Raver50032

6 minutes ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

This.

I don't get the fear by some that we are suddenly going to start losing our best players.

I think unless any said player kicked up and fuss and demanded to leave then I don't think anyone is going anywhere.

Off topic, sorry... but I got so accustomed to seeing your avatar and now you've changed it. It's like all of a sudden having to 'get to know you again...' Shame on you sir 

It's Wednesday... match day again... We just don't do well on Wednesdays. 

Man City... B-b-b-b-Burnley and someone else we've lost to... Oh yeah, Wet Hamas. 

Lots of references to the 'ghost goal' incoming for this one. Probably be a bit of a broadcaster montage sequence about it in their usual style. Wouldn't put it past the Premier League to engineer a 'revenge' VAR bit of indecency in this. 

Needs an arm round him. Dean can probably do that. 

Looking at how Tuchel publicly threw his own player under the bus over the weekend (classless and won't end well), I can't imagine what Tuchel would be saying about Ross. And overall, it wouldn't be helpful. Some people need a rocket, whereas 'rockets' can often come over as bullying. Some (me included in my own workplace) need and thrive better with a different kind of encouragement. 

It's up to Dean just now to work out how to get the best out of Ross. There is a player there. 

15 hours ago, sidcow said:

FFS how many times does this need explaining?

I will say it slowly for you. 

T h e y.. j u s t.. n e e d.. t o.. p l a y.. t h e.. r i g h t.. b a l l s.. t o.. H o g a n...…… …….. …….. ….. MATE

Fixed that for you 

Be interesting to see which of Jack Grealish and James Maddison come out on top in this tussle. I would imagine that the (more ambitious club) Beak will be in the stands for this one salivating at the prospect of a Jack 'no show.' 

On current form, we will lose this game. On current performances, we will lose this game. We can't keep relying on Mr Martinez and his magic powers for much longer. 

That said, I shall cheer the team and the Club on nonetheless... Still a good season for us. We just need to get back in the groove if we really want to justify some of the recent hype. Up The Villa, always. 

You look at how we know we can play, and then you look at the performance we put in at Brighton and it almost felt to me that so many players were off the game, it smelled of match fixing. We were that bad across the whole pitch, goal-keeper aside. Of course, that's nonsense. 

Giving away possession too cheaply, wayward passing, and a perceived aura of not really being 'arsed' at the top end of our team sheet. That might do one or two players a disservice I'll admit. You would never know that it was us who had a whole week to prepare for this game, and that it was Brighton who had played a hard game midweek in the Cup. We are currently sleepwalking towards a heavy defeat... with Lestoh and Dirty-Leeds waiting in the wings for us. A match to re-light Vardy's season... and Bummer Bamford... anyone but that word removed. 

So things need changing up a bit. It's all becoming a bit Billy-Big-Bollox with all this talk about possibly gaining a European place. We haven't looked anything like it for half a dozen games. Yeah, we've had a couple of wins (against the run of play), a couple of defeats (deserved to lose) and now this draw at Brighton, which could easily have been a heavy defeat with different personnel between the sticks. 

We're still having a good season way above our hopes and dreams. However, it's all in danger of fizzling out into a tail spin of negativity if we don't sort this out. I'm not a football person, so I don't know the answer. But common sense tells me that even if Grealish is being double-marked, then that creates space elsewhere on the pitch for others to exploit and cause damage. We did neither against Hamas or Brighton. As such, we gained a single point. 

It isn't about whether Jack has been found out... it's about exploiting the other opportunities on the pitch that appear as we change things up. That should be our Plan-B... no?

In other news... SUPER LUTON!!!!!!! YAY!!!! 

COME ON LUTON... (pronounced Looh-unnn to blend in with locals...)

Sorry... just took me back to University days... Saw some good games down Kenilworth Road in the early 90s. 

13 hours ago, icouldtelltheworld said:

Interesting 

I am curious as to the interest. 

3 hours ago, The Fun Factory said:

Albion are going down. They are terrible and have not invested. Fat Sam is on autopilot picking up his paycheck. The bottom 3 are doomed.  Shef Utd massively overachieved last season and they can't score goals. Fulham are half decent but draw too many.

Also their  away kit looked like something Ronald Macdonald would wear whilst working from home.

Reminded me of a packet of Frazzles. 

Let's hope we make Brighton Rock (with fear). 

Win here and it's another statement of intent. Will be far from easy though. 

This was a very big result for us and a match (a month really) that shows that the job is still not over. We are still a club that needs to evolve in order to compete at the top. We soaked up a lot of pressure - like we did at Southampton, like we did against West Ham etc. A big performance from all of our defenders and a very good performance from Lord Watkins. Really, really pleased for the team and for Smith. 

This is a good season for us - hopefully we will continue to keep up the good work. Thrilled to bits just as the moment. 

