WallisFrizz

4 minutes ago, Radness said:

Bailey got 9 assists to go with his 9 goals last season. I think his pace and unpredictability will stretch oppositions and create space for others.

This is what I’m hoping. 

4 minutes ago, Xela said:

It's a strange one. I don't know why it was so rushed on that day. Its not as though Southampton weren't aware we were likely to sell Grealish for £100m that day! It couldn't have been about price? Maybe it was done so we get another signing in to appease the fans ahead of announcing the Jack sale later that day? Maybe Ings was a target all along but we fast-tracked it that day for the positive news effect. Who knows! 

Not that they didn’t want him, but in terms of timing, I honestly think they were trying to avert a massive mental health crisis in the fan base. Not even joking. People were losing their minds.

3 minutes ago, Xela said:

I know we'll never know for sure but I'm sure Buendia was signed to play with Grealish, and I think Bailey as well. The Bailey deal was in the works for weeks apparently. Buendia was the replacement for Barkley and signed to take some of the creative pressure off Grealish. Just like Barkley was 12 months ago. We were still trying to keep Jack right up until the last minute, so he would have played with them if he had decided to stay. 

I think the plan was to play Grealish on the left, Buendia at 10, and Bailey on the right, with Watkins up front.

Ings was rushed through before the Grealish sale announcement, no doubt about that IMO. 

That’s how I see things. Which leaves me worried about how we’re forcing a last minute change of formation on ourselves in order to accommodate an unplanned player (Ings- who I’m delighted with anyway).

2 minutes ago, VillanOfAston said:

But to me it seems quite clear - That's it's all just a little bit of history repeating.
(To the tune of Shirley Bassey)

 

Back in September 1979 our Talisman Andy Gray left us for a British record fee of £1.49 Million to join our rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers.  They overspent and ended up in deep financial trouble and were relegated to the second division.  Almost ruined!

Using that money, we rebuilt and replaced him with Peter With and co.  We won the league 80/81 and the European cup 81/82.

Move forward 42 years

Our Talisman Jack Grealish leaves August 2021leaves us for a British record fee of £100 Million to join up with Manchester City.  After buying Kane as well they are finding themselves having overspent.

They are in financial trouble and get relegated through mismanagement.
Villa however invest this record fee in several top quality new team members and are again playing the best football seen at Villa Park for years.

The following season we win the premiership and the following league we win the UEFA Champions league!

They do say things go around in cycles!  UTV

And then you woke up?

Ffs. Anybody stuck in a payment being processed page for half an hour. I can’t even begin to try and get Brentford tickets. Completely dire system. I have no idea whether I have tickets or not. Raging.

Just now, DCJonah said:

After the Grealish thread, I thought we were done with picking up on social media hints from our twitter admin.

Also, Ross Barkley last season was all over the Villa social media for the 2-3 months he was out injured. I honestly don’t think the social media team get tips from the treatment room as to who to feature and who not to.

2 hours ago, Panto_Villan said:

If you're booing the pantomime villain then fine, but I think a lot of people aren't viewing it as theatre when they boo. They genuinely dislike someone for having done something that's actually quite understandable.

Add to that that the person playing a pantomime villain is an actor playing a role, whereas footballers aren't actors. You're booing a real person for your entertainment. Which is fine if the player is deliberately playing the role (e.g. Troy Deeney) but if not, why do it? Especially when you'll be doing it alongside people who genuinely hate him.

Is it just me or is booing the most ridiculous thing ever? I mean the actual noise. Boo! Boo! I’ve never done it as whenever I’ve listened to other people do it, they just sound a bit strange. 
 

I can totally see why he’s always said it spurs him one. If someone did it to me, I’d just want to wind them up more for fun.

The boo boys will be loudest but the majority will be silent or clap a bit so it will come across that we’re all booing. I’ve got a horrible feeling he’s going to do some grand gesture that there will be no going back from like celebrating in front of the Holte End or kissing the City badge in front of our fans. City are going to be actively encouraging him to do that to sever any remaining emotional ties and cement him as theirs.

2 minutes ago, brummybloke said:

Will be this season or not at all as next season Liverpool will be sniffing around.

Has been a target for a while so I can't see us suddenly dropping our interest in him. He's the sort of player who links defence midfield and attack in open play and is a level above from set pieces, when we get ourselves a set piece expert coach.

