Reluctant Striker

Only 8 teams exit at the group stage. Only 2 of the 6 teams in 3rd place do not go through. It is still the mashing off Germany that was the bad moment for Scotland. They are at risk of being one of the unlucky 2, even if they get a 1 goal victory over Hungary.

Strange news that we're spending in June, when we're supposedly trying to sell this month.

One rumour is Villa were to receive a few million, plus McKennie & Iling Junior. But McKennie is wanting a big Juve pay off, or higher Villa wages.

Positive view: Serbia played like a team possessed in the 2nd half. Like it was knock out football already. England restricted them to one or two long range efforts. Negative view: if Serbia can take control of a match, in that way, for such a sustained time, pretty much anyone else can.

Much as expected. England dominating the match. I like the free roaming of Bellingham, Foden & TAA. Noticeable that Kane is not dropping deep. Perhaps under tactical orders not to. Guehi has looked ok. TAA nearly gifted Serbia an equaliser. I would like to see Mainoo & Gordon get on the pitch. Especially if it goes 2-0.

Mephis Depay must have good games now & then. He's played for 2 of Spain's big 3 since Man United. And his goal record in international football would be the envy of many forward players. But every time I see him live.. he just seems a bit Neal Maupay.

I just can't see us competing with the likes of Spurs, Chelsea & Arsenal for that sort of thing. Part of the problem with Villa is we just don't have that sort of fan base. A season ticket? A shirt or 2? That's about the limit for the vast majority. Unless they can attract in 'new' fans.

Football on TV has never quite been the same since Alan Hansen retired.

It does have much more of a pushy 2nd hand car sales man vibe..

England : because years & years of not really quite having a good enough team to win & that sense of being a former World Cup winner has faded to a deflation of multiple nearly but not quites (3 major semis & 1 final since 1966 now) And that deflation passes on to the latest footballing generation fairly quickly. Collectively fans expect the worst at certain moments & it's easy to imagine the players do too. And I honestly do not think we have the same national pride as much as many others, for whatever reasons that is. And if it goes to penalties we will sorely miss Harry Maguire.

Southgate was overly wary of him at the last Euro's. Was too much of a maverick back then for him to trust. I'm fairly sure he subbed Grealish on & then off at one point. Gordon is way more to his taste. I have read Southgate never got on with Lee Hendrie at Villa in the 90's. He was a Grealish type character too.

It feels interesting & promising that there is no Maguire, Phillips, Rashford or Grealish. Why should there be? I did feel Rashford & Grealish were likely to miss out. Gordon & Eze & Palmer are offering much more, in form. Not the way Southgate has usually gone, but I sense he will find Gordon's high tempo work rate very appealing. As a former CB. In terms of the CB's it would seem Stones on the right with Dunk or Guehi as the left sided option. Konsa is quality though. But always plays RB or RCB for Villa. And there is still a queue for those spots. Hopefully if we go to penalties Toney will be on early enough to not heap ridiculous 'specialist penalty taker' pressure on him.

The uplift probably does have a chance to pass the vote. I've read that 6 clubs are potentially at risk of Everton & Forest style points deductions, if they do not sell enough value before end of June. Under the current limits. Villa one of them. Others supposed to be Chelsea, Newcastle, Leicester, Everton (again) & Forest (again) Needs 8 of the other 14 to agree. If you take those 6 as certainties. Just wonder how significant the £30m could be exactly to Villa & others. Even Ross Barkley's £5m fee is set to go through in July. Just maybe the best plan for Villa is continue to build the squad for long term aims. Factor in to take any hit. Try to win a trophy, and just any Euro spot. It's already a long shot to maintain top 4. Really not sure selling big names offers the biggest benefit.

Man United & Liverpool are England's Real Madrid & Barcelona. Celtic & Rangers. River Plate & Boca Juniors. Man City & Chelsea are the modern money sides. They seem fairly unique to England. Perhaps PSG their most similar comparison? Other than that, it's mostly noisy banter. With a few clubs here or there having way more hype than they truly merit. At either ends of the country. While some clubs would have caused more wet knickers if they had done what Leicester & West Ham have done in the last number of years. Even Wolves, Bournemouth & Brighton too.

I would expect a few midfield signings by Villa. It is already the area with least depth. Plus a need to offload Dendoncker. And Kamara's 2nd long term injury into next season. Lots of rumours as to who will come in. And if someone big does have to leave Villa, the popular theory is that it could be Douglas Luiz.

