DaveAV1

4 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

I don't think there's any chance of a move, probably in my lifetime - the opposite is more likely true = United don't really care that Old Trafford is falling down, it's not something that affects all but a very small number of their supporters - City don't care about empty seats, very few of their support base is interested in actually attending - the hard reality is that we're a brand, we're a TV programme with a live studio audience, 99% of the people who watch the Premier league don't give a monkeys as to whether I can get a burger or a seat for my bestie. The club will want to get the best yield they can from the asset - but it's not top of the list for ways to increase revenue.

I think you’re probably right, like it or not fans at football grounds are no longer deemed to be very important, lock down demonstrated that vey well not so long ago. Businessmen like Chris Heck and the men he works for, know this very well as do the people who run most clubs and this extends beyond this to loads  of industries too, as demonstrated by loads of people now working from home. Humans eh, who needs them they’re a nuisance and cost a lot of money to look after. Perhaps we should all invest in Subuteo? Although I’ve just probably demonstrated that I’m old and way behind the curve by forgetting computer based football games. I missed the bus again!!

23 hours ago, sidcow said:

 

 

I’m not sure I understand what that means Sid? Sorry. 

9 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

There's an absolute key in that statement - Heck isn't focused on people in Birmingham - there's a very limited amount of extra income that can be generated by people that go to games - the focus is on growing the wider fanbase, the people that won't ever go to games but will spend money watching us, buying Villa 'stuff' and so on - there are potentially tens of millions of those people out there - that's the focus. It's why there's this oddly growing gap between the opinions of fans that go to games and those that don't as to how well Heck is doing.

For season ticket holders, being able to afford to go and enjoying it when you're there are things that have almost as much influence as whether or not the team itself is successful - some of my favourite times following the club were in our last season in the Championship and I'd take watching us play in the Europa league from my seat in the ground over having to watch us in the Champions League on my sofa because I can't afford to go.

The club don't care about that, the club have to be successful, have to obey the doctrine of the times and the mantra of this league  - growth - and in the Friedmanesque nightmare in which we all live - the market says that the idea of community and of clubs being at the heart of a place and being a part of a community are anathema.

The adjustment that Heck is forcing us to accept is that 25,000 season ticket holders give him a lot less opportunity for growth than 200 million Indonesians or a US tyre manufacturer and that the club is going to prioritise the areas where it believes growth is most possible.

I think he can make us successful, he can promote the growth our owners want - I'm not sure those of us that sit in Villa Park are necessarily going to enjoy that ride.

 

Whilst I don’t disagree and my heart wants us to stay at Villa Park in B6 I can see the arguments for a move too. Since moving, with my family, 450 miles away, I’ve sadly given up my season ticket which I had for thousands of years and so I don’t see as many live games as I used to but still miss the creaky old place every matchday but into every life and all that, I put the love of family before my first love on this occasion, so perhaps the move from Villa Park wouldn’t be such a big thing for me. Perhaps if we’re thinking in practicable terms , I’d consider the NEC to have plenty of merits, I thought they should have built the new Wembley there, but expecting the FA to do anything remotely sensible was always a long shot, what do others think? 

2 hours ago, VillaChris said:

Next Liverpool manager is also going to have to replace Salah and VVD in next year or two and that won't be easy given their general levels in last five years.

I wouldn't say it's a poisoned chalice job but they're clearly going to drop down a few places unless they sign astoundingly well which isn't a given.

UE would probably feel it would be exactly like replacing Wenger at Arsenal and all those pitfalls.

Far more worried about Barca or Real Madrid eventually coming in for Emery as that's a far bigger pull.

When Unai followed Wenger to Arsenal he was on a hiding to nothing, Liverpool after Klopp would be similar, I’d imagine they’ll be keen on Alonso given his past status and the fact he’s doing well now as a manager. Step forward Stevie G would be hilarious though!

2 hours ago, TRO said:

73 on the 28th Feb......and Villa on form, make me feel 33......off form ( sheff Utd) 93

Spot on I hope you’ll be feeling 16 by the end of the season!!! Stay happy, be lucky and most of all be healthy mate!!

12 hours ago, Troglodyte said:

I was born in 1988 so I'm in my 36th year of life and I've lived in 37 years.  Doesn't change the fact I'm 35.