Hope you’re right, he’s my number 1 choice.

14 minutes ago, troon_villan said:

Surprised this thread is still open if I'm honest.

Yeah, think we were definitely interested but they’re holding firm on not selling, as is their right and we’re not going to be sucked into massively overpaying. Dead in the water I reckon.

4 minutes ago, beachboys1 said:

does anyone think this will all come crashing down and we will be in a relegation battle

No but I think the first 2-3 months are going to be hard. Totally disrupted pre season, key players injured or unavailable. Trying to find our way in a post Grealish world with an entirely new playing style that I’m not convinced they’ve fully decided on yet. 
 

In theory we should be taking 6-9 pts from our first 3 fixtures before having to take on Chelsea and United in September. In reality I think we will struggle to find our rhythm. Could be late autumn before we click. Might be quite low down the table by then. However the quality will show through and we’ll finish mid table.

Dean Smith has got a lot to prove to people without Jack.

5 minutes ago, Fairy In Boots said:

Southgate told him many time to leave Villa. I know this for a fact.

Why would he? He uses Declan Rice, Kalvin Phillips, Jordan Pickford. He’s capped Mings, and Watkins, Konsa is on the radar. Why would he be so desperate for Jack to leave? Is it again to get him used to playing at a higher (CL) level. Or because he thinks he’s wasnt coached properly/to his full potential at Villa (might be true to be fair).

They may also want to update their imagery as JG is still the face of the ticketing section for the men’s team.

2 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

But why not? I’m positive we were going to spend around 80-90m this summer with Grealish here and now we’re just not going to accept a profit and not push on?

Not for me. Tom Colomosse said we were after another attacking player and a defensive midfielder and that’s exactly what we’ll get. 

I flipping hope so, otherwise we’re missing a golden opportunity to push on.

7 hours ago, gwi1890 said:

Criminally underrated 

I absolutely loved Mark Draper.

3 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Here, Jack could do whatever he liked, and when you think about it, it probably wasn't good for us in the long run.

Players will be on an equal footing, with no superiority/inferiority complex.

Totally agree with this. I suspect a few of the players not in his little clique might agree too. 

2 hours ago, Spoony said:

Tbh he looked out of his depth. I think he’ll flop. 

He won’t. He’s a special talent. He’ll probably take a while to settle in tho as his playing minutes over the last 7 months have been limited. Wouldn’t surprise me if he was man of the match in no time. It’s going to help him that KDB is injured as he will get time to find his feet before being directly compared to him.

5 minutes ago, tomav84 said:

the athletic article just goes to show how much he wanted out. looks like purslow et al tried to make it difficult for him by stalling on accepting the bid and trying to do a deal with someone other than city. i think purslow didn't like the idea of him leaving on good terms with the fans when he's wanted out for a while...made him go onto the training pitch to watch the rest of the lads train etc.

 

I didn’t read it like that. I think Purslows issues were with City not Jack. I think Jack got caught in the middle. 

The Athletic have done an article about Jack’s last week and how Purslow delayed and delayed as he didn’t want to sell to city (worries over their weakening the competitiveness of the league) and how it nearly went to lawyers with Jack desperate to leave the training camp. The article also tries to insist that City didn’t know of the release clause (because apparently they should be legally confidential).

Anyway I’m mentioning it in this thread because it appears we didn’t get 100m up front, it’s to be paid over 3 years. Don’t know on how much that affects our ability to spend much more this window. Bit gutted that it is instalments. Just when you think the Jack transfer can’t punch you in the gut any more…

38 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

How would everyone feel about him had we known he personally asked for a release clause when signing a new contract last summer?

We did know. John Percy reported it, Gregg Evans has repeatedly said he’d go if someone came in with £100m. But people stuck their fingers in their ears and heard the bits they wanted to, believed the bits they wanted to. 

This is the one I’ve been hoping for. An excellent midfielder would make a massive difference to this team. Not sure we stand a chance if Liverpool are in for him. Might need agents Ings and Targett to do some work. Hopefully Liverpool can’t afford him.

3 minutes ago, avfcDJ said:

Leicester 

Sorry, I was a bit slow. I’ve heard Leicester too.

27 minutes ago, Fairy In Boots said:

Us vs another club, I think we have the financial power to get this done 

Leicester?