The Official Aston Villa FC thread
Discussion
TriumphStag3.0V8 said:
Sycamore said:
As a Wolves fan looking towards Wolverhampton and seeing the s
t state we seem to be in, even unable to do our "Plan B" apparently due to FFP, looking the opposite direction towards Birmingham and seeing the things Villa are doing means I hate you all 
I can see you actually finishing slightly lower this season (top 10 still) as no doubt you'll go all out in Europe instead, which you'd probably be favourites for no doubt, so I'm sure you won't care much
Obviously we would like to finish as high up the table as possible as well as win the Conference League (well, if West Ham can do it.....)t state we seem to be in, even unable to do our "Plan B" apparently due to FFP, looking the opposite direction towards Birmingham and seeing the things Villa are doing means I hate you all I can see you actually finishing slightly lower this season (top 10 still) as no doubt you'll go all out in Europe instead, which you'd probably be favourites for no doubt, so I'm sure you won't care much
It's a shame about Wolves as I want all the Midlands teams to do well (apart from Small Heath, obviously), just less well than Villa
. Yes we have banter between the clubs but I would much rather see the likes of Wolves, Forest, Leicester, West Brom doing well in the prem than some of the current teams.On that slight historical note, I see legendary Birmingham radio presenter Tony Butler passed away two weeks ago. Memories of him are ingrained in my childhood in the 70s and 80s, in those days before Talk Sport, 5 Live, Soccer Saturday etc, he really was a pioneer of the soccer phone-in.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-6...
Part of me really hopes that his hearse rolls up at his funeral with flowers reading 'ON YER BIKE!'
PurpleTurtle said:
TriumphStag3.0V8 said:
Sycamore said:
As a Wolves fan looking towards Wolverhampton and seeing the st state we seem to be in, even unable to do our "Plan B" apparently due to FFP, looking the opposite direction towards Birmingham and seeing the things Villa are doing means I hate you all
I can see you actually finishing slightly lower this season (top 10 still) as no doubt you'll go all out in Europe instead, which you'd probably be favourites for no doubt, so I'm sure you won't care much
Obviously we would like to finish as high up the table as possible as well as win the Conference League (well, if West Ham can do it.....)t state we seem to be in, even unable to do our "Plan B" apparently due to FFP, looking the opposite direction towards Birmingham and seeing the things Villa are doing means I hate you all I can see you actually finishing slightly lower this season (top 10 still) as no doubt you'll go all out in Europe instead, which you'd probably be favourites for no doubt, so I'm sure you won't care much
It's a shame about Wolves as I want all the Midlands teams to do well (apart from Small Heath, obviously), just less well than Villa
. Yes we have banter between the clubs but I would much rather see the likes of Wolves, Forest, Leicester, West Brom doing well in the prem than some of the current teams.On that slight historical note, I see legendary Birmingham radio presenter Tony Butler passed away two weeks ago. Memories of him are ingrained in my childhood in the 70s and 80s, in those days before Talk Sport, 5 Live, Soccer Saturday etc, he really was a pioneer of the soccer phone-in.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-6...
Part of me really hopes that his hearse rolls up at his funeral with flowers reading 'ON YER BIKE!'
I also would like all the midland clubs doing well in the prem.
Mainly villa and the blues.
Great banter and rivalry.
I’m sure deep down, villa and blues fans would like to play each other on the same division.
Tony Butler. RIP.
Fond memories of his chat shows.
jazzybees said:
PurpleTurtle said:
TriumphStag3.0V8 said:
Sycamore said:
As a Wolves fan looking towards Wolverhampton and seeing the st state we seem to be in, even unable to do our "Plan B" apparently due to FFP, looking the opposite direction towards Birmingham and seeing the things Villa are doing means I hate you all
I can see you actually finishing slightly lower this season (top 10 still) as no doubt you'll go all out in Europe instead, which you'd probably be favourites for no doubt, so I'm sure you won't care much
Obviously we would like to finish as high up the table as possible as well as win the Conference League (well, if West Ham can do it.....)t state we seem to be in, even unable to do our "Plan B" apparently due to FFP, looking the opposite direction towards Birmingham and seeing the things Villa are doing means I hate you all I can see you actually finishing slightly lower this season (top 10 still) as no doubt you'll go all out in Europe instead, which you'd probably be favourites for no doubt, so I'm sure you won't care much
It's a shame about Wolves as I want all the Midlands teams to do well (apart from Small Heath, obviously), just less well than Villa
. Yes we have banter between the clubs but I would much rather see the likes of Wolves, Forest, Leicester, West Brom doing well in the prem than some of the current teams.On that slight historical note, I see legendary Birmingham radio presenter Tony Butler passed away two weeks ago. Memories of him are ingrained in my childhood in the 70s and 80s, in those days before Talk Sport, 5 Live, Soccer Saturday etc, he really was a pioneer of the soccer phone-in.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-6...
