Leon Bailey

[Footy-Vill]

Excellent when he came on against West Ham today. He looked sharp, fit, focused and his goal was sublime.
He was relaxed and He was smiling, . Well done, Leon! He appeared revitalised after being away Jamaica.
.

[Clark W Griswold]

Yep agree with all of that. He’s having a good season generally and just every so often he does something that you’d get from a world class player, like his goal today.

[VILLA MOLE]

He looks like he has beefed up abit ?

[Brazilian Villain]

He looks like he has beefed up abit ?

It's probably the rotis he had in Trinidad last week.

[Risso]

We just need to see it in away games. Superb goal today though.

[brontebilly]

Needs to do it consistently though, something he never has with us. Likely to start v Alkmaar so time for him to shine.

[lovejoy]

Yes needs to make the difference to matches not be the icing on the cake.

[Footy-Vill]

Interesting fact about Leon Premier League goals.
They have all been scored at Villa Park!

[AV84]

I mentioned this in the match thread but due to all the injuries, Bailey is the only player from last season that has been "dropped" from the starting 11. And I think his attitude to that has been great. Rightly or wrongly, people were pretty harsh on him when he did play earlier in the season, but he seems to have just knuckled down and done what's asked of him, when it's asked of him, and it's working for him and for the team.

It all seems to come back to that idea of the players buying what Emery is selling and I don't think Emery would be shy about getting rid of anyone who wasn't 100% on board with his plans. And so far, everyone seems to be on board.

[Dave]

A goal in the league every 75 minutes he's played.

I'd be getting a new contract his way before the end of the season.

[rob_bridge]

Pitch perfect for him yesterday and he done really well. Tiring defence who had put in a shift and he gave them another dose. Lovely finish too.

[tomd2103]

Looked like he meant business when he came on with his socks rolled down.  Great bit of skill.and a great finish for his goal. 

[amfy]

I mentioned this in the match thread but due to all the injuries, Bailey is the only player from last season that has been "dropped" from the starting 11. And I think his attitude to that has been great. Rightly or wrongly, people were pretty harsh on him when he did play earlier in the season, but he seems to have just knuckled down and done what's asked of him, when it's asked of him, and it's working for him and for the team.

It all seems to come back to that idea of the players buying what Emery is selling and I don't think Emery would be shy about getting rid of anyone who wasn't 100% on board with his plans. And so far, everyone seems to be on board.

His post match interview (with Dougie) backed this up. I was really pleased to see him saying something along the lines of ‘all of us in the squad know our role and are ready to play our part when we are called’
The arrogance we used to attribute to him seems to have slipped away and I think that is simply because being part of a good squad who are going places, feels a bit different to being benched when we aren’t very good!
It’s always been true that it’s hard to build strength in depth because no decent player wants to be a sub in an average or poor team. We are at the stage where we can bench decent players!

[Flamingo Lane]

I like him. From the moment he came on yesterday I kept on saying 'just get the ball to Bailey'.

[Dave]

I mentioned this in the match thread but due to all the injuries, Bailey is the only player from last season that has been "dropped" from the starting 11. And I think his attitude to that has been great. Rightly or wrongly, people were pretty harsh on him when he did play earlier in the season, but he seems to have just knuckled down and done what's asked of him, when it's asked of him, and it's working for him and for the team.

It all seems to come back to that idea of the players buying what Emery is selling and I don't think Emery would be shy about getting rid of anyone who wasn't 100% on board with his plans. And so far, everyone seems to be on board.

His post match interview (with Dougie) backed this up. I was really pleased to see him saying something along the lines of ‘all of us in the squad know our role and are ready to play our part when we are called’
The arrogance we used to attribute to him seems to have slipped away and I think that is simply because being part of a good squad who are going places, feels a bit different to being benched when we aren’t very good!
It’s always been true that it’s hard to build strength in depth because no decent player wants to be a sub in an average or poor team. We are at the stage where we can bench decent players!

Yup, all that. And in Bailey's specific case, coming on into a pumping VP atmosphere to run at a beaten team is going to be so much more fun (as he's been doing all of this season) than at 2-0 down and being expected to change the game like he has previously.