It's not just because Amadou Onana signed today, but it has got me thinking. It's got me thinking that next season could or should be better than the season we just had. This isn't me saying we're going to finish third, this is me saying, it could be better. And what's football all about? Yes, you got it. But this isn't me saying we're going to win something, it's me saying we will have a better chance this season.  Last season felt a little like we ran out of steam and that ultimately comes down to minutes played. It comes down to numbers. The players ended the season playing a differen ..read more

And I don't mean by the title of this post that Walsall is proper football, but it's better than England and it's Aston Villa. And that's what we all love first. But this wouldn't be a post without mentioning Southgate. And I'm going to say what a lot of people have said or written and that he's probably a very nice man. And he's a football man. He played and like a lot of former players that get their badges, he got a job managing a side and like a lot of them too, he failed. Just because you played the sport doesn't mean you're going to be a good manager. But he stumbled into the FA, took o ..read more

We've got over a month to the season starting, but we do have England playing at the weekend so there deserves to be a post. But have we signed anyone else?  And we're going to win on Sunday. Any by we, I mean England. And it will be good and long overdue. Even if we would have been quite fortunate. But fortune favours the brave and we have .. okay, we've not been that brave. We have been lucky. But we did look better against the Netherlands even if it took a goal in the last moments to win it from a player that does that every week for us.  And it's not just us that know that. Sout ..read more

Did I write something the other day about entering summer? I could go back and read about it, but instead l'll just write on and I'll start with three players joining. One of which I know about, the other two, no idea. So we'll start with Ross Barkley who is back in claret and blue. And he was decent before, not great, but with Unai, I think he can make a step up with us. And he's maybe not Douglas Luiz, but I think he can be as good, if not better. He's not a long term purchase, but he has bags of experience, is skilled and he's one of those players that I think gets better with age. It's ni ..read more

So one of the summers worst kept secrets was confirmed today. Douglas Luiz has joined Juventus. It's quite sad but I'm not as disappointed as maybe I should be. Although I do think he's going to get better. I also think he could have got better with us, but needs must. There was interest and it made sense. Now he'll ply his trade in Italy and you never know, we might meet again next season.  And before the news of Luiz leaving was announced, the Club also told us of Ian Maatsen signing from Chelsea. And I have to say, once again, there is little I know of this player. What I do know is ..read more

Here we are. Very much in summer with lots of speculation and things about to happen, but not much. Something that has happened is we've signed Lewis Dobbin from Everton and going in the other direction is Tim Iroegbunam. There are lots of other things about to happen but they haven't yet. I suspect they will happen quite soon. Other than that, it's very much all about EURO 2024 and England have qualified out of the groups, with a game still to go. And the team is coming in for some stick. It baffles me a little.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think Southgate is a great manager and I ..read more

This time last season we were all feeling optimistic. Steven Gerrard and his pal were removed and we'd had a run of form under our new manager that has us believing top four was a distinct possibility. But I don't think any of us could have really predicted just how good a season we were going to have this time out. And what a season it was. I think I might have predicted sixth. And there were so many moments. But I've found it hard trying to pick one out. One or two things came to mind, but the overriding feeling was on the outcome and how we got there. Earlier in the season, it was chasing ..read more

I'm starting with VAR because frankly, I think it's ruining the game. Can it make it make the game better, I'm not sure. Can it make it more fair, I think yes. But it isn't ready and I don't believe testing it on the Premier League is the right place. When VAR was brought in, it was to support the referees with clear and obvious errors. Today, it's looking at everything, even offsides that are a millimetre or three on the wrong side. That isn't a clear or obvious error and it's not the spirit of the game. But that is why the percentage of correct decisions is better than before VAR and what a ..read more

It was always going to be about tonight. Or for me it was. And that doesn't mean I didn't think we could beat Liverpool, it was that it was going to be tough and you would have to have been a brave person to have predicted we would secure fourth ahead of the kick off yesterday by beating Liverpool. And it turned out we didn't. But we have made it a little harder for Spurs. Had we lost, a draw for them tonight would have made Sunday very interesting. But now they must win. And even though Spurs have to beat Manchester City and most of us will probably think Manchester City will win, it's a fin ..read more

Thursday was tough, but we knew it was going to be after the first leg. And there are lots of reasons for it or lots that we can call out, but maybe after this post, I leave it.  I've been writing about tiredness the past few weeks and I think we are. I don't think it's purely physical, but there are elements of that, I think it's just been a long season. And it would have been nice if the League gave a break to teams in the latter stages of tournaments like this, but I understand why they can't. Or don't.  And we'll learn from that and it will be better next season. I have no doubt ..read more