jackbauer24

So let's review the window so far... Based on post lockdown team we've brought in, what we can guess, are four first team players. Martinez is a massive improvement on Reina/Nyland. Imagine he's also an improvement on the unlucky Heaton. Cash is...well, despite the cost, I'm not sure he is an improvement over Guilbert and probably should be aiming for Elmo's back up role at present. Watkins is already miles ahead of Samatta and Davis so big initial improvement. Wesley still in the fight when he returns. Now Traore. Got to feel it's at least a babystep improvement over El Ghazi, possibly a lot more. Grealish is staying, McGinn is getting back to full fitness, Luiz has found his feet and is really pushing on. All in all it points to a comfortable jump forward in terms of progress. However, defensively speaking we are incredibly shaky. Taylor, Hause, Elmo are all probably going to feature more than we want. Konsa, Guilbert, Cash are all unlikely to be consistent. Mings has a tendency to get a little complacent. Targett is somewhere in the middle of all that and I'm guessing Engels isn't sticking around. It's not strong. It might be greedy, but I really think we need a good quality CB, probably more than we need Rashica...

There are plenty of nice guys in the world. There are plenty of strong guys too. Still doesn't make them good strikers. Keinan, for all his likeability and/or hardwork and hustling, is not a striker. At best, he's an old fashioned Heskey type player, but even then he doesn't score goals. That player doesn't fit the modern game, even if he was good at it. In the Premier League I'd be shocked if he scored more than a goal a season. Championship, may even up to five. He wouldn't push double figurss until he was in League 1 or 2. Sorry guys, he may be 'nice' but he's not a striker. He's also older than Luiz. There is absolutely no future for him at this club other than to try and get a fee for him!

I'm going to bite my tongue a little but cases are completely irrelevant. In fact, there's an argument it's not a bad thing. It's still lumped in with the moronic covid denying mind-control idiots, but there is a strong SCIENTIFIC belief that we are no longer really in a pandemic, we are getting cases with no real impact of the other more relevant data points. I posted (although it already had been earlier) a video that heavily questions the actual interpretation of numbers. Here's one from mainstream media; I'll leave you with one thought; why is it a rule of six? Where does that come from, why not 3, 8, 15? Well studied scientific research or buzz word politics?! We're weeks away from the same simplistic lines we got for Brexit... "Let's get Covid done" The data shows clearly a spike, there is no longer a spike in anything but cases. Serious questions need asking, are we letting the science lead us or the politics?

He touches upon the lockdown when he mentions Brazil (famously anti LD) and Peru which had an extremely militant lockdown. Although, to be fair, I have no idea whether the data or focus of it is transparent. He also mentions Sweden quite heavily which is the outlier with regards lockdown in Europe. I don't think it'd be fair to sweep it under the rug as overly biased but equally I'm interested as to why it might be. What data contradicts his theory?

So why aren't people talking about this? If it's a legitimate SCIENTIFIC debate why is it being bunched in with the crackpot theories of secret government mind control?! This points strongly to there being a genuine question as to how data/modelling is being done. Where is the data for current restrictions and/or actions? Are we being led by fear/policy rather than science?

My prediction is crudely based on incomings assuming no major injuries or departures. No signings... 18th With Cash... 18th And with Watkins 16th And with Martinez 12th and with Rashica/Benrahma 11th and with Buendia/RM 10th So currently I predict 16th. Get Martinez in and I think that will be huge as we've been so weak there (even Reina didn't cover himself in glory) and 12th is obtainable. Add a few more bits of quality and maybe even sneak top half. I don't think anything higher is obtainable without a far bigger overhaul than we could/should do. I'll take steady improvement over recklessness any day.

I debated posting this. I am not a raving conspiracy loon or likely to automatically question authority, yet I do like to work out the why behind things. I am not one of those people who believe it's all a lie, I even recognise some actions like stadium closures (especially at the start) may have been wise - despite what I'm about to post even questioning that. I wear masks and follow the rules as that is what society dictates and have actually, on a personal level, enjoyed lockdown in the main. However, the data handling/conclusions and reactions to that data have always greatly confused me. A case in point being the current 'rise' in cases being a bad thing... when we're testing more and hospital admissions/deaths are not changing (even allowing for the two/three week delay). So, where I'm I going with this? I think education and knowledge is far more important than media and political grandstanding. However, I love to be wrong! I'm a teacher and I tell my kids constantly that if you're wrong, you're learning. Politicians and media outlets rarely share this philosophy! So, can someone who is far more knowledgeable than me counter some of the data put forth by this guy... He doesn't seem to be a quack and isn't ranting and raving but quietly points to reams of data. I'm sure he has an agenda too though; I'm interested in what people on this thread think - generally it errs more on the Pro-lockdown side or the belief that it is all horrific. Genuinely interested in people's views (warning - LONG video); WARNING 2 - This is very data driven, there is little emotion given to death. But even I grimaced at the term 'tinderbox' although I understand it's scientific impact...

So, what you're saying is we look quite strong?

Buendia > Benrahma But I suspect we're not after either. Buendia is one of the few links we've had this summer that I'd genuinely be excited by as I actually know who is and think he's bloomin' good! I know strictly they're not a direct comparison but I doubt we'd be after both, we're also far more in need on the right...

I didn't know anything about Rashica. I was never overly fussed if he signed or he didn't. I'm not sure if he'd improve us or not. (lack of knowledge, no reflection on player) But it'd be damn funny to sign a player that one poster on here has been crowing about us not signing

Oh yeah, I forgot that. I have nothing fundamentally against beggars and will often buy a sandwich for them or something, but the increase of hostile beggars is notable. The Belgrave Middleway junction is full of beggars and ladies wanting to clean your car windows - many quite aggressive. Again, is this Birmingham or national?

