Aston Villa vs. Newcastle: Something Has to Give, Right?

We’re back to the league, with up-and-coming panto villains Saudi Arabia Upon Tyne visiting to continue what’s become an interesting bellwether fixture among the Other 14. And naturally, we’ve got streaks on both sides that point to very different things.

Bottom line, based on last season, Villa are overperforming while Newcastle are doing the opposite. I hear about injuries and the like, but I don’t think the toon have had it any worse than Villa in terms of impact to the overall quality and size of the squad.

So, do Villa continue their torrid run of home form, or do Newcastle end their away woes? Anyone’s guess really, but Villa history will tell us to be very nervy. And of course, it’s a very big three points.

Elsewhere, Morgan Rogers has finally been prised away from Boro to bolster Villa’s attacking ranks. That’s probably not a bad thing, and it was a pretty cheap deal, in the end. Basically traded Azaz for him in terms of immediate incoming/outgoing fee impact.

There are players we’d like to move on but seemingly can’t. And this has been a problem in recent years: transfer business that’s saddled us with players whose value has only gone down without ever really doing much for the club. That drag adds up and has a lot to do with the small squad at present. It’s one thing to lose money, quite another to have depreciating assets that can’t even justify their place in the squad and prevent us from upgrading.

Another element is the lack of throughput from the Academy, but there I think you have to be careful. To have had Grealish, Ramsey, Chuk and now maybe Tim and Kesler Hayden come through in recent years isn’t a bad return. Likewise, the players we’ve sold (which also includes Jack and Chuk). It’s not sexy, and everyone seems to want to think what we have is perhaps better than it really is, but it’s part of the modern game. And as we’ve seen, we really haven’t parted ways with any players who’ve gone on to greater heights, which seems to validate a number of managers’ unwillingness to play them. Grealish, well, I sort of feel for him. There he is seemingly finding his feet on the biggest stages, picking up silverware and finding Doku coming in to take his place almost immediately. And Carney is learning what a lot of players unfortunately find out.

Then of course I’m seeing lots of talk about ticket prices…My experience tells me that $63 in North America to see a game in an 80,000-seat stadium is a bargain. I know it’s all different economics at work in Europe, but I paid $164 to see Villa in a preseason friendly this summer. Could I do that for 19 weeks? No. But when we’re seeing the whole PSR thing play out in real time, I don’t think this is going away. Can’t comment on the resales side…It’s a much different arrangement.

Anyway, as much noise off the pitch as there is on it, atm. I’m going to have to miss the game. Don’t know whether that’s good or bad luck, but we win and lose when I watch, too, so. I’ll be checking my phone quite often.

Over to you.