MapleVilla

And so it begins. The summer transfer thread!

4 hours ago, Dante_Lockhart said:

Might as well try for Grimaldo. All the assists.

That's our target list for the summer!

1 hour ago, Alakagom said:

Hope it's true that would be 4-6mn more than you'd expect we'd get . Seems dubious given Vasco just ousted 777 as their owners? 

The same 777 trying to buy Everton?

My Arsenal mate seemed shocked that we made 4th and champions league. I just sent him a gif of Dibu doing his dance after his saves against Lille.....I also sent the one where he dances after winning the world cup to him after we beat them recently. Was really enjoyable. He couldn't understand why Emery set us up a certain way and we lost. I'm like "we've got an injury list as long as your arm and a game in Europe on Thursday". They can't hack that their old manage is doing wonders for us and they're struggling to win the league that they think they should win. Even though I think alot of people were waiting for City to get into 5th gear towards the end of the season and brush past everyone, regardless of whether they were in 5th or 2nd. 

45 minutes ago, romavillan said:

To get in that bracket and sustain a top four challenge we'll need at least 4 top players to come in.

This is the thing now. We need to manage the league properly to make sure we're in at consistently for years to come. Bring it on!!

4 minutes ago, R.Bear said:

What good is finishing 4th if we're beaten by the 5th placed team in Greece. People on here seem unable to grasp this concept. We won't be less "tired" next season.

Let's face it our season has been way more gruelling than theirs. You can't compare 35/36 premier league games (+ FA and League Cup) to a Greek league of 26 matches. They've also had no fans at times this season because of violence. They're way fresher than us and it clearly shows. But this is a great learning experience for the squad and we'll be better for it next season. Though whether it's Europa or Champions league it's going to be 10 times harder than this, regardless of whether we have a full squad to choose from or not. Finishing 4th will be an incredible achievement, even if we go out tonight.

21 minutes ago, mrchnry said:

The badge is printed on so I can't see that being real. 

Stadium version Not the pro one

21 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

It sounds like you got a Fan ID and bought tickets in the general sale window - you need a membership to get them earlier, but you need an ID to get them at all.

Thank you! That makes sense now! 

19 hours ago, mrchnry said:

Is the lion trying to catch and eat a bat?! Genius marketing 

......Looks really cool

2 hours ago, rodders129 said:

The great eight. Heck is my king

That's already been used in NHL with Ovechkin. He's known as the great 8. Maybe we're going to buy a stake in the Washington Capitals!

21 hours ago, ender4 said:

There is no free version. The adult membership is £40 which gives you a welcome pack and access to buy tickets before general sale.  
 

They are looking at creating a premium version, say for £60-80, unsure what extra benefits they would give.

Ohh ok, I'm not sure what I signed up for to get tickets and an ID for the last match I went to then!!!

The whole ticketing experience I went through last month was painful to say the least. I just got two tickets to a Toronto FC game next weekend. Transferred in ticketmaster (person who owns the tickets transferred them to me and all it needed was an email address). It's the same with NHL or NBA tickets here as well. Ticketmaster is a whole other topic/debate but in terms of handling tickets etc, it's lightyears ahead of anything we currently have at the club.

22 hours ago, Czarnikjak said:

We don't own Greggs or Belfry though. 

Saudi Prince has whole slew of Saudi companies he can "encourage" to sink money into Newcastle.

From that point of view yes. But I'm talking about just sponsors in general. Most of the ones I see here have no relation to ownership with the club. It's a commercial partnership. Bit like what we have with Heineken or Aston University.

3 hours ago, Mazrim said:

Lovely. And while we're at it, change the entrance music from Crazy Train to Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath.
If we're staying with Ozzy then make it Bark at the Moon.

You're talking my language!

8 hours ago, MrBlack said:

Another overlooked point in what he brings to the team beyond his creativity,  is the pressing of the opposition.

It's not a coincidence to me that we've conceded more goals than we did last season. He harasses the opposition defence and DMs and gives them far less time to pick out the long balls over the top to the strikers. With only Watkins really able to emulate what he does (who plays when Buendia does anyway), they get far more time to pick out their long balls.

If he gets back to full fitness, I predict he'll be in the starting 11 far more often than not. 

Ye and Watkins is not doing as much pressing as before Emery came because Emery says it's wasting his energy and then he's not in the right spot to score when there's a chance. We've definitely missed Buendia's tenacity upfront

I'm so confused with all this membership stuff. I had to jump through a billion hoops to get two tickets for the Wolves game (as a first time buyer, I've been to the Villa before but it had been many many years). I had to become a member just to have a chance to get a ticket. Is this paid membership come with extra perks? As opposed to the free one that you sign up for?

On 05/05/2024 at 17:24, PeterSw said:

Bailey himself doesn't look 100% fit to me. 

Ye his knee has been wrapped up for a few weeks.

I'm surprised we're not doing more of this. There must be some rule somewhere that's stopping us. "Gregg's official pastry supplier of Aston Villa", "The Belfry, the official golf partner of Aston VIlla". There's a whole bunch here that are just ridiculous.  But it's extra revenue and something I would have thought we could exploit more to increase income. 

1 hour ago, jacketspuds said:

Classy as well for it all to come out before the end of the season.

He’ll probably have a paddy at some point, like he did at Wolves, and leave the day before the season starts.

To be fair he'd been told and assured by Wolves that he'd have money to spend on players. Even before he signed for them. But then got told, "actually no we don't, we can't spend anything basically, work with what you got". He obviously felt he'd done what he could with the squad he had at the time, and decided to leave. Could be a very good signing for West Ham. I'm not sure they've really got the squad for his type of football though 

18 hours ago, MotoMkali said:

 

 

I don't think it's much of a coincidence that the players that are really dead tired right now are John and Dougie. 

 

Mcginn has played 4600 minutes for club and Country this year (minus injury time which is probably another 400 or so minutes for us), so he's probably played 58 games this season at 86 minutes a game. 

 

Luiz has played 54 games this season, and probably close to 4600 minutes (4092 minutes in regulation plus probably an extra 500 minutes with injury time) with just us and another 100 or so with Brazil, so probably close to 87 minutes a game.

 

They have done something nearly impossible and both will be over 5000 minutes in 9 months at the end of the season.

The other thing is the mileage they're putting in this season, hopefully doesn't come back and bite us next season. It's a lot of football and they need full rest over the summer. Not sure if he gets that with Brazil etc.

3 hours ago, Nabby said:

Must be as long as Bennie McCarthy now .

It's happening!!!....Oh wait, McCarthy has long retired. I saw his name and thought "is it finally happening?!" 

Just now, sheepyvillian said:

But the tug was unnecessary. 

That's what she said

2 minutes ago, NorthernGordon said:

I was taking a dump when we got a goal back.  I'll neck some Naga Ghost Pepper sauce from the bottle and run back another three times, 4-2 should do it. 

Your sacrifice is appreciated by us all 

18 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

Wish we would change/upgrade these crappy lions though… the worst version… would look way better with the proper ones.

Like actual lions!? The fear we could give opposition teams 

It's definitely a good way to be doing business. Both were good buys financially and have proven to be great players who's fitted in very nicely. Moreno has been unlucky with injuries but I'm sure once he's had a pre season and can stay fit he'll be back to his best.