Captain_Townsend

I prefer to punch up rather than punch down.

At the very least it is a communication that is ambiguous/ open to interpretation. Hence we have 1. Some convinced a new stadium is being planned 2. Others convinced we will copy Chelsea by sticking with the same size ground but increasing the % of premium, squeezing until the pips squeek! 3. Others convinced the plan hasn't changed and we are just delaying because it will cripple us on FFP/PSR if we go ahead right now 4. Others who think we will do the Witron rather than the NS. I am just sticking to my position that the comms is amateurish, the plan could literally be any of the above and to borrow Heck's own words it was a "bad idea" to deviate from what we had planned because I am sure costs will only go up not down from what they were.

Thanks mate. Gosh, so not quite as meticulously thought through and planned as one might think!

Watkins for me. Many candidates but he is arguably on the verge of doing something no villa player has done in over 40 years (and in fewer league games). Immense.

That may be the case but It doesn't excuse the amateur way we were communicated to in December about why it was on hold or where the new new badge went. Why not say the medium term plan is to get VP to 50k. We would have avoided debates about a new stadium, price hikes on a 42k being the strategy etc etc.

'Heck views the redevelopment plan of rebuilding the North Stand as a "bad idea" considering it would mean the stadium's capacity would drop to 36,000 from the start of next season and until 2025/26. "Over the summer months I became more concerned we were adding too many seats too fast," he explained' 'Number one, we talk about Villa Park being a fortress. It is true. There is no better home advantage than at Villa Park and I think it would be a bad idea to tear down one of the stands for a two year period while we are playing like we are. I think that going forward, everything should be about all fans and not just one particular stand.' There would have been better ways to signal that the club still had ambitions of a 50k Villa Park! It was such a pile of waffle. I mean the logic of his position is that clubs should redevelop when they are unsuccessful, which does not happen.

Me too

I think @The Fun Factory is just saying, even if this always was the plan, why did we have to delay the most important part from the club's perspective which was redevelopment of the oldest, smallest stand.

I am not into conspiracy theories but absolutely 100% agree that there is a media thing with Villa. I think even when we do well we have a perception of being unfashionable or something and hopefully that will be rectified. Newcastle finished 2nd twice in the 90s and got bigged up. We also finished 2nd twice that decade and spent something like 7 seasons in the top 8 from 1996-2002 but didn't didn't get bigged up the same way. Even on nostalgia shows like Premier League Years or Match of the 90s our big seasons don't get the coverage that say Newcastle's did. Match of the 90s was pretty much the Kevin Keagan show.

Much appreciated

We both want what is best. It's just I have seen two previous plans for a new NS stalled over the past 25 years and nothing ended up being done. I would rather we just pushed ahead rather than delay - even if it is to plan something bigger. Events deqr boy, events. I can easily see a scenario where something unforseen goes wrong in the next 3 or 4 years (remember the impact of Lerner's Divorce!) And we end up looking at the 1977 North stand and thinking "blimey, how many lives does that thing have". On Purslow, he definitely left things in better shape than he found them and those now occupying senior roles inherited something of a different plane to the mess he walked into in 2018.

All sounds great and I would agree with you 110% on the scale of that. Regarding the plan we had for the new NS and Villa Live etc, I don't see how they are incompatible with what you outline to be honest. The tagine of the video render two years ago even ends 'New era for Aston and Witton' and they always said there were other phases to follow. Also, I still query a comms strategy of going from a bombshell announcement coming up to Christmas and no follow up over the next 6 months - we were accustomed to being kept in the loop by Purslow. Even a sentence 'The club is still working on plans for redevelopment of Villa Park and will update in May 2024' would have gone a long way. The lack of said sentence has led to speculation ranging from we are copying Chelsea with a 40k range stadium but full of premium to we are building a new stadium!

Well said. I mean, four years ago we were wondering if the league cup final would impact our survival chances. five years ago we were trying to get promoted via the playoffs. We have come a long way. UTV

To clarify my earlier post, I obviously want us to do both, win the cup and finish top 4. But league should always be the priority and if the league isn't going well, as in say 93-94 or 97-98 focus on a cup run. If flying on all cylinders chase both as in 95-96 or 23-24!

What a thick bollix Musk is. Honestly, stupid there on so many levels

Great to see. I honestly felt he would have had a big season for us and would have contributed so much. Keep fighting Emi!

Can you elaborate a little? Which bits?

Aye, but you see we had a big master plan. Very well publicised. Video render on YouTube and they just said we aren't doing that with nothing else. Hence all the speculation.

We were stuck in the 90s long enough until Emery came in. The game moved on and we got left behind. Arguably we we were the last of the big clubs to move on into the idea that you need a squad! Brian Little, John Gregory and MON all stumbled as managers compared to their peers in this regard (Little acknowledged this in a podcast a couple of years ago). Getting into the champions league, and seeing, clearly that this is where its at if we want to grow and become a club that wins honours, keeps its best players and attracts the best players is the next phase of our revolution. Even if we only qualify once this decade, we will be able to attract players on the basis 'Villa are a club capable of top 4 and have recently done it'. Nobody playing football today remembers when we won the league cup in 1996 even though we treasure it and it is my best ever moment as a villa fan.

Hopefully. If that's the case, though, why not give a bit more info last December beyond 'we aren't doing that' and it was 'a bad idea' etc.

Yes but with the Euros in 2028 as a firm deadline we have probably blown our chance of getting it done this side of 2030 and capitalising on the Emery era to get more bums on seats. 2026 was the original timelime (actually 2025 was when it was first announced!).

Is the correct answer.

Work rate, goals, pressing, experience, creativity, and something a bit different. I agree. Of course we missed him, majorly and wouldn'tbe selling.

Amen. I really don't like the 'typical villa' type posts when this club has shown bottle time and time again since 2019.

Yellow is one I have gone off as we were relegated with it in 15-16 and, I believe we also had a yellow away kit in, 86-87.