Hughes

Moved from apparently wrong forum: 

surely, respective owners cannot be discussing a ground share arrangement? Plans to redevelop North Stand cancelled/suspended and Blues in the same time period getting new ownership who secures a large land plot rather central in Brum - we all agree that a new super-stadium quite simply does not make any sense for Blues alone. Not saying this will happen at all, and most likely I am just paranoid, but strange and not really explained decision on North Stand coupled with unrealistic new stadium for Blues.... Foreign owners involving US fund structures could be the ones to do such a crazy thing. So, in order to stay within topic: Could that be a new Villa stadium? 

1. Man City vs Man Utd

2. Liverpool vs Everton

3. Spurs vs Arsenal

4. Newcastle vs Sunderland

5. Celtic vs Rangers

6. Sheffield United vs Wednesday

7. Forest vs Derby

8. Inter Milan vs AC Milan

9. Galatasaray vs Fenerbahçe

10. Real Madrid vs Barcelona

11. Roma vs Lazio

12. Boca vs River

13. Dundee vs Dundee Utd

14. Sampdoria vs Genoa 

15. Southampton vs Portsmouth

16. Cambridge vs Oxford

12 hours ago, Wezbid said:

I'm a bit out of the loop here but wtf is Espen? 

Is it Villa Report with a posh pinky finger? 

Norwegian guy spending lots of time sourcing information (good or bad, true or false) about Villa on the internet. His first name is Espen... He might even be a member on here, not sure. 

27 minutes ago, El Zen said:

Shock waves through the Eliteserie as Vålerenga name their new manager: Geir Bakke. 

This means nothing to you, but Bakke joins directly from fierce rivals LSK, where he’s been very successfull. 

Imagine, if you can, SHA having a highly respected manager, loved by the fans and delivering success. But deep down, he loves the Villa, and when the opportunity comes, he jumps ship and joins the bigger club. 

I’m delighted. 

Really good coach and very respected. As mentioned elsewhere, this is what Trøim's money get you as generally reported you will have to pay millions for his release. Dirty money but still money for you east end boys

11 hours ago, El Zen said:

I’ve come to expect football to get increasingly worse before it collapses or becomes unrecognisable. Hyper-commercialised and VAR-tainted, with a hefty dose of sportswashing. The Premier League beyond Villa games is of little interest to me, the Champions League even less so. I didn’t watch a second of the last World Cup and international football in general is just something that interferes with the club calendar for me. 

Lower league football from England and Germany is better fun, and while sadly VAR-tainted, at least the Norwegian league is too small to be subject to hyper-commerce and sportswashing. I just want to watch 22 guys kick a ball around, jump and sing and have a party, and to celebrate when my team scores. I want proper football fans in the stands who are passionate about their clubs and create a proper atmosphere. I just want to have the game I love and dedicate so much of my time and money to. I don’t want greedy c***s, gloryhunters and human rights abusers to steal it. 

Agree 100%. That's why we love going to the Stockports, Bradfords, Swindons etc of this world El Zen (already looking forward to September!). My hunch is that within 10 years we will have seen major changes in football globally. I seriously think FIFA will fold and I think UEFA will be forced into major changes - this will be pushed by European politics as the current money laundering and involvement with terrorists and anti human right states and other stakeholders will not be accepted in the long run. The Super League in Europe will be a reality in one shape or the other, also because Saudi and the Arab world will have become a competitor to European leagues and I think we may see European (and English) football lose quite a bit of its current front position, also economically. However, we will still be going to obscure places in the UK, we will still be too drunk when we do and we will still love Aston Villa. So there you go, the future is all laid out. 

Not sure if everyone realizes that we could play up to 60-ish games this season, we need a real big and good squad and although not his biggest fan, surely having Traore as a squad player is a pretty good option. Cannot imagine he is on insane money and, as mentioned by others, he has some unbelievable abilities. We need a big squad, folks!  

talk about super-bump of a thread! I would think next year's supporter trip to Brum will be fully signed very quickly, as was this year's trip. 

22 minutes ago, El Zen said:

Not really sure why you’re barking up this particular tree, buddy. 

I guess it's discussing football in a football forum. I hope Vålerenga do ok, Oslo and Norwegian football needs that. 

