Ross Barkley

[PhilVill]

Urm, I'm fairly happy with this. He'll know he's not going to play all the time and know that one or two will always be before him on the team sheet. As a back up to Dougie, it's a great choice....

[Des Little]

Way too much overthinking going on here. Unai wants him, we’ll have done our due diligence and we are happy with the package we are offering him. I’ll back their judgement all day long.

[Risso]

I'm not sure it's *over* thinking, Des...

[Allan C]

Way too much overthinking going on here. Unai wants him, we’ll have done our due diligence and we are happy with the package we are offering him. I’ll back their judgement all day long.

All true, and as a few have mentioned we’re a different Villa now than the one when he was here last. I liked him up to his injury and like several others he definitely wasn’t the same after. Emery will improve him where Smith couldn’t

[Drummond]

I'm not sure it's *over* thinking, Des...

🤣

[Chris Smith]

Barkley is a player of undoubted talent. We saw it when he played for us, albeit with some dip in form after his injury.

Now, think of every player in our squad, and tell me any that have become worse under Emery, and then consider all of the players who have got better.

Then look at Barkley, who is English, cheap, and hungry to make up for lost time, in a stable team and club environment, where the team ethic thrives, the coaching is top drawer, and genuinely tell me there isn't a very high probability of him doing well for us.

His talent has always been way over stated for one. He was never elite or even approaching elite even as a young player at Everton. Over playing the ball was his speciality with zero workrate off the ball and a very suspect attitude. Found out at Chelsea and the subsequent flops with us and then Nice. Only the favourites for the drop last season were interested in him, that's how far his star had fallen. Credit him for a career turnaround at Luton...but it's from an incredibly low base and a single season.

Ireland and Nzogbia had a handful of decent games for us, their worst performances were on a par with Roscos. "Some dip in form after injury", Barkley's performances and lack of effort were a disgrace for most of his time with us.

Glad i'm not the only one being drawn in by this questionable  "Bedfordshire renaissance" mirage.

I don’t think it’s as black and white as that. Players (like people) can change and we’re not recruiting him to play the same position as under Smith. If we were looking to bring him in as a 10 I would absolutely be against it. But Barkley (a bit like Pogba) has always struck me as someone who has struggled to understand what their position should be. He seems to have found that at Luton which works with his physicality and attributes. And as such, he’s performed well. Performing well in a struggling side should also have the positive viewpoint in that it can be very difficult to do so and suggests something about the person involved.

All fair enough, perspective needed though, there's a reason why he has ended up at Luton and people need to look wider than his 2 mins Bedfordshire YouTube Highlights reel. Luton were awful, relegated, he played his part all of which gets glossed over on YouTube .

If we held relegation against a player we’d never have signed Tielemans.

[Mister E]

I'm a Barkley sceptic. I'm not sure what question his signing would answer and I don't think it will suit him to not be playing every week (his Luton experience was as a regular starter what he'll get a few minutes here and there with us).
However, qué Sera Sera.

[Olneythelonely]

He shined in the pile of manure that was Luton. He was crap at Villa Park when we played them and reckon will be equally shite this time as he previously.
Whatever is the question, Barkley is not the answer.

But the question is, who does Unai want to sign as competition in the middle of the park? Barkley seems to be the answer to that.

[Monty]

He shined in the pile of manure that was Luton. He was crap at Villa Park when we played them and reckon will be equally shite this time as he previously.
Whatever is the question, Barkley is not the answer.

If Luton were so shite, doesn't that make playing well for them harder? I mean, they were playing against the same teams as everyone else...

[chrisw1]

He shined in the pile of manure that was Luton. He was crap at Villa Park when we played them and reckon will be equally shite this time as he previously.
Whatever is the question, Barkley is not the answer.

What if the question is which relatively cheap versatile midfielder does our generational manager want to add to our really thin squad?

[pauliewalnuts]

But the question is, who does Unai want to sign as competition in the middle of the park

….. for not very much money given the extreme conditions PSR is forcing us to work under.

Surprised how many people are overlooking this.

I think this is a good signing, but a large part of the reason I like it is precisely because it’s one that we can make with barely any PSR impact.

[PaulWinch again]

But the question is, who does Unai want to sign as competition in the middle of the park

….. for not very much money given the extreme conditions PSR is forcing us to work under.

Surprised how many people are overlooking this.

I think this is a good signing, but a large part of the reason I like it is precisely because it’s one that we can make with barely any PSR impact.

Yep it’s a very obvious attempt to strike the balance of improving the squad and not hindering PSR further.

[ChicagoLion]

No player we sign is a certainty to be a success, this does represent a relatively low risk acquisition.
I was very critical of him when he was with us because I don’t think he was ever fit.
He has had a lifestyle change and I hope if he does join, he can operate with the same impact he had at Luton.
Perhaps continuing to not take the call from Greasy.

[TonyD]

I heard he was only interested in making the next Magic Mike film.

[pauliewalnuts]

This made me laugh.