jackbauer24

I'm worried they might get relegated. There is a chance they could enjoy next season and win a 'title' that they celebrate for the next 100 years. Is it not best to keep them in a perpetual state of depression circling around the drain in an unimportant league rather than even give them moments of happiness?! But maybe I'm being unfair... I suppose they may sink down League One too and then be dissolved, ultimately selling their ground to Coventry City...

Think the ratings above speak volumes, 170ish votes for MOTM and only 4 of them are for a midfielder and none at all for Grealish. That's rare! Think the midfield were largely anonymous today, defence superb and Watkins fantastic. Personally I give the MOTM to Cash as he nullified Arsenal's biggest threat.

I just don't know how you look at the last two or three games and decide it is Luiz who needs a rest/is the problem. Or maybe DS read the news wrong and thought it was our Luiz that wasn't available... I can see the argument for leaving the team completely alone find their form again but this change is odd. Furthermore, in the few positions we have choices, he's chosen less defensive players against a very attacking Arsenal - Traore really needs to work today otherwise we'll be overrun, we can't afford 5 minutes of sublime attacking touch and 85mins of watching the game pass him by...

As bad as anything from last season. Only Watkins played well, everyone else below their best.

Personally I think Ek Ghazi and Barkley are battling to see who can have the worst half of football this season. McGinn was in the race but accidentally made one succesful pass... The midfield is anonymous, the defence are sloppy and the team are devoid of ideas and effort. Watkins only player to come out of this with credit so far.

I thought using a hashtag #sarcasm was a bit unnecessary in my post - but no, I don't think we'll be challenging for the title next season! I meant more the jump was significant this year and really you just need to keep improving. My mind always goes to F1 when talking about improvement actually, or cars more precisely. I give you £1000 to modify your car and you can probably get it around a track a minute quicker (vague example!) but for every improvement after that it gets harder and more expensive... F1 cars now spend millions to shave 0.01 seconds off a lap time. The same will apply broadly to a team, throw money at a poor team and big strides will be made in a short space of time but the higher we get the more expensive and harder it will be to push forward so steps become smaller and smaller. 17th to, say, 10th would be good. Next year 10th to 6th. 6th to 4th. 4th to 3rd... You see what I'm saying. Just keep showing progress, and that might not even be measurable in direct position - stabilising in top 10 for a few seasons has to be considered great progress based on the last decade. But I'll dream of a title sometimes... (When I sleep which this post clearly demonstrates I don't do...)

The league is beginning to just show a few cracks where the battles will be. We seem to have a top 4 which are just beginning to get that consistency and make a little gap start forming (points in the bag vs games in hand) Then 5th to about 12th where a mini run gets you dreaming of Europe and a blip in form makes you feel like the bubble has burst. 13th to 17th are probably focusing on not having a mare of a second part of the season and know safety, without drama, is their aim. Then you've got the bottom three who are adrift and hoping to be the one team that escapes with a minor miracle. We're clearly in that second band - 5th to 12th, so even finishing middle of that pack in 8th/9th would be big year on year progress and I'd be happy if a little anti climactic after our stunning start to the season. Make the same strides again in 21/22 and you're fighting for the title!

We've got 1 point against Burnley this season. Hold that up when delusions of grandeur rears its head again. Ming is the worst culprit, he's been awful all season and we can't keep carrying him. They should never be getting a corner for the first goal, he's complacent and increasingly lazy. You can't keep a player in first XI because he shouts a bit. Could see this result coming a mile off, not clinical and trying to be too clever. We actually have good players who play well in spells but the complacency today was clear for all to see. Barkley clearly not fit either. Davis was embarrasing but he won a prize to get that cameo didn't he?! Clearly not a footballer.

Villa basically freewheeled through that match, Newcastle are horrific based on that performance! Konsa (MOTM), Nakamba and Watkins all played really really well. Barkley looked shattered from about the 40th minute. Most other players strolled through the match. Weakest link, and even that might be slightly harsh, was Mings who lost the ball a few times and was helped out by Konsa a lot. Shows how far we've come quickly when Mings is now our worst player in the back four. Solid, easy three points. Almost like a preseason run out which is kinda what we need at the moment!!

Two things to take from that video... 1) The second Norwich got relegated, we didn't need Conor anymore!! 2) The editor needs to step away from the 'effects' button!

