Seems like an eternity has passed since Villa lost 1-2 to Manchester United, but following the Covid scare and two postponements, the side are finally back in action tonight against a high-flying Manchester City.

From training, we’ve seen virtually everyone available, which is good, but although Dean Smith put a brave face on playing tonight, no one knows what shape players will be in. Some have had varying symptoms, others none, and Smith noted in his presser that the staff didn’t want to push anyone to extremes when they’d returned. He did say, though, that the sports science staff were happy with the numbers.

What that means is anyone’s guess. Jack Grealish apparently was spared altogether, which is a positive, but there are other players in the engine room, like Luiz and McGinn, who could get run ragged tonight even if they aren’t potentially dealing with virus-induced fatigue. Targett and Cash are another two who will have to have lots of running in them. Naturally it’s up to the players to reveal whether or not they were positive, so we really have no idea who among the starters might be less than 100%.

Smith also brushed aside concerns about rust, comparing the enforced layoff to a winter break. Reading between the lines, that might mean the core of the starting XI is largely unaffected. One upside is that it may have given Barkley time to get his hamstring right without missing any more matches. We’ll just have to wait for the selections and performance to tell us more.

Me, I think tonight might be a bit of a throwaway. Not sure there’s much way around that. But I’ve been surprised before. Smith said he took the layoff as an opportunity similar to the one provided by Restart, with him and the staff reviewing the season so far, players’ performances, and working with them individually via video. We’ve seen he knows how to make use of extra time for preparation and coaching. If it can’t necessarily pay dividends tonight, it likely will in subsequent matches.

Obviously, City are coming in in great form. But you’ve got to play them regardless of circumstance. If the match serves as more of a tune-up for getting to grips with the following fixtures, well, that’ll just have to be the way it is. If Villa come out flying and really do have a regular 90 minutes in them, so much the better.

Normally, I’d say Villa would look to just keep a lid on City for the first 45, see what they can get out of the second. But I’ve said that before, and Villa invariably have come out pressing and chasing and looking for an early goal. Your guess is as good as mine, in other words.

So, fingers crossed it’s competitive. Villa will know they’ve already gone toe-to-toe with all the other top sides. They don’t lack the capability or threat. Perhaps City will be overlooking them. Perhaps they’ll be merciless and clinical. Perhaps Villa will surprise and be fresh and raring to go. After all, Luiz was a player reborn after Restart.

The main thing is that right now, we’re not hearing any negative hints about long-term impacts to any of the players or staff. Doesn’t mean there won’t be some. But at the moment, it sounds like we’ve come through about as well as could be hoped. Dean lost his father earlier in the pandemic, and while he said he tested negative, as well, he’ll know as well as anyone not to mess about, and that the players’ well-being must come first.

Whatever their state, I do feel confident in saying that Villa, all things considered, will come out and give it their all. And maybe that’s good enough for a result on the night.

Oh, and I shouldn’t forget Conor Hourihane. I love seeing a player want to play, and Conor’s always been well up for it. Having been relegated to the bench with McGinn and Luiz laying claim to the central spots, and El Ghazi and Traoré filling out the attack with Jack and Ollie, he’s said to Dean he’d rather take a step down to play than ride the bench. I really respect that, Conor, and good luck to you at Swansea. There’s a fair few over the years who’ve failed to show that kind of hunger and humility. Well done.

Over to you.

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John Clark
John is co-owner of AVL, and has followed the Villa since the '70s. A journalist by trade, he is, by most accounts, a very nice person. You can follow me on Twitter @JClarkKohoutek. It's an astonishing experience. Or a complete waste of time.

Comments 145

  1. Frem

    I worry tonight

    City will be fitter, sharper. It could be a long night

    Newcastle we have to go absolutely win

    I imagine Barkley will come of the bench

    Hopefully we are still in a position to win when he comes on
    We all know ue can win us a game.

    He’s perfect to bring on with his pace and power running forward

  3. Plug

    Thanks JC. Sharp as ever on the points of interest.

    Frem, if we get a result tonight people will have to take notice. The media “experts” have written us off by 3 goals. But if Ollie gets in behind their defence, he may bag a goal or two.

