We are well into the third week of the transfer ‘window’, and still there’s no sign of reinforcements arriving. Added to this situation is the news that Lambert has obtained striker Weimann for the rest of the season! Which makes the situation even more bizarre that we are (this Saturday) being given the chance to see Robinson show us what he’s capable of in the goal-scoring department. And since old Villa players do tend to come and haunt us, there is a situation developing about which our auld (but so sadly departed) friend Gary Haddon would have some appropriate comment to make!

It’s difficult to see our two so-called strikers (Gabby and Ross) making any kind of headway on Saturday. Indeed, at least one of them would be up for the ‘chop’ in normal conditions, so just what will the boss do? Will the boss kick his principles aside and throw RHM into the fray? I somehow doubt it. So with the prospect of another goal-less show from our side this week, I thought it best to put our fears aside and look back at some ancient Villa v. Preston history – out of which there is even a possible solution for this Saturday’s match!

Since time immemorial, there has been a sense of history between our club and Preston North End. Indeed, in the few years prior to the foundation of the Football League (1888), the two leading clubs in the land were Preston N.E. and Aston Villa. Ahem, except that in those so-called “friendlies only” times, Preston very often followed the practise of playing weaker clubs in order to boost their statistical ratings, and keep their fans happy with the flow of goals.

But there were times when Preston did show Aston Villa just who was boss. And that became manifest for the first time in the very year when Villa became the Midlands’ first ever winners of the F.A. Cup – in 1887. Villa were, of course, over the moon about their win, and the Baggies (who Villa beat in the Final) slunk away into a corner to lick their wounds. Meanwhile, Villa went on a great tour of the country to demonstrate their skills, sometimes playing a match every two days. But the very last scheduled match was to be played at … Preston. Now the men of Preston were no fools; they watched from afar as Villa won match after match on their tour. And while Villa were doing that, Preston just trained a bit, and otherwise just relaxed, waiting for their visitors to arrive and believing that by the time Villa arrived, they would be fagged out.

Preston won the match 11-1. This is a statistic that many Villa fans will not have heard of, and because it happened during those “friendlies only” days (which – it has to be said – were definitely not friendlies when honour was at stake) it’s been put aside as just a freak and not that important. But, at the time, it was important.

The Villa, of course, were incandescent! Villa immediately demanded a replay at Villa’s ground (Perry Barr). And a few weeks later that replay did occur and Villa won this time, 2-1. Some wag pointed out that if the 2-1 score were to be translated into Roman numerals, it would look like the same score that Preston achieved in the earlier match, II-I!

Villa next met Preston in a real competition – the F.A. Cup – the very next year (1888), at Perry Barr. This was the match when so many fans attended that they overwhelmed the ground. Perry Barry normally operated to a maximum of 10,000 spectators, but on this occasion it is reckoned that at least 25,000 attended. There were no controls – they were just let in! Horse police and the local yeomanry were called in to keep the crowd under control (it must almost sound like the scene at the first Wembley Final in 1923!), but the crowd could do nothing but spill onto the pitch and interfered with the play.

The interference was such that the two captains and officials met at half-time and agreed that the match would have to be declared void, but they would finish the match and record it as a friendly.

Well, Preston won 3-1. But, to Villa’s consternation, Preston (the masters of trickery) claimed that win as their route into the Cup’s next round – despite the agreement midway through the match! And what was even worse was that the F.A. accepted their argument, and that was how Villa (the Cup holders) were ejected from the Cup that year. However, the Baggies did Villa a good turn – they beat Preston in the Final!

It was later that year (1888) that McGregor’s Football League got under way, and Preston celebrated by winning the ‘Double’ – the League and the Cup – in the first season. Villa were runners-up but did not win over Preston in either of their matches. Several games into the 1889-90 season, however, Preston remained unbeaten in the League since its start the year before, but it was Villa that became the first team to beat them in the League, by 5-3 at Perry Barr. Villa’s famous centre-half, Jimmy Cowan, had to be played centre-forward that day because of injuries, and scored a hat-trick!

I’ve had a thought: get Jimmy Cowan back to play this Saturday! Or does it indicate that Tommy Elphick should be given a chance up front, as someone has suggested? I can recall the 1950s full-back Stan Lynn being played there several times, so perhaps the idea is not a bad one.

Just one last thought: it was in 1970 that Villa and Preston were relegated together from the old Division Two. Now, according to the rules of those days it also meant that neither team would have full League membership while in the lower division: they would have to be promoted to regain that privilege. What a come-down to the only two teams that had ever won the ‘Double’ prior to 1961; how the once mighty had fallen!

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John Lerwill
I'm a Villan of more than 60 years standing and an occasional writer on Villa history. For me there is only one football club worth supporting, but I am now wondering whether I will again see anything like the pageant that was paraded under Ron Saunders or even that by Big Ron and Brian Little. My glass, however, is always half-full! Click here for my Villa website.

Comments 412

  2. John Lerwill

    Well, we’ve been spared playing Bristol the following week, so Codger may be back for the first game after Preston.

    The OS says:

    There is a new date for our upcoming home fixture with Bristol City.

    The game, due originally to be played on Saturday January 28, is confirmed now as Tuesday February 28, with a 7.45pm kick-off.

    The original game was changed because of Bristol City’s progress in the FA Cup as they beat Fleetwood Town – and now play Burnley away in the fourth round.

  5. Archie

    Yes, looks like Lansbury will be a Villa player by the weekend, I’m not surprised but didn’t think it would happen until the summer, who will he partner in midfield
    Still don’t see Rhodes coming, but then with my predictions it’s proberbly a done deal already.
    We’ll see
    Archie

  6. Heroes-and-Villans

    welcome Lansbury! Not sure if he is as good as what we are hoping for but prob a damn sight better than what we have seen for a while! my cous says on his day brilliant might not many of those days!!

    someone on twitter who gets everything right…said yesterday a medical booked for today for Lansbury says 2 more medical booked in for next few days.

  9. Mark King

    Iana – where did you here about this £83 loss for prem clubs dropping? I’d be interested in seeing that, I know we posted about a £30m loss in 14/15, if its similar in 15/16 it means we don’t have much this season beyond what we have spent.

    I don’t know what to expect against PNE, Robinson has scored 7 this season and Johnson at least 3. If its remotely like the wolves game it will be at least a 0-2 loss.

  10. Mark King

    Andrew the 17 year old reportedly costing £750,000 so must be a talent, that said Why are we waiting our talent in RHM? surely you would play him to further increase his value when it inevitably goes to tribunal in the summer?

  12. Heroes-and-Villans

    Mark

    Its because rhm refuses to commit to the cause. Example to the rest of the youth being taken. 100% behind dr and round and bruce on this.

    He needs to look at dan crowley who went arsenal. Now on loan to some american team for the season. Plonker could be playing for our first team now!

  13. Heroes-and-Villans

    John

    Yeah mate john percy has said about houtihan too. Some clubs have come in late for him but he wants villa move and will waite to summer if not now!

    Hourihan left footer too. Him and lansbury in mid makes me very very excited!!
    And hourihan takes set pieces etc. Please happen!!

  15. Paul Pears

    Maybe the problem with RHM is he would rather be out on loan from Spurs on £10,000 per week, than playing in Villa’s squad for £5,000 per week, and then out on loan…!!

  17. Mark King

    Andrew- if RHM scored a few goals that helped us get into the play offs it is a carrot to the youth that they can make it at Villa. If we take the punishment line we lose him anyhow with no benefit to us in playing terms or increased Value because it will go to tribunal and we will get £500,000 instead of £1m or more

  20. Trinity

    Andrew
    It could be a great window if they get a move on.
    Mark
    I wonder what the proviso max loss of £15m if no equity injected means to us?
    That’s a good question. I don’t think it affects Villa because Villa adhered to FFP regulations and equity has been injected into Villa via Dr. X’s take over.

  21. Trinity

    Someone on here said Villa has to sell or loan out players under FFP to bring new players in. That sounds right. I think club squads are capped at 25. I don’t know how injuries and loans affect the list.
    Preston are favourites to beat Villa. At least Villa are still unbeaten at home, only if just. I still back Villa to win, though most punters don’t.
    U
    T
    V

  22. OldVilla

    Andrew – “The youth see green and davis now involved, comng off the bench. Hell rhm was involved when we thought he was signing. He is basically being a greedy little git. No time for it”

    Well said! He seems to be being led astray by his parents and/or agent to the extent of taking the mickey on social media. It’s simple really – show some commitment to the club that has given you a chance so far and you will get more chances – if he is good enough of course, which currently we just don’t know.
    I’d forget about him and get on with the players who want to be part of the club and those who are now being signed.
    btw – when is De Laet back from injury?
    oldvilla

  24. OldVilla

    Thanks John, I did seem to remember that it was for the season ………… shame as that could have saved us a few bob. But I guess it could be like having a new signing ready for the start of next season.
    The next 10 days will be very important both to maintain our good home record and also to get in the type of signings that will give us the fight, commitment and skill to make progress.
    I wait with baited breath 🙂

    oldvilla

  25. Heroes-and-Villans

    Lansbury done 🙂 2.75 mill. Bargain Bruce likes the fact he has a bit of arrogance about him. Wants villa to have some character. hear hear!

    Defo in for houriahan and bree…waiting to hear from Barnsley.

    Rhodes a dead end which im ok with…did not want to spend silly money on him.

  26. Heroes-and-Villans

    Lansbury involved in 40% of forest goals. Horihan a bit more than that at Barnsley. Villa GET IT at last!

    Green apparently starting for villa. Good luck lad. play your game and take your chance.

  27. DarrenO

    So FFP can be overridden with an equity injection, that’s ok then, we are probably borderline so FFP is an issue but only an issue in terms of how much money Dr.T would have to inject to cover FFP, effectively like additional payment for club ownership.

    Welcome Lansbury, can’t wait to see Hourihane lifting the jersey in the ‘I’ve signed for Villa official photo’. Great to see Green’s performances being acknowledged, he should start and give him the 90 minutes. One bit of experimentation I’m happy to see.

    Rhodes would work once we got our midfield sorted but perhaps it might be time for McCormack to shine with midfield service. Rhodes just smacks of throwing money at the problem when the problem was selling Gestede and Kodija at AFCON, fixing midfield will fix the problems in front of defence and supporting attacks.

  28. Paul Pears

    Great to get the Lansbury deal, and feel at least one Barnsley player will become ours, after they have played Leeds, which could be wise, as they have agood record against them.

    Was very impressed watching the reserve game against ‘Boro with several youngsters, especially Ricardo Calder, McKirdy, Green and another young lad, Callum O’hare. Jerell sellars put in a shift.
    Kieran Davies was ok, but felt he was not incisive enough, and his penalty was very poor. Toner was ok, but did not have a big part to play. Legget, the captain was very sound too. Very impressed with Sarkic in goal.

    I am sure that if we get Hourihane and Bree, we will be somewhere near where we want to be. Not bothered about Jordan Rhodes, and I am sure there are better cheaper and younger players.

  29. Heroes-and-Villans

    Paul was meaning to ask about that sarkic in goal. every time I see reports on games he has usually made great saves!

    Villa going after Ashley barnes from burnley now out of Rhodes race.

    bruce seems keen on having a more sturdy striker leading the line. defo wants kodjer out on the left

  31. James Gill

    nice to see some movement in villa midfield as long as it happens on the field as well,its been weakest point for far too long
    will one player make that much difference to last weeks abject performance

    andrew
    would expect bruce not to start tish tomorrow,and would also be surprised to see gabby dropped so you still will have hutton gabby in side

  32. Heroes-and-Villans

    james

    was thinking hutton tbf was one of our better players against wolves!! haha!

    Prob correct about gabby too! With kodger back and bruce seemingly intent on a st and bree at rb we could soon see a team with no gabby, hutton and westy 🙂

    reading up on Lansbury and hourihan, big thing for me is that they are box to box players. those 2 in mid could be the best thing we have seen since barry and milner!

    like the look of barnes as well after reading up on him…a feisty bugger.

  33. James Gill

    the summer signings on paper looked good, tend to agree with think it was mark k about players thinking they have made it when they land at villa,its why i would like to see young players22/23/24 age group come,that want to step up

    as for wolves game will 1 player make that much of a difference we where shite and have been since start of december,hutton is greatest bluffer i have seen always running mind you he is always late ,his passing is criminal for someone playing as long as hutton

  34. steamers75

    Hi All. The arrangments for Steamers Funeral is .
    FRIDAY 10 Feb .AT 10am at Woodlands Cemertry . Birmingham rd . And then onto the Con Club . Bosworth Drive . Chelmsley Wood .
    All the best All

  38. Mark King

    ST75- I will do my utmost to be there mate work permitting, its not always in my hands unfortunately.

    Andrew- I am waiting to see why formation Bruce will use to get some idea of what he has in mind because after all these matches I still could not tell you. I will say this Lansbury has a long pass on him as did Huddlestone so my thinking is once we have Kodjia back he might be the new Hernandez if we don’t get another in.

  39. Mark King

    well its 1st in home form over last 6 games 8th over the season Vs 1st in away form over the last 6 games I think. Lansbury better be good if he plays

  40. Heroes-and-Villans

    Mark

    Interesting interview with bruce yesterday, saying same thing as you. Said he has been here for 15 games and has given everyone a go and different formations. He said he likes to keep a settled team and formation and basically saying none of em are good enough! Cant wait till he gets his own players in and a settled team, like you say right now have no idea.

  41. Heroes-and-Villans

    Tough game today, no idea what score will be.

    Lansbury is a good player, for today though not sure if he has 90 mins in him. Not played since early dec!

    Could be a bit rusty! Good news from pat murphy. Hurihane and bree apparently want to come. Bids are in. Keeping the price on the low down as lots of clubs in for them especially bree. Said it would be a coup for us!

  45. Heroes-and-Villans

    James not sure where goals are coming from. No mccormack looks like he is off….not alot of options! Kodjer back soon and prob sign rhodes or barnes.

    Only bizare one for me is no tish, i like him. Jedi not there either!!?

  57. Frankfurt Villan

    Have just caught up with the news. Deeply sorry to hear of Steamer’s passing. I will miss his contribution to this blog enormously. There were a couple of periods last year when we hadn’t heard from him for a couple of weeks and people were saying – “where’s Steamer? What’s happened to him? His were the first comments I always looked out for on the blog. For me at least, I can say that without him, its not going to be the same on hear. RIP Steamer.

  67. Trinity

    Unfortunately they could only do it for one half.
    Pretty sad draw, Villa should have won, done again like a pack of mugs. 2-2, but as good as a loss. The mighty Preston can return home happy with a point. Good on them for coming back from 2-0 down.
    Grealish’s decision making is questionable. Gabby actually played very well, but 1 goal in 38 matches mmm.

  68. r0bb0

    So deflated. The first half was the best I e seen us play for . . . . years! Really was.
    Cold day so decided on a half time bovril. Got back to my seat to find my bovril was barely lukewarm. . . . and that’s pretty much how things were for the rest of the game.
    What went wrong? Well if everyone had put in the same non stop effort of Gabby we’d have strolled that game. If only he’d do that every week. He was head and shoulders man of the match today.
    Other bright points: Lansbury did bring a more direct approach from midfield and Green did really well
    But . . . Sigh

  69. Mark King

    Heard from someone at the game that we were great the first half and sat back the second giving PNE all the possession and tried to hit them on the break, if so I don’t know what to say.

    JL- not been a great start for the keeper, 3 shots 3 goals virtually

  70. Mark King

    Robbo- can’t take it away from gabby it sounded like he played well and worked hard but I would swap him in an instant for someone with a goal threat

  71. John Lerwill

    OK guys … listen up now…;-)

    I for one thought “will we score today?” when I saw the team sheet!

    We did … but maybe the team shocked itself into malaise as a result?!

    I’ve not seen him play yet, but I’ve already got the impression that he’s fitted the bill, and a couple of like signings over the next 10 days (to the next match) could make all the difference! *And* we may have Codger back for the next match.

    So … all we need now is 4 wins from the 4 matches before we meet the Geordies again and we’ll be happy as schoolboys once more!

