Peter Griffin

I agree. The fact that we are all impressed with Villa being able to sign Kamara, Carlos and Coutinho shows exactly where we are as a club. We need to get ourselves into a position where these type of signings are no longer a surprise and no longer have the fans thinking that the recruitment team did an amazing job. We need these type of signings to become the norm. Gerrard is playing his role in making this happen and congrats to Purslow for anticipating this. If we can have a couple of good seasons on the pitch and get a Europa qualification it will really help lift us to the next level. We will then be in a position to justifiably go after an elite manager and expect him to want to sign for us.

I think NSWE and Purslow would like a 'Conte' or a 'Pochettino' but to be honest, I genuinely don't think we had what was required to attract such a manager when we employed Smith and subsequently Gerrard. We need to be able to offer more as a club to attract the elite football managers. Purslow is clearly moving the club forward and making us more of an attractive proposition. Gerrard is just a step in the process. He is increasing our profile and helping us to add players that are also increasing our profile. Villa is now being noticed as a football club. We need to make the next step and have a couple of seasons with a top half finish and a qualification for a European competition. I think we will then be in a position to bring in the likes of Pochettino as our manager and take the next step to becoming a Champions League team. Gerrard was without doubt a calculated risk, so far things are looking good but the real test will be our finishing position next season where Gerrard needs to give a return on the investment and support he has received from CP and NSWE.

Is it not normal and fair to pay the teams that finish higher up the league more money?

Like all professional sports competitions the structure is designed to see the more successful players/clubs at the top. This is intentional to be able deliver the most entertainment and better quality games. This is how seedings work, Pot A, Pot B etc with football teams for tournaments, Number 1 seed and number 2 seed are in a different half of the draw in Wimbledon. Do you think seeding is 'rigging'?

That is highlighting a big part of the issue, some people are still finding it difficult to move on from Smith, hence the negative feelings towards Gerrard. That said, it is getting better over time and people are coming around.

A piss take. As he and Gerrard already know each other and are friends I am sure it was an opportunity to have a little dig. I wonder what Kamara thinks of it. I would like to see a response from him LOL

Knowing the way our club is managed I would expect we made a little profit on the transactions . Beale's contract would have been more expensive to get out of than Critchley's.

He signed a 5 year contract at Blackpool last Nov, we must have had to pay a few quid compensation to get him out of that

And then don't give him a game and have Gerrard say after every game that Richy is just not up to Villa standards yet

And there was me thinking that Ukraine just played the better football on the night.

Scotland very poor tonight.

I didn't live there but I did a lot of work with CBQ, QNB and Qatar Airways. I have spent a lot of time out there. The climate doesn't suit me but in the winter it is lovely. If u want pampering it is a great place to go. Hotels, customer service, people, food and fun factor are all really good. I think it gets a bad rap in the media but that is probably as most people haven't been there.

Game on

I like that

I actually like Doha. I have had many a crazy night out on the piss there and the food is brilliant. Restaurants are top class

Well, at least he is going to get a winter break

How the *** did SJM miss that

I am sure @JAMAICAN-VILLAN would show us all a good time.

I have Ireland and Villa. Imagine how I feel

There is a lot about Scotland that reminds me of Villa over the last few year. Weak midfield and poor defence and the team just look fragile. Hopefully, Carlos, Digne and Kamara are part of the solution to solving this for us

I think he spent more time injured than as a squad filler

I think McGinn could have engineered a good shout for a pen there

Ukraine the far better team. Scotland need to up their game to stay in this tie. Is this one leg or two leg?

££££££££ for UEFA

A cup win would give us European qualification