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Danny Ings has moved to Villa for £25m. Good business for all seems to be the chorus coming out, but I think Southampton are going to have trouble replacing those goals. They better hope they get this right otherwise they might be struggling, especially if reports that Ward-Prowse is a wanted man, too. Those of you who've been on this site long enough might remember just how much I like and rate that guy. Would still like to see him at United. He'd be a great squad player to have and keep the pressure on those around him for their place.

Villa already have paid £25m for Leon Bailey from Bayer Leverkusen, so any Villa fans still not coming to terms that Jack's off must surely have to agree now? If Bailey is anything like the player from FM18 he'll be a great signing.

I see La Liga is doing its best to keep Messi in the league.
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5-time MoFo Award winner.



I see La Liga is doing its best to keep Messi in the league.
And now that La Liga has shown how desperate it is, Barca have applied pressure and 'suddenly' can't afford Messi.



Danny Ings has moved to Villa for £25m.
Aston Villa. My hometown.
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I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.



I don't know if it'll work out for the best or end up being a mistake, but it's exciting to have him back. That said, there are three downsides as I see it.

1. Never go back.
2. The last time we did this to City it didn't turn out well at all.
3. It wasn't the plan and I'm a big fan of plans.

Some say it's also blocking the path of Greenwood, as well as making Cavani a spare part. I can see the argument for both views, but surely if you can get Ronaldo instead of Cavani, you do and the benefit having Ronaldo and Cavani to learn from for Greenwood is about as good as it gets for a young striker?

Also, and this is really going into speculation and conspiracy theory stuff here, next season Haarland is available for £75m. We don't have a good relationship with his agent and his dad played for both City and Leeds, both those reasons were why I never believed that he'd come to United last summer and wouldn't expect him next summer, even if he has a good relationship with OGS. But Ronaldo is his hero. It's the player he adores and who he has modelled himself on. The chance to come and play with his idol for a season might be enough to make him decide to spend the next few years (at least) at United. If that happens then almost anything that happens with Ronaldo at United will have been worth it IMO.



I don't know if it'll work out for the best or end up being a mistake, but it's exciting to have him back. That said, there are three downsides as I see it.

1. Never go back.
2. The last time we did this to City it didn't turn out well at all.
3. It wasn't the plan and I'm a big fan of plans.

Some say it's also blocking the path of Greenwood, as well as making Cavani a spare part. I can see the argument for both views, but surely if you can get Ronaldo instead of Cavani, you do and the benefit having Ronaldo and Cavani to learn from for Greenwood is about as good as it gets for a young striker?

Also, and this is really going into speculation and conspiracy theory stuff here, next season Haarland is available for £75m. We don't have a good relationship with his agent and his dad played for both City and Leeds, both those reasons were why I never believed that he'd come to United last summer and wouldn't expect him next summer, even if he has a good relationship with OGS. But Ronaldo is his hero. It's the player he adores and who he has modelled himself on. The chance to come and play with his idol for a season might be enough to make him decide to spend the next few years (at least) at United. If that happens then almost anything that happens with Ronaldo at United will have been worth it IMO.
Can you believe the earnings of these footballers? It’s staggering.



The £75m is the fee paid to the club, though if he signs a 5 years deal I'd guess that he'll probably earn about that in that time. Plus the signing on fee he'll get next summer may well put him over that. The truth is though that he's worth a lot more than that right now.

I'm not really bothered about what the top players earn. There's so much money in the game and I'd rather the players got a decent share of it than the owners, for the most part. The problem (as I see it) is the trickle down effect which inflates the wages of lower league players to levels the clubs struggle with. Also, agents fees are outrageous.



This Ronaldo situation just shown how a cancer to football his agent is. He should be arrested, and he will be arrested when a football scandal break trough, when people decide to ask questions about money laundry and agent fees. About Cristiano, good marketing, nothing else. Juventus actually believed he could make a difference, he doesn't. He scores/scored insane amount of goals in the proper teams.



Losing to Young Boys could be a real problem with this group. We can only hope we're not the only ones otherwise we may have to win the rest to qualify. Maybe it'll be the opposite of last year? Great start last year then threw it away and didn't qualify. If we reverse that then it'll all work out OK. Still, not pleased with another away loss in Europe even if it was with 10 men.



