EverBlue86

54 minutes ago, mikeyp102 said:

Jesus that’s a huge loss, did we report figures so bad under Lerner? It’s only going to get worse next season with the scaling of Silva and hiring (in the top 3 highest paid managers in Europe) Ancellotti. It doesn’t look like they’ll go down this year, but if they did they’d be screwed, “named” players on high wages, the majority of whom I couldn’t see anyone wanting for that wage

Its a big loss but funnily enough we are in our strongest position ever financially and are near enough debt free. Its hard to understand without understanding that our real owner is widely known to be Alisher Usmanov who is one of the richest blokes in the world. Farhad Moshiri our owner (whos own wealth was a gift from Usmanov) is widely accepted to be the front man as Usmanov via his holding company USM overtime pumps in money via sponserships to avoid FFP as Usmanov couldn't invest his own money if he bought into us officially.

An example was he sponsered our training ground for £6 million per year in 2017 which has doubled to £12 million this year, along with Megafon who sponser us & has tonight paid £30 million for just first refusal on naming rights with a further naming rights deal for an unknown amount in the pipeline (which is very suspect when much more attractive clubs like Spurs are struggling to get naming rights sponsers).

Add the new stadium and alot of our highest earners out of contract in the next 12-18 months the club has the opportunity to grow in the next couple of seasons.

Recruitment has to improve mind however Ancelotti hopefully will be a key attraction.

4 hours ago, VillaFaninLondon said:

Yes, anyone outside the top six at home we have to be aiming for three points. A point wouldn't be a bad result, but I want to see evidence that we can compete in this league. I want to see evidence that our signings (many of whom were young and unproven) are good enough at this level and were scouted diligently, particularly Wesley who has not looked up to it thus far. And I don't want to see fans getting on our manager's back if we keep losing which will inevitably happen given the amount we've spent. First and foremost, Smith has to change the fullbacks to Guilbert and Targett who looked very decent preseason. We've also yet to see Nakamba who could be a key DM for us, but it's unlikely he'll feature against Everton. 

 

From an Everton fans perspective on their website:

At the end of the day, we are miles better than them and should win comfortably. Their captain and best player wouldn't even get on to our bench with a fully fit squad. 

But it's football, so let's see.

 

This arrogance from a team we were on a par with 10 years ago and better than 20 years ago kinda kills me as it shows how far we have fallen. So I hope we shove that fans words down his throat by beating them and proving we still belong at this level. If the team needed any motivation to go and get three points, the above opinion should be all they need. 

Wouldn't say its arrogance tbh mate, when fully fit our bench at present is:

Iwobi

Walcott

Calvert Lewin (well maybe not)

Delph

Schnerderlin

Baines

Sidibe

I would say all of those would be in contention of being in your starting 11 (not being disrespectful when I say that).

No shame in that - its your first season back up & we have spent alot of money since USM purchased us (4th or 5th biggest spenders in the league since 2016) its just we pissed alot of it up the wall under Walsh/Koeman so any progess has been slower than hoped.

However look at City vs Spurs- City dominated but the match ended a draw. Relegated Cardiff beat Utd at Old Trafford last season - Villa can certainly beat us Friday I just hope we show up fully prepared (and Kean up top for the love of God).

1 hour ago, John said:

We are not Runcorn and Everton are not quite Liverpool. 

We are at home, so we won't be parking the bus. We are glad to be back and playing you again, but we don't quite fear you. We are Aston Villa we will begin on the front foot and look to put your boys under pressure. Looking forward to taking on the Toffeemen again on Friday, who knows there could only be a point between us by the end of the night!    

Must say im looking forward to the match its certainly imo one of the best fixtures in English football but Sky only think football was invented in 1992 so never gets much a mention!

Personally really hope you are open as we struggle to break teams down at times whereas our best performances tend to be when we have space on the counter to exploit.

Wouldn't be shocked if it ended a draw our away form isnt great.

10 hours ago, VillaChris said:

Thought you might miss Zouma but Mina seems to have hit the ground running which didn't happen last season, he has all the physical attributes for this league as he always shows for Colombia.

What you make of Gbamin so far? Can't say I've really heard of him and Gana did well for you so that's quite a bit position to fill, he look up to it as think we could trouble you in that area as the rest of your midfielders are all forward thinking.

Your fullbacks are fantastic aswell, Coleman back to his best after struggling for a while (him v Taylor is obviously going to be fiesty) and Digne is one of best left backs in the league, didn't he come off injured in the Watford game?

Yeah its ironic as many of our fans said Zouma was responsible for our solid defence towards the seasons end yet Keane has gone about without much praise but when you see how shaky Zouma has looked so far for Chelsea it makes you wonder! But I agree Mina is fantastic its a shame he was injured so much last season - we are short in that department though hopefully we bring another CB in Janaury as I dont rate Holgate as backup so ideally I hope we stay injury free at the back!

