GeordieVillan

Has to be 10% of the hospitality allocation, on the basis that the Terrace View represents 10% of overall hospitality seats in the ground (assuming that the latter is correct)…

No I got one and a friend of mine got one so on occasion (holidays etc) I may be able to take a guest, and vice versa for him. Info is still very sparse on extra home tickets and away tickets. Apparently it will be forthcoming this week or next.

I’ll give it a test drive before I think about bringing my 8 year old daughter then!

I wasn’t given a choice - the only option was safe standing. You still have a seat so have the option to sit, but I imagine everyone is standing just because of the nature of the section!

Still concerned about our line at the back, seems even higher than last season. Hopefully just pre-season teething!

I have bought one and I’m not really sure tbh. I havn’t received the season ticket card yet and don’t what block/seat etc. All I know for certain is that it is in a safe standing section (rails on the back of the seats to prevent a surge or people falling over when standing) Can anyone here give me an insight into what the Upper Holte is like? Is it rough? Is it child friendly?

Terrace View works out at £82 per match if you have the season ticket, and includes 2 drinks and a programme. No food though. How have you got to £120 per match? Are they advertising tickets on a single game basis?

The chap I spoke to at the time of purchase was very clear that the Terrace View is being treated strictly as hospitality. He even stated prior to purchase that you cannot downgrade (my words not his) from Terrace View to a standard general admission season ticket, but you MAY be able to switch/upgrade to another hospitality ticket/area depending on availability in future seasons. My understanding of the away tickets is that Terrace View holders will be lumped in with other hospitality/corporate holders and it won’t be a specific allocation of away tickets for Terrace View fans. And if demand exceeds supply for any particular game, then it will go down to a ballot for the set allocation. Luck of the draw. So I don’t think the Terrace View will have any impact on away tickets for general season ticket holders. That’s my understanding anyway!

Like a few others have said, our line seemed like incredibly high on Sunday/Monday, higher even than it was in the latter half of last season when we seemed to get away with it a few times. I would be worried if the line was that high against Newcastle on the first day of the season, at times we were basically on half way! However, it’s not by accident, this is the tactics and style of the coach - he wants us to play high and compress the pitch and control the game and pace of the game, and this is how he does it. I think we will just have to accept that there will be a few games where we might get caught out and concede a few goals. But as long as this is balanced by many more games where we are on top and get a result, then it’s worth it!

Is that right about the away tickets?? Interesting thing about this has been that the marketing information is bit vague I think, and while the people on the phone at the club seem to have been really helpful with everyone, it does feel like people are finding things out by asking questions rather than the club pro-actively giving out details on what is included…

I also had a very good chat with a lovely guy on the phone yesterday who was really helpful and is actually part of the matchday hospitality team. Genuinely a top bloke who was on the phone with me for nearly half an hour talking about the club, my history supporting Villa and even holiday plans etc. Just great customer service. My view on this may be different from others…I’m a 41 year old Villa fan that lives in Newcastle and has never had a season ticket in over 30 years of being a fan. For the first time in my life, everything has fallen into place for me - personally, financially, family etc - which means I am actually able to afford a season ticket and attend (most of) the games even with a 4 hour drive each way. I did add myself to the waiting list for general admission and I think I was around 25000 on the list, so that is probably 5-10 years off, and quite honestly I don’t want to wait because my circumstances might change next season or in future and I might not be able to attend the games in the way I should be able to this year. So when I received the email about the Terrace View I was obviously very excited about the chance to get a season ticket, even if the value isn’t great and the price is a bit inflated. I am willing and able to pay the price, and I’m also willing to sacrifice my spot on the general admission waiting list and go to the back of that queue so that I can get a season ticket this season, maybe the only time I will have the chance in my life. Others might not be in the same position or might not be able to afford it (or might not want to because it’s poor value), but how is that different from someone who has wanted a general admission season ticket for 20 years but hasn’t been able to afford it? It’s pretty much the same as far as I can see. I read the posts in this topic with interest, and I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the sentiment from some that people are using this as a way of jumping the queue or manipulating the system, or that people must be stupid for wanting to do it because it’s not a great value package. I do understand why some people might be annoyed by it, if they perceive it as working against them as individuals, but that isn’t the fault of the fans, the club have decided to offer this option, that’s just the way it is. Hypothetically, if you were number 20,000 on the general admission list and the club rang you up and said they had a season ticket available for you (maybe because of an admin error for example), would you turn around and say to the club “oh no sorry I think there must be a mistake because there must be a lot of people ahead of me in the queue”? If you would do that, then you are a better person than me. I paid for my Terrace View season ticket yesterday and I’m looking forward to watching a season of football at Villa for the first time in my life, potentially a great season ahead. Hopefully it’s a memorable one for everyone that is lucky enough to be there.