Jarred Gillett is going to be the first referee from outside the British isles to referee a Premier League match this weekend (Watford v. Newcastle). Here he is mic'd up at his final A League match a couple of years ago (I love this kind of inside view stuff):



Jarred Gillett is going to be the first referee from outside the British isles to referee a Premier League match this weekend (Watford v. Newcastle). Here he is mic'd up at his final A League match a couple of years ago (I love this kind of inside view stuff):
So where is he from?



So where is he from?
Australia. Well regarded there, I gather, but we'll see what English fans make of him.



I didn't see the United game, but any loss to Villa is a bad sign unless we battered them for 90 minutes and the football gods weren't on our side. I doubt that was the case today judging by our recent form and the fact we missed a penalty. While even I wasn't expecting a loss, I wasn't completely confident of a win (even though it was Villa) because we're just not at it atm.

I still think United can/will be in the title race but I mean by that we'll be among the runners (unless there's a runaway leader) not that we'll be a genuine contender. We still don't have the squad to match City (or probably Chelsea) but I do think we have a first team which, staying free of injury, could be good enough to make a run of it. But not with this manager. The team is progressing but the manager isn't and his backroom team doesn't seem to be helping him enough to make up the shortfall in quality. After a bad first half United are usually good enough to make the adjustment and get control. That's not happening atm. I know they gave him a new contract but, surely, if nothing comes this year it's got to be OGS last at United? We're already out of one cup (though that team was the definition of a 'rest the first team/show me what you've got' for the fringe players) and I think OGS knew that, even if he did win that cup, with the team he now has that would be a hollow victory at best and not really something he could point to as a reason for him to stay. So while I've heard some get angry at being out of it, I think it was a calculated gamble OGS took and one in which he didn't have a great deal to lose in the long term.



Moments like this cover up a multitude of sins.



Was a great moment though. I was just shouting "THAT'S WHAT HE DOES! THAT'S WHAT HE DOES!"

If you want a better overall view of how fortunate we were



Best goal of the game at 4:32. Superb strike.



Thanks for letting me know @Stirchley. I thought that might be the case but gave it a shot.

Just watched todays game and it's pretty much the same. Individuals trying to do something to win a game. Looked a little more organised (certainly than Wednesday but we had a midfield this time) but it's still falling apart in the final third and there weren't many clear cut chances for us. The Everton goal was a good goal, but it shouldn't have gotten to that point for it to happen. I thought a draw was most likely from when I saw the team sheet.



Surely this has to be the end now? Or the begining of the end? I still think he'll be there until they can't qualify for CL or maybe they'll just give it till the end of the season? It's like being abused now. You accept the beating and carry on, numb, because you know there's no end in sight.



Wow. I really am the only one who cares on here, aren't I?

OK, just briefly, same as before even without Ole at the wheel. Which is to be expected as it's literally the next game with everything the same sans OGS. Performances was almost what you'd expect with De Gea keeping us in the game against a fairly poor side with little forward threat until we could capitalise on a mistake (good play by Fred though in forcing it) and Ronaldo doing what he does. On the plus side, we started to look better after the subs and the last 15 were OK. Sancho had his best game by far (not difficult) and I was pleased to see him score his first. We're through but every decent team in the last 16 will want us unless things are very different come February.



Today we're having a good match, I hope it's a win for my club.

Porto v Atletico Madrid in a decisive game.

Internationally Porto has successfully maintained a good image playing against clubs with much large budgets.

I think the sucess is largely due to physical strength and team pressure. Obviously against British teams we had a harder time because that's also their strength, but they much greater players.



Manchester United bringing in Chris Armas as an assistant feels like a very ...unusual move, but maybe Rangnick knows what he's doing. I mean, I hope not, but maybe!



I'm behind Rangnick (I'm with all our managers until they show me they shouldn't get further) but the fact that he's never been at a big club (I mean the one of the real big boys) has to be a concern just because you're dealing with a different mindset. While the Armas thing feels odd at a club like United, I'm fine with anything he deems good for the backroom team and off field stuff.

Bad luck, @EsmagaSapos I didn't watch the game but from what I heard you were the better team. Still, you did better than the current Serie A leaders.