Andy81

On 15/04/2019 at 20:20, villa4europe said:

I dont think it flatters you but like i was trying to imply earlier its a poor league and being thay high up doesn't mean you are that good either 

I was actually talking about the Southampton fan I met, but I totally agree it's a weaker league for about 60% of the league than it was say 8 years ago.

The points have gradually all shifted north for a while now, which is why seventh is like winning a league.  It's bloody awful to be honest.

Having said that, there was definitely a step up I noticed from last season.  It took our players a while to adapt, Jota being the clearest example.

I was at the Southampton game at the weekend and Wolves were crap in my eyes.  A lot of people said we played well, and we did have a lot of the ball, but did nothing with it and Southampton took full advantage of our defensive lapses, and just looked like they wanted it more, which they clearly did, after the game there were big celebrations as they knew they essentially stayed up after that result.

I did smile at a Southampton fan after the game saying our position platters us, with only five games to go.  That's one hell of a lucky streak we've been on, league and cup!

Regarding us vs Burnley or Watford's performances, I think it's important to note that those clubs have been building their squads up over a number of years and Wolves have had two seasons in two different divisions.  It's a hell of an achievement, and budget is only part of the story as most football fans should be able to tell you.

I'm starting to think our squad size just isn't cut out for Europe, finishing 8th or 9th would be amazing.

1 hour ago, Spoony said:

So I haven’t been through 84 pages and this has probably been covered, but if anyone can be bothered I’d be grateful for an explanation as to what actually happened at wolves and how it wasn’t dodgy??

Just wasn't, don't worry about it.

1 hour ago, villa4europe said:

Surprised it's being reported, seen trouble every time I've been to Wembley, especially at the station following losing cup finals, the infrastructure pretty much ensures opposition fans walk towards each other

If we played baggies in the playoffs final there it will be carnage 

Walking down Wembley way, my friend was saying there's just no way they could let fans mix like this if we'd have played the Albion, it'd be a warzone!  I imagine Villa v Albion would be the same.  Do they tend to do anything differently for derbies? 

52 minutes ago, Talldarkandransome said:

I can only assume you've not heard the only song Wolves have been singing for 2 seasons

That's not the only song we sing apparently

29 minutes ago, ferguson1 said:

Can’t knock the season you’ve had for sure and you’ve played some good football, which isn’t surprising.  Hopefully, we’ll be joining you soon and have two good local teams in the top half of the Premier League. 

One observation from yesterday was our previous winger (Adama) doesn’t seem to have learnt anything!  He can beat 2/3 players with ease, but his final decision, pass or cross is just awful. Very infuriating to watch. 

Yes, your run has been unreal, and the results at the weekend all went your way I think?  I have to admit, I was something of a Grealish sceptic, but your form since he's been back has been just fantastic.  You looked out of it before his return.

I agree about Adama I'm afraid.  I really want it to work for him, and some games are better than others, but after seeing him put about three crosses straight out of play yesterday I lost my rag with him.

I actually think it would have been a good move bringing him on at 2-1 to keep them back a bit, but when you actually need a goal, he's not gonna be the one to help.

59 minutes ago, TRO said:

I was only teasing, not offended....and yes, you can only fill the ground.

You have to remember, not all fans have a unified opinion.....us villa fans argue between ourselves at times, (as you will have noticed), i guess it's pretty much the same at all clubs.

I was in the Pub yesterday, with mainly Blue noses and they was all banging the Drum for Deeney who is also a Blue Nose ( He despises Villa, so that's a strange one from Villa Fans)born in Chelmsley Wood.

 

Absolutely, all good fun.

Yeah, I'm no fan of his, and also Foster who takes a dig at Wolves any chance he gets.

1 hour ago, TRO said:

I don't see a lot of problem with Wolves....very good side.

You have now arrived at a place where consolidation is the key and just adding one or two every season , so as not to disrupt, but just improve gradually.

Don't despair....Watford are a more resilient side than folk give them credit for and in Troy Deeney they have a modern day Andy Gray ( full of heart)

You have much to be pleased about.

Watford are a very good team, I was very impressed with them in the home league game and yesterday.  I was supposed to be going to the away game but I'll be abroad now which I'm secretly happy about as I think it'll be a third loss.  I expect them to finish above us now.

You're bang on about consolidation and gradual improvement.  We've seen what happens when teams try to bring in too many, Everton last season, Fulham this year.  I think we were lucky in that the squad that got us promoted was good enough to not need too many players added.

I'm very happy, just a little raw at the minute.

3 minutes ago, TRO said:

fair play, it's just nice to get there......you have had a meteororic rise from the doldrums and fair play to all concerned.

We are too are on the rise, but some way behind you yet.

However in terms of Popularity i.e Attendances....Mind the Gap.

Well, we've sold out pretty much every game this season including Shrewsbury at home, so we're doing ok there.

I've only heard 'Mind the Gap' sung once at a game this season, at Bristol City away, which was just a throw back to last season, don't take it too personally, that particular spat is dying down I think.  We can be friends again now

I was more bothered by seeing some Villa fans stick up for Deeney yesterday!

1 minute ago, villa4europe said:

Getting European football is the next step

But after that kick on to where? 14 points off utd, you're not having any kind of summer that sees you catch them let alone another 2 points that sees you get 4th

Need to consolidate themselves in the 10th - 7th spot, the problem being linger there too long and you'll get better teams sniff around your players

Not knocking wolves, I just see them as a good example of how the league is **** 

Absolutely see your point.  We have dropped a lot of points to teams in the bottom five, a top six team wouldn't do that, so hypothetically if we turned those results around and maintained our record against the top six we would be making progress.

