Anthony Elanga

[r0cafella]

5 minutes ago, christ said:

I’m sure we come across as entire sane and reasonable to other supporters.

 

You make a good point, if it isn't Saudi tax it's other clubs are targeting our players to spite us. 

 

That's before you dig into Zeros theory that the Saudis want Howe out but instead of sacking him they are managing him out

 

 

Edited July 4, 2025 by r0cafella

[TheBrownBottle]

8 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

No issue with that, it's just amusing they reckon they are our competition when I don't think anyone north of Nottingham thinks that. 

 

3 minutes ago, andycap said:

One good season and we're equals all of a sudden. Crackerjacks the lot of them. 

Tbf, we were last season - and those clubs which we increasingly view as our rivals likely think the same about us.

 

If Forest match over the next couple of season what they did last season, then they will become that - have to say though I have my doubts, as they look one-dimensional to me, and I think teams worked out how to play them. 

[bobbydazzla]

6 minutes ago, christ said:

I’m sure we come across as entire sane and reasonable to other supporters.

 

 

 

Edited July 4, 2025 by bobbydazzla

[andycap]

1 minute ago, TheBrownBottle said:

 

Tbf, we were last season - and those clubs which we increasingly view as our rivals likely think the same about us.

 

If Forest match over the next couple of season what they did last season, then they will become that - have to say though I have my doubts, as they look one-dimensional to me, and I think teams worked out how to play them. 

Exactly we have had two to three seasons in the champions league and another in the uefa Cup if man utd didn't jam there way to a victory. 

That's why teams outside of Liverpool and city are our rivals. 

[TheBrownBottle]

1 minute ago, andycap said:

Exactly we have had two to three seasons in the champions league and another in the uefa Cup if man utd didn't jam there way to a victory. 

That's why teams outside of Liverpool and city are our rivals. 

Yeah it has to be reasonably sustained - Villa look far more likely to hang around for the foreseeable.  Spurs will be back up amongst it next season - it’s only Man Utd where I think they still look like a quagmire.  Forest will do well to secure another top half finish - if they do, they should be viewing that as an achievement. 

[Optimistic Nut]

4 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Yeah it has to be reasonably sustained - Villa look far more likely to hang around for the foreseeable.  Spurs will be back up amongst it next season - it’s only Man Utd where I think they still look like a quagmire.  Forest will do well to secure another top half finish - if they do, they should be viewing that as an achievement. 

 

Not sure about Villa tbh. Think they desperately need CL qualification this season or that's it. How many more accounting tricks do they have to fall back on now? We still have those to come if we get desperate. Plus one big sale to fall back on when we have 3 or 4 £80-100m bracket players. 

[The College Dropout]

1 minute ago, Optimistic Nut said:

 

Not sure about Villa tbh. Think they desperately need CL qualification this season or that's it. How many more accounting tricks do they have to fall back on now? We still have those to come if we get desperate. Plus one big sale to fall back on when we have 3 or 4 £80-100m bracket players. 

Villa’s ownership seem determined to stick around. They coped with their first CL campaign a lot better than we did. 
 

So far their squad isn’t any weaker in terms of non loan players. 

[DevonGeordie]

2 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

Villa’s ownership seem determined to stick around. They coped with their first CL campaign a lot better than we did. 
 

So far their squad isn’t any weaker in terms of non loan players. 

Hard to compare as it’s basically a different competition now due to the changes in format. Not saying Villa weren’t competitive though.

 

We were a wrong decision in Paris away from making knockout stages as well tbf.

 

 

[gbandit]

Villa had a deeper squad, more players who’d come through their academy I believe and a manager who was more willing to give the squad playing time. 
 

I’d say it’s highly unlikely we’ll have as deep a squad as them come the start of the season. We won’t have many players pushing through from the academy (possibly Neave but I imagine he goes on loan, not sure who else) and it’s hard to judge with Howe whether he doesn’t trust the squad because it’s so weak or whether he just will always stick more rigidly to a standard first 11.

 

I’d say our starting 11 when fully fit is better than Villa’s starting 11 but because of the lack of depth they were much better placed to have a champions league deep run 

[Facundo Ferreyra]

1 hour ago, Froggy said:

 

 

 

I'm a statman!

[Gawalls]

3 minutes ago, gbandit said:

Villa had a deeper squad, more players who’d come through their academy I believe and a manager who was more willing to give the squad playing time. 
 

I’d say it’s highly unlikely we’ll have as deep a squad as them come the start of the season. We won’t have many players pushing through from the academy (possibly Neave but I imagine he goes on loan, not sure who else) and it’s hard to judge with Howe whether he doesn’t trust the squad because it’s so weak or whether he just will always stick more rigidly to a standard first 11.

 

I’d say our starting 11 when fully fit is better than Villa’s starting 11 but because of the lack of depth they were much better placed to have a champions league deep run 

I genuinely believe as it stands at the moment we’ll burn out next season.

[The College Dropout]

2 minutes ago, DevonGeordie said:

Hard to compare as it’s basically a different competition now due to the changes in format. Not saying Villa weren’t competitive though.

 

We were a wrong decision in Paris away from making knockout stages as well tbf.

