RicRic

3 hours ago, Pongo Waring said:

Question to Villa fans

Would you rather get to play in the Champions League and not win it or win the Europa League Trophy? 

Id rather win a europa league but absolutely love seeing us at the largest stage of european competition that would bring a new level of excitement, i can finally say I’ve seen us in Champions League and going up against the superstars

On 22/04/2024 at 11:16, duke313 said:

Already this season they have beat Liverpool, drew with City and Arsenal and lost to Chelsea.  They are more than capable of beating these teams at home, please don't think the job is done.

Especially now when they’re fighting to finish in top four, this is why it is important we go all out in every remaining fixture, i dont have a great feeling about the Chelsea match but for some reason feel more optimistic when we face Liverpool which is odd as we never really come out successfully against the latter. 

On 22/04/2024 at 11:13, DakotaVilla said:

Spurs play sheff united away on the final day.

My worry is that they could easily beat Arsenal in the derby game. If they do, that’s Arsenal’s title push probably over and Liverpool don’t look like they are able to keep on winning. If man city win the league before they play spurs that game becomes a gimme for spurs. And they already have the 2 gimmes v sheff united and burnley. Two wins still needed for me. 

Spurs v Arsenal is huge.

Oh apologies sorry yeah not the final day but yeah Spurs will cause an upset here and thats where there will be a huge twist in the title race, hopefully we can do our business so it wont affect us fingers crossed And they will certainly beat sheff utd on final day 

1 hour ago, John said:

I think that we might actually already have enough points for 4th.....

Among their remaining 6 games, Spurs face Chelsea (a), Manchester City (h), Arsenal (h) & Liverpool (a). They won't start as favourites to win any of those games and their goal difference might also take the odd hit in some of those games, that couldn't easily be compensated in their other 2 matches. They are clear favourites against Burnley (h) & Sheffield United (a), but that only brings them up to 66 points. I could see them not taking a point from those other 4 games and I struggle to see them getting more than 2 points from them.

That would leave us needing just 2 points from our remaining 4 games. A win against Chelsea next weekend would deflate Spurs and they would then need 4 points from those 4 games, assuming they win their other 2, I think that would be a very big ask. That said, I still think we might just have enough points and 2 more, would provide us with some insurance, against Spurs getting the odd unexpected point.     

No chance! this is just wishful thinking

Calling it here first, Spurs will beat Man City on the final day and this will hand Arsenal the title (Spurs record against City is excellent), they will also win either chelsea or arsenal game, they will too beat Sheff Utd and draw against Burnley, thats 10 pts secured, we will only need to win 2 more matches and find ourselves on 72 points and that i feel will ultimately be enough, 4 points is risky imo as they could also beat burnley too.

We all seem to be underestimating spurs based on fixtures but anything can happen in any of those games for example look at what we did at Arsenal, guys it is far from over and we cant get complacent at this stage we have to be weary and realistic and just try to win every match.

UTV!! 

13 minutes ago, ROTTERDAM1982 said:

Great result, even when we was behind im still had tremendous faith.

I gave MOM to Konsa, who i thought was faultless today, but i'm surprised that Tielemans didn't get more votes. I think he has been excellant the last few games.

I wasn't over convinced with Rogers when he played against Luton, but I do think he has got better and better. A lovely footballer, and a great spot by whoever. I reeally rate Ramsey, but you have to say we are not missing him atm.

Watkins , although he didn't score, probably had his best game for a long time. THE perfect forward atm. 

Chelsk game is massive, win that I think it is all over

Agree Konsa didn’t put a foot wrong and saved us a few times surprised more votes didn’t go his way immense performance, was impressed with Rogers but felt like he let himself on a few occasions but he is growing in confidence certainly. Really wanted Ollie to grab one he definitely deserved it and would have been great to break the record in such a fantastic atmosphere today

Huge Huge win for us lets not underestimate this UTV ! 

29 minutes ago, AVFCDAN said:

These truly are Halcyon days, we just win football matches now. 
 

Watkins was unreal today, so confident.

Win against Chelsea and that has to wrap up 4th spot surely.

No it doesn’t we must keep going UTV

Now this is the game i been focusing on wasn’t concerned about Lille and this conference stuff however my love the club will always be for us to win and do well however i dont want that becoming a problem because getting a champions league spot finish is the most important and number one priority. our bench options is look disappointing

2 hours ago, Tom13 said:

Maybe read the date of my comment and my reply to someone who already quoted this from me. It wasn't after that win.

