Rather a strange choice but we don't know who forced / agreed to the loan.  Will certainly help Villa no end and who knows him and Grelish might be a good pairing.  I thought for the money we paid for him he's performed reasonable well and was very good in some games coming up with a few crucial goals.  As others have stated, he has never been able to reach his full potential and I think that's down to reading the game and sometimes lack of awareness rather than his actual footballing skills..nevertheless a strange choice but hopefully some wages off the books.

That’s a shame. Barkley has been good value in the past six months and enjoyed watching his quick feet, quick movement and generally food decision making. 

As others say  he deserves to start somewhere. Makes us weaker and villa stronger. 

I can only guess we're trying to free up places so we can sign another midfielder? Wouldn't surprise me if RLC left as well in truth. 

Only way I can make sense of this transfer. 

Sums the season up so far. 

No idea what direction we are going in

I'm surprised so many are shocked at Ross leaving. He has shown time and time again his decision making is poor. He plays an amazing game against a lower level opposition then follows it up with 2/3 awful games on the bounce against better teams. 

I saw on Twitter a very interesting statement that people are seduced by the concept of Ross Barkley and it's so true. People long for the exciting, powerful rampant goalscorer he was touted to be at Everton and it never came. He has been the same every season for the last 6 years. 

YES he scored that banger against Liverpool and YES he has brought us impetus in a couple of games this season but seriously is this the level we are looking for? No it should not be. We should also not be accepting the level Reuben has been bringing but we have enough midfielders in the squad.

Kante, Gilmour, Jorginho, Kova, RLC, Mount, Havertz.

4 minutes ago, rtwelch said:

I'm surprised so many are shocked at Ross leaving. He has shown time and time again his decision making is poor. He plays an amazing game against a lower level opposition then follows it up with 2/3 awful games on the bounce against better teams. 

I saw on Twitter a very interesting statement that people are seduced by the concept of Ross Barkley and it's so true. People long for the exciting, powerful rampant goalscorer he was touted to be at Everton and it never came. He has been the same every season for the last 6 years. 

YES he scored that banger against Liverpool and YES he has brought us impetus in a couple of games this season but seriously is this the level we are looking for? No it should not be. We should also not be accepting the level Reuben has been bringing but we have enough midfielders in the squad.

Kante, Gilmour, Jorginho, Kova, RLC, Mount, Havertz.

100% with you.

 

Heres one totally from left field we still have  Van Ginkel who has been granted another contract and who I personally believe if he can just get over those pesky injuries could still be a very decent player

If Van Ginkel is fit i would give him a chance, he was great at PSV prior is injury. Poor guy can't catch a break.

As for Ross, not surprised, he'll do well at Villa.

Maybe if Barkley was somewhat consistent I would be as disappoint as others seem to be.

As long as we replace him I'm fine with this.

39 minutes ago, terraloon said:

Heres one totally from left field we still have  Van Ginkel who has been granted another contract and who I personally believe if he can just get over those pesky injuries could still be a very decent player

Always rated Van Ginkel. Able to play any of the midfield roles, has a bit of physicality, plus an eye for goal. In the parallel universe where he didn't have any injuries, he's had a great career 🙂

Villa are building a decent side. Im surprised because i thought Frank liked Ross and was a good squad player.

8 minutes ago, jack_super_class said:

Villa are building a decent side. Im surprised because i thought Frank liked Ross and was a good squad player.

They're ahead of us in the table at the moment LOL. I wonder how long they will stay that way 🙂

1 hour ago, Andy2461 said:

Aston Villa also wanted RLC but as rules state only one Liam player from a club they chose Barkley !!

 

 

Which Liam did we loan them? 

6 minutes ago, Munkworth said:

Which Liam did we loan them? 

As long as it's not  @Liam's brothers, some of you may know and completely understand my intransigence on that one.

I thought it was strange at first then looked at our midfield according to the official website, its an embarrassment of  rich's with out any real shape or plan to me, the two kind of  holding midfield last two games has not worked for me , looked better when Kante come on.  

Jorginho 

Kante

RLC

Kova

Mount

Zyech

Gilmour

Havertz

Bakayoko 

Drinkwater

Van Genkel 

 

2 minutes ago, andy said:

I thought it was strange at first then looked at our midfield according to the official website, its an embarrassment of  rich's with out any real shape or plan to me, the two kind of  holding midfield last two games has not worked for me , looked better when Kante come on.  

