The news first came out in the Guardian, but it’s also being reported by Skysports and the Beeb, etc, so you’d expect it’s probably correct.
Of course, nothing is certain until it’s certain, is it? It was only yesterday that he was guaranteed to go, after all.
Of course, I’m massively biased in my views, but I do believe this is the right decision for the lad at this current time.
Yannick Bolasie sent a Tweet or an Instagram thingy that asked Tammy not to go with a picture of him having Tammy in a friendly headlock and you get the sense that the striker has got a great rapport with the rest of the Villa players, even though he’s only been with us for a few months.
Couple that with the fact that while I don’t think he’s anywhere near the finished article yet, he’s having a great season thus far.
As I suggested the other day, why would he want to leave?
There are of course, some good reasons though.
He’d be playing at a Premier league club for a start. But Wolves are going quite well and would Tammy be able to get much playing time there? You have to doubt it and substitute would probably be his usual position.
I do think we got a little lucky when Chelsea came out and said that the player wasn’t for sale.
I think that if Chelsea had wanted to sell the player, he’d probably have gone, as he’d have a much better chance of fighting for a place.
As it is, Tammy (or more likely his agent) has decided to opt for the status quo.
It was interesting to see that Abraham apparently didn’t train yesterday. Either he met the Wolves staff and asked for guarantees that weren’t forthcoming or Dean Smith just gave him the day off to have a think about it.
If it was the former, well, it’s to our benefit that we’ve still got him.
If it was the latter, we have a short term legend on our hands.
Either way, this is great news that I’m welcoming with open arms.
the general cenus was Leeds Norwich were just having a good start, but they both lasted sofar which is half the season. they both suffered dip in form lately but not too much of a dip.
watching Leeds like night, they are a decent team as we saw at VP, their work rate is incredible, they plan to out work the opponent in the first 20 mins of both half and they are not found wanting in the last parts of both halfs much.but each and one of their players come of the field having put in more than a shift.
just has they did against us they smothered derby from ever getting started, derby barely passes it for more than two or three passes. the way they hunt the ball in packs is something to admire and fear. this is the difference i believe between then and us. we could breach their defence like teams are breaching ours. but they don’t allow their defence to come under the same scrutiny as we allow our too.
i think they still might run out of juice, but the time they do they might already be too far ahead to be caught. for us i think without the ball we are not even close to the best team in the league and thats why we are in the position we are. hopefully smith will get them to up the tempo and teamwork . his teams are generally good like that,
wigan 0 villa 3 not too concerned with scoreline just a win, crisp packets the field will be full of them
Not lost at Wigan in 8 games (w5 d3). Wigan not won in 6 games!
Why do I fear those stats?
I’m trying to be positive; really I am!
i put us on coupon again like i did against swans other week,wigan are struggling big time, they are the small team that we normally struggle against. they will make it a cup final game.so we have to start matching these teams especially away.
stoke
swans
forest
wba
villa
gone for straight wins today
against wigan i expect a massive improvement from the swans game and on the first half of season. smith has to drill the team better without the ball like Leeds do. this is demoralizing for the opponent. saps their energy chasing the ball and when they get it back,you win it back quickly as you can.
teams like us and Derby we dominate the ball usually, but both didnt against leeds and its all down to their work efficacy off the ball. teams in premiership that are the best like city and pool, both are the best without the ball.
smith will have villa back on their winning game today, or we can kiss promotion goodbye and start building for next season. smith is the man and we need to give him time to implement his beliefs. i think he has already started on plans for next season and he hasn’t given up on this and he shouldnt because we are right there in the mix. just need to work harder off the ball
Villa team news
Villa: Kalinic; Bree, Chester, Elphick, Taylor; Bjarnason, Hourihane, McGinn; El Ghazi, Abraham, Bolasie
Subs: Steer, Whelan, Hogan, Davis, Hutton, Hause, Adomah
It is the strongest side we have fit and eligible. I hope Bolasie and El Ghazi improve on recent performances so Abraham gets decent service. We should win but we have to match Wigan’s workrate otherwise we might get unstuck. I’m going for a 2-1 win although anything’s possible with Villa.
Rumour in Billa underground that Kodjia was at Birmingham airport today. Is he being sold to fund new players?
Sid; Kodjia is the player I’ve most likely to be sold if we can get a good price for him. I’ve always thought that Hogan would be Smith’s preference at cf if Abraham isn’t available.
Interesting that he’s not in the squad today.
*thought most likely
Terrific save by our goalkeeper ,point blank shot from Windass . At the minute all over us.
That’s encouraging Bill!
Game changing fast, got more of the ball and creating chances,
Bjarnason elbowed in the goal mouth getting nasty now.we keep getting crowded out , I like our keeper. he’s keeping us in the Game. Goal with an shit,
I- 0 Wigan
Let’s forget it lads no way we will get up this year.
Why the hell didn’t Taylor slide in and clear the ball after the goalie saved….
Taylor made a few mistakes today, don’t know why he’s playing.
FWIW, I’ve been saying for some time that we don’t look good enough for promotion.
Smith keeps saying we’ve only lost once in 11 but how many of those did we actually win?
It’s like I said before, we are a poor team without Grealish. No shots on target!
I suggest we get Brenfords Manager, they are winning away at Stoke 2-1.
for those that cried last week will be fuming even worst this week, we can not string any passes together, there is a cross wind but its no excuse for the amount of stray passes. wigan are not even pressing to any great efforts.
too many players being carried. taylor and el ghazi for a accident in waiting on the same wing, none of them two can tackle or track their runners. if it wasnt for new goalie we would be 2 or 3 down, cant see smith being happy with that performance too
wigan really havent played that good and are a goal ahead, can only hope for improvement 2nd half. been a dull lack of quality
I wonder why he don’t see that Holte66, its been sticking out a mile.
Er – that sounds like a comment about our beloved former manager! Perhaps there’s something about managing Villa that dims the wits!
It’s a truism that no team should be so reliant on a single player that their results and, more importantly, performances, take such a huge dip. Even Barca with Messi had / has a range of quality attacking midfielders available.
It may be in the wider interests of the team to sell Grealish in the summer and reinvest the money to create a broader midfield base. I’m thinking James Maddison and Norwich here but there are other examples.
From reading the BBC stats we seem to be playing worse rather than better!
smith bringing all three subs on. not a happy chappy
Hitch, I don’t know if your watching the game if your not your blood pressure should be normal, this game is terrible Villa have no answer to what’s going on.Wigan are making monkeys out of Villa players a double change coming now for Villa Whelan Adohma, off Elfic off , Bjarnason off another change immanent.
No, not watching Bill. Drinking a large gin martini which is lovely. I did try being positive but I’m afraid I’ve given up on this lot. Honeymoon over for Smith – words, words, words not going to cut it. We are dire!
This seems like a pivotal game to me. If we win (as it stands) we’ll be in 7th and just two points behind Derby in 6th.
If we lose we’re still in 12th and looking like this season will be a dud.