Duran moves to the desert and the Dogheads on Sunday.

So Jhon Duran has got the move he, or more likely his agent, has longed for and signed for Al Nassr in the totally meaningless Saudi Arabian desert league.

There’s only one reason you’d want to go there and we all know what it is. Money. Boatloads of it.

I’ve seen talk of £300k a week as the basic wages. Get your head around that, just as I am as I type it. Let’s say he’s signed a 3 year deal. That would be just shy of £48 million tax free. While it’s easy to say that he’ll be a rich man wherever he goes or even if he stayed at the Villa, consider that he’ll only be 24 or so when that contract is done. Then the money is earned and he gets the choice of doing what he wants.

Seriously, would you turn that down? I’m not sure I could or would have, looking back at that age.

It is an odd one though. The Saudis are throwing money at all sports to try and improve their image, but when it comes to footy, they generally target superstars who are nearing the end of their career. Are they signing Duran because they believe they can keep him for many years or have they simply seen him as the big name throughout Europe over the last six months? If it’s the latter, we should be grateful just for that extra exposure he gave us, I suppose.

Whatever, while I quite liked Duran as a striker and much better finisher than Ollie, I have no qualms about him going.

To my mind he’s a petulant sort who will never be happy with his lot. I’m guessing that he caused Emery a world of grief with his moaning, which is why we’ve let him go. If Unai couldn’t control or mould him, I pity any other manager who has to try. On the other hand, he was seen handing out gifts to the mere low life staff in the tunnel after the Celtic game and that makes him much more my kind of guy.

While I think he’s made a mistake, where he risks his reputation (any decent striker can score lots in Saudi, surely?) I wish him well. Where he goes from here is a good question. I honestly believe that if he applies himself as much as he can, he’ll become another Harlaand and score loads wherever he ends up. But I’m inclined to think he’ll become complacent and just fade away.

The really big question is who are we looking to spend it on? I’m seeing loads of talk about attackers, but I don’t see it. Maybe one striker , but way more important are defensive players. We’re apparently interested in Rashford and I don’t see that either. Good grief, why would we? Yes, on song, he’s a great player. But he seems to have serious issues and I wouldn’t touch him with a bargepole. Then again, there’s been a few instances where I’ve thought Unai was wrong, but ultimately he’s doing a stunning job and you can’t argue with where we are.

Which is 8th in the Champion’s league table. I’m still struggling to get my head around that too. For a neutral, we’re brilliant to watch, but for a fan, we’re a nightmare. It’s a roller-coaster and while we play well at times, so we are awful at others, which leads to me being probably overly-critical. It’s just the frustration in not getting what we want and I guess that’s the difference between a fan and a more knowlegable manager who sees the bigger picture better.

And so onto the Dogheads tomorrow.

Again I’m laughing to myself, as it’s another where I don’t have a clue as to how it’s going to go.

Squad news first and Matty Cash will be out for around a month. If that doesn’t lead to us getting a Right Back in, I doubt anything will, I’ve said all along that I see this as by far the most important position that needs shoring up, but it hasn’t happened. I’m not convinced it will in this window either.

Tyronge Mings is apparently close to being available, but this game is too soon, which contradicts a report I saw saying we’ve underplayed his injury. Ross Barkley is still training on his own and is about a week away from rejoining the squad.

As for Wolves, striker Jorgen Strand Larsen is out and Joao Gomes is suspended after a red last weekend. Carlos Forbes is a big doubt and they have another three or four players unavailable.

Despite a good start under the new manager, Wolves have lost their last four games, with a GD of 1 for and 10 against, which would indicate that having a striker injured doesn’t make much difference.

This ought to be easy really, but it’s a game of jeopardy, where we’re a gift to any team on a terrible run.

I’m tempted to think we’ll tear the heads off those dogs and beat them soundly, say 3 or 4-1.

But I think we’ll look really tired again and will do well to get a win at all.

I’m going for a safe draw. 1-1.

And while I don’t think that is enough for a team aiming at CL qualification, I do think it’s about as much as we can expect if I’m trying not to aim too high. Hence I’d take it as better than nothing.

UTV!

345 Comments

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  1. Badger123
    Badger123 February 2, 2025 at 8:19 pm . Reply

    They’re discussing Ollie to Arse and quite rightly saying that there’s no way Emery would let both strikers go.
    But not a mention that they’d probably need to double the £40 mill offer before we’d even think about it anyway.
    Absolutely deluded, imo and I find it insulting.
    Emery has said that Ollie is happy to stay where he is, after all.

  2. Badger123
    Badger123 February 2, 2025 at 8:42 pm . Reply

    SSN saying Felix will not be coming to Villa.
    Chelsea want £60 mill and we won’t do anything like that.

  3. Tom
    Tom February 2, 2025 at 8:56 pm . Reply

    Yeah, I really feel we are getting this all wrong.
    An outfit such as a premier league club surely has 1,2 and maybe 3 or 4 realistic options for replacements in every position of the pitch that they continually monitor and are ready to pounce should either a replacement be needed quickly or it’s the right timing.
    Surely a healthy squad has 2 players every position with some versatile defenders, midfields and forward players who can play across their respective lines

    1. Badger123
      Badger123 February 2, 2025 at 9:11 pm . Reply

      Ideally yes, but at what level do you want those realistic options?
      We have them, if you think kids are good enough.
      But they’re not.
      And anyway, I don’t want back-ups.
      I want improvements in what we have already.
      But we can’t buy them because of PSR.

