Jack Grealish

[Gumzy97]

brief from Villa.

 

[PJRavfc]

The Birmingham Mail have absolutely no inside info at Villa whatsoever and haven't done for a long time now so I wouldn't believe anything that comes from them.

 

[Blootoof]

o.O

 

[Sid McGrath]

It can be done, yes. But you ignore the massive odds stacked against you.

The top 4 last year were us, The Scum, Dippers and Chelski. In my opinion those 4 aren’t going anywhere At a stretch, one might but that’s highly unlikely. Leicester have been punching above their weight for a while, but in reality it’s one freak Premier League and their first ever FA Cup. Ok, West Ham may have had a freak season but then you have Spurs and Arsenal above you too, Arsenal are definitely strengthening. Leeds might go walkabout again but it’s generally accepted in football circles that Everton and Wolves have ambitious owners.

Yes, if Villla get it right they could progress to Leicester’s level, but I don’t see how you compete regularly.

Then there’s the FFP model that demands you grow the club organically, (that’s not me talking, I hate it and we all know what the real purpose of it is). That model involves you selling your best players for a profit and investing in your academy. How long does that take?

Then there other imponderables. I’m 53 and remember the last decent Villa side with Peter Withe, Gary Shaw, Brian Little etc. Since then the Midlands has been pretty barren when it comes to footballing success. How do you recruit the top class talent from around the world to challenge as you would like?

Don’t get me wrong, I loved it when Abramovic turned up at Chelsea and upset the cartel. Every club should have the opportunity to get an investor and them spend their money how they see fit. But at the moment it’s just not the case.

All that Villa and Everton have is a desire. I don’t get any sense of a plan.

I'm not ignoring anything. You seem to be ignoring what I wrote, though! ;-)

The owners ARE investing heavily in our academy. One example is paying Barcelona £900k for Louie Barry, a Villa fan. You might remember his goal against Liverpool in the FA Cup last season. We won the FA Youth Cup last season, thrashing teams at will.

The odds, at present are stacked against us. To say there's no plan though, is just wrong.

Everton's big signing last season was James. Great signing short-term and a quality player. I shudder to think what wages he's on. Probably sees Everton as a step down, too, given where he's been.
We signed Watkins. Many rival fans thought £30m was hilarious. Young, hungry, desire to improve. Now an England contender. You couldn't get him for £50m now, imo.

The organic growth you talk about is already set in motion. A big reason for Villa fans' 'delusions'! ;-) ...Just fans of other clubs don't see what we're seeing, which is understandable.

 

[kaz7]

You're talking to another fan about 'slush money'? :-)) Behave yourself!

i notice you are getting plenty of digs in

 

[Sid McGrath]

i notice you are getting plenty of digs in

He started it! :-))

Have you noticed I'm getting more than I'm giving, also? :-)

I'm not here to 'cause a ruck', mate. It's all harmless from my pov.

 

[Tangled up in blue.]

Me too - except that reporting has now emerged that Grealish himself is having second thoughts. Reporting suggests that he's not comfortable in all out competition for starting spots - fearing that he may end up on the bench.

Who knows though how accurate this is? This sort of story does seem very plausible though.

If that story is true that he might spend some time on the bench, I can understand him having doubts about signing

 

[BamberBridgeBlue]

I'm not ignoring anything. You seem to be ignoring what I wrote, though! ;-)

The owners ARE investing heavily in our academy. One example is paying Barcelona £900k for Louie Barry, a Villa fan. You might remember his goal against Liverpool in the FA Cup last season. We won the FA Youth Cup last season, thrashing teams at will.

The odds, at present are stacked against us. To say there's no plan though, is just wrong.

Everton's big signing last season was James. Great signing short-term and a quality player. I shudder to think what wages he's on. Probably sees Everton as a step down, too, given where he's been.
We signed Watkins. Many rival fans thought £30m was hilarious. Young, hungry, desire to improve. Now an England contender. You couldn't get him for £50m now, imo.

The organic growth you talk about is already set in motion. A big reason for Villa fans' 'delusions'! ;-) ...Just fans of other clubs don't see what we're seeing, which is understandable.

Aston Villa U18 table - Football, England

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According to flashscore you finished fifth in the Southern league. But if you ignore the four teams in front, you were top.

I think it’s you who is ignoring not only what I write, but the fact that other teams are further on than Villa.

Care to elaborate on this plan Villa have then? You can see City’s. City Football Group, global scouting network, Manchester at the pinnacle and teams playing the same type of football with the best talent they can attract at each age level to finance the operation for profit or make it through to the first team.

 

[Big Yaya Wilko 12]

It's mental that all the City reporters seem to think he's coming and all the Villa reporters are adamant he's staying!

I wonder if Jack has told different people different things?

 

[The slaughtered lamb]

We signed Watkins. Many rival fans thought £30m was hilarious. Young, hungry, desire to improve. Now an England contender. You couldn't get him for £50m now, imo.

You could be undervaluing him even. Couldn’t see any of City, Chelsea, Liverpool or United coming in for him though like they would Grealish. Sometimes signings come off, sometimes they don’t but you need a lot of them to be better than the price you paid to do a Leicester. I can only remember Slimani and Andre Silva being comparative flops for them. Even so, after winning the league they lost Maguire and Mahrez to ‘bigger’ clubs.