Ross Barkley

[Ian.]

That’s sitting on the fence a wee bit with that tweet. Soon, like next match or soon like February?

I reckon he’ll be on the bench tomorrow or maybe even starting ahead of Bert to shore up the midfield a bit more.

Tomorrow?!

yeh I meant Friday. Getting my days all fucked up.

I haven’t know what day it is for nearly two weeks. Actually saying that, since March.

[PaulWinch again]

It’s a bit worrying that this period of unavailability is stretching out. Seems odd.

[CT]

I actually heard someone say it would be too risky to play him last night as it was so cold and potentially bad for his hamstring.

We'll see him in March then.

[Ads]

Smith saying Spurs. Sounds like he's not been match fit generally.

[andyh]

Smith saying Spurs. Sounds like he's not been match fit generally.

The only way you become ‘match fit’ is by playing matches.......see SJM.
He is either over his injury or he’s not.

[Risso]

Christ, a whole month after he was first supposed to be back. He's a great player but I'd suggest we see how he does the rest of the season before thinking about chucking a load of cash at a permanent transfer.

[Drummond]

The more this happens, the more I think it's a deliberate ploy by the club to be as vague as possible.

[eamonn]

How much was the loan fee, close to £10m?

[Luke8]

The more this happens, the more I think it's a deliberate ploy by the club to be as vague as possible.

Think this seems to be becoming more common with clubs now. I’m sure I’ve seen Tootenham fans bemoaning the fact that the club doesn’t put a public timeframe on player injuries.

[Lastfootstamper]

He was in his pants in the changing room in one of McGinn's christmas turkey videos, so it is a bit headscratching for there still to be no sign or word of him.

[Risso]

He's gone from being ready just after the Wolves game (12 Dec) to "he was very, very close to being involved against Palace" (26 Dec) to now maybe being ready for Spurs (13 Jan).

[Percy McCarthy]

Get Dele Alli in.

[Risso]

Get Dele Alli in.

That would be a statement of intent.  That kid had a very difficult upbringing which I think is part of the problem with him, so I think coming to a stable club like Villa would be in his best interests.

[Ads]

The more top half Premier League quality we have the better.

[OCD]

Maybe knowing there's a full week before the FA Cup game was a factor. He can do a full week's preparation rather than risk disrupting some of the side's momentum by coming in late as part of a week in which there were 3 games. Dean does speak about momentum a lot.