A'Villan

Can appreciate the mood in here about what we might get out of the game, recent weeks have been disappointing. 

I'm hopeful more than confident we will see the quality out there today needed to get the win. I certainly don't think it's beyond us though. 

Admittedly I've not seen Brighton all that much this season.

Will be tuning in live. See you all in the early hours. 

UTV!

@HanoiVillan let's hope all the Brighton players have had a good old 'stick of Brighton rock' before this one.

I've got a date tomorrow. 

We start at the botanical Gardens for a stroll and then on to an evening of salsa dancing.

7 hours ago, TheAuthority said:

Sending in secret agents to assassinate the leader of a sovereign country happens very rarely if you look at actual history

JFK?

On 19/02/2022 at 04:58, HanoiVillan said:

A question for non-British members: do you know, without looking it up, what 'a stick of Brighton rock' is? I'm especially interested in N American posters, but really all non-Brits.

A stick down under is slang for a gram of marijuana, and rock refers in slang to crack cocaine or methamphetamine.

I'm going to guess that's one wild concoction of all sorts of messed up in Brighton on any given night, then.

I very nearly signed up for basic soldier training with a view to go into the special forces as a combat soldier last year.

I'm glad I didn't. Very glad I didn't.

I'd have him back in a heartbeat. I felt for him when he went to City. He's one of us.

One of my favourite players of all time. End of.

Entertaining first half in the Arsenal vs Wolves fixture.

10 minutes ago, messi11 said:

I think if Gerrard takes us down this season. We can look for a new manager in the summer. Steve Cooper could be a good shout, We should easily be winning the league with 100+ Pts and bounce back into the PL

Sell: Bailey, Digne, Martinez, Ings, Watkins, Luiz, 

Aston Villa 22/23 season Championship

Steer

Cash- Konsa-Mings- Targett

Buendia- Mcginn-Nakamba- Ramsey- Bigace 

------------------Archer--------------

 

I really don't think Edens will afford Gerrard the time to take us down, not if his ownership and decision making regarding head coaches at the Milwaukee Bucks is anything to go by.

Gerrard was brought in because his ceiling is perceived to be having us challenging for silverware. That's my feeling on it. He'll be allowed the confidence of the board as long as he is seen to be able to fulfil that.

Purslow's man or not I dont think Edens will give him next season if SG looks like taking us down.

@KentVillan I thought I was speaking to your goodself for a moment. 

I read Lucas has actually been superb of recent. 

Edit: I wanted to remind myself of what I had read about him. It was that he won Lazio's player of the year award two seasons back to back. 

Hatzipanagis. 

Worth the look.

Arguably on par with Maradona. 

10 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I just saw THAT Conte interview.

Shows you just how difficult the job is these days.

The bloke seems proper sad. lol

Almost TOO honest.

I don't see the big deal. Enough to make a headline, sure. The media love a catastrophe and to overhype what's happening among the bigger clubs.

From where I sit the bloke has just admitted to us all that expectations are far from being met and that a review will take place and decisions will be made regarding his position, despite the fact he is working relentlessly to try and get the best for Spurs. 

Was hardly going to be any different no matter what he comes out to say to the press.

He seems like a genuine signore. Nothing wrong with honesty, especially when admitting fault. 

How many atomic bombs have been tested on the ocean's floor, and what will be the ripple effect?

Seriously though, we had a 6.0 earthquake here in Melbourne September last year, the South East of the country felt it.

Cross-continent tremors and all I did was drop my barbell!

Monica Seles' injuries have to be worth a mention.

18 minutes ago, Sam-AVFC said:

He has 2 years left on his PSG contract, at which point he'll be about to turn 34. So what, we offer him £100k a week and an extra 2 years to compensate for loss of earnings? We wont be compensating with playing time as he already has that at PSG.

Comparing with possibly the fittest guy in premier league history is a bit irrelevant. Ronaldo is also 37 and it's obvious his legs have gone. Do we really say it's OK to sign older players on massive wages now because James Milner is still playing? I assume you realise it's a silly argument and don't need me to list all the people who have massively dropped off before 37?

It's just risk management, I'm not saying he's about to retire. We have to ask whether buying another player on their last contract and sticking them on huge wages is a good idea. If he doesn't have the desired short-term impact all it's going to do is drag up the earning expectations of our other players.

Great, a "true box to box midfielder", just what we're crying out for. I was wondering where the next one would come from...

I also refuse to accept the best transfer option each time just happens to be an ex Liverpool player, unless we want to be Bournemouth MK II.

It's past my bed time so probably wise not to post other than to say I take your points. I wasn't privy to the ins and outs on his contract situation and I shot from the hip because he's an excellent player. 

Actually I'll try to muster a decent reply.

When you are pivotal in a team becoming the best in the world, and you possess quality on the ball and without it to a degree not many are blessed with, add to that being gifted physically with athletic prowess, you don't simply become irrelevant until someone is able to do it better and you lose your place. 

I don't foresee Wijnaldum becoming second rate for a few years yet.

