wilko154

Spiderman finished, really great storyline, enjoyed it. God of War next up, can't wait to play it, heard some good things.

I could have put a better business plan together than some of those idiots. How can you leave out the figures? Baffling. Carina should win this for being the only one with a remote idea of what they are doing.

No it's not a big issue, but we have the option to play a left footed centre back at left centre back. Why not play Hause, he did a superb job when he came in last season. We bought him as cover for Mings for exactly this reason.

It really does. Read this article, it explains exactly why you should play left footed/right footed players at centre back if you have the option. It's both for defensive reasons and attacking reasons for playing the ball out from the back inside the pitch rather than outside. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1965610-analysing-the-importance-of-a-left-foot-right-balance-in-central-defence

Heaton Guilbert Engels Hause Targett Luiz McGinn Grealish Treazeguet Wesley El Ghazi Hause over Konsa, we need a left sided defender to be able to play out from the back. I would bring Grealish back into the midfield for this game, use two wingers and try and get them closer to Wesley. McGinn needs a rest but this is our toughest game, by bringing Grealish closer to him we may see him back to his best.

I would be tempted to play Hause and Engels on Saturday. Hause is the natural left sided centre back to replace Mings, together with Engels they have a real chance of forming a decent partnership. Nothing against Konsa but he's had a good run in the side, I just think he would be served better on the right hand side learning from Mings.

1. Most of our crosses in recent games are balls being flung into the box with little attempt to find Wesley. Granted he needs to work on getting into the right position at times. 2. Everyone panicked on the ball, Leicester were better than us in all areas. Wesley was being asked to hold the ball up with no one around him to help. 3. Ok 4. Tammy used to do this as well, no one complained then. He's getting frustrated as we are adapting our game to help him, we aren't getting players near to him to help him. 5. Davis is injured, Hogan is pants 6. I probably agree with this, but he's shown against Everton and Norwich that he can do it. It's getting this out of him on a consistent basis.

The perspective of some of our fans is honestly baffling. We've played some of the best sides in England, possibly Europe, and our new 21 year old striker hasn't had the best of games. He's literally played against some of the best defences in the league and our fans are battering him for not performing, not winning every ball, not scoring goals. We've created nothing for him, we've not got players close to him to help with the burden and we've constantly thrown long balls to a player who isn't a target man. I really really hope he pulls out some performances over the next few weeks and shoves the words back down some of our fans throats.

I think a deals in place for January and the club are keen for Kodjia not to pick up an injury ahead of this. 3 million towards a new striker and Kodjia off the wage books. I also think we would potentially be a lot weaker with Kodjia in the side, although giving him 20 minutes at the end of games would perhaps be an idea. He's a very lazy player and doesn't put himself about as much as Wesley does. Granted in his first season he was superb, but injuries have changed his game.

Christ the overreactions are incredible. Lets get some things straight: 1) We were playing the second best team in the country, and one of the most in form teams in Europe. They were always going to be better than us. 2) We've just come up from the Championship after a 3 year spell away from the PL. Games against the top 6 were always going to be hard and we came into the season expecting a few beatings. 3) Just because we spent some money over the Summer doesn't mean we have a fantastic team straight away. It's going to take a few seasons of fine tuning, players finding their feet, more signings, coaching etc before we really get the best out of the team. Some people are acting as though we should be beating teams like Utd, Chelsea, Leicester. Today we were poor, no doubt about it. But Leicester were really very good, probably the best side we've faced this season. At times we tried too hard to force openings, misplacing passes, taking too long on the ball. Grealish didn't have the best of games but he's being hindered by those around him. Defensively we were poor, however Vardy and Ineacheo were a real handful and we didn't deal with the long ball to them well enough; we were also massively hindered by the loss of Mings. McGinn desperately needs a rest. Wesley needs taking out of the firing line if all we are going to do is utilise him as a target man, which is not what he is; unfortunately I have no idea what he actually is. Smith however doesn't seem keen on giving Kodjia a run out. Games like these aren't the games that will define our season, it's the games coming up that are the important games and where we must pick up points and performances. We move on after being taught a footballing lesson, the same lesson that many teams in this league will face from Leicester this season. Sheffield United next week and the battle to stay in this league begins.

Haven't read the comments below so may be repeating some stuff. I train every week, some months I change my workout plans train for a few months and make absolutely no progress in or visible changes to my body. I know how you feel it's incredibly down heartening. However, the key is to change up your routines. Shock your body into different exercises, different weights and different rep amounts. I use an app called FitNotes. You can enter your workouts and it tracks the weight you lift, the reps and the amount of sets. You tick them off as you go each session, and increase the weights ready for the next session. It's worth taking a look at. If I am lifting 30kg dumbells on my chest press for 4 sets but on my 4th set I try a 32kg dumbell; next week I will do the same or maybe try the 32kg dumbell on set 3 & 4. I usually find a plan online and enter it into the app. Currently I do Chest and Biceps, Back, Legs, Shoulders and Triceps most of these are 8 reps or 10 reps. Do this workout for say 2 months, make sure you hit all 4 sessions each week. After 2 months I find a new plan online, a few different exercises but 6 sets/6 reps. I'll set up the workout on my app and for the next 2 months I'll lift heavier, again 4 sessions a week. The first week or two is hard, it then gets easier as the body adjusts. Also sounds like you may have tennis elbow (I've had this before and took ages to heal). Drop out the exercises it hurts most on for a bit and they should heal. As for press ups, do them on your knees at home every two nights. 100 press ups, not consecutive. Will take some time but eventually you'll be able to do a few without your knees and then you can build from there. Don't get too preoccupied by lifting the heaviest weights. It's more about getting the reps in with good form rather than lifting heavier weights.