    Can’t wait.

  5. John Clark

    Thanks, Plug.

    We’ve seen Villa can get at anyone, and even if we sit back and try to conserve energy, we stand a good chance of getting something on the break.

    But, yeah, not reading too much into this one. Unless we get a result, of course.

  6. Mark King

    I can’t see this being an easy game especially as city have found their shooting boots but we have beaten the odds this season so many times why not?, we have had a rest (which some needed) and we have Barkley back, whats more we probably have Trez back to make up for the running others can’t do. If we can beat their Much improved press (which might mean hoofing it) and get at their back four who knows. We have what no other team has in the league, Jack. Watkins due another hat-trick? hope so.

  7. Frem

    Barkley starts

    It’s our best line up

    Very harsh on Gahzi though and Hause

    But God we need to improve this bench

    Get Sanson a striker snd winger in

  13. John Clark

    In other news that might not be as immediately important as the team sheet, America now has a non-sociopathic adult in charge, again.

    Welcome, President Biden.

  30. runtings

    fantastic effort 1st half very dogged we have had lots of breakaways but not strung it together yet but if we get it right we can bang these lot up .. fab side they are though ..

  31. Frem

    Targett is so much better.

    Will be nice to have Santon to bring on in games for Barkley/ Mcginn. A very mobile football player. A good ball player

    We need that option up front and wide also.

    Ramsey will be on at some point

  34. John Clark

    Villa are letting City have the width. That’s basically how we defend. I don’t worry about crosses so much as the drives into the box and the cutbacks.

  52. Frem

    Shocking from VAR but Mings again to casual.

    We absolutely need a win on Saturday and we need to go sign a forward. Watkins isn’t enough

  56. Mark King

    Well what a swizz, how does a player who’s offside come back into play where our player cannot see him and not gain advantage? that said Mings took to long. Thought we did brilliant considering the rust, Traore both Brilliant and poor in equal measure and McGinn could not pass water tonight at times.

  58. runtings

    the ref is helping them to the title .. well done the villa boys we could have done better with our attacks but we defended like animals great team togetherness against one of the best sides in the world

  59. Frem

    If Mings heads that we draw. Hause never put a foot wrong.

    Newcastle is a must win now because its Tottenham and Everton after.

    We lack depth on our bench

    We need to be able to bring on a better winger and striker. Watkins needs a back up. He’s still learning. He’s not good enough yet to play every game

  60. John Clark

    MK,

    Yeah, there was a lot of rust…Dean says the right things to give the players cover and no excuses, but.

    Barkley’s got a ways to get back into the flow, Luiz looked a little off, and, yes, McGinn wasn’t himself.

  63. Canadian Villan

    Mugged and date raped all at the same time. Sorry, but we lost against a bakers dozen tonight, you can’t win when your playing against the ref and linesman all at the same time. BULL SHIT it was and Deano gets red carded for calling it so.

  64. Mark King

    can’t wait for the next player to be miles offside to do the same, “deliberate play” what is that? never heard that term before, Que strikers standing offside on purpose.

  65. Frem

    We just need that bit more quality going forward and depth of the bench. I hope we get it sorted. If we had another good striker we’d score more goals

    Mings has to cut out these mistakes. Unites and now this

  68. Frem

    Grealish has to do so much offensively for us to score goals. I haven’t even seen him shoot the ball in weeks (because he’s had to facilitate everything). Something is missing up top

  71. r0bb0

    It’s nice to see the footballing world enjoying how we play and sympathising with our refereeing misfortunes . . . . but I’d rather the officials did their jobs properly.

    Ian’s previous post about VAR was prescient. . . there are two problems with VAR: when it’s used; and how it’s used.
    Some sports have solved the first one by giving the teams a certain number of reviews. Could that work in football? I think it’s safe to say that Dean Smith would have used one or two of his reviews today!

  72. Frem

    So gutted

    A point really would have shown people how much better we are

    To lose to city and united away hurts

    It’s annoying we just don’t have that more quality and know how up front

    I hope the players go smash Newcastle. We need to win

  75. Heroes-and-Villans

    Not offside. Hahaha. Superb effort from villa. Shape, work rate, defending but also drilled to go forward. Could easily have scored. Fantastic to see. Fair play city, just superb. They are the best team in the world so that’s how far we have come.

