I was in two minds about if I should start this one, but there’s hardly anything else to talk about and we know it’s going to dominate.
I have some very strong political views, but this is not the place and it’s a football site, simple. I’d like to think we can keep it Villa related, but that’s hardly going to happen, given our poor showing.
Let’s lay down a couple of rules, as much as it grieves me to dictate how anyone comments on here;
There can be no racism, as much as anyone might think the locals have called this wrong.
Likewise, there can be no talk of sex.
I’m massively annoyed about this WC, as it seems it’s been taken over by politics.
The fool who is in charge of that corrupt outfit that is FIFA has only made things worse, to my mind.
But I’d discourage any mention of him.
You can mention him if you want, but I’d be more interested to know what you think of Southgate’s squad.
FWIW, I think we’ll be knocked out at the quarters.
I just don’t think our players have the bottle to win anything.
And Argentina will win the cup.
Mainly because they just don’t do politically correct.
Shoot, I’m venturing into what’s not allowed, already.
I appreciate it’s tricky.
UTV.
Comments
420 responses to “The world cup thread: We know how it is, so keep it footy only”
God help up when we start off again, this has robbed the fans of money for nothing .,
Well, I wasn’t so keen on that second half.
Far too cagey and short, safe passing.
Boring and I don’t recall us creating anything really.
Luiz looked on his game.
Watkins and McGinn didn’t.
If that was a proper game, I’d have been fuming, as it was a great example of how to throw 3 points away.
Messing around with it at the back has me fuming and the only good thing was they did it more than us. Except we didn’t take advantage.
It was quite a feisty game for a friendly too.
Lots of shirt pulling etc from VR.
My eyes glaze over when I hear the likes of Dendonker and Augustinsonn being mentioned. I’m sure they’re good pros, but they’re journeymen and they’re not where we want to be imo.
You won’t see Unai signing their sort, I’ll bet.
“My eyes glaze over when I hear the likes of Dendonker and Augustinsonn being mentioned. I’m sure they’re good pros, but they’re journeymen and they’re not where we want to be imo.” –
Badger, you’re 100% spot-on; the same could be said for Olsen, and I’m also begining to suspect, Watkins…
These are pro’s who make up the numbers in the squad, and I’d guess that Emery will have seen enough of them by now to realise that recruitment needs to go up a division!
I wouldn’t waste time on Watkins no more,had his day and not impressed in his work as a footballer. As for that game people should sue the club on the fact that it was just a day out for the football players, disappointing game in many departments if that had been a league game I would be seriously worried about the team in General. No excuses they was not playing to win ..
Arsenal should buy Watkins as Jesus’s replacement. They can have him for £35m.
Looks like Villa are going to report a profit over the last 12 months.
I knew our spend was quite low, but that’s a bit of a surprise, even bearing the Grealish money in mind.
Does that mean a really big spend this year then, I wonder?
Congratulations to our very own Emi Martinez!!! Wow!
I really don’t understand how a football club manages its finances. To blow millions and millions on players that flop, only to sell them on at a dramatic loss is unfathomable. You just never ever know how a buy is going to perform. Look at how Coutinho flopped at Barca for all that money but Salah excelled at Pool for next to bothing…Such a gamble. Glad I’m not a football club billionaire!!!!! I’d be broke in 6 months.
One thing i do know, I’m bloody well looking forward to the boxing day match!!!!! And Spuds!!!!
Lol.
As is everyone else, I suspect.
Buying players is just a massive gamble, I agree.
Has Grealish proven to be worth £100 mill?
Even if you rate him as much as Villa fans do, that’s been disastrous up to now if we’re being honest.
Why does Messi do nothing for me? I know it’s irrational but I can’t abide the guy. Really hope France win tonight, despite knocking us out. I do feel for Harry Kane. That pen will be remembered forever.
On another note, I get the feeling we’ll see 3 top drawer players come into Villa January. Mainly to improve our central defence and goalscoring record.
I’ve always preferred Messi to Ronaldo.
Messi just seems a lot more humble and I read an article yesterday that said it’s his missus who sorts his image out, as he’s not particularly interested.
I admire Ronaldo for his skill and athleticism, but he just seems a bit of a peacock to me, the way he acts.
I think they’ve both been supremely good for the game.
Players in will be interesting. I think we could do with strengthening in all areas, although Emery might well be justified in wondering what all the fuss and moaning was about, hence thinking we don’t need that much.
Which just re-emphasises how bad a manager Gerrard was for us.
What a world cup, astounding match it will be a sad day for some it’s now penaltyshoot out .
So Martinez wins the WC.
What a final.
If I didn’t know better, I’d have said they were playing that as in a script.
And what a screenplay it was.
What an epic Final! What a Keeper!
Is Martinez now the best keeper in the World?
That’s debatable. But he is now the most expensive keeper in the World.
Having won the Golden glove, he has to be up there, you’d think.
The first Villa WC winner.
Well done Emi.
The way he took that statue and held it like a penis made me laugh.
They do say goalkeepers are nutters lol.
Reminds of the old joke…
I knew a fella with 5 penis’s.
How did his pants fit?
Like a glove mate.
😁
Emi martinez is the best Kevin the world and has just won the world Cup for Argentina absolutely brilliant
Better than Keegan??
😂😂
( Autocorrect, don’t you just hate it?).
