Marcus Rashford - signed on loan (injured - out for season?)

[Drummond]

Steve Froggatt?

[cdbearsfan]

Not Blake.

Kenny Swain?

We have a winner.

[Dave]

It's a pretty well known player. Unless you have found someone very obscure that managed Man U under-13s and messed my stat up.

Sure, just had no idea he did anything in the England child setup.

Although it was clearly obvious enough to LeeB

[FatSam]

I was going to guess Dwight Yorke, because I thought he had some coaching role at Manchester Utd.

[cdbearsfan]

It's not impossible. But if he did, it ruins my question so shush. 🙂

[Simon Page]

I find it really hard to come up with reasons not to like signing a 27-year-old who's won a couple of FA Cups, a couple of League Cups, a Uefa Cup, has a 1-in-3 scoring rate across 10 seasons at the top end of the Premier League and in Europe, a 1-in-3 from 60 caps and done it all at a club where the spotlight is at its most intrusive and while that club gradually sinks in its own ego-fuelled ridiculousness.

I could cling to "sources say" space-fillers targeting a high profile celeb who refuses to wind his neck in on issues guaranteed to redden gammons, but all told I reckon I'm OVERTHEFUCKINGMOON at this signing. And I'm sure Villa will lend him the flat in The Mailbox if there are roadworks on the M6 in Staffordshire.

[Sexual Ealing]

I find it really hard to come up with reasons not to like signing a 27-year-old who's won a couple of FA Cups, a couple of League Cups, a Uefa Cup, has a 1-in-3 scoring rate across 10 seasons at the top end of the Premier League and in Europe, a 1-in-3 from 60 caps and done it all at a club where the spotlight is at its most intrusive and while that club gradually sinks in its own ego-fuelled ridiculousness.

I could cling to "sources say" space-fillers targeting a high profile celeb who refuses to wind his neck in on issues guaranteed to redden gammons, but all told I reckon I'm OVERTHEFUCKINGMOON at this signing. And I'm sure Villa will lend him the flat in The Mailbox if there are roadworks on the M6 in Staffordshire.

I agree with Simon Page.

[Dave]

I agree with Simon Page and Sexual Ealing.

[andyh]

I find it really hard to come up with reasons not to like signing a 27-year-old who's won a couple of FA Cups, a couple of League Cups, a Uefa Cup, has a 1-in-3 scoring rate across 10 seasons at the top end of the Premier League and in Europe, a 1-in-3 from 60 caps and done it all at a club where the spotlight is at its most intrusive and while that club gradually sinks in its own ego-fuelled ridiculousness.

I could cling to "sources say" space-fillers targeting a high profile celeb who refuses to wind his neck in on issues guaranteed to redden gammons, but all told I reckon I'm OVERTHEFUCKINGMOON at this signing. And I'm sure Villa will lend him the flat in The Mailbox if there are roadworks on the M6 in Staffordshire.

I wish I were so eloquent.
I completey agree.

[Brend'Watkins]

I find it really hard to come up with reasons not to like signing a 27-year-old who's won a couple of FA Cups, a couple of League Cups, a Uefa Cup, has a 1-in-3 scoring rate across 10 seasons at the top end of the Premier League and in Europe, a 1-in-3 from 60 caps and done it all at a club where the spotlight is at its most intrusive and while that club gradually sinks in its own ego-fuelled ridiculousness.

I could cling to "sources say" space-fillers targeting a high profile celeb who refuses to wind his neck in on issues guaranteed to redden gammons, but all told I reckon I'm OVERTHEFUCKINGMOON at this signing. And I'm sure Villa will lend him the flat in The Mailbox if there are roadworks on the M6 in Staffordshire.

When was the last time there wasn't roadworks on the M6 in Staffs?  With all the alterations for the HS2 around the north of the area we should also sort him an apartment out at the Belfrey.

[Simon Page]

Don't make him hang around with golfers. No-one deserves that.

Except Steve Hodge.

[Pat Mustard]

I thought the club had built/were building some accommodation at Bodymoor Heath anyway?

[LeeB]

I find it really hard to come up with reasons not to like signing a 27-year-old who's won a couple of FA Cups, a couple of League Cups, a Uefa Cup, has a 1-in-3 scoring rate across 10 seasons at the top end of the Premier League and in Europe, a 1-in-3 from 60 caps and done it all at a club where the spotlight is at its most intrusive and while that club gradually sinks in its own ego-fuelled ridiculousness.

I could cling to "sources say" space-fillers targeting a high profile celeb who refuses to wind his neck in on issues guaranteed to redden gammons, but all told I reckon I'm OVERTHEFUCKINGMOON at this signing. And I'm sure Villa will lend him the flat in The Mailbox if there are roadworks on the M6 in Staffordshire.

When was the last time there wasn't roadworks on the M6 in Staffs?  With all the alterations for the HS2 around the north of the area we should also sort him an apartment out at the Belfrey.

[Dave]

More Man Utd related than Villa, but still:

The Manchester United manager would find it neither “humiliating” nor “embarrassing” if Marcus Rashford were to rediscover his form and self at Aston Villa. After losing five of his nine home games so far it could be safely assumed that Amorim can simply no longer feel shame of any kind.

A Rashford renaissance would at the very least make for an unpleasant juxtaposition with his biggest of myriad problems. Only Leicester, Everton, Ipswich and Southampton have scored fewer Premier League goals than Manchester United this season and just Everton can be added to that number if looking specifically since Amorim’s appointment; he has done nothing to address their most glaring issue, and arguably exacerbated it.

He has tried to rectify things. On Sunday alone he sanctioned the exit of the 13th-highest scorer in the club’s history on the same day he named a midfielder as centre-forward for another goalless defeat after dropping almost £110m of centre-forward signings to the bench, all while a player purchased for £82m (Antony) put in a man-of-the-match debut for his new club.

Amorim did not bring these conundrums to Old Trafford but he absolutely inherited the Rashford, Hojlund, Zirkzee and Antony situations and has inspired precious little confidence he has a suitable answer for any of them.

But perhaps most damning of all were the post-match words of Glasner, who spoke candidly of how he told his players “there will be five, ten, 15 minutes to survive, where we will be struggling, because every team has this at Old Trafford,” but to retain trust in his plan after weathering that mild quarter-hour storm.

It was yet more stark proof of what everyone already knows: the only team who play with fear at Old Trafford in the modern day are the hosts.

[SoccerHQ]

I was more excited signing Coutinho. He was brilliant in the first five or six games. However I first watched him live at home to Norwich in April 2022 and was shocked how poor he was, ballooning shots over the bar and being off the pace against a side that was relegated that afternoon. Probably the indication we shouldn't have signed him permanently but we did and he's become a big financial issue.

However those were different times. Feels we needed to make that type of statement signing just to indicate to others we were targeting we were serious about competing as we were firmly bottom half at the time.

Rashford is joining a pretty experienced and effective squad. We need him to be a difference maker and I expect him to hit the ground running in league and cup given he's been bleating about doing double sessions at Man. United to get back into contention.

My main query is how he's going to fit into an Emery system as his best spells at Man. United were always in 4-3-3 counter attacking style and we just don't play like that anymore.

I don't think there's any guarentee this will work just because he wants to prove Man. United wrong. What he can't afford is waiting until April for him to adapt.