SimplyTheBez

1 hour ago, HanoiVillan said:

Taylor Swift and Beyonce might not be coming to VP, but last summer we had 3 (I think?) big concerts that sold the ground out and helped as money-spinners. The limiting factor is more the consequences for the playing surface than the wattage of the stars that are getting booked. 

I disagree. Hotels and restaurants aplenty in Town make for a much more hospitable venue. Could have several events per week through the summer. Believe these new stadiums even have retractable pitches and all sorts. No need for green sand these days no matter the weather

6 minutes ago, Captain_Townsend said:

Thanks for the reply, I think I still favour redevelopment of what we have! Maybe the whole area would get a boost from it?

If the area contained some/any of our fanbase, I'd be inclined to agree, but the area doesn't care about Villa and on the whole would be happy to see the back of us I reckon...happy to be proven wrong of course. Almost certain that they prefer alcohol free Star City for their entertainment. Sad but true. I certainly wouldn't want to live there, would you? Even to live next door to VP, and these days, it really is my only social life!

12 minutes ago, Captain_Townsend said:

The bit in bold.

Isn't the whole point of redevelopment/new build that we simply must increase match day revenue by offering more ways for fans to spend money on the club on a match day?

If we're in the city centre won't more and more money be spent on existing bars, restaurants in the city etc than on anything the new stadium coild offer?

I take your point, but beyond football is where my thoughts are heading with my suggestion. Taylor Swift isn't coming to B6. NFL isn't coming either. Nor Beyonce, UFC or big boxing bouts. Just imagine a big old stadium in the middle of Town. Money maker beyond football, which is clearly the way to go. Spurs know about money and they've done it. Real and Barca have completely rebuilt or are rebuilding for the same reason. There is a ceiling on football money. Beyond football the opportunities are limitless.

Watched the Ferrari film recently. Enzo only sold cars to fund the F1 team. We need a stadium that makes money to fund our football operation. Our owners know this and would probably already have this in motion if they thought it wouldn't upset us fickle and capricious Brummies

Just now, thabucks said:

That is a site whilst bored I’ve thought could have potential though not sure of its earmarked for redevelopment or big enough. 

I was looking at how Arsenal did it and the site they used was similar and trickier if anything as theirs is within a triangle of railway lines.

2 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

Dont think anybody has mentioned it to be fair

Should have said no doubt...I had no doubt!

43 minutes ago, thabucks said:

The issue is there are no brownfield sites near enough to the city centre available and most importantly with the necessary transport links. I’ve been a staunch supporter of moving but only for the right site and design and not just for the sake of it . North Birmingham could be an option but due to the costs associated with moving think it’s a non starter and should develop Villa park and the area holistically over the next 10-20 years 

Somewhere like that for example. Not much going on there is there and a comfortable walk from all Birmingham stations and everything else the CC has to offer. If we could get some political interest it wouldn't take too much to make a site available I'm convinced.

18 minutes ago, thabucks said:

The issue is there are no brownfield sites near enough to the city centre available and most importantly with the necessary transport links. I’ve been a staunch supporter of moving but only for the right site and design and not just for the sake of it . North Birmingham could be an option but due to the costs associated with moving think it’s a non starter and should develop Villa park and the area holistically over the next 10-20 years 

Maybe not brownfield, but with assistance and enthusiasm from the beloved BC council and Andy Street, I'm sure a site could be identified. For the good of the City as well as well as our club. Could be a big old site going at Curzon St when Labour get in and start looking at HS2 again...

3 minutes ago, Don_Simon said:

Away fans often state what a wonderful ground Villa Park is.

They do and it is. They also say Birmingham is a bleak, grim and horrible place, because walking through B6 is the part that they see. With mattresses and sofas in the front yards, weaving their way through the bins over flowing with rubbish; the ever present heady aroma of weed accompanying each breath!

Ground is not my issue, looking for the simplest and best long term solution for our great club.

20 hours ago, I Make Pies said:

Just watched the game back. Great win! Wish I had been there after sitting through so many horror shows against this lot at VP. A couple of quick additional observations:

- The Lisandro Martinez elbows were ridiculous. He looks at Bailey, draws his arm back, bends his elbow, then smashes him in the stomach with the point of the elbow three times in five seconds. Each one is a clear red card offense. Was the VAR offical on a piss break when that happened?