To do this I think we need different types of midfielders that can unlock tight defences.  Also we have a small squad, a few more players of the same level so we could rest at certain points of the season would also help.

There is still room to grow.  As you say, the Premier League glass ceiling is shit, and maybe we won't make it through, but it would be good for the league if somebody did.

Guess I'm an idiot as there's no doubt in my mind this was deliberate.  Very hard to proove of course.

Double post

16 hours ago, turvontour said:

It always staggers me how West Ham get 60000 fans.

Are there any other (rubbish) teams that could double their home attendance if given the chance?

Me too.  West Ham get a massive boost from being in London.  When considering their history, I think if you replaced Wolves or Villa with West Ham location wise the attendances would be the same.

I live five minutes walk from their stadium and I've encountered plenty of people who aren't West Ham fans but have season tickets just because it's somewhere to watch live football.

The stadium is horrible though, hated it result aside when I went in September.

1 minute ago, Demitri_C said:

But he obviously didn’t see wolves as a big enough club otherwise he wouldn’t have rejected you. 

 

Again, I doubt this was a big factor in the decision, as much as football fans like to think it is.

I could be wrong.

1 minute ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

There could be all sorts of factors. I personally think he has become quite fond of Villa and genuinely wants to help us get promoted. He seems quite close to the other players as well.  Yes he had a chance to move to the Premier League but he probably would have had to play as a second striker to the Mexican chap. 

Wages wise I think he would have continued on the same. 

He is scoring goals and enjoying his football. He is 21 years old and is owned by a Premier League club and that is where he will eventually end up.

Whatever his reasons for staying it’s massive for us and doesn’t really matter for you. 

Absolutely agree with this.

Trying to look at it objectively from the player's point of view, it seems a little strange to me as he's proved over a good amount of time that he's an outstanding Championship striker, where as his ability to cut it in the premier league is still a question.

That to me was the advantage to the move from his point of view, playing in a better Premier League team than he had at Swansea.  And from Chelsea's point of view there is only upside, either his value as a Championship player remains, or he increases his value by showing he can cut it at a higher level.

I always though the move was a bad one for Wolves and Villa.

1 minute ago, Jareth said:

You're right - it doesn't matter, Villa was first choice even if they paid him the same. Tammy's got excellent taste. 

I guess we'll see by the end of the summer transfer window.  I believe Villa will need to look for a replacement unless you think he might stop next season as well.  I think you mostly can see the reliance on loans is an issue.

I realise Wolves had a lot of loans last season, but they were all with an option to buy, which allowed us to pick the ones that worked out.  Villa don't generally have this in place I don't believe.

5 minutes ago, Jareth said:

Neither did Wolves, so they only offered him £120k a week. 

True, if we believe the Sun, who also reported that Chelsea had accepted an 18m bid.

2 minutes ago, stewiek2 said:

If Tony was still in charge he'd be complaining to the FA about that being some kind of advantage 

2 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Yeah of course they didn’t. They are absolutely gutted that even in them championship we are bigge and more attractive than them for players. 

Genuinely, do you think Abraham chose to stay because Villa are a huge club?  Villa are obviously a big club, but I can't see that having much of a bearing on a footballer's decision unless there's little else between two choices.

Without an option to sign him permanently I didn't see much in this move for Wolves.

8 minutes ago, pintpotvilla said:

Radio WM are going to hate reporting this!!

It's really interesting you think this, most of the time it feels like Radio Villa to us

Just seen the news.  Big boost for you guys.

I thought it was a bad move for Wolves and Villa anyway, with only Chelsea really benifitting from the proposed loan.

33 minutes ago, danceoftheshamen said:

I feel it is Wolves trying to steal the mantle of Midlands top dogs and stay there by throwing a huge spanner in our promotion push mixed in with seeing a striker on fire in the League below and also attempting to make a statement both locally and nationally... at our expense. They know damn well it would derail our chances of promotion and that suits them down to the ground whilst at the same time potentially improving their squad (Although judging by his lack of chances at Chelsea and not overly impressive season at Swansea that is not a certainty!)

I fully expect this kind of "unfriendly neighbour" act to happen repeatedly whilst we are stuck in the lower leagues as our rivals would love to overtake and stay ahead of us after years of being in our shadow. The Tesco bags often attempt to hijack our dealings too if many reports are to be believed (yes i know most are made up).

I have to say i cannot really remember us doing anything similar to them in my time of supporting Villa. We kind of left them alone but then we always were the class act in the region.

I think you’re reading a bit too much into it. Wolves need to score more goals, Abraham is having a good season and his parent club look willing to do a deal. 

9 hours ago, Made In Aston said:

You should check out the football leaks scandal. There are emails from the wolves owners which allegedly state that the only way to make money as a football club owner is from third party ownership of players. The emails then allegedly outline a plan to own various clubs around the world and do this back door third party ownership on a large scale. That would return far more than the 'few million ' you suggest. 

You could be right. Time will tell I guess. 

Wolves apparently rejected a huge bid from Manchester City for Neves last summer, which would go against this suggestion however. 

At worst, that strategy requires Wolves to be doing better than average Championship team, so it’s an improvement over the last ten years either way.