And I have no idea what Zaniolo and Lenglet have to do with anything, bizarre to bring them up.

Apologies from me to you sir

On 14/04/2024 at 23:31, Tom13 said:

He looked fired up today and I regret the fair weather comment a bit, but his decision making can still improve.

After a delightful win like that and you choose to make that comment, your probably saying Zaniolo and Lenglet are world class, Bailey has been phenomenal this season and I’ll hold my hand up and say i wanted him sold in the summer but hes proved me wrong, sounds like hes not your cup of tea so he can never please you in which case.

56 minutes ago, DJBOB said:

There are lots of positives to this:

•  No longer need to root for Arsenal or City or Liverpool 
• Everyone knows the score, no hesitation needed. We will have to win and get to 72 most likely
•  City and Arsenal can turn all their focus on thrashing Spurs 
• No asterisk on getting UCL. Will be of our own accord

Well actually it’s reverse because we do NEED to root for Arsenal, City and LIV as they all face Spurs who we need to drop points every game possible.

2 hours ago, Captain_Townsend said:

Beat Bournemouth at the weekend and we probably just need a win and a draw to get 4th. 

I can see spurs getting 10 pts max out of their next 6 games, its gonna go to the wire and im not sure i have the heart mechanisms to cope  

We will need two wins and a draw which im confident we can achieve and then hope our GD is in better state than theirs. 

3 hours ago, MrBlack said:

Pre season I expected is to either challenge the top 5, or have a run in a cup. I absolutely didn't expect genuine top 4 form and a run in a cup.

Then we lost Mings and Buendia.

Then we lost Ramsey and Kamara.

And my expectations dropped further.

It's unreal what Emery and the team has achieved. It's crazy that we're at this stage and favourites to get top 4 from the teams chasing 4th spot.

A little bit more and we're there. But even if we don't, this season has massively exceeded all my expectations. 

Hasn’t exceeded mine but im bloody impressed, I’ll tell you why im not because of a man named Unai Emery i called it before the start of the season that we would be going for champions league spot, Emery would not be happy with Europa league as the target that i can assure you, however i am still buzzing and proud of the position we find ourselves in

15 hours ago, handsworthvilla said:

Man City was the best performance I've ever seen from a Villa side. But for some reason I enjoyed this more, and still now over 24 hours later I can't stop thinking about it. I've replayed the highlights nearly 10 times. I can't quite put my finger on it, maybe its because I'm in London and have loads of Gooner friends and I see the way they disrespect Unai. Or maybe its because I just did not expect us to get anything from the game at all, considering how we have been playing recently. But when Bailey scored I yelled like I haven't yelled in years. Pure, unrestrained delight just came out of me. 

My overwhelming feeling is one of pride, that the boys did that on the big stage, in front of all the cameras and pundits. The performance we all know they are capable of, and the world just saw it in HD. Special, special day.  

Love this and feel the exact same just pure joy

Watkins if he is not already is in the conversation for hall of fame of players at this club, he is an all round assassin for us and the last 18 months he has been deadly, ive heard people criticise and say not clinical enough, b**locks he is operating at a really high level and should be given more respect by everyone that doesn’t already do so.

Good evening!!

I dont even know where to start but just know i gotta pay for a new coffee table because of a certain team causing me to implode and cause pure carnage at home i went absolutely mental … watching the AVFC highlights gave me goosebumps and i wish i was there in that away end to celebrate with the boys because that was as ecstatic as it gets.

But boy oh boy i tore my roof off when leon ‘ bludclart’ Bailey struck gold wishing i could share that moment with all of you on this forum it was such a relief honestly. Ollie Watkins

Wow just WOW cannot believe we went to the emirates and came out victorious, ill be honest i had little to no hope but glad i was wrong… my life might be upside down atm but this team just gave me a new zest of life absolutely buzzing, lets keep ourselves focused and keep the momentum going as its not over yet

A special mention to Zaniolo who imo has been way under par this season , today he played extremely  well bar a couple of mispasses, but you could see how much effort he put in today.

Emerys celebrations was magical for all obvious reasons.

