Bomvilla7

3 hours ago, villan_007 said:

Countless examples of that not being true.

Fact. He's probably about to enter his best years. Goals are priceless no matter what way you look at it and he has proven himself in this league. 

I'm really pleased with this. He seems to have put his head down and focused on his game. I still think he is a long way off becoming a good PL quality player, but the talent there. Hopefully he will continue to flourish this season and make a positive impact on the pitch. The boy is the best thing to come out of our academy since Gabby (but lets hope the similarities end there!) and he will be an asset to this team for the foreseeable future. If he continues to develop and improve his game over the next 2/3 years, but we fail to get promoted, then you will be sure that he will collect a good fee for us.

3 hours ago, omariqy said:

Didn't really want to go through this on here but as some of you know I do a fair bit of work in football advising players on their finances. Through this I have met numerous people involved in academies and the England set up including scouts etc. I've heard from numerous people of high ranking and reputation that Villa's academy has been in need of a complete overhaul for about 3 years. We were once considered the very best and apparently we have become very complacent. It coincided with Brian Jones leaving I think. Pretty much everyone involved in academy football has said we should be the best purely because of our size and the area we have to choose from for players. I could go in to a lot of detail of what's gone wrong but I won't.

Sid Cowans will always be a Villa legend and not sure many love the club as much as him.

Thanks for the insight omariqy. I have to say I've had some frustrations over the past few years with regards to some of the 'talent' that has been coming through, yet fail to progress further. The size & draw of the club should have the best pick of players in the midlands (and potentially beyond). I expected the majority of our winning NextGen team to push on and challenge for a first team place but unfortunately that hasn't happened (I know it could be argued that managers didn't give them a chance but there must be two sides to every coin). Reading about what Mikey Drennan had to go through a few months back on a personal level when he was with the academy was a bitter pill to swallow. There should be more to an academy than just football, and clearly some lads had been let down in more ways than just getting a chance to be a part of the match day squad. If the setup is in due of an overhaul then its a great sign that Tony & co are willing to facilitate that too.

7 hours ago, briny_ear said:

It looks to me like he's already done it.

Quite possibly. It could be Randy under there after telling Tony that the squad was in 'great shape' and then headed for the hills.

1 hour ago, bobzy said:

He's a handy player.  He's shown that he's more than capable in the air and that alone is a huge bonus for any team.  I'm not sure he should be first choice every single game, but he has a big part to play this season and offers something different to McCormack/Ayew/Kodjia - that variation is a good thing.

Agreed. There will be certain times where we will play to his strengths, particularly if/when Amavi gets back on form. I think he will get enough game time to prove himself to RDM

42 minutes ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

 

4 minutes ago, sharkyvilla said:

Exactly, if he wanted to go he'd have gone.  Everyone that wanted out, went.  I just hope he starts to click with our other new forwards in the next few weeks so the greedy miserable tag he's been given is shown up as a load of shite.

I distinctly remember one post match interview he gave last season where he looked properly gutted that we had lost.

The sooner it comes together the better, there is a good player in there and despite all the performances last year he still showed he is capable at PL level.

Hi Everyone!

Long time Villa fan based in Dublin, but from Kerry originally. Been an occasional viewer but keen to contribute to discussion. Usually get over to see the Villa a few times a year. 

I apologise wholeheartedly for suggesting we sign Aiden McGeady several years ago on the old site when I was an idiot teenager! 

hahaha collins just threw himself at the ball, completely missed then celebrated like he scored! lol!

ashley is really benefitting from that armband today, playing great!

time for the fonz me thinks.. Heskey just lookes wrecked now.

Come on REO!! lets out aother in and see this one out!

id bring on Pires abd NRC to settle things down now and see us out.

BOOM!!! CUELLAR!! MY BALL!!

Lichaj's looking solid so far.

agreed. been quietly impressed with him so far i must say.

jesus warnock is getting destroyed over there..

YYYEEEEESSS!!! Alby you little menace!!

wtf was warnock at there!?! lucky.

we need to settle down and take control of the games more. Would like to see Downing and Alby on the ball more and taking players on.

We will spend ! 2 minimum coming in striker not sorted yet though . He will spend big if the right ones are there but it might then impinge on the summer budget imo .

thanks MM! good news, hopefully jan prices wont be disasterous though

I wish Delfouneso was playing, if there was a game to give him some experience this would be it.

From what I've heard, his attitude hasn't been great.

hmm interesting enough.. maybe its cos hes not being idolised by GH like he was by MON?? dunno but its as obvious as hell that albrighton,bannan and clark have all jumped ahead of him this season.. dont know how though because up front is where we are despeartely short.. im sure we'll see him at some point tonight though and hopefully bang 1 in.

i was just hopeing that he would score a goal or two and get his confidence up, an on form carew would certainly do us well with the run of games we have coming up..

suppose Ireland will get 90 mins to show his stuff instead.. cant be a bad thing that..

what happened to carew?? any info?

happy with the team to be fair... think if we get off to a good start we should have no problem and be able to use all the subs and give some players a run out before the derby.. 3 nil plz, carew to get 2 and ireland to come on and get the last.

but at least we would have a larger transfer kitty to at least stand still at the moment i can see us just fading into midtable obscurity with a whimper perhaps he's happy with us finishing there every season churning out a profit

A larger transfer kitty doesn't really catch it though does it, to get into the top four in this league might cost us another £300m. As we are, we're comfortably in the top half and we've every chance of pushing for sixth again.

Spending ten million doesn't really change that, twenty million doesn't either. Pushing for the top four has become much more expensive since Randy took over, four years ago you would have thought £30m a year in spending would give you a chance, now it would get you nowhere near.

We could go out now and spend £40m and be fifth - and bust.

Faced with that, I think we're playing the right game - we're holding and waiting for a weakness or an opportunity.

agreed! quality point. but then that raises the question of if its even possible to get into the top 4 without being mega rich.. and then where does that leave football?? a billionaires hobby.. dull times ahead me thinks