VillaFaninLondon Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 5 minutes ago, VillaChris said: We better not as that would mean we barely win a game between now and the end of the season. It wouldn't say much for our long term prospects to be a major force again in the top division if we couldn't beat Newcastle or Sheffield United without Jack and we need him around every single minute of every game to get results so I'm hoping we pick up results in those games and a few others and so we're in similar position to now when he returns probably in April. Yes, avoiding relegation is a given now, but for some of our fans it seems to be fine to finish wherever. The higher up we finish the more likely it is we can attract some quality players in the summer to take us forward. Finishing 14th would quite frankly be awful given we'd pick up hardly any points from here on in. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 13 minutes ago, VillaChris said: We better not as that would mean we barely win a game between now and the end of the season. It wouldn't say much for our long term prospects to be a major force again in the top division if we couldn't beat Newcastle or Sheffield United without Jack and we need him around every single minute of every game to get results so I'm hoping we pick up results in those games and a few others and so we're in similar position to now when he returns probably in April. I did say worst case scenario. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 7 minutes ago, VillaFaninLondon said: Yes, avoiding relegation is a given now, but for some of our fans it seems to be fine to finish wherever. The higher up we finish the more likely it is we can attract some quality players in the summer to take us forward. Finishing 14th would quite frankly be awful given we'd pick up hardly any points from here on in. Well what are you gonna do? Get the bedsheets out if we don't finish where you demand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperTed Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 9 minutes ago, VillaChris said: It was mentioned on twitter he'd be out for 3-4 weeks and he was already ruled out of the Leeds game from what DS said pre match. Just be thankful he won't be out for 12 weeks like last time as that would be season over. Chance he may be back for Spurs game which would be a great one to return into. Remember we went on a ten match winning run after his last long term lay off! Different situation entirely but we need something to look forward too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One For The Road Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 (edited) 3 minutes ago, DCJonah said: Well what are you gonna do? Get the bedsheets out if we don't finish where you demand? Exactly. Personally I am not just fine with finishing "wherever", I demand that we do! I'd much rather finish "wherever" than "there or thereabouts" Edited February 21, 2021 by One For The Road Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Just now, DCJonah said: I did say worst case scenario. I think we'd all have taken being comfortably clear of relegation in September but for most of this season we've shown ourselves to be much better than that so I'd like a top half finish. Hit a sticky patch recently but it's not like we're on a 4-5 game losing streak and we're still picking up points every other week. Today we still had some good attacking players on the pitch but we need a better midfield structure behind them, hopefully it starts next week. West Ham are doing much better than anyone expected but if you went on their forum and asked the question I doubt any of them would be happy with 9th or 10th now, pretty much all would want to be 6th at least so we just need the mentality to want a little more sometimes. It's much harder in this league to go from 8th to 6th than 17th to 8th after all and been proven many times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 3 minutes ago, SuperTed said: Remember we went on a ten match winning run after his last long term lay off! Different situation entirely but we need something to look forward too We can win some games when he's out. Wolves, Sheffield and Newcastle so it's hardly some impossible fixture list we've got in his absence. Leeds and Spurs tougher but not like it will be impossible to get draws if we get our structure right as Spurs are miles worse than Leicester at present as the league table indicates. I do worry about our mentality at times. As brilliant as Jack is on the pitch and for our general profile in the media our whole world shouldn't revolve around him. It's exactly like Palace with Zaha. As soon as he's out for a few weeks they start losing game after game after game despite having likes of Eze and Andros Townsend so poor just to lump everything on one player and we need results over next few weeks against bottom half teams to break that sort of mindset. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperTed Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 2 minutes ago, VillaChris said: We can win some games when he's out. Wolves, Sheffield and Newcastle so it's hardly some impossible fixture list we've got in his absence. Leeds and Spurs tougher but not like it will be impossible to get draws if we get our structure right as Spurs are miles worse than Leicester at present as the league table indicates. I do worry about our mentality at times. As brilliant as Jack is on the pitch and for our general profile in the media our whole world shouldn't revolve around him. It's exactly like Palace with Zaha. As soon as he's out for a few weeks they start losing game after game after game despite having likes of Eze and Andros Townsend so poor just to lump everything on one player and we need results over next few weeks against bottom half teams to break that sort of mindset. Good note mate. Honest question, did you see enough second half today which suggested we can do enough without him and won’t be like Zaha at Palace? