The Jhon Duran era has ended almost as soon as it began with the player heading off to the desert to ply his trade alongside Ronaldo. Unlike many, I think it’s a good move for Villa, and quite possibly the only one.

Bottom line is that he’s still immature, hasn’t taken to his responsibilities and the coaching, has been a constant distraction and was never going to stay at Villa. He’d have been gone in the summer or next January. The following summer at the latest. He and his camp were always agitating for a move, and it was pushing Emery to mess with his ideas to try and address Duran’s impatience.

So Villa got rid of a headache (who is unquestionably a great goal-scorer), preserved the rest of the squad from PSR, and ended up with funds to further bolster for the run-in. Duran got a lot of money, which in the end seemed to matter more than the prestige or the football. We’ll always have Bayern to remember him by.

But Villa got a lot of money, too, and you’d rather cash in while it’s on offer than hold onto a player looking to leave who might very well reveal himself to be more trouble than he’s worth, lowering his price. I also think we’ll have a much more settled Ollie as a result.

Dream move for Ollie denied? Maybe? But unless he was pushing for the move, it’s irrelevant and he is an actual professional. From a Villa perspective, he’s far more important to the side than Duran. Villa have now shown him that, and I thought it was interesting that Emery pointed out in saying that Ollie was happy to stay that basically he was repaying the faith Villa had put in him. Which is a fair point. Maybe irrelevant as well, in the end, but true enough.

Ollie also has probably been spared an unrelenting spotlight and the enormous expectations that he was going to carry Arsenal over the line. All well and good if that came to pass, but the backlash if it didn’t would be enormous. Dream move to nightmare happens all the time, and less than half a season to bed in and start scoring for fun is a big ask. Arteta, fairly or not, is under a lot of pressure and it’s probably seeping into the team.

And the way Arsenal approached it was classless. So I’m very glad the Saudis came in to resolve the situation and give us a great wad of cash to boot. Had Ollie gone and Duran become the starter…I don’t think that would’ve ended well for us.

Anyway, Duran’s gone, Ollie stays.

Oh, and a word for Emi Buendia. He divided opinion. Me, I was a fan. Others weren’t. And it could well be the case that we paid over the odds for him in the first place. But. He was creative, the only one-touch player we had at the time, dogged and committed. We’ll never know what would’ve happened without the injury, and maybe Tielemans being available on a free was always going to spell the end for him with Emery. But I’m glad he’s got a chance to go play at a quality club. He’s a good player and I’ll miss him.

Next in
Elsewhere we wait. The rumor machine is in overdrive, and Villa clearly have multiple irons in the fire. The various permutations are a bit dizzying, but at least it’s the same names, which usually means there’s something to them. January’s always difficult and Monchi has been a very busy man who’s shown us so far that he’s up to the task of juggling the often conflicting demands of improving the squad while keeping us in financial good graces.

I do believe we’ll see a CB come in. And I’ve a sneaking suspicion we’ll see an attacking player, as well. The Rashford business seems a bit wild, but that might end up being the move that makes the most sense (being a loan doesn’t hurt). We know there’s a very good player in there and we know the situation at United is bad. Emery has a reputation for getting the best out of players, and it could end up being a bit of a masterstroke if the wages can be sorted. If it’s even true.

For one thing, he’d be under a lot less pressure, while also looking to prove himself. Villa might well be a perfect place for him to rediscover his game. I think the squad is honest, hard-working and happy. A good environment. And he’d have a manager with very clear expectations and structure without the chaos and media spotlight of a struggling United side in all sorts of transition. He’d likely help Malen thrive by widening our threat to both sides. He’d be insurance for Ramsey. He he knows the PL, and we know what he can be capable of in that setting (versus Bailey and Diaby, for example). So I sort of like the idea if Emery’s spoken with him and gotten a good sense of where his head’s at.

Likewise, I sort of like all the exciting possibilities that might or might not happen, the players who may or may not be as good as advertised. I can’t confess to having seen many of them play, so we all hang on to the brief descriptions of their strengths, or someone saying, ‘remarkable’, ‘monster’, ‘next Messi’. I did read that Danso, I think, wasn’t the quickest to get going, but did have good top-end speed when he did. That’s the telling part, along with calmness, decision-making, reading and positioning. Also, the below:

Emery always says pretty much the same thing. He’s nothing if not consistent. But one word has been creeping up a lot and that’s ‘skill’. I’ve always thought he wants a technically more proficient side in depth. Touch, control, passing. He knows that’s the key to possession and playing quickly. We all do. We see it in the great teams. The ball that leads a runner, the ball that’s easy to take or play one-touch. Lots of good things to say about Grealish’s technical side, but boy could he settle virtually any ball instantly and move. That’s why I bang on about Cash and Bailey. So often that first take is heavy, or the first touch when moving to carry, it gets too far away from them. Cue the series of rescues from challenges and nearly passes that leave everyone stretching and turning it over in short order.

Wolves
I suppose I should say something here, and I guess maybe the biggest immediate point of interest is whether Cunha plays. Like most of our purported targets it seems five or six teams are in for him. Everyone’s waiting, watching, haggling, trying to move someone on. So, I’d expect that if a serious deal from any of them is in the offing (including us, potentially) I won’t get to run the rule over him.

Beyond that, they’re playing better, and wherever they are in the table it’s never easy for us with them. I’d like to think that getting into the final 16 will have relieved some pressure and that with a slightly relaxed schedule ahead and some questions around the squad having been answered that we’ll perhaps come out and play to our potential. We’ve yet to have a complete game, and I’m not necessarily expecting one at Molineaux today. But a strong start like we had midweek would be welcome, and maybe with a week to recover, the team can give it their all. Given the usual atmosphere, it shouldn’t be hard to get up for this one and grab the very necessary three points to sustain our intentions. The window still being open can’t hurt motivation, though I doubt any of our top 15 are in any immediate danger.

Over to you.