Jorginho - (defensive midfielder that is slow)

Kante - ( questionable if his talents fit a Frank team)

RLC - ( one injury too many, looks a shadow of his former self?)

Kova

Mount

Zyech (injured)

Havertz

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gilmour

Bakayoko 

Drinkwater

Van Genkel 

 

Re above, below the line not in contention for must win matches.

Comments in bold on the rest.

Re Gilmour, too lightweight for me though may feature in early rounds. 

 

Didn’t see this one coming, saw him in a villa shirt and thought it was a mock up fake, good luck to him. 

I think Franks doing JT a turn, he'll strengthen them for sure.

4 hours ago, Chelsbear said:

Sums the season up so far. 

No idea what direction we are going in

it's all in the plan.....it's just that the plan is a mystery, possibly a mystery to Frank too

Not a huge Barkley fan by any means but what on earth is the point of this transfer? Why a loan?? He's still a valuable asset to the side that provides an attacking threat when needed, and he usually plays well in the Cup games. This is a very weird move, if it was a transfer I would understand, but we're practically just giving a player away for a season when he could at least be here and provide depth. 

6 hours ago, Andy2461 said:

Aston Villa also wanted RLC but as rules state only one Liam player from a club they chose Barkley !!

 

 

I wonder what on earth made them choose Barkley over Loftus "Treatment Room Cheek?!!!

1 minute ago, Nibs said:

I wonder what on earth made them choose Barkley over Loftus "Treatment Room Cheek?!!!

Imo, RLC on his day is levels above Barkley, but that's the thing... On his day, sadly we haven't seen the best of RLC in a long time due to his injury record. And the last time he played he was really bad. 

I read an article about this deal today and I didnt realize that Aston Villa have also signed Bertrand Traore. I think it'll be interesting to see how he does in the premier league. I remember being pretty excited about him when he spent that preseason with us. 

2 minutes ago, edewaarb said:

I read an article about this deal today and I didnt realize that Aston Villa have also signed Bertrand Traore. I think it'll be interesting to see how he does in the premier league. I remember being pretty excited about him when he spent that preseason with us. 

Remember his season on loan at Ajax? He exasperated my Ajax supporting colleagues, one match being great, another being invisible. I don't think he's set the world alight on a consistent basis anywhere.

6 hours ago, rtwelch said:

I'm surprised so many are shocked at Ross leaving. He has shown time and time again his decision making is poor. He plays an amazing game against a lower level opposition then follows it up with 2/3 awful games on the bounce against better teams. 

I saw on Twitter a very interesting statement that people are seduced by the concept of Ross Barkley and it's so true. People long for the exciting, powerful rampant goalscorer he was touted to be at Everton and it never came. He has been the same every season for the last 6 years. 

YES he scored that banger against Liverpool and YES he has brought us impetus in a couple of games this season but seriously is this the level we are looking for? No it should not be. We should also not be accepting the level Reuben has been bringing but we have enough midfielders in the squad.

Kante, Gilmour, Jorginho, Kova, RLC, Mount, Havertz.

I'm not seduced by the concept, as soon as he never built on his early momentum under Sarri I wrote off any possibility of him living up to being THAT Barkley.

However in a season like this squad depth is more important than ever and Ross was proven in providing that. His contributions before lockdown when the squad were dropping like flies was for me one of the main reasons we got top four, and he was also one of the main reasons we got to the cup final, absolute dream squad player.

If it turns out he pushed for this himself I'll understand and reaccess my opinion but if we ushered him out of the door I think we've made a big error, and this is coming from someone who always tried to think outside the box with any decision made.

6 hours ago, terraloon said:

100% with you.

 

Heres one totally from left field we still have  Van Ginkel who has been granted another contract and who I personally believe if he can just get over those pesky injuries could still be a very decent player

We have seen how rusty RLC looks, what makes you think Van Ginkel would add any more considering he has played for well over a year, and is coming off 2 very serious injuries. 

He also hasnt really ever looked good enough outside of Holland. 

I think if he can prove his fitness he will go on loan, if not he will play for the u23's so he can get fit enough to salvage a career somewhere.