cheltenham_villa

4 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

We’re not getting anywhere near City or Liverpool. We *may* catch Arsenal but even they are playing extremely well at the moment.

It’s a race for 4th I’m afraid. I actually think we could win every game between now and the end of the season and potentially not win the league. Such is the form of the top 3 atm. 

Achievable or not, the mindset to chase those above you is better than worrying about someone 11 points behind you. I'm trying to think like Unai, I'm convinced he is only looking upwards

So good to have him back but he looked rusty I think. Lost two chances to win the ball for the first goal, gives away the free kick for the second goal. Hopefully a chance to build before the spurs game.

Needed to be introduced earlier, moreno was struggling against the winger for the second week in a row. Digne brings more defensive stability and I think works better with Lenglet.

Would start for me out of the two.

6 hours ago, abdulaziz1 said:

I think the question should be Conference and 5th, or 4th. I’d take the first as it will most likely get us to CL. Let’s see what happens in Manchester derby tomorrow which hopefully ends with City beating Utd. That would give us a bit of a space to breath, and focus on Ajax and Spurs. 
For now I’d focus on the Ajax game, can’t underestimate them and we don’t really make it easy for ourselves whoever we play. Also hope for other English teams to do well while more German teams to fail. 

Wouldn't we want a draw in the city game, both teams close to us. We can look up the table rather than at a team 11 points behind us

Thought he looked like a young lad playing his first minutes. Way off it at times. Nothing to worry about

3 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

I'm not sure it's completely safe to say that - but I suspect it probably is making more on the top line. Once you take out the programme, the food, the drink and so on I suspect it probably isn't particularly profitable at the moment, but top line matters. It's certainly not making the money it should be making and there are rumours that as many as half of the people in there aren't paying on some of the quieter matchdays, but there are reasons behind that.

Ultimately, the development happened very quickly, it was an opportunity that Heck saw and put in place without much time to nail the detail. The development of the Terrace View caused some damage to the ceilings and made the room unusable for a while, that meant that the club needed to spend money to fix the room up and took the opportunity to completely refurb and try to put something in place that would raise more revenue - all of that happened in just a couple of months at a time when there was also a focus on getting Terrace View done and get ready for the upcoming season both on and off the pitch with a brand new management team. It perhaps impacted some of the work they've now done in making the Upper Holte concourses a little better, which didn't help it's reception.

This summer, the club will have a chance to review what they've done and find the right way to sell what is a really good space, a really nice opportunity for supporters looking for a special occasion and a facility that should ultimately be popular with fans and profitable - if they get that right then perhaps the booing will stop and we'll have something that sits more comfortably in the minds of Villa fans.

I'm not sure about that, the Cost of food, programs and drink is very small I suspect.  I'd be very surprised if the club is spending more than £6-7 per person on that.

We don't really know the cost of all the refurb that went into it, even with a third of the previous capacity though I think the club are comfortable 

10 hours ago, Kingman said:

IMO it Needs another venue, Waste of space and revenue if not utilising the front or upstairs spaces. 

For the amount of people on the benches in the backrroom they might as well use The Holte pub or a hall opposite at Aston Halll or even erect a temporary marquee type structure on the car park. 

I would be interested to see the end of day takings comparison with full capacity Holte Suite paying customers V's circa 30% capacity All Inc customers 

 

I think you can safely say it's making more money else the club would have done something different. 

People seem torn of Heck but one thing I think we can all agree on is that he will make difficult decisions quickly in his pursuit of increasing revenue without regard for fan opinion. 

I

10 minutes ago, S-Platt said:

GA+ or whatever the buzz word is at the moment as in extracting more money for the same seat with some add on is interesting me.

I am trying to read between the lines of Hecks reasoning for mothballing the new North Stand.

Saying we are adding seats too quick.  We all know that is bullshit but maybe if we are not adding the right seats?   Is he trying to extract the last pennies out of us all to plug the gap whilst it's rebuilt?  Conditioning us to prices?

We all love what is happening on the pitch but there is a lot of pain coming it seems after reading the FAB minutes.

We do have to compete we all get that but they should follow the German model on what fans pay.

Football is a working class sport not elitest. Sure you can cater for all price points but it seems to me to be leading up rather than a happy medium.

I dont think the club have hidden the need to increase revenue and recently commented on the use of GA+ seats as a way of doing this. I particular their preference for more seats vs season ticket price increases. 

I think we've seen this year that they have a place and that the demand is there. I think the club still needs to work on the quality of the offering but it opens up a market of day tripping tourists who are looking for a seat, food, atmosphere, maybe even accommodation. It's foolish of the club to ignore this. 

I hope football remains accessible for all, I'm not sure I'd have been a villa fan if today's prices existed when I started following football. Unfortunately I think most of the damage in that regards is done. 

11 hours ago, David-Copenhagen said:

If it does not happen in the near future, then we are left behind. I don't like it, but there are really little alternatives. To compete, we need to make money. A new stadium makes more money. And money rules the game. 