Comments 199

  1. There’s a lot to digest there JC!
    I’ll pick up on the Rashford one. There’s no doubt he’s a skilful player, with plenty of other attributes too, but would our recruitment team be able to confidently assess if he is willing and able to rekindle his love of football?
    You imagine that if anyone could, Emery could, but it would always be a gamble, and then there’s the matter of his wages, which could bust open our hopes of playing European football, unless United bee a fair chance of the cost of a loan move.
    Seems to me, that he needs a break from the UK media and an overseas move would suit him better

  2. Thanks John. I too was an Emi Buendia fan. I appreciated what he was trying to do, it didn’t always work but if you want to unlock a defence, safety first passes won’t cut it. I wish him well in Leverkusen.

    With Ned also mooted to be heading out on loan, our match day squad right now is down to the bare bones. The exits have left us without suitable cover in several positions and only 3 days to address them. From what I’ve seen of Bogarde, his best games have been in midfield. Can’t comment on Garcia as I haven’t seen him play and Malen is yet to show his capabilities.

    How much PSR has contributed to our offloads only the inner circle knows. We’ve apparently cleared all obstacles in the financial year 23/24 with turnover at £322 million but we’re yet to learn the full extent of our losses. Should know in about 1 month’s time. Financial year 24/25 turnover is going to be interesting. Could it reach £400 million? Our sponsorship income is a fraction of what the big names are collecting Mr Heck.

  3. Agreed R0bbO, Rashford would be a big risk. Don’t think his head is in the right place but that is just an assumption from watching his body language on the pitch in recent times.

  4. Plug, you’re right about Rashford’s body language on the pitch. At times he’s given off an aura of someone who just doesn’t care any more. I’ve seen one video clip of play going on around him and he’s just standing there.
    It’s so sad, but if he came to Villa, he put in a shift, and the fans got behind him, you’d like to think it could help him change his mindset and rekindle his love for match day.
    The media attention following his good work ‘off’ the football pitch was so intense, along with much u due criticism from some quarters, that it has to have been hard for him to maintain focus.
    I’m only guessing, but it wouldn’t be surprising if he’d struggled with his own mental health as a result.
    The best treatment would probably be a 100% focus on football and regaining a real desire for the game, along with the thrill of scoring goals and seeing his team win.
    Armorim has bbeen quite publicly scathing about him, inferring that he’d rather play one ofnhis coaches, so it sounds as if all respect has been lost from both sides.

  5. I’ll add my name to the Buendia appreciation society list. His attitude has always been good and you sense that he’s ‘close’ to being good for us, without ever having totally ‘clicked’.
    I’ll certainly trust Emery on the call to let him move on though.

  6. Yeah, gonna miss Buendia. Like Plug says, a lot of those passes won’t come off, but he was always looking to put someone in and quickly.

    If I had a criticism, it was more down to speed, not being able to cover more ground more quickly in the way he was being asked to play at Villa. I think he was best suited to being more central/10, and we sometimes saw him there, but it’s kind of like when SJM goes and plays that high right slot that he seemed less effective.

    He’s one I really do hope does well.

  7. Rashford:

    It is a risk-reward move, and it does focus on his mind. If he were happy, he wouldn’t be wanting to leave.

    So yeah, it’s down to whether he just needs a change of scenery, a place to clear his head, focus on football and not be such a topic of conversation. Garnacho has struggled as well, though Amorim seems to be happy with his response, but the environment there doesn’t seem to be good.

    If you’re struggling, that’s certainly not going to help. I think we all know he’s got a good heart, so I don’t think he’d move somewhere knowing he wasn’t going to give it a go. It’s clear Emery is intense and demanding, no one can miss that.

    And I would certainly hope they’ve spoken and that Emery thinks he can get him back to enjoying football.

    I’d think he’d just stay put, collect the paycheck and train with the kids or whatever if he really didn’t want to play anymore. But who knows. I’d say Barca’s interest should be encouraging, but they sort of collect and discard players like holiday trinkets.

  8. Beyond attackers, the CB situation is interesting because it’s been forced onto us.

    With Mings, sounds like he won’t be out long, but that still leaves us with only two healthy CBs. Given his age and injuries, you can understand he might not be in Emery’s long-term plans. But he’s very much needed in the present.

    Pau returns, then you’re back to him and Konsa, I assume, with Mings in reserve. Bit more comfortable. But again, not ideal.

    So, we’re looking for insurance, and maybe a stop-gap, but also, seemingly, a player who could be a starter for a lot of clubs, and from the links, a player with a different physical profile to what we have. But if it’s true about Bade, playing time may well figure into who’s willing to come.

    Sort of goes back to Lenglet, and how important he turned out to be.

  9. Then back to Monchi, PSR…a truly fascinating window seeing us sell Carlos despite being short there, letting Buendia leave, Philogene, Ned, never mind Duran.

    These are not faint-hearted men running things. Seems very clear Emery thinks he knows what Villa need to get back into the CL and they’re willing to run risks and consider all possibilities to make it happen. The sense of urgency and willingness to be very calculating about it is refreshing.

  10. Bare bones tonight, with only matasen and malen to be called from bench,big gamble from boss letting carlos and beundi go without replacing them
    As for whose coming in next 48 hours we definitely need 2 nee faces,a lot of our players are becoming injury prone cash mings torres mcginn ramsay barclay onana Bailey etc,saying that we are heading towards another 50 plus game season never mind internationals

  11. JG,

    Some pretty fair miles on McGinn. Pau, just unlucky. Ramsey you hope has finally gotten clear, but he’s had a lot of minutes since way back in the day. Bailey will be gone or just a sub, Onana just has to be sat for a bit to get right. Barclay, not sure what happened (I assume it’s soft tissue), but again, I think they try really hard to sit them as long as they can.

    And yeah, defo some risk-taking. But with PSR, they can’t get someone in without clearing off wages, etc., first and knowing what they have to work with.