Part of me really hopes that his hearse rolls up at his funeral with flowers reading 'ON YER BIKE!'
I also would like all the midland clubs doing well in the prem.
Mainly villa and the blues.
Great banter and rivalry.
I’m sure deep down, villa and blues fans would like to play each other on the same division.
Tony Butler. RIP.
Fond memories of his chat shows.
Ah, the Sports Argus, that brings back memories. It was printed on pink paper wasn't it?
Edited by TriumphStag3.0V8 on Friday 4th August 15:33
With pre-season now completely out of the way I can't wait for kick off on Saturday.
Pre-season was successful, lots of good results and performances and some teething issues with system / defence that should come to fruition with more time.
Pau at LB against Valencia struggled, but I don't think he was helped having Bailey in front of him, he wasn't showing much as an option when Pau got his head up and wasn't covering runs in behind either. Ramsey back in the LW will definitely be an improvement he's so much better at finding space and taking a ball in tight situations.
Diaby looks class, a bit anonymous vs Valencia but we were slow in the first half in general. Watkins has been very consistent, but he should not be on penalties... Tielemans looked excellent and already seemed to have an understanding when playing next to Luiz. Philogene seems to have come through as the youth player to keep an eye on, whereas Archer was a bit hit n miss surprisingly.
Newcastle away might be the perfect first game. It's a tough opponent but they're not unbeatable. If we did lose it's not the end of the World and if we win that could propel us into some good early season form. Either way it's a tougher fixture out of the way early.
Pre-season was successful, lots of good results and performances and some teething issues with system / defence that should come to fruition with more time.
Pau at LB against Valencia struggled, but I don't think he was helped having Bailey in front of him, he wasn't showing much as an option when Pau got his head up and wasn't covering runs in behind either. Ramsey back in the LW will definitely be an improvement he's so much better at finding space and taking a ball in tight situations.
Diaby looks class, a bit anonymous vs Valencia but we were slow in the first half in general. Watkins has been very consistent, but he should not be on penalties... Tielemans looked excellent and already seemed to have an understanding when playing next to Luiz. Philogene seems to have come through as the youth player to keep an eye on, whereas Archer was a bit hit n miss surprisingly.
Newcastle away might be the perfect first game. It's a tough opponent but they're not unbeatable. If we did lose it's not the end of the World and if we win that could propel us into some good early season form. Either way it's a tougher fixture out of the way early.
Great result yesterday after the 5-1 hammering at Newcastle, it was important to get a convincing result at home, Villa Park is becoming a hard place for teams to come to.
Disappointing to see Coutinho injured after only just getting back in the side, he showed a few flashes of brilliance. Hopefully nothing long term.
Disappointing to see Coutinho injured after only just getting back in the side, he showed a few flashes of brilliance. Hopefully nothing long term.
Wish I could be there alas mid week games are tricky for me.
I would think that we should beat Everton, if I were Sean Dyche I would just want to be out of every cup competition and concentrating totally on Premier League survival. The opposing school of thought is that a good cup run for a struggling team motivates players and fans to do well in the league but I've never really subscribed to it.
Yesterday's victory against Chelsea - our first pair of back to back victories over them for 30yrs - was impressive, but probably more a reflection on the state of Chelsea at the moment, although not wishing to detract from the victory. I think Unai saved his best team for that game, at the cost of defeat in Warsaw, hopefully we can make amends for that in the next Europa game.
All told it feels great to be a Villa fan right now.
I would think that we should beat Everton, if I were Sean Dyche I would just want to be out of every cup competition and concentrating totally on Premier League survival. The opposing school of thought is that a good cup run for a struggling team motivates players and fans to do well in the league but I've never really subscribed to it.
