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No More Harry - Premier League 2020/21

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    Depends if you're watching it on telly, I assume. L

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      Mourinho's post-match teamtalk will have been something to behold. None of it will have been his fault though.

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        Villa scrape through...game had been crying out for either him or Grealish just to have a shot rather than trying to walk it in to the net

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          It's extraordinary how Villa have turned things around. Last surviving PL 100 per cent record (though tbf, if they drop points next match then they'll only have matched Everton for joint longest 100 per cent in terms of matches played) - and yet they just escaped relegation by "half a point" (meaning one point but with an inferior GD to the team one point behind).

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            Originally posted by Evariste Euler Gauss View Post
            It's extraordinary how Villa have turned things around. Last surviving PL 100 per cent record (though tbf, if they drop points next match then they'll only have matched Everton for joint longest 100 per cent in terms of matches played) - and yet they just escaped relegation by "half a point" (meaning one point but with an inferior GD to the team one point behind).
            Indeed, quite astonishing EEG. I was hoping for mid-table mediocrity and a decent cup run. As it is, well, I'm keeping my corner shop going with all the tissues I'm buying because of my constant nosebleeds! But seriously, after lock-down it was clear that a conversation has been had about tightening up defensively and learning how to manage a game. And the owners have been incredibly supportive of Smith and buying wisely. Start of last season we practically had to buy an entire team so it was hardly surprising that we struggled.

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              i've a friend who is a villa fan, and living just outside birmingham, and his theory is that villa have been transformed as a team since they had to go into a bubble, and were less exposed to the local accent. And listening to Gabby Agbonlahor on sky sports news, I think I can see his point. He was talking in an animated and excited fashion with positive words about villa, and he sounded resigned and depressed.

              Do not underestimate the effect of going from having basically Me or you up front, to having a really good forward. Villa attack with an awful lot more conviction now.

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                Originally posted by gt3 View Post
                And the owners have been incredibly supportive of Smith
                Incredibly generous too.

                From transfermarkt.co.uk. Data from since they got promoted May 2019.

                Transfer expenditure: ?217.31m

                Transfer income: ?3.6m

                Balance: -?213.71

                This is the highest in the whole of the Premier League by some distance.

                https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/prem...eihe=&intern=0



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                  Originally posted by Gangster Octopus View Post
                  Much as I loathe West Ham, that appears to have been very funny...
                  I’ll concede that even I can see the humour in that performance. All the Spursos following the game were in my ear just after half time with their ‘don’t be ridiculous, we’ve done the hard work, time to drop off’, etc. This is so often, but should never be the case at Tottenham - least of all in this crazy, devil-may-care season. (I wasn’t even especially comfortable at 4-1 vs Man Utd t’other week - but they were generally so inept that it didn’t end up mattering.) Sure, there were opportunities to increase the lead yesterday, but the entire second half was so badly mismanaged against a team in otherwise decent form that it was only a matter of time before we gave it away.

                  I mean, it comes to something when Declan Rice has a better reading of proceedings than our entire personnel.

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                    Originally posted by The Awesome Berbaslug!!! View Post
                    i've a friend who is a villa fan, and living just outside birmingham, and his theory is that villa have been transformed as a team since they had to go into a bubble, and were less exposed to the local accent. And listening to Gabby Agbonlahor on sky sports news, I think I can see his point. He was talking in an animated and excited fashion with positive words about villa, and he sounded resigned and depressed.
                    That does sound like the kind of comment a Brummie would make

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                      Originally posted by Jon View Post

                      Incredibly generous too.

                      From transfermarkt.co.uk. Data from since they got promoted May 2019.

                      Transfer expenditure: ?217.31m

                      Transfer income: ?3.6m

                      Balance: -?213.71

                      This is the highest in the whole of the Premier League by some distance.

                      https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/prem...eihe=&intern=0


                      In fairness, Villa and Everton are just showing us what you can achieve if you have a relaxed attitude to losing ?100 million a year for long enough.

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                        Who have they bought for ?217million? Hardly household names in that Villa line up. Grealish was a youth product wasn't he?

                        Everton have bought James Rodriguez who is(was) a world class.player. But for over ?200m who have Villa got?

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                          Well they spent the guts of 30 million on ollie watkins, and about half that on Bertrand traore, matty cash and Emiliano Martinez. So that's ?75 million. Last season they got badly burned by a shopping excursion to belgium that saw them sign Wesley, Marvellous Nakamba, and Samatta, for about ?40 million in total, and quite frankly they'd have been as well off picking someone from the Youth cup team. Then there's ?20 million for mings And another 40 million spread over Douglas Luiz, Ezri Konsa and matt targett. Then there's another 25 million for el ghazi, trezeguet and tom heaton.

                          Thing is Villa had relied a lot on the loan system in the championship. Tammy Abraham was the centre forward in the villa team that got promoted, and Axel Tuanzebe was their main centre back. Mings , el ghazi, hause, were on loan before signing permanently and they also had Yannick bolasie and tom carroll.#

                          James Rodriguez signed for Everton on a free transfer. He's just going to show up on the wage bill.
                          Last edited by The Awesome Berbaslug!!!; 19-10-2020, 12:28.

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                            I look at that list and it's hard to see ?200 million worth of players. I'm not doubting your figures but I'm kind of amazed/ apalled by them

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                              Well there is 14 players. The problem stems from getting promoted with so many loan players. Most teams that come up don't have to buy 10 players, because they already have the team that got them promoted, most of them accumulated over time at championship prices. Villa just had an enormous hole in their squad.

