weedman

Haven't I? Ah it turns out I had, now, why should Whelan be dropped?

Can't help but notice you still haven't answered the question about what Whelan has done to deserve being dropped? Interesting, it's almost like you're trolling and finding whatever you possibly can to complain about, however illogical If Bjarnasson plays better than Jack, then why not? Surely can only be good for Villa to have their best performing players in the starting 11? (Note, obviously I don't believe he would play better than Jack does consistently) also, Bjarnasson to Jack Grealish is not the same as Whelan to Hourihane, the latter are relatively similar in terms of ability (although I rate Hourihane higher mainly because of the set pieces) whereas the former 2 are light years apart

Classic case of not answering the question because it invalidates your entire argument, given your posting history it is not a surprise. He wasn't "dropped for going to his child's birth", he was unavailable for selection and his replacement has come in and played brilliantly, making him undroppable as things stand. If his levels drop Conor will be there waiting in the wings to regain his place, it's called competition for places, actually pretty common in professional football believe it or not It's not Conors fault, it's not Smith's fault, it's not anyone's fault, but it's happened and that's football. Look at our goalkeeper situation, Kalinic got injured, Steer came in and has done well and has subsequently kept his place in the team. It wasn't Kalinic fault that he got injured, and it's not his fault that we've been playing so well in his absence he can't get back in, but it's happened and that's football, he'll get a chance to take the place from Steer at some point, and it's up to him to take that chance

As amusing as I've found this argument, your position is clearly Hourihane didn't deserve to be dropped, so, using your own logic, what has Whelan done to deserve to be dropped?

It was a weird cameo really. When we were in possession he was lively, he chased the ball down the flanks, got involved, nearly scored and assisted a goal. But when they had the ball he was just totally disinterested, didn't close down, press the defense, chase back. I guess it was classic Kodjia, 8/10 when in possession, 2/10 when out of possession

At the start of the season there were people (myself included) saying he wasn't playing well enough and needed to do more. The summer debacle clearly affected him (he's said as much himself I'm sure). That's not the same as thinking he's crap and overrated. Good players can be out of form and while it doesn't change the fact that they're good players, it also doesn't mean they can't be criticised for it. He's playing amazing now and has added more end product to his game that was missing even last season, let's hope he keeps it up and captains us to promotion!

HAUSE!!!

I know it was a slip and unintentional, but surely that's a foul on Green?

Imagine if McGinn started and the game played out the same way. "Sure we won, but how can you change the midfield after the last game? The players will be totally demotivated, big mistake from DS, showing he will always play his favourites"

Life changed

If I knew how to post GIFs I'd reply with a Starship Troopers one right now...but I don't so you'll just have to imagine it

It's happening?

Were you saying the same thing Tuesday when they lost to QPR?

Sorry but Grealish was pretty crap at the start of the season and was subsequently moved to the wing while he got his head together after the summer. It wasn't "he was crap because he was on the wing" it was "he was crap so he was moved out to the wing". I know it's popular to blame Bruce for literally everything but I'll keep saying this until it becomes no longer true, the best and most consistent form of Jack Grealish's career has come in the 2nd half of last season, under Bruce. Bruce so far is literally the only manager able to get a consistent tune out of him so it's one area you can't really criticise him for I've got tickets for Saturday so hopefully Grealish will be in and even more hopefully Smith will end up trumping Bruce by getting even better, consistent performances from him and we'll all be happy

At least until you realise that parachute payments only cover the enormous difference between PL and Championship TV money and are almost completely eaten up by having players on PL salaries that you can't get rid of. The only teams that benefit from parachute payments are yo yo teams that don't add much to their Championship team, therefore getting all the benefits of PL money without the negative of having to pay players crazy amounts (Cardiff for example should be in pretty good shape even if they come back down) Our mistake was, of course, not phasing the players on PL salaries out in those 3 years (even adding to them!) but most of them will be gone in the summer anyway so next year we shouldn't be any better or worse off than most teams in this division, apart from having to buy a whole new team that is I voted 2021, this year's out, next season will be a rebuilding year and after that we should be able to push on