    Mark … since we seem to keep around 57% possession all match and had far more shots than them I’m not sure we could have sat back too much?

  73. Heroes-and-Villans

    Jesus you guys hearing about ross. The guys a piss taker. Never trains and gets hammered, hence his weight! Moxley tweeted got an article in mirror on him in tonight and adminration for bruce through the roof. Has been fined and dug out.

    Trouble is we are stuck with a fat slacker. Can we sell him??

  76. Heroes-and-Villans

    It wont be till next season but we will be more than ok.

    Lansbury and houihane in the middle will boss it. There too good not too. Add in another st and bruce wants another winger, chased schlupp, brady. Will be ok

  79. Mark King

    JL- first half was all Villa so not surprised at stat in overall game, we certainly seemed to change tack second half with the formation disintegrating at times. Its hard to tell if you are not watching.

    Andrew I think Green is in for good myself no need for a winger this window. I think we will see Lansbury and Hourahan as box to box with Jedi as anchor. Jedi back in should stop those defensive errors.

    RMC may have a drink problem or maybe depression either way he is not happy.

  80. Gareth Stevens

    I’m now 100% convinced that our club is cursed – we could have had a four goal lead and still would have stuffed it up. No one does it better than the Villa!

    If I were Hourihane I’d be having second thoughts, but judging by his interview he’s definitely on his way. Hopefully the Villa curse doesn’t ruin him too.

  81. r0bb0

    Doesn’t normal employment law apply to footballers?
    Why can’t the club take players through a disciplinary procedure that ends in being fired if the player doesn’t mend his ways?
    What has that never happened?

  82. James Gill

    the more bruce slags off players the more it looks bad on bruce, ross not training well if its going on for a while the reasoning of letting rudi go smacks of real bad management,as saying gollina is too young then replacing him with a younger version,2nd goal today who was organising defence free header in box cant remember which ch had 2

  83. r0bb0

    Thought that Bruce should have made his substitutions earlier today.
    It was clear that we needed an injection of energy but I guess he was so impressed by the first half performance that he was hoping it would click again with the 11 he had out there.
    We all know how much talent Jack has but I feel more comfortable with him coming on as a sub. Still not convinced he can give the level of energy needed for a full 90 minutes.

  84. Paul Pears

    AS everyone sats Villa best display of the season first half and the goal is definitely Gabby’s . Adomah did not touch until it was over the line…!!

    Gabby, Westwood , Green and Lansbury outstanding first half, and Hutton was like a new man and cutting in, instead of going down the wing all the time. Baker and Chester were ok, but Amavi was a disaster…!!

    Second half Lansbury ran out of steam , Grealish to petulant and constantly looking for fouls.
    Landsbury abiity to pick great passes was a revelation..

    Goalkeeper poor again…

  85. r0bb0

    James. The club has pussy footed around indiscipline for years now and it’s time that someone took a real grip on it.
    I know what you mean about slagging off players in public. If I had someone in my team not performing then I would tell them in private but it’s clear that Bruce had tried that before and it hadn’t worked. If you can’t sack players then what do you do after you’ve tried the private approach?

  86. James Gill

    robbo
    coached young under 10/12 lads and discipline was first thing sorted,
    but when you play gabby you have no where to go for me,yes he has lost weight but to little to late its not like gabby playing well scoring assisting
    this season gone now ,so time to tell richards bunn hutton elphik westwood gg bacuna kozak ross and gabby time to go,sell amavi ayew

  87. James Gill

    pp
    only seen goals on sky but hutton the first goal if you see it back he runs away from his side over to amavi arms pointing like a traffic cop, now it doesn t seem to be any reason why hutton is so far from right back position, 2nd goal hutton gave away corner ,pne hit short one grealish is on his own ,i always thought should be 2 going for short corner,mei just think he worst full back i have seen playing so many matches especially when we don t win them
    usual bad mood after villa result lol

  88. James Gill

    omg when is the piss taking out of our club stop, anyone seen picture of bruce doing the rounds tonight in kebab shop in full villa training ,think its in one of tomorrow rags

  89. Heroes-and-Villans

    James

    So the pic of bruce…whats wrong with it?

    Indicipline big behing scenes…bruce parience has snapped. Good get it sorted now and try and get next season into a settled manner.

    Mark

    Yeah think green will be in now too.

    Grealish is starting to dissapoint me. Hope he improves

  90. Paul Pears

    JG,

    Second half defensively Hutton could have been at fault, but first half was very different.

    Second half the defence and mid field fell away, but we should have had the game wrapped up before then.

  92. r0bb0

    Both of their goals were poor. For their first, plenty of players had dashed back to cover but none of them took responsibility to tackle him or block the shot. He did do well but he shouldn’t have been allowed to get that far.
    For the second, James is right that we switched off and didn’t cover the short corner.

  93. John Lerwill

    r0bb0: “We all know how much talent Jack has but I feel more comfortable with him coming on as a sub. Still not convinced he can give the level of energy needed for a full 90 minutes.”

    Well, for those who were fortunate to see the rise of Brian Little, I would say that Jack barely compares. All the hype about Jack and yet he just doesn’t seem to arrive.

    Will we ever see another like Brian Little at VP? With Jack the way he is, I think not: which is a pity.

  95. Heroes-and-Villans

    Well we played alot better, just such a shame we could not see it out. Must keep that first half as a bench mark.

    But we aint going down and we aint getting playoffs.

    Want to do some good work in jan, give some youth a go. Finish above blues and go into next season as strong and settled as poss.

  97. r0bb0

    I’ve seen suggestions that McCormack could be suffering from depression. If he is then he deserves our sympathy, and deserves support from the club. You’d hope that the club is more enlightened than back in the Collymore days and would provide such ‘discrete’ support.
    There’s a world of difference between clinical depression and ‘feeling unhappy’ though. If McCormack falls into the ‘feeling sorry for himself’ category then I’m fully supportive of the club’s tough approach and hope we can move him on to somewhere he can feel ‘happier’
    Without knowing the details though it’s hard to know ‘how’ to feel.

  98. John Lerwill

    Good points, r0bb0. But depression or not, to think you might get away with a “broken gates” excuse to avoid training seems to indicate irresponsible thinking.

  99. Mark King

    JL- I think to depressed to get out of bed or to pissed to train would of sounded worse even if accurate 😉 we don’t know how long this has been occurring? if all season then why has it not been flagged up as odd? and depression is very hard to hide as is being pissed when you have regular medical checks for drugs and health. Its baffling why a player would think it was sustainable let alone say my gates are stuck, what have his other excuses been?

  100. Mark King

    Dr. Tony Xia
    ✔
    @Dr_TonyXia

    Have talked to Ross.It’s hard to go through the difficulty time in personal life but we all have2take whatever 2become a real MAN!Stand up!
    4:22 AM – 22 Jan 2017

  101. James Gill

    robbo
    the 2 goals came down hutton side ae per usual,hutton hides when we are defending, as for picture bruce should know better,we need to keep out of papers for bad publicity for a change,was he getting an order for training lol

  102. r0bb0

    James, the first goal was scored almost from the middle of the goal and 5 villa outfield players had the chance to stop it so putting all the blame on Hutton seems harsh.
    The second goal was scored from a corner which happened to be taken from the right. To blame Hutton for that is a bit perverse. If we have to blame anyone it should be Adomah and Grealish for failing to cut out the cross or Baker for not rising to clear it.

  103. Trinity

    So what if Bruce was buying kebabs after the match? Stupid tabloids have nothing better to report.
    Like to know what’s really wrong with Ross. He was a top scorer in consecutive seasons. Why the jelly now? Why the hard arse attitude from Dr. Xia?

  104. Mark King

    from what I have heard his wife has left him and he’s hit the bottle. Its hard to know the real facts but Xia’s comment seems to lend credence to it being a personal problem

  105. Mark King

    Iana – I can only think that early season loss of confidence of the team when the goals just would not go in particularly for Ross, who even missed a pen, Kodjia then took over those duties normally given to Ross in the teams he has played in. He had an early season injury too and the loss of RDM maybe effected his game, if now his wife has gone then that may be the large straw that broke the camels back.

    This period of time has been touted as the time Ross needed to step up on the goal front adding more pressure. If he has never had a goal Drought before maybe its got to him more than it should with all other stresses considered.

  106. John Lerwill

    Mark,

    Though I can empathise with the situation that Ross may have been in (and the various pressures that he’s been under), it sounds to me that his mind has not been fully on his footie … but that’s what he gets paid for, and fans expect a performance.

    However, although he’s not been scoring goals, his general outfield play has been good I think, without hitting the high spots. A transfer may be the best for him … to go to fresh or old pastures and think things through properly.

  107. Rob Hunt

    JL.
    you seem to have be on a right downer on grealish,and a love for gabby.jack by far superior footballer ,give the kid a chance,gabbys had plenty.

  108. Mark King

    JL- If his wife has left him how will that help? we are bringing in two mid-fielders that can link play and he would be great at that behind a decent no 9. I think most of RMC’s playing problems stem from the team play or lack of it, countless times he’s got into good positions only to be ignored by Ayew and Kodjia. Two midfielders with good engines and a goal threat would help us get the best from him but I don’t think calling him out will help at all.

    Bruce and Xia are not chuffed with his timing I think having sold Gestede, binned RMH and proclaimed Gabby the answer while Kodjia and Ayew are away. The truth for me is since Bruces arrival we have sat back, RMC is a footballer not an athlete, you only have to watch Fulham play to see that, counter attack football is not his forte.

  109. Heroes-and-Villans

    Well i hope for ross things will get better but from a villa pont of view he is 30 now and like mark said he is no athlete, will go down hill rapidly im afraid if he does not keep himslf a1. Think it could be 12 mill down the drain!!

  110. James Gill

    robbo
    the first goal only went in middle at edge of box, 2nd goal hutton gave away corner from commentry , just imagine grayson teamtalk after seeing villa team sheet, gabby no goal threat,westwood put a bit pressure on he willl drop deeper and deeper with his only outlet back wards sideways,to his left winger we know hutton will run up and down line but don tworry he cant pass tackle or cross and sure as night follows day hutton will leave gaps on his side of the field

  111. John Lerwill

    Rob Hunt: “you seem to have be on a right downer on grealish,and a love for gabby.jack by far superior footballer ,give the kid a chance,gabbys had plenty.”

    Grealish I compare with Brian Little (*not* Gabby), who was way ahead of Grealish in his contribution at the same age, and scoring many great goals in the second tier before doing even more in the top-flight. Grealish is not at all at the same standard of skill.

    Gabby I have only supported because it plainly has been the case in the past month that he’s been needed. Who else to play? … we even have problems with Ross now!

    So I think your comments are a tad awry Rob.

  112. John Lerwill

    Mark: “If [Ross;s] wife has left him how will that help?”

    He’s not much help just now by the looks of it! And by his actions I’d say his head and priorities are not right and he needs a fresh start somewhere else.

    It’s sad that his personal life has taken a bad turn, but I just can’t see him getting anywhere at Villa.

    I think Andrew’s comments are right.

  113. Mark King

    well I must say I find RMC’s treatment harsh particularly when compared to gabbys actions this season alone, preferring to stay and rot rather than play and has been letting himself go for the last 2-3 seasons.

    JL- I don’t think there are many English players full stop that compare to Brian Little at his best so a comparison with Grealish? do we even know what position he plays yet? left wing, No10? asked to track back to, can’t remember Little having to do that much.

  114. James Gill

    john l
    this ross situation smacks off bad management all round,first the doc got riled by holloway and panick buys a 30 year old striker who never made at higher level first mistake,bruce is in charge since mid october now 3 weeks into jan ross is not fit ,sorry not buying that he played v wolves 7 days ago,bruce slagging him off in public another mistake no way back for ross, any club that do want him have villa by the short and curlys,
    thats rhm grealish gollina and now ross that bruce has either undermined or slagged off to papers and what is happening on the park nothing results getting worse by the week yet all we are talking about is ross not the fact bruce has had 17 matches and we don tknow what is his best side formation or style, funny that bruce has passed the buck

  118. James Gill

    mark k
    why are media not focusing on results, losing to lamberts wolves, 2 nil up at home throw it away, why no strikers on the bench, yet bruce sold rudi, 1 point from 9

  120. James Gill

    mark k
    good article,and for me if i was a professional footballer at villa and watch bruce picked 5/6 players every week i would stay at home too, its time media done there job not arse licking bruce no wins in 5 at least 2 of them without a shot on target, playing 6 man defence against spurs reserves,new hull manager didn t try that playing chelsea first team no 2 weeks in you can see what he wants ineffort style and performance

  121. John Lerwill

    Mark: “I don’t think there are many English players full stop that compare to Brian Little at his best so a comparison with Grealish?”

    But if you take the hype about Grealish you’d think he was Brian Little x 2 !!!!!!!!!!!!

    Actually I was *not* comparing JG with BL at his best (I’ve been mis-read/quoted again!!) …

    In 1974-75 BL was aged 22. What’s Jack’s age? I was comparing two players at the same stage in their careers. In 1974-75 he cracked in around 20 goals in the second tier … and played with great panache and skill that I’ve not yet seen in Jack, and BL not yet at his peak. Arguably he reached that in 1976-77 and then ran into too many injury problems and retired still aged only 27.

    And then you state: ” I don’t think there are many English players full stop that compare to Brian Little”. Well, BL still only got 10 minutes’ worth of England time and lost out to Trevor Francis and others for England caps.

    But the point is that people are talking of such great expectation in JG. Well, he has to get a different personal coach then, because for me just now he doesn’t do what people say.

  122. John Lerwill

    James: “thats rhm grealish gollina and now ross that bruce has either undermined or slagged off to papers”

    About time we had a tough manager! 😉

    Those kickers we call players really do need a reality check on how they go about things…

  123. John Lerwill

    Mark: “I agree the focus is not on Bruce because it is not deemed his team but he does like seem to like to lay the blame elsewhere”

    I don’t think “blame” is the right word. He’s only made comments that highlight what shortcoming each player has got, and I am happy with what he says. Those kickers are paid too much to expect to be handled with kid gloves.

    SB doesn’t criticise Gabby simply because Gabby has done everything right on SB’s watch. He’s made the effort.

  124. James Gill

    johnl
    i am all for a strong maanger,
    but you say gabby is doing what bruce wants,
    not scoring assisting not counting yesterday bulldoze effort
    bruce picks hutton who again let 2 goals in from his side again normal, westwood who cannot compete even at this level, yes they might be great professionals ,because they both know they will never be as lucky again
    as for jg he is not doing at this level? why is the 3 clowns mentioned playing leaving us like a boxer with 1 hand tied behind his back
    and read somewhere new wba player is on just 8 thousand a week more than lansbury, they are top 8 in pl we are in bottom 8 championship crazy

  125. Mark King

    JL- Grealish can be frustrating thats for sure but I do think he would be better with better quality around him, I also think he is quite immature for his age, Brian Little was probably a man at 10 😉

    a certain welsh player called Bale did not really do anything until he was a little older and Harry Rednap changed the team around him at spurs, not saying Grealish is in the same territory mind

  126. Mark King

    JL- I have noticed that Bruce has changed the team and formation around a lot but then blames the players for being not good enough or not sticking to the formation yadda yadda yadda. We actually went out and attacked on Saturday but then Bruce blamed them for not closing the game out at 2-0. You would assume he changed tack and told them to attack, Lansbury was tiring before PNE scored and Bruce should of rung the changes or given instructions to tighten up, obviously he didn’t just blamed them for not automatically shutting PNE out.

  127. IanG

    Steve Claridge pointed out on the radio that he ‘s probably got 5-6 million in the bank, but if he mortgage was on the line, or his player’s bonus if he needed the money, he would run to the ground, personal problems or not.
    [Now Gabby’s lost a load of money he’s started to try again].
    He also pointed out that with the obscene amount of money in football survival is no longer the reason for self discipline or motivation, so it’s easy for those with a character quirk to lose their self motivation because it doesn’t really matter to them like it does normal people.