Harvey Barnes to NUFC isn’t done yet, I would be really disappointed if we didn’t at least make an attempt for him. He’s an upgrade on our existing “wide” players ie. Bailey and Traore

I think so. If you look at Newcastle’s fixtures after Spurs, on paper they are easier than ours, and you would expect them to get 3 points at home against Southampton at least. But Everton away, Arsenal at home, Leeds away, Leicester at home, Chelsea away - these aren’t easy games, some of those will be fighting for the title or survival, and who knows what Chelsea will be like on the final day. It’s all on Spurs getting a result on Sunday…and then its just about who comes out on top week by week…

We are relying on Spurs beating Newcastle, which is possible depending on which Spurs turn up. However, Brighton and Liverpool will also be looking at that. If Spurs win, it blows it wide open, as Newcastle then have potentially tricky game at Everton, and Spurs have a run in similar to ours. If Newcastle win on Sunday, then I think it’s game over for the top 4. Probably also the case if it’s a draw.

I get this, but I don’t think a conference league place will be enough to keep all our best players. We are definitely on the radar of the teams above now as a threat, and they will be looking to weaken us by cherry picking our best players in the summer (think Yorke, Delph, Milner, Barry). We may be in a better position to deal with that with our current manager and ambitious owners, and also with an ability to recruitment adequate replacements (as Brighton have done in recent years), but we don’t know that just yet. I would probably take 5th or 6th if offered it now, but not 7th or 8th…

We don’t need to win all 7 games, we need to get within touching distance of 4th, and then we just need to match the results of other teams and creep a point above them. We do need results to go our way, but if we can win the next 2 games and Newcastle and Spurs don’t pick up any more than 3 points each from their next 2 games (bearing in mind they play eachother), then with 5 games to go we are in with a shout. I would say if we get to that stage, while we don’t need to necessarily win every game, we probably can’t afford to lose ground in any particular match week, so we would need to match or better Newcastle and Spurs’s results and hope they both slip up at least once more…

I honestly think while there is a chance of top 4, that’s what we should be gunning for. This opportunity might not come around for another 10 years! Liverpool and Chelsea will rebuild, Spurs likewise, Newcastle are growing. We might be a Top 4 contender in the coming years, but we also might not, so let’s not give up yet. We need a lot of things to go our way in the next few weeks, but you never know. Top 4 would be a game changer, whereas I don’t think that’s the case for 5th/6th/7th.

I am worried that both Arsenal and Man Utd will be both come in for him in the Summer. I believe it’s well documented that he’s an Arsenal fan, so that might be attractive. But I think he would be a starter in both of their teams, not just a squad player. But, there is always going to be a risk of that when players are performing as he is. The price of success. If we can keep momentum and spirit, then I think a lot of these players will give us at least one more season to see what Unai can do with us.

He’s done amazingly well. I know many are saying that even if we hit a bad run now they won’t mind because we have already surpassed expectations, but I there is a danger that is shortsighted. We need a positive end to the season, and some momentum going into the start of next season so we can hit the ground running. I’m confident our manager will make sure we do. Football has a lot of recency bias, and our last 5 games are tough (on paper at least). We need to win the next 2 and then make sure we pick up at least 7 points from the last 5 games so that we end the season with our tails relatively up as we there is a danger that some of the “bigger” teams will be sniffing around quite a few of our players in the summer. I think we will all feel very different if we don’t pick up many points in this run in. A good end to the season strengthens the manager’s hand when trying to convince players about the project…

We just need to win our next 2 games, and hope Spurs beat Newcastle and that Spurs and Newcastle both then lose to Man Utd and Everton the following midweek. Then we are level on points with them both (with an inferior goal difference) and we just need to better them by one point in the remaining 5-6 games. It’s not impossible, as long as the next couple of weeks of results go our way. Liverpool (and Brighton) will be saying the same though.