- The Man U centre backs were much better on the ball than Mings and Konsa and it restricts our ability to play out from the back. Thankfully Emery has spotted this and set us up accordingly with Martinez starting our attacks rather than the defenders. It wouldn't surprise me if we have a new cente back partnership by the start of next season (Diego Carlos + AN Other [Pau Torres?])

I don't agree. Mings and Konsa played very well and are fine footballers. I'd take both of them over two thirds of what will be representing England in a few weeks too (and the other third is a former loanee full back of ours!). I'm not sure who you would replace them with? Maybe Carlos for Konsa, but we already have him, so done deal.

This team needs Mings. Since he arrived on loan I've known it and I've never deviated. He's not perfect, but he brings that intangible something that makes us a better team. I'm not ashamed to say that I love the guy and hope that he's now a Villan for life and takes his rightful place in our ever growing version of Kumbaya...preferably not by dying though. UTV.

5 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Look at it this way.

Without Xia there wouldn't be an NSWE

Without SG there wouldn't be an Emery.

Not quite standing on the shoulders of giants, but I love the sentiment!

Feeling good about this. He's considered a failure at Arsenal...but, his win % there would make him our most successful individual manager ever!

Football, eh?

Just now, Herman22 said:

I think we all know he’s done now. My worry is this, when we get a replacement in is the team good enough to move up the table? 

Another massive few windows needed. 

I'm not worried about the players. The right manager will get a tune out of this squad without a single new signing.

Soooooo...anyone still saying that we should give him time? Jim? Anyone?

2 minutes ago, Villa_Vids said:

Apathetic.

Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

This definitely feels like acceptance.

Can't see how that midfield competes against Chelsea's. Strangely muted on the Trinity concourse today, like someone's died (or about to get fired!). Probably no surprise really...

6 minutes ago, VillaParkAvenue said:

He’s tried everything he knows, which when it comes to coaching and tactics isn’t much?

Yes indeed! I've said previously, on this thread or another, that I think that the main problem with him is that he's just a bit thick. Some people realise they're thick and they openly admit and keep themselves out of harms way by limiting their own horizons. The dangerous ones don't realise that they're thick and do untold damage given the opportunity.

Stevies most definitely the latter!

1 minute ago, SimplyTheBez said:

Gerrard appears to have tried everything to get a tune out of his squad, and it is still not working.

Oh no he hasn't!

Like many on here, I've been checking every notification, in desperate hope, this week. I was down that nasty London at a conference in the Banking Hall yesterday, listening to our Group CEO doing his thing and still checking my phone, and genuinely would have celebrated like our winner against Watford 3 seasons ago had the news come through. I want it that much. I've never known our fan base so united in one opinion. He has to go. This is awful.

I've always been a big fan of our Ashley. Didn't even begrudge him his move to United. He deserved it. But, I couldn't celebrate his goal on Monday. Genuinely could not. 46 years old and that is the first time ever. Even at the last few home games when I'm there in the front row of the Trinity, it's felt a little bit fake. Ersatz. Win, lose or draw football is about being entertained for me. That's gone. He's also so unlikeable. I've got no problem with sarcasm, us Brummies are up there with the best, but he's just horrible. A clearly horrible, horrible terrible man. I think the players probably hate him and that would explain alot. Remember how happy they used to look? Such a smiley bunch under DS. Maybe too much, but that's for another discussion. Replacing Smith with Liverpool's finest was like replacing Ronald Mcdonald with Vladimir Putin. Would explain the present attitude. Read what Terry said about Smith after he'd balled someone out. He was all about managing the person as well as the footballer. The things we've seen in public are things I'd never do as a leader, imagine what he's doing behind closed doors that we don't know about? No, I'm not feeling motivated either.

Anyway, I'm a glass half full kind of guy, so here is the hope that I'm clinging to. Poch is on his way, but why would he want to begin his tenure with a hammering from a rejuvenated Chelsea at home when he has very little time to do anything about it? Makes sense to me. That will get me through my 9 hours out of the house on Sunday to endure what is quite likely to be a total humiliation. Sunday night, Monday morning...please let me see that notification pop up.

Once again, looking forward to better days. All the best.