  12. I observe that Cunha is playing for Wolves this evening. On the one hand we get a chance to scrutinise him for future use, on the other hand it appears that he will not be leaving in the current window.
    Didn’t think in a million years that Rashford would come our way. Quite happy to have him on loan. Would obviously fit in Emary’s team structure infinitely better than the chaotic one. Always scared me when he played against us and certainly had the beating of our infamous offside trap last year due to his speed. I appreciate he has been in a bad place for quite a long time now. Let’s hope our tranquil well directed environment can reenergise him. I would hope that the option to buy is not compulsary. Suspect that our wage structure would be blown to smithereens if we bought him permanently. Ho-hum.

  13. jbd,

    I was wondering whether Cunha would play regardless given Wolves’ situation. I’d imagine only an agreed offer would keep him on the bench. Suitors may be willing to just wait until the summer for him.

  14. Rashford on loan makes a lot more sense. I’m sure he’d have to take a pay cut if he found himself happy and wanted to stay.

    More the case that I guess we’d rehabilitate his reputation and he goes on to Barca or wherever. Which I’m okay with if he helps get us over the line.

  15. Well that’s the forward line sorted. Time to get Maguire in on loan now that we have a line of communication open with manure. Just think of him as a right footed Lenglet. He would give us aerial domination in both boxes and Mings would go well with him. (Aren’t I naughty!)

  16. We’re missing the incisive little inter-passing moves that we saw midweek.
    You expect some physical tiredness after a game like Wednesday’s but mental tiredness may be playing an even bigger part

  17. Kamara only player to come out with credit,martinez has made couple decent saves but the goal
    2 players in right back area not helping, bogarde hasn’t got pace or garcia so far
    Emery an awful busy halftime to sort it out
    For me ned at fullback would be better or swinkles at centre half push kamara into midfield l

  18. Seems to be some tactical jiggery pokery going on between Garcia and Bogarde. They seem to be alternating at RB. When one is RB, Garcia goes RW or Bogarde goes RMF. Still think Malen could feel a bit miffed.

    At least there won’t be a further 2 chumpions league games to be crap afterwards.

  19. We could be 4-0 down. Haven’t laid a glove on them. Their keeper has been eating his sandwiches. Looks like Ollie has done his groin. Dreadful but with a threadbare defence not surprising.

  20. Pathetic
    Konsa has dropped off form completely, we don’t deserve nothing today
    Emery got his team wrong again,he is not infallible either
    The decision to see carlos without replacement has cost us possibly 5 points
    Cup match next we need defensive options, lad ned looked better than Marcia and bogarde at rb yet he is going out on loan

  21. VAR are cheats. Not Wolves, but VAR just scandalous. And folks say the EPL is not bent? There’s too many of these decisions happening.

    As for the result, I’d have put my house on it with a full side available never mind a makeshift one. We are incapable of getting a result after midweek European games.

  22. Bailey signed his new contract and has completely faded,thought v celtic he was getting form back tonight couldn’t stand up
    Rogers is heading to a 2 match ban
    Monchi needs to pull a few rabbits out of his hat
    Kamara playing centre half is not on

  23. Well that was irritating. Bailey typified the whole team. Just couldn’t do anything right. Malen was the only bright ember on the pitch.

    Was Cunha showing his love for the club or was he supressing a sadness at the thought he would have to leave? I can only hope.

    No real football for two weeks. The micky mouse cup a warm up team bonding chance for Rashford?

  24. Steady on chaps, we are venting like we should be writing elsewhere. We are not mathematically out of doing the treble. Happy Clap – happy clap – happy clap!

  25. Var excuse for disallowing the goal is disgraceful, my pundits are saying wolves have had lot bad decisions against them,forest got that excuse the night we played them,,both have said it was foul on rogers as well,made as he’ll again tonight

  26. Yeah, those midweek games have cost us. Wolves didn’t have enough to keep it up, but the one turned out to be enough.

    Malen did look sharp.

    Bailey? Useless again. His best actions are laying it off. SJM is struggling, though it wasn’t terrible.

    The changes did help, as did Wolves getting nervy and tired. Can’t really blame Emery for the selection, about all he had to work with.

    Maybe the right side he got wrong with Garcia and Bogarde.

  27. That’s dispiriting, but the over-reaction in some quarters (not on here) is a teeny bit embarrassing.

    We should have been able to beat that Wolves team and the extra energy after the substitutions showed that.
    Credit to Emery for making the wholesale changes at half time and credit to the team for lifting themselves for the second half, but the fact is, that overall we just weren’t good enough today.

  28. I think what gets missed about these strings of games is that injuries came, and ruled out a lot of rotation in the engine room during the span of games from December on.

    So, you have a starting group logging a lot of minutes. But it’s your best available side and everything is a ‘must win’.

    I’m sure Emery would’ve liked Onana to have another week off, and not had to play Kamara as a CB. Likewise he wouldn’t want Bogarde at RB. It’s a different game with Kamara and Onana in the center and Youri higher up.

    But Unai was clearly beside himself, saw him dressing down Austin on the touchline. The VAR on that goal was very dodgy, but the linesman calling it initially was what probably sealed it. As it was, Rogers didn’t really have anything to do with anything.

  29. Konsa says “it feels like we are conceding every game”. I’ve got news for him, we have conceded 37 goals in 24 matches. Perhaps try playing the ball forward more often. It might alleviate the pressure.

  30. Yeah, r0bb0…I mean, I was far from happy with the result, but there’s a bigger context, and you can see the club clearly trying to address it in the window.

    It’s just asking a lot. Right now, Villa are victims of expectations based on results, yes, but also on Emery getting an almost miraculous season out of this group. And the CL campaign has been a success.

    There’s still plenty to work with, the incomings should help along with the side (hopefully) getting healthier.

  31. It was a poor game today for Rogers. He was anonymous. Ollie got no service 1st half and it looked like he’s pulled a groin. This was guaranteed after selling Big Jhon.

  32. We are in this bedraggled state because PSR, financial fair play (whatever) is supressing our ability to spend the money that the owners have and clearly want to spend on supplying the players that Emery wants. I would throw newcastle into the same situation. The sky sextet are being locked in at the top. No upstarts are allowed in to upset the status quo.

