wilko154

My life on this forum... Walk into thread... realise it's turned into a Bruce Out thread... Walk out of thread

We already signed a young centre back in Jacob Bedeau last season, although I doubt he will make a first team appearance for a while.

I'm not so sure, Hutton kept Bree out of the team last season. Is Hutton better than De Laet? No doubt about it Bree has the potential to be the best RB at the club

For me one of our 3 RB's should be sold if De Laet is starting the season fully fit. He may have filled in at CB or LB in the past, but we have had square pegs in round holes for too many seasons now. A backup CB should be a CB. For me we bought De Laet as a first choice RB and that's where he should start the season (if fit), he then has the bonus of being an option at LB or CB if absolutely necessary.

So the board minus Xia are responsible for this seasons failure? Realistically a 7th/8th place position would have been acceptable in the first season in the Championship after the horror show in the Premiership the previous season. We would have all liked automatic or playoffs but when you look at how bad we were... people are writing off Sunderlands chances already but we were on par with them if not worse. The fact we finished 13th is down to the restructuring of the team, the amount of players we brought in during each window and the lack of tactical structure during the season as a whole from the management. Yes the board made the wrong decision in RDM but I wouldn't say the seasons failing are completely down to them.

Maybe a cheeky bid for Brad Guzan whilst we are at it?

Probably not... Jack Grealish is currently filling me with false hope that Abraham will sign for us with Instagram photos with him most days... Personally think he is now Premiership standard but we shall see.

Whilst De Laet has been injured, Bree has been at the club since January and not been able to displace Hutton from the team... I wouldn't say he is a better option (although I'm sure he will become a better player with age) I just think we have a lot of deadwood at the club to be shifting before Hutton.

Not really sure what selling one of last seasons better players would achieve...

Hutton to Bristol City doing the rounds. Surely untrue

And if he proves himself in the Champions League whilst we are playing poorly in the Championship do you think he would be happy to come back and not look for a permanent way out? Think we are going to need him to hit the ground running as soon as he is fit and ready, as we did with Benteke a few years ago. Until then McCormack and Hogan are going to have to provide the goals, with hopefully a midfield behind them that supplies them instead of hit and hope long balls as we saw this season.

'Shit fan' was never the intention of my post. No fan is a shit fan, I don't believe in any of that nonsense. The point I am trying to make, perhaps poorly, is that at this level whilst we are playing Championship football showing all of our games live would be detrimental to the attendances at games. Attendances at the games are proven to generate income for the club and and an atmosphere that can improve the performance of the players on the pitch. As a Premiership side, where you are managing to fill the stadium consistently then I agree showing games would be good for those who are unable to make it due to family, financial, illness related reasons.

Barry Bannan absolutely bossing this game so far. Jonathan Hogg also looks pretty good for Huddersfield

Both of these sides are so much better than us... I thought keeping possession was a myth

The main argument here seems to be that we have wasted a lot of money... but have we. Realistically we had to spend a lot of money to overhaul our complete squad. Let me take you back a year to our final game of last season... here is our squad vs Arsenal Bunn Lyden Bacuna Lescott Toner Cissokho Westwood Sanchez Gueye Sinclair Ayew Do we honestly think we would have finished any higher in the league with that?! Now lets take you back to the start of the season, first game against Wednesday Gollini Hutton Elphick Baker Cissokho Bacuna Westwood Gardner Ayew McCormack Gestede Do we honestly think we would have finished any higher in the league with that for the entire season? We are improving, but it's not going to happen overnight. The squad is so much stronger than it was this time last year, but again it's going to take time for it all to come together. A summer of stability without spending shed loads of money is exactly what this club needs this time around.

I think you are missing the point that if we overspend this summer we will face fines and loss of points which could result in us losing the right for promotion should we achieve it In reality Tony Xia has done everything he has said he would do and more... we have one of if not the best squad in the Championship and it is now down to the manager, coaches and players to achieve promotion. We have enough players in our squad to offload to bankroll bringing in a couple more players in the positions we require. Give the bloke a chance, he's only been in charge of the club for season, it's not going to all happen overnight.

Great idea if it is a paid service for people to watch outside of the UK, creating an extra source of income for the club. For those complaining about not being able to access in the UK... get a ticket to the game. Winds me up when people complain that Villa Park should be full every week yet they dont actually go themselves.

Twisted ankle, will be fine for pre season

He hasn't aged well

These are all must's for me this summer GK - Potentially Johnstone (he has ended the season well) but a more experienced head could well be required. Also a reserve keeper is needed unless we continue with Bunn. DM - Desperately needed, we look weaker when Jedinak is not available and it will allow CH & HL to push on and do their job further forward. Has Barry still got the legs for it? LW & RW - One of each, our creative outlets are almost non existent which is easily seen from the lack of goals. Brighton & Newcastle were both well stocked with wingers and look how they got on this season... Quality wingers are a must with Adomah & Green then pushing for starting places against them.

Crazy statistic of the day... With all of the comparisons between Benteke & Kodjia This season Kodjia has played 36 games and scored 19 goals After Benteke's first 36 games at Villa he had also scored 19 goals Spooky

Only reason I keep dipping into this thread

It's going to be nice to see a bit of silverware at Villa Park this season...