  77. Heroes-and-Villans

    Frem

    People know how much we have improved. They can see we are going places. Play like that today we will win more then loose. Vital mins for Barkley. Hope targett is ok. Mcguinn needs games to stay in the groove. 3 week break really hinders him.

  78. Ian

    I’ve done some thinking about the offside and decided that it wasn’t offside. The MC player was in a offside position running up field to catch up to play. That happens all the time. The ball was played back towards the Villa goal and was chested by Mings. This was the point where the offside didn’t happen. If Mings let the ball go by and the MC player played it, it would be offside but by chesting the ball, Villa gained possession and changed the direction of the ball up field. Thus negating any offside position by the MC player.
    A bit of bad luck or good luck if you were MC.
    Lots of players get into an offside position but aren’t “offside” until the ball is played to them or an advantage is created. Most players make an effort to go back onside as was the MC player. Just one of those “organic” moments in the game. Happens in golf all the time.

    Mings should have been more aware of the MC player lurking over his shoulder. I think his nickname should be clanger.

  79. r0bb0

    Ian, I may be one eyed on this, but I’m still not convinced that’s what the law says . . . . . or at least what the law ‘intends’ to say.

    The wording is: “A player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent who deliberately plays the ball, including by deliberate handball, is not considered to have gained an advantage, “

    The key word seems to be “receiving”. Rodri didn’t ‘receive’ the ball, he came from an offside position to ‘take’ it.
    Everyone’s immediate instinct was that Rodri was offside, and that’s surely what the law intends.

  80. Ian

    I think the moment occurred was when Mings chested the ball forward putting MC on defence thus taking away the offside conditions on MC.

  81. Frem

    So 5 games in 15 days now. Unfortunately our squad is not good enough for that.

    Apparently our offer to Sanson was awful according to AVB

    WE Neee to get him in and a striker at the very least. Watkins is struggling now big time

  82. Frem

    And Mcginn suspended for Newcastle.

    So Grealish back in the middle

    We wouldn’t have let hourihane go with nobody coming in would we?

  83. Ian

    Frem, you have to start the bidding somewhere. No point offering 50 mill right off the bat. The final cost will be somewhere in the middle of the want and desire. I’m guessing 20 mill will do it.

  85. Frem

    Ye I get going low first, but we didn’t Rashica because of being a bit tight. Let’s be honest we could do with Rashica quality.

    Our sqaud is awful behind the first 11

    I’m starting to worry about Watkins.. He needs a goal but just looks absolutely lost recently

  86. Heroes-and-Villans

    frem! How on earth are you worried about super olly Watkins. The beauty of him is even when not scoring a superb work rate and stretches the defence. He is crucial for us. Now Barkely is back he will be more of a threat on goal though

    Considering its his debut season in the prem he has been awesome. Goals will come.

  87. runtings

    Frem we clearly get two completely different things from watching a game of football
    Ollie again was superb , his work rate and energy is unreal , he made some fantastic runs yet again .. this time it was Ross Barkley who was most guilty of not putting him in on goal a couple of times

    its better for fans to back the players in this side as they are going places .. you have slated most of the squad and one by one they have continued to prove you wrong so maybe you assessment of this team is a bit off ?

  88. Heroes-and-Villans

    runtings

    its mad what people see. footy is all about opinions I guess! Like you I though ollie was great. non stop running, winning free kicks. great ball across which I though ramsey was going to turn in.