1 hour ago, sparrow1988 said:

Yes but it's a lot easier to be assertive when you have a much smaller area of the ptich to control. Of course the team with the better players usually win most games but you stick Fabinho into the system that we played on Saturday and he will struggle with all the space that he has to cover. He will do most things better than Luiz and McGinn that's why he plays for Liverpool and we have the other two. He's simply a better player. We might have gotten a 0-0 draw instead of a loss.

However there is also a reason that Man United got hammered by 5-0 (I think) Liverpool earlier in the season. Two evenly matched teams quality wise. One team went in to the game under Klopp and enacted his system and plan. The other went in to the game carrying out Ole's "We're Man United, most famous club in the world, pace, youth system, history, passion" philosophy (to be kind) and their fans were out the gate after 60 minutes. They also regularly strruggle against teams that they shouldn't. Liverpool on the other hand regularly dispatch teams with ease.

I'm not saying football is just systems. That's Chess. It's a combination of both players and systems and IMO with a better system we would have gotten more out of the games the last few weeks than we did.

Excellent post.

On 23/02/2022 at 09:45, Vive_La_Villa said:

I’ll be honest, I don’t think he’s good enough.

What makes you say that?

You've piqued my intrigue.

1 hour ago, TRO said:

We are all clamouring for new players, we are scrutinising the academy kids out on loan......we are all pursuing individual prowess, with a desperation to assume improvement.

but we need a team.

Its the blend which is eluding us and an ability to get 11 players galvanised to defend and attack when the necessity, presents itself.

We are becoming obsessed with individuals, when the essence is playing together.

I think to a large extent this manifested itself from Jacks days.....it has to change and it still hasn't.

This team of ours was built around Jack...and he is not here.......we have to change radically, to get back to a fully functioning 11 player team......all giving a full account of themselves.

Smith gave us that. Everyone had a role. Everyone got to know their role.

I'm not saying it won't happen under Gerrard, it might just.

Opinions on managers aside. Bang on, @TRO. A superstar team over and above a team of superstars.

55 minutes ago, Sam-AVFC said:

Wijnaldum is meant to be on about £200k/week, 31 years old and I don't think would improve us at all. It really would be incredible if we decided this was the way to go.

He can be paid an amount that fits in with our model and enjoy a leadership role, and an opportunity to shine in an exciting project that could bring out the best in him. Or we look elsewhere. 

Wijnaldum is a very, very good footballer. Your point about wages and his age aside I can't believe for a moment that anybody would deny his quality. True box to box midfielder with quality at both ends in abundance.

Also, 31 isn't even that old. Sure, you won't be able to build around him for the next decade, but when does that even happen anymore? Rarely. James Milner is 37 and still capable of holding his own in a Liverpool side that is one of the best worldwide. And Wijnaldum was undeniably pivotal in making it so that Liverpool could enjoy such a standing.

2 minutes ago, TRO said:

Yes, but the secret is balance.

as an example..........We all know we can play 7 players in defence and suddenly a defender, who was deemed no to so good, looks good and vice versa.

In theory, systems should be designed to maximise the attributes in the squad....thats why one system doesn't fit all.

The problem is there comes a time, when there is an acute lack of certain attributes, that creates a collective problem and all the tinkering with systems, won't negate it......I think thats where we are at.

We have played around with systems to our hearts content, and still we have the underlying issue of........" Easy to play against"

I also think the fan base has changed over the years.....I am not sure the younger element, would have accepted the Ron Saunders Mantra, as much as we older fans do....that is of course a generalisation.

I get the impression a few magical moments is an easy trade off for a more functional controlled game...in sections of the fan base.

We are not a football version on the Harlem Globe trotters and shouldn't try to be.......its prudent to be miserly in defence, but we don't seemed to be geared for it, on occasions only the 2 centre backs are deployed there.

I agree with that in essence for the most part. All sides have assets and liabilities, some more pronounced than others. Remember we beat Liverpool 7-2 not long after they finished the season prior as champions with 99 points. I think the underlying issue among our team has been such major overhauls in the way we go about it that familiarity and cohesion are always in the infant stages of development. I'd say that is an issue above an acute lacking in any aspect of the game from our players.

Also, in regards the Harlem Globe Trotters, intuition tells me you mean to suggest setting up in a highly offense driven, technically skilled and flair driven type of manner. The Globe Trotters are a circus act. They would get trounced against any professional outfit in a standard game. We should definitely not aspire to be like them even if we had Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and Ronaldo the fenomeno making up our front three. The Globe Trotters could not play defence to save themselves, and again its a guess but that is your point I take.

I do however believe with the assets we do possess, we need to make use of them, while nullifying our liabilities. Right now, our liability is in the system we deploy not creating much threat going forward, despite the assets we have in abundance to do just that.

Perhaps it comes gold, I'm not saying anything either way. Gerrard played a number of ways at Rangers. And what we are trying might just find its feet with a few tweaks, or better understanding among personnel. 

Forgive me it's late and I've got to check out for now.