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rknewell's rumours posts with other poster's replies to rknewell's rumours posts
19 May 2022 22:19:52
Despite the penalty Beundia head and shoulders above everyone as man of the match but he'll be dropped again Sunday.
27 Sep 2020 13:33:17
Apparently Alli is available and Chris Sutton has suggested he could come to us.
I know we were linked to him when he was at MK Dons but for me he is by far the most overrated player in the league.
He had one good season as an unknown but has been found out regularly ever since. Plays like a beemer/ merc/ audi driver who thinks they're all that because they've "made it".
1.) 27 Sep 2020 13:46:50
Alli is a good player had a poor season last year but before that I think his stats since he joined Spurs stand comparison with anyone playing in that type of role. I think he struggles with how Mourinho wants him to play, however I am not sure he is what we need right now, I would rather we bought a wide man and moved Jack into a more central position where I think he can create more havoc.
Just as an aside, I drive a Mercedes but I certainly don’t think I have “made it“ lol 😊.
2.) 27 Sep 2020 15:30:33
We want footballers not Boxers. 😊.
3.) 27 Sep 2020 15:31:57
Joking aside, totally agree John.
4.) 27 Sep 2020 16:09:49
Agree John, no doubt he improves us, but it’s one of the last positions we need improving in.
I rate Alli, just think he’s only really played in his position for two seasons. Did pretty well, and because of that success he just kept getting pushed further forward and then out wide which just never worked. He’s a number 8, old school, box to box, from a time when centre mids were expected to do both, go forwards and backwards, that’s how he made his name and needs to get back to it to see the best of him.
There are big questions about his attitude, seems pretty childish on the all or nothing documentary.
27 Sep 2020 13:32:09
The Sun obviously have their biases but are normally clued in on transfers. The Scottish Sun claim Brighton have expressed an interest in Edouard. Maybe that makes him available for less than we thought? No way they pay the expected £40mill on a player.
12 Sep 2020 10:15:28
I see Noel Whelan is up to his old tricks again. Claims Wilson not happening meant we panic bought our second choice.
Obviously does zero research before spouting off when Watkins was clearly our main transfer target from day 1.
1.) 12 Sep 2020 10:36:54
The guy is an irrelevant cretin. The man is robbing a living. Every man and his dog knew Watkins was Smith’s number one target.
2.) 12 Sep 2020 11:47:43
Agree ant, the Watkins deal took at least 2 weeks to thrash out it was almost there before any bid went in for Wilson, isn’t whelan a Leeds fan? Nothing but jealousy they couldn’t even convince their manager to stay on for more than 1 year cause he knows they going to do a Norwich and go straight back down😂😂.
3.) 12 Sep 2020 12:04:46
Just for clarity Whackattack Bielsa only ever signs 1 year contracts so it’s nothing to do with his lack of faith in his team, and I for one don’t think they will go down in fact I think they are more likely to do a Wolves or Sheffield Utd. Bielsa is a class act.
4.) 12 Sep 2020 12:07:02
I can never understand why ex-pros are considered experts in the transfer market. I don’t think they have any more idea than the rest of us and clearly don’t research much, if anything.
Kevin Phillips suggests we made a massive mistake in missing out on Callum Wilson. Well, firstly the guy didn’t want to move to Villa and, secondly, he has a paltry scoring record in the EPL, managing double figures once. All the Sky and Talk Sport place the guy on a pedestal as some phenomenal goal scorer. Complete tosh.
5.) 12 Sep 2020 12:35:42
If Wilson had stayed with Bournemouth for this season, I doubt that he would have scored half the number of goals Watkins scored last season.
6.) 12 Sep 2020 14:06:06
I do agree villajohn he is a good manager I was just having a pop at Leeds, wasn’t his last contract for 2 years with option to extend by 1 year, well so say the article about him signing the extension anyways, honestly I can’t see them doing a Sheffield or wolves he’s not as good a man manager as wilder or nuno, they threw away automatic promotion last year then rubbish themselves in the playoffs, and started to slip a bit this year also into the new year, bilic was also a good manager with Fulham but it didn’t save him, 1 thing for sure I think this year’s premier league will be tougher than last years, looking through the fixtures there’s none looking to easy, my money is on West Ham Fulham Brighton West Brom and Leeds to slug it out down the bottom, what u guys think who will be in the relegation battle?
7.) 12 Sep 2020 18:32:15
Look at Bielsa’s record, wherever he has been he has had success and he plays a brand of entertaining football which is why he is such a sought after manager. I have even heard Klopp refer to him as world class so that’s good enough for me. Time will tell whether Leeds tsurvive or not it I think they will even if it’s only because there are 3 worse teams which I think will be West Ham, Fulham and Albion I also have a sneaking feeling Brighton might struggle as well.
17 May 2020 09:06:06
If we stay up and get the reported £80mill asking price for Jack who do we think we could realistically bring in?
I think our starting lineup could look like this (Dunk being less likely with the owners strategy of younger players but best option within budget imo) .