I love Conor, he goes down as one of those players I'll forever love because of him as a pro, what he's done for us and because I always have to stick up for those who are unfairly picked on, which in my view he has been. A favourite doesn't have to be a world beater, just someone you respect. He's worked his way up the divisions, scored in all of them, always worked hard and never kicked up a fuss. Selfishly, I'd rather he stay as I still think he's currently our best option from the bench. We also have no-one, even Jack, who can replace his set-piece abilities currently. I acknowledge, our quite meteoric rise since Smith's arrival has meant he has been left behind somewhat and he's not going to be a regular in a team in the top half. I still think he would walk in to lot of lower Prem teams too. His goals have been both spectacular (eg Blues) and vital (eg WBA). He joined a select group of players who've scored league hat trick for us, especially as a midfielder. His assists could be spectacular too - the ball for the opening goal in the play off final was fantastic, despite not being a direct sssist. He was the first to react to the Leeds debacle and the first in to protect Grealish from the fan attack. He joined us in the Championship and was instrumental, even key, in getting us promoted. He cost £3m and gets endless stick from fans despite clearly having an outstanding work ethic, highlighted by fact he wants to go on loan against Smith's preference (looking at you Lansbury) and it's always infuriated me when fans turn against those who've done so much for us. This isn't a Drinkwater/Kodja thing where they're lazy or a situation where he's got in to some controversy. He's simply not at the level we are now BECAUSE he helped get us here. Of course we will leave these players behind if you are to progress, the same might be said of the likes of McGinn or Cash etc... but I have little time for any one who can't recognise, and applaud, the massive impact Conor has had for Villa in our dark recent history. Good luck Conor, a fantastic servant for the club.

If that stat is accurate, surely he should be playing there now! That's averaging over a goal every two games...

I can't confirm but I suspect this is the youngest average age starting XI in the FA Cup as well as the most first team debuts in one game? Would love some stats like that to be proven! Well played, Revan looked particularly impressive.

Same at my school, gone from 20ish in first (warm) lockdown to around 80 this time... In the cold. Funny that. We ask but actually we haven't asked anyone to prove it as it's already quite a tense relationship with parents. A lot more people consider themselves keyworkers now and some seem very very suspect. They also seem to use one parent, even when we know the other is at home. What's even stranger is most of our parents are unemployed so nearly every one of the ones who do have jobs are keyworkers. Really?! The other thing that always winds me up is 'vulnerable children' - slight tangent but not allowed to say this publically; if they are in such a vulnerable situation to NEED school despite the implied risks, why are they a) allowed home at all and b) abandoned over weekends, holidays etc. Not saying not vulnerable, just seems a mixed rule that can only mean we're being too cautious or abandoning them. I don't see what we provide them during a lockdown that they don't have a right to all the time anyway. Not free school meals as hundreds get that through vouchers. Don't know answer. But yes, currently about 20% full.

As a teacher, I am just stopping for the night... we've prepared for most things to some degree but the ridiculous late nature of the announcement and the timescale in which to react to it, against a backdrop of us being told (threatened?!) with the absolute opposite scenario has resulted in an absolute mess where we can not possibly open to ANY children tomorrow. In summary we have been given 12 hours, assuming no sleep/dinner/family commitments, to; Prepare online resources for tomorrow (sketches were in place so can react ok to it - however, all planning/resources for onsite teaching is wasted) Organise Vulnerable children list (largely up to date from last closure but most multi support agencies closed before Xmas to verify) Organise Key Workers list (another words ask parents tonight if they qualify and hope numbers are accurate) Rewrite risk assessment, using incomplete data with new questions (can new bubbles be formed of now mixed ages?) Organise paper packs of current curriculum (can't be generic packs) and get them to parents without laptops asap. Begin Free School Meals processes again (massive ball ache!) Respond to academic and pastoral concerns from parents. Also reply to angry parents about situation we have no control over but blame us for. Do this on reduced staff due to their family commitments at short notice. Timetable this within guidelines. And from yesterday's message being COME BACK TO SCHOOL to today's message of closure for SIX WEEKS made jaws drop. Knowing the government would screw it up, some back up plans were in place but they covered two weeks maximum. We have been told over and over again children are returning so have had to fully immerse ourselves in planning a full curriculum for this half term, it is not possible to have two high quality curricula planned alongside each other, there is not the time. Scotland had at least already told schools they were delaying opening so they now have a week to prepare. Yes it's the same for lots of people now having to sort childcare or what not but what gets me is the constant abuse teachers get through this, and were getting due to the unions stance, today every single teacher in my school and every single teacher at my wife's school turned up ready for the next term, the next battle, the next challenge to make life normal and happy for children, yet apparently many believe we'll be skiiving for 6 weeks... Rant over