Digne is 50/50 he was holding his hamstring but Silva said after the game it was just a precaution so God knows - Baines is supposedly fit as a stand in but Digne is miles better.

Gbamin - very shaky 1st game against Palace off the bench but we were down to 10 men and he had no pre season with the squad. Against Watford much better - He's a big unit and we were bullied last season in midfield by Watfords 2 man midfield of Doucoure/Capoue but he really helped us in there. He's more box to box than Gueye and is more offensive in his passing but doesnt do what Gueye did for us.

What do you think is your lads strongest area at present? From what I've seen your midfield looks to be more of a threat than your forwards. Is your defence solid?

Villa4Europe seems very bitter about us, our new stadium has been roundly praised since details released as even the Kopites begrudgingly admit it. Its exterior is a blend of modern glass but also features brick work that blends in well with the local Dockland area to comply with UNESCO. Unlike other new stadiums who could be put in any city in any country - this one is developed specifically to the area/city/heritage which fans love. 

The stadium inside has deep stands, has a 13,000 home stand based on Dortmunds 'yellow wall' and has the ability to easily adapt to safe standing should legislation change - it can also be increased to 62k in future.

The stadium is also part of a 5 billion pound regeneration project including retail outlets, bars, a plaza, marina, office towers its going to look fantastic on the Liverpool Skyline lit up in Blue overlooking the Mersey. So Villa4Europe - dont worry about us mate I would be more concerned with your owners having sold your ground to themselves to try get around FFP - granted I dont know too much about the purchase but I would be very uneasy about no longer owning your own ground especially with these new breed of owner who care about nothing but the Premier League cash cow.

On transfers its the same every year - fans say we will be crap and the usual suspects like West Ham who do their business early are raved about and will do fantastic yet we always end up finishing above them. We finished 3 points behind wolves with a better GD and thats with having no decent striker whereas they had Jimenez and a settled team (we had a new DOF, manager, style of play and 6 new players to get adjusted/bedded in together).

This time last season we had only signed 1 player (Richarlison) yet come Deadline day we had signed a total of 6 - our DOF Marcel Brands always does his business late as he haggles for a good deal.

Considering  we've bid for Zaha and Kean, our front  4 could be come the windows closure:

                            Kean 

Richarlison   Siggurdsson    Zaha  

For me thats the best front 4 outside the top 6 - both Richarlison and Siggurdsson scored around 15 goals each last season - add a quality centre forward like Kean whos capable of getting around 15 and a player like Zaha who got 10 last season and seems to be developing into a real talent and imo we have a big chance this year of hopefully challenging Utd and Chelsea who are shakey at present.

Gueye will be a big miss for us and im gutted he's gone - but its not like we will be playing with 10 men - Silva is aiming for a replacement for him and I still think we'll sign Zouma - if not we'll definitely bring in a replacement.

Under Brands we are a completely different set up to the one that was wasting money under Koeman/Walsh who are responsible for alot of that list of garbage in that wage table.

Good luck anyway lads for the season, hopefully you stay up as always liked Villa you're a Proper Club.

Eto'o is past it.

He's not as good as he was in his prime obviously but he was the worlds highest paid player 2 seasons ago and still hit 9 in 21 last season that's just a little over 1 goal every 2 games, as a back up striker to Lukaku that's a brilliant goal ratio which on a free transfer is great business.

good business by hull that

Disagree Villa89, we are more than happy to have a forward thinking manager build up a young team that can compete without having to spend silly money, the days of City style takeovers are most likely over with FFP coming in (used to keep the status quo) so we know the limitations but Im very happy to be challenging for 4th and having a manager who wants to play attractive football and aim for the top rather than Moyes and his negative antics. Although like most evertonians a trophy is the main aim give me the FA Cup over 4th anyday old fashion I know!

                      Howard

Coleman Jagielka  Distin Baines

               Barry     McCarthy

    Mirallas      Barkley         Atsu

                      Lukaku

the main thing is he's building a young spine to the team:

ST: Lukaku 21

CAM: Barkley 20

LW: Atsu 22       (on loan but rumoured to include option to buy)

CDM: McCarthy 23

CDM: Besic 21

CB: Stones: 20

RB: Coleman: 25

LB: Oviedo: 23

its why evertonians are delighted right now we are trying to build a young spine to the team that can gel together down the years and have ambition its central to what Martinez is trying to achieve.

Alright lads, everton fan but recently got a Villa fan marry into the family so thought I would keep an eye out for you lad's results etc.

wont post often but will be a friendly face im sure! good luck for the season apart from the 2 games against us!