  91. Heroes-and-Villans

    the improvement in targett defensivly is insane. he has been outstanding. Think he needs to strike a bit more of a balance with his attacking output though. Last season he was a massive threat. With toon at home id like to see him proper boom forward getting his crosses in

  92. Paul Pears

    Proud of the team effort yesterday, but it was always going to be a difficult one. City were back to their best and on a good run, whilst Villa had problems with covid 19, lack of training and match fitness.
    For over sixty five minutes we held our own, with the defence being outstanding. Our only lack was an under par McGinn, an off the pace Barkley, and Traore failing to give Matty Cash enough cover.
    Perhaps, in hindsight, Ramsey would have been a better bet to start, with Barkley on the bench, and Jack should have had a more mid field role.
    So much discussion over the offside that was or wasn’t, a rare moment of not doing the right thing by Mings perhaps. A very soft penalty decision again, and a game that slipped away from us.
    We did well, and we will do better, but we need to move on, and hopefully Wesley will be back soon. Sorry to see Conor go, but it was his wish to play football.
    Have had to invest in BT Sports now, as so many matches going to be on there, as well as Sky Sports, and I am saving by not going up to Brum.

    Still three games in hand over most and a long way to go, so have to continue looking on the bright side.

  93. Heroes-and-Villans

    moving forward you see the quality you need. Mcguinn last night and for a while has been very loose with the passing. Against class you cant get away with doing that and certainly have to take your chances. the miss was a shocker after a lovely assist from grealish. toure should of hit it earlier too instead of running into bodies.

  94. Mark King

    H&V- Targett looks like he has bulked up a bit as have few others, his passing and crossing though has gone out the window recently who knows why but it defo has.

    I have always think Mings is a bit languid in his play, when he receives the ball and sets for a pass he might as well have written a letter and posted it, its ok trying to be cool and casual if your Pele but I wish he would light a fire under his arse sometimes.

    Overall though we were playing the leagues form team and one of its best at that, to put that performance in and only be undone by a fluke just shows you how far we have come in next to no time. Mr Smith as it turns out really is the real deal that given the players can do the business. Plenty of people given that kind of money have waisted it not created a team that can take on anyone and not look out of place.

  95. r0bb0

    I know it’s futile whingeing on about the offside decision but I still feel it was wrong and am still pissed off about it.
    Anyone who’s done any searches online will have found similar examples where the referee has called offside so at best, the rules around this are ambiguous and we were unlucky.

    Usually the referees close ranks around each other in these situations but there are a number who have said that they would have given offside and others saying that they think that technically it was the right decision but think that the rules need changing.

    It seems to me though that those referees have got it wrong. The law says:

    “A player in an offside position at the moment the ball is touched or played by a team-mate is only penalised for committing an offside offence if, in the opinion of the referee, they become involved in active play by:
    making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball”

    Plenty of people have said that Mings should have just headed the ball clear. If Mings had known that Moss (the particular referee on the day) would NOT have blown Rodri for offside then he would not have tried to bring the ball under control in the way he did, he would just have headed it clear.

    This means that a player needs to know how each individual referee is going to interpret the law before deciding whether to head it clear or try and bring it under control which is clearly a nonsensical situation.

    The irony is that if Mings had chosen to head the ball ‘because’ he felt that Moss wouldn’t given offside, then the fact that Rodri was standing in an offside position is clearly impacting on Ming’s ability to play the ball. . . . . .so Moss should have blown for offside as soon as Mings was forced to head the ball instead of bringing it under control. . . . . . because by standing where he was in an offside position, Rodri was impacting on Ming’s ability to play the ball

  97. Frem

    H and V.

    I like his work rate. I like him

    But he hss been a bit invisible. He’s not scoring and the ball doesn’t stick with him much.. He gest bullied easily

    We do need another striker.. We can’t just have one

    Davis should have been used alot more than he has.

  100. Plug

    Gutted we lost. We stood up to them and did well. It took a brain fart from Tyro to crack us. At the end of the game, I felt their bench against our bench was the difference. Frem has highlighted this issue. But we will get there.

    I can’t stand Jon Moss. The standard of refereeing in the EPL is abysmal. VAR has made it worse. The only winners are the big 6 who are continually favoured.

  102. r0bb0

    Mark, I haven’t made it to the end of the video yet but the first half hour is interesting.
    I think you’re suggesting that I don’t question the official line on Covid but that’s not the case.
    I do have a healthy scepticism of government pronouncements but am also generally cynical about the man made food supplements industry, preferring to gain my nutrients through a balanced diet. Vitamin D is however the one supplement that I have, reluctantly, been taking this winter.