    On a human level I can feel for someone in pain, but personally I have no time for the spoilt antics of any of them, & disagree with people who don’t see this basic reality

  128. IanG

    Brian Little had self motivation, self discipline, self belief & above all talent.
    He never had to be treated like an adolescent as he was in a man’s game & he belonged there.
    He didn’t make vast amounts of money either.
    Football carried him through problems not the opposite.
    He was always one of us, I have difficulty saying the same about many of the present lot.
    On another site it had a picture of the team from 1949, working class to a man, & the attendance at one match was almost 70000 which I think is the record still JL? Everyone was standing [& in 1956/7 the children’s ticket cost a tanner [2.5 p]].
    The guys put you on their shoulders so you could see.
    Now many of the supporters seem as bad as the team, but even the smelly cousin is still family I suppose.

  129. Trinity

    iang/Mark
    I agree with Claridge. Money corrupts a lot of footballers. I’m not 100% sure in Ross’ case, but he is unfit, which is unacceptable from a professional footballer, whom the club has made a millionaire. I f he has serious depression problems, the club need to help, but Ross needs to help himself too. Not going to training is mutually destructive, and it’s the least he can do to help all parties. In fact, exercise is one of the best things for depression.
    These “kickers” do get paid a lot of money.
    It seems many have woken up to Grealish. He has talent, but his decision making is poor. Most are hoping he’ll kick on because he’s a Villan, bet sentimentality aside, Villa could do better.

  130. Heroes-and-Villans

    I for once agree with neil moxley in the mirror. Says villa fans should be glad and realise what a strong manager we now have after years of turmoil and players taking the piss. Bruce is the boss end of. Obv will be better when his own players in.

    Totaly agree with john. Since bruce arrived gabby has worked hard lost weight etc and mccormack has gone the other way.., saw weeks ago how much weight he has put on. Loads of reports and re tweets from a lad in brum….sees ross out on piss all the time day before a game!

    In terms of telling public its a tricky one. We have all seen his weight gain….been going on obvs for a while. Missed lots of training sessions and looks lke final straw after the weekend. Bruce has to drop him and there will be questions! Trouble is will other clubs want him now! Try and get him fit or cut our looses?

  131. James Gill

    andrew
    explain how ross fit last saturday not fit yesterday, word only broke after another shocker in which we were 2 up at home and threw it away,bruce has a great habbit of deflecting from himself, always has some one to blame
    we are now left with a 30 year striker on a 4 year contract that we will have to give away ,are the doc and round are not going to be happy? bomb squad number 2/3 starting

  132. Heroes-and-Villans

    James

    Ross news broke before game. Sounds like ross was given every chance but kept taking the piss. Comes to a head some point.

    More news tonight bruce saying how can he create a team spirit when players ate giggling over ross not turning up. Wants him to loose weight but ross denys being fat!!

    Good news – elphick very good around the place, proper pro…and lansbury apparently bollocked everyone after the game!

  133. James Gill

    andrew
    a good team spirit is needed but how do you include gabby in that after video ,ayew amavi codja adoamh
    we still need clear out maybe only then can we go forward

  134. Rob Hunt

    JL
    brian little was a fantastic player and is a gentleman.never heard a bad word about him from any villa fan.Jack could eventually be a very good player he just needs better players around him ,or on the same wave length.were as gabby has lost his one asset pace .

  135. Mark King

    I think to say a player has no motivation because he is paid to much is basically saying he was only in the game for money, has no pride or enjoyment of what he does for his living. How many of us truly love our Jobs? would turn up for nothing? how many put themselves through fitness regimes outside of work that are anywhere near the intensity that these players do on a daily basis? How many are totally committed to the work they do? if your boss tomorrow offered you 40k a week to do your job would you turn it down in disgust? thing is we are on a blog site writing about these people and they are not writing about us are they? none of this is their faults, nobody has said they are perfect either. I am sure there have been many players down the years that have done worse, now its looked at as high Jinx and good old boys that enjoyed a drink, put the money factor in and suddenly its a moral issue? I suppose that if he was able to turn out and perform while pissed or depressed or whatever thats ok?

  136. Trinity

    Mark
    “I suppose that if he was able to turn out and perform while p*ssed or depressed or whatever thats ok?”
    True. There are those that struggled with the demon drink and depression. I think even our own Paul McGrath did, and we know how well he played. But he was special.
    I think the money affects youngsters more. That’s easy to see. Alex Ferguson preferred his players to be married, have kids and settle down. He claims they’re easier to manage and usually better professionals. What do you think?

  137. r0bb0

    Just been looking at the highlights of the game.
    Who is it who plays the clever pass over the top of the defence to make the first goal fir Gabby, and who is it who makes the good through pass for adomah before he’s brought down for the penalty?

  138. IanG

    Mark it’s not a moral issue so much, as considerable amounts of money as a cushion from the realities of life, can [& does] easily corrupt someone’s present into a nouveau riche tendency for a recurring bad habit [eg self indulgence], which can take over & easily negatively affect others also.
    When life is tough it’s a bit more black & white for good or bad, & much easier to see what’s important or you get a smack in the face as it’s not just about oneself.

    The love of something such as football or an art form tends to cancel out this corruption somewhat.
    But if you have a self obsessive pattern then it’s easy
    to become a victim of wealth, especially if you forget the responsibility that comes with it.

    It’s also an insult to those much less fortunate.

  139. r0bb0

    Rob Hunt, you say that Gabby has lost his pace, but I didn’t get that impression on saturday.
    There seems to be an assumption that as he’s 29 now he must be much slower than he used to be.
    Sprinters tend to retain their pace (provided they train) into their late twenties, early thirties.
    He’s actually younger than the fastest man in the workd.
    I’m not saying he’s a great footballer . . . . just that on Saturday he was looking pretty nippy still to me.

  140. Trinity

    Iang
    Agree that wealth should be coupled with responsibility. And the big temptation, especially for the young ones, is self indulgence. In football it is so important that the club steers young guys in the right direction, especially if the player has lousy parents. I see why Ferguson preferred his players married with kids. It gave them direction and focus. He fell out with Dwight Yorke because he didn’t like Dwight’s playboy lifestyle, something Ferguson believed was detrimental to the player, squad and society in general. In these liberal times that might be a hard pill to swallow, but the proof is in the pudding.
    DY was a pretty useful striker, though.

  141. John Lerwill

    IanG: ” attendance at one match was almost 70000 which I think is the record still JL?”

    76,588 is the official record – vs Derby, FA Cup 1946.

    Mind you, I was told that it is extremely likely that that figure was just a ball-park estimate (not just a Villa Park estimate!) … it is reckoned that more than 80,000 were actually there.

  142. John Lerwill

    Rob: “Jack could eventually be a very good player he just needs better players around him ,or on the same wave length”

    I’d like to think he’ll be a better player one day, but at 22 he’s just not showing enough for me. I can see he’s got the ability and vision but he’s just not translating it into effect.

    He used to have the ability to spin and glide away from players but that ability seems to have gone – even in the Championship. Yes I know he often gets clattered but it’s often the case also that defenders read his intentions and legitimately stop him when formerly he would have got away.

  143. runtings

    Hi all

    in regards to players fighting demons i do have some sympathy as we are all human and excessive amounts of money coupled with a lack of self discipline can lead to disaster.

    McGrath , Best and Marrodona were guys that were still brilliant when perhaps there lifestyles would suggest there would be no way they should not only be able to preform but do so brilliantly.

    On the game we are still short and the current strike force is no where near good enough imo of course.
    Gabby is still an extremely poor player imo despite his long awaited goal – certainly not my idea of what a good player is

    Ross does have some ability but trust villa to pick up an another old player that has only just gone past there best

    On Jack – someone on here said we should get rid of him which i agreed with , not because i don’t think Jack inst worth keeping but to aid his development and career as playing with our current group of players and the style of play will just kill jacks chances of reaching his undoubted potential.

    Hopefully there will be a few more in and out before we play again

    Going up is miles away from us and my only hope is that we have a brilliant window – hit form and enter the playoff spaces as the form team in the division —- we all have dreams eh

    thinking of you st

  144. Clive Evans

    I don’t know what McCormack’s personal problems are but presumably he has some. Surely, there should be some help given to players experiencing problems not slagging them off. Villa certainly didn’t give a sh+t about Juan Pablo Angel having to put his family in a hotel when he was crying out for somewhere decent to live. McCormack’s fitness should have been dealt with as soon as it was apparent and, for this I blame the club.

    Someone commented, can’t remember who, that our performance has deteriorated since Calderwood took over the training. If there is some truth in this it needs dealing with.

    I would like to know, from the people who are slagging Hutton off, who do they think should replace him? Also why does no-one recognise the effort Agbonlahor put in on Saturday when he is supposedly just turning up for the money?

    On the Grealish issue, I agree with JL that he is overrated currently, he loses possession too often when he should be laying the ball off; Maybe he should watch a couple of videos of Garry Bannan who is excellent in midfield – he was never a full back. I’m not saying he hasn’t got talent but it needs to be used sparingly until he matures.

    Rant over! UTV

  145. runtings

    JL when gabby was a young fresh faced youngster he had the likes of young , barry , milner and so on around him – think jack would be much better now playing along side that type of ability

  146. runtings

    Clive i would guess most fullbacks are better than Hutton
    I never slag him off simply because he gives everything when he puts a villa shirt on – so does westy and apparently gabby has also of lat but the truth is villa aint going nowhere with this level of ability running through the side — there not good enough

  148. James Gill

    clive
    you could go to any sunday league and get a better full back than hutton, so what he gets his head down and doesn t complain,nor would i if i had 6 years of 40 thousand a week,well first 4 were 40 then got a new contract from lambert who never played him, when lambert was looking to offload nobody wanted him why he is crap

  150. John Lerwill

    Vital Villa giving Jack a mauling (like other sites)…

    Grealish – 4 – to put it politely, I thought the boy had a mare. Good pass to Gabby for the first goal, but so often passes went nowhere near their intended target. Too lightweight, shirks challenges and goes down far too easily for my liking. Just a bad day at the office? Maybe, but needs to get his act together pretty soon. I’m surprised he lasted almost the whole game he was so woeful.

    Read more: http://www.astonvilla.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=7522315#ixzz4WZkOEZWh

  151. runtings

    if you can get 2 assists and get 4 he will be pulling up trees at 7 jl 🙂

    lets see how it all unfolds but i would suggest he is still one of the clubs biggest assets

  152. John Lerwill

    Runtings,

    It’s all potential until he can translate it into effect. As many have noticed, hid basic play is often all at sea, but, yes, occasionally he does something that gets us a goal … but it’s mostly been via penalty awards.

  154. Mark King

    Iana- Yes having someone else to think about rather than yourself is stabilising but I believe Ross is married and having personal problems ( maybe over relocation) I know Dave Unsworth moved to Villa and a couple weeks later went back to Everton because his wife would not leave Liverpool. When someone is earning enough for 20 peoples life times they are often looked at as cash cows or with envy by there own families too, that can’t be easy when so young.

    iang- I think you are giving British players far to much credit on the intelligence front, Elsewhere players have to learn trades in case their dream ends with injury or plain not good enough. Thing is plenty can still earn a living in the Vauxhall conference these days and a friend of mine played for Banbury Utd when younger and doubled his wages for the week and thats in the 80’s.

    The other factor is peer pressure and the society we all live in at the moment, its all very selfish and with the Nanny state a false position anyway. Also British culture and drinking go hand in hand the continentals rarely have that problem.

    JL- just watched the highlights and Grealish chips the defence for Gabby to run onto, gabby chests it and loses control then runs into the keeper, neither touch the ball and adomah steals the goal. He was also involved in nearly every highlight whether he had a good overall game or not.

    For their first goal hutton was absent from his position and comes back into the penalty area from the left and Chester has two men to mark with the midfield trailing behind.

    Second PNE goal is from a corner, Adomah turns his back on the corner taker and jogs into the penalty area Grealish at this time is on the edge of the area marking a player. He spots a PNE player coming up the wing for a short corner and tries to get across with Adomah reacting to but not getting close enough to help, The player then gains a yard and crosses as we have seen for so many goals this season.

  155. Mark King

    The thing I find most worrying about RMC is we have put a target on his head for all the footballing world to see, not the best tactic if you want to off load him is it? We will be lucky to get Half what we paid with the all the accusations flying about, very poorly handled.

  160. Mark King

    Andrew- Gabbys Goal? blimey he really has a hell of a chest shot on him from 12 yards out, I think if that had been in the prem it would of been ruled out although neither player makes contact with the ball after gabby attempts to control it with his chest, Kind of Ironic considering he never shoots or gets a header in, they all count but WWE style I have never seen before 😉

  161. Heroes-and-Villans

    Haha Well you don’t expect gabby to score good goals!! He would defo of claimed that and was going in.

    hutton is the original unflushable! Will be gone in summer 🙂

    Ross odds on to go Fulham. think its all done hence being made public?

    Linked to akomb, st from arsenal, bruce had him at hull.

  162. Heroes-and-Villans

    Because of how much I want houirhane getting nervous we wont get him!! Think the price is going up and over 30 scouts there sat!

    In Lansbury and hourihane we could have fixed our mid woes in one swoop. Been years in the waiting!

    They are both energetic, captains of current club. both take set pices inc pens. both assist and score goals.

    I will be so excited to watch us play with those 2.

  164. John Lerwill

    Mark: “just watched the highlights and Grealish chips the defence for Gabby to run onto, gabby chests it and loses control then runs into the keeper, neither touch the ball and adomah steals the goal. He was also involved in nearly every highlight whether he had a good overall game or not.”

    Saw the highlights on Channel 5 Saturday evening… But the point is that most of the game he did little – a view supported by *two* on-the-spot reports that gave him a 4-rated performance, although 2 or 3 others have given him a 6, probably on account of his two contributions which did produce goals.

    Whenever I have seen Jack this season (and that’s several times) I’ve not seen anything to enthuse over. Sadly!! 🙁

  165. DarrenO

    seen nothing of the games other than the scoreline, i’ll hunt some highlights down tonight.

    in terms of the general chat, Grealish has flattered to deceive at this point unfortunately but this is in the context of a lot of ill-discipline in the club, countless manager changes and therefore formation changes. There has been no stability at Villa for too many years, coupled with the ever changing player roster. i don’t think it is conducive to even established pros nevermind ones still learning their trade.

    The ability is there in terms of close control, what’s missing is decision making and only the best have the ability to do this in milli-seconds. Grealish will take time and experience to get there. In my opinion, one of those players we need to retain to get to his mid-twenties and see a very different and more experienced player. Too much of a waste now to see him walk out of the club into a more stable environment and flourish.

    Gabby, again i’m reading about lots of efforts but no end product, it is absolutely a case of needs must while Kodija is away but he’d be nowhere near the team if it was being taken on a level playing field assessment. Here’s is an established pro who flourished in a stable environment and with quality players around him to keep him on track professionally as he developed. Thrown into an unstable environment post MON and he deteriorated to the point of no professionalism in his actions be it during Keane’s stint as AM or being given the opportunity to redeem himself at another club.

    RMC – difficult one because we don’t know all the facts, is there depression and drinking involved following the break up of a marriage, then the club internally without us knowing should have been providing the appropriate support for his mental health. His millionaire status has nothing to do with being under depression, hopefully he advised the club of his issues instead of hiding them. If this us purely a reaction to not being picked or thinking the team has been picked without making any effort in training or getting to training, then SB’s approach has to be commended, it lays down a marker for the existing squad. The downside of this approach is that he devalues RMC in terms of any sale value but could harm any potential arrivals in terms of second thoughts about what type of club they are joining.

    In general, I’ve concluded that with the sole proviso of getting promoted, then any idea of getting a playing ethos was on the shelf in the chase for points, however squad rebuilding in this and the last transfer window has and will reduce the ability to have a settled team until it is too late. In my opinion still, this was a missed opportunity to take the pressure of the manager by making the focus on building a playing style that was mirrored at all ages and that players were bought for the formation/style, what we get is transfer windows that threw money at perceived issues, we didn’t score enough goals, buy loads of strikers or we have no midfield and too many strikers as opposed to the heart of the matter in that we have no stability and no style of playing to sign up to.

    Patience isn’t a virtue associated with fans but how many would love to see excellent football played with passion and the result going against us as opposed to what we have now which is very turgid football and still results going against us.

