Infinitely Content

Crystal Palace manager within a year imo.

Salah

The FA cup so often promises magic, but it's quite sad to see when the big boys turn up and mercilessly dismantle the lesser team with ease.

Exactly my thoughts on the matter, I think Schar & Burn both have that commanding presence so I would still probably lean towards them - but ultimately we need to bring someone in with those qualities to be the long term successor and build the continuity and leadership required. Those intangibles are absolutely crucial in that position, even more important than technical ability alone imo.

Beautiful goal

For me the centre back position is uncertain and up for debate, I don't think any of them are in a position to stake a claim as a guaranteed starter after this season. Botman has been inconsistent to poor for a while, and can't be relied upon from a fitness point of view. Thiaw has been mostly solid, some great moments, but some calamitous so there's a few question marks there. Schar for me is probably still the best we have, and Burn would be his partner but their age likely means neither can be considered guaranteed starters for a season.

That other lad Risser(?) we're linked with doesn't look up to much either. Hope we have another option, big Mamardashvili would be the one imo, looks open to leaving Liverpool and we would secure the support of the entire nation of Georgia as a bonus.

He was levels above any player we had seen here in years when he joined. Thanks for the memories, Tripps.

Hoo-ah! There was a time I could see and I HAVE seen!... But there isn't nothin' like the sight of an amputated spirit; there is no prosthetic for that

Demba Ba, Ba-Ba-Ba Loved him.

Just get big Samu on the Knox hydration, he'll be sound in no time.

Still recovering from that bad injury?

Ramos is what many hoped/hope or expected Woltemade to be imo, a technical player capable of dropping into space and connecting play, whilst also being able to press from the front and have a bit of tenacity about his game despite not being the quickest or the strongest. I like him, and he's one of those I could really see in a Newcastle shirt, but I would prefer that Samu lad from the list of strikers likely attainable to us. Stylistically an easier fit.

Good to see Wissa looking like he's over the knee injury. Promising signs.

Financial perspective and footballing perspective unfortunately. When I think of Woltemade, Wissa and Elanga, I feel sad Absolute shite.

I thought amortisation was a thing? I don't think we would have spent the entirety upfront on our transfers last summer. We should still have a lot of room to play with.

Been thinking the same, we were told selling Isak for a record fee is the silver bullet to our financial restraints for a couple of seasons, and we hadn't spent anything in the years prior to that too. We should be absolute fine, if we're having to sell to buy again it's completely fucked. Of course it doesn't help that we spent what money we did last summer mostly on absolute shite.

Shame there's no Romania or Georgia who both brought a bit of fire and magic to the recent international competition. Wonder who will step forth from the shadows this time, hopefully the Uzbek boys.

Yeah, I think Rogers is a better player than Gordon and more of a goal threat cutting in from the left onto his right foot. He does a lot of his best work for Villa from wide left positions.

Rogers - Palmer - Saka feels like the strongest to me.

Still have no idea if he's a good striker of a ball much less a good finisher, still an enormous gamble to be hedging our bets on him as a striker imo. We do know he's not strong, not quick and not particularly tenacious though which is alarming. If we go into next season with him as the main man, I'd be feeling apprehensive. My feeling is that he's a Kai Havertz type without the aggression, and since we're not peak Liverpool under Klopp or peak Man City under Pep, we need a striker.

Rooney over all of them in the bracket for me.

This line up is like Everton c.2030 with a cash injection.

Also I'm with Mike, when you stop a moment to consider the fact that if we were to qualify for the Europa league, whether this season or even next, we would likely be the favourites to win it. The fact I can say that in a serious, calm manner is a mark of the enormous progress made under this brilliant manager and his team.

Many Villa fans say the same regarding their football too, that it's been in decline since Emery's first season. I found it interesting because most generally agree that Emery is a top class manager, perhaps even better than Howe yet is suffering the same challenges and criticisms. I don't know why it's the case exactly, but it certainly feels like they're significant external influences at play rather than Howe or Emery simply not being good enough.