Haaa Rss thanks for correcting me doh predicted text eh
Best keeper in the world that save at the end amazing even Kevin said so haa
Martinez – the best keeper in the World?
There has been speculation as to whether we’ll be able to keep him. I’d like to think he will repay a debt of gratitude to Villa in believing in him – and become a Villa legend alongside such revered names as Mortimer, McGrath and Spink (yes Nigel Spink).
If he does decide to move on I’m sure NSWE will wring every last £10m out of the transfer to show a significant profit on the deal.
Grealish first £100m English transfer; Martinez – new World record fee for a keeper?
Either way it’s a win win situation – and we haven’t had many of those over the years.
UTV
Martinez is definitely IMO one of the best goalkeepers in the world at this current time. I’d say in the top 10 for sure. That save in the last few seconds of extra time was stunning and possibly save of the tournament for me. Like Hitch says, win win if he does decide to go because we will get top money for him now. The problem is, good goalkeepers are hard to come by, the last really good keeper I think we had was Friedel, 11 years ago now! and Olsen doesn’t fill me with any confidence at all. I personally wouldn’t accept an offer for Martinez, unless it was something ludicrous in the scale of Grealish.
Trouble for Villa is that after a major tournament, whichever Villa player has done well, larger clubs cherry pick them.
I really hope we do not loose Martinez. However, if we do I would expect his World Cup heroics to have added substantial value to any transfer. I’m just a little concerned about speculation that Juventus need a keeper and Vila are interested in a 31 year old from Spain (can’t recall name).
Only time will tell. Also, I know Badger you don’t go for transfer speculation, especially as Villa tend to keep their cards close to their chest.
Aren’t there rumours of history between Unai & Emi from back in their Arsenal days?
As much as I don’t want to see him go if you were put yourself in Unai’s position (and supposing there was some foundation to the rumours) then maybe you’d cash in while his (Emi) stock is high?
Rumours, rumours – who knows in the confused, murky world of football!
Whilst we could cash in on Martinez, I think he’s worth far more to us as a team, as a club, as a icon.
Sid,
I actually do take a bit more notice of the speculation lately, but it’s usually only to laugh it off as a total joke.
I don’t think Martinez will be going anywhere.
It was only five minutes ago that he was saying how happy he is at and appreciative of, the club.
He might seem a bit brash on the face of things, but when he went to console Mbappe, I think that told a lot of the truth about him.
While I do expect him to be ambitious, I also expect him to give us at least another season or two, not least because I think he’s an honourable bloke.
RSS,
yep, rumours and that’s all they are. Totally overblown, just as the media likes it.
I can’t remember the exact quote I read, but the relationship was apparently nothing like toxic.
I’d be heartbroken if Emi left. More so than Jack.
Emi is a one off superstar. Love the guy. We need more characters in the game and I’m not talking about David Bentley…
Emi has come on leaps and bounds since he was with Unai at Arsenal. Unai will clearly be able to see his qualities.
We have a big game on Monday – I assume Emi is in Argentina – will he back and fit to play?
Olsen v Liverpool – the stuff of nightmares.
Agree about Olsen, but even if Martinez’ body gets back in time, I’d imagine his head will still be elsewhere!
I didn’t realise Emi has lived in the UK since childhood. Was touted as England goalie apparently.
Daily Mail claiming Bailey may be on his way out. What? Considering his recent performances? I don’t think so. He’s just getting going!!
Reports are saying that Martinez will be staying in Argentina for a while yet, which would indeed mean Olsen in goal.
That’s really not good, but I don’t begrudge him taking in every drop of the win.
Bailey going?
I haven’t read that and won’t even bother.
If I had to guess, I’d say he is one of the players who has impressed Emery the most, so it won’t be down to him if Bailey does go.
Actually, I’ve just had a look to see what the story was about, but I can’t find it.
It’s just bullshit Daily Mail rubbish…I’ll see if i can find the article.
It looked like it was written by an intern…
Great news that the stadium redevelopment plans have been given the green light; long overdue.
Now let’s hope they can sort the traffic and train issues while they’re at it…
What’s the point in improving the trains? They’ll only go on strike again!!!
Talk of Martinez possibly leaving because we have a clause where we have to “evaluate offers from top European clubs if they arrive in the coming months.”
Bayern are possibly interested, although there’s no way they will be able to afford him.
And what does “evaluate” mean anyway?
Think about it and then say no?
Absolute rubbish, imo.
I see the French, poor losers and arrogant winners are at it again.
They’ve raised a petition (200,000 signatures according to The Mirror) to have the WC final replayed because, apparently, neither of Argentina’s first two goals were legitimate (they did the same when Switzerland knocked them out of Euro 2020 on penalties).
The French Football Federation have also lodged a formal complaint over Emi’s antics during the game and his post match behaviour.
You have to laugh 🙂
How important are results in the mini pre season friendlies?
We won one, lost three and drew one – the only win coming against a very young Chelsea side in Dubai in the something or other Cup!
Rather different to the pre season friendlies under Gerrard, the results of which which didn’t reflect the abject performances when the real action started.
Will it be different this time around?
Martinez and Ramsey definitely not available for Liverpool and, it would seem, neither is Olsen fully fit.
When you add our recent poor record in Boxing Day fixtures, I have to say that I’m not feeling overly confident.
UTV