  166. runtings

    top post dor

    Your defiantly speaking my kind of football language – i have been waiting for the club to get itself a footballing identity for too long
    As you say we don’t have that so we need a brilliant window and its looking good for 5 or 6 players so fingers crossed

  167. Paul Pears

    I was priveleged to be at the game and see the amazing first half performance, which should have put the game to bed. It was almost dificult to take in the difference that players we have seen for so long failing, actually get to grips with the game, carrying the ball forward and making telling passes. Westwood was like a new player, and shows just what a difference having Lansbury on pitch, made to the whole team. Lansbury was outstanding making telling passes over 30/40 yards and his ability to see players that he couldpass to.

    The second half, unfortunately was not the same, with PNE upping their game and pressing more, as Villa dropped back, and Lansbury tired. DEfence may have been poor, but do not rate JOhnstone as a keeper, poor punching again, instead of collecting the ball cleanly. Gollini would have made the difference, and am disappointed that he still not our first choice. I think Bruce was too hasty, and his decision over the goalkeeping position, is what has cost us games.
    Jack GRealish was ok, but a shadow of the promising lad that played last season, and far to petulant over fouls and other players.

  168. Heroes-and-Villans

    good summary Paul. We will get there…this time next year we will be ok!

    Dr announces 2 x 95% transfer completed! Bree & Hourihan incoming 🙂

    Love a double signing. when was the last?

  169. Mark King

    DOR- Totally agree, its obvious we have aggressively pursued promotion over a renaissance of the club. Xia said in the summer we would use the youth players and not go down the spending route, I can only assume that RDM had different ideas and not enough knowledge of this league. Robinson at PNE copes fine in this league yet we discarded him, we have a fair few that could with the right coaching have produced a much more vibrant team than we have seen this season. We will lose RHM no doubt to when he really should of been a regular feature this season. Mason ,Toner, leggett, mckirdy and many others would do fine including Jordan Graham who we sold to Wolves, its been a criminal waste really and when you see what the pros have produced this season could it have been any worse to give the youth a chance?

  170. John Lerwill

    PP: “Lansbury was outstanding making telling passes over 30/40 yards and his ability to see players that he couldpass to.”

    Yes, this is what I’ve been hearing and surely the kind of play that Jack should have been providing?

    No, I don’t go with DO’R’s idea of there being too much instability is the issue – Jack himself had declared months ago that he was looking at this season from a different perspective and putting the past behind him. Indeed he physically looked better prepared this season, but has he been doing more to get fit at the expense of skill?

    Yes, DO’R’s point about holding onto him and being patient is probably valid, but it would therefore seem that he’ll be about 25 before he grows up as a player. And there’s me having seen the likes of Aitken, Deakin, Little and Shaw all being full-fledged first-teamers at the age of 20. A different era I suppose – but theirs was a more responsible one.

  171. DarrenO

    Hi JL

    But equally there were players throughout Villa’s and any club’s history that matured late and became better as opposed to the list of players that were not only naturally gifted but able to make the correct decisions quickly, probably also a natural gift.

    I don’t see that in JG but I do see the potential that maturity and experience will bring.

    You state that JG sees this season differently therefore instability was a factor to date and I don’t see this season as being any more stable than the last 5, come back to me if SB and Dr.T and JG are still here in three years and we’ll see what stability brings to the club.

  172. Heroes-and-Villans

    we aint doing tooo bad with the youth, Christ a lot better than some.

    On sat we had, gabby (does he count) ;), jack, baker, green, gg and davies all on the pitch at some point…that’s 5 from our academy.

    better than most teams I bet

  173. Heroes-and-Villans

    runtings

    agree still need a bit more signing wise. a really pacey wide man and a st.

    But the priority was the mid. and in those 2 I think its superb signings.

    Could well see some left field loan or signings. Bruce loves a deadline day swoop.

  175. James Gill

    pp
    the keeper is a real strange one,reports weekend jose going to promote johnson to 1st team squad so that means we have to sign another keeper in summer again 9 keepers in 7 seasons must be a record, for 1 position , and what i have seen of johnson doesn t look any better than gollina
    as for bruce no wins in 5 yet no mention of it ,just stupid headlines about bruce jumping a gate, i would guess we are looking at 10million loss on ross, his wages will have to be paid up if ross doesn t ask for transfer plus be lucky to get 3/4 million fee good work bruce, what is round and wyness doing

  177. Mark King

    I heard on talk-sport that they were asking people to phone in with their best work excuses, another blot in the medias book for Villa the gift that just keeps giving

  178. John Lerwill

    DO’R,

    Not sure that the “instability to date” was a club instability issue or his own, to be frank. He didn’t seem to indicate that it was the club.

    “But equally there were players throughout Villa’s and any club’s history that matured late” …

    Well I’d be hard-pressed to recall one that hadn’t who has been as hyped as much as Jack has, to be frank. In fact I recall a certain Alec Jeffrey in the mid-1950s who at 16 was a first-team regular and regarded as a potential world-beater that Man U wanted to sign, but injury killed off his career before he was 18.

    No, if players have the talent (and Jack is said by all to possess it) then where is it now, aged 22?

    If we have to wait then so be it, and I’ll leave it at that…

  179. runtings

    i don’t get how Jack could be considered such a poor player by the same person that has often found value in what gabby brings to the table – but thats footy , everyone has there opinion

  180. Archie

    I read earlier today Rafa Benitez had an opportunity to sign R Mc last summer but decided on Dwight gale instead. What this tells me is that very little or no homework was done when this deal was done. I’m truly amazed. My conclusion is RdM had no real knowledge of the players who were or may have been available. I would say SB has a better working knowledge of what’s out there, including the distruptive influences best avoided. But it does look as though we are going to have to take the hit on this piece of incompetence, unless Fulham give us our £12m back..hmm
    All I can say is …another cock-up perfectly executed without a hitch…

  181. John Lerwill

    Runtings,

    Don’t you agree in the term “measure for measure”? 😉

    Jack’s *potential* is *far* greater than Gabby’s … plus they’re of a different type anyway.

    We can’t speak of the two players in the same breath as they’re unlike one another. I’ve only spoken up for Gabby in the context of what he is able to bring to the side (or not!) – especially in state things have been at striker-wise – and he’s been around so long that we know where we are with him.

    And as for Jack being “poor”, I’m clearly not the only one unimpressed with his performances – especially as two sites (including Vital Villa) have rated him with a ‘4’ for the PNE match.

    So I think there had better be a different argument found if you want to put me down, mate! 😉

  182. Mark King

    JL- For starters he’s 21 until September, we have supposed professionals that have all failed to shine in recent teams ,Gil for one , vertout another, Ayew and virtually every player we have bought this season. the only player that has consistently stood out is Kodjia and maybe Chester. I think Jack will mature physically quite soon as green has since last year and the addition of two attacking mid-fielders can’t help but inspire the lad who has had to play with westwood and bacuna as his inspiration. As I said before Bale had talent but it wasn’t harnessed until he was 22ish under rednapp and he suddenly matured. we can but wait and see.

  184. Mark King

    Kenny Burns on Lansbury Oh dear

    Now he’s gone to Aston Villa for £3m when he had six months left on his contract. To be honest, I don’t think he’ll be remembered too kindly by Forest fans.

    The last good game he had was against Barnsley, when he scored a hat-trick. Before that you have to go back to last season, when he had a fantastic game against Brighton.

    That was when we saw the best of him, but we never saw that enough.

    In the grand scheme of things, he was a very average Nottingham Forest player.

    He could play a few different roles in midfield. He could hold and he could play off the striker, but he gobbed off too much and he got booked too much.

    I’m glad he’s gone. They’ve got decent money for him and hopefully now that is reinvested in the team.

    They’ve got a few options in midfield so as it stands right now, he’s not a huge miss.

  185. John Lerwill

    Mark: “For starters he’s 21 until September”

    Loose with facts again I’m afraid Mar! 😉 – He’s already 21 (last Sep)

    And .by saying “one match he gets 4” you’re clearly trying to white-wash everything I’ve said about all his performances this season. I’ve not yet seen Jack “come alive” this year, and of those matches I’ve seen him play none would get more than a 6-rating from me.

    Bale’s case is in any case a different one. If you recall, he was a full-back transformed by Redknap into an attacker when he showed his attacking abilities. Grealish is doing the same trade he’s always been doing and is not likely to change. Two different players and two different situations.

  186. John Lerwill

    Sorry, Mark . yes – humble apologies – he’s 21 until September. But as I’ve said most high-class players have already got star status by this time.

    We’re starting to go round in circles … I’m quite happy to wait until he has matured … but meanwhile please don’t start him in a match!

  187. Mark King

    JL- Put your reading glasses on John he is 21 until September when he turns 22!!! so not 22 yet mr factual 😉
    and no he isn’t playing in the same position as he was a left winger and is now more of a midfielder/no 10 in whatever the formation of the day is

  188. Mark King

    Heres a bit about the ross situation and I think it may be quite close to the mark

    “However, when I read that BBC addition, another idea popped into my head.

    ‘There has been too much indiscipline at Villa. He has decided the team has picked itself. How can I pick him when he doesn’t come to training?’

    So McCormack feels by Bruce’s own words that he’s not been given a fair enough crack of the whip and that his efforts will make no difference to the strikers chosen.

    Hmmmm.

    ‘How can I pick him when he doesn’t come to training?’

    Methinks we’ve been here before for some reason and said player is now a regular once more, constantly talked up for what – running? Oh and Ross has still outscored him and no his mis-controlled run at the keeper against Preston that ultimately set up Adomah is hardly worth shouting home about.”

    http://www.astonvilla.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=7522322

  191. runtings

    JL i wasnt putting you down please don’t read me like that , I was however just scratching my head at why you often take so much issue with Jack when we have so many far worse players , However with your other comments i kinda get that it is because you expect more from him rather than just thinking he is dross ?

  192. r0bb0

    Mark, I’m not one of those that thinks you ‘have’ to be at a game to appreciate what happened, but I can’t help feeling that you weren’t there on Saturday.
    I agree that Gabby is not a striker and we need one, but on Saturday he was by some distance my man of the match.
    He made a real difference in attack, midfield and defence.
    This isn’t a campaign for him to have a regular starting spot, especially when kodjia is back, but honestly, he did play well on Saturday.
    By all means judge him on his disgraceful behaviour last year and his shortcoming as a striker in other games, but it just isn’t right to disparage his performance in the last game.

  194. Heroes-and-Villans

    Mark

    Funny how forest fans rated lansbury when at the club but there average when left!

    Did say days ago my cousin is massive forest fan…he is a very good player but can frustrate. Needs consistency but looks like iniesta compard to gg and westy! No doubt will be a massive player for us and hope he keeps up his debut performace.

  195. runtings

    all the players link are massive upgrades or promising youngsters

    We have had a very average base of players for far too long – get them in and maybe we can enjoy watching the team again rather than put ourselves through more torture

  196. Heroes-and-Villans

    Mark

    Ross had a fair crack of whip….scored 3 goals in 14 games…and put on weight and missed several training sessions!

    Rgarding playing the youth in the summer…difficult one. Obv aiming for promotion, first tansfer window for the dr, wants to show intent, really going to gamble on youth? Tough, big call. Espcially with the players we got

    Got a feeling though as the dust settles and the big talk of gong straight back up goes youth will be given a chance.

  197. Heroes-and-Villans

    Runtings obv hourihanne will get more headlnes but the signing of bree is very very good businees. We could easily be selling the chap for 25 mill in 4 years time.

    Our last double signing was hutton and jenas. Under the stewardship of mcleish, faulkner and learner.

    I am so relieved excited we have dr, round, keith bruce. Easy to be fed up 13th in the champ but long term we are going to be more than ok under these guys. Just as i knew we were doomed under learner fox i know we will be ok now…..patience

  198. Heroes-and-Villans

    Bid 750 k for a 17 year old def. againg highly rated and chased by the top boys. Its almost like we have scouts and stuff in place!

    Reading up on round, very impressive chap. Bit ahead of his time. At everton years ago his job was scouting too. Had a room to himself and had all evertons current squad, length of contracts up and lists of players who could be signed to replace any of the squad. 3 different players each position incase one did not come off.

    Dont think we will see the random efforts of paddy reilly and almstadt again!

  200. John Lerwill

    Runtings,

    “i kinda get that it is because you expect more from [Jack] rather than just thinking he is dross ?”

    – yes, that’s it, exactly. His performances – for me – just don’t measure up to his ability.

    I agree with your comment about Kenny Burns. Not sure why we should take him seriously being an ex-Small Heath man and all! 😉

  201. Heroes-and-Villans

    Runtings

    Nail on head. The players have been bang average for far too long….talk of bruce being defensive or rdm being too naive…end of day if you have quality on the pitch your going to see better footy. Buck bets ten with lansbury and hourihan in team we will play better and create more. Its a simple game.

  202. Heroes-and-Villans

    John

    Re grealish, know what you mean. You think he has the ability to do so much more. In this modern game i try my hardest not to love players as know they will be gone soon! But jack i just bloody love…will be so much better when we have a team around him.

  203. r0bb0

    I’m liking the sound of Bree. if the media are to be believed, he’s been chased by a number of top premiership sides but he’s coming to Villa . . . because he wants to play football.
    So good to hear.

  204. Paul Pears

    Fingers crossed that the Bree/ Hourihane deal will be announced inthe morning, following medicals late this afternoon.

    Like JL, I am disappointed with Jack, as he has so much talent, but is not using it to his best. A couple of nice touches on Saturday, but otherwise, he was noted more for his behaviour every time he was fouled, and was lucky not to be carded. I wish we could stop knocking Westwood, who with a new midfield was outstanding on Saturday in the first half, and his only failing was his poor attempt at trying to stop the second goal.

    I wish there was a full video of that first half for all the fans to see, but hopefully we are going to see a lot more, and a much more confident team when we meet Brentford in just over a week.

    Hope that by then that Johnstone has built some confidence with his defence.

    Just sour grapes from Kenny Burns…..what do expect from him…..as bad Savage….another tosser…

  205. Trinity

    JL/runtings
    Yeah, I’m the same about Jack. He hasn’t lived up to the hype. That might be more the fans’ fault that one for putting him on a pedestal. Where we are disappointed is that he’s not realising his potential, yet. I say “yet” because I think he will, if managed well. We know he’s got talent and skill. Jack needs two more things: focus and drive. The rest will come.
    DOR
    Great effort at nutting out the significant issues concerning the big player issues. It’s good to read different views, isn’t it? We know that most of the issues aren’t black or white.
    JL/Mark
    Good to see both sets of comments re: Ross and Grealish et al. Keep up the witty debates.
    Archie
    I think (not 100% sure) that Dwight Gale turned Villa down, as did other preferred players. The risk with Ross was his age being 30. He had consistently scored goals for different clubs, though. In his defence, Villa haven’t used him as effectively as they could have. Also after a bright start, he got injured and lost form. That’s no excuse for missing training sessions and porking up. Remember Alex Ferguson and a certain ex-Villa goalie, who ate too much? Lord, can’t remember his name. Anyway, onward to the next match.

  206. Paul Pears

    Iana,

    Think you are referring to Bosnich, who suffered from a number of ills, but had a great spell at Villa.

    See Sunderland, among others are interested in McCormack…..maybe we could swap him for Defoe….

  207. Mark King

    Robbo- I’m not knocking Gabbies work rate its his ability in front of goal thats lacking , at a time when we need a goal scorer Bruce has continually bigged gabby up while limiting RMC’s chances. Surely if you know your top goal scorer is away you persevere with one thats proven and get him match fit? why all the emphasis on Gabby? be honest the two goal scored were a fluke and pen on Saturday no matter our dominance first half. RMC’s record over the last few seasons has seen him play 40 plus games a season, that might be a clue that he needs match time. we signed the best and probably most clever players outside the prem and matched him with idiots, every-time I watch him its clear he has lost all confidence,.

    Runtings- yes mate every club downgrades there old players but he is known to be up and down, lets hope lansbury can find consistency, I think Hourihan definitely will, potentially the better player.

    Andrew the youth push has already started but I hope the lads there now get a chance to, we signed a LB last season and he also got injured like Amavi I forget his name but think he’s ex Chelsea and Scandinavian .

