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I think both arguments have merit and it's wrong to pretend that the other side doesn't.

Trophies are the thing you never forget and whether it's the Conference or not, the players have had to go through a lot to get where they are now. It is not a joke competition at all - all the clubs that have featured have gone balls to the wall to win. 

The CL could be key to accelerated development with all the finance it brings but we've seen teams qualify for it and not really ever do anything. Spurs are a prime example of it. What have they actually done in the last ten years? 15? They've won as many trophies as we have in that time. 

Both are important things for the club. 

35 minutes ago, sharkyvilla said:

I think he would keep a bit more after tax over here than in Spain.  I may be wrong.  He'd still probably come as one of our highest earners which may be a bit of a risk.

You offset that against the fact that he'd be on a free. If the Torres price is anything to by, you're looking at 30m worth of defender there.

41 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

Exactly. He can play as the central of a 3 or a left side of a 3. He's also right CB of a back 3 a few times for Atletico. 

I can see plenty of combinations with 5 CBs

Hermoso, Pau, Mings, Konsa, Carlos. 

The one I'm curious about here is Carlos, as I think we might look to get somebody a bit more aerially dominant than him. Hermoso isn't that, but he'll be a good option to replace Lenglet and rotate with Konsa and Pau. 

11 minutes ago, romavillan said:

We needed a 2 goal advantage but we're going over there with a 2 goal deficit. It's a massive ask to get to the final, I reckon we'll win over there despite the full on atmosphere. Remains to be seen whether we can win by 2 or 3 goals though...

It's all to play for. I know we're capable of it, the team just need to believe in themselves. 

It was a freak result. We can beat them Athens because we're a far better side. 

3 hours ago, TomC said:

Good article in the Athletic today for those who have subscriptions...

https://theathletic.com/5393658/2024/05/01/unai-emery-douglas-luiz-aston-villa/

 

https://archive.is/kmoPr 

4 minutes ago, duke313 said:

It was a joke, calm down.

34 minutes ago, duke313 said:

Why don't we sign Hepburn-Murphy as well while we're at it 

Because he's not pulling up any trees in League Two and is obviously not good enough for us.

O'Hare is probably good enough to be back-up for us. 

Have you seen him play much since he left?

1 hour ago, gwi1890 said:

Would be interesting to see Unai developing him further 

He's come on a lot since he left in terms of end product. I think we might be looking at him as a backup because he'd probably contribute at least as much as Zaniolo has, would be a lot cheaper and would be helpful for the HG rules UEFA have. 

28 minutes ago, TRO said:

why wasn't I going to like it ?.....I respect folks opinions.

I just don't want to busy myself, with other folks wages.

You just asked and answered your own question there 

5 hours ago, rodders0223 said:

We will be paying the new guy 50k or whatever and we will be paying Diego 50k not to play for us.

I know things are great and all that thanks to Emery but our wage structure is ****.

In this hypothetical scenario perhaps, but it's far from nailed on to be the case. 

8 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

If we signed someone on half his wage we'd still be paying out the same amount of money.

Diego Carlos must be on 100k a week, nobody is paying him anything about half that.

I think we probably just keep him around and wait for his deal to expire.

Eh?

I know you're not going to like this @TRO but for me it's about wages again . He's pretty much fine as a backup CB, but for the money he's supposedly on, I think we need to offload him in the summer and replace him with someone on a more reasonable, sustainable wage. 

4 minutes ago, Exeter Fan Too said:

Summary - he'll be aiming for/going on a Championship loan next season. It's been a generally strong season, ever present, international debut, season transforming penalty save, one of the best League One keepers. Will either win or be runner up for Exeter Player of the Year. Exeter fans would love him to return (see the comments below the video on Youtube). The video by the club is  of a special year,  but an acknowledgement there won't be 'one more year' and Vil's tone/words makes that clear too

(NB Villa interest worth seeing  in that 32 minute (!) video is at a) 2 minutes in - redeclares his love for Villa and desire to play in the Premiership and b) 16/17 minutes - his key penalty save achieved with Neil Cutler's advice and also Vil distracting the taker - who'd scored all 15 of his previous penalties - with chit chat about how important the penalty was, long way home if he misses etc. But Vil says he doesn't do as much as Emi at penalties)

How good is he? Will he make it in the Premiership? Too early to tell - he's played well this season but made a couple of mistakes (in a total of 45 games) that Robin Olsen would get pelters for. His distribution is not yet good enough but has come on in leaps and bounds (under this manager Exeter play out from the back in the Villa style, so its been  useful learning).