    Unlike David Davis, I haven’t been a government minister ( not sure if that’s a good or bad thing) but like him, my degree was a scientific one (Biology) and my work has included its fair share of science, including latterly, helping fund University research into naturally occurring phytonutrients.

    As stated in the video, there are far too few scientists in government, so ministers tend to struggle to know how to use science to inform their decision making. The same problem exists ( but magnified) in the media , with the vast majority of journalists ( for understandable reasons) coming from a background in the arts rather than the sciences.

  103. r0bb0

    Is Klopp losing it?
    Plays close to a full side against Villa youth in the cup but rests Salah and Firmino tonight despite not having scored in over 400 minutes of football
    The he completely lost it at half time showing that the pressure is really starting to get to him.

  104. r0bb0

    Mark,
    I should add that I’m taking vitamin D because it seems ‘likely’ that it can reduce the symptoms from covid although it hasn’t yet been proven. In the first half hour of the video David Davis seems to be saying that he’s seen enough indications that it ‘might’ be beneficial that he want’s NICE to carry out a full double blind study. He goes on to say that he believes that the NICE analysis is wrong because they have excluded a number of contributory factors such as age, ethnicity etc. This is only his opinion rather than evidence which is why he’s calling for the full study.
    He quotes one study which infers that 50% of deaths could have been avoided if everyone took vitamin D supplements. This would of course be huge so you can see why he’s calling for a large scientific study. Had it been started back at the start of winter then we might have some preliminary indications by now although we’d probably still be waiting for the full analysis.
    The good thing about Vitamin D is that, unlike many other supplements, it seems unlikely that there are any negative side effects from taking large doses. It’s easily available and cheap as well.

    You always have to be wary of taking the result of one study and extrapolating, and odds are that the 50% reduction he quotes is at the top end of possible outcomes. Even if you take it at face value, this would still leave us with 50,000 deaths in the UK.

    I’ve seen enough evidence that vitamin D is likely to reduce the effects of covid that I’m taking a supplement (and eating those mushrooms) but I’m also taking the more obvious measures such as social distancing and wearing a mask.

    It would be bizarre indeed if I was prepared to accept the possible positive effects of vitamin D whilst at the same time ignoring the probable negative impacts from not wearing a mask etc.

  105. Heroes-and-Villans

    Mark

    Yeah Mings can be a bit slow and predictable. And I never fully trust him on the ball, thinks he is beckenabaur at times. But he is a superb vocal leader with the respect of the team and his heading and blocking is brilliant. Maybe Targett is maybe focusing too much on his defensive game. Be nice to get the balance back as he is such a threat, ollie could do with a few of his crosess!

  107. Mark King

    Robbo- totally agree on most of what you say. I don’t have a degree but around 40 years of study in health and wellness etc, seen it all come and go and come back. The internet has changed all that with collaboration on a huge scale, some very interesting discoveries being made.

    On D, Does beg the question that why one hasty study on a vaccine is deemed ok yet a natural substance with years of study and data known to lower Flu infection is viewed with suspicion?

    A proffessor that has 30 years of study on D contacted the NHS when their mostly Bame doctors were dying early on in the pandemic. He sent them Vit D and told them what was happening they didn’t reply but the Doctors mysteriously stopped dying.

    Last winter I ran out of D and didn’t bother , normally I get nothing but by Feb I would of been pretty low and got a dose of Covid, the mrs and her family had it over Xmas looking back. Correlation I know but I do know my body and I was as white as I had been for years at that point.

    Most of the western thinking on nutrition has been driven by poor science and epidemiological studies. Things like meat gives you cancer vs a vegetarian life style are pointless, if you are bothered enough to alter your diet to be vegetarian your also less likely to drink, smoke and do other risky things and you probably exercise, but no its the meat, something we have eaten for millions of years and gives 0.8% greater chance of bowel cancer.

    Hasn’t stopped the Government issuing useless guidelines that have killed countless millions with the High carb and seed oil recommendations driving diabetes. This unfortunately has landed us where we are now with poor metabolic health which feeds into this pandemic.