    Does the saudi league have any financial restrictions? Can they spend what they like and pay the players what they like? Seems to me like the financial restrictions on our clubs can only help the oil league to bleed off our exciting players and eventually diminish our European leagues.

  33. Ah hah! There is a conspiracy theory developing. Betting syndicates are obviously nobbling the PGMOL. If the betting syndicates are in dander of losing money, a text goes to the PGMOL and the VAR men get a call and our goal gets disallowed. I suppose all the betting money went on a Villa win/Wolves defeat. TFFT, we aren’t crap, we’ve been shafted by corrupt VAR officials.

  34. Generally pissed off,
    Officials are absolutely crap 2 maybe even 3 massive decisions wrong tonight, and that’s not even unusual Newcastle n forest Liverpool game all horribly wrong all against us,

  35. 656, Hahaha. That’s the most plausible reason yet for VAR irregularities. It’s not tribal support for other teams affected after all. And it’s certainly not incompetence because nobody could be that stupid. It’s down to betting syndicates infiltrating VAR!!! Time to call in the corruption investigators and start checking bank accounts!!!

  36. To answer the question in your heading JC, it looks as if it’s Rashford. Latest rumour is that he’s having a medical this afternoon. Let’s hope they. don’t find he’s drunk, 2 stone oversight and arrived after temporarily checking himself out of the gabling addiction clinic. . . . . well, that’s the picture Amorin has been trying to paint.
    The latest rumours are that Leon Bailey is going the other way. If you take a look at another blog, you’d think that Bailey is then worst player we’ve ever had, which is just childish. Bailey’s problem (or rather Villa’s problem) is that he’s been so good at times, that he now looks very poor in comparison. That doesn’t make him a bad player, indeed, even in his current run of form, I’d rather have him than most of the recent right wingers that have preceded him. Last season, you felt an immediate excitement when he received the ball, whereas now, you have hope rather than expectation.
    If the rumours all turn out to be true, then both teams will have acquired a player with unfulfilled potential. . . . .it’ll be interesting to see which (if either) is able to unlock that potential in a new environment.

  37. 656 and Plug, some of the recent FA refereeing decisions have been so clearly wrong that they’re bound to fuel wild speculation. The clearly false analysis of the Lewis-Miles sending off (their explanation was just a clumsy lie), along with any number of other ‘curious’ decisions live you questioning the motivations.
    I still suspect that they are down to incompetence from weak individuals rather than corruption. . . . but if they continue to keep making such clearly wrong/bad decisions, then they probably ought to initiate a full, independent, review of the decision making individuals, and how/why they are recruited, plus the processes by which they come to their decisions.
    Could they use intelligent, analytical, people from ‘outside’ the footballing world, who were incorruptible and unaffiliated to any club? After all, it’s all about applying a defined set of rules, which is what lawyers do every day.
    The review may show that the rules are too vague and need to be clarified, and that wouldn’t be a bad thing either.

  38. JG, the movement of players just outside the match day squad group is interesting. . . . presumably it’s to see if they can make then step up, but also trying to find ways of maximising their sell on value. After all, a YouTube collation of their best moments is always a handy thing to have when trying to maximise player value, whilst YouTube clips of them picking their nose whilst sitting on the bench isn’t going to do much for their transfer value.

  39. Anyone watching the arsenal game?
    Silva just deliberately kicked Trossard in the shin while he was down on the ground, and didn’t even get booked!
    Far more clear intent than in the Duran sending off.
    There’s something very wrong with either the rules or the referees

  40. Here are some interesting comments from Gary Neville about the potential Rashford transfer:
    “Moving onto the question about Villa, I think there are a number of things in his favour. He’s going to a far better team at this moment in time. He’s going to a coach who’s world class, which I think is a real opportunity for him. I think it puts pressure on Marcus to perform for Unai Emery.”
    I think the last bit is particularly interesting. He’s basically saying that if anyone can bring the best out of Rashford, then Emery can, and the inference is that Rashford is being given a great opportunity to turn things round and if he doesn’t take it now, then
    It could be the end of the line for him.
    There’s a fair amount of fan scepticism about the move, but it ‘could’ turn out to be inspired
    Fingers firmly crossed. . . both for us, and the player!

  41. I’ve seen a pithy observation elsewhere suggesting Rashford is manure’s version of Gabby Agbonlahor. What chance would Gabby have with Emery? Don’t think Rashford has done the flabby bit yet.

  42. I must wait and see what transpires by 11pm tomorrow. I’m not a fan of the Rashford hiring but I’ll happily eat humble pie and admit my ignorance should it be successful. The lack of a CB concerns me most. And who is Asensio coming in for? Big John or Emi Buendia?

  43. And it looks like Ned is going on loan to Leipzig with an option to buy in the summer. We never got to see any more than a few glimpses of him really, His pace was excellent but Unai must know what he’s doing.

  44. I did see Bernardo deliberately kick Trossard whilst he was lying prone on the grass. No booking, no VAR involvement, just play on. Sadly I expected no more. The authorities lied about Big Jhon’s violent behaviour to warrant the 3 game ban. Different laws apply in Bernardo’s case. Does my head in. And every man and his dog knows what would have happened had Villa’s disallowed goal yesterday been the Arse instead.

  45. Apparently, the Lewis Skelly celebration was supposed to be copying/mocking a Haaland celebration. Does Haaland sit down and do a Buddha pose?
    I’ve not seen it

  46. I suppose the risk with Rashford is that he turns out to be a Coutinho Mk 2. If he does, we’ll only have him for a few months. If he doesn’t then more options open up. Guess the first task for Unai is to get him match fit as he hasn’t been playing any games for a while.

  47. It is all very interesting…Seeing Spurs now inquiring about Bailey as well. Some of this (maybe even from Villa) smacks of desperation, if true.

    I suppose a new tactical setup could help Leon, just like with anyone. Me, I think Villa would prefer to have Malen wide and Bailey for backup/rotation. If they were to do a deal, could really only be about money and perhaps needing it to get one of the other deals over the line. Otherwise, I’d think we’d wait til summer to let him go. Otherwise, back to not having any cover if Malen goes out.

