Captain_Townsend

21 minutes ago, andycv said:

I don't know.  Perhaps they also wanted to look at doing the Doug Ellis Stand as part of the same programme of work/before the North.  I am hoping all will become clear as part of the 150 anniversary celebrations.

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  

17 minutes ago, thabucks said:

It comes down to personal preference then as I’d rather the club did they’re talking through actions not soundbites. We’ve appointed a highly experienced new board whose backgrounds could be read as being something major is being worked on. Heck has come out and said he hasn’t been doing a lot of taking these 9 months as he’s been working a hard on increasing our commercial contracts which have more than doubled across the board.

He’s put pressure on the inept council to do something about the transportation issues and we now have a bus service to central Brum. Who knows what else is to be announced when it’s signed sealed and delivered. They’re not empty words & hollow promises but hard fact actions.

Whats wrong with fans speculating either ? It’s a forum which is a place to muse, share opinion etc. 

Purslow loved the sound of his own voice and face on camera. He did well to a level but now we’re looking at operating against the established big clubs and give me silence yet tangible results than a 6 monthly look at me press release. 

Again I will highlight the comment from Heck it’s currently about all fans and not just one stand. Yes the North stand isn’t fit for purpose and it will be replaced when it’s right for the club.

We’ve got the financial backing and an expert board to really make a difference now. It’s a one shot once in a lifetime opportunity to make Villa park the central part of a broader redevelopment and that takes time to piece together. If the club doesn’t do that then someone else will and then it won’t serve and benefit our long terms interests at all. 
 

if we can purchase the houses surrounding the north stand and behind the Witton -  those areas can be used to house more people & apartments which are fit for the 21st century. We can build bigger housing more fans. By doing so we don’t have to worry as much about right to light and then build a larger north stand and Witton stand better serving us. By being in control of the immediate area surrounding our ground then expansion becomes easier and financially viable. We can host more events with less carnage on locals, we can make more money from people outside of Aston coming to Villa Park - if they have a reason to. 

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.

8 minutes ago, thabucks said:

No we had a new stand and a municipal style building. I’m talking regeneration of the whole surrounding area master plan to bring the whole area up and make it a place people want to visit outside of match days. That will take a lot of will, money and no doubt government assistance through the levelling up fund which them down the road have accessed and utd are also looking at exploiting. We need none Villa fans coming to the area and spending money as well as the local community. We need more than just a new stand to achieve this. Aston as a whole is ripe for this and if we get onboard and be the driver for this we can ensure it’s in the clubs long term benefit. 

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!

38 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

File under comedy. There are a good eight or nine errors just in that section. It's a fairytale.

Can you elaborate a little? Which bits?

8 hours ago, thabucks said:

Who’s knows for sure but maybe the new boardroom appointments were considered necessary to work on a master plan. I take away from Heck’s interview that he wanted to squeeze current demand and upgrade the whole fan experience first before looking at a large expansion. Also pressures the council to do more than focus groups to renovate the train station(s) … No one is privy to what meetings are being held behind the scenes. I’d rather our owners did their work in the background then announce finalised plans for penetration rather than them down the road speaking of spaceship stadiums and pie in the sky plans for a sporting hub, training ground etc which isn’t doable on the space they’ve acquired. 

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. 

8 minutes ago, thabucks said:

We could still start the almost year long preparatory works next season and then pull the stand down and still make the Euro’s deadline of 2027… I’m sure we could get dispensation if the ground isn’t quite finished by the start of the 27/28 season… 

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.

17 hours ago, thabucks said:

I agree to a point, but also trust they’ve looked at the bigger picture and what’s needs doing to improve the fan experience for all in terms of facilities and transportation - the whole ground needs bringing up to standard. They’ve made a start on The Holte this season, from the summer they will be undertaking improvement works to the Trinity. And who’s to say they aren’t working on studies right now for a New North Stand and/or Witton land development?

We now have an experienced board in place to oversee the project and review the previous proposals and take it from there. I’d much rather they pause and reassess and come up with an all encompassing coherent holistic regeneration approach to the whole area with Villa Park central to that. 

With the current facilities we are hamstrung by increasing revenue which is crucial due to * insert 3 letter abbreviation… Once that has been improved and we’re making more per seat then there is a solid business case to demolish the North Stand. The main issue is gunna be the Witton and how that can be redeveloped given the lack of space currently. This photo is from an away fan visiting VP… 

https://www.skyscrapercity.com/threads/birmingham-uk-villa-park-42-660-45-660.1065537/page-27?post_id=188351786&nested_view=1&sortby=oldest#post-188351786

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!).

3 hours ago, FLVillan said:

10 goals, 7 assists in all comps, playing as a second striker/winger, first season in the league, new country, new club.  Not as bad as all that... 

Is the correct answer.

5 hours ago, MrBlack said:

Looked amazing pre season.  Core part of our team that went on that amazing run last season.

Madness to say he won't fit in if he gets back to to his pre-injury fitness levels.

Not sure what game people watch that claim he's not good.

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

4 minutes ago, dappadan said:

I don't really understand why this is still the thought process though. Last few years we have had promotion, survived relegation got brilliant new owners, signed some cracking players and a brilliant manager. To top it off we are up there shooting for 4th and in a European semi final. 

As fans in my mind the disappointment feeling should be long gone. 

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.

37 minutes ago, thabucks said:

But it’s not all on hold, the club have confirmed they are going ahead with the Warehouse and a bigger club store - it’s just the stand which is on hold ! 

Aye but the stand is the thing we really meed to get done imho.

Sorry to open this can of worms again!

Just rewatched the redevelopment video on YouTube. It was uploaded before Christmas 2022. Then on 19 July 2023 they posted a new video on the club website detailing the updated plans with the warehouse in place of Villa Live. Then, as we know, 5 months later it emerged it was all on hold.

It's just so odd that they would go to the bother of updating the video and announcing an update to the plans last July and then just defer it 5 months later.

Maybe this truly was just a communication cock up (a big one) and we have merely been looking into a way of minimising the disruption while the build happens. Hopefully we find out more soon.

The 76-81 umbro white away is nicer imho than the, also nice, iconic 82 away kit.

Funny that we won the league in one and won the European Cup in the other.

In a way we are being greedy.

I mean we are 7 points clear! We'd have taken being clear on goal difference at the start of the season.

We have such a great chance- would have been nice to wrap it up yesterday but we still are very likely to do the job.

11 hours ago, NurembergVillan said:

Even when I'm on it?!

You are brilliant on it!

John is probably going to be great but his reference points begin in about 2010! He missed out on Richardson and Townsend in discussing our best PL era captains for example!. The debate they had on staying at Villa Park v building a New stadium, also, could have been so much better. The points raised on the Villa Talk threads were far stronger, for and against.

For me, McGinn is already a Villa legend.