    Latest is Gut health and Covid19, Vit D is very much involved in the gut Biome too and modern diets create gut dysbiosis anyway. We will have many more episodes like Covid unless they wake up and smell the coffee.

    I do get very frustrated with the Myopic viewpoint of our medical system.

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32595361/

  110. Plug

    Deano’s presser. He says SJM is suspended but everyone else is fine. That’s good news about Targett then. He also said Trez is back in the squad. Frem will be dead chuffed.

    We need 3 points and get back to winning ways. Here’s hoping Spud’s schitt record against Deano continues a while longer. COYVB.

  114. Mark King

    I will take a clean sheet, Watkins hat trick, jack a goal and three assists and Martinez to save at least 1 penalty, that would give me a massive fantasy league score, oh and some sort of vegetable finding its way onto the pitch.

  115. Plug

    The Wai Aye Chronicle has been quoting Darlow. Spud’s told them to be far more aggressive against us. Translated, that means kick the schitt out of Jack. Thoughtful tactics as ever Spud. So get into the box lads.

    His gloves off approach never worked against the Arse so he’s upping the ante. Saint Maximin is in their squad so we may see him for the last half hour.

  116. Frem

    Barry with a Hat trick

    12 goals in 12 games now. I think we are at the point where he should be on our bench at the very least. Davis doesn’t score and Watkins isn’t scoring either. He needs a goal tomorrow that’s for sure

    Anf we need the win or esle I’ll start looking over our shoulders

  118. r0bb0

    Mark, I did read that last link. . . .but found it hard work with lots of heat but very little light.
    I guess my main point on the discussion is that science is more about asking questions than giving firm answers and whenever there’s doubt, people will take sides. Science will then try to disprove hypotheses and we all move on to the next question.
    Usually this doesn’t matter and we can all argue out our own viewpoints without anyone getting hurt. Sometimes though, and now is an example, being wrong has implications for others and that’s when to my mind, we should apply a different set of rules.

    People were against wearing seatbelts but the evidence was so clear that a law was brought in. Some people rebelled on the grounds of personal liberty, but why should emergency service workers be subjected to the horrors of extracting bodies from the scene of avoidable injuries and why should I have to pay more tax to treat others just so that they can express their freedom not to wear a seatbelt.

    Providing the balance of evidence to indicate the harm of smoking was more difficult but finally people were convinced. . . . millions died in the meantime, including those exposed in workplaces to second hand smoke.

    Right now, the balance of evidence suggests that mask wearing, hand washing and social distancing reduces the risk of catching covid. It’s fair enough to question the strength of the evidence but when the risk of being wrong is that others die. . . . .shouldn’t we all err on the side of caution?

  120. Plug

    r0BBo, yes it would. It’s yet another attempt by the “big knobs” to gain an advantage at the expense of the other teams.

    Purslow was bemoaning the loss of more than 1m gate receipts per home game recently. Significant when that’s your only income after TV money and your team isn’t in Europe.

    I’ve got a better idea. Change the Champions League back to knockout games from the outset. No, I didn’t think the “big knobs” would like that. Crimps their income and not the others.

  121. Paul Pears

    Morgan Sansom became a Villa player this morning and will be in Birmingham early next week.
    Another successful deal for Lange.

    r0bb0, I am with you. The evidence for mask wearing, especially when you see how far breath particles can travel, is overwhelming for protecting others.

    The facts on smoking and tobacco, like many other products, were kept covered up for years. Money and power talks. This is also true of science in many instances, especially in the pharmaceutical fields, where the science is paid for and sponsored by giant corporations.
    There is now so much fake information, biased information and just down right lies, that it is becoming very difficult to assess exactly what is the truth.
    The EU and our government continue to fight and blame each other for all the things which are now happening. All I know is that I see that our farmers, fishermen and many others are in dire straights, saying that none of what is happening is what they voted for.
    The lies and lack of true facts during the run up to Brexit was a disgrace. It should have been a non political referendum based on facts for people to decide their future.
    Now we have a situation where everything is becoming very muddy, when the facts will be mixed and mashed blaming Brexit, blaming covid 19, and whatever else can be thrown into the mix. The only certain fact is that the ordinary people of the world will pay the price.
    The very wealthy, the faceless corporations, and the politicians will make sure that they are fine.