They do also cost money. 

I don't think it's necessarily down to team size but more positioning. I can't remember too many set piece goals coming direct from headers but more often second balls in the box. 

It would help to win the first header, but if not we've got to be more organised to win the second. 

I think his club average is 2-3 years, some of that his choosing and some of that the clubs I guess. 

I'd like to think he's here for a project but I also worry that getting us into the champions league would have him thinking he's hit our ceiling.

If he gets a chance at a big job (United, bayern, barca, real) then he's off I'm sure. 

35 minutes ago, Leeroy said:

Better than prime Ashley Young IMO. Young was a better crosser but Bailey's dribbling is better and he gets his head up more, plus he's a better finisher than prime Young and stronger and more powerful. Don't think prime Ashley Young was ever world class, just very good, whereas I think Bailey is genuinely world class. His challenge now is to be consistent for the next 3,4 seasons, however long he stays here, but I think he will be.

 

Comparing him to Grealish is more apt, but Grealish was a different type of player, more a number 10 than a winger. 

No where near Young for me, Young did this for consecutive seasons, could play left, right and down the middle. Went on to win everything. Even now he's adapted to play a premier league full back role and can do it either side (something we don't ask any of our current full backs to do). 

Bailey (as much as I'm enjoying him) hasn't even done it consistently for this season. 

4 minutes ago, ferguson1 said:

If we needed to sell a big ticket player, would think it more likely that Ramsey or Diaby could be sold, rather than a Luiz or Watkins. Added to that the sales of Sanson, Digne, Hause, Chambers, Dendoncker, possibly Carlos, Duran or Cash?  Zaniolo and Lenglet going back. Could o the younger academy players to go?

With Rogers signed and Buendia returning for next season, we could cope without either Ramsey or Diaby player (if we had to sell one that is).

We’ve actually done pretty well exploring who is out of contract and getting someone in (ie Kamara and Tielemans).  I wonder if there are one or two that we could consider this summer?  Anyone know of a couple that we could look at?

Personally I wouldnt sell either...but

If you did need to sell Ramsey, Diaby, buendia then they are sellable to teams below you. 

Watkins, Luiz, etc will only go to clubs above you and there aren't many of those. 

Are we that confident that Buendia is coming back effective. He's got an injury to get over and we're now asking him to contribute to a top 4 side. I don't see Buendia starting for Arsenal, Liverpool, City and I think that is where we're trying to be. 

20 hours ago, sne said:

I hope we are able to fix our salary situation a bit by getting rid of high paid fringe players like Olsen, Chambers, (Digne if he want's to move and we find a replacement) Donk, Coutinho, Sanson...

Edit: Along with Zaniolo & Lenglet off the books.

I'm a bit nervous about this. We've needed these high earners at some point and next season if we make champions league we will need an even higher quality to rely on. Digne has played a lot of games, lenglet a previous high earning fringe player has been essential and probably dendonker would be getting some game time if he was still here. 

Looks like chambers is coming on to me. Very lengthy warm up 

53 minutes ago, R.Bear said:

I think most of us want a trophy rather than "fun games".

I want both

brilliant, regardless of form, it will feel like a big tie between two European giants. I dont want easy ties, i want fun games that i can get excited about.

20 hours ago, BOF said:

Getting into rarified air now. 1 goal behind JPA (62) and 3 behind Platt (64) in our all-time list. All old-timers after that until you reach Shaw on 77 and Gray on 78.

Shaw and Gray are not "old-timers"?

Is it possible that Zaniolo has some form of compulsory purchase clause based on appearances? Im struggling to understand why he isnt used more frequently. especially compared to his run of games at the start of the season and our subsequent injury crisis.

These recently released accounts are not a huge surprise for me but they really highlight the problem with the recent fixation on FFP.

Its important that we remember that FFP is about allowable LOSSES and that they are in fact that, Losses.

No other business in the world carries on running in this instance. Everytime we scrap out compliance with FFP, our owners are digging deeper into their pockets. In my experience this only happens for so long before they decide to cash in and pass the baton on. 

based on our recently reported losses. Im struggling to see where the club is getting the money to invest in a new stadium tbh

32 minutes ago, Rugeley Villa said:

Yep two increases since that season . Unfortunately that’s where premier league football is at and if we are to start challenging the top 4 then price increases will be inevitable.

I hate this narrative, I don't remember prices going down when we got relegated. 

9 hours ago, Rugeley Villa said:

That’s from 2021/22 though.  We’ll no doubt be higher now although still not close to the top clubs 

Good point. It's closer and probably has two price increases since then. I'm still expecting another unfortunately. 

19 hours ago, Brumstopdogs said:

 

The biggest proportion of matchday per fan is still ticket income and ours is unfortunately still far to low for a premier league club. I think we have a proportionally higher number of season tickets compared to others and that is one of the biggest problems for the club. 

I'd predict another 15% rise on my season ticket is coming in the summer.