Cronky

Well I didn't that one coming at half-time, but I should have known better. Our fitness really told in the last half hour. Great debut from Tonali. Once the understanding with Bruno improves, we can get even better. Personally, I'd have given MOTM to Gordon, who provided a real threat in the crucial opening half-hour. Villa have some good players, to be honest, better than ours at times. However, they looked like an over-coached side. They lacked spirit and spontaneity. Emery looked jumpy and nervous before the game, and I wondered if he'd confused his team.

They're getting through our midfield a bit too easily. If Villa start playing with a bit more belief we could be in trouble. Barnes for Miggy would bring about an improvement. Bruno looks like he's searching for a role.

I think what he was saying was that we would have to be creative about financing - either with a loan with option to buy, or spreading the payments.

No, I think you're right. That price is insane. The Declan Rice sale may have changed the picture.

I fancy us to go on and win this now. Losing a goal like that is a blow to any team's morale.

My older brother dislikes football but when I visit we are able to engage in some conversations because he had heard of Eddie Howe, and had an interest in the issue of how much of a difference a manager could make. I played him that clip of Eddie’s team talk before the Man U game and he was genuinely taken aback. ‘I can see what you’re on about now’ was his response. If I had been a player in that dressing room I would be going out to face Man U not hoping I was going to win, but believing it. There’s something in Eddie’s personality or presence that creates confidence. Fortunately it’s not something that can be copied because it comes from deep inside the man. But I respect and approve of Eddie’s desire for privacy, on many levels. I’m surprised that so many on here are disappointed with the show. The people running the club came over well. I guess the test will come if things go off beam a bit, but hopefully the relationships that have been forged now are strong enough to deal with any crisis.

He's on a tier of his own as far as I'm concerned.

The role of Eddie in turning things round didn't get much attention, but I think that's how Eddie would have wanted it, and it's clear he was never a fan of having the cameras around. His lack of due prominence was probably at his own request. Personally, I didn't mind the focus on the new Board and ownership, because it was very much linked to the support, the city and the players. Those business people were totally hooked on the fortunes of the team on the pitch, and despite the gap in everyone's backgrounds, the sense of a common cause felt very real. Amanda came across very well. She seems very much the one who is holding it all together. There was a lovely bit where she was facetiming Anthony Gordon after he'd signed, and she was cooing like a mother hen - 'We'll look after you'. It is more than a purely business venture. I can see it attracting more supporters from the uncommitted in different parts of the world. Supporters of other English clubs will find it very irritating ha ha

I've read the review and there's an undercurrent of sneering that's quite uncomfortable. Perhaps the doc is a bit like a hollywood epic, but that's how the season went, and none of it was scripted. All the ingredients are there - a club and a team at a very ow ebb, saved by a determined businesswoman and a Mr Ordinary determined to bounce back from a setback in his career. The transformation of players who were seeing themselves as failures. An alliance of two different national cultures, united by a love of the game. It's all there - someone's going to make a film of it one day. Perhaps Mr Hope would have been more satisfied if it had all gone belly-up, but it didn't.

You've almost persuaded me. I certainly think we'll do better than is generally being predicted, providing we don't get too embroiled in too many cup competitions. You make a decent point about Man City, but watching them on Saturday, they are still very good at starving the opposition of the ball. They have the experience so they must still be heavy favourites. Spurs, Chelsea and Man U are in transition. I don't think Arsenal have bought well. However, Liverpool have some momentum from last season and should push on. I disagree - I think they've had a good window. Winning the league now takes 90 points, and Liverpool have proved they can do it. It should be interesting.

A loan move abroad sounds very much like a step that suits Arsenal rather than the player, for whom it would be very disruptive on a personal level. Arsenal don't need him, but would like to keep him in reserve, and they don't want him to go to another Premiership team. It's a short career and I don't think the club is behaving very well.

I don't think it's all that unlikely, but so far none of the big six have sold or loaned us a player and I don't think that'll change.

And Eduardo Robledo

I seem to remember reading that he has played there before, but I doubt that's what we have in mind. My hunch is that he's oven ready for the first team, though he won't feature on Saturday. I do wonder what message Eddie has given him about how and when he is to be used. Personally, once he's settled in, I'd be happy to see him on the right and Trippier on the left. Not ideal, but the best option at the mo, I reckon.

I don't think Arsenal have bought sensibly over the summer. Havertz looks very much a player who is better suited to football on the continent, and I can't see Rice fitting in with their style at all. With missing out on the title last time, it's tempting to rush into the transfer market, as if to 'make sure this time'. What they lacked last time was experience (including the manager), not quality. Apart from striker maybe. Despite the fuss over their Community Shield victory, I wasn't that impressed.

I don't think pundits in general have absorbed the realities of our financial position in relation to FFP. They see the wealth of the owners and assume that we're going to do a City or a Chelsea because that's what's happened before in this situation. Our commercial revenue is poor, we can't generate much by player sales, and we've neared the limit of what's allowed by FFP due to our spend over the last two seasons. We still can't compete with the big six when it comes to player salaries, and the so all in all the top targets are beyond us.

I see Isak as our transfer policy at its best. We have an idea of the players that we would ideally like, regardless of their current form or reputation. We look beneath their current status and see the potential. We scooped up Isak, Gordon and (I think) Tonali in that fashion. The polar opposite is Chelsea, who seem to randomly go for anyone who's in the news, regardless of other considerations. I still fancy us to finish above them, no matter how much they spend.

'Clear and obvious error' territory. Either way, the ref's decision to award or not should not be overturned. It's quite an important principle, and I think Howard Webb was right in trying to cut down the number of VAR interventions. So many decisions in football are subjective. VAR is there to correct howlers or pure questions of fact like offside. It shouldn't be a 'second opinion'.

It wasn't a forceful stamp and the player wasn't hurt, but you can't get into the area of 'how violent'.

Absolutely correct. It was a clear and deliberate stamp.

Really poor piece of indiscipline. I just hope that the lass doesn't have to deal with a Beckham-esque backlash now.

It looked to me that the attacker felt the arm in her back and decided to buy the foul by stopping short and creating the collision. That often results in a free kick outside the area, only rarely a penalty kick. But VAR is not there to substitute one subjective opinion for another. It's only there in respect of a clear and obvious error. That would only have applied if there had been no contact at all.

Underdogs in football matches being described as 'brave'. No, it's the more fancied team that has to deal with the greater pressure, and besides 'bravery' is risking your life or taking a big risk on someone else's behalf.

Total incompetence by VAR, I thought. It's only supposed to intervene if there's a clear and obvious error, and that was not.

I think they'll be disappointed. Havertz didn't look like the answer to their striker problem. Rice didn't seem to fit in at all, and barely got involved. It was interesting that in the move that led up to that final corner, they opened City up by interchanging quick, short passes through the middle. It was Arsenal at their best, but it wasn't a move that Rice would have been comfortable in at all.