ejs1111

Realistically what I think will happen: Spurs beat Burnley- not a blowout. 2-0, 3-1 type match Villa lose to Liverpool. Same type of scoreline as above. GD is cut in half. VT is in turmoil. We are still neither healthy nor rested for the intensity that Pool play at. Spurs get put to the sword by Citeh. 3-0, 4-1 type of game. GD restored and UCL clinched for Villa. VT turmoil turns to jubilation. Fish puns are cast about with reckless abandon. Villa go into the Palace match with nothing to play for. We see the early season confident Villa on the final day now that the huge mental weight has been lifted- and we get a result in a close match. Finish the season on 70 points. UTV

I'd prefer to win the EUCL trophy AND qualify for UCL. But if I had to pick one- give me UCL money every day and twice on Sunday. Yes I'd love to win a trophy now. But long term UCL is better: 1. Allows AVFC to improve the overall squad- better players, better depth, etc etc. 2. An improved overall squad will make AVFC much more competitive in domestic cup runs- which will improve our chances to win League or FA Cup- which have European ties if we falter in the League. That is my rationale and how I foresee Villa winning a trophy or 2 in the next 5yrs. I see us winning a Cup or 2, maybe a European trophy thru cup entry if we don't finish top4 one year. I have full faith that UE will get us silverware- thats why I'm not bothered about EUCL this year and focused on UCL qualification. UTV

That number posted is 98% capacity. Which is excellent frankly.

Earlier poster either here or in another thread mentioned a great point that I'd love to see us implement. If AVFC secure UCL wouldn't we be allowed to have the Star above the badge since we've won it before? That would help solve some of the design issues with trying to cram it into our shield/badge etc etc. I'd like to see that frankly. Could that be a reason for the delay in the new badge release? Seeing if we secure UCL? Food for thought... UTV

I'm just impressed he didn't use the word c*cksucker in his interview.

To everyone saying we won't move cause ownership said so... please go back and re-read what they actually said. It was worded very delicately in 'corporate speak'. They said on several occasions there are NO PLANS to move/relocate from VP. That means in simple terms- at the time of the question being asked no plans existed regarding moving away from VP. So the statement was true at that time. So what happens when they actually DO have plans? Villa will move away from VP and the previous statement will still be true. Reality is we are likely looking to acquire more property to build a new VP. NSWE wants long term success- the only way we can catch up to the teams above us financially is with a new stadium, full stop, in conjunction with European football, global marketing and sponsorships.

Mings and Carlos would be the rotational pair of central CBs when Konsa is deployed as a RB and we effectively are playing with 3 CBs.

FYI I'm only speculating. I have ZERO knowledge of what the club is doing. I will say however my background is related. I'm a Land Planner in the US- so I do this for a living and work with these kinds of people- I don't design football stadia however- my background is helping to acquire property for large scale commercial/residential development, then designing and getting gov't approvals. It does make sense what AVFC is doing. They are getting everything lined up behind the scenes prior to venturing out and attempting to acquire property for a major project.

Given the recent developments here with Directors named and Orascom project completions etc etc. Here are my 2 cents to what may be happening: VP expansion was put on 'hold'. NSWE wanted to pause the project knowing that there was potential for a larger VP project in the future. NS owns a large construction company that was not available until recently due to prior commitments- now they can fully commit to working on VP project. WE has connections from his work with the Bucks at land acquisition and project development- now those parties have been brought on board. Atarios was brought in as a minority owner to use their funding to assist in the acquisition of real estate, infrastructure etc. Any business man will tell you that you don't finance projects yourself- you use someone elses money- or you borrow money. Billionaires/developers don't spend their own money ever on construction- that is how you lose money- the payback period is too far out. You bring in investors or take out loans and pay the interest on that money instead- and keep your money. I see AVFC now with all 3 entities in place- funding (Atarios), management for acquisition (new directors), and construction (NS company). The question is? What and where? Either its a larger expansion of VP- I don't see this as likely. The ground is too restricted by travelways on either side, let alone all the individual homeowners that would need to be bought out. Relocating roads and buying homes would be a major political endeavor. A new VP is what I believe will ultimately happen. An earlier poster showed all the industrial ground adjacent to the new academy AVFC built near VP. Its an enormous site- that to me seems like an interesting spot to research. The city has already committed to upgrade the rail stations near VP for the Euros. Additional car parks can be added with the new stadium. New commercial and residential development can also be incorporated as well- making it a bit of a destination. The current VP site can be redeveloped as well as new commercial/residential- or the womens stadium could be located here, along with some commercial. very exciting times. UTV