    And I mention Villa in terms of Rashford and how it’s being discussed, but given the terms, I think it’s probably a decent risk given we do have attacking players on the left. If he does still want to play (which seems to be the bottom line), then I think he’ll try to perform for Villa to get a ‘better’ move in the summer.

  48. Asensio, I assume, fills the Buendia hole, takes pressure off Tielemans, provides cover/rotation and perhaps different ways to set up. Bags of CL experience. Hell, he could even be used in place of SJM.

    But given it’s a straight loan, don’t know that Emery’s looking alienate anyone. That said, we’ve seen it’s all pretty ruthless and Emery/Monchi are also clearly needing to look at summer business while doing things now.

    Bit surprised about Ned…I’d have thought we’d give him longer. But that’s one of those where you have to trust Emery & Co. I could still see the RB situation being revisited in the summer when a clear #1 option might be an easier deal to swing. Garcia might just fit a mold that Ned doesn’t without it meaning he’s being groomed to take over for Cash.

  49. But overall, yeah, Villa are definitely not waiting around on some of the ‘fringe’ or depth players and you might as well have them playing more somewhere else.

    Like r0bb0 says, it’s better than having players on the bench picking their noses.

    The feeling I have in light of Emery’s comments after Wolves, things Konsa said, is that he’s not happy with the mental consistency (overall), but is really wanting to address the depth in quality issue while also having to run a bit of a business assessing, ‘developing’ and either keeping or selling.

    And January is that month where clubs make certain deals they wouldn’t otherwise.

  50. What do Lifers reckon on our business this window? In Malen, Garcia, Rashford, Asensio, Disasi. Out Big Jhon, Emi, Carlos, Bidace, Ned plus some youngsters.

    Think we’ll miss Big Jhon the most. Don’t know how long it’s going to take Rashford to shape up. That’s where my main concern lies.

    As for the financial part, I’d be very disappointed if we need to ship anyone before 30th June like Dougie last year. Surely the Big Jhon conkers means we won’t be held to ransom again.

  51. So JC, we now have then answers to the question you posed in your headline. Plug has already listed them, but it seems that we may have also paid around £5m for an 18 year old Turkish defender, Yasin Ozcan, who’ll stay with his current club till the end of the season.
    As Plug says, this ‘should’ keep us the right side of FFP rules so we shouldn’t need any last minute June sales, but as I understand it, we have no right to buy for Asensio or Disasi, so you’d imagine we’ll be scouting around for suitable replacements for them now.
    As Monchi has acknowledged himself, the success of this window will be judged by results. I only wish that all Villa fans were prepared to be as balanced, as some of the vitriol directed to Monchi over the past couple of weeks has been really distasteful.
    The BBC have run a poll to see which team, fans thought had the best transfer window and nearly half of ALL football fans picked Villa. That’s probably inevitable when you have such a high profile signing as Rashford, so we shouldn’t read too much into it, particularly with the memory (and cost) of Coutinho still so fresh in our minds!

  52. It seems that big Jhon had an uninspiring debut game, and that’s another signing that I suspect we’ll all be watching closely, to see (a little bit nervously) how it all pans out. As someone else pointed out, he’s thrived when being brought on as a sub, after Ollie has given the defenders a run around. I can’t recall. . . . has he excelled in any game where he was on from the start?

  53. Robbo
    Your being a bit harsh on big man,he had 4 in row before sending off,looks like we tried to offload ollie first,according to reports if gunners had went to 60m,

  54. According to Sky Sports, the squad changes post window in Champions League are complex. They’ve broken down the regs and in Villa’s case, because we have lost 5 registered Champions League squad members in the window, we’ll be able to replace them with 4 new names rather than the usual 3 new names. It means one of the new boys must be omitted from our final squad. Who? I’m guessing it will be the youngster Garcia.

    Maybe explains why we let Ned go at the death of the window?

  55. Yeah, I think the window has to be deemed a ‘success’ in that we were able to address our most pressing needs, getting in quality players without breaking the bank.

    Loans, yes, but one hopes they’re clever. No transfer is guaranteed, but CL experience in Rashford and Asensio, some fine pedigrees. I thought Malen already looked sharp.

    I think Rashford is funny, because he’s probably the lowest risk given we have Ramsey and Rogers who can play from the left. So if he doesn’t perform, we’ve not lost much. I think it’s Malen on the right that was probably the biggest need in attack. And, maybe him or Rashford through the middle if Ollie’s strain keeps him out for a couple games.

    Disasi? Big man, good pedigree as well, and we just need a body so Bouba isn’t playing LCB.

    Asensio…Should be able to do a job. May well come off the bench, rotate some and give Youri a break, maybe. I liked what he had to say about Emery, the system and expectations, that he knows what Emery wants and sounded like he feels good about delivering.

    Magic bullet? Who knows. But, I think it’s the most that could possibly have been done, and Villa are free to return to the market in the summer without having panic bought.

  56. JG,

    I’d be surprised if we were ‘trying’ to offload Ollie first. It sounded from Emery that every player has their price and their own desires. So if Arsenal had come in early, not taken the piss, and played nice then Ollie might well have been the one out the door. I doubt we were shopping him. Could be wrong, of course.

    As it was, they waited until Duran was gone then tried to screw us by turning Ollie’s head at the death.

    One could argue it was the last best chance to cash in on Ollie, but given he’s paid for by now I doubt that enters into the equation as much given how important he is to the overall scheme. Nothing but wages to offload.

    Duran, I’m sure there’s regret, but I think that’s more about the fact they couldn’t settle his head and get him seeing things pragmatically. His head was turned almost immediately upon arriving. Villa were never going to be ‘big enough’ or ‘rich enough’ for him.

    I suspect there’s a home for him in a system where the striker doesn’t do much off the ball (like Haaland), but there are fewer of those teams these days. He stays in Saudi, er Bahrain, jets in for practice and games, collects a lot of money for a year or two, then he goes to one of the giants and we see if that works. He’s going to have to grow up a bit somewhere.

