there was a valid point (miraculously) within the Trust's statement: the treatment of some fans and surrounding communication does genuinely seem to have stank throughout. The rest of it just seems like a rant that goes nowhere about the commercialisation of the game. They aren't, thankfully. I heard from someone a few months ago that it got so bad a few years back (thanks to Gould in particular) that there were some interested in starting a breakaway trust, or something of the sorts. I laughed when their rant opened up bemoaning a lack of communication from the club. The irony is staggering given their complete inactivity bar the odd statement twice a year.

FWIW a reliable account:

oh dear

I never thought £3m + Onomah could be beat. Inter have blown that out of the water, and it's not even a contest.

I felt that especially under Gerrard and early Emery we seemed to get worse the more possession we had (no source). Only natural, given how Villa's squad has been constructed to heavily suit counter-attacking football (as most of the players were signed under Smith's watch). So excited to watch Tielemans and Torres who are elite technicians and are comfortable in possession.

Neat.

Just screams an agent wanting better terms who has invented a larger club's interest at the last-minute

I mean, that is true. We tried to sign him when Grealish left and got rejected. He clearly isn't skeptical anymore. https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2022/moussa-diaby-leverkusen-exit-likely-aston-villa-made-unsuccessful-contact/

In a good mood after Diaby so will believe this link regardless of how Italian media love to lie for no reason https://tuttomercatoweb.com/calcio-estero/tmw-aston-villa-all-assalto-di-almada-da-atlanta-chiedono-20-milioni-zaniolo-un-alternativa-1855222

lol. lmao.

EDIT - Damn you Villareport