It came up in another thread but probably deserves it's own thread... How safe do you find Birmingham? Is it a nice place? Is it better or worse than it used to be? This isn't tied to the events of the weekend but a general view on the atmosphere, people and how safe you feel. Is it better or worse than other major cities? Personally, in the ten odd years I've lived in the area and the 30 odd years I've been visiting the area I've been impressed with the improvements to the area aesthetically and the variety of restaurants and shops etc. On the flip side, I feel less safe at night than ever before and think the general rate of crime feels higher. I've personally been the victim of crime several times in recent years. How does that compare to other places? I feel much safer in New York for example, but maybe the UK isn't much different city to city? Is Birmingham a place you'd choose to live? I'm beginning to quite strongly dislike it...

Imagine paying £900k for Drinkwater. Yikes!

Juror hugs hope...

Considering the fee, his wages and his age - this doesn't make much sense IF true. £8m would buy you Butland who has a much higher chance of recouping a fee, on much lower wages and young enough to rediscover his form. £10m is the price quoted for Martinez and he too is much younger, almost certainly on cheaper wages and has some sell-on value. If we were seriously lacking keepers it'd perhaps make sense but he's probably no better than Heaton, is too old to be an investment and would require too much in wages to be an economical number 2. Can you really justify £8m plus wages for 12 months+ for the sake of even 8 games? No fan of our keeper department but we're not that bad. If investing in a keeper I'd hope it is someone younger than Heaton who can battle for the No.1 spot before making it their own as Heaton gets older.

I have always thought we might play Guilbert further upfield actually. I'm sure we played Elmo behind him a few times? So is Cash an upgrade on Elmo?

Regarding sizes; in the last few minutes my new training wear has arrived! I can confirm the fit is slightly more generous than last year but it certainly still isn't baggy!

Goal Scoring Or Hope?

Just to revisit the 'Championship' concern some posters, including myself, have; I am not suggesting that because player x plays in the Championship that they aren't good enough for Aston Villa or the Premier League. What I am saying is that the likelihood of said player being able to step up is always quite a risk. Do it once and you might find a diamond, do it twice and you might get lucky... Do it three, four, five times and realistically the chances are that most won't be able to step up/ make a big difference. There are Championship players that make the step up but some of the examples given aren't accurate; loan players from Premier League teams don't count (Mount/Abraham) and players who've been relegated (Grealish) don't count. You could also argue that most successes from the Championship are very young players snatched up early. Which players in the mid-20s have successfully made the leap? I'm not against us signing a Championship player, but I'm concerned if we focus on players from that division then statistically we're more likely to get squad fillers, at best, than Premier League stars.

I like this way of thinking, genuinely, but I can't help feel apprehensive about the apparent focus on Championship players particularly. I worry that even a Championship all star team would be relegated (most teams need to make big changes after promotion) and that even with our few gems, grabbing about a third of the team from the Championship would mean another relegation scrap. But, and this is arguably just as important, what does it convey about us to future and current players. Will the likes of Grealish, McGinn, Mings want to stay here for what feels like being baby steps forward? I don't want to feel so uninspired and it might be wholly unfair (and I hope very wrong!) but I can't help feel that even if we got Watkins, Benrahma and Cash in that the step forward would be quite small at best. That maybe the most prudent, sensible, economically viable way of doing it but it's still a little underwhelming. I don't expect hundreds of millions to be spent on a Man Cityesque team but do feel it's not much to hope for, especially after surviving, to get one or two fairly safe standout players people can be genuinely excited about - he won't come but Abraham is that sort of player, not astronomical fee/wages not really a world beater but a comfortable top half player that would excite the fans and obviously be a much bigger step forward. Another window of buying £10-15m players won't push us on much. It doesn't buy you much. Is Cash OBVIOUSLY much better than what we have or just more of the same/depth? Not necessarily a bad thing just not a big enough improvement to be exciting.

Not saying he isn't, but why would a Reading-centric source be 'disappointed' it won't be accepted?

I have my views, none of them strong, on how things could/should/would work but what would be really interesting is what peoples views about attending are first and foremost. Can someone add a poll to this thread; Would you attend Villa Park for a game in 20/21? Yes, in any circumstance Yes, in a reduced crowd Yes, once there is a vaccine/ lockdown has been entirely lifted No, not until full crowd (atmosphere) No, it's not safe I am a season ticket holder, about 7 years in this stint (have been before also), and haven't had a questionnaire.

My new car was delivered on Monday and I had a good chat with the guy who delivered it - he loves his job! Like a few people mentioned above, he too was in a different career and has only been doing this for 5 months odd and he said it was brilliant. Given a brand new car to drive to generally excited customers and then sit on a train to the next place etc. Didn't talk money but I must admit I was thinking the job sounded amazing! I'm in Education so pretty safe but otherwise I'd really look at this - 90% of my time not dealing with people sounds perfect!

I could also say that about Trez, El Ghazi, Davis and Samatta at least. Difference is I'd not want those four players on the bench ideally either as they offer so little. I have all the time in the world for Hourihane. He's not the best player we have, but he's my favourite. I love his work ethic, I love that he's scored some absolute beauties for us at the most crucial times and I kind of like him purely because I think he is underrated and gets unfair flack from some fans. Hourihane is absolutely a Premier League player, he may not be good enough for where we want to go but he's definitely good enough for where we are and probably will be for at least the next couple of seasons. As somewhat of a fringe player he still scored 3 goals in the league and had 5 assists.

I didn't think of that, great idea. I resist voice stuff but that might be a way round it. Seems counter intuitive to have a system to make life easier which is actually much more frustrating! Much appreciate the reply!