Teale's 'tache

Okay first things first, there's a saying often used in the design community, and it goes... 'You only get one chance to make a good first impression' The 'launch' of this kit has been pretty poor in that regard I think, if they'd led with the video, and then followed with the information about the pattern being soundwaves of the same chant featured in the video, then I think many peoples first impressions/perceptions would have been a whole lot better. The idea itself I love, but the execution is not great, the pattern just looks a bit of a mess which is a real shame. Like many, there's something about the shoulders I just don't like, but I can live with it. Overall, it's okay, not terrible, not great. The whole marketing of the club seems a bit of a mess at the moment, but then I imagine it will take a while for Mr Heck to get everything working the way he wants and all heading in the same direction. Having two crests next season is really poor though, from a branding perspective, but then if you aren't confident in a brand you've created, then maybe it is best to pause and take stock. I don't know, I'll be very interested to hear @NurembergVillan thoughts on the podcast below later...

We've been losing wickets at bad times, every time it's looked like we've started to get a partnership going we've lost one. Looking at this pitch, if we collapse from here the Ausies may only need to bat once

I would imagine Lange as he's previously been Sporting Director and has plenty of experience of negotiation from that, or possibly Sawaris as he seems to of been more 'hands on' recently, I'd imagine he's quite a fierce negotiator

There's no way this meme is going to make me look really foolish is there?

There may be, they are certainly becoming more popular it seems, but I'd imagine if there is one it is for a lot of money. Just because there may be a clause doesn't mean he's going to move, every player in Spain has a release clause by law, but not every player moves every summer because of it. A lot of people were miffed when Grealish went, but that £100m sure did help the club. Luiz is far more replaceable than Grealish was at that time. I think we'll be fine either way, we are in very good hands.

Ahh I see, so you're glass entirely empty kind of guy. I know we've lost players we've all loved before, and to release clauses in some cases. I understand the fear, but... Luiz has shown no signs of having his head turned, if he was disappointed at not being sold to Arsenal then he's got a funny way of showing it, he signed a new deal and then promptly had his best season for the club by some distance. He's never said anything other than how happy he is here. There's been absolutely no mention of a release clause, the only reason it's even thought about is because of what happened with Delph and Grealish previously, even if there is a clause it will be for plenty of money, I just don't see us allowing a low fee for a release clause, we didn't for Grealish. The guy loves playing football, and he's clearly enjoying playing his football under Emery, he's an important part of one of the most exciting projects in the league. It's not impossible he leaves this summer, any player could move at any time, I just think it's very very unlikely. I know as Villa fans we're programmed that nice things can't happen to us, that it could all go horribly wrong at any given moment, but rather than go looking for that, I'd rather just enjoy the exciting summer we have ahead of us, and post some silly gifs now and again, some probably involving fish. Fin.

I would hope we are looking in all markets, it wouldn't make any sense to restrict yourself by saying, nobody in this particular league, nobody who's been relegated, etc. As an example, if you go back in time a bit, to when Klopp took over at Liverpool, they were in a similar position in the table to the one we find ourselves in now. Klopp then used multiple markets to create a solid base and then added real quality once they'd returned to the top 4 and could offer Champions League football. He's bought from relegated teams (Robertson, Wijnaldum, Shaqiri) He's bought from other Premier League teams (Mane, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Van Dijk, Jota) He's used the European market (Alisson, Matip, Keita, Thiago, Konate) He even brought in a player previously deemed not good enough for the Premier League in Mo Salah, which worked out pretty well. Now, I'm not saying he's been perfect, there's been plenty of poor signings as well, just using him as an example that there's value and quality to be found in all markets. There's no point in having a scouting system if you are not going to use it, but also that scouting system should absolutely cover players in this country as well as those abroad. I think there are plenty of players that have been relegated this season that I would back Emery to improve and that could add to our squad depth. I would also add that the first player we sign doesn't dictate what our whole strategy is, just because we are linked with Barnes doesn't mean we are solely looking in that market, or that we lack ambition. The time to review a transfer window is really quite a long time after it has closed and you then begin to get a picture of the work that's been done. I think we need to understand that Emery will look and see potential in players that we aren't convinced by, he'll see attributes he can use and fit into his system, attributes that are maybe being wasted in somebody else's system. With Barnes, I think it's pace, I think at Liverpool away recently he'd of loved to of had some real pace on the bench to give Liverpool something to think about when they were pushing forward, an out ball over the top to push them back. Also in both games against Leicester this season Emery will of seen firsthand how dangerous it can be to play a high line against him. Throw in that he counts as homegrown and scores goals and I can see how if the price is right he could add attributes to our squad that we are missing. I'm not saying he'd come in and be first choice, or that he'd be our main signing of the window, just that I can see value there if the price is right. Maybe there's a relegation release fee in his contract, we just don't know at this stage, I'm just saying I can see why he might be on our list. I think we are looking at many markets, as we should be, and I believe we're in for a very interesting summer.

