NeilS

I see Collymore is suggesting Digne to Newcastle as a viable alternative to Tierney. What happened with Targett there? He seems to have dropped off the radar, and it would be a kick in the teeth to be replaced by Digne again. SVC suggests Digne as a decent option for Newcastle United Stan Collymore, has suggested who Howe might want to bring in if he isn’t able to get a deal for Kieran Tierney over the line. “In terms of who Eddie Howe should target if he misses out on Tierney, I think Lucas Digne would be a great alternative,” Collymore said in an exclusive interview. “Alex Moreno has come in at Aston Villa and has made himself Unai Emery’s first-choice left-back so you would think Digne could be a player that moves on in the summer. “He’s a senior international that has represented France on 46 occasions so he has a wealth of experience. He’s also played for some big clubs and isn’t yet 30 years old so he could be a decent option for the Magpies to consider. Howe would certainly improve him too.” Given Digne’s experience at Paris Saint-Germain, Roma and Barcelona, the Frenchman could be a solid addition for a club that is clearly going places.

Your first error is to give credit to anything Dermot Gallagher says. He was a useless referee in his day, epitomised by his failure to red card Ben Thatcher for his assault on Pedro Mendes. He pretty much always backs his buddies from PGMOL because it is the code they all adhere to. Your second error is to watch Sky who pander to all the SL6, and would be happiest if they were all winning every week. Did they mention why Ollie Watkins foul wasn’t given as a penalty? If I were a betting man I would say not.

I can’t recall seeing Lo Celso ever play, what kind of role would he play in our midfield? Going off the stats (not the full story I know) he hasn’t been a prolific scorer. The brief YouTube clips (i know, I know) that I have seen make him look like a link man or someone who would sit deep in front of the back four and transition play. By that I mean a role like better version/ more combative version of Ashley Westwood who can break up play and thread a good pass forward? Is that fair, or wide of the mark?

That used to be the case, for instance Gabby being fouled by sha in a match where their player grazed the ball then bought Gabby down. Penalty awarded. Then for some bizarre reason, a couple of seasons ago we had a last minute penalty overturned against I think Brighton. Because the ball had grazed the studs of their player before he bought down our player Trezeguet. So I think the rule has been changed at some point, albeit a daft change as the way you interpret the rule should be correct. The law makers of the game do nobody any favours with changing the rules. A little bit of a tidy up to clear up a rule is fine, but a change to the way something is interpreted just adds further confusion.

He is obviously still raw and work in progress, but looks to be strong and reasonably quick with potential. I have two concerns that come to mind after watching im live for the first time on Saturday. Firstly a small concern is that he needs to calm down in certain situations, he lunged in on one tackle on the half way line which was unnecessary, that should come with experience. The main concern for me was when he had an ideal opportunity to play Ollie clean through late on in the match on Saturday. If he had used his right foot to curl the pass around the only Spurs defender it was a simple enough pass, but he stretched and tried to use the outside of his left foot and hit it straight to the Spurs defender. It was not there to be passed like that, and he appears to be very one footed. Hopefully this was a rush to the head, and his use of his right foot can be improved.

I think that was the tackle that finally got Romero the yellow. He should have already been on one for kicking through the back of Watkins leg earlier for the free kick from which Dougie scored.

I am not sure the defender touched it. I have watched it again on IPlayer, on the MotD highlights they show the tackle from behind the defender/front on view to Ollie and I really can't see a touch by the defender on the ball. Maybe I am being blind, or maybe with the aid of slow motion or a snickometer it becomes apparent but Ollie flicks it round him as he dives in in my opinion. That adds to your quickest check of all time comment, it was not obvious if there was a defenders touch at first glance. I doubt they gave it more than a seconds glance especially considering how long they took on Kane's penalty claim. I was going to add that Ollie needs to learn the dark arts of milking these fouls a bit more to get the decisions, but then recall Lloris taking him out a couple of seasons ago at WHL which couldn't have been a more blatant penalty. I am wondering whether Ollie coming through the Football pyramid and learning his trade away from the PL he hasn't been programmed in the dark arts. I do think you are right about the England regulars getting favours from referees, that has always been a thing since I was watching as a young lad. I recall Shilton dropping a crossed ball with nobody within a foot of him at VP and being awarded a free kick. Bryan Robson seemed to get away with a lot as well.

Yep, but they do need to answer that. I know they won’t though, or they will just shrug it off. I would love to bump into The VAR official, present him with the two decisions and hear him squirm as he tries to explain the difference in ruling. I can understand different people having different interpretations in different matches, this one there is no excuse.

Even if the VAR can justify that as an obvious error and a penalty, which I am sure they will. They need to then explain why Watkins being clattered into by the Spurs defender in the box in the first half wasn’t treated the same. Watkins was clearly fouled after he had passed the ball!

