villabromsgrove

32 minutes ago, AvonVillain said:

You're more optimistic now than over the couple of years we swallowed up the League, European & Super Cups?? Bold.

The years 1980 to 1982 were amazing as a Fan on the footballing side, but very worrying off the pitch. Ron Bendall was the chairman and major shareholder, and he was fighting battles with Ellis and others on the board. Key board members resigned and Saunders fell out with Bendall over his personal contract and the lack of money for players, and was replaced by Barton. There were also claims of financial irregularities regarding the building of the North Stand and about that time a very large amount of money allocated for the build "went missing" with the club racking up serious debts. This started the decline that led to relegation a few years later.

We have no such worries with NSWE as owners and custodians of AVFC. The "off the pitch" set up is already very good and is becoming even stronger with current additions in the pipelines. Our manager is genuinely world class, our playing staff is becoming a real force and will soon have some exciting additions. Major stadium and infrastructure improvements are in hand, and will greatly enhance the match day experience and Villa's standing as an ambitious and "potentially" massive club.

2023 is a fantastic time to be a Villa fan .... I would say it's the best time .... I agree with PerryBarrPet and mjmooney when they say they have never been so optimistic about Villa's prospects. 

I haven't got a clue who we might sign, but I'm happy and excited to wait and see. I would bet Emery's/ 

Alemany's signings (with the backing of NSWE) will be perfect for our immediate needs. I trust them all completely .

"Complete trust" is a magical commodity which none of our previous owners or managers and staff have engendered in us. This is a first! 

Wow .... Good posts guys!  

It's a wonderful video that brought tears to my eyes. Lucy and Tyrone are inspirational!

There's been both praise and criticism of JJ. I think the thing we may all be able to agree on is that he has a sell on value that will repay Villa's investment in him. We need more of our very good academy prospects to do the same.

At his best he is outstanding, at his worst he still puts in a shift. I hope he stays with us, but I would expect a very healthy sale price if he does leave.

I'm excited about NSWE plans, but can anyone tell me the approximate date that the redevelopment actual breaks ground? Is it this summer?

Mings should be captain.

I'm delighted with this news. Ty is one of our few vocal leaders, and he has said that he is determined to improve his understanding of his CB duties under Emery's coaching.

Vitoria SC have a "B" team currently bottom of league three zone "A" (they could do with a couple of our youth prospects or young South American talent). Their first team is doing pretty well in the top division for a club of its size and finances and has played regular "European football". I'd say it's a shrewd move which will benefit both AVFC and Vitoria (if it's approved). 

As others have said, Portugal is a conduit for young talented South American players to transition to Europe. It should assist the widening of our scouting system.

Unai Emery is a good guy but he has the ruthless streak that is needed when judging a squad. There will be no arm round the shoulder approach for players he judges to be inadequate. The evidence of his own eyes from the last two matches against Leicester and Man City will have been particularly important to Unai as he compiles his summer "must have signings" list, and also his "for sale" list.

I expect the summer transfer window to have Emery's trademark all over it, with Lange and co following his instructions to the letter. 

I'm not making any predictions, I'm just enjoying the ride.

We have unbelievably good owners after a decade of real worry.

We have a world class coach/manager after a decade of getting this appointment wrong.

We have the finances in place to sign some superb players, but what we currently don't have is the stature to attract top players.

We need a top scouting team and a top negotiator with a big contact list to drive us forward. I like Lange as an individual but he lacks the contacts and gravitas to lead our next stage of progression.

Gambling is a real problem for many individuals and by extension many families are blighted by the consequences of gambling addiction. Legislation has to brought in to ban all forms of gambling promotion including all forms of coercive advertising.

To say that individual football clubs should refuse gambling sponsorship is simplistic. It is currently a legal source of income that needs to be banned, so that no clubs can use it as a revenue stream. Precarious finances mean that no individual club is in a position to opt out on their own. 

16 minutes ago, nick76 said:

I’m incredibly upbeat about the Villa.  

I love the owners, I’m a massive fan of Emery and I love what the club are doing with the youth and stadium.  

I think there needs surgery on this squad though and while we’ve got some of the fringe out which is good, for me this was an opportunity on upside with this squad, to give Emery some additional tools to keep the upbeat run going,  we can continue without that but he could’ve done, as he said, with some additional players.  

I also don’t think it will be any easier to get players in the summer, it may even be harder with the players and positions we’ll be looking at and other clubs interested.  

So I’m massively upbeat with the Villa generally, I just have decades of association with this club when they continually fail to take opportunities.  

Overall, outside of this transfer window, I’m incredibly upbeat about Villa.

I'm really pleased to hear that. 