I keep hearing this idea of him going out on loan to the Championship... he's already had that with US! In 17/18 he played for 1500mins (best part of 17 full matches) in which he scored two goals in a team that was fighting for promotion. The following season, again in the Championship, he barely played despite being available for at least 17 matches (assuming unfit for all not in squad ones). So he wasn't trusted when we were in the Championship. Last season he actually had 538 minutes in the Premier League spread across 18 games... and no goals. He just doesn't score. He's not going to score at Championship level either! Davis scored a goal every 827mins in the Championship, who's going to want to loan that?! Davis is a type of player that doesn't exist anymore, the big target man is a position from a forgotten tactical age. But even when we had the Dublin (with Joachim) and Carew (with Young) they could finish themselves too. Even Heskey (with Gabby) scored a few for us. I have nothing personal against the lad and his work ethic seems fine etc but I just don't get this eternal optimism for clearly really poor players... Luke Moore is even ten times the player Davis is!!

Yeah I agree... I mean there was that game he scored 12 goals and ran the show... Actually there was that spell where he scored 8 goals in ten games...maybe I'm getting confused, there surely is evidence somewhere that he has this potential... Got it. Yep. It's lack of chances and playing at such a high level for a kid that has prevented him from showing us his very best; Premier League; 22 appearances no goals, no assists Championship; 40 appearances, 2 goals and one assist League Cup; 9 appearances, 2 goals and two assists (Burton Albion and Crewe Alexander) Total 71 appearances, 4 goals. Prolific. But he's only 22 (older than Luiz and much older than Ramsey). But he's one of us...except he's from Stevenage and we signed him from Biggleswade Town when Stevenage released him. Yeah I'm stuck.

My issue with Mings vs Hause isn't just that Mings has walked straight back in to the team despite how well Hause played (which would be quite harsh in itself) but that actually Mings is one of the few (only?) players having a worse season than he had las year. Forget anything like team morale, this actually makes us weaker.

As you named me... The guy I posted continues to post videos along much the same lines and continues to question the interpretation of data... This is his latest one from a quick check. Not watched any in ages as I've kind of switched off from it all. However, whilst I have no desire to get in to it too much, there is still this seemingly binary 'ideology' between armageddon and denial, there doesn't seem to be any scientific debate about actions and that is the main issue as far as I'm concerned. Covid response is being treated more like a religion than a science and that worries me. Rules of 6 based on? Rules on Tiers make no sense. Schools open makes no sense. Tiers being increased after a national lockdown makes no sense. Cases are largely irrelevant (asymptomatic or no lasting effects), admissions are and mortality certainly is. I acknowledge I don't know everything, enough, even a little... But what I don't like is the ever diminishing number of people who will be transparent, debate or explain without derision, pomposity or virtuousness. I did see an former Head of Pathology Dr John A Lee (writes for Spectator and Daily Fail) in which he maintains this is the wrong response. He is far more knowledgeable than me so it makes sense to question some aspects. It doesn't mean you think it is all a conspiracy or about tracking us or all that crap. But if he's wrong why aren't respectable names like his being challenged in mass media rather than being allowed to speak in small columns in national arenas and build up a following? Why is he not on Question Time being torn to shreds? Not allowing the dissenting voice, whether right or wrong, is not something I feel comfortable with. But that's enough of that. My resolution is not to think about the whole thing if at all possible, my voice/views are irrelevant and I will follow blindly to save myself the anguish and just keep going til it, one day, passes. Happy New Year all!

They will go level with Liverpool with a win after the same number of games. That could work for or against us!

Whilst not directly relevant to this game... Do you 'hint' to McGinn, Grealish and Targett that if they were to pick up a yellow card in this game then they'd be banned for the cup game they probably won't play in anyway rather than a league game... Innocently and completely coincidentally of course... Unless cards are competition specific which I'm never 100% sure on. Tough run of games come up and can see us losing all three at some point before the cut off.

Konsa has the ability to be a real top player; Cahill/JT quality. He's miles ahead of Mings already, England call ups can't be far away. I really think he has the potential to be as good a defender as we've had in decades. So impressed.

I've not been Hause's biggest fan but, for me, he stays in based on performances and the fact Mings hasn't done enough to earn his position back this season, too many mistakes, poor focus and no discipline. You have to reward performances and not live on past reputation and so far Hause is looking better than Mings this season.

I'll be watching the card count carefully in this game... We could go in to the Man Utd game without Grealish, McGinn and Targett on suspensions alone... never mind injuries or general exhaustion.

I think it's great everytime we have such a massive mess from VAR, more chance of people really pushing for a massive overhaul or, better still, it's complete abandonment. Just need it to happen in more high profile games than tonight. The more it happens to the Man City, Liverpool type games the quicker we'll see the issue resolved. Problem is, I think VAR people are aware of this so don't annoy the big boys if at all possible.