Our squad is hugely unbalanced for sure, and we're probably not good enough for promotion quality wise, however we have some of the best players in the league for their respective positions (Tammy, McGinn, Mings, Kalinic, not even including Tuanzebe or Grealish). The players are better than relegation form. At worst we should be mid table, comfortably seeing off the bottom teams and not having quite enough to compete with the top ones. We're barely competing against anyone at the minute. I want Smith to do well, and it's too early to judge him but if we don't show any improvement between now and the end of the season questions will rightly have to be asked

Its not, but it's not that they can't play, it's that they won't be 100%, and at this level that makes a huge difference to their performance

I really hate this mindset. Money doesn't make you fitter. Money doesn't stop you being fatigued. Money doesn't make you a better player. At the top level the difference between 100% and 95% is massive. At our level it's probably more 100% to 90%. It's not like Sunday league where you can roll out of bed pissed 10 mins before the match and still play basically the same because the difference between 100% and 50% is negligible. No player chooses to be below peak condition, but playing lots of high intensity football matches certainly causes it, regardless of whether they're on £50 a week or £500,000

Oh I agree, it's totally disheartening at the moment, the football is dire - as bad as its been since we were relegated, the results are dire, just about everything is dire right now. Although I'd still say we have more chance of getting top 6 than either of us do of winning the lottery (still buying a ticket mind) I was merely being pedantic as people using the word "fact" to describe their opinion which is in no way a fact is a real bug bear of mine

Correct. This is a fact This is not a fact. This is an opinion. It's highly likely sure, and it's an opinion I agree with, but it's not a fact. Think of buying a lottery ticket. It's highly unlikely that you'll win, but it's not a fact until it actually happens/doesn't happen

So we've gained +1 GD on Norwich...wheres that "its happening" gif?!

We get blocked off too easily which is a problem with man to man marking, it's why so many managers are going zonal but it takes time to get used to, if it were me as soon as playoffs are completely gone I'd switch to zonal (can always man mark real danger men) and work on it relentlessly in pre season

He's a tough one, I see similarities between him and Delph when he first joined in that there's just something about him but he's a little rough and I think once it all clicks in to place he could be a good player. That's why he was sent out on loan and its just a shame really that he got another injury and we had to call him back early because our wingers are just so crap. I don't think he's that good really (at the moment) but there's some potential there for sure. He has the raw attributes, he's direct, quick, fairly strong (for his age and I imagine he'll toughen up more with some more games and some more years) and works hard. His technique just isn't quite there yet but you can see he's doing the right things but it's just not working (overhitting crosses, misplaced passes) but you'd hope with a bit more experience these things will start to improve. I think he could be a good player if he can get a good couple of seasons without a major injury, fingers crossed

My sentiments exactly, he's been class, but his time is over, he was awful today

On this post I agree with the first bit, we should compare to Bruce's first season because we're in a similar mess player wise, but on the bold bit, let's not rewrite history and say Steve Bruce received no critisim in his first season. The debate over style of play, tactics, results, etc started around the time his honeymoon period ended and we started losing again, and critisim of his January signings started in February. Most people then, as most people do now, acknowledged that he needs a bit more time to make the team his, but it was far from a universal opinion and claims like "people are writing off DS after 5 minutes but gave SB 2.5 years" is just nonsense Some people never wanted DS and have made their feelings clear from minute 1, in the same way some people never wanted SB and made their feelings clear from minute 1. Some people have now written DS off after a few months, as some wrote SB off after a few months. Most agree next season is the one to judge Smith on, as most people agreed the next season was the one to judge Bruce. From what I recall the argument over SB was far more heated than the one over DS as well so while it's right that DS needs some time to build a new team, he's not been criticised any more than our previous manager was, as much as literally any manager would be at this stage in their tenure