There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. John Stones is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Harvey Elliott has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Boubacar Kamara was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Shots: 10. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
In brief
The terracesEverybody has an opinion about Harvey Elliott
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Aston Villa have had the benefit of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. John Stones is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Manchester United will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Altay Bayındır has pre-agreed a move to Aston Villa, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Boubacar Kamara was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
John Stones falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Tammy Abraham was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.28. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. John Stones is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
7 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
A brace, and Tammy Abraham takes the afternoon — 8.58
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Tammy Abraham provided it, and the 8.58 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Boubacar Kamara was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
7 goals in one match, Tammy Abraham on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Aston Villa and Everton.
Squad16 Nov 2026
John Stones falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
In brief
Player ratingsHarvey Elliott was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Harvey Elliott obliged against Hull City. 2‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Aston Villa.
Two goals and a mark of 9.18 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 0 on the scoresheet, 7.26 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Brian Madjo, 17, plays like he has been here for years — 8.57
A mark of 8.57 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 17-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Aston Villa hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 38 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Nicholas Allen is 16, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad2 Nov 2026
John Stones falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 24 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. John Stones is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Joël Veltman was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The ambition story running the other way, and the one nobody tells: a footballer asking for a smaller stage, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is very rarely reported as anything else.
In brief
The terracesThe press have found their man in John McGinn
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A 1‑0 win over West Ham United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Brian Madjo is 17, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. John Stones is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Brentford kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Aston Villa will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Boubacar Kamara was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
John Stones falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Gabriel Jesus was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.65. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“I watch every Aston Villa game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Burnley runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Tammy Abraham
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Tammy Abraham has come out of that comparison in the side, and Aston Villa have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Emiliano Buendía wants continental football; whether Aston Villa can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Youri Tielemans is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Boubacar Kamara was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
John Stones falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A performance of 8.86 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Morgan Rogers was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.11. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Shots: 10, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting John Stones's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The ambition story running the other way, and the one nobody tells: a footballer asking for a smaller stage, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is very rarely reported as anything else.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. John Stones is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Boubacar Kamara's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
37 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
The fee is $11.6M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Everton drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Crystal Palace paid $8.3M and Aston Villa took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Mark Travers has just signed for Aston Villa, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. John Stones is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Joël Veltman was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The phone has started ringing about Zépiqueno Redmond again, and this time the name on the line is Derby County. Aston Villa are listening politely and promising nothing.
In brief
Player ratingsBoubacar Kamara was on a different afternoon to everybody else
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aston Villa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Florian Grillitsch has just signed for Aston Villa, and for once the answer mattered.
Boubacar Kamara was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad24 Aug 2026
John Stones falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Shots: 7. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
37 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aston Villa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Joël Veltman is living that version at Aston Villa, and it tends to show in the first month.
The offer from Manchester United for Tyrone Mings was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Aston Villa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Aston Villa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Youri Tielemans is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Aston Villa
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Michael Russell is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. George Barnes is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Charles Mitchell is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
In brief
The terracesEverybody has an opinion about Joël Veltman
The words a physio says slowly. 44 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. John Stones is living that version at Aston Villa, and it tends to show in the first month.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.