6 hours ago, Vancvillan said:

Conor's contract expires in June so we're getting **** all for him. That aside, I feel like a lot of your sell prices are high and the buy prices are low.

Perhaps it's Daniel Levy in disguise?? 

4 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

look at the brief history of the uefa cup spot going to the fa cup runners up too

first year the runner up got it we finished 6th and didnt get europe, the year they changed it back to the league position we were runners up in the cup 

Crikey - completely overlooked that... Nasty old rules... Grrrrrrr...

For the benefit of the thread archive when people look back on this thread in 100 years time... 

I actually like Ross and think we will be lucky to keep him here when he ultimately turns on the beans and dazzles us with consistent world class performances. 

Fingers crossed he comes good in the end...

Historically, after our moment in the European Cup sun back in 1982, we've kind of been 'late to the party' and victims of rule changes over the years. 

1989-90 - League Division 1 Runners Up, which was only good for a UEFA Cup spot where we were ultimately fingered in the San Siro. 

1992-93 - Premier League Runner Up, which was only good for a UEFA Cup spot and a disappointing early exit to Deportivo La Caruna. 

Not long after that, 2nd Place in the Premier League became a Champions League spot. 

1995-96 - we finished 4th in the Premier League, which was only good enough for a UEFA Cup spot and a forgettable experience in the first round against Helsingborgs. 

Not long after that, incredibly, 4th place in our Premier League would allow you to qualify for the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. The farce, that the competition for the cream of European Football could be won by a team who finished 4th in their domestic league the season before. What a crock of brown waste. 

Under MON, we have three successive 6th placed finishes in the Premier League - which of course had their own disappointing exits from the Europa League, including twice to the noisy but good bantered upstarts of Rapid Vienna. The less said about the CSKA Moscow white towel throwing team selection, the better. MON never really recovered from that at Villa really. 

And now it seems that 6th place could get you into the Champions League... WTAF? Cartel nonsense of the highest order and if there's any justice it will all go 'pop.' Yeah, maybe some sour grapes and cognitive bias from me... but WTAF? 

So anyway… we've been victims to a degree of rules changes over the years which means that after our European Cup win, we have still yet to play in the Champions League. And that's an all important statistic for the millennials within the media who think football was only invented in 1992. I'm not sure how I would feel if my fantastic football club finished 6th in the league again and somehow felched it's way into the Champions League. All seem a bit 'smelly money' to me. But that's just my opinion... you don't have to chastise, pillory or hound. 

It's just life innit?

I am still yet to discover the WM Football Phone in, but I find this thread top quality. 

Mate.

11 hours ago, danceoftheshamen said:

My original post was a bit unclear and seemed a bit petulant I guess (was hastily typed in the loo at work when I snuck in to check the score )

A lot of talk about squad rotation. 

Could we rotate some of our fans?

I said to myself on 15 minutes,

'we're not winning this...'

And we didn't. We were completely outplayed and out-thought. And the result has been coming I think - a proper wake up and take stock moment considering out current situation in the league. I sense a bit of a 'bad run' forming, which can and does happen to most teams in a season to different degrees. 

There seemed to be lethargy in our play... at times, some players appeared 'lazy,' - though that could actually be too harsh a word. I don't think anyone out there deliberately went onto the pitch to rob their wages for the week. But the spark and commitment at times wasn't there. Difficult to put my finger on it. I felt some of our flicks and back-heel moments were a bit overly 'fancy-dan' at times. Smelled a bit like trying to be billy-big-bollocks but actually looking a little dumb at times. 

Arsenal next - and that won't be easy and I predict they will be up for revenge. I can see our 'bad run' extending for a few weeks more. 

We deserved to lose last night... can't deny that. A reality check for a lot of our people, and fans (judging by some of the reactions doing the rounds). We finish the 2020-21 season bottom of the claret and blue mini-league; unless you count Palace as well, who are technically kit stealers originally if I recall my history correctly. 

Up the Villa always... get back on the horse and ride on. 

Some nonsense in that article - clearly written by a media studies intern stuck for something to spout about during lockdown. 

I love Villa Park - it's our home. It's more traditional than many in the Premier League now. I couldn't care less if we were placed 20th in the list. What we are currently doing on the football pitch is much more meritorious and deserving of credit than stadium dressing - structures that no fans can actually visit anyway. 

And how is it by the way, with such strict Covid restrictions across the country do we so regularly see old strawberry nose (Alex Ferguson) watching games at Old Trafford? With his health problems since retirement, I would have thought he is one individual to be kept well away? And I've also seen several of the Liverpool old boys in attendance at Anfield over the last couple of months on TV.  

I'm daring to dream just now... I've unfurled into the 7th to 10th zone. This team is currently incurring romantic nourishment within me. 

We have not seen team spirit and enthusiasm since the Brian Little 'Squaddies' of 1995/96. And we're playing football as attractive as nothing we've seen since the Ron Atkinson era.