It was also really telling how well our squad players performed today- like Zani and Rogers in particular. They played really well against a top side in a hostile environment. Very happy to see given our suspensions and injury issues at the end of the season. It was also great to see Lenglet and Cash make the bench. Makes me think they will be available for the 1st11 on Thursday for some much needed rotation- let Cash play RB and Konsa back to CB, etc. Just an amazing win by Villa today! UTV

Thank you for sharing your insight- I'm gonna have to dig up my 1994 xray and review it again! haha

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I think its safe to say that guy is talking bollocks. I can actually speak with some experience on this... obviously not a professional footballer!! but I played footy into college. I broke my metatarsal 4 times- same one- twice in High School, twice in college. I now have a 5 inch screw in my foot as well. NO SHOE rubs your screw lol. If you wear shoes with poor padding your foot will get very sore walking/running all day. The screw decreases mobility and flexibility in your foot- makes your foot stay 'flat' if that makes sense.

I didn't know the screw was on the OUTSIDE of his foot

imagine how much higher it would have been if Heck was able to sell those pesky 200 seats every match! #VillaFansOut

Every time someone mentions that Everton fella I think he's one of those Braithwaites moonshiners from Red Dead Redemption2. Cowboy bastards.

Villa are looking to buy stadium ground in NW London. Problem solved. Changing the name to London Villa.

I do agree with this take. I was very unhappy about the development pause/cancel. But if the numbers don't add up then it certainly make sense to hold the expansion. It also certainly makes sense from a commercial standpoint to maximize the 'easier' areas first before making a large financial commitment. Updating our sponsors, badge update (regardless of whether I agree/disagree with the design), acquire new sponsors, etc. All these elements can be done to increase revenues without capital expenditure. Once Heck has maximized AVFC, then we can look at facility expansion. But yes initially it was very disappointing- and the comms/excuses were very poorly handled.

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The star/badge location issue is another reason why I've been enamored with the AVFC round badge. The answer to me is so simple. Just put the star in the round ring of the badge at the bottom, which leaves space for future stars should they come. Put the 18 and 74 on either side of the ring (at 9oclock and 3oclock). Then have Aston Villa arching across the top. Sort out the colors, face the lion however the fans want, make the lion a bit detailed... job done. I wholeheartedly agree with an earlier post from Capt Town. The circle badge should have been the starting point- then just make improvements from it (like what I listed above). We will never have a unanimous opinion regarding the badge, but the round badge was something like 75% voted on- so it was overwhelmingly agreed upon by fans. Just very disappointed that we have not started at this point and made revisions, instead we scrapped it.

Thats OK we can just follow our previous transfer policy of signing the Brentford player a few years later for triple the price.

pretty certain he is Cup tied. So he can only play for us in UECL and Premier League. I can honestly only see him getting spot minutes in both. Coming on as a 2nd half sub in the EUCL, and possibly doing the same against lower sides in the Premier League.

I fully believe the 'new badge' was intentionally leaked to test the waters. That is a very American thing to do. Guage the social media plaudits or outcry. Message received and AVFC are internally reviewing the original design, potentially updating it. That is the delay in its release imo. Nothing drastic- but making alterations to try and appease the masses. Despite what ppl may think on here- commercial execs will take this criticism very seriously- given the fear they will have that a universally disliked badge could negatively affect merchandise sales and global attraction. How can Heck and co expect to attract new global fans and inspire existing fans to spend more money on merch if the majority dislike the AVFC badge? VT might dismiss this as folly- but commercial execs certainly will not.

The UE mystery has now been solved. This new 'nutritionist' gave UE pink eye doing freaky stuff behind closed doors. The missus found out and gave UE the fat lip. you're welcome VT.

ITK... our new sponsor: TROJAN CONDOMS Imagine have TROJAN across the front of the shirts!