23 hours ago, El Zen said:

- Trøim can f*** off. The club belongs to the members and he can take his money and illegal influence and get in the sea. He is a cancer to the club. 

- The land was a gift from the city, the stadium was self-financed. Nothing wrong with that. 

- We are literally from east Oslo, and predominantly working class, both past and present. How is that storytelling?

- Us, Brann and RBK are pretty even in terms of hools. 

- I know you’re trying to wind me up, and it clearly worked

Hehe guilty as charged. However, to me the Vålerenga story is basically romantics. You may dislike Trøim but fact is he owns and controls the club and even interferes with footballing matters. This is very different from Brann and Rosenborg who are  member owned and governed. Lyn as you "hate everything about" has as you know adopted a clear "German" position  where the club is member owned and no one person or group can have control. Their fans at no more posh than a large element of your fans. Vålerenga WAS gifted the ground by the municipality and you DO have lots of celeb fans who like to associate themselves with Vålerenga for the exact reason that the storytelling of this east end cameraderi club where everyone is poor and helping each other out still prevails. I have no particular dislike for Vålerenga but I call BS on quite a bit of what I still find to be storytelling. Sorry, my friend. Anyway, UtV. 

On 17/05/2023 at 10:18, El Zen said:

Hahaha, sure, fair point. Lillestrøm and Lyn are local rivals (there’s an element of class conflict with Lyn as well, as they are from the upper class areas of Oslo west) and Rosenborg are the Man Uniteds of Norwegian football. 

Molde, however, are just a nasty, horrible little club with no fans and lots of money from a rich owner. Dull town, terrible club that treats away fans like rubbish and named a rapist captain. 

Stop this nonsense now... Vålerenga is owned by one of the richest guys in Oslo and has a lot of fairweather very well off fans. They also has the worst hooligan element of all clubs in Norway. They were even gifted their Stadium and all this romantic fairytales about being east end and poor is just storytelling. So is West Ham apparently and they are shit throughout. Rename this thread so we do not have to see this w**nkfest. In the meantime you are of course spot on with Molde

Used to be Burnley because of the colors - have grown to dislike them because of the style of play under Dyche. Have been there a few times, last when we beat them on New Years Day, Grealish scored a cracker and Wes basically ended his career. Cambridge U. as I studied there. Leyton Orient - been there once, just found the ground and area....eh, interesting.  I find lots of small clubs down the leagues fascinating, last Saturday I was at Stockport - honestly one of the best atmospheres at a English ground I have experienced for a long time.  

46 minutes ago, GlobalVillan said:

Not according to the post in the Duran thread that says Villa watched him for 6 months before agreeing to sign him. That's a Lange signing if anything.

If you read quotes on the Ings sale it is clear that transfers are Emery's decision - he decides. They may have watched Duran for 6 months, still Emery's decision in the end.

5 minutes ago, GlobalVillan said:

Agreed. In fact I'd say it's a fairly sizeable downgrade and would make absolutely zero sense.

If it were to happen of course, which we don't yet know.

Its completely apples and pears, no? Very, very different players. One does not fit our style of play under Emery, the other is much more likely to. "Sizeable downgrade" and "absolutely zero sense" is just hyperbole, it really is. IF we get him (big if), it will because Emery thinks he fits and is good enough. Transfers are 100% Emery's decision.  

Wrexham away would be interesting... 

23 hours ago, El Zen said:

Many of you will be aware from this thread what I’ve been through in 2022. I haven’t really updated you on the situation, mostly because I know *she* used to read/still reads what I post on her, and on several occassions has used this against me. 

But, f*** it, venting on here is therapeutic and I’m not in a very good place right now, so here it goes. 

I’m kind of getting used to the practical side of things. I’m doing okay on that front, even if money is far tighter than I’d like with the mortgage and the general rising cost of living. For a while, I sort of enjoyed the freedom and the benefits of being alone and being single. I’ve done things I enjoy doing but didn’t do when I was still married, like doing away days and all day sessions in the pub with my mates. I’ve met and hung out with people I wouldn’t otherwise have met. For a while, I thought I was doing fine, ready to embrace my new life. 

Then something happened a little over a month ago. I don’t know what it was, but suddenly I was back full of grief, full of anger, desperately missing my old life, desperately missing my wife. I felt guilty about not staying with her for the sake of my son, who’s been struggling a bit to come to terms with his new situation as well. 