    But we’ve seen lots of prodigious talents whose heads aren’t quite screwed on right, and he may well be one of them in the long term.

  57. And yeah, Duran’s a miss, those were some wonder goals and instant impact, but I think for this run-in, making up ground in the PL and going as far as we can in CL, Ollie is more valuable to us. He fits Emery’s system, Duran doesn’t. Duran made for a fair roll of the dice, but I wouldn’t necessarily be wanting to see him out there for 90 mins match after match with no one behind him. Not yet, anyway.

    It’s Malen I really want to succeed. Well, all of them, of course, but if we fix the right, we should be a better team in short order, start creating and scoring more. Rashford, Ollie, Rogers and Malen…That should add up to goals without any of them having to carry the load by themselves.

  58. Watching some of the other drama play out elsewhere…well, we just had everything confirmed about “January” once again. Tough tough market unless you’ve got £200m to spend, and even then, no guarantees.

    Summer is just a different beast. Teams have time to adjust, players have time to consider…much more rational than trying to prize away a team’s best player at 10:30pm on a Monday night.

  59. And I’ll admit I have no idea what to think about Felix. Emery seems terribly keen, which obviously tells us something, but he just hasn’t wanted to step down to Villa, and I for one am very okay not splurging all the Duran money on him in January.

    Maybe he sees an overall shift with Felix replacing Ollie or something, a new direction. Dunno. But that one’s always felt very unlikely. We also never really know all that goes on…how serious the inquiry, etc. We’ll hear details after the fact, clubs denying them. And of course all the talking heads looking for clicks like “Ollie Watkins and other transfers that could still happen before the deadline.”

    Once Duran signed, Ollie wasn’t going anywhere unless he lit the team’s car park on fire.

  60. JG, sorry, I was a bit harsh about your love child 🙂
    I may not always give this impression, but I do actually agree with much of what you have felt about him, and do think there’s every chance that he will turn into the top striker we have seen more than a few glimpses of.

    I suspect it could depend a lot on Ronaldo though. Could Ronaldo really carry on performing in the Saudi league for a couple more years? Will he want to embrace the young upstart, or maybe even feel a bit threatened, and want to show him who’s boss?

    I do however have a questionmark over whether Big JD can learn to be an all round, 90 minute striker, and if not, as JC says, the number of teams that can afford the luxury of a player to bring on when you ‘have’ to score a goal would be limited.

  61. JG, I’m not sure what to make of the talk of Ollie going to Arsenal. There’s been plenty of fan discussion about which of Ollie or Big JD we’d rather keep, and I found myself swaying between the two, but on balance thinking we’d be much safer sticking with Ollie. It wouldn’t be surprising if the club had also debated the options, and ‘if’ Arsenal genuinely did put in a big early bid, that would dissolve our PSR worries, then you can imagine that we would at least have considered it. Fact is, we didn’t jump at it so we’d best now hope that it was a minor strain in the last game and that he’s a quick healer!

  62. Duran ,would guess this move wasn’t his doing but his agent,the fact he didn’t know that he couldn’t live with his girlfriend their,but has to make 600 mile trip each day,sure the money will be great, playing with Ronaldo is hard to turn down ,but duran only thought watkins was a greedy bugger wait till he gets a dozen games with Ronaldo, there will be tears and tantrums and the chance of playing for real Madrid will be lost

  63. Ian,
    Unlike Big JD, at least the older Chuckle brother won’t need to install his girlfriend a 2 hour flight away from Dortmund now he’s moved there.

    I see the online click baiters are saying that Rashford is already planning his next move to a major European club. Whilst it initially seems a bit disrespectful towards Villa, to be honest, it would be fair enough for his team to at least be sounding out what his options might be ‘if’ he performs well for Villa. That ‘if’ is the key word, because if he performs well for us, he could help give us just the boost we need for the last third of the season.
    I’ve been wondering how on earth we could stay within the new FFP salary rules with expensive wages like Rashford’s on the books, and maybe the truth is that we can’t.

  64. “but duran only thought watkins was a greedy bugger wait till he gets a dozen games with Ronaldo, there will be tears and tantrums”

    This was my thinking in regard to Ronaldo being a great mentor.

  65. JC and JG, a good mentor needs to have great knowledge, empathy for others and want their student to develop fast whilst they suspend any ego of their own, so Ronaldo as a mentor for Big JD should. . . . . . ahhh. . . . I see your point 🙂

  66. I enjoyed reading this article about Rodgers, and his relationship with Emery:

    https://tbrfootball.com/morgan-rogers-shares-what-unai-emery-is-really-like-behind-the-scenes-at-aston-villa/

    I particularly like the fact that Emery gives him the confidence to go out and play, and not be afraid to take risks. Sometimes Rogers seems to over-do it, and run into trouble, but when he runs with the ball it often disrupts the opposition’s carefully laid defensive plans and opens up opportunities.
    It was also rather nice to hear him saying that Emery is the perfect, demanding, manager for him, and he wants to work with him for many years.

  67. More massive decisions for emery,after false hope we can only name 3 new players in european squad,easy leaving Marcia out ,but 3 from 4 will be hard
    2 of our highest paid players definitely in then does he go for our player malen or our badly needed defender

  68. As for Sunday what’s our team
    We have had a week off plus no game for another week nobody needs a rest
    Martinez
    Garcia konsa kamara digne
    Tielmens onana rogers mcginn ramsay rashford
    Subs olsen bogarde matasen ascenio Bailey

    Injuries
    Cash mings torres barclay and watkins

    Cuptied
    Dissai
    Still a small squad

  69. That last post seems to be wrong,earlier information stated that but it looks wrong now
    Big virgil got away with one tonight dangerous elbow on Richardson, var cleared him

  70. Just a week out ,so spurs Ipswich then Liverpool and finally chelsea,hopefully watkins mings are back for pool game first 2 games great chance to get newbys up to speed

  71. Yep James. The bin dippers has been rescheduled for Weds 19th Feb. That’s not the only change though. There was me thinking when the draw for Champions League Last 16 is made, we’d get one of Sporting, Dortmund, Brugge or Atalanta according to the Champions League website and their bracket flow chart to the final. Well it’s now showing different teams. A changed bracket on the same website has us down to meet either Brugge, Atalanta, Celtic or Bayern. What jiggery pokery is going on here?