So poor. It's supposed to be entertaining. Don't like losing or drawing, but it happens. It's embarrassing when every game is a horror show and everyone non-Villa is saying how bad it is to watch. Even if we won all the games that way, it would still be awful! Hope I wake up tomorrow and the sarcy scouse sh*thouse has been dispatched

That genius Carragher said something about SG channelling his inner Benitez before the game. Thing is, Benitez clearly has a brain, whereas Stevie has crayons...as suggested by a much funnier man than I, on here

9 hours ago, Shomin Geki said:

There's an episode of South Park where Cartman gets a supposed picture of a missing child displayed on a milk cartoon.  It's actually a picture of his bum.  When two bum-faced parents turn up looking for their missing bum-child the situation is so absurd and hilarious that it breaks something in Cartman.  He is no longer able to find anything funny and swiftly descends into a spiral of existential despair.  When elite football's Steven Gerrard chose not to bulk up his midfield against ten man Leeds, giving us more options, you know, to dominate that area of the pitch that fashions a greater variety of opportunities to attack the goal, only to throw on Danny Ings with ten minutes to go, well, the whole pitch may as well have been filled with an army of bum-faced atrocities.  Because something broke in me.  At that point all hope was lost.  This was the moment when, in the insane asylum of Steven Gerrard's Aston Villa, I decided to stop thrashing against my straitjacket, stop banging my head against the wall, and instantly accept a nirvana of learning to love an eternity of unremitting, unyielding blankness.  The Lovecraftian Atrocity of the Ings substitution had destroyed my mind.

Well, this didn't quite happen that way.  There may have been more expletives.  A dog may have looked at me funny.  But perhaps if that DID happen I'd be a better person right now.

To borrow once more from a source of winning puerility, in the film Ted, with the sweary teddy bear, Ted and Mark Wahlberg are discussing new strains of weed on offer.  The final one is called 'This is Permanent'.  This is how it feels following Steven Gerrard's Aston Villa (for it is NOT the Aston Villa of you or I).  That we'll be long-balling and miscontrolling and misreading each other, and sweatily dashing and style clashing, and not being allowed to play or think or plot or plan, and basically doing a pathetic football version of the final 'out from the trenches' moment from Black Adder, but not in slow-motion (at least until the 70th minute), forever.  This is permanent.  Until Mr Purslow decides he doesn't particularly NEED to bop along to Phil Collins alongside Some of Liverpool's Finest Gentlemen (who are good to their mothers) at someone or other's Christmas do... this is permanent.  It's pathetic how swiftly and unceremoniously we've become a big bag of shite.

Of course... this is football and all is never permanent.  Things can change in an instant.  Fortunes have been revived, or decimated, in one telling half of football.  But watching Villa players dither against ten man Leeds in the 88th minute, not sure who's ball it is, not sure what they'll do when someone finally runs to get it, not sure what they could have done to stop John McGinn imagining it's still 2018 and the ball is looping out from the Sheffield Wednesday rear-guard...this feels... permanent.

TODAY'S RATING FOR STEVEN GERRARD'S ASTON VILLA (season average afterwards)

MARTINEZ 6 (6.625) You do have to wonder, just a bit, if we did get that rumoured big money offer if he might just think... life's too short?

MINGS 7 (7.17) A very Tyrone Mings-ish performance from the really quite marvellous Tyrone Mings.  I might like watching Tyrone Mings right now more than I like watching Steven Gerrard's Aston Villa.  Which is something.

KONSA 6 (5.5) Still has the air of a child on a long car journey who could do a big, ugly sick AT ANY MOMENT.  Nervy, unsettled, but he's just about manged to hold in the barf for now.  Seemed more assured in the air today?

YOUNG 7 (7) One of the few pleasant surprises of the season so far is Young stepping up as the grizzled, seen-it-all vet in the Men on a Mission movie.  The boy is up for it, scrapping and pushing, like a man half his age.  Let's hope that come his death scene, cigarette in mouth, he can look at the muddy battlefield with a little bit of hope.

AUGUSTINSSON 6 (6) Seems a good athlete, with a tank and a decent touch.  Apparently somebody up there doesn't like Aston Villa having nice new things.

