Saint Garrett

Done some really good business this summer Villa. Fair play to them, must be nice to have an owner with some money... Be RLC I'm expecting to be a makeweight in the Declan Rice deal...

They need to be more than "confident" I'm afraid. Imagine if we didn't get anyone else it, it would be a complete shambles.

We had also just raised a shit load of money from sales. and all of those came in for less than the outlay.

Can you imagine if we were linked with this guy, and he was doing it in Spain. Our fans would be absolutely buzzing. We're a better side when he is playing.

The "high line" wasn't really the problem, it was the fact we stopped pressing in midfield, and let them pick their passes. Also Stephens and KWP being the wrong side or not reacting quickly enough. Carragher did some analysis on it on Sky and he was spot on.

West Ham won't go down.

Would be a big ask for him to come straight into our first Xi....

Probably also depends on Bednarek's contract situation... Think it will be interesting. I see it being Salisu + 1 in the long run, as he seems to suit the way we want to play, lets hope he's as good as expected... Think Bednarek is better than Stephens, and Vestergaard is a good option for us in certain games. He's certainly got the best distribution out of the current 3.

There is about 10 clubs wanting him tbf. Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s included in the deal to take Rice to Chelsea.

Sounds dreadful. But sounds like it might be happening, gut feeling is this is not good for the football club. I really don’t like the model of owning different clubs, don’t think it should be allowed.

Reporting no news then,

Isnt he off to PSG? Can't see us him coming to us

RLC wouldn't be playing out wide, he'd replace Romeu in CM I would expect.

Indeed. You look at Everton's mids/fwds who aren't their first choice. Delph, Sigurdsson, Gbamin, Davies, Gomes, Besic, Walcott, Iwobi, Sandro, Bolasie, Tosun, Bernard, Gordon, Kean....

They're shopping in a different market to us tbf, we're in the pound shop whilst they're in Mulberry.

Don't mind Tom Davies as a player, but definitely not as a DM/CM, Could see him giving us depth behind Armstrong though.

Nice to have an actual link...sounds like he'd be a Boufal replacement, assuming hes off. Not sure where we're getting the money to fund that though... Not a CM though. Slightly concerning that his highlight reel consists of him giving the ball away...A LOT.

Supposedly the Barca president have now blocked it.

McCarthy is nowhere near good enough, but I don't think Gunn or Forster are either. Really, we should be looking to get rid of two of these, and bringing in a proper no 1. But thats wont happen. Pretty sure there must be a few better keepers in the championship.

McCarthy, KWP, Vestergaard, Bednarek, Bertrand, Romeu, JWP, Armstrong, Djenepo, Adams, Ings. This team for me, Stephens was appalling yesterday, and we're lucky we have a bit of depth in that position where we can change it. The rest of the team picks itself.

We need, Starting CM, Depth in the wide positions/starter, Redmond, Djenepo and Armstrong are ok, but we have nothing in those positions off the bench, Tella isn’t there yet New keeper if we’re going to play this system, Forster or Gunn aren’t the answer either. Another CB with pace to partner Salisu Highly likely we’ll get one CM who won’t end up being first choice...

Dont think he had a choice tbh, Pierre had decided he wanted to move on, earn more money, and play with better players. I don't think there was anything we could offer him to stay.

How'd he get on?

You say there was no time for pre season friendlies, I think most other clubs had 3 or 4, we had 1. We look miles off the pace, confirmed by Ralphs comments regarding the fitness/sharpness that the players have come back in... I've been saying the squad is far too thin for months, and last night proved that. We have no alternatives.

If we were selling him yes...think it's overpriced in reality, but in today's market it's probably fair enough. Good keeper too.