  208. r0bb0

    Mark, I agree with you that if we’re having to rely on Gabby as our goal scorer we’re in trouble.
    Bruce has been bigging him up because he knows he’d lost any loyalty from the fans and was trying to rehabilitate him. Credit to Gabby, he has at least taken the opportunity.
    Rmc looks like a different case. Ok, I don’t ‘know’ but from the snippets that are now coming out it seems that rmc has been playing up for a while now. Bruce has stood by him and tried to bring him back into the squad, despite him not being fully fit or committed because he knew the team needed him through January. It looks as if rmc has wanted a move away but of course won’t put in a transfer request because that would cost him and his agent money. This weekend He finally went too far and despite publicly supporting him previously, Bruce finally lost his cool with him and went public.
    I know there’s speculation in there, but it’s a plausible explanation

  210. r0bb0

    I think jack needs patience, particularly from the fans. If we strengthen the midfield as we seem to be doing he may be freed up to play the more creative role for which he’s suited.
    He was the creator of both goals and we need that sort of spark in the team. I still think that he’s currently better suited to coming on as a sub when there’s a bit more space to be had but I think there’s a lot more to come from him in time and I’d hate to see him display it for another team

  211. Paul Pears

    Robbo,

    I agree that we need to develop JG and not sell him, as there is still plenty of time, and he will improve with better players around him.

    RMC will be gone before the window closes. I am sure he has not settled, and misses the ondon scene.

    Hourihane and Bree, coming from the North will hopefuly prefer the Midlands and settle.

  212. Frem

    So glad we are signing a right back, can’t stand Hutton. Awful player

    HAve a feeling someone might steel Hourihane of us though…….. Hes good enough to play in the prem probably, think we might have moved to slowly. standard

    Need a good all round striker and winger as well

  213. Heroes-and-Villans

    Loads of retweets from fulham fans from august….saying thanks villa for 12 mill for a unfit and player with bad attitude!! Saying there is a reason a player who scored those goals in his career never in prem….his attitude sucks. Simon jordan said same, spoke to him when owner of palace. Said his mentality for playing at a big club not right.

    Cheers rdm.

  214. John Lerwill

    Frem: “HAve a feeling someone might steel Hourihane of us though…….. Hes good enough to play in the prem probably, think we might have moved to slowly. standard”

    Spink says that both Bree and Houlihane will be on board today.

    I see that Barnsley fans have raised a petition asking HM Government to make Houlihane’s transfer illegal!! 🙂 … Now that is taking real p**s out of the petition system!

  216. Mark King

    Jl- he will if he keeps reading your comments 😉

    Robbo- All plausible but when RMC got his big move here it was on a long contract, maybe with the words we will build a team around you as he was one of the first in. He is not used to being in the background and was captain at Fulham, was that because he was a bad influence or a good leader on the pitch or to gee him up I don’t know. If you go by Xias words there is a personal problem in the mix as well and Bruces love in with gabby while outing RMC can’t help, Bruce himself has expressed that Ross thinks he’s being overlooked.

    Andrew- saw an article by the mirror that there are 21 villa youth players with champs experience or playing in it. more than man utd.

  219. Heroes-and-Villans

    Mark 21 players! Blimey that’s a lot! Good they have carved out a career.

    Dr said 99% + 95% + 51 % done! Bree is done..pics of him having his interview. Hourihan nearly done. and one more?!

    Runtings

    Forgot who Micah was!

  221. Mark King

    We will see mate but if they do when it comes around to next election going to be some very disgruntled people either way. We have Mr Cameron to thank for basically bribing his way into power. At this rate there will not be an EU, so not so much leaving our friends as our parents 😉

  222. runtings

    It does make me wonder why polirickians would put the most important decision they have had in decades in the hands of the general public who have no expertise on these matters and could easily make a bad decision for the countries future

    andrew i think we have a worse player than hutton in micah

  223. DarrenO

    50%+/- will be happy with their local MP either way, enough to get them elected again and sit on their well paid arses doing nothing, like all career politicians around the world.

    Was expecting more post Trump inauguration comments, or is everyone on here like me fed up with the continuous will Trump be good for America and bad for the world debate or will it all come crashing down leaving the Chinese as the global masters. To that end Dr.T xiè xie nǐ for all you’ve done for the club, always loved your country’s food, wall building skills and pottery.

  224. runtings

    DOR the Trump thing is like the latest big netflix series – everyday is another mouth opening action

    its funny but scary at the same time – and the signs are the same as a lot of western country’s in that the conservative christian values are making a comeback and people don’t want immigration or at least want it limited.

    this will satisfy half the people but business may well suffer and the farmers are panicking – i heard one say if we limit UK migrants the country will stave to death 🙂

  229. IanG

    Runtings
    we seem to be going from one set of greedy in fighting control freaks [the establishment] to a new load of gross self justifying opportunists who just want more of the cake & sod everyone else, especially the vulnerable.
    It all looks a bit grim to me

  230. Mark King

    To be fair the Governments and the prevailing attitude seems to be one of dumbing down and control, they talk democracy and freedom of speech but don’t you be telling a truth unless it their version of it. Same goes for the social warriors that immediately take to the street and smash stuff if things don’t go their way. Their is only one way mankind will settle differences and thats to talk openly about them without the threat of labelling one bunch racists while another group are just fighting for their rights.

    DOR- Out of interest has Ireland changed much due to multiculturalism? didn’t seem that way when I was their last year and Poland was the same. Is the plan that the entire of Europe changes its Identity eventually? or just the ones with wealth and Jobs? Poland is now booming because I presume they have taken there earnings home good luck integrating syrians there 😉

    Funnily enough I have spoken to all sorts of people about Brexit, asian, chinese and african brits that I have spoken to all voted out. Its about cheap labor to make cheap crap that nobody needs, and a few could definitely do with a little starvation 😉

  231. John Lerwill

    Mark: “I see the law courts have thrown a spanner into Brexit, when is a majority vote not a vote? when its not the one expected”

    I don’t think that’s anything to do with it…

    See https://fullfact.org/law/article-50-supreme-court-judgment-explained/

    The issue – as I understand it (and Constitutional Law is one of the subjects I happened to study) – is that the court’s ruling is about *procedure* … not a challenge on referendum result.

    First, parliament passed a law in 1972 so that we could join the EU. Leaving would stop that law from working.

    That law was so special, and made such a huge change to this country, that leaving can only be authorised by parliament. That’s procedure.

    Second, the majority judges said that people’s legal rights would be affected by leaving the EU. Again, that needs to be authorised by parliament, rather than by ministers. Again, procedure.

  232. OldVilla

    See we are due to sign the Iceland International Birkir Bjarnason from FCBasel if reports are to be believed. I move to Basel and he moves out 🙁
    But FCBasel supporters rate him highly, he had a very good World Cup and has played in FCBasel Champions League matches this season. Right footed, never stops running, creates and scores goals.
    Could be a very good buy and shouldn’t be costing too much…………………….
    oldvilla

  234. John Lerwill

    To add… When the referendum took place, the facts (ramifications) of what might/would happen as a result of Brexit was never explained properly. So people voted for something that is a pipe dream until it goes through the proper legalities.

    That’s the way it is. We have a Constitution (though unwritten in the sense of not in one single document) for a reason, like keeping our way of life protected. It’s not to be broken by a referendum that has been mis-managed from the time it was mooted.

  235. James Gill

    andrew
    never mind a double signing day tomorrow looks like a treble some icelandic lad plus 2 from barnsley with another to follow
    hallellulia to no more hutton westwood bacuna and gabby

  237. Mark King

    JL- Thanks John yes I understand that I have looked into it mate, what is about to happen is all the MP’s that want to stay in the EU want to have a say in the terms slowing up the process. On one hand it seems reasonable enough but on the other I think it will just get in the way when decisive action is required.

  239. Heroes-and-Villans

    Villalore

    No worrys thanks for the link…lots more stories coming out….basically he is a nob.

    James

    We aint playing mate! 4 incomings and the iceland chap will be a fans fav instantly. Works his nuts off.

    Villa web site down….signing imminent.

    I bloody love the villa

  242. Mark King

    JL- ironic then that part of wanting Brexit is about keeping our way of life intact, seems like a lot of ill informed people around Europe want a similar outcome for their countries and they can’t be all racist as the popular story seems to be. I don’t think for one minute if it was voted on again that the whole ramifications would be discussed openly either way

  243. Archie

    Steve Bruce wants to keep MIca … well… someone’s got put the cones out, hand out the bibs and run fetch the ball….
    I know … not for £50k a week……;-)

  244. Mark King

    Andrew- Bruce has had one area in particular to fix to be fair, RB was sorted. Maybe next time we can have 4 windows picked by 4 different managers and pick the best one 🙂

  247. runtings

    on Brexit briefly —=– i don’t believe the British way of life will ever change anymore than the Jamaican,Chinese way or any other countries natural characteristics and as you say JL i think mis information along with lack of facts are the main cause of the currents exits

    Great stuff in the market – the best buying we have done in many a year if it all comes off

    A team to enjoy watching at last maybe

  248. James Gill

    mark k
    5 points lost last 2 matches could mean the difference of making playoffs ,why were couple of deals not done for them,things would look lot different then

  250. runtings

    Mark some are racist and some are not

    I didn’t vote as at one point i was like let make our own laws ect and the next minute i was like we are going to loose so much money that our way of life could be effected.

    again for me it should have been politicians making the decisions based purely on the fact , maybe then we could have controlled the boarders which is the main issue for leavers overall and kept most of the rest

  251. Mark King

    Runtings- keeping the borders just wasn’t on the table was it, the EU want free movement, not to bad when you have three times the land mass to accommodate them like France. There are thousands of new homes going up around the UK you bet the place is changing. The Turkish were polled about EU membership and 12 million said they would like to head here?! don’t know about you but there is a limit to how many you can get on a ship before it sinks.

    politicians don’t know all the facts mate, how much do we really know about those you would rely on to make your decisions for you? If we had stayed in I would just carry on but it would not change the facts for me, this country is going down the pan like the rest of the western world propped up by Fiat currency, it needs a boot up the arse I hope this is it

  254. Heroes-and-Villans

    Mark

    Yeah youd have to be learner or fox to realise the mid needs fixing…dms attempts of jedi and tisc not been great. Its the types of players that bruce has git excites me.

    Hourihan and lansbury superb picks. One left footed, one right. Both captains at a very good age, 26 and 25. Couldnt of picked better. Sooo excited by seeing those 2 in mid.

  255. John Lerwill

    Mark: “I don’t think for one minute if it was voted on again that the whole ramifications would be discussed openly either way”

    Couldn’t agree more … the politicians want to present what they want to put across so you get a lot of obfuscation (or something like that!) as they try to bend your ears.

    But what it amounts to is that we, as people, should be better informed before we put a ‘X’ on a piece of paper. After all, if you were spending half-a-million on purchasing a house you’d want to be pretty sure that the foundations were in good order!

  256. Heroes-and-Villans

    Iceland villa fan gave review of bjaornson. Good speed and technique, lkes a goal but without doubt its his work rate and energy that stands out. Does not stop or give up. Classic bruc signing that.

  257. Paul Pears

    Runtings,

    I just read that link too, and is that showing a little light on why we have problems with players from London clubs….

    Hourihane seems to have slowed for the moment, so hope it is just taken his mates out for the day go-karting…., and not having second thoughts…

  258. John Lerwill

    Mark: “There are thousands of new homes going up around the UK you bet the place is changing.”

    I don’t whether anyone has noticed how much big building is going on in the centre of Brum … and the number of Chinese walking around calculating how much profit they’re going to make from their investment.

  260. Paul Pears

    JL,

    Especially around Villa Park now. Many huge developments going on…..Wonder who in the end received the money for the Serpentine grounds…..Did they still belong to Villa when Lerner took over..????

  261. IanG

    Mark
    Misinformation is the word, a very grubby campaign by very grubby people.
    What people think we are going to manufacture to trade with I don’t know, after Maggie the witch closed 75% of our industry down round here & up north.
    Feeding people what they want to hear to grab them by their nuts [sorry frustrations]is just herding sheep.
    Also, either way, who they think is going to get richer [as we continue to get poorer] I don’t know, but it’s unlikely to be the sheep.

  262. runtings

    PP i dont think you need to worry about Hourihane as he is quoted as saying ” when a club like aston villa and a manager like steve bruce comes calling of course your head is going to get a little turned”

  265. IanG

    Yeah building on green belt land, & houses normal people can’t afford while the landlords invest in rachmanism.
    It’s getting more like the 30’s every day, just waiting for the 21st century version of the workhouse.
    Divide & rule eh, & get the people who want to invest to kill for their money, then take it off them.

    I went to Iceland in 1967 & 90% of the women are beautiful & 90% of the males are ugly as sin, odd really but good people, really impressed me.
    We need someone who’ll put some effort in so hope something happens.
    Mark
    Business logic is not nearly so important as business people put out in their propaganda.
    eg” I’m going to get rich so you will also benefit.
    I think I’ll start growing raspberries

  271. r0bb0

    Paul, that’s a really interesting article and much of it rings true. It would be wrong to tar all charities with the same brush but some have become far too self important and political. It’s interesting that the article calls out the British Red Cross. Their recent statement about the ‘humanitarian crisis’ in British Hospitals was an ill judged, politically motivated, overstatement which detracts from the truly awful conditions in places like Syria, Sudan and Somalia.
    Other charities, including some of the very largest ones such as Cancer Research U.K. manage to keep a sharp focus on delivering on their primary aims. Others such as the Red Cross, Oxfam and the RSPCA are guilty sometimes of forgetting what their true charitable objectives are.

  272. r0bb0

    Iang . . . . as in all walks of life there are good and bad business people as there are good and bad union leaders or politicians or charity executives or even priests! It’s just that the good ones aren’t news worthy

  273. IanG

    robbo
    Ethical business is also in a minority & that wasn’t the subject which was unethical business & unethical greedy human beings & the damage they cause to innocent people.
    Also don’t forget that everyone in business has to work with the prevailing practices which affect one whether we like it or not, which quickly tend to become the norm with ones options for a meaningful positive difference severely limited.
    No-one is attacking the human being [or sheep, I’ve probably upset an animal lover somewhere now] just the deliberate muddying of the water as a self justification, [which is often where morals are mentioned].
    One man’s meat is another man’s poison.
    Malpractice isn’t covered by this.
    Best wishes in your attempts at ethical practice while you are being brainwashed ambushed, attacked & abused from all directions. You’ve got my support

  274. IanG

    Paul Pears
    Good article mate, the world could do with more clear thinking & appropriate action like this.
    Talking of charities, I remember putting a charity gig on for oxfam in 1979, but it became clear that the oxfam representative who asked me to do it was intending to keep most of the money.
    I couldn’t just let it happen as would be abusing everyone involved & their trust & good intentions.
    So on the day I spent a lot of money on the gig & hired really good expensive equipment for the bands & really looked after them with very good hospitality.
    The gig was a great success & Oxfam was brought into prominence with a lot of people.
    The representative received the profits, but was very pissed off that there was only £25 left, as they were expecting a killing.
    At least Oxfam only got ripped off for £25 but got a lot of publicity & goodwill.
    Nowadays they pay themselves a lot more proportionally than they did then, & not so much gets to where the donors want it to go to as people think, which I personally think is a dubious accepted business practice & too common.
    UTV

  275. IanG

    Robbo
    I’ve had the misfortune to have to be in hospitals quite a lot in the past 25 years.
    In my experience the Red cross are technically correct, as these type of crises are becoming much too common especially in the last 5 years, & it is accelerating fast.
    Many people with long term serious complaints such as Parkinsons no longer get to see a consultant any more from one year to the next, & cheap treatments that actually help them to cope are regularly being denied them by GPs due to idealogical reasons.
    It is a postcode lottery.
    For the over 65’s who have paid for the NHS all their working lives, many are being neglected & denied treatment & rehab & left to suffer until it is an emergency, due to underfunding & business decisions by GP’s.
    This adds to the problem in the A&E departments where the frontline staff are so overworked & stressed due to not being able to help the patients as they wish to, that they are becoming physically & mentally ill.
    Currently many areas are on their last legs similar to the stress in a field hospital.
    In terms of organisation the emphasis often isn’t on humanitarian aspects despite the best efforts of the doctors, nurses & auxiliary staff, but the NHS is being underfunded & micromanaged to death.
    It reminds me of what happened when the conservative government ran down the railways so justify privatisation, but this time people are suffering & dying due to the ideology.
    There are now many private companies making large profits from the NHS, diverting the much needed money into greedy bast***s pockets while the politicians & well meaning people sanitise what is happening.
    I think the Red Cross were very courageous to stick to their principles against the bullying & dogmatic flow.
    People need to wake up

  276. Heroes-and-Villans

    If any of you are on fb the site old man said had a meeting with bruce today. Posted some answers on there. I saw on twitter.

