DakotaVilla

If we get that first goal we could smash them. I’d fancy us at home against anyone right now. 

13 minutes ago, fightoffyour said:

In fairness they can't just wait til the last two games and try to only be 3-6 points behind then hope we lose to Liverpool and possibly Palace too - they need to in touching distance before that. You can bet they'd rather have those two games first so they could get back on level terms. The scheduling has worked out well for us in this sense, however it ends.

The point is that they won’t in any way try to box clever - it’s going to be the same stale tactic that the league is now getting used to. 

I’d still be worried about Spurs if they had demonstrated any tactical flexibility at all this season…. Which they haven’t. 

Any sensible coach would look at the 2 bankers in the final two games and think if we are slightly more pragmatic than normal and pick up a win and two draws against Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City we’ve got a real chance here….

But Ange being Ange will play in EXACTLY the same way as everyone expects and teams of this quality will be ready for them in exactly the same way Newcastle were. 

If they release the same badge that was leaked in January it’s serious incompetence. Branding incompetence compounded with a complete and utter comms and fan relations failure. 

They’ve had the pretty much universal reaction of the fan base and enough time to quietly resolve it in the nearly f-o-u-r months that they’ve delayed the release. 

If that is coupled with news of another big rise in season ticket then quite frankly heck will have to go into hiding as even lord Unai won’t be able to save him from the wrath of Villa nation. 

You can’t downplay what he’s done on the commercial side and getting Adidas on board in world record time. Yes, there was strong following wind provided by Emery and Nas but these sponsors still need to be found, relationships developed, huge contracts agreed and ultimately signed up very quickly. Heck has done that very professionally with minimum fuss.

However…. There are still two huge elephants in the room.

1 - The Crest. Hopefully he has been wise enough to listen and pivot. If he presents that drop shadow rubbish after all the noise after the leak in January he’s never going to fully recover with a lot of the fanbase. That might not matter in the short/medium term as long as the revenue keeps rolling in.

2 - Season Ticket Price increases. How much are they going up and is it within a range that’s acceptable to the majority of the fan base. 

The next month will be huge for his standing with the fan base. 

39 minutes ago, RicRic said:

Calling it here first, Spurs will beat Man City on the final day and this will hand Arsenal the title (Spurs record against City is excellent), they will also win either chelsea or arsenal game, they will too beat Sheff Utd and draw against Burnley, thats 10 pts secured, we will only need to win 2 more matches and find ourselves on 72 points and that i feel will ultimately be enough, 4 points is risky imo as they could also beat burnley too.

We all seem to be underestimating spurs based on fixtures but anything can happen in any of those games for example look at what we did at Arsenal, guys it is far from over and we cant get complacent at this stage we have to be weary and realistic and just try to win every match.

UTV!! 

Spurs play sheff united away on the final day.

My worry is that they could easily beat Arsenal in the derby game. If they do, that’s Arsenal’s title push probably over and Liverpool don’t look like they are able to keep on winning. If man city win the league before they play spurs that game becomes a gimme for spurs. And they already have the 2 gimmes v sheff united and burnley. Two wins still needed for me. 

Spurs v Arsenal is huge.

He covered for McGinn big time today

Cash is the chaos right back. He demonstrated that perfectly v Lille. We all know we can upgrade here but the boy has the fight and heart of a lion. He’s plenty good enough to be a squad option . 

1 hour ago, MaVilla said:

i dunno, Bournemouth are an in form side, only 1 loss in 7 (4 wins, 2, draws, 1 loss), and we were lucky to get a point off them earlier in the season.

If we take this game for granted we will be in trouble.

I totally agree about not taking Bournemouth for granted but Tim is 21 in a few months. He’s not some fresh 18 year old. If he’s not asked to make a meaningful contribution when Tielemans has played 210 minutes in the last week and we have no other options then I fear for his future with us. We will definitely sign another defensive midfielder in the summer so he probably won’t have this opportunity to start such a significant game for us again. 

If he doesn’t start today then real doubts about his long term future at Villa Park. 

If we get champions league and win the conference this season will be right up there with anything we have done in modern history. Probably our third best season after winning the league and then winning the European cup.

I have absolutely no doubt that by the time Emery leaves us - which will hopefully be long from now and his retirement from football - he will undoubtedly be the greatest manager in our modern history. 

15 minutes ago, tonyh29 said:

He almost seems to have a resigned smile on his face when’s he’s taken off each time like he knows it’s coming 

he seems popular with the players and staff but for some reason is just lacking a bit of confidence , hopefully it’s nothing that can’t be fixed with a bit more time 

I’ll be the first to admit a season or two ago asking my mate “what’s the point of a winger who can’t beat a man and can’t cross a ball “… obviously I was talking about Bailey … but I won’t make the same mistake with Diaby , his time will come  

I’m sure it’s part of the tactical plan that Emery has for a specific game state. We will likely see exactly the same scenario tomorrow if we aren’t comfortably ahead at 60/65 min

The players are going to be absolutely ****. They’ve done their part this week. Now it’s our turn. 

This is the formation for Bournemouth. 

                             All 

        All         All            All          All 

                 All.                    All

                All                      All

                All.                      All 

55 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

The over analysis is wild.

It was just a good save.

The man has literally redefined how to save penalties and won his country the copa America, the World Cup in the process. Maybe he’ll win us our first trophy in decades in  the same way. 

It was far, far, far  more than just a good save. 

Even King Emi needs a rest. This will only fuel him to be the difference in every other game when he plays. 

No idea on timing from me mate but seems a no brainer to get done asap.

8 minutes ago, ender4 said:

I don't believe you hahaha 

Serious question though, isn't the extra 3k capacity separate to the Boxpark / Warehouse idea?   Or is there 3k extra capacity planned plus 3k capacity for the Warehouse idea?  

 

3k comment was clearly in connection to box park/warehouse. They know they could fill that for every away game. 

The CPO is only hard to get if the mayor/council is not supportive…. I strongly suspect they will have to be as there is no significant development of that stand without a CPO. 
 

The only positive from that was that he was hooked before full time so hopefully will be the freshest v Bournemouth as we will need a captains performance from him.

On 15/04/2024 at 02:33, Adam2003 said:

Not picking on Dakota in the slightest here, just an example of many comments like this in mid-March. Funny to see what can change in less than a month in football

Can’t wait to see what this lad does with another six months of Unai’s coaching.

It’s a very fair call mate.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a young player at Villa respond to elite management so quickly after that performance v luton. Delighted to have egg on my face and full kudos to him, the manager and the coaching staff. 

And also maybe he called the man city away game wrong as well after what happened v Brentford. 

Clearly Unai knows far more than all of us but we’re all always learning.