@okdiario sounds like the name of an app for tracking bowel movements...

The only way I think we might be interested is if the fee is low, say because of a relegation release clause or something, then I could see us looking at the opportunity to bring him in as a 'homegrown' player we could actually use, coach, and maybe even turn a profit on. I think he definitely has attributes that Emery could work with, the squad could certainly use a little more pace, I just don't see us chucking a big fee at him when there'd be better value elsewhere.

Yeah, I saw that, wonder if maybe he'd be classified as homegrown in that case.

It's all very clear now, we can't rely on Spurs to be rubbish, we can't rely on Leeds to be anything other than rubbish, and we can't rely on Man City to care much about the Brentford game as their priorities lay elsewhere. We have to beat a very good Brighton team to get into Europe, but also, and I think this is very important, to maintain the momentum we've built up going into the summer window and then next season. I think making Europe is very important to Emery, if we missed out on the last day, as his Arsenal side did in his first season with them, that would be a big blow to him, he's returned to the Premier League in part to right those kind of wrongs. We shouldn't fear Brighton, we've beaten them before, and we've beaten better teams than them this season, but we must respect that they have good players, a good system, a good manager, and are brimming with confidence right now. Let's hope the boys can rise above the pressure and give Mr Emery another performance like the Newcastle home game. UTV!

Just looking at the squad as it is now, trying to get a rough idea of how many in and outs we might expect. This is roughly our current squad: Goalkeepers Defenders Martínez Cash Olsen Konsa Steer Mings Sinisalo Chambers A Young Digne Carlos Moreno Hause Midfielders Forwards Luiz Watkins McGinn Durán Buendía Davis J Ramsey Wesley Kamara Archer Dendonker Sanson Nakamba Iroegbunam Coutinho Traore K Young Bailey Philogene-Bidace A Ramsey I think most likely we'll be actively trying to move on Sanson, Nakamba, Hause, Davis, and Wesley. You can probably add Traore to that list as well depending on who we are looking at bringing in. From his interviews, it seems Emery wants to at least have a look at the likes of Sinisalo, Archer, Iroegbunam, A Ramsey, and Philogene-Bidace before making any decisions on them, but I'd say most likely they'll be loaned out again, and probably Kadan Young will be too. Then we have Steer and Ashley Young coming to the end of their contracts. Obviously, this is just what I think we might be looking at, and the chances of losing all of these players are slim, A Young might sign for another year, and Emery might decide with all the games that some of the younger ones might be better served to hang around the squad. However, if you remove all of those listed above you are left with the following: Goalkeepers Defenders Martínez Cash Olsen Konsa Mings Chambers Digne Carlos Moreno Midfielders Forwards Luiz Watkins McGinn Durán Buendía J Ramsey Kamara Dendonker Coutinho Bailey That's really not much in terms of numbers. If we qualify for Europe we could have an additional ~11 games or so, and you'd hope now Emery ball is in full swing we might go a bit further in the domestic cups as well. So we may actually need to do a bit more business than I originally thought. I don't see us selling Dendonker the summer after buying him, he's a very useful squad option in a few positions, a Belgian international with Premier League and European experience, absolutely good enough to come in and do a job when the games are coming thick and fast, he's had some great performances for us already and apart from one mistake has always been solid. I don't think we'll sell Chambers either unless we plan on signing more homegrown players, we've not much wiggle room with the homegrown quota especially if we lose Young over the Summer, and as we all know there's a premium to sign them. Again he's got decent experience, has generally been pretty solid, and is good enough to step in when needed. Obviously, every player has his price, I just don't see us trying to actively offload those two. We're not in a situation where we can afford 2 real quality players in each position just yet, that's reserved for those with top 4 budgets, we'll move these types of players on eventually, but doing so too soon would be leaving ourselves short for no reason. I also think we'd be open to moving on Coutinho and Digne, due to their wages in comparison to their squad status, however, both can still contribute to the first team and would probably still see plenty of game time should we make Europe. I think it probably depends on what is offered and how many we've let go/got in should any offers arrive for them. The goalkeeping situation is also interesting, I'm not a fan of Olsen and I don't think Emery is particularly either, but moving him on will be difficult and as Steer is out of contract we'd then be looking at trying to bring in a couple of keepers to essentially sit on the bench. I've not seen enough of the younger guys to know if they are ready to step up, but at the very least I think we'll try to bring in one backup keeper, probably homegrown at a guess to help with the quota. I think in general the job at hand is trying to keep roughly the same number of players, if not adding a few, but obviously, we are looking to improve the overall quality of the squad. In conclusion, I have no idea, but it looks like we might be in for an interesting window.

