Extremely proud to be a Villa fan after the last few days.
Our supporter base and club has been gaslit by politicians and some of the worst churnalism I've ever seen, blamed for a situation beyond their control, the language used against them completely unacceptable.
Villans, we're a 151 year old institution and our Villa Park home has welcomed all since 1897, I've worked in the football industry for 40 years nearly and the club is always talked from inside and outside the industry, perhaps more than any other as "a proper club", which is all you need yo know how the club and institution is held in British sport.
Aston Villa Football Club. That's who.
UP THE FUCKING VILLA!! 💜 💙
£18m wouldn’t buy you Super John McGinn’s huge value to Aston Villa in the dressing-room, setting standards, helping new players settle in and other roles as a highly respected club captain. £18m wouldn’t buy you anyone close as a replacement for McGinn on the pitch either. He played 49 times for Villa last season, started home and away against PS-G, even scoring. McGinn’s a leader in a sport not awash with them. He’s a battler and a good midfielder.
£18m doesn’t buy you a player with a year left on his contract, let alone two like McGinn. £18m is a low-ball offer, even if simply testing the water. Yes, he’s 30, but in a 16-man game nowadays, in a season that could stretch beyond 50 games, McGinn still has a major part to play, even if increasingly as an impact sub. Every team, every club needs a McGinn, an honest, hard-working pro.
Also, at a club like Villa with famous, historic Scottish roots (going back to Perthshire-born driving force William McGregor) it's a source of pride to have a Scotland international like McGinn representing them.
Any club interested in McGinn has to offer far more than £18m. A club as clued-up as Villa, and as well-run on the recruitment side, know McGinn’s value to them on and off the pitch. A contract extension surely awaits? #AVFC