Rightdm00

1 hour ago, Steero113 said:

If the rumors that Jose Mourinho refused to take training after the ESL announcement are true then I have a huge amount of new found respect for the bloke. 

Don't fall for the Mourinho reputation rebuilding PR.  He's an outdated manager who has failed at his latest task. The last thing I want is "The Special One" showing up at Villa in 2 years time to replace Dean . 

8 minutes ago, Mantis said:

Yeah I think so, then we somehow drew 2-2 despite being 2-0 up with 10 minutes left.

Whelan scored the equalizer in added time. Sometimes all you can do is laugh.  Guess he felt he still owed us one and took that awful PK that got Bruce fired. All is forgiven Glenn. 

1 minute ago, Mantis said:

We blew our last real chance back when we threw away a 2-0 lead against Stoke back in 2009.

Was that the game where Carew had that lucky volley from 20+ yards out. Man used up all our luck for a whole decade on that flukey strike. 

Absolutely hilarious they dropped this literally hours before the new UEFA champions league was to be announced. Nothing more than pure bluster. UEFA and the FA should call their bluff, PLEASE!  

Just now, HanoiVillan said:

Yes; but notice how the stance is quite different from UEFA's, who were threatening earlier in the day that players who played in this tournament might be barred from playing for their countries. No mention of that at all here, and it's unlikely to arrive later either.

UEFA and the FA would have been hoping for stronger words from FIFA, and they haven't got it.

Punishing the players is the weakest of moves. The Club owners are the ones making these decision punish them. Stand up to them or quit all this posturing. 

1 minute ago, hippo said:

Suspend them from all competions immediately. That would really call there bluff.allow them back with a points deduction - probably make for the most exciting PL season ever.

Actual action is needed from UEFA.  Enough of these fake announcements that we know won't go anywhere. Sunday evenings are for napping off dinner not announcing the formation of new multi-billion dollar football league. Couldn't be a more blatant cash grab from UEFA. 

1 hour ago, Stevo985 said:

I think the people saying "just let them go" aren't really thinking of the knock on effects of this. It would seriously, seriously weaken domestic football. It's an utter joke.

I'm confused, do they actually want to go. It sounds like they are trying to replace the Champions League and remain in their domestic competition. Just round 2 of Project Big Picture. What a bunch of whiney babies. 

I almost do want them to actually go because this is never going to end. How much longer are we going to let them negotiate in bad faith like this. 

1 minute ago, OutByEaster? said:

But the key is that the NFL is the company - the Cowboys work for them, they're a franchise, they get no say.

The Premier League is the opposite.

These clubs want to become the league.

 

Yeah, they want their cake and to eat it too. If they want the protection of a setup like the NFL then they have to give up their distinct independence.

They are trying to pick and choose the parts of the NFL they like while shucking the rest.  You can't have it both ways.  First they tried it within the premier league with Project Big Picture. This is just a continuation of that effort. 

15 minutes ago, TRO said:

So you think that the Casemiro, Rice, Busquets, etc are non- Footballers.....is Rodrigo and Fermandinho, non footballers too.....I guess Fabinho is your idea of a non footballer too......all those players are also equipped to deal with high balls too, another attribute to compliment their footballing prowess.

You are pedalling a false narrative, here.

Most of our fans favour 2 up top, so your reference to the manager being right on all fronts has holes in in too.....The player will favour the position that gets him game time and where he is asked to play, so what do you expect him to say, He hates it there?

No one is suggesting, that Dougie doesn't have natural ability on the ball, but we are looking for balance and winning the ball and breaking up play, cutting out long balls is a pre- requisite for, CDM....being comfortable with the ball to start attacks is also a requirement, but that alone, is not enough, is the point.

 I was responding to someone who called the DM position "limited." If anything my post was trying to show that the modern DM position is far from limited.  All the footballers you just named play a very expansive role for their team.  Footballers that back up my point fully, so thank you. 

As far as Douglas goes.  He has already shown the quality, now we are just looking for the consistency. That comes with age and experience.  He is 22, just finishing his second full season of premier league football.  Please give him some time to perfect the position that he and the Villa management team both believe he is best at. 

14 minutes ago, Keyblade said:

American sports are way more open and meritorious than football has been for the last 20 years.

