Christian Purslow - Resigned

[pablo_picasso]

It's difficult to reconcile an absence of ambition with our owners.

I am not saying that the owners don't have ambition.

But for the past few transfer windows we have had a very low net spend, all the while, the powers that be keep talking about "backing the manager", "funds available", etc.

My point is simply stop talking about it & show us.

And the summer has to be, simply 'must' be, where we take what we have saved & suffered for in recent transfer windows & show us that ambition that is so often spoken about.

Stop talking & show us...

[pablo_picasso]

I was thinking of getting opinions on JWP, I really don't see too much of him unless it's a free kick around the box. What position does he fill?. I would love to get the West Ham captain, though i expect him to go to a Manchester club.

He is a decent enough player, but stands out in a poor Southampton side. He can pass & strike the ball, but he is small & lacks mobility. If he didn't take free kicks well, nobody would care who he is.

Having said all that, one thing that is often spoken about by Southampton fans is that he does all his work as a deep lying playmaker, where they think he should be moved further forward to a more creative role. Im not sure whether this is bluster in the same manner that fans often say that the younger brother out of two is often the better out of the two, more often from a position of hope rather than expectation. Its a way of keeping hope alive when reality is taking it away.

But, Im not sure whether they are right or wrong.

Whether I would want him at Villa is another matter. Not really. We are already slow & small in a lot of areas across the pitch. And without fantastic technical ability to make up for the lack of size & speed, adding another would not help the balance of the squad.

And lets face it, he had his chance to join us & turned us down. So let him sleep in the bed he made. Whichever division that may be...

[kippaxvilla2]

If you close your eyes that would be Doug Ellis speaking without the words 'Preeeemier League' being said.

[OCD]

Not sure whether he did turn us down. I'm not sure how far we went with it. If we had bought him though, our net spend wouldn't have been as meagre as you say in your previous post.

On our spending, I'm not sure how much the owners believed in the managers. We spent the Grealish money (which had an impact on the net spend). Last summer, we didn't really back Gerrard that much and it makes me wonder whether they already had their doubts about him. He kept wanting players in their 30's which is a contradiction of the owner's philosophy. And Gerrard was never popular with the fans.

This summer will be interesting. They've got a high profile manager who's their man. If the talk of us being prepared to pay £45m for wide players had they been available in January, the signs are there that things will be different this summer.

[Jon Crofts]

I've never been that sold on JWP really. He's not a bad player and can take a decent free kick but it's interesting that he's not been bought by anyone else.

Lower to mid table PL player.

A Rory Delap variant.

[Chico Hamilton III]

https://twitter.com/bethrigby/status/1651479075129634818?s=46&t=fPyiXcae7CCzHj_x8UdphA

[LeeB]

Does sustainable mean  putting in £30 mil bids for Ward Prouse?

I've never been that sold on JWP really. He's not a bad player and can take a decent free kick but it's interesting that he's not been bought by anyone else.

Lower to mid table PL player.

A Rory Delap variant.

All fair opinions biut I think the joke was that £30m was never going to get Ward Prowse off them in a million years.

[LeeB]

I will also add that whilst I now would be looking elsewhere, he's a better player than he's being given credit for and is a victim of his own success in that regard as people dismiss him as free kick merchant.

[usav]

Beth Rigby interview.

[gpbarr]

Good interview but CP is wrong - the PL cannot stop itself falling beholden to the next big thing, just like it itself did to the old Division 1.

In a decade, the European Super League will be a reality - am sure it will be an incredibly bumpy and difficult journey full of legal hurdles and battles. But money will win - it always does. Look State side for what the future looks like - in 40 years since we won the EC the game has completely transformed itself - in 40 years time, the game will be unrecognisable from today.

[astonvilla82]

Good interview but CP is wrong - the PL cannot stop itself falling beholden to the next big thing, just like it itself did to the old Division 1.

In a decade, the European Super League will be a reality - am sure it will be an incredibly bumpy and difficult journey full of legal hurdles and battles. But money will win - it always does. Look State side for what the future looks like - in 40 years since we won the EC the game has completely transformed itself - in 40 years time, the game will be unrecognisable from today.

I  be hobbling down the Villa on my Zimmer frame to see the European champions then , still having my season ticket which cost me £500000

[VILLA MOLE]

Good interview but CP is wrong - the PL cannot stop itself falling beholden to the next big thing, just like it itself did to the old Division 1.

In a decade, the European Super League will be a reality - am sure it will be an incredibly bumpy and difficult journey full of legal hurdles and battles. But money will win - it always does. Look State side for what the future looks like - in 40 years since we won the EC the game has completely transformed itself - in 40 years time, the game will be unrecognisable from today.

I  be hobbling down the Villa on my Zimmer frame to see the European champions then , still having my season ticket which cost me £500000

You will still be waiting half an hour for a pie and pint so not all bad

[ChicagoLion]

Good interview but CP is wrong - the PL cannot stop itself falling beholden to the next big thing, just like it itself did to the old Division 1.

In a decade, the European Super League will be a reality - am sure it will be an incredibly bumpy and difficult journey full of legal hurdles and battles. But money will win - it always does. Look State side for what the future looks like - in 40 years since we won the EC the game has completely transformed itself - in 40 years time, the game will be unrecognisable from today.

I  be hobbling down the Villa on my Zimmer frame to see the European champions then , still having my season ticket which cost me £500000

You will still be waiting half an hour for a pie and pint so not all bad

They will have these robots trained to stair gormlessly, struggle to take the top off a bottle, wander off for no apparent reason and huddle together every now and then achieving absolutely fuck all.

[Brazilian Villain]

I  be hobbling down the Villa on my Zimmer frame to see the European champions then , still having my season ticket which cost me £500000

You will still be waiting half an hour for a pie and pint so not all bad

They will have these robots trained to stair gormlessly, struggle to take the top off a bottle, wander off for no apparent reason and huddle together every now and then achieving absolutely fuck all.

That's a long way off, let's just take it one step at a time.

[Hookeysmith]

Good interview but CP is wrong - the PL cannot stop itself falling beholden to the next big thing, just like it itself did to the old Division 1.

In a decade, the European Super League will be a reality - am sure it will be an incredibly bumpy and difficult journey full of legal hurdles and battles. But money will win - it always does. Look State side for what the future looks like - in 40 years since we won the EC the game has completely transformed itself - in 40 years time, the game will be unrecognisable from today.

I  be hobbling down the Villa on my Zimmer frame to see the European champions then , still having my season ticket which cost me £500000

You will still be waiting half an hour for a pie and pint so not all bad

They will have these robots trained to stair gormlessly, struggle to take the top off a bottle, wander off for no apparent reason and huddle together every now and then achieving absolutely fuck all.

That's what they have now