Heaton
Guilbert Dunk Mings Targett
Phillips
Rashica Mcginn Benrahma
Samatta Wesley
Subs
Nyland
Konsa
Engels
Nakamba
Trezeguet
El Ghazi
Davis
Only one cm on bench as both starting wingers could slot into that central position.
We could stick with Konsa who has been decent and look at right back instead but I'm struggling to think of any great options available less than £20mill who are significant upgrades.
1.) 19 May 2020 14:27:37
Not a bad line up however I would take a couple of players from Utd for Jack so I would ask for Axel and Chris Smalling.
I like you I know he is outside the age bracket but it gives us some premier league experience which we have been crying out for at the back, and ask for £55 million I would also ditch Wesley Engels Trezeguet Taylor and El Ghazi And I would look to bring in Harry Wilson, Benrahma Barkley Mitrovic and Batshuayi and go 4 4 2.
I am sure there are lots of other ways we could go and it’s great to indulge in a bit of Fatasy football, but I think we can all agree that whatever we do we need to do something different next season.
2.) 19 May 2020 17:34:57
I think Wesley will grow and he has shown at times that coming short to bring people into play is his strength. Wesley deeper with Samatta running the channels could work.
Utd wouldn't give Axel and Smalling for a combined £25mill valuation and Smalling is even worse than what we have imo.
I don't think we'd get enough for the players you listed to buy all of your wish list and ditching both wingers for Benrahma and Wilson would still leave us short in that department.
While his defensive work is poor you can't argue with the fact El Ghazi has won us points at the other end so should keep him for backup/ rotation.
3.) 20 May 2020 14:25:50
Smalling available for £15 mill apparently he has had a decent season with Roma and he certainly isn’t as error strewn as Engels. In terms of cover for the wingers I would use Louie Barry and Green as cover after extending his contract . I don’t think el ghazi or tres does enough at either end of the pitch although tres works hard that isn’t enough in the prem imo. However that’s the beauty of this is it’s all about opinions.
4.) 20 May 2020 18:19:55
With you on that John.
5.) 21 May 2020 06:19:53
Barry isn't really a winger, he can play on the outside of a 3 at a push but he's a number 9 through and through.
I liked Green for us at times in the championship but it worries me he can't even get into a struggling Preston team now. May be a case of just not the right fit and his pace works better for our counter attacks but you'd have thought if he was that good they'd play him.
rknewell's banter posts with other poster's replies to rknewell's banter posts
30 Dec 2025 22:17:52
First game I've missed for a long time, maybe for the best.
The run always had to come to an end, a shame that it came in that fashion but despite beating Arsenal and City at home I don't think we could say we are at that level yet.
Consolidating top 4 will still be a great achievement and you never know what will happen with the other teams.
21 Dec 2025 18:41:56
Cash does some good things, but when your default setting is to turn around and pass to Konsa, it will come back to bite you.
Despite that, Maatsen was the weak link at full back, we got away with so many of his positional errors and weak tackling.
I really feel for Ollie, even when he does everything right, it's going wrong.
He deserves credit for Rogers second goal though.
We're now in a great position to secure top 4. My big concern for next season is keeping hold of Morgan, no way can we afford a salary to stave off the vultures without weakening the rest of the team.
30 Nov 2025 16:36:23
I am a former referee. I had to deal with a lot of crap, especially as I officiated a lot of youth football.
Referees should be given respect but there also needs to be accountability and some level of agreement over 'subjective' decisions.
Arias stays on the pitch despite jumping with two feet. His movement is not natural for either running or tackling.
The jump had only one intention which Kamara was lucky to escape. He only gets a yellow card after review.
Caicedo tries to play the ball, his natural movement takes his face down studs into an Arsenal players ankle. He gets a red card.
Force and control are reasonable indicators but why is natural position not considered like with handball?
30 Nov 2025 15:41:02
Every few months it feels like Emery gets fed up of the criticism and does exactly what the fans want to prove a point. Today was that day.
Malen up front is a definite no, conceding possession to Wolves without even threatening to counter.
A certain crowd need to turn up their hearing aids and learn that strikers are no longer paid to just put the ball in the net.
The days of Van Nistelrooy and Berbatov are long gone.
We acheived Champions League by outperforming XG and being relatively sound defensively.
Make your choice, the Emery way with success or 'exciting' football where we miss out?
23 Nov 2025 17:03:45
Not the best game but a combination of a poor pitch and playing a team more intent on violence than football contributed to that.
Feels like we need Watkins and Malen together. Malen cannot play that lone striker role, the "strikers have to score" crowd don't know football.
Watkins is still doing the hard work but is isolated, especially when Rogers comes so deep. The injury is clearly hampering his pace, hopefully they find a solution that works for him and the team.
1.) 23 Nov 2025 17:28:37
Said this many times before on here, Ollie is a nice guy, has scored many goals for us, but he’s not an assassin of a striker, who lives to score goals, what would you rather have, a striker with a good work rate or someone who scores goals that win matches? I don’t know who that guy would be on our budget but it’s what we need if we have any top 4 or winning trophies aspirations
UTV
2.) 23 Nov 2025 17:48:20
At least you admit you're part of the group I refer to.
