Captain_Townsend

Since the 2022 documentary I sort of associate Hungry Like the Wolf with Villa.

2 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

 

We have a global brand that's been seen all over the world by millions of people in an iteration that's been around for coming up on 20 years - that iteration of our global brand has been associated with mediocrity for pretty much it's entire lifetime. Now here we are on the edge of shedding mediocrity and presenting ourselves as the next big thing, with a brand image that's exciting - a winner - we've done that this season with a slight confusion of branding, but we could have done it by completely changing and starting again to get a new brand recognition - to throw the yellow lion out with mediocrity and go forward with a new badge, a new attitude, a new team and a new Aston Villa. I think the timing for change was near perfect.

 

This is it. 

For 25 years, at least, this debate about the crest has rumbled on. A constant theme of early villa Internet was 'return to the round badge'.

In 2007 we got a big rebrand and it wasn't universally loved, at all. Worse, it became associated with decline and us becoming a soft touch.

In 2022 we got the rebrand wr wanted and it coincided with an upturn in fortunes! Of course, it was not universally loved but definitely they got off lighter than the 2007 rebrand.

The bit sticking in my craw is not that I assume I know more than experts, I know I Don't! What sticks in my craw is that I have followed this debate for 25 years so I feel I know it inside out and yet a new employee walks in in May 2023 and decides to unilaterally ditch the rebrand and lead us back towards the Lerner concept. I just find it frustrating to see how it unfolded.

36 minutes ago, Teale's 'tache said:

No, because the round crest with the claret lion has only ever been used on the kits and training gear, it never replaced any of the old Lerner crest branding anywhere else. So really, we never got rid of the yellow.

 

The whole process has been a very odd one though, I think if the round crest hadn't happened and we were going from the Lerner crest to this new one there would have been a lot less pushback, as it's more obviously an evolution from one to the other, and it does contain some of the things fans wanted. The problem is the Purslow process seemed to promise the fans a full rebrand, a start from scratch and do whatever we want kind of rebrand, and that isn't what we've ended up with, so I can see why people are so upset and confused about how things have transpired. The whole thing was a mess, but if we can make a strong brand using the new one we will be able to prepare to evolve it a bit further down the line, and hopefully fix the remaining issues.

Just quoting these two parts as they get to the nub of it.

We were promised a full rebrand and a full rebrand is what we were getting until very late in the day this time last year. We were getting a full rebrand as we got in 2007 and as other clubs have - Chelsea, Man City being two that come to mind. 

The rewriting of this process as an evolution dates back to Summer 2023 and my point is the claret lion would have been the jumping off point for a new shield.

I don't buy the minimise cost angles as I am full sure they will want the new Heck badge plastered everywhere so there will be cost incurred just as there would have been last year.

If on 1 September 2024 the new shield hasn't replaced the Lerner shield on most of the stands and Bodymore I will personally reply to you eating humble pie!

20 minutes ago, Teale's 'tache said:

I think we are seeing a few more pieces of the brand being rolled out now, with the sort of Victorian/Art Nouveau Adidas murals, the use of the new shield shape, and also over the last 12 months or so they've been using 'Up the Villa' on, well, everything really, including the flags last night, seems there's a concerted effort to have that phrase as a big part of the brand, which I love, it's a phrase I've been using ever since I saw it on a small placard where my Dad worked when I was tiny.

To me it has always been the de facto Villa phrase, it's what I say to fellow fans in passing, it's what I say to my Dad instead of goodbye, it is perfect for use in branding, it's short, easy to remember, and it has already been around for McGrath knows how long.

I'd imagine there's more to be rolled out yet, but it is encouraging, I like the shades of claret/blue colours we've been seeing recently as well, hopefully, they can be consistent with those.

I know the blue/yellow combination is rubbish, I'm sure they know it too, but I think it's just going to be part of the evolution we are stuck with for a while yet, I'm hopeful in a year or two we'll slowly start dropping that combination across most of the branding, and then eventually when we next evolve the crest it will be easier to switch the colours without making everything redundant in one go.

I'm encouraged by what I'm seeing that we might actually be building a brand that is fit for purpose, it is still early days, and the crest is always going to bug me until it is properly fixed, but I think we are heading in the right direction finally. 

Would it not have made sense, once we finally got rid of yellow for the round badge in 2022, to make the leap to a claret lion for the new shield (once they determined we must have a shield?)

