wilko154

Think the injuries have actually hit us harder than people realise. I agreed with everything you said in terms of recruitment, we did well with the players we brought in and it was always going to take time for some of the players to adapt to the PL. The problem lately has stemmed from injuries to Mings, McGinn, Wesley and Heaton. At the time of the season you would be hoping the team would gel and start to improve we have had to adapt to missing big players in games, juggling new centre back variations, new midfield variations and playing midfielders up front. I'm hoping that after the January business is concluded we will start to stabilize and the performances and results will improve.

Guilbert will be playing tonight judging from his Instagram

So much complaining earlier in the season about ticket availability at Villa Park. Semi Final of a cup and we haven't sold out.

Reina Guilbert Konsa Mings Hause Targett Nakamba Drinkwater Grealish Vassiliev El Ghazi Biggest mistake Smith made last week was playing Trez & Grealish both wide whilst playing wing backs. Completely pointless. Jack needs to be in the middle of the pitch dictating play, this then allows Drinkwater and Nakamba to do the dirty work behind him. Alternatively we could scrap the 3 at the back as it seems to be causing us more problems than answers right now. Reina Guilbert Engels Mings Targett Nakamba Drinkwater Grealish Trez Vassilez El Ghazi Luiz to come off the bench in the second half for a 20-30 minute period to inject some quality into the side.

Can he play against Leicester next week?

Messi has the same problem.

Personally thought he changed the game on Saturday. He was the only player pressing other than Grealish all game. His press created panic and mistakes in the Brighton defence for the 20 minutes he was on the pitch. I didn't think he was ready either until I watched him on Saturday. I would start him up front alongside El Ghazi or Trezeguet tomorrow.

Now in terms of recruitment itself, and I will no doubt repeat this in other threads shortly. Selling your only fit striker ahead of your second relegation 6 pointer is without doubt a ridiculous decision for a Premier League club.

This is a huge bonus for us tomorrow night. https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11686/11913476/ismaila-sarr-watford-set-for-anxious-wait-on-wingers-hamstring-injury

I certainly didn't expect all of our new players to come in and perform like superstars straight away. The mix of foreign talent and young talent that we brought in over the Summer was always going to produce a mixed bag of results (in my opinion). It can take some players a full year to get up to speed with the Premier League, and that's playing in a side that's not battling for survival. The fact we've had to buy players for almost every position, and so have a squad that haven't all played together is also a direct factor into the performances we have seen. I would expect if we can stay up then next season we will start to see the best of some of the players we have.

Disagree completely. We are rebuilding at the moment, it was always going to take a couple of seasons to build the squad up to a PL side. Unfortunately the injuries have really hurt us this season, McGinn being out has left a huge hole in the middle of the pitch that we unfortunately haven't been able to fill. No doubt about it some of the performances from new players haven't been great, but again it was to be expected. If we can stay up this season then we have a chance to bring in some real quality next season to combine with the young squad we currently have.

White House Farm has been brilliant so far. Before my time so I don't actually know the details which may make it a bit more interesting to watch.

He looks like an absolute melt

I don't want to get anyone's hopes up here but there's an agent at Villa Park with a player...

Rumours on Twitter this morning are that Slimani will be signed today. We have 2 hours to get it over the line in order to register him for tomorrow's game. Cutting it fine!

I take it we have a striker coming in on loan in the next 3 hours to play up front tomorrow and Tuesday...

This may have already been covered, but if we rushed him in for a medical at 1am this morning are we hoping we can get him signed with a permit ready for tomorrows squad? Possibly clutching at straws but seems a bit random.

Kodjia not in the squad for Saturday. Davis still injured. No striker again... fantastic.

Not being in place for Brighton is annoying, I imagine Watford may also come too soon. Hard to understate how crucial these two games are to our season. We could really be cut adrift without wins, and having no striker in place will be a major part of that.

So watched two films yesterday: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood - Strange film as most Tarantino's are. Very slow paced but by the end of it I enjoyed it. Surprised how little I know about the Manson murders, is there a film or series that covers them in any depth? 1917 - Superb, up there with Saving Private Ryan. If the film had lasted another two hours I would happily have sat there. Really hit home what some of the guy's went through in WW1. Would highly reccomend.