 

 

It’s not really hard to compare. They got to the QFs and qualified for the Europa League.  They played twice the amount of CL games we did. Their squad was better equipped for the job. They also didn’t have to sell any players in June despite an aggressive transfer policy to make them so competitive.  They did better.  
 

Now - is Emery going to do as good a job as Howe and get them back to the CL? Even then that’s all down to Howe. The squad we ended with in June 2025 was weaker than the squad we in July 2024 and weaker still than the squad we had in May 2024. And all the leadership turmoil. I don’t think Villa’s leadership will be giving Emery the same head winds Eddie has had to deal with. 

[gdm]

1 hour ago, Thumbheed said:

Not sure how you can read that and still think 'yeh he's not good enough.'

 

 

 

 

 

Got less assists than Jacob Murphy last season mind 

[The College Dropout]

7 minutes ago, gbandit said:

Villa had a deeper squad, more players who’d come through their academy I believe and a manager who was more willing to give the squad playing time. 
 

I’d say it’s highly unlikely we’ll have as deep a squad as them come the start of the season. We won’t have many players pushing through from the academy (possibly Neave but I imagine he goes on loan, not sure who else) and it’s hard to judge with Howe whether he doesn’t trust the squad because it’s so weak or whether he just will always stick more rigidly to a standard first 11.

 

I’d say our starting 11 when fully fit is better than Villa’s starting 11 but because of the lack of depth they were much better placed to have a champions league deep run 

I think if the club don’t give Eddie a squad capable of pushing in the CL and league they’ve let him down. The first time it was understandable- very quick progression nearly impossible to fill the squad properly. Some naivety in the leadership too.  
 

This time we need to do better by Eddie. 
 

Eddie does also need to be a little more flexible. If we get new Tino’s and Hall’s (which I sadly doubt) he needs to trust them more. 

[Optimistic Nut]

23 minutes ago, DevonGeordie said:

Hard to compare as it’s basically a different competition now due to the changes in format. Not saying Villa weren’t competitive though.

 

We were a wrong decision in Paris away from making knockout stages as well tbf.

 

 

 

Also a non-gambling ban or a freak shoulder dislocation away from running them close the season we ended 7th, too. 

 

Keep seeing you say that but take McGinn out of their team for 7 months for things outside your control and Martinez out for half a season, do Villa "manage" the season any better?

 

 

Edited July 4, 2025 by Optimistic Nut

[et tu brute]

45 minutes ago, andycap said:

It gets to a point surely where we have to land one of our top targets. We can't just keep walking away like Craig David. 😂 

You do when clubs are taking the piss. Or do you want a situation like Palace forced last year. Edit: you allow one club to take the piss out of you, then you open the door for every club to take the piss out of you.

 

 

Edited July 4, 2025 by et tu brute

[Nucasol]

51 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

Forest fans are a bit delusional reading that forum mind. 

Two European Cups marra.

[SteV]

6 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

It’s not really hard to compare. They got to the QFs and qualified for the Europa League.  They played twice the amount of CL games we did. Their squad was better equipped for the job. They also didn’t have to sell any players in June despite an aggressive transfer policy to make them so competitive.  They did better.  
 

Now - is Emery going to do as good a job as Howe and get them back to the CL? Even then that’s all down to Howe. The squad we ended with in June 2025 was weaker than the squad we in July 2024 and weaker still than the squad we had in May 2024. And all the leadership turmoil. I don’t think Villa’s leadership will be giving Emery the same head winds Eddie has had to deal with. 

Would they have reached the QF’s if they were in a group with PSG, Dortmund and Milan?

[TheBrownBottle]

24 minutes ago, Optimistic Nut said:

 

Not sure about Villa tbh. Think they desperately need CL qualification this season or that's it. How many more accounting tricks do they have to fall back on now? We still have those to come if we get desperate. Plus one big sale to fall back on when we have 3 or 4 £80-100m bracket players. 

You could be right - but I think they’ve enough quality to keep them around for a couple of seasons.  They can’t afford any mistakes in the transfer market though. 

[TheBrownBottle]

1 minute ago, SteV said:

Would they have reached the QF’s if they were in a group with PSG, Dortmund and Milan?

I think they would have.  They beat PSG at home in the KOs last season. 

[et tu brute]

1 minute ago, Nucasol said:

Two European Cups marra.

Forest fans are some of the biggest bunch of cunts there are

[Nucasol]

Just now, et tu brute said:

Forest fans are some of the biggest bunch of cunts there are

Tell me about it. I spent 7 years living down there, absolute ball bags. Generally preferred the Derby fans.

[PauloGeordio]

6 hours ago, Ellis H said:

“Speed is key for us and I have reiterated that many times internally”

He meant speed of the player obviously. Bring him herm! 

[The Prophet]

The bid is kind of irrelevant at this stage if all parties working towards an endpoint. Much like Tonali, when our initial offers were knocked back but we remained in talks until everyone was satisfied with the fee.

[bobbydazzla]

20 minutes ago, Gawalls said:

I genuinely believe as it stands at the moment we’ll burn out next season.

Burn out. WTF. He’s just won player of the season