ender4

2 hours ago, MapleVilla said:

I'm so confused with all this membership stuff. I had to jump through a billion hoops to get two tickets for the Wolves game (as a first time buyer, I've been to the Villa before but it had been many many years). I had to become a member just to have a chance to get a ticket. Is this paid membership come with extra perks? As opposed to the free one that you sign up for?

There is no free version. The adult membership is £40 which gives you a welcome pack and access to buy tickets before general sale.  
 

They are looking at creating a premium version, say for £60-80, unsure what extra benefits they would give.

4 hours ago, allani said:

It's not about getting a more marvellous version of Nakamba.  

HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE!

Well I can tell you where the Villa membership is heading…

Just had a survey request from Villa about the memberships. One of the questions was would you buy a Premium membership for extra benefits.   

So we can assume there will be a basic version at the current price, an enhanced version for a little more and a premium version for a much higher cost. And then over time the good benefits will slowly move to the higher priced memberships.
 

Newcastle have just announced their ‘official transport partner’ paying them £3m a year. 

With errrrmmm an unrelated company called Saudi Airlines

Over to Chris Heck - let’s get Brightline or whatever that LA to Vegas train is called to sponsor us for our transport partner

2 hours ago, ender4 said:

At Villa Park one afternoon, I went with Edens to visit the Lower Grounds, the all-you-can-eat dining area.

Chris Heck, the club’s chief executive who formerly worked for the N.B.A.’s 76ers, suggested the idea for it shortly after he arrived in Birmingham last August.

Touring the stadium, he stumbled on a decrepit ballroom-size space where ticket holders were permitted to gather. During the first game that the new venture was open for business, Heck says someone approached him on the concourse and took a swing at him — “because I took away the free space where he used to come and eat his sandwich.”

After hearing how unpopular it was among supporters, I expected a dreary scene of a few people sitting at otherwise empty tables. Instead, the area was filled to capacity with some 800 fans. They were eating and drinking while a game played on several large screens. They certainly appeared to be enjoying themselves. According to Heck, the club would make 80,000 British pounds, or about $100,000, that afternoon. “We fill it up every game, so multiply that by 23,” he says.

Interesting that it was Heck's idea after all.  Must have been very last minute.

Also, is there actually 800 people capacity for Lower Grounds?  Or is that the journalist exaggerating a bit?

4 minutes ago, spiezels said:

Anymore in there? Is paywalled

Just the bit about Lower Grounds that I’ve posted in the Lower Grounds thread.

The rest is about Chelsea and how Americans are taking over the Premier League. 

Quote

At Villa Park one afternoon, I went with Edens to visit the Lower Grounds, the all-you-can-eat dining area.

Chris Heck, the club’s chief executive who formerly worked for the N.B.A.’s 76ers, suggested the idea for it shortly after he arrived in Birmingham last August.

Touring the stadium, he stumbled on a decrepit ballroom-size space where ticket holders were permitted to gather. During the first game that the new venture was open for business, Heck says someone approached him on the concourse and took a swing at him — “because I took away the free space where he used to come and eat his sandwich.”

After hearing how unpopular it was among supporters, I expected a dreary scene of a few people sitting at otherwise empty tables. Instead, the area was filled to capacity with some 800 fans. They were eating and drinking while a game played on several large screens. They certainly appeared to be enjoying themselves. According to Heck, the club would make 80,000 British pounds, or about $100,000, that afternoon. “We fill it up every game, so multiply that by 23,” he says.

Full article is paywalled, but this part concerns Villa.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/04/magazine/english-soccer-american-owners.html

Making almost £2 million from the Lower Grounds apparently.

2 hours ago, rooster85 said:

5th best manager in the world right now according to FourFourTwo

Who the hell is better??

Well after Gerrard of course…

3 hours ago, mjmooney said:

For years - no, decades  - the Tories maintained strict party unity, which enabled them to stay in power while Labour struggled with its range of diverse factions. 

Now Tory factionalism has finally broken into the open, and Labour is finally managing to maintain internal discipline, putting them on course to finally oust the Tories. 

So what you are saying is that policies are largely irrelevant and which party can maintain cohesive discipline goes into power.

1 hour ago, sheepyvillian said:

If someone asked me to describe Stranger Things, I would say, "Like ET, but without the Alien".

40 minutes ago, hogso said:

Think I'd say Goonies x Stand by Me x Elfen Lied. 

Yeah I’d go with Stand By Me x Goonies x Goosebumps.

2 hours ago, briny_ear said:

Just like the French Ligue with Lille. This is an absolute **** disgrace and I am surprised no one is shouting louder about the unfair disadvantage the premier league is imposing on its own clubs in Europe.

TBF Klopp and Guardiola have been moaning about it for ages.

5 minutes ago, pete101 said:

Think we might have a few angry people on here and hour before kick off on Thursday, can really see us going weak on Thursday 

I agree with Emery if this is his thinking for Thursday.  If Spurs get a point or three today, then we need to be fresher and mentally prepared for Liverpool.

2 minutes ago, Captain_Townsend said:

The squad was hit my 3 ACL injuries to important players and several other injuries all season. I think the squad has done incredibly well to sustain things this far.

Completely agree. How many other teams could have coped with 3 ACLs and still had a fantastic European campaign and maintained 4th in the PL for most of the season?

Just now, sharkyvilla said:

Looked like a hamstring injury, I'd be surprised to see him again.

Ahhh cock. 

Injured injured or a little knock injured?

1 minute ago, abdulaziz1 said:

Much important game right now than ours, we were tired, hope Liverpool win this. I’m more stressed on this game than ours, I knew it was going to be tough, I also think UE got it wrong, he needs to start Tim, we won’t be as bad. 

A kid who’s not played in the Premier League is not going to be our sudden saviour.

Just now, DakotaVilla said:

Emery totally shit the bed today. McGinn and Luiz in the double pivot never works. playing cash right wing meaning we had Bailey left. WTAF. 
 

Nonsense. We have no-one else fit. 

Just now, The_Steve said:

Are we finishing 6th still?

Man Utd 4th, Chelsea 5th, Spurs 6th, Newcastle 7th, Villa 8th.  

Tired. Just running on empty.  
 

Not sure how we bring the energy on Thursday and next Monday.

11 minutes ago, sidcow said:

All declared to the taxman as well no doubt. 

Yes it will be as it’s a well known restaurant and he’s on PAYE. The tips are paid to him properly through payroll. 

43 minutes ago, sidcow said:

So Mrs Sidcow is convinced 15% is the new standard for tipping. 

These days with the 4 of us any kind of pub meal it going to be £80 odd plus.  That means we're at least tipping a waitress the minimum hourly wage. 

If she's waiting say 4 tables that night she's probably taking home 5 times the minimum wage.  Sounds like a hell of a job? 

10% max. Or 5-8% if it’s a big bill. 

My mate is a waiter in a nice restaurant, he makes £300 a day due to tips. Only works 3 days a week and clears £50k a year. 

1 hour ago, Xela said:

Yes.

Tipped 3 times this week. 

Taxi driver home the other day - coupe of quid. Went out for a meal with 3 mates last week, and we all left a fiver as a tip each, and a couple of quid tonight for the pizza delivery guy. 

I also tip my barber. 

 

Thats a lot of tipping. 

Taxi drivers - interesting one, why? 

2 hours ago, Jas10 said:

 

Big improvement.  Solid 4/10 now.

Can we claw back 2 goals and get through to the final?