  122. Frem

    Sanson joining. Great deal

    Now we need a striker.

    Absolute must win tonight. 3 games without a win. If we want European football we need to beat Newcastle or otherwise we are looking down the league

  123. r0bb0

    From the information that’s out there about him, Sansom could be a really interesting new player for us.
    He seems to have the attributes to be an excellent purchase but there are some risks attached.
    He’s suffered from some injuries and of course the premiership is a tough league so we’ll need to keep our fingers crossed there.
    His form has blown a bit hot and cold and we’ll all hope that his form as a youngster is a true mark of his underlying potential. It’ll then be down to Dean Smith and the team to bring that out of him and I reckon we can feel optimistic on that count.
    He’s played in quite a few roles but the new found professionalism within the Villa management is likely to have identified what role they have planned for him and will have discussed that with him prior to him agreeing to move.
    If he stays fit and the management can untap his potential we could be in for exciting times.

  124. r0bb0

    I agree with Frem that we’d benefit from having another striker available and let’s hope that Wesley is able to play again soon!
    The other option is that Barry continues his development and is seen to be ready for the hurley burley of the premiership.
    Once Ollie Watkins starts scoring again (which he will) we should have plenty of exciting options up front

  125. r0bb0

    it seems that Sansom was valued at £35 at one point so ‘if’ the club can unlock his potential, he’ll be a good financial investment too.

  127. Frem

    January 2020. Danny Drinkwater

    January 2021. Sanson

    We’ve come a long way in a year

    Watkins needs to score tonight and show something. He has been bullied in games recently and missing lots of chances in games before that.

    Our striker situation is worrying. Even play Davis tonight maybe. Certainly with our run of games Davis needs to play some unless another striker is coming but we can’t play Watkins every minute when he’s not performing to the level required. He needs a rest

  128. Frem

    I like him but he gets moved of the ball to easily most the time and can’t hold it up. Against Liverpool he was absolutely brilliant his hold up play but I haven’t seen that since

  131. r0bb0

    JC. . . .I did consider Douglas Luiz but he was suspended against Burnley so surely that will have completely recharged his batteries!? 🙂

  132. Mark King

    Great news that we are getting Sansom and at about £14 to 15m, that could be a bargain if he’s half as good as Trez is. If we now need a rest after a huge rest I fecking give up.

  133. Mark King

    Robbo- Masks and Lockdowns, If you look at the department of health’s influenza pandemic preparedness strategy 2011 you will see that Both Masks and lockdowns were discounted mainly as no study had proved them effective and the negative aspects were considered to bad. Whats changed?

    https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/213717/dh_131040.pdf

    My take for what is worth is that masks definitely are dangerous to the wearer become contaminated and need proper fitting handling and disposal, outside of a professional setting that will not happen, cost benefit? might help stop the spread by a minute amount but might cause infection themselves through a variety of mechanism’s. The social effects of not seeing peoples expressions creates tension in you.

    Lockdowns, where to start, flu viruses are seasonal because of temperature and humidity and very likely levels of sunlight and of course Vit D effect on immunity. What use is keeping people indoors during the summer? people hated folks going to beeches but thats about the best place they could be, Sea air contains salt which is anti viral not to mention oxygen and Ozone. you could for instance wash your nose out with salt solution to destroy the virus or just breath sea air and get Vit D stocked up for the winter. Meanwhile you promote herd immunity.

    During the spring/summer we are at least risk and that was the time to allow spread not stopping it. Let people go out and get Vit D. In the winter you get cold and low humidity which allows the Virus to spread easily, when its humid it won’t travel far or last long, big Droplets usually end up on the floor, when its dry aerosols will travel far .

    When cold dry air meets the warm air in your house it will create a low humidity environment in your house where the virus will easily spread among your family members. Your there about 23 hours a day and the Virus can come in on packages, shopping or the air, I would say once endemic you have little chance of avoidance it depends how robust you are.