1 minute ago, nick76 said:

As I said I’m no longer engaging in the debate, I’ve said my piece.  People hear enough of my views, I’ll let others discuss pros and cons for the rest of tonight. I’m just here for news, jokes and gifs.

I'm not knocking you Nick, I'm just looking at the positives. I remember you when you were really upbeat about Villa and I looked forward to reading your posts. I hope you can get back to that frame of mind soon. Cheers.

1 minute ago, nick76 said:

I’m over this window now…if it stays as it is, it’s an incredibly disappointing window.  So let’s have a laugh!

Our squad is weaker, I can’t imagine Emery is happy and it’s a missed opportunity.  

Some fans have some BS apologies that I got bored with reading at lunchtime and have no interest in discussing anymore, I’m never going to agree with them so what’s the point.  So just having a bit of fun, and just watching in case anything happens at last minute however unlikely.

Disappointing window, squad weaker but time to get back to focusing of the games left.

How about training Nick? Seven players who knew that they weren't going to start or may even not get minutes on a match day are no longer with us. Surely that must raise the positive vibes for the rest of the squad, and the young additions who may get drafted into training.

At his best Bertie can be brilliant. Usually we have to watch a lot of average to get to the brilliant bits, but hopefully Unai can inspire him and facilitate a system that enables his creativity.

1 minute ago, Lerner's Driver said:

Squib mate, all squids are damp.

I had to read this twice before my creaky vocabulary wheels finished grinding! 

1 minute ago, messi11 said:

If Lange/Purslow/Owners found the players they wanted to be too expensive this Transfer Window, they gonna have a shock in the summer that the players are the same price or even more. 
But don't worry we got Keinan Davis coming back.

That's a simplistic view of the differences between the January and Summer transfer windows.

My particular favourite targets, Matteo Guendouzi and Jonathan David are both playing for clubs who are busting a gut to qualify for the Champions League.

The kind of players that Emery is targeting will also be involved in their current clubs campaigns, which means that even if they were tempted to join Villa by AVFC's approaches or agents pressure, it's not up to them, it's up to their clubs.

The summer is a much more structured and elongated environment for both a club and its players to consider moves .... but you're bright enough to know that and just posted for effect as usual.

Just now, Wainy316 said:

Isn't he injured?

If not a welcome addition to our squad and problem a late confirmation that we've been unable to land our targets in that position.

I was under the impression he had returned to BMH with a knee injury. Does anyone know for sure whether he's fully recovered?

Are Villa fans naturally miserable, or is it something we've been working on recently?

I haven't a clue whether or not we have tried to sign Guendouzi. What I do know is that he is exactly the type of player we need to improve us.

It's about time we started to put very round pegs in very round holes.  Emery knows what he needs and I hope the rest of our "buying and selling team" are fully committed to his project.

We now have a very good head coach adding tactical confidence to our squad on a daily basis .... we are visibly improving and results back this up. We have a decent first team and some reasonable options on the sub bench.

Of course I'd love to see us sign two real quality additions (mid/st), but I'm not stressing about it because we have enough players to get us through the next 18 games.

The thing that has most impressed me this transfer window is that we have at last shown a more ruthless attitude to clearing out unused and unwanted players. We've freed up space and wages for a real assault on the transfer market this Summer.

If the lack of the much speculated about signings is down to Emery being prepared to wait until the specific player (or type of player) that he really wants is both available and willing to sign for us, then that is a positive thing.

If Unai is concerned about striker cover he now has loan spots available. We'll know more in just over 31 hours.

I think that we are fortunate to have a manager who understands the difference between two often confused words .... Want and Need.

Unai obviously knows want he "wants" but he is also very clear about what he actually "needs".

January is a notoriously difficult and overpriced window with distorted values being the norm, so Emery has quietly got on with a bit of ground clearing work for the building project he has in mind.

He needed a quick wing back to make his system work more effectively so he added Alex Moreno. I'm sure he would like Guendouzi this month, but only at a price that leaves his team building budget healthy going forward. Jhon Duran is a relatively cheap uncut diamond to be polished by a very good coach.

Our results are good in the Premier League since he joined us, and the month of January has been truly excellent. The departure of Ings was the only hiccup as I'm sure Unai would have liked to retain his services until the summer, but his high wages and the fee offered meant that he made a pragmatic decision for the sake of the club project. 

We have eighteen matches left to play and no extra cup matches to get in the way, so we don't "need" any more signings this January, but as a fan I'll put my "want" hat on and say Matteo Guendouzi and Jonathan David would be very welcome additions before 11pm January 31st.

According to a pronunciation site on YouTube his christian names are pronounced "Jon Hader".

Just now, HeyAnty said:

I bet you’re drunk 

I've not had a drink since New Years eve. I'm giving my honest opinion.