A full version of our BirminghamWorld Q&A.
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00:00and January business obviously it's a month where they've got a lot to look forward to in the second
00:05half of the season, you know, albeit with the Champions League group stage being a massive
00:11sort of completion from M-Race side. How do you sort of look at the January window? Is there
00:18concrete interest? Is there room to manoeuvre with PSR? You know, we've seen Villa have to
00:22set up quite recently as well and, you know, Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby obviously helped
00:28that cause but then maybe failing to replace them full-time was there but then PSR issues
00:33have crept in a few times for them. How do you see January panning out for Aston Villa?
00:39I think it should be a fairly busy month because Unai Emery wants to improve in two
00:43key areas. We've known for a little while now that the right side of defence is a big priority.
00:48Matty Cash has played fairly well at times but he can be a little bit of a weak point in the Villa
00:53team at times and then Esri Konza, fantastic player but preferred to be in the middle really.
00:58If you can keep him a centre-back that's the best option for Villa rather than moving across to
01:02right back and Diego Carlos just hasn't been consistent enough and, you know, when Cash is out,
01:07Konza moves out to the right-hand side and Carlos comes in, Villa do at times look a bit weaker. So
01:11that's an area Emery wants to address. That is one that he is addressing. Mingueza, a Celta Vigo
01:17right back, is one of those being considered. A former Barcelona player. Barcelona were rumoured
01:22to be interested in bringing him back but it turns out they're more interested in getting a 50%
01:26sell-on fee. They want Mingueza to move on from Celta so they can sort out their financial
01:31situation as they're really struggling with La Liga's regulations at the moment. Wesley,
01:36a Flamengo right back, is another one potentially being looked at. Villa had a £12.5 million bid
01:41rejected a couple of weeks ago. It's interesting to see if they'll come back in for him as Mingueza
01:46has a £16.6 million release clause, €20 million. That one could be a bit more of a bargain,
01:52of course, being Spanish as well. Emery knows all about him. The other position that Villa
01:58wants to improve in is out wide on the wings, preferably someone who can play on either side
02:02and Daniel Marlon from Borussia Dortmund is just that. A bid has already been rejected,
02:08just below £20 million. Dortmund want around £25 million instead. All personal terms have
02:14been agreed with the player, which is a promising step in the negotiations. But in terms of club to
02:20club, there's no agreement just yet. But they are the areas that Villa are prioritising at the moment.
02:26Yeah, and just on Unai Emery, we've mentioned his pull a few times and now looking into
02:31Champions League quality, Champions League talent. This is something that Villa fans
02:35have to get used to now. This is the sort of era that they are working under.
02:40Yeah, he's a special head coach. Obviously, at Arsenal maybe he had quite a lot of criticism,
02:44didn't quite meet expectations there. But he's proven ever since just how talented the manager
02:49he is, obviously being a Europa League serial winner as well. Lots of players want to work
02:53under him and it helps as well if they're Spanish. He's definitely got that pull. And
02:56Monchi as well, a fantastic director of football. Villa are in a good space.
03:01Charlie, looking at Aston Villa and the sort of remainder of the season, we can sort of
03:07look back as we are in the midway point now. And I mean, their season could go a number of ways.