I’ve tried to rationalise the situation, and I realise that these feelings are perfectly normal, probably even inevitable. Still, I find myself in a dark place. I’m an attractive young guy, there is no shortage of options, but I’m struggling to motivate myself for the whole dating scene at the moment. I’m certainly not over what happened to me. I am full of anger and rage, completely unable to accept and come to terms with ending up here. I want to scream my anger to her face, I want to see her beg for forgiveness, I want her to feel my pain. I know that won’t happen. She’s too weak, too selfish. 

I have such a strong sense of justice, such a strong moral compass. I have a hard enough time accepting injustice as it is. I’m kind of worried I’ll never be able to fully put this behind me. Both on behalf of myself, but also on behalf of my son, who is an even more innocent victim of her selfish stupidity than myself. Part of me actively hates her, part of me desperately misses her. 

I want to scream. 

Boring answer my friend, but this is true: What you are experiencing now is 100% normal and to be expected. It fits the "profile" perfectly. It just takes time, but it WILL be fine in the end. Just hang in there and keep turning up for the all day sessions in the pub with your mates  ! You are in fact correct; you are an attractive young guy (sort of...) so I predict within the next 12 months your pub sessions will become more "restricted" due to some foxy and intelligent woman (although I would also expect you to never completely disappear again)...  

4 hours ago, Delphinho123 said:

A coming together? Digne boots his ankle and doesn’t kick the ball. How is it not a penalty? It’s accidental, granted, but it’s still a blatant penalty/foul. Without question. 

And this is what you get out of our first away win of the season? Yeah, forget about two wins in a row in the league with a new manger. Focus on the negative.... And by the way, no way was that a penalty. 

Just now, Hughes said:

Yes, unless any new owners move the whole franchise to Washington state or San Diego.... 

Could also easily be an attempt to sell a small stake to raise funds for a new stadium. Estimated value on 100% basis is USD 5.5 billion....! Compare that to Villa, it is insane. 

1 minute ago, JoshVilla said:

WHAT A GLORIOUS DAY!!!!

 

Yes, unless any new owners move the whole franchise to Washington state or San Diego.... 

51 minutes ago, PieFacE said:

Emery makes most sense to me I think. 

I think he bored the Arsenal players to death with tedious and hourly long "tactic meetings".  Does not speak English very well (admittedly SG does not either...). Surely a proven coach but I am not convinced... 

This is something the Club can never win, no matter what they do or which crest they come up with. Too many strong views and too many design experts among us Villa fans. 

Games against ManCIty, Liverpool and the likes are just very  unsual, strange and not comparable to 85% of the games in the PL, and have no bearing on how we will do going forward. I still expect us to struggle big time next weekend against Leceister. It is just a complete  different game, almost a different sport. One clear conclusion from today is, though, that McGinn should not start. 

I think this may be much more close than what many think. We will likely lose but I think maybe a well fought 0-2 loss with City scoring early and very late. Oh, the joy of being a Villa fan.... 

7 minutes ago, Keyblade said:

Forgot about Houllier. Yeah he'd take the cake. Won a cup treble in the PL. Shame it didn't work out. I think we have the squad for a top tier manager to really achieve something with. I think Rodgers could get us at least to where Leicester were, and I don't think our owners will stop investing like Leicesters' did.

I like Rodgers but he is not everyone's favourite cup of tea.... but yeah, much much more pedigree than most Villa managers for the last 25 years. Potter is an exciting prospect and may have a fantastic career as a manager. Not entirely sure though, that we need a prospect now. For me, Poch would be the clear no 1 candidate but no idea whether it would be possible. 

8 minutes ago, Keyblade said:

Does everybody think Leicester are of a stature where they would be shoo-ins for multiple 5th place finishes, an FA Cup and a European semifinal or something? If Rodgers joins, he'd actually be our most accomplished manager since O'Leary at least.

I agree with this (Houiller obviously but he was for such a short time). Come to think of it we have rarely had a generally accepted, proven and respected manager for quite some time. Not like a real Tier 1 type of guy. 

Forget Bielsa. He really is dinosaur in his approach (man marking all over the pitch, for example) and not someone to (re)build this club.