Yesterday's victory against Chelsea - our first pair of back to back victories over them for 30yrs - was impressive, but probably more a reflection on the state of Chelsea at the moment, although not wishing to detract from the victory. I think Unai saved his best team for that game, at the cost of defeat in Warsaw, hopefully we can make amends for that in the next Europa game.
All told it feels great to be a Villa fan right now.
Wednesday’s League Cup tie against Everton is going to be an odd one. There are thousands upon thousands of unsold Home tickets and Everton had already been allocated the whole of the North Stand, as well as the usual Away section. We won’t be attending that match.
Instead I have just bought four tickets for each of the three Europa Conference League home ties, which seem to be far more popular, with not many seats currently available. We also watched the home tie against Hibernian, which gave us a few days priority over the General Sale fans.
Instead I have just bought four tickets for each of the three Europa Conference League home ties, which seem to be far more popular, with not many seats currently available. We also watched the home tie against Hibernian, which gave us a few days priority over the General Sale fans.
It has been a shaky start to the season. The loss of Mings has been massive. The shock defeat against Newcastle really rocked confidence in the team and the defence.
Then to lose Carlos shortly afterwards knocked us again.
This on top of Losing Moreno, Buendea and JJ.
5 of our first team players out. It has been a horrible start to the season and we look very shaky at the back.
Yet we are still sixth in the prem, with a positive goal difference, having played Newcastle, Liverpool and Chelsea and although we lost the first group game in Europe, we are far from out of it.
I think we will have some more shaky games coming up but Unai will mold us back into a solid unit. Still have lots of confidence for this season.
Bring on Everton!
Then to lose Carlos shortly afterwards knocked us again.
This on top of Losing Moreno, Buendea and JJ.
5 of our first team players out. It has been a horrible start to the season and we look very shaky at the back.
Yet we are still sixth in the prem, with a positive goal difference, having played Newcastle, Liverpool and Chelsea and although we lost the first group game in Europe, we are far from out of it.
I think we will have some more shaky games coming up but Unai will mold us back into a solid unit. Still have lots of confidence for this season.
Bring on Everton!
Wednesday was a don’t give a monkeys, win or lose, try a different style, we lost, field todays team would have torn them apart.
Watkins seems to get stick from Villa fans I really don’t understand, todays and last weeks performance should shut them up for a while, but ffs why? It is most likely he will become Villas best ever so get behind him!
The loss of Mings has shaken us up as a team, throw in the loss of Buendia too and we looked in disarray, new players in Pau Torres at the back hasn’t looked great until recently, leaving it very much down to Konsa and Martinez both have been a stars last and this season, but given the high line we play it is enviable we will let some goals in, but we are weak at the back, the goal today was down to laziness, Digne has made some superb passes but has had some blinders too.
Another standout player for me is Luiz, not talked about enough but what a player.
To take apart a very good Brighton side is impressive, Villa Park is now a place teams will be hoping for a draw at now and feared.
Finally our goal tally, combine with our results in 2023, wow bloody hell wow!
On to Wolves which will be on a high after today, derby, think it will be very tough.
So would you go full squad for Europe or rest a couple and focus on Sunday, think I’d go the latter?
Watkins seems to get stick from Villa fans I really don’t understand, todays and last weeks performance should shut them up for a while, but ffs why? It is most likely he will become Villas best ever so get behind him!
The loss of Mings has shaken us up as a team, throw in the loss of Buendia too and we looked in disarray, new players in Pau Torres at the back hasn’t looked great until recently, leaving it very much down to Konsa and Martinez both have been a stars last and this season, but given the high line we play it is enviable we will let some goals in, but we are weak at the back, the goal today was down to laziness, Digne has made some superb passes but has had some blinders too.
Another standout player for me is Luiz, not talked about enough but what a player.
To take apart a very good Brighton side is impressive, Villa Park is now a place teams will be hoping for a draw at now and feared.
Finally our goal tally, combine with our results in 2023, wow bloody hell wow!
On to Wolves which will be on a high after today, derby, think it will be very tough.
So would you go full squad for Europe or rest a couple and focus on Sunday, think I’d go the latter?
What a result. I was passed off at getting knocked out of the league cup but prefer to win either the Conference League or the FA Cup if we can. At least now we have slightly fewer games to worry about.
Will take a few more games I think for us to really get firing and although JJ is back, we still have a major injury list (Mings, Carlos, Buendia, Moreno) as well as a good few knocks (Bailey, Diaby, Kamara).
