brommy

I've already collected 3 items for 3 people on first game of the season. I joined the end of a queue about 50 minutes before kick off and was told by security staff the service would close in 20 minutes so I risked not being served. There were about 20 fans ahead of me and I waited 18 minutes. Got to the window and one woman sat at a computer took the 3 names I was collecting for, found them on a database and confirmed the 3 items to another woman who quickly picked the 3 items from shelves and handed them to me. Took about 90 seconds so I'd estimate about one minute if only one item was being collected. In fairness the two woman were working in a quick manner, although finding the names/items on the database took a few seconds longer than I thought it should. The delays are caused by Villa only using one service window and two staff. I think if 3 service windows, 3 computers and 5 or 6 staff were used, the wait would be a few minutes or less. In my opinion, the club aren't giving it the resources needed to avoid long waits because they are handing out freebies and not taking income.

If Russia withdraw all military presence and claim to Ukrainian land gained since 2014 then they won't be attacked. Seems a fair compromise.

Easily the best race of the season could still be a crap race. Just less crap than the others.

The logistics at Witton station during sell outs at Villa Park are already seen as undesirable or even unacceptable. Increasing capacity by 7401 will only make matters worse and won't be mitigated much by a couple of thousand fans choosing to use the hospitality for an hour after the match. The station improvement isn't essential to the expansion but it won't be a good look for Birmingham and it's pretence towards environmental impact and care of it's residents if the main public transport option fails to cope, leading to gridlock during a flagship event such as Euro 28.

Exactly my initial concern!

Good news that the intention to improve the station is still on going. On a side note, when Fabrizio Romano tweets 'Here we go' in the future, I'll be expecting news of another feasibility study.

I assumed it was because it has an outside terrace overlooking the back of the Holte End and possibly also the lounge viewing windows overlooking the pitch. I didn't associate it with standing terraces that disappeared at top level decades ago. On a not unrelated note, I always thought it slightly odd that you stand on a terrace but sit in a stand.

As it's been weeks not days since Christian Purslow left (although he still lives rent-free in some minds!), the wait could actually be down to research, caution and diligence.

You nearly Elphick'd me there! The correct answer to your question is 0.027 piles of 'Digne wage'.

It's all his fault.

I think Summer 2025 is the latest. Completed in Summer 27 giving time for checks and approval to host in Summer 28.

I expect some of that demand will be the novelty of trying something new but, bearing in mind it's 'only' Palace, it does appear that the TVL even under the current pricing could be successful, if not for the 80% of Upper Holte fans not using it! I wouldn't expect an apology but I would prefer, even expect, some action on the concourse facilities. With no game at Villa Park for over two weeks since Thursday evening, why can't the fast ordering screens of the Lower Holte be installed and the remaining concourse areas be cleaned of all the building dust that was still covering the floor and walls at the Hibs game, in time for the Palace game? I had a look around the reduced concourse on Thursday evening. Unfortunately the area has been reduced so dramatically, a quick solution to the reduced toilet facilities is not obvious. Hopefully some designer can be more creative, although that would probably need to wait until next summer.

They as in our U16s or they as in Leeedz?

Unlikely but not impossible. Given the 16% rise we've just suffered for dirtier reduced space and facilities (although hopefully the building dirt will be sorted by tonight), I think asking for even more money might be too much for some fans. IF the walls currently separating the lounge area from remaining concourse were to be removed and the new lounge, bars and terrace area was incorporated back in to a much upgraded concourse for all Upper Holte fans to use, I might stomach another 10% for next season. I think it's more likely that increased bar/food facilities (such as the screen ordering already used in the Lower Holte) and more toilets be introduced in the what remains of the concourse space. Less likely but still reasonable and possible, is reducing the TVL entry cost to season ticket holders down to a point where the TVL is consistently used to its capacity of 1000. This will slightly reduce the stress on the concourse areas used by the remaining 5000 or so. My preference would be to knock down the separation walls and treat the it as an improved concourse area, encouraging fans to spend longer in the stand before and after matches and increasing hospitality revenue that way. However, even given the recent significant price increases, I suspect this is unlikely.

What if it was 100% down to Purslow, with him doing everything in his power to persuade the owners it was the correct decision? What if it was near 0% Purslow with him saying he didn't like the TVL but he was told to oversee the survey and get on with it? Add on the fact that CP no longer works for Villa and it's all a bit pointless. It was probably a collective board decision, but even that doesn't really matter. Especially as given the overall direction the club is currently heading, this issue is unlikely see fans wanting NSWE out. What matters to me is how any negative impact can be rectified, reduced or compensated.

Chelsea is still showing as Saturday 23rd September at 3pm on my Villa calendar. EDIT - could move to a Sunday to accommodate a Thursday ECL game if we qualify for the group stage?

No one is saying we are going to lose the game. Merely saying it could be seen as arrogant to say 'Everton are crap so who are we getting in round 4'. I'm expecting Emery to have learnt from the Stevenage result and whilst still acknowledging the difficult adjacent league fixtures, put out a fairly strong team. That's still no guarantee, but hopefully our stronger squad and another 9 months of Emery's coaching (since Stevenage) will see us through.

One of the biggest issues is the sheer size that the Terrace View Lounge occupies AND what the club currently hasn't done with the much reduced lower concourse (of the two concourses in the Upper Holte). I'm hoping to have time tonight to have a look at that space and then post an idea or two of how some of the issues could be rectified or reduced. This isn't, or at least shouldn't be, the end story for the Upper Holte End.

Agreed. This is Emery teaching Nicolò how to wear shorts - 'Yours are too high'.

That's Dyche's team talk written for him. Scribbled in crayon on the back of a toffee box, followed by - PROVE UpTheVilla26 WRONG!!!

Have the balls been warmed yet?

50cm/£50m.

That makes me glad to be very comfortable in metric and imperial units. Probably a result of the timing of my education rather than my intellect, as I'm far from 'bilingual' in anything else and I think Nicolo will use English far more than imperial units.

Come on, even my kids know what 6 foot is when used to describe height. It's two Elphicks.

At nearly 40 years old, my still in use Aston Villa bathrobe is nearly twice his age!