Reluctant Striker

It is a bit weird with former star players. Dalglish became Liverpool player-manager, which was reasonably fashionable in the 1980's. Lampard got the Chelsea job, twice, via not getting Derby promoted & struggling at Everton. Terry has not been considered after being only assistant at Villa. Ole was Man United manager, but not a Neville or Steve Bruce or Mark Hughes & likely not Rooney. And it seems unlikely Kompany will be taking over from Pep. The former players may well all be keen to manage clubs they played for, but perhaps need that bit of luck, to be in the right place at the right time. If Gerrard had just won Rangers a 1st title in years, he would be right up there as a big favourite.

Plenty of replays this round. But, if Villa can get past Chelsea in a Villa Park replay, that's about as good a draw as you can get in the Last 16. Home & avoid certain clubs.

It is a really bitter derby. The Sunday 11:45am kick off spot for it is a joke.

It was more blatant hand ball than one disallowed on Friday.

Huge news. Before Klopp the club was basically a slightly more winning version of Spurs. Cup wins of all kinds, yes. League titles, well beyond them. It has been purely his management & coaching that made the difference. And it almost feels like more than 1 title, to have taken Man City so close however many other times. Pushing each other & the title to crazy levels. I would be surprised if they drop Man United style. But, it needs a good appointment. And even then, does Salah decide it's time for him to call an end to his Premier League years? Any other older big names? Xabi Alonso with assistant Gerrard?

Leander Dendoncker to Napoli on loan, with option to buy for around 10m Euro's. Good business, and rumours are Villa academy product Tim Iroegbunam could be set for that 3rd DM spot in the squad. If McGinn & Tielemans are not dropped back there. Kosta Nedeljkovic as an 18 year old right back with a high bar protential from Red Star for undisclosed, but mooted to be around £10m, also seems smart business. Via one of the numerous fan-podcast shows on YouTube (UTV) I encountered a finance expert suggesting Villa's typical match day revenue is around £16m. While Man United's is around £130m. Among many other mind boggling gaps with numerous clubs. He was also critical of the choice to not redevelop the North Stand (the behind the goal that isn't The Holte End) An alternate show (Holy Trinity) suggesting that maybe some faith should go toward the owners & the staff they are setting in place. But, I do remember the Randy Lerner years. I was buzzing as we assembled a midfield of Young, Milner, Barry, Downing. To see them all sold on, as we apparently hit a wall & replaced them with Charles N'Zogbia, among other significantly lower quality players. The financial stuff is a worry. Whichever way you look at things. In terms of a season like this becoming an expected & regular thing. Which for many fans, is the objective. And a return to a living memory.

Gk: Killer Whale Defence: Cheetah, Rhino, Hippo, Leopard Midfield: Zebra, Basking Shark, Lion Forwards: Ostrich, Great White Shark, Dolphin

MacAllister can play DM. But he seems totally wasted there. Can't help but feel he would be making lots more of the more advanced opportunities to create chances. He's by far Liverpool's best passer.

I thought Danilo just made good calendars, but can score decent goals too. The Forest kit is bad. Not just generally to look at. Why do so many change kits seem nearly as much a clash as the 'home' kit?

Brentford vs Forest has an Ivan Toney winner or hat trick written all over it.

It does feel like the top 3 are emerging. Somehow still only 2 points off the top, for now, but when you look at the top 3, I'd definitely take 4th & a trophy or 2..

Its under my radar whatever that is all about. But I'm not sure about it being weird. If I was living in a nation that has different religious 'origin' holidays, I imagine I would take part in whatever the national festivities are. Not sit at home pretending it was just a regular day. Just the same way I wouldn't just ignore Thanksgiving, in America or Canada, if I was there & any Independence days. For me, I think it's much more weird to be living in a nation & going all Ostrich in the sand.

Seems it's just waiting on the medical, actual signatures & publicity photos. Exactly the kind of Right Back signing I had pencilled in as ideal January business. Supposed to be very highly rated. Should be happy coming in to potentially support Cash & Konsa, to begin with. But with the potential to improve the position, in time. Or quite rapidly. Just need a similar DM type signing. And perhaps greedily a first team ready forward of some kind. On FFP, could very easily see Calum Chambers, Leander Dendoncker, Bertrand Traore & maybe even Jhon Duran free to move on to any interested buyers.

Duran has plenty of potential. But increasing signs of a temperamental attitude.

I think there are 3 options ahead of him: A) International management, where Mancini, Roberto Martinez & Southgate have all had prestigious jobs in recent times. B) a few more clubs somewhere that are just off the very top, but I can't see him enjoying a transition to being Roy Hodgson. C) big pay days to new audiences perhaps in MLS, or Saudi, or wherever. A feels like the only option he could add to his CV.