    Said firstly that the club under dr is back to the club he used to love, everyone now so much more open, friebdly and honest. Under learner no one wanted to know,…no surprise!

    Rated bruce highly, no nonsence, open and on he same page has the fans, be surprised at how much so!

    Style of play…a big issue! Said wants a comited 442, defo 2 strikers up top. Currently has not got players to run off the ball and highlighted set pieces as a weakness. Hence the move for lans and conor.

    Ayew will be gone now or in summer along with tisch or jedi. Reckons westy could offer ok support to mid in a better set up.

    Will take a few windows to get his team but wants to do proper rebuild when in prem!

  277. John Lerwill

    Wow … that’s a lot of bloomin good reading first thing in my morning! 🙂

    Andew,

    Yes, that MOMS site is worth following … and interesting comments there. I think that Bruce – if the ball runs kindly for him – could well get the club rolling well in the right direction.

  278. John Lerwill

    inag: “In terms of organisation the emphasis often isn’t on humanitarian aspects despite the best efforts of the doctors, nurses & auxiliary staff, but the NHS is being underfunded & micromanaged to death.”

    There’s been a fine series of progs about life at St Mary’s London, and about the clog up of beds there. And the fact that surgeons spend so much time running around trying to find beds for their patients. It’s a real eye opener, and full marks to the staff for their attitude…

    Of course, part of the beds problem is to do with lack of social care and the fact that local authorities are now so under-supported by central government. Couldn’t help be amused that a Tory Surrey council wanted to raise council tax by 15% to pay for the social care and blaming the central government for this. Is this the start of Tory in-fighting?

  282. Clive Evans

    Iana – life is good here – the weather is fine where we live – we don’t get the floods of the south or Bangkok and the diet suits me fine. I’ve lived here since 2007 and the only things I miss are my front row seat in the Holte Upper and running on Cannock Chase – maybe I got out in time to miss the debacle at Villa Park and too old to worry about running around a lot!

    Are you living in China or is that a holiday photo?

  283. Trinity

    It’s a holiday photo. It’s Trinity using Facebook to log on because I can’t log in via my computer, haven’t been able to for ages. My phone can access the site, but it’s easier to log in via Facebook.
    I read the article Paul provided the link to about charities. I’m worried about China Jiangsu International Group’s involvement, but if the energy is renewable and affordable; and the environment and customers benefit, I’m all for it. At least someone’s investing in much needed infrastructure.

  286. Heroes-and-Villans

    if we sign 3 in one day ill combust!

    They say akpom st from arsenal will join on loan. Interesting as bruce said all the signings will have to be big upgrade on what we have.

    Factor in he apparently wants 442. Cant think too highly of gabby….ross off?

    where does 442 leave grealish? good news for green

  289. Heroes-and-Villans

    Live that donkor deal looks very odd to me. He is in the Wolfsburg deveopmnet team and goes on loan for rest of season to everton, will hardly play I imagine.

    you do wonder about the role of agents and a circle of mate in on a deal £££

  292. DarrenO

    Hi MK

    Re the below – DOR- Out of interest has Ireland changed much due to multiculturalism? didn’t seem that way when I was their last year and Poland was the same.

    multiculturalism doesn’t exist in Ireland, we’ve had waves of Italians/Jews/Vietnamese during our history and they form part of Irish culture and in more recent years Africans and eastern Europeans, but it may take generations and inter-marriage for multiculturalism to kick in naturally as opposed to some state sponsored agenda but for the most part, those races/religions stick together currently and there is very little interaction with the dominant population outside of work/sports.

    There is racism here but it’s primarily out of ignorance because we aren’t/weren’t exposed to other cultures and it’s also driven by perceived/actual mis-use of state benefits when in reality those born in Ireland are equally good at using the system. There is no integration agenda as that would infer that the Irish culture is superior to any other so by way of example things like removal of hajibs or burkas are never mentioned. (Irish culture is superior we just don’t shout about it 🙂 )

    For the most part Irish people are surprised people would want to come to our country but equally surprised that when you do come to live/work we don’t see you down the pub.

    Probably the only change is the seascape of faces in the cities and towns where it was once predominantly various shades of white, now it’s more eclectic.

    The reverse is the Irish are very good travellers and it’s replicated for other races making the journey today, we started off with our own organisations for mutual benefit, worked hard and progressed up the ladder and became leaders of countries, I’d hope the same happens in Ireland for our immigrants.

    For Brexit – I completely understand that the EU is a bureaucratic mess and worse, but the resolution of that was not by leaving but by building concensus to change it and the direction it was heading in terms of policy integration, for a small country like Ireland we needed to integrate into a larger market and we’ve benefitted from EU funding but there are undoubted sovereignty issues and ability to control things like inflation are gone. In terms of the other ticket item for Brexit which was immigration – Britain’s history and in effect England’s history has no experience of emigration bar a few puritans who went to America as such there is little understanding of the migrant beyond how much of a drain on resources it would be. Had Britain had the same policy in the 1840s as it is trying to achieve now, there would be millions more dead Irish, that and the Irish being tricked at Liverpool by being told they were in NYC in order that the captains got them off the ships meant we became a drain on your society, suffered racism but rose above that.

    As a colonial power, you’ve had various former colonies arrive on your doorstep and should you deny other immigrants, given your place within the globe the opportunities you’ve afforded to Caribbeans/Pakistanis/Indians in building new lives. I understand the need to control the flow but I don’t understand the need to build walls. Anyway the decision has been made, you’ll have to live with the consequences/benefits if any, I assume you don’t expect your own lives to change drastically when you finally exit the EU.

  293. Paul Pears

    Glad peope found the article on Akon, the Super rapper, and his amazing charity work in Africa, interesting, with revelations about other charities….i.e. The Hiati disaster raising $500 million dollars, and what has happened to it.

    Worried about breaking news that Crystal Palace may snatch Conor Houriane from underneath our noses…

    Interesting one from Holloway that Villa are chasing Alex Smithies with a £4million bid, while they want RMC….could a deal be on….???

  294. runtings

    Another awesome post DOR

    My two eldest children are half Irish and i have been there many times – when i first went i remember a little lad saying look mommy its a blackman 🙂 —i threatened to eat him and me and his mom had a good laugh about it

    At the end of my first night there in the local they played the national anthem and i quickly learned that you stand up and shut up at this point.

    in all the Irish are straight talking humorous people and is affectionately known by many of west indian decent as the cold Jamaica due to its light hearted laid back attitude and the prejudices we both suffered when invited to help work the engine room of England and helping defeat the Germans in both wars

    pp worrying developments on Conor Houriane – please leave him alone palace — they may well get relegated and with Conor we may well get promoted – do the right thing fella

  295. Heroes-and-Villans

    dr tweeted 99% & 50%!

    99 must be coonor I hope! 50 akpomb?

    Lansbury, hourihan, hopefully! bree and borgason all cost less than ross 🙂

    we are learning.

    Rounds involvement strong I bet.

  298. IanG

    JL
    Yes not a lot of adult social care for the elderly & disabled in Brum, but to be fair they do the best they can.
    Sadly the government/dss is caning the disabled though.
    I suppose it will save money if more pop off.
    The other side is that to save money hospitals are starting to use physios & other specialists to diagnose & you only see a doctor if it’s very serious or if the NHS is allowed to spend the money on your ailment.
    It’s fait accompli as it was all planned behind closed doors as a way to allocate resources, & the over 65’s are being rationed.
    The GPs are now the main decision makers [£160 a referral I think]
    I caught that news about the surrey council, cracked me up also.

    Good news today with the signings, seems to definitely be a plan for once, should be interesting to see what happens next.
    Can’t see Hutton leaving until the end of season when de Laet comes back, or Gabby unfortunately.
    No idea what going to happen with Ayew, lets hope codgers back for Tuesday

  300. Heroes-and-Villans

    Darren

    big no to that clap thing!!

    Jodger defo back tues. Huttons contract out in the summer 🙂 They say ayew def off.

    We could come out of the window very well 12mill for ayew. 6 for rudi. 4 players and spare change!

  302. Paul Pears

    Fingers crossed that the Hourihane deal will be announced tomorrow, and hopefully that RCM will be off to QPR, especially if Alex Smithies is part of the deal, but that could be a long way off, or just paper talk, but Xia has made a £4 million bid, and Holloway is interested in RCM.

    Arsenal deal still possible…it really is the most exciting time I can remember in all the time I have been a Villa fan, and certainly for a January window. Where would Villa be today if Remi Garde had received the same backing a year ago….?????

    Have to admit that as a Brummie, I am also of part Irish blood and proud of it, confirmed by my Dad, who had flame red hair, as did his siblings…!!!

  304. Mark King

    Dor- The Irish were quite fond of coming over unannounced and taking back a few of us to integrate back in time 🙂
    I’m not for getting rid of or stopping people from working here at all, from my point of view we have managed to educate our own low IQ population into a stupor without bringing people in randomly to add to it, and people sleeping on the streets are everywhere now. Sick of people sitting on their hands when they can work and we could reduce the pressure on the NHS by handing back the responsibility for peoples health to them and getting rid of the endless stream of rubbish food, ban it outright. Seems like our wonderful Government would rather keep a captive voting pool on the payroll.

    Good signings folks keep them coming we can have a sale later 😉

  305. Heroes-and-Villans

    Good god goalini at it now. Mouthing off over not having an italian gk coach! We do pick em. According to andy grays son rdm didnt rate him after a few games and took bruce 5 mins to out him.

    Steve round abd bruce will start buying proper characters hopefully!

    Mark

    Ayew defo off and hopefully ross! We have bought lansbury, bree, thor for the 6 mill from rudi . Being smart at last

  308. DarrenO

    MK, rumour has it our very own St.Patrick was taken by a raiding party going to Wales, the Irish surname Walsh translates as foreign and obviously has Welsh connotations evidences that foreigners were in Ireland thousands of years ago and many would have been forcibly moved to Ireland.

  309. John Lerwill

    PP: “Arsenal deal still possible…it really is the most exciting time I can remember in all the time I have been a Villa fan”

    Paul, I thought you had been a Villa supporter from before 2010?! 🙂

    Oh, I think 2007 times was pretty exciting too, with the likes of Young, Carew and Milner coming in and generally putting paid to O’Dreary’s legacy. That 2007-08 side was developing pretty well and scored more goals than any other Villa team since 1976-77 as I recall.

    But then we had the 1980-83 days as well … great games, great wins and 3 super trophies.

    But I’d be hard pressed to knock Big Ron’s time as well … the late lamented Dalien and Saunders were terrific. And who could forget Paul McGrath and Bosie?

  310. John Lerwill

    Mark: “The Irish were quite fond of coming over unannounced and taking back a few of us to integrate back in time”

    Did you hear about the raiding parties from North Africa that raided Cornish coastal villages and took off the inhabitants as slaves? Only about 500 years ago. Those raiders were known as ‘Turks’ but in fact were from Tunisia and thereabouts.

  311. James Gill

    johnl
    you missed out brian little first couple years southgae draper miloswvic wonder strike at wembly ,but would agree big ron team of bossie teale god richardson parker deano and daliian [r i p] were good to watch

  313. John Lerwill

    In fact, in my 65 years as an active Villa fan, I think the 1971 to 1983 years (12 years) were the most exciting in terms of the sense of continual improvement – season on season – apart from 1973-74. And the thrills and wonderful players that were all part of that.

    I still miss Little and Ray Graydon, who I thought was most under-rated.

  314. James Gill

    johnl
    teale and mcgrath
    tommy jonson and ian taylor
    gregory and merson[ cheating gregory was manager]
    jp angel for a season or two under oleary
    mon four years
    then one car crash after another managers players

  318. Archie

    Hourihan signes for Villa!
    Say what you like about Steve Bruce he sees what we all see,and does the business, ok they haven’t played together yet. But all I can say is, when the going gets tough….you know the rest…
    Well done Aston Villa F.C. Looks like good business to me .
    Oh yes somebody mentioned the verious cultural heritages in our great city and supporters of our great club…this ones from Malvern living in Birmingham with a Glaswigian Father and Mother whose heritage is still work in progress because she’s not sure herself. Funny lot, aren’t we.

  321. runtings

    on the Irish ting – its good to see villa getting some of the best Irish players in our ranks again – i don’t remember us being a good side without a few of them in our side

  322. DarrenO

    Archie, If you need any help with your mother’s family tree, give me a shout amongst my many interests is genealogy, I’ve worked on 6 or 7 family trees so far, you can finally pinpoint your mothers lineage.

    Great piece of business in signing Hourihan, Houlihan and Hourihane and all the other weird spellings I’ve seen to date and not finished yet because there is a striker on the way.

    The hope is now we can gel quickly and progress up the league, there will be no disappointment from me if we don’t, another season strolling the championship with some very poor teams to be relegated would put us in good stead for our return to the bright lights of the prem.

    The Steve Round influenced, Dr.T backed approach to player acquisition is there for all to see, now worth looking forward to transfer windows, well done AVFC.

  323. Heroes-and-Villans

    The biggest thing for me is we seem to be learning. we are at the very start under dr and mistakes are going to happen, but we seem to acknowledge mistakes and put it right which is all we want.

    finally starting to make what seems to be smart signings and sensible money being spent.

    You never know how signings are going to turn out but hard not to be happy.

  325. OldVilla

    JL – “I think the 1971 to 1983 years (12 years) were the most exciting in terms of the sense of continual improvement – season on season – apart from 1973-74. And the thrills and wonderful players that were all part of that.”
    Agree completely – we seemed to keep improving year on year, bit by bit, culminating in those great days/nights at Highbury and Rotterdam.
    Those were great times to be following the Villa both on and off the pitch, as past and present Steamers would agree.
    And John, if you make it to Steamers funeral, please give a nod of your head in his direction and say oldvilla sends respect. I cannot get over from Switzerland …….

  326. southwestvillan

    Lads and Lasses,

    Apologies for my absence but I know you will all realise why myself and ST75 have not been about.

    Garys family have had the coroners report and the cause of his death which will remain private in full respect to his closest relatives.

    Unfortunately I fly to Australia on the 7th of February a trip I have had booked for nine months to see my daughter and granddaughter and there is no way I can change my travel details, I am distraught at missing Garys funeral but I know he would understand fully, Dean is going to pass on my thoughts and best wishes to his family.

    UTV
    RIP Gary

    SWV

  329. Paul Pears

    JL,

    I agree we may have had exciting days before…..but not over a January window…This will be arecord for Villa, and may also be a record for any club…..!!!

    Brilliant news to have the confirmation of Hourihane’s arrival, at the same it is interesting that the arrival of the new players, rather than being the end of Westwood, may be the making of him, having a much better support group. There is a very good asrticle from someone on newsnow, suggesting that he could become another Nobby Stiles.

    I think from all the excitement from the Doc, that we may still have at least one or two more signings to come. I still like the idea of a swap for RMC with QPR for Alex Smithies + cash.

  330. John Lerwill

    OldVilla: “John, if you make it to Steamers funeral, please give a nod of your head in his direction and say oldvilla sends respect. I cannot get over from Switzerland …….”

    I will – gladly but in sorrow. Sorry also that you can’t be there.

    SWV

    Thanks a lot for your post.

  331. Heroes-and-Villans

    Paul

    Considering the Jan transfer window is nortourisly hard and get stung with inflated prices, we seem to have done fantasticly. The dr says its down to months have prep from round and co.

