2 minutes ago, forbzy said:

Yes I agree. Wasn't he directly involved in the negotiations to sign Enzo at the time? There had been some suggestions that 1 or 2 of the big La Liga clubs had some interest in signing Enzo and logically we would sell him as he would be better suited to their league. But I cannot see it happening under the current owners.

I think Eghbali's ego is in play on both the Enzo signing, and also on Mudryk. The decisions on paying the huge fees seem to have been his in both cases.

What judgement he has LOL. His choice of such weak Directors of Football Should be no surprise to anyone !

I'd love to have been a fly on the wall in that final meeting they all had with Pochettino. Poch probably laughing at them and their half arsed data charts ... and then "oh, you're actually serious ... ! LOL. Bunch of amateurs ...

HOWS THIS FOR A STAT

In their last 18 games Aston Villa have won 16, they have only lost to Go Ahead (CL) and Liverpool (PL)

Meanwhile the great Maresca has won 2 out of 8 (Cardiff and Everton)

42 minutes ago, Caps_Lock_King said:

HOWS THIS FOR A STAT

In their last 18 games Aston Villa have won 16, they have only lost to Go Ahead (CL) and Liverpool (PL)

Meanwhile the great Maresca has won 2 out of 8 (Cardiff and Everton)

“……the grating Maresca…..”

1 hour ago, Sexyfootball said:

I think Eghbali's ego is in play on both the Enzo signing, and also on Mudryk. The decisions on paying the huge fees seem to have been his in both cases.

What judgement he has LOL. His choice of such weak Directors of Football Should be no surprise to anyone !

I'd love to have been a fly on the wall in that final meeting they all had with Pochettino. Poch probably laughing at them and their half arsed data charts ... and then "oh, you're actually serious ... ! LOL. Bunch of amateurs ...

Also Fernandez is going nowhere for the next 3 or 4 years. Nobody in Europe has the money to pay what these clowns would need just to break even.

50 minutes ago, Caps_Lock_King said:

HOWS THIS FOR A STAT

In their last 18 games Aston Villa have won 16, they have only lost to Go Ahead (CL) and Liverpool (PL)

Meanwhile the great Maresca has won 2 out of 8 (Cardiff and Everton)

2 from 11 according to Johnny Minerals this morning. Not sure if he is including Europe as well

1 minute ago, WhiteWall said:

Also Fernandez is going nowhere for the next 3 or 4 years. Nobody in Europe has the money to pay what these clowns would need just to break even.

I think they already know they'll struggle to even get book value on most of their signings on a straight sale, let alone recoup the original fee. It's why we see all these player trade stories put out there LOL

1 minute ago, WhiteWall said:

2 from 11 according to Johnny Minerals this morning. Not sure if he is including Europe as well

Love me a Mr Minerals rant LOL but you do always have to fact check him as he's certainly not a details man !

We've won 5 of our last 11 ... whichever way you want to slice the comps ...

21 hours ago, Valerie said:

Criticising his grammar instead of acknowledging that he might be right is not a strong position.

I live by my fridge magnet:

20 hours ago, loz said:

Been over this before but I often wonder why people think we hsve a lot of talent in our squad. I really dont think we do. Certainly not enough to be a top four team and that is in a season where a lot of teams are under performing.

If you categorise our squad in terms of being Premier league team so categories are First Class, First Team Standard, Squad Rotation, Back Up, or Lower League then I would have something like (and I include potential as well as current ability

First Class - Palmer, Caciedo and James

First Team - Cucurella, Acheampong, Esteveao, Sanchez, Lavia

Rotation - Neto, Fofana, Santos

Back Up - Colwill, Gusto, Mudryk, Enzo, Delap, Pedro, Jackson, Chalobah

Lower League - Jorgensen, Tosin, Garnacho, Badiashille, Gittens, George' Sterling, Guiu

Probably missed a few

Looking at that it's quite clear what a bang average squad it is for a team supposedly with top four aspirations. Only three players that are of genuine high class. And of the 5 first team ones three are really there based on potential rather than current contribution and the keeper we know will f**k up again.

Meanwhile we have about 6 players getting regular playing time who are either squad fillers or shouldn't even be playing in this league.

You don't need 9-11 world class players. You just need 11-14 players that can work and fit in a team together regardless of individual ratings.

The team is good enough for Top 4, only reason it's not is poor in-game management.

1 hour ago, Deino said:

You don't need 9-11 world class players. You just need 11-14 players that can work and fit in a team together regardless of individual ratings.

The team is good enough for Top 4, only reason it's not is poor in-game management.

Never said we needed 9-11 world class players. What I said is we only have three and the support around them is only at a fit level in a handful with over 50% of those being more based on potential rather than current output. Every player in the other three categories are not good enough to be getting material number of appearances if we expect to compete consistently. Unfortunately we have far too many in those three categories who are either regular starters or certainly pretty regular players.

Nowhere near good enough for top four once the likes of Utd and Liverpool hit consistent form.

None of that is denying our manager is also sh*te.

My money would be on us finishing just outside the top 6. Maybe 8th.

4 hours ago, loz said:

Never said we needed 9-11 world class players. What I said is we only have three and the support around them is only at a fit level in a handful with over 50% of those being more based on potential rather than current output. Every player in the other three categories are not good enough to be getting material number of appearances if we expect to compete consistently. Unfortunately we have far too many in those three categories who are either regular starters or certainly pretty regular players.

Nowhere near good enough for top four once the likes of Utd and Liverpool hit consistent form.

None of that is denying our manager is also sh*te.

My money would be on us finishing just outside the top 6. Maybe 8th.

Pretty much agree on with almost everything, I think we have the quality to edge out Pool and Utd but maybe that's just me false hoping on the fact that our players have some semblance of pride in themselves

On 28/12/2025 at 10:32, Caps_Lock_King said:

'Free Header': Ollie Watkins thanks Chelsea star for Aston Villa winner as Jamie Redknapp slams defender

The England international spoke to Sky Sports after the match with former Tottenham Hotspur man Jamie Redknapp asking if he could ‘believe his luck’ that it was the smaller Malo Gusto closest to putting in a challenge for that 84th minute goal.

Watkins replied: “I felt like they were stood off us. They had a lot of chances from our own corners when they were countering. I’ve gave him [Gusto] a little shove and he wasn’t marking me too tightly. It’s basically a free header. It’s nice to see that float into the corner. It’s a nice moment for me.”

AND ITS NOT THE FIRST TIME GUSTO HAS MARKED PLAYERS BIGGER THEN HIM AND COST US, MARESCA STOP PICKING YOUR SEX TOY

And what the feck was Delap doing, taking up a pointless position behind everyone??

I know it's old fashioned, but a man on the back post would have probably stopped the header

Chelsea charged after bottle thrown following Villa loss - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c0q41xqp2jno

19 hours ago, Boyne said:

Chelsea charged after bottle thrown following Villa loss - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c0q41xqp2jno

Good thing too. Question is, who threw it? AV pointed to the Chelsea bench.