thunderball

15 hours ago, TheStagMan said:

In fairness he was just giving cards at random so it was just as much a surprise for him.

Apparently he red cards in 40% of his games.

Not blaming him for our performance, the changes and Ajax’s willingness to press and harry, meant we didn’t manage our usual control and rhythm. Was very happy with the result, if not the performance or sending off.

I can see a reinstated  McGinn, Bailey, Pau and possibly Ramsey should restore that, I saw enough to be reassured Bailey will add a level of chaos they are unused to and will be key to unlocking them at home.

Abysmal, criminally inept officiating for a premier European tournament, it would have received the same criticism for non-league. So many down right wrong decisions. Two players sent off in a luke warm encounter, players booked for no offence; bookable offences ignored 2 minutes after a less innocuous similar carding events; throw-ins given to the opposite team.

Judging by the line up and pace of the game, we are juggling and prioritising the premier league. No harm in that, given the prize for getting 4th is worth £40m+ and underwrites our FFP, team investment etc. A goal would have been nice, but we were hardly full throttle. If we beat Spurs the plan has worked perfectly.

I think the rot started with Roger’s tactical ill discipline. Luton were physical all game, (somehow we were getting the bookings though?), but Rogers gave them an in, they just targeted our weakness. Rogers looked great going forward, he will come along nicely, but he showed he isnt up to speed just yet for the discipline this team and Emery demands, that is the difference Emery makes. 
 

Control returned after the subs (in particular Rogers being replaced) and we nearly always have enough quality to score given the opportunity these days.

Oliver was dreadful, the officiating this season is criminal. Best league, worst officiating. Their goal looked offside too, and Chong had Oliver as a mug, kept tricking him all game. 

3 very valuable points, it was always going to be a tough away game, Luton can unsettle anyone and Kenilworth Rd is a leveller.

Looks great, I’m taking my daughter for the Spurs game. 

I am down the M5 in South Wales, but would love to go much more often if it was an easier proposition: parking, access and egress, catering and secondary entertainment, I would happily spend a day in a captive environment and family members who are fans too would absolutely suck it up. That totals a big spend, but instead the club gets next to nothing from me as a non ST holder. I am not alone in this so it just underlines there is a market for a premium spend above ST, pie and pint.

2 hours ago, sne said:

He's on almost £200k/w at Barca so it'll take more than a little pay cut. Even £100k/w for a guy who is 4th or 5th? choice when everyone is fit is a lot of money.

He is playing at a very high level for us now. He would be a great addition to the squad. I suspect Barca will accept a very reduced fee as they are run by children, I don’t think wages will be an issue.

I did read somewhere that we have a Spanish CB/LB in our sights who is out of contract in the summer. I would think Digne will leave and this guy will come in. I think we will move on the Williams brothers too. Not sure on our finances but all of this plus buying back Archer does sound unrealistic unless there is a big departure which we are reassured won’t happen?

Someone has summarised the liquid football:

McGinn’s shaved head is so white I thought he came out wearing a bandage.

We’ve not really seen the best of him. When he arrived he looked like he only needed time and there was a player in there waiting to explode. Not sure if his head is in it any longer, but that hope has gone for me.

They would be mad to not explore a brand new stadium, of course they are. They can legitimately say they have no plans to leave until an application for a new ground is in hand - plausible denial. Villa Park needs so much to bring up to what is needed for the modern sporting experience, any money spent is a waste.

I suspect they will explore options if we regularly look like qualifying for CL. Our owners are the real deal, they won’t do things by half or fight with one arm behind their back.

I still take the athletic, still has some decent stuff. Jacob Tanswell is first rate, massive upgrade on the quality of output without being too damning on Gregg Evans. Not much subscriber Villa support on there though, comments section is always pretty lame.

Have to say I miss @omariqy’s Villa Talks pod, particularly enjoyed the latter pods on Gerrard’s shambolic tenure and tactics. Pulled no punches, maybe Nasef was listening?

Great result, and those results around us too.

Played well, especially as we were away and given our injury downer, and the terrible officiating/VAR.

How important Pau is to this team, felt so much more comfortable and had a greater range, he settles the side and offers so much. Brilliant he’s back, goes a long way to comfort the Kamara loss.

Watkins and Bailey looked dangerous, fair play to Watkins, he was hot today. When you look at him vs Haaland, he is so much more efficient.

Offside goal should have stood; we should have had a penalty. The stats were close, but we were far and away the better side today.

Could win and should target 4 wins in the next four games looking at it. I feel we have shaken off our Christmas down turn.

3 hours ago, VillaJ100 said:

Thing is corporate is not a panacea for financial worries as well. It's different in London maybe where many worldwide bank headquarters are based but in Brum for instance I work for a large company 10k+ employees of which maybe 1000 are in B'ham and there's no way on earth they would consider paying tens of thousands for a corporate soiree at Villa Park

There’s plenty of takers. Its the smaller business’s that would. For example my business would pay £20K a year for a corporate box if the quality was there, and we are small. 