03:13If you look at it, they had a fantastic start to their Champions League life with this obviously
03:17new developed format. And, you know, they were obviously top of the pile in the Champions
03:21League for a few weeks, which is quite incredible for them. How do you sort of look back at the
03:27start of their season so far and the best moments, maybe worst moments as well, a standout player
03:34maybe, and then sort of what they can go on to achieve as we look, you know, the remainder of this
03:40campaign? I think on the whole, Villa fans should be very happy with what they've seen this season,
03:45because it's been a very bizarre Premier League campaign, really. We've seen Manchester City,
03:49who looked unbeatable over the last four seasons, crumble and fall out of the top four for a long
03:54period of time. Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur in the bottom half, Newcastle struggling
03:59and then having a mad revival. Nottingham Forest, Fulham, Bournemouth, all heading up into potential
04:04Champions League contention. Forest being the main one of those, really challenging with Arsenal and
04:08Liverpool running away with things. Villa being in the top eight after such a run in mid-January,
04:15and then having a potential still of finishing in the top five, which should be enough for
04:19Champions League football this year. You can't really be complaining with that, can you? And
04:22as you alluded to, Champions League success already on the cards. On the fringes of the top
04:28eight, which is what you need out of the 36 clubs to qualify immediately for the last 16. If they
04:33finish between ninth and 24th, they'll have to play an extra playoff round, which wouldn't be
04:38ideal. Two extra matches, it'll be two legs. Villa are trying to avoid that. Two tough games to go
04:44against Monaco, and then at home against Celtic. But four points from those matches should be
04:48enough to qualify for the last eight, and you'd have to say that would be a huge success, especially
04:52as they beat Bayern Munich earlier in the campaign. In terms of Emery and his ambitions, well,
04:57he wants to carry on in the Champions League with Villa, if possible. That's the main priority.
05:02Winning the Champions League is very unlikely. That's one way of achieving that. So the focus
05:07is still on the Premier League. Villa obviously want to progress as far as possible in the
05:11Champions League, and it'd be amazing to get to the quarterfinals, semifinals, but realistically,
05:16they're not going to win the competition. So the focus at the moment remains on the Premier League,
05:20which is understandable. Just looking at the standout players up to this point,
05:26they have a big summer clear out. They brought a few big names in as well. Who's been the standout
05:31player? Because obviously John Duran went on that fantastic run. Ollie Watkins maybe hasn't
05:36been hit the heights that he did, but had that incredible summer with England with that moment
05:40as well. I think Uri Telemans is one that's kind of gone under the radar a bit. He's played so,
05:46so well in a variety of midfield roles, but Morgan Rodgers has really kicked on. Just £15 million
05:51after add-ons from Middlesbrough. Looks well worth the money. Of course, a full England
05:55international already. So versatile, so aggressive in attacks and such a key player for Unai Emery's
06:01villa. Charlie, looking at Wolverhampton at Wanderers now, obviously, it's not been
06:08the least interesting season. Obviously, the change of manager already and lots of different
06:15feelings and thoughts from fans and there have been stages where they were certain that they
06:19could be staying up. There's been stages where it looks like they've been dead and buried.
06:25But obviously, the new manager comes in and he makes an initial impact, a great win away at
06:30Leicester City and recording some clean sheets as well is so important. It looks like he's
06:37certainly shored things up at the back, but how has Vitor come in and made this initial impact?
06:44I mean, it's something that possibly the foreign players are taking a liking to as well. The likes
06:50of the Jose Sarr, Sam Johnson situation seems to be sorted. Sarr seems to be back
06:56with a bit more confidence as well. So, he's clearly having the desired impact so far.
07:02It probably helps, doesn't it, that he's Portuguese and so many of these players
07:05in this Wolves squad are Portuguese-speaking, whether they be Portuguese themselves or
07:09Brazilians and you've got Spaniards in there as well. Uruguayan and Santi Bueno,
07:13a big South American outlet at Wolves. So, it's understandable that they've got that
07:18backing immediately from the manager and the relationships being built up already.
07:21Mateus Cunha seemed to love Gary O'Neill, in fairness. They had a good relationship
07:25between them, a good bond. But in these early days, it's been a difficult period for Cunha
07:28with his investigation from the FA for an alleged incident against Ipswich Town. He was then found
07:34guilty for that. Too much ban, but the manager, Vitor Pereira, has guided him through that.
07:39His man management skills, you can't judge them too much because it's early days. But
07:43as he's shown throughout his career in so many different countries,
07:46his adaptability is fantastic and he's showing that already at Wolves. Of course,
07:51the 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest, not ideal. But in that match, Wolves had so many chances.