I doubt we will see Mings or Buendia this season, maybe for the last 10 games or so - that's 2 of our best players out. Carlos and Moreno will need Time to get up to speed, along with Zaniolo, Tielemans and Lenguet, but we looked very good today, hopefully it is the start of these players gelling.
Will take a few more games I think for us to really get firing and although JJ is back, we still have a major injury list (Mings, Carlos, Buendia, Moreno) as well as a good few knocks (Bailey, Diaby, Kamara).
I doubt we will see Mings or Buendia this season, maybe for the last 10 games or so - that's 2 of our best players out. Carlos and Moreno will need Time to get up to speed, along with Zaniolo, Tielemans and Lenguet, but we looked very good today, hopefully it is the start of these players gelling.
Edited by TriumphStag3.0V8 on Friday 6th October 21:11
LotusOmega375D said:
Wednesday’s League Cup tie against Everton is going to be an odd one. There are thousands upon thousands of unsold Home tickets and Everton had already been allocated the whole of the North Stand, as well as the usual Away section. We won’t be attending that match.
Instead I have just bought four tickets for each of the three Europa Conference League home ties, which seem to be far more popular, with not many seats currently available. We also watched the home tie against Hibernian, which gave us a few days priority over the General Sale fans.
The reasoning behind that was kind of a collective situation with Holte End Season Ticket Holders. Instead I have just bought four tickets for each of the three Europa Conference League home ties, which seem to be far more popular, with not many seats currently available. We also watched the home tie against Hibernian, which gave us a few days priority over the General Sale fans.
1. The season tickets went up in some cases by 15%.
2. The Holte Suite is no longer available even though it was sold as a benefit to STH.
3. Pricing of the game at £36+
4. Removing the first cup tie from the season ticket - it used to be included.
Add those up and the people voted with their wallets. I was there for the Everton game and it barely felt like a match night and the attendance was appalling.
Jump to Europa Conference, I too bought the 3 match package, a very good deal tbh! Good atmosphere for the most part last night, a bit flat in parts I think because the ref was a nob and stopping play for next to nothing all the time. Good to get a win and puts us in a decent position for the rest of the group games.
Lenglet was very good last night I thought, Tielemans is getting there and Zaniolo was doing well. Lots of positives, if only we didn't have so many injuries.
We went to Chelsea away last week too which was brilliant. Away end atmospheres are always 10/10 with the Villa.
Yes we had a good night too. Glad to see that the “let’s leave early and beat the traffic” fans missed all of the excitement. Serves them right. Maybe some of them will stay on till the final whistle next time.
Still wholly unconvinced by Tielemans. We all knew that Dendoncker lives up to his name and has no right to be playing football for a Premier League club. He’s like a Belgian Jordan Henderson, but without the tackling ability. Telling that the BBC ratings had Tielemans and Dendoncker as the worst two players on the pitch. Tielemans seems to be a shadow of his former dynamic self. A lot of Leicester fans were already saying that when we signed him, but most of us thought that was just sour grapes. How wrong we were.
Still wholly unconvinced by Tielemans. We all knew that Dendoncker lives up to his name and has no right to be playing football for a Premier League club. He’s like a Belgian Jordan Henderson, but without the tackling ability. Telling that the BBC ratings had Tielemans and Dendoncker as the worst two players on the pitch. Tielemans seems to be a shadow of his former dynamic self. A lot of Leicester fans were already saying that when we signed him, but most of us thought that was just sour grapes. How wrong we were.
Spanna said:
We went to Chelsea away last week too which was brilliant. Away end atmospheres are always 10/10 with the Villa.
What's the actual away end like these days? I gave up going to watch Villa there years ago (Graeme le Saux was still playing!) because it was 50 quid a ticket for a seat in a concrete shed with a really low ceiling, and we always lost! PurpleTurtle said:
Spanna said:
We went to Chelsea away last week too which was brilliant. Away end atmospheres are always 10/10 with the Villa.
What's the actual away end like these days? I gave up going to watch Villa there years ago (Graeme le Saux was still playing!) because it was 50 quid a ticket for a seat in a concrete shed with a really low ceiling, and we always lost! If you mean an away end with the Villa, it's always a great time. Endless banter with home fans, always chanting and lots of friendliness with each other.
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