There is a version around with a more 3D lion, complete with fur lines. It has been an odd few years with the badge thing. The round 1 was voted for by a select group of fans, and has retro appeal to older fans & those who have been raised on the stories. But seems many felt it lost the quite long standing modern era shield association. Plus plenty of neutral observations of it being a bit Chelsea. Who had gone with their round lion badge in the many years since Villa had last used that style. And supposedly was a very early choice of Chris Heck (President of Business Operations) to basically revert back to the old badge. I guess in the days of global commercial aspirations, brand familiarity has value. It is very much like the old 1, just the year founded & club name added back in. Again.

Well, in the end Villa did the opposite to West Ham. Lost out in Europe's 3rd tier competition, but secured a place in the top tier one for next season. Overall can not complain one bit. Unai Emery has worked small miracles since day one & hopefully he can continue doing so. I did however always imagine if Villa ever got 4th or better, we would somehow be in a position to sign blatantly elite players. To try & push on further. The reality seems to be continuing rumours of perhaps deciding it's necessary to sell a Jacob Ramsey, Douglas Luiz, Ollie Watkins, etc, etc. And our first incoming signing is being widely rumoured as 30 year old Ross Barkley on a free. Who has had a decent season. Had been rumoured for other clubs. But.. doesn't feel like a Top 4 signing. Hoping the club do find a way to build on the brilliant efforts of Emery & these players. That Buendia & Mings hopefully make full & successful returns next season. That the few youthful January signings can contribute. And of course that Adidas come up with a few gems of kit designs for next season.

It will be tough for them, but they have the potential to make the bottom half work a bit more. They were never the same after Ings left. Now they do not have Ward Prowse. And does feel it's been a while since they were finding van Dijk & Mane type players.

Being honest, for many there has been something of a comedy value to Chelsea struggling as much as they did. First last season. And then early in this. But, they went deep in cup competitions. And did fight back to 6th. Ok, it is 2 places down on what many would have expected. Before the season started. But, there were signs things were starting to improve. Getting rid now is in line with the YouTube analyst approach to signing players. I don't think the owners have intentionally reduced the club on the pitch. It's been an effect of listening to amateur noise.

The FA Cup final is in its proper place.

Palace are in great form. Read somewhere they have now scored the highest number of goals they have ever scored in a Premier League season. Just hope Villa are treating this as a post season friendly.. but they've been hanging on in this season for a while. Fascinating summer ahead. The rumour stories already picking up.

Still not sure what to make of Brighton. Ignoring the mainstream noise, certain clubs seem to be about trying to change the order of things. With Brighton, it does feel to me there is contentment around having got far as they have. Changing managers & significantly redecorating the squad is surely not always going to work. Yes, it has worked brilliantly for them. And how many sides below, in the Championship & further down would love to copy Brighton? But then realistically, how far ahead are they of the 7 sides below, more widely considered to be keeping a closer eye on the bottom end? I do think it would be brave if a 'big' club has gone in for De Zerbi.

Villa are good example that can make the argument either way. In one sense, it was viewed as highly unlikely to impossible for them to get ahead of all of Spurs, Chelsea, Man United & to an extent Newcastle. But, now they have, for this season at least, there is not really a pot of gold waiting. Stories still persist that even with Champions League football for next season, Villa may very well have to sell a big value player or 2. To balance the books. To bring in less proven replacements. Before taking on a Champions League campaign. And we have just seen the impact it's had on Newcastle. Who could miss out on any Euro football next season. Many years ago Champions League football did start the ball rolling. When clubs, fans, players, owners were all onboard with finishing as high as possible. Even when any actual league title was gone for another season. We did get 'the big 4' of United, Chelsea, Arsenal & Liverpool. Then Man City & Spurs tagged in, to slightly different extents. It will be interesting to see what comes of that new financial rule in a year or 2.

Definitely Pep is a very significant part of why City do so well. Yes, they chucked crazy money to get there. But you only need to look at Man United & Chelsea to see how it does not necessarily have to mean winning lots. If it isn't spent wisely. On the right players. To suit the right tactics. He has to playing a really crucial role in keeping City winning through multiple rebuilds. His departure is the light at the end of the tunnel. For some..

The league feels like it has moved on a long way from the days when a side like West Ham could potentially cause a final day panic. The same way QPR very nearly did on Aguerooooo day. I think Arsenal had a fairly slow start, or dropped the odd point here or there. It felt significant at the time. Even when there were 3 in the race, most knew City were the 1 side that would certainly be in it right at the end. But.. I am looking forward to Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, PSG, Inter, Juventus, or whoever. At Villa Park. With that music playing.