    Many people do not have lovely homes in leafy suburbs with gardens. They might hate their partner, be separated from their kids or lose their jobs or business. They most likely will exercise less eat and drink more rubbish and become depressed, even commit suicide. I’m not going to go into the Years lost from being poorer long term.

    Its been studied and proven that being fearful, alone etc shuts your immunity down, no need to fight bugs when your brain thinks a tiger is about to eat you.

    All this and more is why They have never been considered effective. In fact if anything I think they will prolong this pandemic and give the virus time and potentially cause to mutate more while we have less herd immunity to potentially ward it off.

  134. Mark King

    Robbo- On Vit D, looking at the summer of 2019 (which was very sunny) I think the nation went into the winter with fairly good D levels hence the mild winter. Roll on to Feb when everyone’s levels would of been low we had a cold snap and thats when covid truly took off. Baring in mind it was likely in country back in nov 2019. Certainly lately we have had cold snaps which may have resulted in infections and spread, plus the lockdown effect on D and health in general. Just my observations.

    Shutting people away this summer along with no holidays will have likely lowered Vit D levels( Old people cannot produce Vit D easily if at all, their skin is to dry and thin)

    This bloke Dr David Grimes has co-written a book on covid and vit D he know his stuff

    https://twitter.com/drdavidgrimes

  136. r0bb0

    Mark, I was talking to a friend yesterday who is immunosuppressed and isolating and discovered that he is on a list of 2 million vulnerable people who are prescribed free vitamin D by the government. It seems that the benefits ‘have’ been recognised by the Government so it seems fair to ask why it hasn’t been more widely publicised.
    As for the mask debate. . . . . next time I or a relation have an operation I would feel quite disturbed if the theatre staff decided not to wash their hands or wear masks.

  137. Mark King

    Robbo- I have to wonder how much the government offer in terms of amount as they were going to give old folk 400iu’s which is almost pointless. You have to ask why the Government and medical fraternity have very little knowledge of nutrition on the whole and even less propensity to prescribe a healthy life style . This oversight of the Vit D connection is close to negligence for me.

    As for masks you would also be surprised if the surgeon came in with an ill fitting piece of cloth he had been using for weeks and not even washed. Equally you would be surprised to arrive at tesco’s and see a line of the general public in scrubs performing surgery on each other would you not? 🙂

  138. r0bb0

    Mark, my friend takes 2000 ius, double what I take but there are plenty of authorities that recommend less and quite a few that will recommend more. Fact is, the facts are hard to be factual about.
    Maybe there will be a spin off benefit from covid that ministers will have a much better appreciation of the implications of the decisions made about our health and we’ll see more, useful, targeted research into what it takes to stay healthy.
    In fairness to successive governments, they have tried to educate the public, but even simple messages such as smoke less, keep your weight down, eat 5 or more a day tend to be ignored by the majority of the population. If the Government ran a strong campaign for us all to take vitamin D supplements, how many do you think would take it up?
    Part of the problem is that conspiracy theorists try to debunk everything these days, which makes the role of the social or health educator almost impossible.

  141. Frem

    He needs a goal tonight. Way overdue and his hold play needs to be better
    Sometimes i think he runs to much and gets tierd and sloppy. I wish hed just relax sometimes and save energy to put chances away

  143. John Clark

    r0bb0,

    “Part of the problem is that conspiracy theorists try to debunk everything these days, which makes the role of the social or health educator almost impossible.”

    Couldn’t agree more. The body is a very complicated thing. There are so many variables from person to person, so many environmental factors. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to so very many things, but that doesn’t stop people from weighing in with magical cures, contrarianism, and the rest. I’m not saying I trust Big Pharma, not saying I think governments have done everything right. Far from it.

    But as you said earlier, while it can be slow, the scientific method does work. Studies and “post-mortems” take time. And they may not provide the comforting silver bullets we’d all like to see.

    The most important takeaway will whether we can synthesize and act on the lessons we should end up learning. This won’t be the last virus we have to deal with.

  144. John Clark

    And I should also add that individual idiocy and lack of responsibility has played no small part in sustaining the spread. But of course, disinformation and politicization have contributed greatly to undermining common-sense guidance that could’ve lessened the toll.

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