Conor Hourihane

Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

Shows everybody how clever he is. MON was a good manager but petulant.

Literally nobody was calling for Christie to play in midfield. By playing him there O’Neill wasn’t proving anyone wrong.

Originally Posted by irishfan86

Literally nobody was calling for Christie to play in midfield. By playing him there O’Neill wasn’t proving anyone wrong.

Fair enough. I kind of got wrapped up between that and the three at the back he disastrously tried a couple of times.

Originally Posted by irishfan86

Literally nobody was calling for Christie to play in midfield. By playing him there O’Neill wasn’t proving anyone wrong.

Except maybe himself ! Maybe it was a further sign that football had moved on from O’Neill's time. I can remember both Mark Lawrenson and Paul McGrath ( obviously players levels above Cyrus Christie ) doing jobs for Ireland in Midfield but would they be able to do such a job in modern football = = Highly doubtful !

Originally Posted by irishfan86

Literally nobody was calling for Christie to play in midfield. By playing him there O’Neill wasn’t proving anyone wrong.

He is not even a good right back

Barkley in, Hourihane out, for Villa this evening.

Manager says Barkley gets the nod due to his physicality. I can see his point- Hourihane is probably not combative enough for the likes of Wijnaldum and Keita, not to mention Firmino and Salah putting the squeeze on.

Barkley is doing very well tonight. He is getting beyond the Liverpool midfielders and defenders and creating chances. Grealish is also playing further forward so it should be Barkley, McGinn and Hourihane into two spots in front of Luiz. Hourihane will get a lot of games against teams that sit deeper. And, in Watkins, it looks like they have a man to capitalize from the supply Hourihane would give.

Originally Posted by Olé Olé

Barkley is doing very well tonight. He is getting beyond the Liverpool midfielders and defenders and creating chances. Grealish is also playing further forward so it should be Barkley, McGinn and Hourihane into two spots in front of Luiz.

That's a battle I cannot see him winning. Let's be honest - this was not a good week for Hourihane to lose his place in the team. If they score seven the week you're not playing, you're probably going to be waiting for injuries and suspensions to kick in before you get your place back.

Not a good week? Doesn't make it a particularly bad week. He wasn't an undisputed starter last season. Villa have started the season well. They will surely be better than last season. They may improve this season beyond a level at which Hourihane can get his place in the team. For now, yeah Barkley had a good game but Villa were always going to improve their side this window. And there will be a lot of games. They will have to rotate. He will get games this season.

Starts in the Premier League, getting a goal and an assist while he's at it, get's called up by his country, sees his team win 7-2 against the league champions, all before picking up his weekly £30,000 paycheque.

I don't know about you, but I've had worse weeks, personally...

Originally Posted by Trequartista20

Starts in the Premier League, getting a goal and an assist while he's at it, get's called up by his country, sees his team win 7-2 against the league champions, all before picking up his weekly £30,000 paycheque.

I don't know about you, but I've had worse weeks, personally...

Made me laugh

Has anyone checked if Ollie Watkins has an Irish granny?

Originally Posted by Trequartista20

Starts in the Premier League, getting a goal and an assist while he's at it, get's called up by his country, sees his team win 7-2 against the league champions, all before picking up his weekly £30,000 paycheque.

I don't know about you, but I've had worse weeks, personally...

Where did it all go wrong ? ?

I'm sure there aren't many bad weeks as a Premier League footballer however, as I said, it was a bad week to lose his place in the team with Villa scoring 7 without him. Realistically as long as Grealish, McGinn and Barkley are available to Villa he won't be a first team regular starter, which he had been set to be this coming season,up until this week.

I can see your point but I just don't think he had been set for that. It was inevitable that they would add to their squad and if you're Dean Smith adding to your squad then it's difficult not to improve on Hourihane. I couldn't see him as being a first choice or undisputed regular (he wasn't really that last season). Filling in for Barkley and McGinn when they're injured or suspended or rested (as will be more common this season) is not a bad position for Hourihane. And he'll serve a purpose against teams that sit deep.

Next summer his contract is up at villa but I would like to sign him for another 2 years with villa - maybe not as a starter but he's a great back up and coming into games with his set plays

Originally Posted by Olé Olé

I don't always subscribe to this conclusion of "club signs player, Irish player in jeopardy" which I think we are very prone to doing as Irish supporters.

Villa played 4-3-3 their last game out. Jack Grealish played as part of the front three. Last season did he not tend to play on the left of the middle three? Interesting timing for him to move there on the back of a) Gareth Southgate stating he doesn't fit into his team b) him getting his England debut and c) him signing a long term deal.

If this signing is being made to accommodate Grealish moving further forward then Hourihane is in the exact same position as last year i.e. himself, Luiz, McGinn and one more challenging for three spots. However, it is now slightly easier for him given that Grealish isn't there as nailed on for one of the berths.

I do think that Hourihane has goodwill in the bank and it is clear that he contributes enough to warrant racking up at least 20 league starts.

All in all, Barkley is a different type of player (more similar to McGinn?) and might reduce Hourihane's appearances but there are mitigating circumstances. I think he'll be fine. He's come good with an assist and/or a goal most of the times he has needed to.

Hourihane an unused sub again tonight, only 89 minutes of game time across 2 matches (both defeats) for him since the transfer window closed. I wonder if he'll be linked with any moves in January, he doesn't really seem to be in the first team plans at Villa now.

He's not good enough to get into that Villa side, who have moved on significantly since last season. Bar injuries he wont be getting many minutes there.

Will Grealish be going to Man Utd ? I suppose Villa would get a lot of dough to replace Grealish if he does. Will Grealish behave himself if he does get such a move ?

It's telling that Villa were cannon fodder last year and Hourihane was a regular, and he can't get a sniff now that they're playing well.

Originally Posted by seanfhear

Will Grealish behave himself if he does get such a move ?

Do we care? He's not our player. If he moves on and Hourihane gets more game-time, that's a win for us.