I think Man Utd are too far away for us now, we would need to make up 9-10 points over the next 7 games, I just don’t see that happening, it’s a tall order even if we win all 7 matches and get 21 points. I think third place is locked in now. Next weekend is huge. If Spurs can beat Newcastle, and we can beat Brentford, we are only 3 points from fourth place, that is touching distance! Brighton don’t play, so they will have 3 games in hand on us and Spurs. Liverpool play Leeds tomorrow and Forest next week, they may be 6 points better off and only 3 points behind us with a game in hand by the end of next weekend. At this stage, it’s about staying in contention each week, and holding our nerve. I really didn’t see us beating Newcastle yesterday, that win has given us a slim chance of the impossible. As I say, if we can beat Brentford, and Spurs can beat Newcastle, things are interesting going into the following midweek fixtures. We have Fulham, Spurs host Man Utd, Newcastle visit Everton. We could be level on points with both Spurs and Newcastle after that midweek round if they both lose. This is assuming all results go our way, and if they did, my concern would probably be Liverpool sneaking into 4th with a late run. Brighton have lots of games in hand and it’s hard to know how they will cope with it. Lots of IFs, but it’s great to dream though!

At some stage we will need Bailey, Buendia, Traore and probably El Ghazi to play more than a bit part role from the bench. But while we play this 3-5-2, if we can get Watkins and / or Ings scoring regularly, we might have a chance of a really special season.

Seems to me like, whether we wanted to or not, we sold our best player in order to build a squad that would help us to not fall apart when one or two key players are injured, but also to allow us to use different systems depending on the opposition. This is one of the games where we should consider playing 3 centre backs, in fact if we don’t do it today, I can’t imagine many other opposition teams we would use it against. We also finally have 2 proper strikers so if we do use a 3-5-2 / 5-3-2 we know we will probably still have a threat at the other end. I would be playing the following - Steer Cash / Tuanzebe / Konsa / Mings / Young Luiz / McGinn / Ramsey Watkins / Ings You could easily have Targett in for Young, but he’s a specialist wing back and I think we should start him for his experience. This gives us the 3 in midfield with plenty of energy, width from the wing backs and 2 genuine goal scorers up front. We then have options from the bench in wide areas if we need to open the game up and chase something later on. That’s what I would do, but I suspect we will see some sort of 4-3-3 as usual, and we will try shoehorn Watkins and Ings into it somehow, and it won’t quite work.

Is anyone else looking at the league table and thinking we could still do something? Maybe not the title, but top 6 or even top 4? Just a few things that jump out right now - we are 4 points ahead of Wolves with 4 games in hand! - we are 2 points ahead of Arsenal with 3 games in hand... - we are 9 points ahead of Brighton in 16th place with 4 games in hand, which makes me feel pretty safe... - we are 6 points off 4th place with at least 2 games in hand on all those teams above us, which to me says we are in mix. Now games in hand don’t mean points, but I would say mid-table with on average 3 games in hand on the rest of league is a pretty decent position! Hopefully the COVID hasn’t broken our stride...if we are lucky it might have been a bit of mid-season break for the players and they come back refreshed...

This is potentially a great signing, one that fans of other clubs, and maybe a few of us, will be really surprised by. He’s certainly not a player on the way down, which makes him very different to some of the other loan signings we’ve made in the past. If anything, he is approaching his peak, he’s a regular in the England squad and has work to do to make sure he makes the squad for the Euros. As others have said, straightaway it could free up more space for Jack to do his thing, not to mention the threat that Barkley brings himself. I do think this means that Conor will be first reserve initially, but I don’t think there is any guarantee things will remain that way. This signing means that if McGinn has a dip in form like last year, he will be able to take a break with Conor stepping in. It just gives us a lot more options, Barkley and Jack both playing narrower as no10s behind the striker for example, with Luiz, McGinn and Conor in midfield. We are definitely going in the right direction. Would it be greedy to ask for another striker still? Even if just a back up...