Ross Barkley

[chrisw1]

Petrov in his prime is one of the best I've seen , unbelievable player, then Barry came very very close. Tielemans will potentially go into the same bracket.

Petrov was decent, no more.  I liked the guy a lot, but the truth is his contribution and abilities got massively revised after he became ill.

I'm not sure why I'm engaging, your opinions on players seem so at odds with my own (and clearly a few others), if I didn't know better I'd say it almost feels like you are posting them for effect.

[brontebilly]

Prime Luiz or Prime Petrov is a good one

It’s to close to call for me

They are comparable as they had very slow starts to the Villa careers. Didn't Petrov take a fair bit of grief from the fans in his first season? Petrov was very good in a three with likes of Barry but struggled in a two from memory. Solid passer and good presence about him. Not much recovery pace.

I think Luiz was different class really in terms of his playmaking ability, getting the ball off the back and getting us playing up the pitch. Able to score and create goals. He's ahead of Petrov for me.

I think SJM might well have surpassed Gareth Barry last season in that best Villa team of last 25-30 years debate. Two lads well able to use their ass to shield the ball! It's a close call but SJM showed great versatility and quality last season to get us into the CL.

[john e]

Talking about these technical proficient midfielders of quality

I was always a massive fan of Gary Parker who I felt was a bit before his time when Mids also had to be physical and imposing, Gary was an artist but was viewed as luxury player back then and probably didn’t work hard enough
But has always been one of my favourites

He’d be running the show for in a Pep team today

[olaftab]

This Coming Back lark has been around so long now that I am thinking he’s been and gone…….again.

[VillaTim]

For me Petrov is ahead of Luiz , as is Barry. Luiz has been decent but he's flawed . Emery has decided to move him on as at this level we now need better.
Petrov and Barry played some great football , controlled games set the tempo , scored great goals and also captained and lead the team (Luiz is no captain).
I've enjoyed parts of the Luiz era but i lose no sleep with him going.

Also quite telling that no top Prem teams came in for Luiz .

[PaulWinch again]

Some of the errors of your analysis of Luiz have been pointed out previously Tim, but blimey.

[VillaTim]

Some of the errors of your analysis of Luiz have been pointed out previously Tim, but blimey.

Opinions aren't errors Paul . I've watched enough villa games to be comfortable with my opinion and we are selling Luiz and he's off to juventus rather than a top club , why is that ?

Fact also his sale price isn't as astronomical as some were saying . So I'd say all facts considered he is highly overrated by some villa fans , plenty I know aren't in the same camp . Good player yes but let's see what Emery / Monchi have in store now.

[PaulWinch again]

Juventus are a very big (and unpleasant) club. A few poor years doesn’t change that and without wishing to highlight the obvious Villa have achieved more with Doug in the side (i.e. top 4) than with either Barry or Stan. Now I’m not naive enough to say that Villa making 4th definitely means Doug is better than the other two, it’s clearly much more nuanced than that with a whole host of contributing factors. Nevertheless it’s not irrelevant either.

My personal opinion is that the level Doug hit in the first 6 months of last season was probably higher than what Barry or Petrov delivered. But I appreciate that’s subjective.

The argument around Unai being willing to let him go though I suspect is heavily influenced by what the player wants to do. Also I don’t know who else was interested, although Arsenal clearly held/hold an interest, but I suspect we’re much keener to sell abroad.

[Ian.]

He’s just winding you up Paul.

[edgysatsuma89]

Does anyone know any famous Tim's they like? I immediately think of Lovejoy, who I believe may be the most deplorable person in the world. Westwood? Prick. Allen? Not a fan. I guess there's Robbins, Roth and Curry, but I don't know much about them.

[cdbearsfan]

Would Timur be allowed? He was responsible for numerous massacres but, to be fair, I don't remember him ever promoting Jermaine Beckford or using the term "The Theatre of Dreams" unironically so... not all bad.

[Rory]

Does anyone know any famous Tim's they like? I immediately think of Lovejoy, who I believe may be the most deplorable person in the world. Westwood? Prick. Allen? Not a fan. I guess there's Robbins, Roth and Curry, but I don't know much about them.

I thought I agreed with you, but then I looked up 'famous Timothys' and can add McInnerny, Dalton, Spall, and Pigott-Smith. Added to Robbins, Roth and Curry, that's a decent number.

[eamonn]

Tim Friese-Green, who co-wrote one of the finest albums of all time (Spirit Of Eden, Talk Talk).

[edgysatsuma89]

Does anyone know any famous Tim's they like? I immediately think of Lovejoy, who I believe may be the most deplorable person in the world. Westwood? Prick. Allen? Not a fan. I guess there's Robbins, Roth and Curry, but I don't know much about them.

I thought I agreed with you, but then I looked up 'famous Timothys' and can add McInnerny, Dalton, Spall, and Pigott-Smith. Added to Robbins, Roth and Curry, that's a decent number.

I'm pretty ashamed at myself for forgetting about Spall and McInnerny in particular. It's actually pretty healthy. I still think they should all be sacrificed if it means Lovejoy gets immediately sent to hell for eternity.

[Rory]

Does anyone know any famous Tim's they like? I immediately think of Lovejoy, who I believe may be the most deplorable person in the world. Westwood? Prick. Allen? Not a fan. I guess there's Robbins, Roth and Curry, but I don't know much about them.

I thought I agreed with you, but then I looked up 'famous Timothys' and can add McInnerny, Dalton, Spall, and Pigott-Smith. Added to Robbins, Roth and Curry, that's a decent number.

I'm pretty ashamed at myself for forgetting about Spall and McInnerny in particular. It's actually pretty healthy. I still think they should all be sacrificed if it means Lovejoy gets immediately sent to hell for eternity.

I don't necessarily disagree.