Smirking_Saint

MLG is about to give you a lesson

In that mould definitely, think he needs a proper footballer next to him, not that it tends to be that pronounced these days of course He needs a tad more composure under pressure but has the makings of a very good CB, all the correct physical attributes for it and reads danger better than any other CB at the club (who are largely reactive rather than proactive)

Not a particularly high bench mark Salusu is fantastic, but VVD he isn’t, he is probably more around Killer Svensson levels though, maybe a higher ceiling

Their ability to move the ball around and away from danger both individually and as a team is outrageous We battled hard throughout, played as a team and looked as competetive as any team has against them from memory We suddenly look like things have clicked, maybe its coincided with the takeover and has instilled more confidence One or two important signings and we suddenly look a real competitive outfit

I need to read and understand the ramifications more clearly but just off of that article it states ‘Club trained and under 21s are exempt’ so surely clubs like Chelsea and City’s strategies will remain largely the same… they just have to ‘sell’ these assets before they are 21 or sign them younger (if possible, I can’t remember the rulings exactly)

Ajer looks an excellent signing to be fair, the sort of defender I wanted and would suit us perfectly… shame we missed him

Its amusing that the vast majority of these are flops

Has to be Burnley on first view, came in, bought a club on leverage that now has significantly more debt and less spending power than previously

Not sure there is anything particularly insipid in this I think we took advantage of a good fee in Tino and he has turned out to be a significantly better player than expected, hence displacing KWP Its also unfortunately completely understandable how KWP.. who left Sours due to a lack of opportunity and then had a stormer of a season last year now has his nose out of joint, but unfortunately thats football

I think it causes too many issues The PL would be better off having transparency of covid testing and only allowing postponements for covid issues and not injuries/internationals

I don’t think there was a specific ‘vote’ on the ability to get matches postponed, all cases are reviewed individually by the premier league, I believe there was a vote early December about a winter break but it would have resulted in a loss of revenue so was rejected The PL has basically set a precedent by allowing clubs to postpone fixtures for more than just COVID cases now, and we’ve even had the likes of Liverpool having some very ‘fishy’ cases of 13 fakse positives Even if it did go to a vote the issue still lies with the premier league overall though, they are in charge of maintaining the sporting integrity of the competition and are failing miserably at it This year into next was always going to be difficult with AFCON, COVID and the December WC this calendar year… I can only see the situation being made worse when they inevitably have to extend the season to accommodate these postponements

The Arsenal postponement was arguably worse if we are being neutral Classic case of the dog taking the owner for a walk with clubs vs prem right now, completely lost control of the situation

Ings, Pelle, Lambert, Jay Rod Broja is a very very close 5th imo

Surely it contributes as they are still a club asset If we had a squad full of players on 6 month contracts we would be considerably less valuable then if we had the squad we had now for instance You’re just being pedantic for the sake of it here

Depends how the loan deal to us is structured to be honest, potentially even if they wanted to they might not be able to As for Woods, its an odd one, he doesn’t feel the sort of striker that you sign to dig you out of a relegation battle.. but I suppose conversely its weakening their rivals (although surely you do it later in the window)

I suppose if we have any chance at all then the time to strike is now He seems happy, we have the new takeover positivity in which we maybe able to convince him of the ‘project’, Chelsea already have players in his position Do I think it’s realistic? Yeah Cheap ? No If I was Chelsea I think Id be looking at a structured deal in a similar mould to the one they agreed for Abraham, it suits both parties and protects their future profits Lets see if the new owners want to make a statement here as we genuinely don’t know what our financing is like right now

slapping the badge after his goal too Don’t do this my Albanian prince 😂 don’t make me dream

Forster is significantly better than McCarthy btw Great second half from us there though, controlled possession, pressed as a unit and overall just completely shut them down We really need to sign Broja, direct, clinical, strong, technical.. brilliant player and looks like a Broja/Che frontline could be a good partnership Brilliant tonight, 11th 🙌🏻

Tell that to Insigne’s 15m a year salary

Gerrards done an excellent job steadying the ship at villa, and overall I think our squads are pretty comparable, but Id say before these signings we edge it slightly Digne is a serious signing, possibly the 2nd best LB in the league the last 2 years. Coutinho is going to be one of them, either James Rodriguez’ early Everton form or his late… but a loan with no obligation to buy is undisputedly good business Is Ings better than our strike force? Im not convinced he is on current form Villa could potentially be a force next year, they need a decent CB and DM, but overall its the beginning of a good side

The squads pretty swollen.. which is a good thing considering covid and our issues last year, but it does cause a few problems, realistically we need a new GK, No.10, CB and possibly a DM but all of those positions have a number of players (mediocre in places) that probably need to be moved on… everyones crying out fir a No.10 but thats possibly our most well stocked position We could probably wait until summer for all of them, but this year we’ve struggled to create enough chances and behind Salisu.. and in fact, even him, have made too many mistakes at the back

Unfortunately this isn’t really the way we play, which is an issue.. perhaps its a fault with our scouting staff missing this or perhaps we assumed he could adapt Either way I agree somewhat with MLG that so far he hasn’t impressed too much I do think there is a player there, like most strikers he’ll likely have form linked heavily to his confidence and his does seem low.. but he is also likely being played out of position, in a tougher league, with a different tactical approach

A CB is a CB in the same way as our wingers/No.10s are wingers No.10s Salisu is our best, Bednareks form has declined greatly over the last 18 months, Stephens cannot be relied upon consistently and Simeu is still unknown Similar levels of mediocrity are to be had in our wingers/No.10s but S Armstrongs return is a big bonus, still agree we need another

I don’t really see the point tbh, Small is chomping at the bit for a start apparently, he is behind Perraud… we then have KWP that gets his RB berth back.. Stephens can plsy their in an emergency I mean… if we have the money and means then why not ? But Id still probably rather see a new No.10/Inside Forward and a proper CB to partner Salisu

Maitland-Niles is the only that springs to mind