Glad to see you’re still bravely clinging to you youth mate. I’ll be only 61 on my next birthday in March which whilst that makes me slightly older than your good self I’m pretty sure I’m still much, much younger than @TRO 

All this jibber jabber about Arsenal’s new stadium in the Wenger era was pre these days of ffp and the club were working around a way to actually pay for the new stadium, now with the ffp nonsense actual costs of building infrastructure aren’t a problem because NSWE are slowed to speed what they want except of course they’re shrewd businessmen and so will always look at value in that sense too but the big variables that we need to fix is the overall income and whilst that is affected by matchdsy revenue it is affected more by the fans and sponsors thst don’t regularly attend games. More seats is always ultimately more money but there are other ways to increase income and that’s where we need to be clever. We may relocate but we’re not ever going to relocate to inside the M25 so it’s important that we think outside the box and I think that’s where Heck comes in at the moment. Do while I think it’s important to thst the club don’t lose its identity or forget it’s history, if we want to get around the ffp bullet we need to be smart on and off the pitch. The on the pitch part is well looked after now with the leadership of Unai and Monchi, now it’s time for Chris Heck to show what he can do. I thought that one of Cp’s strengths was supposed to be his knowledge of FFP, but I’m not convinced that he managed to do that, especially since we were losing lots of money during his tenure and in ffp terms or any metric you want to use, that’s rarely a good thing I’m afraid. I know he’s held in great esteem on VT but those are the undeniable facts. His high profile Stevie G project was s stick used to beat him with but I don’t think that was the reason he was eased to one side by NSWE, he undeniably did some great work when he arrived with the new owners, who had little knowlege or experience of running a major PL  football club. The big leap forward in the very important matter of being good at playing football arrived with Unai and the rapidy following Monchi, and Heck has correctly identified those two as making his job easier, because no matter how you want to frame it success on the pitch is the big thing all football clubs and particularly the fans of the club at all levels want, whether they sitting in the cheapest, seat, the director’s box or watching on the tele thousands of miles away in their new, Adidas, hopefully, Villa shirt. The game on and off the pitch has evolved again and will continue to evolve, often for reasons we don’t like or understand but we can’t do much about either. Ultimately with the two men that are our current owners, we’ve been in worse places and should be facing the future with an optimistic glowing feeling. UTV!!!!!

56 minutes ago, TRO said:

That is the reason, we have lost them..... we was the architect of our own demise.

Poor decisions, and poor decision making, got us to where we were.....its no good blaming others for our own mistakes.

Winning them back, takes a concerted effort, we are on the right lines, but it takes time, and sustained ambition and effort.

 

I agree but the timing of many of those bad decisions made them worse as did the timing of the convequences of those decisions too. In particular our falling out of the PL when we did. As I’m sure you agree we’re finally heading in the though we’re heading  in the right direction now, at last and showing signs of building for a successful and sustainable future. UTV! 

1 hour ago, lexicon said:

This is it and I think it shows exactly the right attitude from the lad, to be honest. It's beyond fanciful to think he'll get in ahead of one of the top 5 (just for argument's sake) goalkeepers in the world.

I’m not sure Emi could be regarded as top five, there’s plenty of evidence he’s in the top 1 though! 

43 minutes ago, lainux said:

Reminds me of a younger ollie watkins 

He probably got written off a few times too!!

On 21/01/2024 at 18:37, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Saw photos of him and John Gregory on social media mate.

Saying " It's been 25 years since we last saw each other " etc along those lines.

Nothing ground breakingly ITK whatsoever .

I'll try to find the post.

Edit: Found @DaveAV1

Come to think of it... JG actually could have been in Colombia FFS

 

 

 

Thanks JV now there’s a couple of proper Villa men, no matter which continent they were in. Would have been great to listen in to their chat! UTV!!!

18 hours ago, paul514 said:

such as?

 Buckinghamshire where we’ll known Villa fan Christian Purslow is from. 

2 hours ago, calcifer said:

Cant do it, would rather stick my nipples to a car battery and rub one off with a cheese grater, then support Liverpool 

A very valid point. We’ll have to finish 4th just to shut that lot up. I’d love them to finish 5th and just miss out having lot to us!  

Just now, DaveAV1 said:

My head agrees but my heart objects, I guess I’m not alone in wanting a lovely big cake and eating every crumb? UTV!

