23 Aug 2026 13:00:36.
Watkins not in match day squad then.
Not surprised but very disappointed in this young man.
Just hope we get £50m+ for him.
Post Europa League win and pre World Cup we were all buzzing.
I’m not suggesting it’s ll doom and gloom but this summer has not been the one I expected.
Nearly everyone of the players we had appearing at the World Cup has left or is leaving or injured.
Unbelievable what has happened really.
23 Aug 2026 13:31:45
Can't blame Watkins, he's not a Villa fan, he's an employee, and at the end of the day, if you're 30 plus and someone offers you double your money, and realistically you are not going to win the PL or CL with your current club, why wouldn't you move?
23 Aug 2026 16:45:57
As far as Watkins goes, he has tarnished anything good he has done at Villa in my eyes. Malen wanted to be No9 & was cooking, but we had to let him go cos Ollie wanted to go to the World Cup to play for what was it, 8 minutes? He was doggo until around the last 10 games last season. He sulked when Rashford got picked ahead of him. Even though he was a bit of a head case, Duran, if he'd have stayed at Villa, would've given him something else to sulk about. We as fans let all that slide cos he's a 'nice bloke', but he has come across now as self serving bell***.
Gonna be so much egg on his face if the Saudis don't cough up what we want for him. Maybe getting splinters on the bench while Madjo takes his England place might humble him. Bit of a rant & not a knee jerk reaction to today's result. Ticked off that we've stood by him when he was crap & let (imo) better No9's go just so as not to upset another ungrateful multi millionare. Going to Saudi is like giving up on ambition. The guy is dead to me now.
UTV.