17 hours ago, sidcow said:

We need to maximise ALL revenue streams.  People constantly bang on about stadium money not being that important in the scheme of things but it really really is. All the other clubs get similar TV money. The commercial revenue is what sets club's apart as clearly demonstrated by Spurs Match day revenue v ours.

It's not concentrating on one revenue stream at the expense of others.  It's maxing out on ALL levels that takes you to a different level.

I agree, and that’s great if you have infinite funds. What you need is value for money, and don’t mistake revenue for profit.

Two examples, the figures are broad for simplicity: 

1. Look at our revenue per supporter, it’s terrible. I would suggest it’s easier to try and double our revenue on existing supporters than building more seats. Get this right first.

2. 8,000 new seats at a cost of £100m = £12,500 per seat. Avg. season ticket price £650/ seat per year. Repayment before profit is 20 years. This does not include interest, nor loss of revenue while building takes place. Its crude but it shows it’s not a tap that suddenly pours out profit.

I would suggest larger, modern facilities with better catering and lavish corporate will extract more £ per supporter/visitor. Villa could/should be the biggest regional stadium that attracts all the secondary entertainment too. That’s what Spurs and Arsenal have done, and Highbury/White Hart Lane had as much sentimental value to them as VillaPark to us. I think pouring £100m into 8000 new seats when the ground is outdated for the modern footballing economics is a complete folly? Especially when they might move in 5 years.

8 hours ago, sidcow said:

But the main way they can compete with the big boys is with the new stand. 

So much commercial revenue sacrificed.

I don’t think it is Sid.  I posted about this elsewhere: the money earned from each supporter is paltry, lots of other “smaller” clubs out performing us handsomely.

The stand extension is only a small part of the issue. I don’t see the logic spending £100m to gain 8-10K seats in an out dated stadium that is way off, it was conceived in a bygone era and is no longer driving revenue as it should. It’s a sticking plaster that won’t earn anything back from that that Investment. My guess it was rushed through for the Euro's. I would imagine NSWE have far bigger aspirations and don’t want to throw away £100m.

11 hours ago, sidcow said:

I mean absolutely. You just can't run a large organisation and not rub some people up the wrong way. You'll have to turn someone's pet project down, make ruthless decisions that probably involve someone's job. You can't have a yes man in charge (I've also been there!) but there is a difference between being decisive and tough and being an arseholes. 

You've still got to inspire and win hearts and minds. The arseholes tend to move around quickly bullying people and cutting costs to get their short term goals over the line the leaving before the shit hits the fan and the inevitable collapse comes, especially as the "good" people have seen the lay of the land, left and a competitor has welcomed them with open arms. 

A lot of truth in this statement.

A lot on here won’t agree but personally I think badge-gate, Terrace View, Lower Grounds and postponement of the proposed expansion of the ground (in the form consented) are all petty minor or even non-issues, small in reality but always likely wind up some long standing fans. In the slightly podgy, outsider Heck, people have found their scape goat. 

No doubt things have happened that have ruffled feathers internally but I have a slightly cynical view on all this. I would be suspicious that personal agendas are being hitched to the “C*cksucker bandwagon”:

I recently saw the commercial performance table and Villa were close to the bottom, for me that’s an absolute damning indictment of the regime so if NSWE have brought in someone to shake it up at its core, a few egos are going to get trodden on in what looks like fairly root and branch shake up, the fall out we have just seen is typical of the tittle tattle on social media.

Im not defending Heck, he could well be an arsehole. The club needs to double its commercial performance very quickly so big decisions need to be made and for me the measure of Heck will be on this, but I fully expect people to leave and not be happy about it, and social media is such an easy way of throwing your sh*t around.

Frustrating and promising. Didn’t deserve to lose, could and should have won by a few goals against a form team. Emery said it’s our second best performance this season and he is right. 

We will learn from that and have players coming back into consideration. We have plenty of fight in us yet. 

We are the better side, keep it up, could go either way. At least we are now playing well.

Ramsey close to being back on form, what a talent he is. Could get a goal today

Missed the first half (thankfully).

Not the end of the world and probably a blessing in disguise, maybe too much too soon. 

Regroup, refocus on what’s really important, get the core back to fitness.

I honestly only care about the League this season. There, I’ve said it.

4 minutes to turn this around

Just now, Lerner's Driver said:

Wank team. 

lol  

1 minute ago, Lerner's Driver said:

Obviously I mean "of late"! 

Sheffield was last weekend?

2 minutes ago, Lerner's Driver said:

You seem unsure. Do we fight well under pressure? Maybe you know better.

Sheffield brought the fight and got walloped. Do you think Man City and Arsenal came to rollover? Did AZ Alkmaar allows to waltz in and destroy their unbeaten home run? That’s without even thinking about it.

Yes we’ve struggled of late with a small squad and injuries after showing league contender form for half a season, but your statement is simply untrue.

Just now, Lerner's Driver said:

I'm going to say it again, any team that takes it to us, wins. Suck on that.

What a load of nonsense?