ThunderPower_14

Great take on an 80s-90s aesthetic England shirt, might get a Konsa or Watkins shirt if they're readily available in Aus.

1 minute ago, villa4europe said:

I'm exactly the same but without wanting to be too boring here you absolutely can do it but they wont, modern architecture would be more based around lightweight construction, brickwork on that scale is no longer in fashion, both the cost and the time would dramatically increase using bricks, you would need bigger foundations as the building would weigh more while bricks are substantially slower to install and would be a "messy" trade compared to say steel and cladding, you would need more scaffolding too etc etc 

at best they'd use brick slip cladding, which again isn't very popular 

That's an excellent point I hadn't really considered.

Everton have bricks on their new stadium which I assume are the brick slip cladding variety. I guess it just depends on how they work it in to the design. I don't think we'll get something akin to a hypermodern NFL stadium, I think they'll want to give nods to Villa Park where they can.

I think you can absolutely build a new Villa Park and work hard to keep some of the aesthetic. The brickwork, the mosaics, the statues could all be worked in to a new and modern stadium and i'd expect them to be. Like with everything about how we brand ourselves, we can't ignore our history but we also can't be limited by it. A modern stadium with modern facilities that pays a very strong homage to Villa Park would be ideal for me.

I live in a city which had a major stadium upgrade a decade ago, and it's centrally located, which absolutely makes it more useful. The two biggest sports clubs in the city moved from a stadium out in the suburbs with terrible transport options and it was horrible and congested trying to get out every time.

I'm not fully aware of the public transport options in Birmingham but the ability for people to get in on busses and trains and utilise the extensive amount of parking options available in the Adelaide CBD and surrounds definitely boosts attendance. It also boosts the stadium's use as an entertainment venue.

There is always plenty to do around the stadium in terms of eating and drinking with money that goes back to the club. People go elsewhere before and afterwards, but that's a good thing, because you get people that might not have gone to the football attending anyway because they can continue their night out in town afterwards. Going to the football becomes part of a night out instead of the entire night out, and that's appealing to people.

16 hours ago, It's Your Round said:

Watkins just four goals off Yorke now and only 17 away form equaling Gabby’s Premier League total. With a bit of luck he can become our all time PL goal scorer by the end of next season

Very keen for Ollie to overtake both Yorke and Gabby. Can't help but be amazed by Benteke when you look at this. He scored a tick under 1 in 2 despite us being absolute dogshit for the entire time he was here. Everyone else on the list was with us for a few seasons where we were in the top half.

I feel a bit sad for CVByrne because being unable to enjoy this season for what it is is a great shame. 

I'll probably do what I call "emotional hedge betting" as the season goes on where I bet against us winning so if we lose, at least my sportsbet account is happy.

But we're terrified about falling to 6th or 5th and England missing out on the 5th CL spot. At the moment we're 4th and England are in a very strong position in Europe. Man United have been trash this season and Spurs aren't that reliable either. We've had runs of good and bad luck. Plenty to be excited about. 6th would give us a Europa League place and we'd still end up with some massive European nights. It'd be a bit disappointing but it's not fatal

On 13/03/2024 at 07:41, duke313 said:

I know practically nothing about FFP, other than what I’ve read here and online. But is debt taken into consideration?

Man Utd for example have huge debt, if their massive revenue was curtailed by their debt, this would go someway to levelling the playing field.

But I suppose they don’t want a level playing field.

It's nuts isn't it. They talk about sustainability but don't care at all if clubs go into enormous levels of debt. They could have just based the entire rule off of debt as a percentage of turnover and it would have protected clubs just as well.

2 hours ago, ender4 said:

Apparently The FA have agreed to scrap FA Cup replays from the third round onwards from next season. 

I do agree but it definitely benefits PL teams rather than lower league teams.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13196881/FA-Cup-replays-SCRAPPED-clubs-Premier-League-EFl.html

 

I don't mind this, i'd just argue that the gate receipts should be split regardless of where it's held. So if Notts County draw Liverpool at Anfield, profit from hosting the game is split between the 2 competing teams evenly. Then it doesn't disadvantage smaller teams at all financially. They could even elect to hold their cup tie away if the receipts are worth it to them over hosting.

Other than that, I think a single leg benefits lower level teams because it's much harder to knock out a premier league team over 2 legs.

Great to see the Fit and Proper owners test and FFP protecting clubs from being destroyed, oh wait.

He's great coming off the bench, running powerfully like he does at a tired defence. Incredible qualities for his age.

Great result for him to get on the board like that, hopefully does wonders for his confidence 

1 minute ago, CVByrne said:

That's a bad bad goal for the extra CL spot. Leverkusen have saved Germanys chances and given them a 50:50 shot now with England.  

 

Surely we've all been assuming that Leverkusen were going to beat Qarabag at home and factoring that into the odds?

Leverkusen with the winner in the 8th minutes of 6 minutes of added time. FFS Qarabag you had one job

Leverkusen with 1 back

QARABAG GO 2 GOALS UP OVER LEVERKUSEN!

Qarabag down to 10 men, still holding a goal lead in the tie

BAAIILLLLEEYYYYY

17 minutes ago, DJBOB said:

If Leverkeusen somehow get knocked out, that’s going to put England in a great spot. 

Currently a goal down in the tie. Cmon Qarabag!

14 minutes ago, AshVilla said:

Lets face it we will probs get Celtic or something like that.

 

At least under the new format we'll play 8 different clubs if we make it. They can't all be boring.

18 months ago we were in the bottom 4 circling the drain. If we finish 6th with 62 points, that's still progress on last season.

The premier league is brutal. There are no easy games. That we've been in the top 4 for most of the season is phenomenal progress. Liverpool finished 5th last season. Arsenal spent several seasons out of touch with the top 4.

Was clearly getting frustrated, and cynically hacked an opponent down nowhere near the ball. Such a stupid, stupid moment that's going to turn one awful game into 3 games without our captain.

That's a red, and you could see McGinn was getting frustrated. You can't just hack someone down like you're playing FIFA.

Garbage, awful defending. Players stuck in no man's land. We'd been so good defensively up until that point.

Just now, allani said:

Yeah neither were penalties - but both times their player touched the ball almost by accident.  So encouraging signs that when we run into the box then their guys are trying to put a foot in - they only need to miss once...

Agree with this, we need to start getting some shots away so they get more and more reckless with those challenges.

They've defended really well to be fair, we've had a couple of chances in the box where we'd usually find a clean shot and they've forced us into a contested shot or got a block in. I think we've had the better of it overall.

13 minutes ago, fightoffyour said:

Playing for the best team in the world should be an explanation why one player has better stats than another who doesn't play for that team, not vice versa.

If he's playing a "support player" in the best team in the world next to a guy who is building a resume to be the greatest striker of all time, why aren't his assist numbers higher?