Because the owners are protected from taking huge losses.  So clubs are free to compete on the field while all the owners share in the profits win or lose. 

In european football lose enough and your club can cease to exist. No billionaire owner is going to be okay watching their quarter billion asset go poof into thin air. I seriously detest this super league but I fully understand why the biggest clubs have made this play. 

Something needs to be done for football as a whole. The current model doesn't work. Every club in the Championship loses money. Our promotion year we lost £70 million (which is still the record) and it was actually north of a 100 but we pulled that FFP scam by selling our stadium to ourselves lol. 

Your ability to compete for European place shouldn't be almost completely contingent on how many millions your owner is willing to flush.  The competition is supposed to be conducted on the pitch not a dick measuring contest of account balance sheets.  This BS super league will keep coming up til European football is reformed top to bottom. 

51 minutes ago, useless said:

If we genuinely want to become a top six club and challenge for trophies on a regular basis then we have to make best in class players want to come.

Or you do like we did with Emi and find them before they become world class. 

We aren't convincing a world class winger, who is going to want champions league football, to come play for a mid table PL team. 

This has nothing to do with the "size" of Villa. The elite european clubs can pay wages that would bankrupt our club. There were rumors Jadon Sancho wanted £20 million per Man United. That is over twice what Jack is currently making. 

Lacazette had such a great run in but he's done his hammy so that's pretty much his season. Off to find another differential. 

1 hour ago, TRO said:

Some folk talk about Luiz playing the "Volante" role for Brazil, "Volante" is described there as defensive midfielder, everywhere else in South America a "Volante " is just a central midfielder.....There is a distinction in interpretation.

There maybe confusion here.....as some Vasco De Gama fans say he is not a no6, he is a number 8 ( meaning his best position)......personally, thats what I see him as.

Brazil is the only Portuguese speaking South American country. So it's not as simple to say it's a one to one comparison amongst all the countries of South America. 

I feel bad laughing at Bruce but then I remember what he made me endure in the Championship. 

Well that's the Albion going down. Anybody know if Pereira has a relegation release clause?

I'd you don't have the TC on Kane then I'm pretty sure it's all about just holding serve. Get out of this week with roughly your same rank and you make up ground on the guys who went triple Spurs for this GW. 

1 minute ago, Farlz said:

How or why did he come back onto the pitch with an ACL injury? 

Bit dodgy from our medical staff. 

Stories exist of players tearing their ACL and finishing whole games afterwards.

While on field methods can diagnosis most tears the only way to truly determine one is with an MRI. So if their is no sign of swelling or loss of knee stability a ACL tear diagnosis can be initially missed. 

5 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

I'm not trying to be anti Smith at all. But when anyone pro Smith tries to justify our poor form, it's never anything to do with him,  it's the players, the opposing team etc. This is what frustrates a few on here. If it were anyone but Smith running the show, just for example Wilder, I think most would be on his back by now, questioning his abilities. We gave Bruce a torrid time at a stage literally most of the players were actually shite.

Dont buy it. If Smith had us propping up the table for over half the season then he would be gone and everyone here would be happy to see him go. 

You ask why Smith gets seemingly more leeway than Bruce and it's obvious. Smith has met every marker laid out in front of him and given us some amazing performances along the way. You have to go back to the MON years to find the last time Villa have been this entertaining.  

Put it like this, if you were playing FM and you went from 17th to 10th and the chairman binned you off at the end of the season you would call the game a cheat and ask for your money back. Points at the beginning of the season count just as much as the ones we get now. Some would do would well to remember that. 

You look at Lingard right now and you immediately wonder what could have been had Barkley maintained his early season form. 

That's the one transfer we have to nail this summer. This team desperately needs a second creative outlet next to Jack. 

Not really an enigma. It's not like we haven't seen footballers who were excellent finishers but absolutely daft at other aspects of the game. He hustles, gives his all and a couple times a season will turn up with absolute class finish. 

Shouldn't be starting most games but you would be crazy if you said he cant do a job for us now. Keep it up Trez

Think we got our answer on why Arsenal sold Emi. First year in the red for the last ten was 2019 and then COVID hit. Selling Emi was their one move they had to balance the books.