So those of you who have been reading/contributing or whatever for a while will know that I’m not a fan of speculation because 95% of it is typically absolutely rubbish. But at the same time, I know some of you love it and given that I’ve just realised I haven’t written anything for over a fortnight and tomorrow is the start of the transfer window, it seems a good time to start this thread. As per usual, we’re selling most of the team and buying a whole new premier league for our squad. Hmm. It does seem though, that if you try and read in between the lines a couple of possible moves might pro ..read more

Okay, so it’s just a quick one, basically so we can move on from the last post, where the subject has become a little out of date. I said in the previous batch of comments that I’d take Grealish at £30-40 million, but he’d have to be willing to cut his wages to suit our wage structure. Although in fairness, you might expect that we’ll have to step the wages up to what would be commensurate for a Champion’s league club with aspirations of staying there. Still, it won’t be anything like the £250-300k a week he is supposed to be getting at Citeh. It turns out that the rumours are that Greasy is g ..read more

So after Spurs’ defeat against Citeh it’s official. We’ve qualified for the Big Ears cup. First off, congratulations to the players, the staff, the owners, but probably mostly Unai Emery, who whatever happens in the future has probably already established himself as one of Villa’s great managers. And rightly so. To take a team that looked doomed to be relegated just a short while back to the Champion’s League is a fantastic achievement. But at the same time it begs a load of questions. I posted a link last night that made for incredibly interesting reading. The takeaway line is this; Our analy ..read more

Of our last two games, Pool and Palace, I’d normally be most worried about the former, probably because it’s rare for us to beat them. But Palace are in excellent form and have taken 16 points from their last 18, only bettered by Citeh, who we rely on tomorrow. A glance at the form table is a bit of a surprise really, because while it’s pretty universally accepted by us that we’ve been miles off our best, with our small squad and tiredness having taken their toll, we’ve won two, drawn two and lost two in our last six games. The surprise then is that Liverpool have done exactly the same. We’ve ..read more

Let me say from the off that I’m sure most of you know I’ve never really believed in conspiracies and corruption in the game to much of an extent, but after last week’s debacle, I’m rapidly changing my mind. Hence I have no doubt in my mind that we won’t get a result tonight and the absolute truth is that I don’t even know if I’m bothered. A big part of me is saying that I don’t really want to win a competition that seems as though it’s full of bent referees and bent owners too. The trouble is, I’m now worried that corruption has also spread as high as the Champion’s league, particularly after ..read more

I’m sure you already know, but I’ll say it anyway. It’s nothing like a prediction from me, but the simple facts are that if we beat Brighton and Liverpool beat Spurs, we will qualify for the champion’s league and finally hit the big time that we’ve longed for, for so many years. Assuming Salah’s petulant discussion with Klopp was a one off and not a demonstrator of a manager that’s lost his dressing room, you would think the Reds would want to give a good showing as a send off for an excellent manager of the club. Whatever, I expect that particular game to be a really good one and fortunately ..read more

The Intertoto cup that we won in 2001 obviously doesn’t count then, even though it was administered by the same Uefa that administers all the current European competitions. Just like football didn’t exist before the Premier league, nor did any older competitions that aren’t current, obviously. I wonder how the dark side feels now their Fairs cup is being obliterated from history in a similar way? They’re probably not as concerned as they are about their impending final game against Norwich on Saturday. Not that I’m too bothered. I just thought I’d throw it in, in case anyone doesn’t know the p ..read more

Quite simply, we controlled the game for the first half, but for some reason that I really don’t understand, we played a low block through the second until they got the equaliser. And so that approach remained even though Chelsea were overwhelming us and we’re proven to be poor defensively this season anyway. The really annoying part is you could see it wasn’t working for at least half an hour, so why stick with it? The best form of defence was attack, by a mile today, yet Unai decided against. I’d like to know why. Colour me well bloody annoyed and it’s not the first time I’ve thought his tac ..read more

I can’t say I’ve watched Chelsea very many times this season and if I have, it’s mostly through interest in seeing how Chucky has been doing. The fact that he hardly gets a start is satisfying, even though it’s also a bit nasty of me. Hey ho, that’s how footy gets you. I went out of my way to watch them on Monday night, specifically because we face them today and they just confirmed what I’ve thought of them this season. They’re a very up and down side, where you really don’t know what to expect. Suffice to say, Arsenal totally destroyed them. Hence the logic is Arsenal destroy Chelsea, we bea ..read more

I really don’t like Bournemouth. I used too, but they’re such a tricky side to play. They were absolute rubbish early in the season, but they’ve now proven to be a very resiliant, physical side, which is exactly the sort that doesn’t suit us. Quite like Lille, if you like. That said, they’re not quite doing as well as I thought and currently sit in 13th place. Then again, their form over the last six games is excellent. They’ve won 3, drawn two and lost only 1 game. That’s a record that’s only bettered by City and Arsenal. Now add in that we’ve only faced them seven times in the Premier league ..read more