Chelmofox

Is '1 big sale' really ruining Villa. Their wages to revenue ratio is high, they have competed in the CL this season and have a good chance to qualify for it next season. One big sale seems that they are doing ok, and presuming they do it they just amortise any incomings.

Right now - he's probably on cloud 9 and has bundles of energy and thinks he can do everything. Its the effect this will have on him later on that i worry about. Sometimes pressure and stress get to you later. Furthermore, when he has his first bad game or a moment that actually cost us something. The camoes so far haven't had anything riding on them, which is why you ease them in.

Another free Chang?

He is out of contract next summer, hence why we may need to look at selling him this window.

Chicken and bacon Pukka pie.

The biggest mistake we make is keeping people who we could sell. Assume we get 5mil for him, then that’s pure profit as he came through the academy. You then buy someone for 5 mill and amortise over the course of their deal. I still don’t know about Luke. Is he consistent enough to play a season in the championship? And is he likely to leave when his deal runs out? I think a lot will be decided by his thoughts / dedication to the club.

The biggest mistake we make is keeping people who we could sell. Assume we get 5mil for him, then that’s pure profit as he came through the academy. You then buy someone for 5 mill and amortise over the course of their deal. I still don’t know about Luke. Is he consistent enough to play a season in the championship? And is he likely to leave when his deal runs out? I think a lot will be decided by his thoughts / dedication to the club.

Works for me 🤪

The same Barnes and Maddison that are held in very high regard here.

The issue is that i think the general leadership around the club had bought into the fact that the players we still had from the last relegation were involved in a freak event and should have been too good to be relegated that time, and therefore had a good shot at staying up this time. A lot of this hope would have been levelled at the defense, namly JJ, Riccy, Thomas, Faes as well as Viktor / Bouba (not a defender!) who both did well on loan, and Ndidi who in their eyes is still likely the player he was a few years ago. Then add in 'established' PL talent like Winks, Coady, Ayew, Bobby and Skipp, and a striker looking to have one last laugh in the PL, then i think they went into this season thinking this was all good enough. Cooper was culpable to some of the poor decisions, but i think the boardroom and football decision makers need a rocket up their backside being culpable for all that, especially with the wages on offer. I don't think there are many managers out their who were getting a tune out of our lot. I think Ruud came in with a similar story to Enzo in terms of playing philosophy, which has obviously got Top all giddy. Maybe Ruud didn't do his own due diligence, or he was lied to (which means he didn't do his own due diligence), or maybe the initial discussions were entwined for longer term rebuilding? Who knows. But part of Ruud being here seems to be identifying issues with attitude and professionalism, and we come out the other side with a few players clearly on the naughty step. Is this part of a plan or just a coincidence? If Ruud identifies that he needs a team, needs time in the lower league himself, can take part in that rebuild and continues to develop academy players, then maybe this is the least worst option right now. An x year plan for our academy lads to be ready for a PL campaign puts us in a better position that buying more Winks & Coady's.

I'm going to get pelters for this, but if the replacement is Dyche or Martin, then I would actually rather he was part of the rebuild on the assumption he gets his own team in place. I would rather we were looking in the Rosenior or Corberan mould (both aren't going to happen now) and i dont think our management will look overseas. Might reserve total judgment on that after the Ipswich game! I think we need an x year plan now to be competitive in the PL and the likes of Winks / Ndidi just dont cut it for us now.

Did you see him vs Liverpool? He is Salah kryptonite.

Ive really enjoyed watching him play. I though his display against Liverpool was excellent and i thought he was good yesterday. Sadly, he's one bad game away from our fans just calling him sh1te and the manager dropping him for half a season.

If there is no relegation clause, he doesn’t walk. The only way he stays is if there is a gigantic reset and he gets his own team behind him. As you say, clearing out the boys mentality and focusing on the next generation.

Nah. BEK is more skilful. Fatawu is explosive and can take on defenders. I would argue both don’t quite achieve the output they should though. Nice to see BEK get an assist yesterday l, but there haven’t been enough goal contributions. For both players it will come.

Good lad. Earned his no 1 spot next season.

I dont think Casadei and Doyle were bad signings at all, and both were loans. Casadei was very much a young developmental loan and therefore blew hot and cold, but he wasn't terrible and we ironically missed him when he was recalled and Ndidi was injured. Doyle was the level of Championship we were at and provided depth and what the manager wanted. He played plenty of games.

Who was it on here who said Southampton were 'light years' ahead of us. We are multi-layers are shit, but i think Southampton are the worst PL i have ever seen.

He'll get 10 minutes, touch the ball twice and everyone will say hes a bag of sh1te. Then we won't see him again for the rest of the season.

Thursday night games are horrible. Chelsea have the biggest squad in the world. Forest are still dependable on the form of some key players who they might actually lose.

Europa Conference will completely mess them up, so i hope its what they will get. There are additional demands on squad depth and an increased number of games, but the money is nowhere near the same so you are arent attracting that 'next tier' of player. You have existing players who for a while thought there were going to be playing CL next year, and to retain them you may need to negotiate wages or the big clubs might coming sniffing. It's a bit of a poisoned chalice, and if you struggle for form its a killer.

After the Liverpool game he made a point of coming round and applauding the fans on his own. I did wonder if it might be his last game at the KP. Surprised they even bothered against Wolves. Strange they have been nursing an injury, especially after Jakub looked pretty decent in his last few games. Presume all prep for him to be sold. I expect everyone knows who it is already.

Betfair exchange has us favourites - just. 2 interesting bets. Lower odds for 'both teams to score' and 'over 2.5 goals'. Its like the world hasnt seen us play. Ive not placed a bet in years but i'm considering putting a few quid on 'no' for both teams to score and 'under 2.5 goals'.

And tell Thomas it’s Salah on the wing.

I do. But he still loves his football and although our position is terrible, he's not raging about it so we still have a good time. We like the people around us too. We don't sit there happy clapping - he genuinely likes looking at things critically. One day he's going to grow up.......