No way should Everton be punished any further. Perhaps at most, a token fine & agreement that the stadium situation & changes of rules has in some way contributed. Anything else starts to look like the club is being pushed out the door. And the rise to £218m sounds good. Perhaps giving the extra inflation room to play with, that clearly is not there for clubs to attempt to rationally try to improve their standing, toward the higher end of the league.

Certainly always seemed like something OTT about how Forest did things. I mean, yes, they do have 2 Euro stars. So someone at some stage was going to be attracted to spaffing crazy money around on them. And my club had to sign up a bunch of players to fill out the squad, 1st season back. e.g. Mings & El Ghazi being signed up perm, having been a Championship loan, etc. But, Forest did feel like a level beyond that. They really should have had a few more Matty Cash (signed for Prem Villa from Championship Forest) level players to give a Premier League try to.

Yes, a horrible match to watch. A few almost moments. But mostly just a poor quality & bad tempered jostling match. For Villa, I do feel confused by the overload of Bailey & Diaby on the same right side. If we start both, I'm not quite sure what any genuine tactical reason would be that 1 can not play off the left & look to put balls in for Watkins, the other & supporting midfielders.

I always had conflicting feelings on Chelsea & Man City. On one hand, yes, Villa had an owner that could not get close to keeping them anywhere near. But, I did also appreciate the something different quality of the Lampard - Terry - Mourinho Chelsea. And the Aguero (ooooooooo) of Man City. I resented the weakness of my club, lots more than other clubs good fortune. So my complaint was never about Chelsea & Man City somehow being invalid to be doing what they were doing. In perhaps a way that some clubs who remained around them perhaps did. But the more we hear of FFP, the more it feels it does a better job of keeping perhaps a Brentford or a Palace or a Brighton or Bournemouth or whoever, from being totally blown away by a Saudi funded Newcastle, or a Villa, with ambitious Egyptian & American owners. But for me, it should do an equally good job of allowing Newcastle & Villa to look at staying ahead of others. This could be the 2nd consecutive season Villa finish ahead of both Chelsea & Spurs. Perhaps the 1st Champions League qualification or 1st trophy win since 1996. But, FFP could still decide it would be unfair to sign 3 x £30m+ players without selling someone to balance the fair play books. That just starts to feel like a 12 year is making up Monopoly rules based on what they need to win.

I read about the Coventry signs thing on the freshly confused BBC website. (why remove current days fixtures & league table from the football home page??) It's definitely not right, things like that, when any clubs 'fans' take digs about other clubs disasters & tragedies. It's up there with the attacks on away teams coaches. It might be the closest Coventry get to a derby, and the idiots really do go that bit further, at any club. What it really needs is Coventry fans condemning it.

I got to watch a fair bit of the Coventry - Leicester match. The red card seemed very much a leveller from the ref. The penalty, just a few minutes earlier, had perhaps been harsh. To me, the penalty seemed more of a natural collision than foul. Then the red is a yellow most times you see a strikers tackle like that. I imagine Leicester will feel done over by the ref. But, even still, Coventry did really well to use the man advantage & do look to be in the play off race.

Yes, something in FFP just is not set up quite the right way. Everton deducted points. This story of how Newcastle may have to sell to buy. Similar story a few days later on Villa. Surely the rules should give clubs like them every chance to mix things up. If there are issues with any of these kind of clubs buying 2 or 3 going rate players, for £100m+, no way should others get to splash another £500m+ in 1 season or window. I think more & more people are seeing something is clearly broken - out dated - wrong. Hopefully something is adjusted.

On none English nations, I would say: Germany: Matthaus, Beckenbauer Holland: Gullit, Cruyff Australia: Viduka, Kewell Italy: Maldini, Baggio France, Mbappe & Zidane Sweden: Zlatan, Brolin Denmark: Peter Schmeichel, Laudrup Spain: Iniesta, Villa (for his goals, 1 tikka takka is enough for anyone, so Xavi misses out) Argentina: Maradona & Messi (easiest of all nations!) Portugal: Ronaldo & Figo (fairly easy too) Brazil: Fat Ronaldo & Pele Republic of Ireland: McGrath, Keane

Sad for Castore. But it was a ridiculous problem & terrible look for a company trying to build up an image. Not sure they recover & grow as a football kit option. Apparently Newcastle are exiting their Castore deal too. But, years after deciding it was never happening, I do look forward to seeing Adidas design 3 stripe claret & blue Villa shirts. And all the away, 3rd, keepers, training tops, etc. Hope they put some effort in.

I'd suggest perception of Keegan is effected by his 1972 - 1982 era. Similar for the likes of Trevor Francis, Ray Wilkins & Trevor Brooking. England did not qualify for 74 or 78. And 82 was underwhelming. So, yes, the 1966-70 players are obviously more highly talked of. And the 86-90 players. Even the 'Golden Generation'. Which actually was not.