LUIZ 7 (6.5) Offers a calmness and control in the centre of the park that's almost surreal at times considering the chaos surrounding him.  A Caravaggio in a sea of Pollock.  Apparently now HATES the idea of getting a hat-trick of corner goals as he doesn't want to become a meme.

RAMSAY 6 (5.38) For me the most telling regression of Steven Gerrard's Aston Villa.  A good Villa game should come thick with moments of high-energy hustle and the odd imperious intervention from JJ.  Now there's only the odd threat of such.  Still a bit of thrust but the blade seems thinner.

McGINN 4 (4.25) You're at a fine Italian restaurant, with your lovely lady.  Delicious, stylish cuisine from a rich and storied culture lines the menu.  You order chips.  But we don't do chips, sir.  You got potatoes make me chips.  Double chips in fact.  Chips never let you down.

COUTINHO 6 (5.38) The odd seductive twinkle of a toe, an occasional incisive swish of his foot... I'm no longer concerned Coutinho is a busted flush.  I DO wonder if he can be properly magic again under a manager who doesn't possess crayons for a brain.  It's nice to have nice thoughts.

BAILEY 4 (5.14) Honestly that's quite a generous four here.  Sad Trombone Noise's Leon Bailey has another misadventure in 'I swear this pitch was twice as long' mode.  Funny prank putting him in 100 year old football boots made of thick wild boar leather, but maybe let's give him the ones he had at Leverkusen, yeah?

WATKINS 4 (5.28) If you listen to the jazz produced by both Watkins and Bailey's Sad Trombone Noises for too long you may end up swallowing your own tongue.  If you haven't already done that.  Doesn't seem to like footballs much of late.

BUENDIA 6 (5.57) What is a composed master of link-up play, through balls and seemingly counter-intuitive passes (that are actually absolutely the correct option) meant to do with this fizzy mess all around him.  Genuinely sad to see.

BEDNAREK 6 (6) Looks pretty good I thought!  Strong, sturdy, with more than a little composure and class.  Yes, it was mostly against ten man Leeds.  But also, do note that he was playing in the food-fight-in-an-all-you-can-eat-buffet world of Steven Gerrard's Aston Villa.

INGS N/A He's bringing on Ings?  Ings?!  Ings.  Ings.  Ings....

That is comedy gold!

" I DO wonder if he can be properly magic again under a manager who doesn't possess crayons for a brain."

Brilliant!

11 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

If I had a partner that went down and stayed down as easily as Tottenham, I'd never leave the house. I'll be rooting for Arsenal.

Gold!

1 hour ago, Five Ken McNaughts said:

According to Arsenal fans we are looking at a straight red card offence here... Wow.

I know a few Arsenal fans and they have been saying how dirty we are. Genuinely surprised as I think we are possibly the least dirty team. Am I being one eyed? I go to the games, so didn't hear the BT commentary and analysis yesterday, but I can imagine it would have been heavily biased towards our darlings of the media from London opposition, and I can only think that what they've heard from the totally impartial pundits and commentary team has made them think we're dirty! All I saw was yet another weak and inept refereeing performance giving everything to the team that moans and rolls around the most i.e. never us!

1 hour ago, MattVillaPortsmouth said:

Love how Ramsey gets most votes because of goal, but for me he was not in the game today and I would have taken him off.  I totally understand the don’t change a winning team thin, but it’s a myth (otherwise we would have more invicibles!!) - fatigue and opposition dictate changes in personnel in addition to injury’s/suspensions.  We are too predictable and easy to counter.

I thought Ramsey played well and would have voted for him without the goal. Agree with the need to rotate, but felt JJ looked fresh as a daisy and would have been well down the list to be rotated for me.

29 minutes ago, villanmac said:

Imagine watching that style of football week of n week out in that soulless shithole of a football ground. 

Haha my thoughts exactly! I want to be entertained, winning comes a distant second every time.

Thought we played quite well, but we always struggle against big physical teams. They are very well organised as all Moyes teams are. We played football and they did their Moyes thing. Could have gone either way, but got no complaints. Massive gaping hole at the back for their 2nd goal after Dougie went off, so could blame SG for that I guess, but otherwise, just one of those

Voted Ramsey MoM. He just seems to be getting better and better. Buendia and Bailey both looked lively and useful after coming on, so I'll count that as a positive too.