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 4 minutes ago, SuperTed said: Good note mate. Honest question, did you see enough second half today which suggested we can do enough without him and won’t be like Zaha at Palace? I didn't like the first half but it panned out like I thought it would once I saw the team at 1.05pm. Second half we scored a goal and showed some fight without creating much. I actually didn't think we'd get anything off Leicester even before reading the Grealish thread this time yesterday. Leicester are a very good team and much better than anything we'll play in next month so have to factor in opposition quality aswell. I'd be disappointed if we can't get at least 4 points off Newcastle and Sheffield United. One could get less points than we did in 15/16 and think the other will get relegated aswell and they'll be missing Calum Wilson. Newcastle with their form falling off a cliff once Saint Maximn got covid is another example we don't really want to compare to. Think Wolves game will be a draw and Leeds and Spurs are tougher to call but I think it's still realistic we can be in mid 40s points range by end of March which will step up last two months pretty nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazmonkey Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 29 minutes ago, VillaFaninLondon said: Yes, avoiding relegation is a given now, but for some of our fans it seems to be fine to finish wherever. The higher up we finish the more likely it is we can attract some quality players in the summer to take us forward. Finishing 14th would quite frankly be awful given we'd pick up hardly any points from here on in. Spot on. Been said a few times recently...especially after a bad performance...well we were in relation last year....I expected to finish 12th or 14th. But...we are in great position to finish higher and thats what we should be aiming for expecially as its so close. Given this... to me finishing 11th would be a disappointment as we have been with touching distance of top 6 all season. We can then bring in the better players I the summer to make us even better next season. We shouldn't recent on our laurels just because of where we finished last season 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAMAICAN-VILLAN Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Glad that's cleared up then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbcuk Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Yet the bbc and other sites have said he’s out for a month Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAMAICAN-VILLAN Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Has he ruptured a bollock having tantric sex or something? Why are they not being specific with the injury. It's almost like the Engels " Thigh strain " all over again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillanousOne Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 2 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said: Has he ruptured a bollock having tantric sex or something? Why are they not being specific with the injury. It's almost like the Engels " Thigh strain " all over again. and Ross who was fit and ready to come back every week for months 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 22 minutes ago, Bazmonkey said: Spot on. Been said a few times recently...especially after a bad performance...well we were in relation last year....I expected to finish 12th or 14th. But...we are in great position to finish higher and thats what we should be aiming for expecially as its so close. Given this... to me finishing 11th would be a disappointment as we have been with touching distance of top 6 all season. We can then bring in the better players I the summer to make us even better next season. We shouldn't recent on our laurels just because of where we finished last season No one disagrees. Everyone wants to finish as high as possible. Our squad depth and quality was never going to be enough to be consistent for a whole season though. We've got academy kids on the bench and Elmo starting. Everton, spurs and Liverpool can't manage it, why on Earth should we? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparrow1988 Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 (edited) 58 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said: Has he ruptured a bollock having tantric sex or something? Why are they not being specific with the injury. It's almost like the Engels " Thigh strain " all over again. Maybe Grealish has asked the club not to release his personal medical information? Maybe Engels did the same. It's a growing trend amongst professional sportspeople. It would affect any future negotiations that they may have with prospective employers. I'd like to know too but it's both his and the club's perogative (predominantly his) whether they decide to make it public or not. Edited February 21, 2021 by sparrow1988 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AV82 Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 (edited) Sounds to me as if he may miss a couple more matches but that Smith wants to keep opponents guessing. Fair enough. There were rumours on Twitter on Friday night of him being out for 3 months so it could've been a lot worse. Edited February 21, 2021 by Mantis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 1 hour ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said: Has he ruptured a bollock having tantric sex or something? Why are they not being specific with the injury. It's almost like the Engels " Thigh strain " all over again. Because they never are No one ever is They say exactly what it is, when he will be expected back, then when he misses another week half of social media puts away their EU trading laws qualification and puts up their medical degree followed by moaning of the clubs inaccuracy You can't be accused of being inaccurate with information if you were never accurate with it in the first place 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam2003 Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 1 hour ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said: Why are they not being specific with the injury What possible good reason is there to tell Bielsa whether Grealish will be playing against them next week or not? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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