Peter Griffin

Playing the 'B' team makes me sort of feel like we are like one of the big boys in the competition

I think you are being critical but being critical is NOT a negative thing. It is not a bad word or a taboo subject. It is normal and positive discussion about our team and our chances in this game. I agree, a run out for Ollie would probably have been a good idea. Maybe Deano is letting him spend some extra family time to do a little bonding

They have about 700k to 800k a week in wages sitting on the bench

In fairness, I think they would struggle to go much weaker with their squad

Did you not tell me that Mings was off topic? Is it only players that you like are not off topic are is it actually no players are off topic?

We also get 45% of gate receipts. Worth about 320k if there is a full house tonight. We made 2.5m by getting to the final against City. But the big prize is a place in European competition next season for the winner

His pass success % is over 90% this season. He was on for 50 mins against Everton and had a pass success of 95.2%. He has improved during his time with Villa and we hopefully will have a fit Sanson in the squad very soon. How many backups do you think we need?

Nakamba was excellent when he replaced McGinn against Everton and has played really well when given opportunities since the last few games of last season

But we were a Championship team 3 years ago. We are not going to flick a switch and become a Champions League team overnight. It takes some time of continued success to get AVFC up to that level

I can't see how it is down playing the difficulty. There is no way he would still be in the job if he didn't get us promoted and nor would any other manger be in the job if they failed to get us promoted. I think Dean is doing a very good job at Villa and that is why he is still our head coach. Do you believe that promotion was a requirement to keep his job?

The acid test is to ask a Baggie or a Blues whether they are happier with Villa now or the Villa from 4 years ago.

What's that silver thing they are lifting called?

I agree but even so we won a trophy in our promotion season

Football. We were a Championship club. We were very successful and won promotion out of the Championship and to the PL.

Yes, I didn't mention a lot of the other successes. For example, we actually play players in their correct position now

Promotion, staying in the PL, cup final

Your definition of investment is very simplistic. Numbers rounded for ease of writing, I will provide exact numbers at bottom of comment AVFC invested 100m in players in the last window. This is investment of the 100m was spent on new assets that AVFC intends to get value from. It is irrelevant where the 100m came from whether that be the disposable of a different asset, commercial revenue, loan or equity investment. Investment figure of mine were 'not always upwards'. According to Transfermarkt '21/'22": 89.94m (rounded up) '20/'21: 91.22m (rounded up) '19/'20: 143.55m (rounded down) Total: 324.71 However, Transfermarkt does not include the loan fees for Mings, Drinkwater, Barkley and Tuanzebe. Barkley reported at 11m and Tuanzebe at 5m. That is another 16m on top of the 324.71 making 340.71 plus costs for DD and MIngs. That is damn close to the 'about 350m' which was the wording I used. As regards the ROI for NSWE I agree they are doing well with their investment or would you consider it an investment by NSWE considering the likelihood is that they didn't have the 400m they put into Villa lying around in cash and they had to divest it from another financial vehicle whether that be a savings account or equity in something else

Surely how much is spent by the manager is relevant to the thread on the manager? I can understand how money spent by a different manager could be taking the thread off topic but the money spent is specific to Smith and I would think directly impact how successful / unsuccessful at the job he can be

No problem. Also, in the interest of objectivity, why did you add the word 'net' to my comment? My wording was "about 350m invested in players". 'about' showing it is an estimate. 1st Season; About 140m 2nd Season: About 100m 3rd Season: About 100m So about 340m, yes I rounded it and didn't try to get the exact numbers but it is within a few quid of that, it is probably in excess of 350m as we have the loans of Barclay, Drinkwater and Tuanzebe which cost about 20m EDIT: If you are looking for a source you can check Transfermarkt but I am guessing you already know that

I think most Villa fans are enjoying our football and are enjoying the success we have had over the last few years. Funnily enough, my favourite season since NSWE acquired us and employed CP and DS has been the 1st season when we were in the Championship. The joy of starting off badly, changing manager, having no defenders, Jack injured, getting Mings, 5-5 with Forest, 4-0 and 3-0 against Derby, 10 games unbeaten, playoffs, Baggies in the semi, penalties in the semi and ultimately the sheer joy of promotion. Its one heck of a ride we are on. But I want more, I want Europa, I want Champions League, I want to win the Carabo and FA cups, I want to win the PL and I want Villa to be able to attract the likes of Lukaku, Salah, KDB, Fernandez, Varane and Grealish to our club. I also like discussing Villa with other Villa fans. A Villa forum is perfect for this discussion. But I want to discuss Villa and what is good and what is not so good and what can we improve and what do we think we should do to take the next step. Assessing our games, our players, our manager and looking at how we can do things better is called 'reflection'. It is not moaning it the correct approach to finding solutions and it is what makes debate interesting.

And no bias there? Look at the basic facts. From midtable in the Championship to midtable in the PL in 3 seasons with the aid of about 350m invested in players. That would be the expected delivery from any manager given the job. If any manager failed to deliver that then they would have been sacked. Objectivity really does help the quality of discussion.

Yes, the fact the Dean is still learning is key. He will make mistakes and he has made mistakes but he is showing (much more recently) that he is learning from his mistakes. It is credit to CP and NSWE that they afford him the time to makes mistakes and learn from them. I think Jack leaving will be very good for Smith's development. It was very difficult to get away from the one player team tag and Smith can't win without Jack. These things undermined Smith's position. But with Jack gone Smith now has the ability to prove his worth without the accusations of inheriting a world class player. Some people still say Pep is over rated as his success at Barca was due to Messi.

If he shows the overall progress over the last 3 in the years to come we will be doing a lot better than fine. We will be enjoying midweek football again. And I don't mean back down in the Championship

Anyway, the ball won't be in our box much. Bailey will causing havoc on the wing, Emi B will be pulling the strings and Ings and Ollie will be introducing Varane to something he hasn't experienced before

I wouldn't fancy any of our team against Ronaldo in the air. He has a ridiculously high jump. He jumped to 8 and half feet off the ground while playing for Juve (so in his mid 30s, not prime Ronaldo) to score a goal against Sampdoria