    If we can be anything like the Southampton model ill be impressed.

    They don’t have the respect they deserve, how they keep re grouping is incredible, much better story than foxes one off title win imo. They have lost 2 managers, koeman and pochetino. Numerous players, Walcott, ox, mignolet, clyne, shaw, lovren, lambert, mane, lalana, wanyama and are ready to re build. Incredible club

  332. Paul Pears

    Looks like there is still the possibility of a straight swap with Swansea, which appeals to them, Barrow for Ayew.

    Sky pundits team:

    Johnstone, Bree, Chester, Baker, Amavi, Hourihane, Jedinak, Lansbury, Adomah, Kodjia, Borgason:

    That would leave a bench of Bunn, Grealish, Hutton,Westwood, Gardner, Elphick,Agbonlahor.

    My only change to that is Bruce may prefer Westwood to Jedinak, and of course anyone who comes in for Ayew, and maybe Johnstone dropping to the bench if we get Smithies for RMC, and Barrow replacing Adomah, if we swap him for Ayew….

    We are then looking quite some team for the remainder of the season.

  333. DarrenO

    All those options PP, might finally have a competitive squad and you’ve not yet mentioned the young players like Green, Davis, McKirdy etc

    JL – will you attend on behalf of AVL as well as yourself, it will give me some comfort that I was represented in some way at Gary’s funeral, didn’t know the man, but knew the way he thought and in the relatively short time I’ve been on here you could see the influence he had on AVL, driving debate, providing the driest of humour and the clear passion he had for Villa.

  334. Paul Pears

    Andrew,

    Absolutely spot on re: Soton, which was underlined last night in their defeat of Klupp’s Bindippers.

    Great to Shane Long coming on as sub and still finding the energy and finish to score the killer blow. Was a good man at the Baggies, and has been a great clubman at Soton. Players like him and Crouch at Stoke, you cannot put a price on, and I for one, would have loved them to be Villa clubmen. It is something Villa have lacked for many years now, having someone who was proud enough to lead the team and wear the shirt. The Lampards, Terrys and Gerards don’t just appear. They have to be nurtured. The only recent payers that have continually done as they are asked, kept their heads down, and got on with the job, are Westwood and Hutton, while they have been surrounded by a bunch of very poor professionals, and maybe, that should be remembered sometime……

  335. John Lerwill

    Andrew

    Interesting team of yours, that…

    This would be my *all-time* best (since early 1950s)…

    Sims
    Gidman Laursen McGrath Staunton
    Blanchflower, Little Cowans McParland
    Hitchens Yorke

    Subs to be selected from; Rimmer, Spink, Bosnich, Parkes, Lynn, Moss(F), Dixon, Thompson, Dugdale, Crowe, Deakin, Aitken, Woosnam, Rioch, Gray, Mortimer, Shaw, Withe, Platt, Daley, Barrett, Richardson, Atkinson, Saunders, Southgate, Taylor, Merson, Angel, Mellberg, Barry, Milner.

  336. John Lerwill

    DO’R,

    ST75 will be the prime AVL man there of course. I think Archie also said he’d be there.

    But I’m sure the thoughts of all AVL guys who are unable to be there will be conveyed, yours included.

  337. John Lerwill

    PP,

    Yes, your quoted Sky pundits team looks about right to me:

    Johnstone, Bree, Chester, Baker, Amavi, Hourihane, Jedinak, Lansbury, Adomah, Kodjia, Borgason:

    That would leave a bench of Bunn, Grealish, Hutton,Westwood, Gardner, Elphick,Agbonlahor.

    I think Jedinak will get the nod as the strength in front of defence.

  339. Paul Pears

    No Sleeuwenhok, Graydon, Burrows or Nicholl in your players JL, and when most of those played itwas the old 2-3-5 set-up and you have a team which may not have the correct balance, but the players you have selected were definitely amongst our best.

    Like several others on here JL, I did not have the privilege to meet Gary, and it would be very difficult for me to be there on the particular morning, but I would very much like to convey my condolences to his family and the rest of the Steamers, and give my apoogies for being unable to attend. Perhaps a page of condolences could be set up on here to pass on at the funeral for his many friends here worldwide that are unable to be present.

  340. Heroes-and-Villans

    John unfortunately never saw most of your team. Interesting you went laursen, very close to putting him in over mellberg. injuries and apparences went against him.

    Paul

    Where you hear that about Barrow? To finish it off id love someone with lighting pace, something we lack imo. Barrow would be ideal.

  344. James Gill

    johnl
    i know villas bench has been holding up some heavy guys [gabby ross dunne ireland ]the last few years but your is fairly big[ in numbers]lol
    my team
    bosnich
    mellborg laursen/teale mcgrath stauton
    milner cowans richardson daley
    carew yorke
    subs
    spink southgate teale/laursen taylor merson benteke a young

  348. Paul Pears

    Another spelling lesson guys…..let’s try and get it right…..

    BIRKIR BJARNASON BIRKIR BJARNASON BIKIR BJARNASON…..Could even be the opening line to a new song for the Holte to sing…..

    Swansea defoe want Ayew, and it is persuading Barrow to come to Villa, probably as a replacement for Adomah, who is not that quick…

  349. Paul Pears

    Dr Tony/ Bruce’s final team:

    Smithies, Bree, Chester, Baker, Amavi, Hourihane, Westwood, Lansbury,
    Barrow, Kodjia, Bjarnason,
    Bench: Johnstone, Hutton, Elphick, Grealish, Green,Adomah, Agbonlahor

    For sale/swap Tishbola, Jedinak, RMC,Ayew, Bunn,

  350. Canadian Villan

    Just got off the Viagra hot line, I told them i`ve had a hard on for 24 hours let alone 4 hours, haven`t been this excited since the early 80`s, they said how many pills did you take, i said none i`m a Villa fan!!!!!!!

  351. John Lerwill

    PP: “No Sleeuwenhok, Graydon, Burrows or Nicholl in your players JL”

    You’re right … There’a good argument for including them as subs, but I think they were perhaps too fixed in their play … the ones I’ve listed were “players for all seasons” as I see it at least. Just my musings, anyway. But in terms of the “best 11” I feel they were both the most committed and skilful players we have had.

  352. Mark King

    Iang- Sounds like a plan but will need a microscope for most the populace, could just stop eating sugar and trans-fats and cut out the middle man, quality in quality out.

    JL- No I haven’t heard about the Cornwall slaves, Isn’t it weird that all cultures have history with enslaving people, maybe we got it from the Anunnaki? 😉

    Andrew yes very impressed on paper with the buys but I hope it does not signal the end of Green it certainly looks like Lyden signed a new contract for nothing.

    DOR- Funny thing is who are the English? there is roman,celt,anglo, saxon,danish, and good old Norman blood in us who were basically Vikings Given land in France, plus hundreds of other creeds. I remember a TV program where bigots had their DNA tested and they came up as 50% middle eastern, African you name it 🙂 Still its nice for the Irish being Known as Happy Drunks and proud of their heritage you should try Being English, We don’t even get St Georges day off and we can’t be proud either as we are only allowed to feel crap for destroying the world even though we invented a lot of the best bits that the rest of the world now wants to come here and enjoy like parlaiment, womens rights, a bus pass 😉

  353. OldVilla

    JL – OldVilla: “John, if you make it to Steamers funeral, please give a nod of your head in his direction and say oldvilla sends respect. I cannot get over from Switzerland …….”

    I will – gladly but in sorrow. Sorry also that you can’t be there.

    Thank you John, even though I wish you didn’t have to. I do appreciate it. And will have my own quiet time here in Switzerland at the time of the funeral.
    Best wishes, oldvilla

  354. John Lerwill

    The Birmingham Mail just commented…

    ‘Owner Tony Xia today confirmed that there has been a change to Villa’s recruitment policy, tweeting: “Our system is very much different from when I came in.”‘

  357. Trinity

    Looks like there’s plenty of new players in, been a successful window. It still remains to be seen if the players can gel into a cohesive and potent scoring team. I don’t see why they can’t.
    Sounds like some of you are going through a bit of an identity crisis. “Funny thing is who are the English? “ Have you been so brainwashed with multculturalism for so long, you’re not sure, or are you just talking about England’s history of cultural and ethnic diversity? The Celts, Angles, Saxons, Romans, Norman Vikings, Norse, French et al all left indelible influences on Britain. More recently Commonwealth migrants have done the same. Most appear to have intergrated well, except those who hold radical racial and religious views and have only migrated to Britain to use and abuse it.
    I don’t understand why Britain accepts migrants from cultures/countries that openly state that they hate and aim to destroy English culture and replace it with their own. If Brexit was a vote against that, then good.
    The way I see it, Britain once being the hub of a great empire, has been multicultural and more tolerant than most for a long time. Racism is everywhere in this world. Britain is no different, but who needs politicians to force change when it doesn’t fit?

  358. IanG

    lana
    I inherited a wild crazy homicidal English bull terrier once & had him for 10 years.
    He had a pedigree up to your armpit, but his name was Paddy, not the normal double or treble barrelled name.
    He had been mistreated when he was young & insisted I fight him to decide who was in charge or pack leader [for real].
    At first it was every week then after a couple of years every fortnight then eventually every month, the when he was 10 he became anybody’s.
    Well being called Paddy I think he was a little confused as to why he was called an English Bull Terrier.
    I learnt a lot about what a pack is [from an animal point of view], & from this point of reference looking at the movers & groovers on both sides of the current fiasco, I’m beginning to doubt whether they are human, maybe they’re oilian.
    Among animals only human being society allows women to take part as human beings & not just as women, without the delineations of a pack where women have specific female roles only.
    The same applies to strangers [immigrants, races, cultures].
    I think there is only culture when you’re a human being, & the bit that make the trouble & attracts the ignorance & proud racism & bigotry etc are the human animal throwbacks.
    I’m sure that tribal thinking was a protection not a definitive as the similarities always outnumber the differences.
    Britain used to be called ‘Albion the Blessed Isles of the Dead’, & up to about 100 years ago the celts from europe still used to send their important dead to be buried here.
    This is factual & it is still in the folk memory in celtic parts of europe [except the Basques who are welsh anyway], but is fading.

  359. runtings

    Some heavy discussions on here – top posts from all

    I see that some could get there wish and see the end of Jack in a villa shirt – deadline day could turn out to be very eventful.

    As some of you know i have been getting into ancient African history we i have discovered is the most ground breaking of all and the foundations of a lot of the most important things came from there and have since been claimed by others as something that they brought to the table .
    it would all make for a great face to face discussion

    I wonder who we will sign or sell today then

  360. John Lerwill

    PP: “Did you read the earlier msg’s re Gary, and his funeral…????”

    I believe I’ve seen them all … from ST75 on the actual arrangements and from SWV…???

  361. Trinity

    iang-I understand what you mean by “the human animal throwbacks”. Fully agree, and I don’t see any need to pander to the wants of that lot. I think the “oilians” pander to them because it keeps labour cheap. That’s part of it, I think. There must be so many politicians and policy makers that have lost touch with their own people. There’s a lot more to it.
    runtings-ancient African history is so neglected in western history curriculums. It is a shame and needs to be corrected. Our species has its roots in Africa….

  362. Mark King

    Iana McFadyen- I agree, from a rational stand point its suicide by the west and has been ongoing for a good while now, what the agenda is I don’t know other than voters and labour, as a multi cultural thing it can’t possibly work. The west separated its church and state another a long time ago.

    iang- I had the same dog for 14 years he wouldn’t hurt a soul, your poor chap must have been through a lot by the sounds.

    On tribal thinking its basically women were precious because they have eggs, men are ten a penny. A tribe could lose all but one man and survive, 10 men and one women slows population growth down and is open to attack. Men are genetically and socially there to protect the women who may be having kids for 20 years. The titanic is a great example, women and children first, is that a great survival strategy for the man? Equality is a joke, men earn more because they are traditionally the provider, in fact we are judged on our ability to provide or prove themselves and we are hard wired to do so. Women have no such pressure and have the state behind them meaning men are even more dispensable, Irony is men in the west have created a pretty good world for women to be free in and have choice but lost their own rights and position. I think men see any invasion as a threat as we are the ones that ultimately will have to fight and maybe Die if it all goes to rat shit.

  363. Mark King

    Runtings- you’ll know about the islamic worlds massive involvement in slavery and the death of some estimated 120m while the 80m that survived were slaves, Recent history is the only history it seems, two wrongs don’t make a right but when we ignore history all balance gets lost, such as labelling people that voted for brexit or trump as racist, what will the history books say about that?

    Apparently Mexico have as part of their constitution that their Demographic cannot be changed and trumps the racist 😉

    “Mexico’s legal immigration policies are designed to provide the country with the skill sets that the country needs. There’s no talk of letting in those who’ll do the work that Mexicans won’t do. Mexican immigration law accepts those who have the “necessary funds for their sustenance” while denying entry to those who are not healthy or would “upset the equilibrium of the national demographics.”…

  364. Paul Pears

    JL,

    Was referring to my own msg and request, and the possibility of perhaps organising something on behalf of everyone here.

    It was where we were refering to the old Villa players.

  366. runtings

    Jack being sold is looking more and more like a real possibility – can’t say i am happy about that .
    If he is sold they better put a hefty sell on clause in there as Jack could easily develop into an England regular in the next 2 years and them be sold on for mega bucks.

    yes Marl i am still reading and learning about the half that has never been told or the history that has been stolen and its origin banished into pre- historic history

    And yes i know about the Arab contribution to the robbing of Africa and the south African holocaust were many millions were slaughtered

    that,s history for ya , it aint pretty in anyone’s language —

  367. Paul Pears

    Runtings,

    Looks like Villa will sell JG to the ‘Boro for Jordan Rhodes (who wants to come) and around £8million in cash….Sounds like a no brainer…..Villa will have done a lot of business with no real costs..!!!

    Wyness says we will be doing business right up to the last minute, and plenty still going on…!!!

  368. runtings

    Mark – i get were you are coming from in your recent post re immigration ect
    just a few point on that

    Firstly anyone going into another country should be prepared to abide by the laws of the land , learn the language , embrace the culture , contribute by working and definitely integrate into the society or they should bog off imo

    In terms of the government , they should make sure they have the infrastructure in place to accommodate any additional people coming in — otherwise it is going to cause problems so i think they are to blame as well as we don’t really build houses in this country anymore apart from the private sector which means in this day and age a huge amount of working class people can’t afford to buy a new home and are not being catered for with social builds
    there is a generation of kids coming up that are going to be very close to poverty due to these failings , we are the lucky generation as that was not the case 20 – 30 years ago

    All

  369. Paul Pears

    Runtings,

    The biggest problem with housing estates built by local councils in the past, is that people expect the authorities to do everything for them, and that they have no responsibility for maintaining the home and possibly garden, if it has one. Housing associations have similar problems, although not as bad.
    If people would appreciate what they have and look after it, the system may have worked, but human nature being what it is, it fails.

    It has taken many years to remove the blight from the old council estates, and turn them into reasonable places to live. The best thing we could do, is adopt the Australian system, where the govt allowed people to have an advance on their child benefits, or the govt match funded, to help young families.

    I was fortunate to be a young family man in the 70’s when Birmingham City Council built houses for sale with a minimum deposit of £5, which got me on the ladder, or I may never have owned my own home. I think this was a great system, and it is these sort of systms we should be championing, not going back to the old council estates.

  370. runtings

    Hi PP

    i hear you on that — I do work in the housing sector so i know exactly were you are coming from — however

    I will add that your description is perfect for about 10% of people – as we hear from 10% all the time and rest hardly ever or not at all
    So i think it is not fair that we don’t look after so many decent hard working people because of the failings on the minority

    it also depends what you want you society to look like i guess
    We pay all this tax but have a bleeding health service , the social care element is fast disappearing …. councils have to raise there own cash – and housing is now private — the worst run transport system in the developed world and most expensive and least reliable —-So were is the billions in tax going — were is the benefits of playing societies game for ordinary people trying to live the right why within the framework of that society

  371. runtings

    sorry if i am banging on pp 🙂 – just to add i don’t think any able bodied person should get dole or social housing without contributing something to society- but should earn the right to these benefits

  372. Mark King

    Runtings- I agree with you mate it has got out of hand, the housing market is now out of control with monied investors buying up London properties which pushes up the prices country wide. great if you have a house to sell not so if you haven’t. How long we can carry on with housing fueling the economy I don’t know, I’d guess at not long.