  72. Yeah, Liverpool fucking things up schedule-wise, and some interesting selection decisions. I guess the CL 3 depends on where they think Mings will be at by then: I’m sure they’d like the four, Rashford, Asensio, Malen and Disasi.

    Ollie has generally been a very quick healer, so I’m hoping the weekend, given it’s a cup tie, is that they’ve just decided to rest him and give him time.

    And indeed, I didn’t see Bayern in our list of potential opponents.

  73. Rashford training extra,4 best body fat ratio emery working his magic
    Would love a convincing win this week,even if I agree with spurs manager on sky commentators, especially prick carragher

  74. 656, not only have the betting syndicates infiltrated VAR, they have also infiltrated the linesmen. Last night as James says, the Manure winner was way offside with said linesman right in line. But he never flagged. At small heath this evening, the linesman who was not in line saw fit to advise the ref that a Wai Ayes goal attempt had crossed the line. It was nowhere near over the line. Bent as 9 bob notes come to mind.

  75. It’s hard to judge how this afternoon will play out.
    Spurs played in midweek while we rested.
    They had a poor performance and a demoralising defeat, without (I think) a single shot on target.
    Postacoglue is under pressure and you have to wonder whether he is still able to carry the team with him under these circumstances.
    They do still have a number of key injuries
    BUT
    They were against a very good Liverpool side.
    They have beaten us at home in 9 out of 10 of their last games
    They have successive 4-0 victories against us at home
    We have our own absences to key players through injury

    They have come in for a lot of online abuse and you can imagine that they’ll be fired up to bring back some pride, and of course Postacoglue is running out of options to fulfil his claim that he always wins something in his second season.
    I imagine he will be emphasising that this is the perfect fixture for them to show what they’re really made of against a team that always struggles against them.

    It feels more important than ever that we can hold out against their early onslaught, as their midweek game, and wafer thin confidence will surely start to play a part, the longer the game goes without them managing to impose themselves.

    Maybe one thing in our favour is that the FA would surely just love for us to go through, so that they can set up a game for us against Man United away, with the febrile, media drama of Rashford going back to his old club.

  76. Halfway through the recent transfer window there were a lot of over-excited and premature criticisms from some quarters of our management and recruitment team. There were also wailings about life having been so much better when Lange was here and how our loss was Spurs gain. . . . . . well try telling that to Spurs fans right now!
    The knives are out, not only for the manager but for Lange too. It seems a but unfair to me to be honest, as anyone is going to struggle, with Levy at the helm. One of my own business philosophies has always been to try and recruit the best people you can, (certainly better than yourself), tell them your end goals and broad constraints, and then let them get on and use their skills, with as little interference as possible. You get the sense that Levy has a very different philosophy when it comes to player recruitment and it must be very difficult to function well under such circumstances.

  77. Did anyone see Roy Keane’s criticism of Rashford, and his lack of ambition in coming to Villa?
    I guess he felt the same when he came as assistant coach to Paul Lambert at Villa . . . . . and failed miserably?
    I’m looking forward to Rashford excelling, and showing Keane, that Villa is a great club, and that he, Roy Keane, just wasn’t good enough for us.

  78. Olsen,zcech,matasen bogarde ascension rashford jimmoh
    7 on bench including 2 Keepers,strange we have no defenders from u21 to utilise, even just give taste of atmosphere

  79. We did look good in that half. Of course we’ll worry that we did t manage to put more chances away, but the pressure we’ve applied and the slick passing has been really good to watch

  80. We have missed so many decent chances,along with losing our only fit/eligible centre half
    Martinez made one very good safe
    We need another good half,
    With pool arsenal and chelsea out this cup is for winning

  81. I’ve been encouraged by both Malen and Garcia. . . Hard working and showing some bits of skill too.
    Malen’s decision making may have been a bit off a couple of times, but I’m nit picking there

  82. Wish we could have got Tel and Danso. Bailey getting stuck in a lot more than usual. Garcia looking OK at RB. Bogarde looks a bit shaky but is probably better in midfield. Villa slowly falling asleep.

  83. JG, good point about those 3 teams being out, but they’ll know that in the Spurs dressing room too. Expect them to come out hard at the start of the second half to help Postecoglu fulfil his prediction of winning a trophy this year.

  84. We looked very very good at times today.
    The new signings all look as if they’ll have a part to play but Asensio really caught my eye

  85. Rogers got man of match but I would have picked mcginn really played well even when spurs upped it
    Kamara superb again,martinez ramsay malen all great games

  86. A pleasant little cup win. Hope it’s not at the cost of losing Konsa for too long. That Asensio looks silky smooth. I still wish we had Tel and Danso. It would be easy to pick Rogers for POTM for his runs and goal but I’m going to pick SJM for being constantly at it, scrapping everyone and gluing the team together much like Kamara when he plays MF.

  87. Just needed the goals to go in to reflect the disparity. Should’ve been four or five.

    But we played well most of the game. Think the new boys will do just fine. Asensio really did look class.

    I do think it must be terrible managing under Levy, and the injury list is considerable, but Ange is doing himself no favors with his tactics and set up.

  88. Wasn’t keen on losing the clean sheet, but overall Bogarde and Kamara did well.

    Hoping Ezri’s strain isn’t bad. He was walking off alright, guess we wait.

  89. We’ve knocked Spurs out of the cup. Happy days. The score line flattered them. Ramsey should have had the match ball and others in amongst the goals too. Really enjoyable listening to the North Stand calling for Levy’s head!!

  90. SJM had an excellent game and Kamara was the glue that held a makeshift “defence” together. Agree with comments above about the new boys and Asensio did look extremely comfortable on the ball. We’re in the hat for the next round. Of course, it’s guaranteed we’ll get Manure away in the next round via the usual trick. One ball straight out of the oven, another ball straight out of the freezer.