Also to add, Our game is not a blood and thunder, kick and rush style game, but a more considered slow build up play. We should be ok as a result of that style of play in my opinion.

Yeah I know, it has been this way since I started following Villa in the early 80’s. It is bloody frustrating that we are referee’d to different standards in the same match, especially when they have the technology to see much more clearly. They just choose not to now, it is blatant.

And the one on Watkins from yesterday, same VAR who thought Kane’s was a penalty , but didn’t think Watkins was fouled. No consistency from the same Ref. I think it was Jarred Gillette on VAR, questions need to be asked why he took two very different decisions in the same game?

Yep, no surprises. Sweep it under the rug, and retain the status quo. It was closer than I first thought at the match, but his knee looked offside to me, I don’t recall seeing the lines being brought out by the pundits afterwards though. I wonder why?

Ok, MOTD showed the non foul on Watkins in the first half. Why was that not reviewed? I know why it was not reviewed, you can guarantee if that was Kane VAR would have found a way to give that!

That’s true, the fouls was on the D but the momentum took Ollie a couple of yards away. I also cannot believe he didn’t book their player (Romero I think) who kick him from behind. I said to the guy next to me it was on the D, but it might be better to be a little further out. Thankfully for once I was right and we scored. You are correct though, Bankes the referee was awful and gave us absolutely nothing all match, I was just looking for one small ray of light in that shit show of a refereeing performance .

On a side note, the referee did give us a generous ten yards for Spurs Wall when Dougie scored. Spurs players were moaning at the ref while we were celebrating.

I thought in live play he was offside, but I was a long way from the action in block A2 in the Trinity. I would like to see it again on tv to see for sure. I doubt we will get shown that part though, and the pundit talk will be how clever Kane is to draw the penalty.

I wasn’t sure about him earlier in the season, but he has proven me totally wrong. He has gone up to a new level in the last few months. Very impressive today and the last few times I have seen him. The arse turn on Kane was a sight to behold.

Great set up for our first, it was almost a carbon copy of the set up for Dougie in the Bournemouth match. I think he did well today, and that he can be happy with that after a spell out.

Yep, I expected that to be 1-1. Martinez has done that a few times this season. I would say he is the best keeper we have had in my 40 odd years of supporting the Villa. We need to make sure we keep him, I am fairly confident he will be here next season. I feel he is happy here, and we are making big strides to match his ambition.

Ah ok, it was hard to see from where I was sitting. So a bit like the one against Cash a year or two back where he “bought it”.

PS I thought McGinn was excellent, the arse roll on Kane was fantastic!

Just back from the match, a bit nervy at the end but a well deserved win. Referee was as biased/corrupt/inept (take your pick) as they come. Offside, ok yeah we will let you take the free kick in the wrong half of the pitch. Romero I think kicks through the back of Watkins before our second goal no booking, McGinn booked first half for similar. Also, why are the officials allowing play to progress with Son when he is clearly offside when he receives the ball, at what point do they think ok 10-20 seconds later I will flag him now, at no point does he suddenly become ok and onside. What a joke! Anyway, Very pleased with the win, we should have had a second goal before HT through Buendia. I don’t think Spurs had one shot in the half. We were a little sloppy after half time allowing Spurs a bit of a foothold in the match and a chance for Kane which he should have buried. The second goal looked to have killed the game until VAR gets involved, was it clear and obvious error not to give the penalty? I will have to watch it later as I was too far away to tell, my impression from block A2 was Emi pushed the ball away, also he looked offside initially on the run.

It looks like there could be bad news for our owners efforts to set up a MLS franchise. Us Villa fans may have to put on hold those pre-season tours to Las Vegas. The talk a few years ago, was that Las Vegas would not be sustainable place to inhabit in a few years. I think from the documentry I watched that Las Vegas would run out of water to sustain the population, so this may be a blessing in disguise unless those threats have been dealt with in the mean time? Taken from The Villa Notebook on Birmingham Live SETBACK FOR LAS VEGAS VILLAINS Staying in the States and an investment group in San Diego are now in pole position to race ahead of Sawiris’ and Edens’ ambitious Las Vegas Villains project to become the MLS’ 30th franchise in 2025. It’s been reported that a $500m deal has been struck with the new side to play at the 35,000-capacity Snapdragon Stadium just north of the Mexican border in San Diego. An announcement is expected within the next two weeks. As for Edens’ and Sawiris’ vision to expand their V Sports portfolio into the MLS, plans have failed to progress despite an 110-acre plot near the famous Las Vegas Strip being identified as a future home for Las Vegas Villains. Speaking previously, Edens told the Review-Journal: “It takes a couple of years to build a stadium if you’re all set to go. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get to that place but we are very eager to start as soon as we can.”

It would be Emi Martinez for me. Games are won on fine margins, and Emi has made some amazing blocks and saves at crucial points in a match which has probably helped stay in front and win us matches.