brummie

Nah, there's no way Mings would be off. He was absolutely imperious under Emery last season. Mind you, so was Konsa for long periods.

If you are going to be a mid twenties multi millionaire, London is one of the best places to be. He's a very good player indeed. He chose them rather than you, don't dwell on it, god knows how many 'this or that' decisions are made in football every day that we don't hear about.

The unique thing about your ground is that it is right in the city centre. I don't think you realise what a difference that makes to the way a club feels to its city, especially as you are a one club city. You'd be fucking nuts to piss that away and move to some enormous bland-o-dome in the middle of nowhere.

You're not fooling me. I know you love the Villa, and you always will do. In the style of a homophobic politician who turns out to be gay. Anyway, bet you can't wait till next season, having your club and your second club to follow in Europe ;-)

Not a signing, but a new 4 year contract for John McGinn. What a turnaround, what Gerrard did to him was inexplicable. Him and Mings, for that matter. Genuinely the clearest example of managers ruining players I've seen, I had no idea it was possible for it to happen to that degree, given how far McGinn fell under Carpethead, he looked awful.

Yeah checked, you are right. That goal of the season he scored at Everton the championship year. He tells a story about that. He's a Scouser, Evertonian family, few days before the match, Saunders says he's thinking of not starting him, because he knows it's his club and isn't sure he's got the mentality. Then he picks him, he scores goal of the season, and if you look at it, he turns and flicks the V's at Saunders. Also tells a story of how his house burned down in a fire. He slept in his car that night, goes to training next day, smelling of and covered with soot. Saunders complains, Morley tells him what's happened, asks for help, he says "I don't pay you for that, son. Check into a hostel, get some clothes at a jumble sale, and get yourself sorted out" What a guy.

No it doesn't. *fidgets in chair* At least we don't look like NOTTS COUNTY. "Notts County? Who are they?" *slurps milk* "EXACTLEEEE"

Great player. No England caps, I don't think. Or Dennis Mortimer, or Gary Shaw.

Looks like the sort of shit Burnley would wear. I hate Castore.

They held a review and vote for the design for the new badge. That one got chosen. Then today, they've said they're keeping the old one but also using this one on kits, but only for this season. Total and utter clusterfuck of stupidity. I reckon that's one reason Purslow got the bullet. Anyway, shirt is horrible.

The Saudi - Chelsea thing is dodgy as fuck. I genuinely think this sort of thing plus concepts like multi club ownership will conspire to fucking ruin football.

He's fucking 33. What is the point? What does Southgate think he's going to discover about him at this point? Why isn't he using matches like these to blood some of the younger players? This is what i can't stand about Southgate - I appreciate he can point to results - but it's so predictable and fucking boring.

Do clubs ever comment on transfer rumours? This is quite clearly absolute horseshit.

And who can blame them.

I just do not understand why he's playing Jordan Henderson, who is 33 tomorrow against a bunch of postmen and plumbers. He's clearly not the future of England, so why bother at all? And why play TAA in midfield rather than any of the really good midfield options we'd have who we could play with the chance of them playing there long term? I think Southgate gets a lot of unfair flack, but fuck me, he does not help himself sometimes. Harry Maguire. Jesus Mary.

I always think there's no point really worrying about it, if you start with a difficult run of fixtures (obv your first fixture will be EXCEPTIONALLY difficult), it balances out as some point you'll get an easier run. Although I remember thinking "Bournemouth away first day, piece of piss", and it was, but we still got relegated. Oh I dunno.

Phillips is a good player but his whole situation reminds me of Fabian Delph, and look what happened to his career - ended up at Everton. *shudder*

Who is that guy? He's brilliant.

To be fair, if you appoint the manager, you have to back him, so if Gerrard really wanted him and the money was there, wage structure permitting, all Purslow could do was back him. It was the appointment of Gerrard in the first place that was the catalyst. I dunno, I might be wrong, for all this, perhaps he just wants a change.

NB Coutinho - started doing well before his last injury. It won't be that - we've a big recruitment team inc a recruitment director they think very highly of. Players sometimes don't work out, that's not what it'll be (and besides, that was on Gerrard).

He apparently pushed through the Gerrard appointment big style, whilst Sawiris and Edens were unconvinced. When Gerrard got sacked after Fulham away, Sawiris was, according to those around him in the corporate area, absolutely fuming and left during the second half. He then sacked Gerrard before he'd got on the team coach home, whereas you'd expect the CEO to do it. The last few months he's had a very low profile (normally he'd turn up to the opening of an envelope) and they've appointed new big-hitter names to run the various bits of the club, particularly some guy from the Philadelphia 76ers to run commercial, which doesn't really leave much for the CEO to do. Basically, though, Gerrard was hugely Purslow's appointment. It's the only mistake I think he's made so far. Unfortunately, it was the biggest one he could make, and what Emery has done with the same squad has really made that starkly clear, so yep, this smells of Gerrard basically.

Purslow has stepped down as CEO today, I think Monchi (which of course makes me thing of the mental TV show Monkey) or whoever goes into that role completes a structure that doesn't really need CEO. He's not massively popular as he comes across as smarmy, but to the guy's credit - been here 5 years, club on its knees when he arrived, he's played his part in a total turn around.

Amazing that Scott Carson - basically what you'd get if you deflated Chris Moyles a bit - stands to win his second CL medal tonight. Jimmy Rimmer also won two European Cup medals despite playing for a handful of minutes across 180 mins football.

I trust Emery. I saw him take McGinn from a shambling mess to a dynamic, all over the pitch midfielder inside ten games. I've seen him bring out the best in almost our entire squad. The talent is there, he'll sort it.

https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2023/june/10/villa-announce-tielemans-agreement/ Signed.