  91. Fabulous atmosphere today, we do enjoy taking down a Laandaan club at VP. The only negative was Konsa who pulled up when running back towards his own goal. That often signifies a hamstring so he could be out for several weeks.

  92. The obligatory defensive lapse led to a nervy final few minutes, our boys don’t like making the fans comfortable otherwise we might start the celebrations early. But hey, it’s job done.

  93. An extra shout out for Malen. It must have been tough to be excluded from the Champion’s ;league squad, but rather than sulk, he went out there and worked so hard for the team, looked sharp, and looks like being a real asset for us.

  94. Envied you being there yesterday Plug. It felt like a bit of history being made when Rashford and Asensio came on. I bet the excitement levels in the ground rose at that point too.

  95. The media this morning RObB0 are full of Spurs woe is me talk. Stuff their injuries. We were missing Mings, Pau, Disasi, Cash, Onana, Watkins, Barks and Konsa (after 25 minutes). Yet it was a wonderful performance against a team that we historically struggle against. That’s why the win was so sweet.

  96. We now have 1 fit CB for the Ipswich game. Can’t wait until some of those injured players become available again. Had they all been available yesterday, some would not have made the match day squad. Things are looking really good.

    This time last year we were running on vapour. This year I’m looking for a strong finish as Unai has improved the squad quality big time. We should be able to cope with the remaining matches OK.

  97. I see the UEFA Champions League official website has changed its flow chart bracket yet again. Villa or Lille are now down to play either Brugge, Atalanta, Sporting or Dortmund. These were the original 4 mentioned before Celtic and Bayern came into play. UEFA demonstrating their rules are so complex that even their own website staff don’t know what is correct.

  98. Haha…saw that, too, Plug. Not that any of them are ‘easy’ matches, but in the last 16 probably as favorable as you could hope for.

    And some big sides are going to crash out in the playoff round.

    Anyone fancy a Champions League/FA Cup double?

  99. I agree, Malen does deserve a shout-out. Strong, good on the ball, and works hard. He may turn out to be a very astute acquisition. A real shame our CBs are dropping like flies and kept him out of the CL.

  100. Always harder to judge a FB in my mind, so many elements they have to get right, but I also think Garcia’s done a nice enough job. Very tenacious, closes right up, breaks to get to the ball first. Can’t really say I’ve felt any drop off overall there, and he’s making a big step up.

  101. I’d not heard of the Value Pillar before Plug, but I blame Jesus.

    I think UEFA took him too literally when he’s reported to have said: ‘I tell you that everyone who has will be given more; but the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” Mattthew 13:12

    My first thought was to question whether it was in any way similar to our own parachute payments, which protect clubs falling down to the Championship, but whereas those are designed to protect clubs through more difficult times, the UEFA rules seem to be designed purely to reward the wealthy. . . . for being wealthy. Not the same at all.

  102. So the game against Cardiff could look like an old boys re-union, with Anwar El Ghazi, Calum Chambers and Callum Robinson all playing for Cardiff now.

  103. I saw an article today suggesting that the villa management have considered Grealish and decided that they have no interest in ever bringing him back, in large part, because he is too injury prone.
    Tonight’s game would suggest they’re right.

  104. Stunning game of football, Madrid deserved to win some of their football wouldn’t look out of place at villa Park,this risk and reward is excellent entertainment, city’s subs horrendous legs have gone

  105. Mbappe will turn up at the training ground tomorrow crowing that he can score goals with the outside of his upper shin. Other than that, he was poor.

  106. It really was a great game to watch last night, and whilst my head was saying we want City to win, I found I was actually hoping foe the opposite.
    At the start, I feared that City have rediscovered their mojo, but this season’s frailties reared their head again as legs and brains started to tire.
    The toung son of some friends of ours is a passionate football supporter and City fan. He’s never known anything other than them carrying all before them. He’s finally learning what it’s like to be a football fan!

  107. JG. You’re right about Jack, but it’s still a bit sad. We can be grateful for the return to the Premier league and the £100m, but oh boy, mustn’t he be just wishing he was a loved player in a Villa team on the up, instead of a bit part City player, being publicly derided by his coach.

  108. Plug, Mbappe didn’t look like a £150m superstar last night did he?
    His goal scoring has actually dropped off this season although his 0.54 goals from open play per game, still put him in the top 1% of players in Europe. To put that in context, Ollie is on 0.44 goals from open play per game so far this season, albeit in a more competitive league.
    It’s worth noting that Ollie is also in the top 10% of players in Europe for providing assists, whereas Mbappe doesn’t even make it into the top 30%.
    Mbappe’s best season was back in 2018/19, whereas (and this one surprised me) Ollie has actually scored more goals per game this season than any previous season. . . . . . Just imagine what his numbers will be like when he gets his confidence back!

  109. The wild man of Borneo has been appointed as Assistant Coach to Portugal and Roberto Martinez. His role there will run concurrently with his duties at AVFC.

  110. Plug, presumably, the club feel that they can spare Nanny McPhee for international duty when needed. I wonder if they save some salary that way?
    It could be a good thing for the club if he is able to pick up some new ideas from Martinez. . . . . anyone know if Martinez teams have been good at set pieces?

  111. Apparently, Man City are going to put in a complaint to Uefa about the time taken for VAR to come to a decision on the Haaland goal, as they believe that the delay was a contributory factor in Grealish then succumbing to a muscle injury.
    For goodness sake, get a grip!
    ‘IF’ the pause was a contributory factor, then Man City should be looking to their own physio’s/management and accepting that the fault lies 100% with them, for not instructing their players to keep active during breaks, in order to keep muscles warm.
    There may well be a lesson to be learned about how players should behave during extended breaks in play, but the lessons should be learned by the clubs. Sadly, Man City seem to be developing a persecution complex, where they want to blame anyone and everyone else for their problems, rather than realising and accepting that THEY are the problem.

  112. Robbo
    The ref was brilliant last night,he referred us v celtic which I was very complementary about him,comparing anthony Taylor to him is like comparing McDonald’s to fine cuisine

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