Chelsea's transfer ban lifted. So in one window we missed the chance to sign Tammy. Pretty gutting! Chelsea will be some force from January, they have a lot of money in the bank to strengthen a very good young side.

Taken me over 24 hours to get to this after a disappointing trip to Stamford Bridge. Went into the game expecting a loss after seeing Tammy on the team sheet, however was hoping for a performance similar to Old Trafford last week. Unfortunately that didn't happen. Frustrations for me was our inability to keep hold of the ball and work it through our midfield. Whereas last week I praised a lot of players for their efforts this week is a polar opposite. It has to be said that Chelsea really were a superior opposition and players such as Willian surprised me seeing them live and how good they actually are. Heaton was class as always, he's our best goalkeeper since Bosnich and he's already saved us points this season. He kept the scoreline down on Wednesday with some fantastic saves. Elmo was pretty solid for a backup player, as was Targett at left back. Konsa and Mings were both poor. Konsa looked shaky and Mings looked like he had ricket in him with every pass out from the back. I would bring Engels back in this Sunday to try and restore the Mings/Engels stabillity. Hourihane and McGinn were both ineffective. For me it wasn't a game that suited Hourihane, he's much better when we have the majority of possession. McGinn looks tired and off the pace, nothing seems to be coming off for him right now and he needs a rest over the festive period for at least a game or two. Nakamba was Nakamba, broke up the play but had little help. Grealish was good in spells but got caught more than usual. Unfortunately it was a game where Mount looked the better player due to the quality he had around him. Jack seemed to be stifled out of the game by Kante which was clearly Chelsea's game plan. I would consider bringing him back into centre midfield over the next few weeks, we need to get him on the ball more and back next to McGinn to try and get the best out of him. Trezeguet was good in patches. Wesley... didn't do enough for me. I've defended him, and I still think he will come good, but it's time to take him out of the firing line and give Kodjia a go (something Smith seems reluctant to do) It's the hope that kills you in games like this. The way we got back into the game before half time was really good, we played some good football and then came back out after the break and undid it all. All in all though you can't be too disappointed losing to a top 6 side, although it feels as though we've said that a lot this season. Onto Sunday where we will need a rocking Villa Park to get something from the game, with a hopefully much improved performance.

Well it's taken this thread to realise that other than Fifa 20 I haven't actually played a 2019 released game this year.

Completely agree with this. I would break the bank to sign Mitrovic in January, I think he would in fit in perfectly to our team and would score a lot of goals in the second half of the season. If that's what it takes to stay in the Premier League next season it would be more than worthwhile.

I can relate to this as I thought I had similar but unnoticed. I now realise it's a bruise from it thudding into the bottom of the urinal each day.

So you're writing off Jota after 5 Premier League appearances whilst requiring a hernia operation? He isn't a pacey winger in the mould of AEG or Trez but he is certainly skillful enough for this level, it's just how Smith can utilise him in a team.

Micah Richards

All very easy to blame Mings for complacency on the ball or trying to do too much on the ball. It's easy to say drop him for Konsa/Engels. The fact is Mings is our best central defender who can play out from the back. Konsa is good as well, but 90% of the time the ball is given to Mings to play out. When this happens he is the central defender most likely to make mistakes with distribution. Unfortunately yesterday his mistake cost us, but he made up for it with the goal. We are certainly making a lot less defensive errors than Norwich, and less than Fulham made the season before. It's a team that will improve and Mings is in the category too.

Still playing Spider-Man on PS4, it's brilliant if not a bit repetitive. I'm finding swinging around the city collecting the various collectibles more fun than the main storyline. Once I'm done I'm going to return to The Last of Us for The Last of Us: Left Behind which I can't wait to play. Then onto God of War.

Brilliant day yesterday, paying for it today with a headache and a hangover after getting back fairly late from Manchester. Highlight of the day was singing 'You're not famous anymore' to the United fans leaving Old Trafford early. Once again we pulled a performance out of the bag; first half we were magnificent, second half a combination of showing them too much respect and tiring let them back into the game. However pulling ourselves back into the game after conceding was a massive statement for the team. Defensively I was a little worried in the second half, notably Mings made a few errors but then made up for it with his goal. The full backs and Konsa were fairly solid throughout, and Heaton was brilliant once again. The midfield worked hard, Luiz was good, Hourihane was good in patches, McGinn looks like he needs a rest. If we can get McGinn back to his best the midfield could really start clicking this month. Both El Ghazi and Trezeguet are proving to be dangerous, and Wesley did enough yesterday to prove there some potential there, he just really needs another goal. And once again Jack Grealish was majestic. He is now the complete the footballer that so many thought he could become when he first become known about in the youth team. He drags the team by the scuff of its neck and creates things out of nothing to get us results. Absolutely phenomenal footballer and a privilege to watch each week. Bring on Wednesday!

Absolutely not. He's world class but he's only recently signed a new deal. There's going to a wage structure in place at Villa that will slowly increase year on year as the rebuild continues, each season we can push up his wages if needs be. If we go all in with offering him 200k a week now suddenly all our players will be demanding pay rises, the long term financial stability of the club will be fractured and Jacks drive and desire may be dented. It's working as it is, no need to change anything right now.

I actually said this to my missus the other night as I drove to Stansted. It's almost as if they are leaving their full beams on.

Went for the job interview last Monday, decided on a shirt, trousers and tie. Feedback the next day was good, pending an approval for an increase in the salary to match my current salary. All sorted on Thursday and the job offer was received. Looking forward to a few beers and an away day to celebrate tomorrow.