      I still firmly believe that the defence is more important than the attack, but it appears Unai doesn’t see it like that at all, which is crazy, imo.

  4. Alfie Ricketts
    Alfie Ricketts February 2, 2025 at 9:08 pm . Reply

    Thought Arsenal offered £60m for Ollie?

    1. Badger123
      Badger123 February 2, 2025 at 9:13 pm . Reply

      I read £40 mill and SSN just mentioned the same figure.
      It matters not. £60 mill is a piss take too, imo.

  5. Holte
    Holte February 2, 2025 at 9:27 pm . Reply

    It’s official! Rashford has signed on loan till end of season with a £40m option to buy. I have heard anything from 75% to 90% of his wages. The question is if he plays like the Rashford of a couple of years ago, can we seriously afford his wages without upsetting the rest of the squad?
    I have seen something about Nedeljkovic going out on loan to Leipzig with an option to buy. Is the plan to get rid of as many defenders as possible without any backup?
    Also Bailey to Manure possibly which will be a great addition to their failing team. Did anyone notice McGinn trying to get Bailey to his feet yesterday much to the annoyance of Bailey. I think Emery and probably a few others have had enough with the flake!

  6. Hitchens60
    Hitchens60 February 2, 2025 at 10:26 pm . Reply

    Re Bailey – I refer to my earlier post.

    We have signed Malen, Garcia and Rashford – if we sign Asensio and Disasi that’s five new players.

    We can only register three new players for the CL.

    Which three and will the other two be pissed off?

    Good fun this isn’t it 🙂

  7. Alfie Ricketts
    Alfie Ricketts February 2, 2025 at 10:39 pm . Reply

    Rashford is my kind of signing… a winger who is fast but also has the height to contend with the tall defenders in the Premier League. Was getting increasingly bored of being able to predict the outcome of most of our long balls, lets hope Rashford can change things up.

    From his social media post he looks ready and fit for Spurs on Sunday, but, let’s be honest does he even know what was written on that post, or was it his PR team.

    1. The Ron Saunders Stand
      The Ron Saunders Stand February 2, 2025 at 10:48 pm . Reply

      What, world class?
      Good ain’t it?
      But let’s not get too carried away, they don’t happen too often VP.
      We shop at Lidl not Harrods? 😁

      1. Hitchens60
        Hitchens60 February 3, 2025 at 7:52 am . Reply

        Lidl (and Aldi) sell some pretty good wine at reasonable prices.

        Only downside is they don’t mature very well 🙂

  8. Roy bracy
    Roy bracy February 3, 2025 at 12:28 am . Reply

    It looks .like emery has decided if can’t stop us conceding goals then let’s score more than opponents
    Play more attackers than defenders could be very exciting or a catastrophe
    Bit like Keegan with Newcastle of old.

    1. Hitchens60
      Hitchens60 February 3, 2025 at 7:57 am . Reply

      It’s a good point Roy.

      I don’t see Emery setting us up for clean sheets but the real issue has been conceding early and late. That’s something he needs to address.

    2. BFR
      BFR February 3, 2025 at 11:44 am . Reply

      It’s wrong if true and will get us nowhere. Emery played Watkins, Ramsey, Rogers and Bailey against Celtic. He can’t go any more attacking unless he morphs into Ossie Ardilles. The defence is the problem and if it’s not sorted, I fully expect the season to peter out. It’s been off from August. No excuses for not sorting it.

  9. Tom
    Tom February 3, 2025 at 7:58 am . Reply

    I wonder if after last nights result if Arsenal are bothered about signing a new striker now

  10. Bum Bum
    Bum Bum February 3, 2025 at 10:35 am . Reply

    Bailey linked with Spuds. That might be a good move…

  11. Bum Bum
    Bum Bum February 3, 2025 at 11:32 am . Reply

    French forward, Mathys Tels, 19 has been linked with a move to the Premier League with Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea or Aston Villa.

    What a difference. A few seasons ago we’d be competing for a player with Leicester, Wolves and Middlesbrough.

  12. BFR
    BFR February 3, 2025 at 11:41 am . Reply

    I’m not convinced at all. Concerned, in fact. He looks a mess in the press conference, like he hasn’t slept for a couple of days. Reminds me of Coutinho. He used to look super slick, clean shaven, sharp haircuts etc when he was producing miracles for Liverpool. The he turned into a scruff and it showed in his play. Dele Ali is another very similar case. If you dont feel good, you look shit – basic psychology.
    If he’s not right physiologically, there may be trouble ahead. I really really hope I’m wrong and I rate him. But…

    1. BFR
      BFR February 3, 2025 at 11:49 am . Reply

      I’m not the only one who thinks so. Just spotted this on social media:

      “That’s a bad photo of Rashford
      Honestly looks like he’s been on it all weekend and just rocked up to the photo shoot without any sleep lol”

      Shave and a haircut, minimum. The club should have demanded it. Not a good look and doesn’t bode well. I hope he showered. 🤦

    2. BFR
      BFR February 3, 2025 at 11:50 am . Reply

      *psychologically

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