PS the games v Burton resulted in two clean sheets for Vil and two 1-0 wins, one of which was with 10 men for 45 minutes. The ghost of the terrible spell at Burton has been well and truly laid to rest.

 

Great stuff, thanks for the write up dude. 

How is he with the ball at his feet?

It'll be interesting to see where he goes from here because he's got the small matter of one of, if not the best, keepers in the world ahead of him. Emi could be number one for the next 6/7 years too. 

2 hours ago, Jas10 said:

The best… IF he’s working with the world’s best players and/or IF he gets to spend the odd billion or close to it….

I prefer the managers who can get the best out of what they have and then add the right quality sensibly and intelligently… coaching above spending…

No chequebook managers or those who throw players under the bus without a second thought or chance. N no screaming, bitching, whining, fake arseholes.

Unai is elite, no one compares for me and I wouldn’t trade him for ANYONE… a match made in heaven that can hopefully last for a long while… a proper era of enjoyment, excitement, entertainment and success… and major progress.

Also a massive bonus to have the most throughly decent, genuine, dedicated, honest, hardworking, classy, dignified, humble, meticulous, good, honest, dignified man we could possibly ever have in charge… He puts them all to shame and I flipping love it. 

Unai must be cherished and adored. 

As I said, I wouldn't swap him in our situation.

I do think it's foolish to dismiss the achievements of Guardiola though. If anyone could have done it, there would be many more examples of managers like him - but there aren't. 

1 hour ago, Enda said:

Do you think Pep would have done as well with relegation-threatened Villa as Emery has?

I’m very skeptical. Pep may be the better manager but he might not be the best for a club of our size/budget.

Well that's it really - it's completely situational. Emery was likely the best we could have got considering his experience and our standing at the time.

1 hour ago, alreadyexists said:

Mad to think that when Spurs kick off we’ll have played 3 more games than them… I mean, for a team with no Europe, and not in the cups, that shouldn’t really happen should it!? I think from our point of view it’s lovely to pile pressure on an opponent, but from the PL’s point of view it’s rubbish really and shouldn’t happen

In all comps, it's something like 15 more games than them 

33 minutes ago, Pinebro said:

I probably would for Pep but not for anybody else

I wouldn't tbh. I know Pep's the best manager in the world but I don't care - I don't need the best - I love having someone who cares as much as Emery does and he's more than diligent and talented enough as it is. 

1 minute ago, Stevo985 said:

I'm not looking down, I'm just being realistic.

We won't finish 3rd

No harm in trying, Stevo. 

Thanks for posting that @Exeter Fan Too

What are your thoughts on Sinisalo? Do you think he's ready to move up a level for his development (i.e. Championship club loan) or does he need another year with you guys?

1 hour ago, chrisvilla4 said:

Remembering how low I felt after Mings went off and we lost 5-1 after all the pre season excitement, I was still shell shocked from the news about Emi days earlier. So upsetting seeing Mings in agony from something so innocuouss, I didnt care about the result then, just concerned for him, and our season.

Looking to where we are now is nothing short of incredible, Mings has more than played his part in all of this, in my dreams he, and Emi, come on for the last few minutes vs Liverpool to celebrate a truly incredible season. I know it's not going to happen so soon, but when it does, I think we will raise the roof and then some. Ear plugs needed! 

I remember at the time thinking that I'd be happy with top 10 if we won the Conference League 

43 minutes ago, MSvillain said:

Arblaster is captaining Sheff Utd tonight at the age of 19, we were linked a few weeks back.

Could be one of the midfield options Percy referenced…

I heard that he might be one of the players the police picked up last weekend

1 minute ago, CarryOnVilla said:

Fans are consumers for a product, the product is football. 

That’s what we are if we strip away the culture of being a football fan. 

And, that’s what we are if we strip away the culture of being a Villa Fan.

It’s jarring to be thought of just customers consuming a product. Yet, that what we doing on the most basic level. And it’s good to know that there’s people in the executive seats that know that. However, I hope they know and feel the culture here. And also know how to feed it. 

Better the culture, better the “customer”

Yeah I agree, but that's one of the most fundamentally important things for fans tbf. It's essentially our religion. 

1 hour ago, Dante_Lockhart said:

To investors, we are. It is what it is these days. Football has evolved.

To them, yes, and I understand that but we're not just a pair of trainers to the fans. 

1 minute ago, Pongo Waring said:

 

Have to move with the times and fast. Those who don't adjust to the time changing quickly, will be left behind.

Yeah, I agree 100%. I accept it for what it is but I still don't like hearing the club talked about like a product.