The good news is that Wes in particular knows a thing or two about building new sports stadia and Nas’s family about construction and development, so once again we’re in good hands. Building a new stadium thst will Last well beyond their lifetime is an understandable ambition for ambitious owners building a legacy but The NAWE Villa Park would be hard to begrudge them, given what they’ve done for our club. They can afford to build it and the sponsorship deals would be huge!! So I wouldn’t rule it out no matter how hard my heart strings are pulled. You can’t take sentiment to the bank, or we’d all be loaded!! UTV!!  at the end of the day I’d prefer memories on the pitch that I can keep forever, so whatever that takes in the modern football world today, we should go with it and trust the current custodians to get us there. I don’t think we’ve been closer in my lifetime, let alone since Sky invented football in 1992. I think NSWE believe that Heck is the man to get us there business wise and Unai, with Monchi the guys to build the team, which since we’re a football club isn’t insignificant either!! UTV!!! Football and money are intrinsically linked, wether we like it or not, look where we’ve come from, a few years ago we nearly ceased to exist, which is unthinkable and almost unbelievable now! We’re on our way and as supporters that may take some getting used to. So let’s all be brave and enjoy the ride! UTV!!! 

3 hours ago, villabromsgrove said:

In my opinion growing the financial base has to be at least a decade long project. It would take regular 'Champions League' involvement for several years and would then mean that a new stadium with state of the art infrastructure would become inevitable.

I've attended Villa Park for a very long time including standing on the surging Holte terraces. I've struggled into and out of Aston so many times that it finally wore me out.  VP is still an historically great venue, but sadly it's reaching the end of its ability to cope with the logistics required to qualify as a genuine top club.

If we want to become (and remain) a top four club, then due to ground restraints it has to be team and player and coach focussed first, to attain a regular top four league position. If we make the final 'top tier' step successfully then considerably increased sponsorship and regular 'huge' prize money from the CL involvement will drive the investment in an impressive new stadium.   

A couple of years ago I would not have dreamt that I would post this, but if NSWE, Unai and Monchi remain committed I can see AVFC reaching the pinnacle (but not at B6 6HE).

My head agrees but my heart objects, I guess I’m not alone in wanting a lovely big cake and eating every crumb? UTV!

53 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I actually wondered if that's why JPA was in the country a few days ago.

That’s interesting JV, how do you know this? I’m not questioning your knowledge or asking you to reveal a source, I’m just curious mate.  

On 13/01/2024 at 21:46, Jas10 said:

Am I the only one worried about Unai’s eye? He’s had the problem for a while now… hopefully cleared up by now.

 

My wife says I’m the least observant man on the planet so it’s no real surprise that I haven’t noticed anything about Unai’s eye, I guess he doesn’t worry too much about looking Tyrone in the eye so it’s not a problem for him. 

49 minutes ago, gwi1890 said:

Interesting but unsurprising this is classic Unai Emery & Monchi

Both singing off the same page too! 

53 minutes ago, nick76 said:

But still joint second based on points.  The other components matter at the end of season if we are on the same points.

And Liverpool still have to come to Villa Park for their thumping like City and Arsenal did. A trip to the Emptyad to remind Jack what a big club looks like and we’re sailing in calm waters. 

59 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

We are 4th now chap.

A mere technicality!

2 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

Okay Carragher, I actually thought we were in the top 4.

Top 3 at the moment perhaps that doesn’t count? 

11 minutes ago, Made In Aston said:

Are we branching out into PPE contacts as well now?! 

I hope you’re not suggesting that Big Emi has to tell his little pal that the deal i off now? Rather you than me!!!

3 minutes ago, DaveAV1 said:

If he came to us he’d be at a top team already before the summer. 

And not on huge money at Forest apparently. Matty Cash would put a good word in for us as a former Forest player who’s made the move across the midlands. Sounds like a doable proposition to me, I’m sure Monchi and Unai will have cast their expert eyes in his direction so let’s see what happens. 

18 minutes ago, villa89 said:

If we could get Morgan white for that it would be a great signing. He'll be off to a top team this summer for big money. He's a very good player. 

If he came to us he’d be at a top team already before the summer. 

10 hours ago, foreveryoung said:

Smith took us as far as he could, an we moved on to Emery, bingo

Not before we endured Slippy G almost getting us relegated back to the championship. It was hardly a smooth transition from one to Villa man to another!