wilko154

Looks as though their Number 1 has left so it's between two of them to challenge for the first team spot. https://livingstonfc.co.uk/theres-a-new-keeper-in-town/

It begins... Kalinic sale next? Followed by Butland announcement?

No chance we will ever move from Villa Park. We are slightly limited on space but there is so much that could be done for a lot cheaper than buying land and then building a new stadium. Spread over the next 10-15 years: Knock down the North Stand and corners. Build a new North Stand with the exterior in the 'Leitch' mould, interior modernized. Link the corners in to the Trinity and the Doug Ellis to give 3/4 of the ground a bowl like shape on the interior. Build the club shop, museum, fan park etc into the new North Stand. Rename the North Stand. Back to the Witton End for me. Potentially update the exterior of the Trinity in the 'Leitch' mould. Knock down the Doug Ellis Stand. Build a new Doug Ellis Stand. Either build it in the same mould of the Trinity over the road behind, or buy the land behind to bring it back. Exterior in the 'Leitch' mould, interior modernized. Rename the Doug Ellis Stand. Look at modernising the Holte End without taking away any of it's look and feel if at all possible.

Why was Tuanzebe not playing for England U21's? They were an absolute shambles in defence.

I'm intrigued, although I don't own a Switch, is it Mario 64 good?

Ticket sorted for this one, fairplay they are going quick! Just a brief glimpse of the demand for away tickets next season.

If I was buying Newcastle I certainly wouldn't buy right now. They are surely favorites for relegation with their current squad and no Benitez. The club suddenly becomes a whole lot cheaper in May.

'Sweet Caroline' is song for semi-finals and cup finals, not after every game. On the odd occasion like the playoffs it's great, every week after a win is small time. Next we'll be asking for goal music. We need to find our own song, 'Don't look back In Anger' has been good for a period but isn't something I want us to keep long term. Hi Ho Silver Lining after games works for me, but you can't beat the atmosphere from the stands after a win. Some of the best after game atmospheres last season came after wins belting out 'Allez Allez Allez' with the players celebrating in front of us.

It's nice to be in a position where I almost entirely trust the board, the coach and the scouting team. Imagine still having Xia, Bruce and their teams in charge of the club going into this summer rebuild. Frightening.

I could add a few things, small changes that would make a big difference on a match day for fans. The main issue I have with my phone at Villa Park is that I can't get the team lineup up before kickoff as I have no signal, other than that I wouldn't be bothered at all. Is there anyway they can get the team lineups displayed on the big TV outside the Holte End and on the screens inside the concourses? Wipe down the TV's in the concourses, covered in beer stains. Fix the clocks in the Holte End concourses, none of them run accurately. Card machines on the bars in the Holte Pub and Holte Suite, would make payments quicker, service quicker and make the club more cash. Bars outside the ground in the Holte & North Stand car parks? Pop up bars like many clubs have, would create an atmosphere before kickoff. I'm sure I'll think of a few more this week.

Does anyone know much about Nakamba? What sort of player is he? Is there an example of a player like him?

I would agree, goalkeepers seem to be a major problem area at Villa (bar Steer), international keepers we have brought in are just not adapting to the English game quick enough.

The problem with the Championship players is that you end up overpaying massively due to that player being the clubs best player. It's a bit like Grealish, last season he wasn't really worth £35 million in the transfer market, but his value to Aston Villa was worth £35 million plus due to his importance for the team. Maupay isn't a £20 million striker, but his importance to Brentford make his value much higher than it realistically is.

Heaton would be absolutely pointless, at 33 years old he would only last another 1-2 years at PL level. I would much rather we go for Butland, granted he's expensive, but he has potential to go onto become the England number one as well as increasing his value if he were to move on. It's all about building for the future now, whether the players go on to improve at Villa or improve and move on for a profit. We need to become sustainable as well as progressing in terms of quality. When you bring in older players it's essentially a short term fix, you pay high wages for a player whose performances slowly decrease with age. It's a mistake we made over and over in the PL after the Martin O'Neil era, and ultimately lead us into relegation.

In fairness there are some similarities between the two.

Yeh but... Brad Guzan/Height 6′ 4″

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Interesting line about his time in Slovakia at Trencin from The Times article I shared. Seem's the language won't be too much of an issue. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/how-wesley-moraes-arrived-at-aston-villa-via-brazil-slovakia-and-belgium-6pcslldbn

Article in The Times on Wesley https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/how-wesley-moraes-arrived-at-aston-villa-via-brazil-slovakia-and-belgium-6pcslldbn

This, we brought in Nyland last season who's distribution was up there with the best I've seen from a Villa keeper, unfortunately he was horrible at the goalkeeping basics. Next season we will likely need someone to save shots rather than be a focal point playing out from the back, and even so I'm sure Butland is just as capable as Steer.

I think there's a few people getting slightly carried away with this transfer window, it's all well and good bringing in players where needed (and there are a lot needed). However replacing too many players will have a negative effect, we can't just let Kodjia, Green, Taylor, Elmo, & Steer all go. For one you need to replace all of these players even if they are backups to the first team, we have a big enough job on our hands just getting players in to fill our first team. Secondly it may well negatively impact the dressing room, not having many players left from last season. Going up to the PL successfully is all about building a PL squad over multiple transfer windows. We buy a left back this window who will hopefully be our starting left back, Taylor get's pushed to backup and competes for the shirt. Next season we replace Taylor with a new left back who will push for the starting place even harder. The same goes for right back and left wing, anywhere that there is a weakness in depth.

Good for you, you're in the row behind me. Hope you aren't expecting to sit down during games

In terms of the away scheme I am hoping it's scrapped, it gives an unfair advantage to those who don't regularly attend away games and means many who do miss out at the smaller allocation games.

I wonder what the club will do next season for existing season ticket holders, a price jump of 10% seems slightly unfair given that we've followed them through thick and thin.