Doesn't give much away does he Unai? All we can really take from that is that Unai definitely knows him, talks were had and Unai saw them as positive, but Alemany decided to stay at Barcelona. We may never know what happened. My hunch is Alemany was unhappy at Barcelona for whatever reason, Emery was made aware of this and wanted him to join us, so he helped to set up some talks. Unfortunately, the press got wind of it as everything seems to do concerning Barcelona, this puts extra pressure on Alemany and probably jolts Barcelona into action in terms of changing things to be more to Alemany's liking, he ends up deciding to stay where he is. As others have said, this kind of stuff happens in business all the time, we've been openly looking to fill this kind of position since Emery joined so I imagine we have many other names on our list, this was just an opportunity that presented itself and we decided to take a good look at it. The moral of the story is don't believe anything the Spanish press tells you, especially when it concerns to the Premier League and money. Bitter like a pint of Banks's.

Is someone cutting onions in here?! Tyrone man, he's just a bloody good bloke, I love him. I'm also proud of how all the other players interacted with Lucy as well, McGinn asking for and remembering her name was lovely, Moreno was great, I was about to be a bit peeved with Buendia with his earphone in, and then he asked her name too! After the recent videos with Arsenal and Leeds players basically ignoring some of their fans, it's reassuring to know ours seem to understand their responsibilities as role models and seem so willing to interact with fans before and after games. It takes so little but means so much, well done to all involved.

Another third strip, this time based on 1878 strip.

Thought I'd have a go at a bit of a mad thrid strip, trying to modernise our original kit from 1874...

My first efforts for next season, might do some more funkier ones if I get chance over the summer.

It's always a murky area 'Director of Football' because there are so many different types, who all fill different roles and responsibilities. It makes it very difficult to judge their impact or indeed to impart blame on them. For every well-researched and carefully considered signing made, there's another panic buy requested by a manager under pressure, or a crazy owner demanding a superstar name for an ego boost. Even then the role of 'Director of Football' isn't just about transfers and transfer strategy, it can cover a multitude of things from the academy and women's teams, transport to games, sports science, appointing managers... literally, anything to do with footballing matters. I guess if the football club as a whole is constantly progressing, then you have to say some of that must be down to the job the 'Director of Football' is doing. Especially on the sporting side of things. By all accounts, Alemany has a good reputation, I would imagine Emery has crossed paths with him before, and seemingly was impressed enough to want to work with him. I wouldn't read too much either way into his time at Barcelona, that club is all over the place, although I can imagine he was getting pressure from the manager, presidents, sponsors, and who knows who else to sign a particular player, and if he's managed to put together a functioning squad in that environment then he's certainly no fool. If you want to be a big club, then it can only help to have somebody who has the experience of running big clubs, this guy certainly seems to have that, so hopefully he can come in and help us continue in an upwards direction.

I find the links to Dumphries very interesting. I know a lot on here seem convinced that any right back we sign must be very defensively minded, to point of practically being another center back. However, what if we could have a both? A player that could fill this defensive role, but also has the ability and experience to be used much further forward, this would give us the ability in-game to switch the main side of attack without needing to make several substitutions. I think Cash or Dumphries could potentially fill that kind of role and I think that's the kind of tactical flexibility Emery likes to have. Some have said both Dumphries and Cash would need to be better defensively to fill this specific defensive role, I think Emery sees that and thinks I can make them better defensively, so I don't have to go out and chuck £50m+ on a ready-made player who can do everything like Man City have to. I know Emery's right back at Villareal was very defensive in a similar setup to the one he's using with us, but Emery has always evolved his systems and players, I don't think we're locked down to a very specific type of player for a very specific role, I think we've more scope than that because of the level of Manager we now have.

https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/13-march-17-march-2023/aston-villa-fc-rebrands-dragon-rouge/ Interesting interview with somebody from Dragon Rouge on the crest redesign, also sounds like there's more to come in terms of updating the brand going forward.