07:57Jorgen Strand-Larsen could have had a hat-trick. There are other opportunities as well
08:01in both halves of that game and had they been tucked away, then Wolves potentially could have
08:05got a point for all three. It was just one of those evenings and the 3-0 really flattered Forest.
08:10Very Nuno Espirito Santo performance, you could probably say about that one.
08:14I think Vitor has settled in well, as I say, building those relationships initially and
08:18already a bond with the fan base, which is so, so important.
08:22Just quickly on January, the business is needed to be done. It looks like the
08:28defence is going to be a key area where they're looking to improve.
08:32Yep. So, Emmanuel Agbadoo is a centre-back from the French Ligue 1 division. He's coming in for
08:38around £20 million or just under. He should be really important for Wolves, actually,
08:43coming in with lots of physicality, a bit of pace as well, quite a lot of height. That's
08:47something that Gary O'Neill moaned about was a lack of that. So many set-piece goals conceded
08:51this season. Agbadoo hopefully will be in the Wolves squad for the rest of the season and
08:56should boost them in that department.
09:00Charlie, let's look at West Bromwich Albion. Now, obviously, sometimes we do struggle to
09:05find news around West Brom due to the ineptness of the owners with the financial issues and they
09:13come out and said there was a lot of struggle there. Obviously, then Carlos Corberán leaves
09:18on Christmas Eve, not an ideal present for West Bromwich Albion fans around that Christmas and
09:25festive period. Chris Brunt has obviously answered the questions on the managerial situation. He's
09:31clearly a club legend, over 400 appearances as a player for them and adored by the fans.
09:37I don't think he's really ready himself to make that step up. The managerial situation
09:43at a few clubs in the Championship has been different this season. Cardiff City struggled
09:48to get a permanent boss in. Is it the same situation with West Brom? What's the latest
09:53you can tell us? Is someone in there to take them? The form they're showing at times this
10:00season, there can certainly be a playoff contention come the end of it. It's a strange
10:06situation. Obviously, with Corberan leaving on Christmas Eve, 10 minutes before Christmas Day
10:10in England, definitely not ideal. West Brom fans going to sleep early ahead of Christmas and waking
10:15up to that news would have been a painful one, wouldn't it, really, considering how much of a
10:20connection he had with the fan base, how successful he was in his first season, kicking away from
10:24relegations, moving to playoff contention, last year qualifying for the playoffs as well, and this
10:29year being in a similar position. Two weeks or three weeks on, and West Brom still without a
10:34manager. Chris Brunt and Damir, his right-hand man, have done a fairly good job not losing too
10:40many games. They've just lost one away at Derby County on Boxing Day, so kind of steadying the
10:46ship at an uncertain time. There have been a few contenders and a bit of speculation, but West Brom
10:52keeping things very, very quiet. Our understanding at Birmingham World is that they are looking
10:57across Europe for a manager. They're not too bothered about Premier League or Championship
11:02experience or experience in England, full stop, really. They just want someone who's got a
11:06tactical mouse to take West Brom up into those playoff positions. Luke Williams at Swansea City,
11:12kind of contradicting that point, looked as if he might be a potential contender, but he has now
11:17ruled himself out of the running. Raphael Wiki, who was recently at Young Boys in the Swiss League,
11:23he left them, and he's available. He's someone that West Brom have been looking at, but once
11:27again, no talks are advanced for him. Stephen Schumacher, another one who's recently in English
11:33football, potentially a contender, but I think my guess is as good as yours, Charles, in that
11:38department. West Brom, they're not quite sure who they're going to have just yet, but you can
11:42understand why they're being patient and why they're taking time to pick the right man, because
11:46it's such an important job. And as you say, right in the playoff positions at the moment, lots of
11:51teams competing with them. There's every chance they can finish in that top six and then potentially
11:56move on to the Premier League, so they definitely need the right man at the helm.