    Poland is booming due to £52billion pumped into their economy over the last 10 years, entire infrastructure has been rebuilt, another £60bil earmarked up to 2020. Meanwhile they are getting cheap labor from Belarus and other small nations that used to work in Russia before the wests sanctions crippled them. Meanwhile in Blighty we have nearly 2m poles and sod all services and industry left to talk of.

    On your point of blending in at last count the Syrian refugee’s in Germany 1m+ about 63 have jobs, 50 of those with the government post office.

    “A survey by Reuters of the 30 companies in Germany’s DAX stock market index found they could point to just 63 refugee hires in total. Several of the 26 firms who responded said they considered it discriminatory to ask about applicants’ migration history, so they did not know whether they employed refugees or how many.

    Of the 63 hires, 50 are employed by Deutsche Post DHL (DPSGY, +0.29%), which said it applied a “pragmatic approach” and deployed the refugees to sort and deliver letters and parcels.
    Related

    “Given that around 80% of asylum seekers are not highly qualified and may not yet have a high level of German proficiency, we have primarily offered jobs that do not require technical skills or a considerable amount of interaction in German,” a spokesman said by email.

    their not going to be boosting Germanys economy any time soon.”

  374. Paul Pears

    I agree with what you are saying Runtings,

    Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to stop the rot in the health service and so many other areas. It all goes back to the seventies and the introduction of the High spending area health authorities which introduced state of the art offices with plush furniture, trappings and overpaid managers to run a system that worked well, but needed some guidance. Unfortunately these people, as often happens in govt and local authority, became empire builders, making sure that more and more admin staff were introduced….The more staff you supervise, the higher the grade you become, the more money you earn, the greater the pension you receive.

    What needs to happen, is to scrap the whole and start back with the bare bones, and go back to where matron, the consultants and doctors ran the organisation, but it really is now too late for that.

    On the possible swap of JG for Rhodes + £8million cash, it really is a no brainer, although it would be sad to see one of our own move on, it is part of the supply chain, and Villa need the deal to keep within their spending limits, and makes this window excellent business. We may also still by Barrow, or exchange for Ayew. Still a lot of business possible.

  375. Mark King

    On Jack, he’s still young in mind and body yet, we are looking to improve the team to a level where we could see the best of him if used right, last two seasons he’s had nothing behind him and little in front of him to create for, I think that might stunt any players progress. We have bought Hourihan who’s 25 and has come good over the last couple of years, jack will never be a ball winner but he has talent that nobody else has in our team but not the platform to display it so far, has Hourihan had two nations fighting over him? 25 and no caps yet at senior level

  377. John Lerwill

    PP: “Was referring to my own msg and request…”

    Yes, I did see that but it’s really to do with the site owner I think.

    I’ve been thinking of a solution but have been out all day and will look at it after tea.

  378. IanG

    Runtings
    The other side of the coin with social housing [some of which has often not functioned too well [eg Council Housing Departments], is the housing crisis & how it was artificially created.
    I’ve watched Housing associations that used to be for those that worked & were sabotaged & destroyed by successive governments & especially the Council.
    Making them into a business has made the focus into important projects & the everyday work that doesn’t bring money in for new projects has taken a back seat.
    This rationalisation has diminished the tenant’s rights & restricted repairs until the situation is akin to how the BCC Housing repairs used to [dys]function.
    They were never perfect but they meant well but scandals kept erupting.
    Now the council aided & abetted by the Labour & current Governments use them as a tip for all the social casualties, which has trashed the housing stocks a la PP & more corruption than ever into their system.
    I speak as a housing association tenant for 33 years.
    They regularly ignore my contract, fail to do repairs, refuse to put anything in writing & reorganise the system regularly to tighten the ship, which is more important than contractual rights which work both ways. They actually get paid rent for this.
    Add to that that no one can get legal aid to take them to court when they take the p**s, & the staff turnover is mostly at about 9 months per person, means there is no continuity from one appointee to the next & none from one management upheaval to the next.
    Then there is the privatisation of the independent ombudsman & the destruction of most of the charities by the last 2 governments.
    If you accept what you are given & be grateful & do as you’re told & keep your head down & don’t make waves…
    Jesus it’s like the 50’s where if you were starving & homeless or crazy, you had to queue up daily at the SS office to get your 2 shillings & 9pence doled out for the day.
    Nobody in their right mind would want to do that.
    Now they’re dying on the street on cardboard, as the police won’t take any responsibility either, or if they’re lucky they’re living in a new kind of prison called a hostel or halfway house surrounded by lunatics & homicidal maniacs.
    It’s easy to talk from the viewpoint of us & them, but there’s an old saying ‘1st walk a mile in their shoes before you judge’, or as Robin Williams said ‘1st walk a mile in there shoes, then you’re a mile away & you’ve got a new pair of shoes’.

  380. IanG

    Mark
    When we rescued him from a Nechells back street breeder who was going to put him down, he would go mental if he saw or heard a chain, a hosepipe or a broom, & if stranger came into his territory he’d seriously go for them, & it took 24 hours before he’d let me in a room with him.
    At home he had to live in a compound. which he loved.
    Outside he was fine as long as people didn’t think he was a pet dog, they tended to get punctured if they didn’t ask first.
    He didn’t attack other dogs unless they started it or tried to boss him, then he finished it.
    The amount of times I had to dive in & grab his mouth & teeth to protect the other dumb dog were too many to count
    Yes Paddy was a wild animal more than a pet, & pack rules were all he understood, but he was a loyal friend once we sorted out who was pack leader.
    At the end he was half blind & when there was a cat about the birds would get him to work for them & perch next to his head & tell him which direction to bark in.
    Grealish hasn’t had the opportunity to play with good players yet, so it would be sad to see him go for just money.
    Hope not

  381. Trinity

    John
    “Our species has its roots in Africa….”</b
    Mmmmm… shouldn't be too sure about that. That's what some are saying, but the origins of the races go much deeper than some say …"

    Firstly, let's not conflate race with species. There's a world of difference.

    Thanks for the interesting link. The first abstract started by stating that:
    "Current fossil, genetic, and archeological data indicate that Homo sapiens originated in Africa in the late Middle Pleistocene."
    I've also been fortunate to have attended a seminar on the evolution of modern man cheered by Richard Dawkins of Oxford University, who stated that all current evidence and current scientific thinking supports and indicates that our species originated in Africa.

    iang
    "It’s easy to talk from the viewpoint of us & them, but there’s an old saying ‘1st walk a mile in their shoes before you judge’,…" True! Must always remember that.

  382. John Lerwill

    Iana: “”Current fossil, genetic, and archeological data indicate that Homo sapiens originated in Africa in the late Middle Pleistocene.””

    And then it goes on … please read the rest!! 😉

    And also I am not conflating anything…

  385. Mark King

    iang- He sounds like a character, my lad grew up with cats and he particularly liked their genital licking qualities 😉 I would leave him sat outside a shop and come out to find a crowd of Kids sat with him lording it up. Small Dogs were just loud cats to him but like you say don’t get him riled. Mine had a heart problem a leaky valve and quite often would pass out while chasing his ball, I used to resuscitate him with a few pumps on his chest and off he’d go 🙂

  388. Trinity

    John
    And then it goes on … please read the rest!!

    And also I am not conflating anything…

    I couldn’t access the whole of Huw Groucutt’s article “Rethinking the Dispersal of Homo sapiens Out of Africa” from the link you posted because it’s a pay site. However, I did some research on the authors, and found their work published on free sites. Huw Groucutt et al were interviewed in 2015:
    http://www.popular-archaeology.com
    The article is called The First Arabians. Huw Groucutt is focussed on the “cultural context of interactions between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens in the Middle East and expansion of our species into Eurasia.”
    In fact, these particular researchers do not refute the “out of Africa” theory whatsoever. In their recent research Groucutt’s co-researcher Remy Crassard found fossils of pre-historic Nubian technology being used by the first Arabians. In short, they don’t refute the African origins of Homo sapiens. They are more interested in dispersal of the species and settlement patterns.
    Another credible site on the subject in which Huw Groucutt is involved is the Cambridge University site:
    http://www.in-africa.org
    It states: “Fossil and genetic evidence indicates that modern humans evolved in Africa probably around 250, 000 years ago,…” There is no refutation of the “out of Africa” theory.
    As for Richard Dawkins, I know he’s an agnostic, doesn’t believe in God. I do. I also know he was a professor in biology at Oxford University. I’m not. I don’t necessarily agree with Dawkin’s views on faith and religion. He’s good at science, though. He prefers to call himself an agnostic, rather than an atheist. Why? Because he argues, he can’t prove the non existence of God scientifically and there is a minute chance God might exist however unlikely. Even though, I believe there is a God, I also believe people like Dawkins (and yourself) are important to expose charlatans and liars.
    I’m looking forward to Villa’s next game on Tuesday. Villa might rapidly be evolving into something more exciting. A great leap hopefully:)

  389. John Lerwill

    Iana,

    OK, but the UCL site says far more than that. Also see Scientific American…

    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-the-out-of-africa-theory-out/

    There is huge doubt still about the exact origins of our species.

    Yes, I know Dawkins ideas of old, and good luck to him. Of course he (and others) base their ideas purely using the scientific approach, which produces constantly changing opinions. And science still leans to the need for visual or physical proof before acceptance. The basic trouble with that is that the earth before (say) 10,000 BC looked very different and much of it has been swallowed up by cataclysms, so how do you find physical proof given that scenario?

  390. r0bb0

    Iana/john, I’ve not seen any credible theory suggesting that hominids originated anywhere but Africa. (Yes we are all Africans really).
    It’s the next stages in the fossil record that are still being filled in and show a whole range of hominid species and subspecies evolving in different parts of the world, dispersing and frequently interbreeding.
    If ever you need evidence that some of us are more Neanderthal than others, take a field trip to St Andrews on Tuesday evening and you’ll be able to observe them in their natural habitat.

  391. r0bb0

    John, I believe that there is consensus that the ‘original’ hominids arose and dispersed from Africa.
    As I understand it, subsequent to that, various hominid species evolved in different parts of the world and it’s the dispersal and interbreeding of these which is still up for debate.

  392. John Lerwill

    r0bb0,

    I am quite happy if you all want to go along with the Africa idea! Please enjoy yourselves, but the “consensus” is not as you claim, as the links I gave reveal.

    And there are other sources concerning the origin of man, and they are remarkably consistent. It’s not what the scientists are saying, as time will tell.

  393. r0bb0

    John, I’ll do some more digging, but I don’t think our views are actually at odds with each other. It’s just a question of how far back you go.
    The denisovans and other ‘homo species’ evolved outside Africa and then migrated to Europe. Some of us contain more genes from the original migration wave out of Africa whereas others contain more from subsequent migration waves, some of which are now believed to be from Asian species/subspecies rather than all exclusively from Africa.

  394. r0bb0

    John, the scientific American article link doesn’t cast doubt on the ‘first’ migration wave coming from Africa. It’s where the second and subsequent waves came from and their relative importance in the colonisation of Europe which are now up for debate.

  395. r0bb0

    Am I the only one who is now starting to be concerned about the amount of transfer activity?
    I’ve been really happy with the trNsfers to date and believe that they will strengthen the squad and first 11 line up.
    It’s starting to look as if we’re now going for wholesale squad change. . . . yet again!
    I want to see Bruce work with and develop a significant core of our current squad and academy players and just add a small number of players who are demonstrably better than what we already have.
    The first half against PNE was the best half of football I’ve seen from us for years. It showed that our current squad plus Lansbury ARE already good enough to compete with anyone in this division.
    Please let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water and have to start completely from scratch yet again.

  396. Paul Pears

    Robbo,

    I get the feeling that Bruce and the management team want to build a very strong, experienced squad, but with a youthful mix too.

    we appear to be signing some very young outstanding players before the end of the window to bring on, and as competition for our youngsters and the first team.

    Someone pointed out yesterday that Grealish is 22, and Gary Shaw, at the same age had almost come to the end of his best days, as he suffered serious injury, and was not quite the same again.
    Jack has the talent, but has really not come to fruition yet, and maybe a move is the answer, but he has not gone yet. There are also many other talented youngsters in our ranks.

    I did see a whisper that RHM has indicated that he is now ready to sign a contract. Perhaps the transfer activity has convinced him of the Doc’s commitment to making Villa great.

  397. runtings

    really have enjoyed reading the African origin posts guys

    iang i don’t know if you have checked out dr yosef ben jochannan but he opened me up to some great info especially about the times before any of the religious books were written

  398. Paul Pears

    Kevin Grealish has said on Twittter that Jack is not going anywhere, and reports are coming out saying that JG would refuse a move. This has to be good news that Jack is willing to compete for a place, but a lot of starting eleven’s have JG as a left winger.

    We have apparently made inquiries about Bradley Watkins, a promising young payer from Exeter, as a replacement, if we did sell Jack. He looks excellent potential. Still interested in central defender from Bury, who is supposed to be having a medical sometime around now. Plus still possibly looking at a deal for Swansea pair…..but who knows, maybe JG and Ayew will stay and shine with the new setup….exciting times…!!!

  399. runtings

    I personally feel it is the wrong time to be selling Jack
    We have brought in some good quality and that will mean more are football and fluidity will be a better environment for any young talent to flourish in

    its a big call letting him go now when he has had grown up in a mess of a club that if finally getting its house in order

  400. John Lerwill

    r0bb0: ” the scientific American article link doesn’t cast doubt on the ‘first’ migration wave coming from Africa. It’s where the second and subsequent waves came from and their relative importance in the colonisation of Europe which are now up for debate.”

    It depends on how you read it.

    From my knowledge gained from elsewhere, I’d say the scientists are edging closer to a new theory which is not that you outlined … and, in any case, will still be short of the truth.

    My webpage gives a clue: http://www.lerwill-life.org.uk/spirit/source.htm

  401. r0bb0

    John, “and in any case will still be short of the truth”
    That’s why I prefer science to religion. There are hardly any laws in science, but loads of theories. A key principle of science is acknowledging that we do ‘not’ have the answers, just theories to be improved upon.
    Religious leaders start from a principle of believing that they already have all the answers and anyone who disagrees has to be wrong.
    That’s why we have religious wars rather than science wars. Science just provides the means to conduct religious wars more effectively!

  405. r0bb0

    John
    I wasn’t having a dig, it was a general observation
    I’m not keen on dogma and ‘certainty’ in any walk of life . . . even football blogs

  406. Mark King

    Enjoying the debate about origins chaps but I have to say the scientific world is very closed minded at times. Plenty out there with their own pet theory’s and Dogma abounds and lets not forget prestige and earnings at stake. Thing is without imagination and inquisitiveness non of this would even be looked at and that is the realm of the mind.

    So much is hidden or denied to protect the established view that its best not to take any of it for granted or dismiss everything not mainstream as the truth. Churchill’s adage of History is written by the Victors stands true .

  408. IanG

    Robbo
    That statement in itself can be dogmatic.
    The only definitive in science is change, & it’s always incomplete & open to interpretation.
    You could say JL’s ‘intuitive truth’ is experiential & also the constant there is change as we lose intuition as soon as we experience it if we try to grasp it.
    There is Truth everywhere if one knows how to look, but one has to be in the present for that.
    Trying to intellectually apply theories without experiential understanding of this is dogma, which is why we have to have a sense of humour.

  412. Trinity

    Robbo
    I think we still need a striker, anything else is superfluous at the moment. Younger players should be developed. Does Brucie not think much of Villa’s academy players?
    Hopefully Grealish isn’t going anywhere, yet. If he is really good enough, it’ll have to show through now. There’s no excuses with the new midfield. Then again, a move away might be better for Grealish. It’s up to Brucie and Grealish in the end.

    You’re right about the Scientific American article. The Smithsonian Institute also has good information on the topic, which says Africa is where modern humans originated.
    Looking forward to team selection on Tuesday. I think they’ll go for it.

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