The College Dropout

Once he gets the rep for being a dirty player he’s going to collect 2-3 red cards in a season unless he changes his ways. He’s a ticking time bomb.

Someone said having him or Trippier at LB was an ‘insane take’.

I’d choose Dortmund.

If anything seems as fast but stronger.

Aye. I don’t think he had a save to make of note or had to deal with many crosses or come off his line. But his kicking was better than we are used too.

Not the very worst draw.

Brought a different dimension to our attack with his passing.

They won’t sack him because they don’t know who else to get and a lot of managers would curb them anyway. He could lose to Fulham and they still won’t sack him. Not out of faith. Out of a lack of a clue.

That was Ole and Ralph like.

Thought he was quietly excellent. A lot of great runs to create space for others. His mobility gave us an out ball we don’t have without Isak.

Tino went to RW and wasn’t as effective. I’d like to see either of them at LB.

Polar opposite to ETH today. The lads all knew what they had to do and fully motivated to play at their best.

He was brilliant.

He looked like a short Yaya Toure at times. Galloping around that pitch like he owned it. Looked strong out there. Running through gears. And then with the R1 placed finish like Yaya too.

He’s tall and decent in the air. Sharp defensively with his positioning and mentally. Crisp passer. Pace. Dribbler. Composure to find the right passes.

He’s superb man. We really need to give him more minutes. He would’ve been so useful against Wolves. He really needs minutes man. He padlocked Garnacho.

Those sides also have better squad depth and good academy’s. Villa lost Buendia and Ramsey in midfield. Yet they still have Bailey, Dendoncker, Bertrand Traore & Tielemans on the bench.

I’m not suggesting it’s a feeder. They could lend us 1 or 2 players in key positions without weakening the league. Chelsea just made up a sponsor on its front shirt. We could push the legality of the rules far more than we have. And this isn’t even pushing the rules.

No. But it will be too late for them to do anything about it this year. Who cares if they ban it in the summer? And point 2 - All the rules they've invented allow the top 6 to take advantage. The top 6 take advantage of loans, and half have a multi-club ownership model. They won't outright ban loans between clubs with the same ownership. Man U, Chelsea and City won't support that. And fair value doesn't come into play. Going back to point 1, even if they do - if we move quietly and fast, it will be too late to stop us for this season. Also they can't dodge them. The other clubs are all owned by the same entity's. INEOS owns OGC Nice and is buying the 25% in Man U. City group own all their clubs etc.

How can you ban club-related loans? I don't think it's something that can be realistically done. Big clubs use loans to shift heavy salaried players all thee time and fill squad gaps with the same as well. There's no "fair value" in loans. Chelsea owners also own another club. And soon so will Man U. INEOS owns OGC Nice and they will be doing A LOT of business we each other over the coming years. That's half of the big clubs that matter to the PL. And in any case. We can move faster than the PL on this matter. The Sponsors thing they spotted from a mile off. And even then, Chelsea have shown it can be circumvented.

No they've always changed the rules going forward. And the loan moves are utilised by other clubs. Including some big clubs. What can they do?

wasn't that a Shephard phrase?

Think he can stabilise them in the Champ.

Why not? They aren't transfers, so there isn't anything the league or others can say or do to stop it. We don't have to pay all their wages. We don't need to spend a fee. Get us the 1 or 2 bodies we need in January for a few months. They can do something about it in the summer if they like but we have to press home our advantages.

When you look at it like that - it's not that bad. It's not much worse than what Villa have had in the season. But Villa have a much deeper squad.