A finisher getting one chance every 120 minutes and the team suffering defensively is useless for the majority of teams.
It is no coincidence that the likes of Ings and Duran haven't lasted and Malen doesn't start regularly.
Put Harry Kane in our team and we're in trouble. Ollie works for the system but we need to get him fit and actually have players around him and working with his strengths.
3.) 23 Nov 2025 17:51:46
They are out there allstar, Brentford keep finding them, Igor Thiago their latest addition that is banging them in, we need to find the gems as we can’t afford to buy the proven ones. seems like every time Malen comes on he has a hand in goals
4.) 23 Nov 2025 18:32:37
Always thought Whackie, if Brighton are linked with someone, then we should be sniffing round them too ? they’ve been linked with a Real Madrid striker, Gonzalo Garcia? Was top scorer in that World Club Championship that Chelsea won, maybe worth a look at in January?
UTV
5.) 23 Nov 2025 18:37:04
Rknewell agree all the way, Ollie is so much better with Malan up there with him . For one it takes a lot of pressure of him, with more space he could get his touch back .
We know at the moment Ollie is lacking in confidence, problem is he just doesn’t attack the ball . Noticed how the pulse rates go up when Malan gets the ball . UTV
6.) 23 Nov 2025 18:37:23
We're in a difficult position when it comes to strikers, Spurs are finding themselves in the same boat.
Thiago and Evanilson look great in teams that are purely counter attack and find a lot of space to run into.
Kane is a great finisher in a team with huge amounts of possession and is hugely expensive.
We are in between, we don't have a squad that can dominate every week but we are above playing purely on the break.
The prices for Pedro, Ekitike, Woltemade and Wissa were madness and results show we are better off sticking with what we have.
I do think we need to find another proper 9 to compete and eventually succeed Ollie, Malen isn't the answer in that role. Hopefully we can find a youngish striker with the right physical and athletic mix (or work with Rogers to follow a similar path to Ollie)
7.) 23 Nov 2025 18:39:55
Just to add to this thread, don’t know how true it is, but was told that a deal had been agreed for Ollie to go to Arsenal in the summer, fee, personal terms, the deal didn’t happen because the striker Unai wanted didn’t come to Villa, I’m going to assume with the finances that it could’ve been Jonathan David on a free, just something I was told ??♂️
UTV
22 Jan 2026 17:40:25
The problem with playing Elliott for even one more game is that we're basically telling Liverpool we do want/need him and they'll hold out hoping to get the £35m.
I personally don't rate him above bench cover, most of his Liverpool cameos have been either basic keep ball when winning or 'pass it to Salah'.
He made a difference for England U21s but so many players in the past have looked great at that level and not gone on to do much.
15 Aug 2025 08:31:14
If we're honest, is he anywhere near a £100k+ a week player?
His camp can feel hard done by all they like but he hasn't earned more than offered.
He hasn't been fit for 2 years and by his own admission he hasn't made progress so why does he deserve to be paid more.
He is not a top player like Ollie or Emi and his work off the pitch doesn't hold a candle to Digne or SJM.
To be honest, I won't miss him like a Milner or a Grealish. He's not special and just comes across pretty poorly in a lot of clips I've seen.
04 Aug 2025 06:52:17
Totally agree.
I would also add that Watkins having a break to recover looks almost like a new signing going into the new season.
24 Jul 2025 13:33:59
I think the back 3 is only because Konsa is away. I don't think he trusts anyone of the youngsters in a 2 and doesn't seem to want 2 with the same dominant foot either.
21 Jul 2025 14:14:49
Whack, income is not limited to cash. Like with Luiz, the value of any players taken in exchange count towards a profit on a player sale.
27 Jan 2026 12:20:02
Max limit of 2 loans for a prem club I think so Luiz would max that out if we can't send Elliot back.
25 Jan 2026 14:57:19
I don't think we should ever sell him. He is a once in a generation keeper and no amount of money we could feasibly get makes it worthwhile, even if we do occasionally concede from corners when he messes around trying to get fouled.
If he asks to leave to win guaranteed trophies and gets us a good deal like Jack did then I won't hold it against him, I don't think Inter are good enough for him though.
24 Jan 2026 22:38:25
Arsenal blamed a ball for a loss and now Liverpool are blaming the wind, it's actually comical some of the things they come out with sometimes.
Not like Van Dijk had two bites of the cherry to stop that first goal and decided to make no effort after the Bournemouth player kept it in.
22 Jan 2026 21:06:31
The Tielemans incident will 100% be because of that rubbish corner that hit the first man in injury time.
Emery preaches control as the number one priority, risking a counter attack that late was only ever going to have one outcome.
14 Jan 2026 22:54:06
Probably worse, under SCR there are no allowable losses and all calculations are on a year by year basis so selling a big player cannot set you up for the next 2-3 seasons. Some general running costs that fall under PSR aren't counted in SCR but that likely wouldn't be much of a positive when you look at the fact we were already fined by UEFA.
We're going to need to accelerate stadium increase and commercial revenue to have any chance of staying in the top 6. Even if we could continue pushing squads to their limit, any players getting us to that level will want equivalent wages to stay playing at that level.