                              If Villa had gone down last year, there is a very strong chance they would have gone to the wall. Villa and everton's losses are so big compared to their turnover, that they would still be losing money hand over fist if they were already in the champions league.
                              Last edited by The Awesome Berbaslug!!!; 19-10-2020, 13:48.

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                                Originally posted by Patrick Thistle View Post

                                Well obvs and Pickford should have been sent off. My point was more if he has done his ACL walking off may have exacerbated the damage.
                                I did my ACL 26 years ago and then skied the rest of the way down the hill.

                                Kids today.

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                                  Originally posted by The Awesome Berbaslug!!! View Post
                                  i've a friend who is a villa fan, and living just outside birmingham, and his theory is that villa have been transformed as a team since they had to go into a bubble, and were less exposed to the local accent. And listening to Gabby Agbonlahor on sky sports news, I think I can see his point. He was talking in an animated and excited fashion with positive words about villa, and he sounded resigned and depressed.
                                  Shouldn't it be working this way for WBA too? Instead, we have been as poor as just about any side in the Premiership or Championship since games went behind closed doors.

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                                    Following the lead of Newcastle fans, Clarets have been donating to the food bank instead of paying the PPV amount.

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                                      Originally posted by jameswba View Post
                                      Shouldn't it be working this way for WBA too? Instead, we have been as poor as just about any side in the Premiership or Championship since games went behind closed doors.
                                      I think somebody should write a thesis comparing the form of clubs pre and post lockdown, if it hasn't been done already. Some clubs' form has majorly improved (eg Villa) whereas others went the other way round (West Brom, Leicester City). I see no rhyme or reason for this.

                                      On top of the eye-watering sum they have spent on players in the last two years they had to stump up a serious amount of cash for a new contract for Grealish this summer. Yet they have only made 3.6 million in player sales - Kodija went for 2.7m and Tshobola went for just under a million. Their owners are bankrolling the club to the max.

                                      I'll admit, this all stems from rivalry and green-eyed jealousy on my part. We've had to put up with the Wolves going stratospheric these last few years which I could just about take but not the fucking Villa too.

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                                        Originally posted by jameswba View Post

                                        Shouldn't it be working this way for WBA too? Instead, we have been as poor as just about any side in the Premiership or Championship since games went behind closed doors.
                                        You got promoted. and you have one premier league point. Maybe this is good going for a team managed by slaven bilic?

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                                          Fuck me 5 Live is awful. Previewing Wolves vs Leeds "Two traditional powerhouses of the game, such history at the top of English football, almost permanent fixtures of the top division, it's pretty remarkable how this is only the third time they've met in the top flight for 38 years..."

                                          Well it would be, if the first three statements weren't bullshit.

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                                            The figures generally quoted for Villa's summer purchases last year- lots of 'undisclosed' fees, as is the modern way- add up to just over ?133 million for twelve players, which averages out at roughly ?11 million each (I knew that Maths O level would eventually come in handy). Scarcely chicken feed, but not a huge amount by modern standards, which is reflected by how many of those players remain 'automatic' choices- basically the ones that cost over ?11 million, i.e. Konsa, Mings, Targett and Luiz. Of the 'cheaper' signings, only Trezeguet looks like playing a regular part as things stand. But without those twelve signings we'd have had a first team squad of around ten or eleven players, including three goalkeepers, to start last season, so it's hard to criticise the club for something of a scattergun approach. Wesley cost ?20 million plus, strikers being generally more expensive, and was starting to settle in when he sustained a serious injury which has kept him out for almost a year, so it's hard to assess whether he will turn out to be a good purchase. Personally I'm not convinced. But when he and Heaton got injured, we laid out another ?9 million or so on Samatta in January, plus loans for Pepe Reina and Drinkwater, and a bizarre short term deal for Baston. The last two surely explain, if explanation was needed, why Suso, our head of recruitment, got the boot at the end of the season. Total around ?145 million.

                                            This season we've looked for quality, rather than quantity, and laid out around half that on four players, plus Barkley on loan. That's not far short of ?20million per player, though Ollie Watkins at ?27 million or thereabouts bumps up the average. All of these players look likely to be first team regulars, and at least for now, the team looks much stronger. And the good news is that like everyone else we get a king's ransom for being in the PL in the first place, which helps with the housekeeping.

                                            A propos of nothing, Football 365 ran a piece in May which listed the 20 most expensive squads in Europe- Manchester City at #1 with eleven players who cost over ?40 million each, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea in the top ten, Spurs, Everton and Leicester in the top twenty. I'm not vouching for the accuracy of their list, but it does seem to bear out the saying that 'you get what you pay for'.

                                            [edit- replying to Jon above]
                                            Last edited by 1974ddr; 19-10-2020, 17:33.

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                                              Originally posted by Snake Plissken View Post
                                              Fuck me 5 Live is awful. Previewing Wolves vs Leeds "Two traditional powerhouses of the game, such history at the top of English football, almost permanent fixtures of the top division, it's pretty remarkable how this is only the third time they've met in the top flight for 38 years..."

                                              Well it would be, if the first three statements weren't bullshit.
                                              Well, both clubs had their moments back in the day, that’s not an unreasonable comment - but ‘almost permanent fixtures of the top division’ is frankly ridiculous. Whoever said that was probably banging on about ‘Leeds being back after sixteen years’ just a few weeks ago.

                                              On another note, I just caught a brief glimpse of WBA vs Burnley on a streaming site - the first scoreless draw of the PL season. To think that some poor sod will have paid fifteen quid for that.

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                                                Was it a bad game?

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                                                  We started with Barnes and Wood up front.

                                                  So of course it was.

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                                                    Leeds v Wolves has potential to be a decent game.

                                                    I feel dirty typing that.

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