10 minutes ago, TheLeftSide said:

If North stand doesn’t get replaced by 2030 (after Euro’s) are there desires to make any incremental capacity increases somehow? 
 

are the club aware of complexities of season ticket holders, (who especially already attend in family groups), getting tickets for younger family members coming through the ranks. I know their answer will be they can join a club and get a ticket ~ somewhere in the ground, but what do the other members of family then do? Without expansion this problem is growing,  

 

 

Ripping off that plaster will only get harder the longer they leave it.

I am buzzing, can't get any work done

Villa Park is special.  Cam be as loud as anywhere else on a night luke that.

I am so glad Heck has committed to staying, I just hope we do expand sooner rather than later.

1 hour ago, CVByrne said:

Was a decent enough player and scored a couple of late goals that earned us points this season. Was a useful loan given our injury to Buendia.

Absolutely agree. Salvaged a couple of crucial points for us too.

8 minutes ago, Keyblade said:

So they could lose to City with a clear conscience and deny Arsenal the title.

I alluded to it the other day, but the smaller clubs in each big rivalry - Everton, Man City (google the good luck Villa flag from 1993 when we played them), Spurs and Small Heath - sort of hate their rival as much as they support  their team whereas Liverpool, Man Utd, Arsenal and Villa wouldn't look at it that way imho

We have had some really reliable back up forwards down the years:

Geddis 

Tommy Johnson

Julian Joachim

He joins the list!

5 minutes ago, duke313 said:

Last 15-20 mins he was everywhere, despite his missing chances and some poor decisions he put in a shift. Many of us wrote Bailey off last season, let’s not make the same mistake with Diaby.

Absolutely this. Some of the comments online (not here) about him are way OTT

29 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

8 goals in 1007 minutes, or a goal every 125 minutes, aka a goal every 1.4 games.

not bad.

Was it against Crystal Palace at the start of the season? More or less won the game for us?

Fabulous season. Never say die attitude. Big performances and lots, and lots of bottle.

Heroes to a man. UTV.

3 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

If we ended up wearing a kit tonight... Or even announcing it... That in itself deserves meltdown

We've consistently been one of, if not THE last to ever to these things!

2001 is the last time I can remember us ever wearing the following season's kit in the last home game

10 minutes ago, Dale said:

Feel like someone should mention that senior managers talking down about their predecessors who oversaw a massive growth in sporting and commercial position is a bit off and does not reflect well on them. 

Ask what level of contingency is given over to ongoing maintenance and operation of the North stand in place of redevelopment given that it's at the end of its functional life, have external surveyors and structural engineers been retained to ensure that the building remains safe and appropriate? How much life can be squeezed of of it given methods of construction and lifespan to date.

Nailed it on both counts.

Are those weeds sticking out the stumps building?! All that and somebody left the weeds?!

Claret

4 minutes ago, The Fun Factory said:

It's a dated concrete carbuncle surrounded by an uneven car park  and offers nowhere near enough capacity or other facilities to justify it's continued existence.

But I am not a member of the 20th Century Society so other opinions are available.

This is all so underwhelming, I can't get excited about refurbishing our current shop and stumps when the original plan about 4 years ago was to flatten the whole thing. We aren't even doing that now. If this was under Dough we would all be screaming about being penny pinching.

100% agree.

17 minutes ago, Stephen_Evans said:

Hopefully the refurbished shop will also be temporary ultimately!  Complete eyesore of a building.

The funny thing about the North Stand and its bad press aesthetically is at least it is a clear (albeit dated) architectural style.

Wasn't the new stand meant to house a new shop or am I wrong? New shop outside the stand further suggests we are a long time away from any big development. 

Just now, est1874 said:

This literally proves that yellow on blue is just wrong. Look at how pixellated that yellow is when you zoom in.

Gross every time.

I didn't realise you were a signed up member of the 'yellow on blue doesn't work' club?!

Just now, Davkaus said:

I think it looks **** shite.

It'd probably look alright if all of the claret detailing on the edges wasn't completely lost on the brickwork, and if it was on a flat surface so our new badge we're trying to show off doesn't look disjointed by being cut in 3 on an uneven surface with a big bulge in the middle.

Yeah, the stumps building wouldn't exactly be the first place I would think of for all this!

1 minute ago, CarryOnVilla said:

Wider branding. and to make it look older and cooler than it actually is. 
 

TBH, I like it

I like it too.

21 minutes ago, Villa_Vids said:

 

What is the significance of all that design all around the actual shield shape?