17 hours ago, Tayls said:

Whilst we are seemingly going to finish top 5… I do think there is a small, legitimate concern with Newcastle now. Because they are in decent form and seem to be steam rolling over sides again like they were doing last season. They are facing all bottom half sides for the remainder of their games. Cast your mind back to how embarrassing we were against Tottenham at home and look what Newcastle have managed to do to them today. 

I officially concede regarding Man U. They aren’t catching us. 

Why are we all talking about united and Newcastle and no longer mentioning spurs, THEY are our only concern at this stage until the end of the season.

3 hours ago, markavfc40 said:

I don't think it would be unreasonable to say we take 9 points from our last 6 games then we'll finish 4th. I'd be extremely confident that if we needed a win to secure 4th on the last day against Palace away then we'd get it. To be in that position we'd need 6 points from our next 5. Take 3 against Bournemouth then we'd need to find 3 points from Arsenal (A), Chelsea (H) Brighton (A) and Liverpool (H). 

I know its marginal but turn that 9 into 10 pts and id sort of feel it may be enough.

43 minutes ago, Lerner's Driver said:

No acknowledgement from you of the return match vs Bayern being in their thinking?

No because BOTH matches are extremely important as of now, I wouldn’t be ignorant to it but if you think this is going to be less as important than fair enough 

4 minutes ago, Lerner's Driver said:

They discussed the prospect of Arteta resting 2-3 players against us on the Athletic weekend podcast because our game comes before the return leg of their Champions League game vs Bayern.

I guess a big match against Spurs will also be in their thinking re: player selection. It surprised me, but there was some genuine openness among the contributors on the pod to Villa causing an upset.

I dont think they’ll be looking at spurs fixture regardless of it being a derby, its a prem fixture so just like ours tomorrow it will be full on.

 I’d assume everyone on here are aware they are very much in a hot battle for the title so every prem game will be full squad and no resting… i dont understand why anyone thinks there gonna take their foot off the brakes and rest key players no chance! wishful thinking though

I enjoyed that one 3 wins and a draw might just might be enough but again not guaranteed. 

3 hours ago, duke313 said:

A good way to look at is United need 10 points more than us come the end of the season, if we get 12, then need 22.  I just can't see them catching us if they need anything more than 20+ points.

The way i see it after matchweek 31 if we are 10 pts clear ahead then we should be pretty much tipped to finish above Man Utd for the first time in my lifetime dare i say it, Spurs on the other hand are the main concern and the side that threaten us for that top four finish which would be so sick if we are able to hold that spot, with injuries and our current inconsistent form its a shaky and nervy end to the season.

Hoping we can somehow pull clear of them but as we are so close it could go right down to the wire but we need to try and open that gap, every match is a final now as finishing 4th is 10x more celebratory for me than winning the conference

18 hours ago, punkiller1981 said:

Forget midweek that nothing competition  is what’s cost us today. 

Yeah same mate not fussed at all about it myself, we need to focus on the league, we are more or less guaranteed a place in europa anyway, and the conference is meaningless other than a gateway to europa, rest watkins and a few of the boys.. lets hope spurs crumble against the bigger sides in the next few weeks and we capitalise on that until its our turn to face some of those big boys

Emery must be more honest and say we did not carry out the game plan as prepared and the first half was not as good as he makes out, he used to demand more now he seems more contented, we cant afford to slip away now it’s imperative, we must hold down that top four spot by any means necessary 

UTV ! 

10 minutes ago, MCU said:

Can someone check on Leon Bailey please... you can't just turn up when you feel like it. Didn't look like he gave a **** today. I don't know if it's tiredness or what but that was so dissapointing.

RELAX! Yes Bailey was miles off it today but if you watch closely you can clearly see its fatigue, its wrong you attacking him thinking he does not care or that he chooses whether to turn up or not! … Mcginn would have been my MOTM but that was a silly challenge which didn’t cost us the game because we was well out of it anyway but for the next three he will miss… this is what spurs have always done to us except for the last 2/3 seasons so im not shocked but i’m extremely angry with that result.

Zaniolo looked like he tried when coming on, Diaby is frustrating for a £52m player I’m expecting way more and he just does not deliver, watkins just like bailey needs a break very poor today, cash played ok and i cba to go through the rest just very poor all around and the ref is a w**ker

And those saying mcginn wouldn’t be red carded for that if he was playing for villa need time to calm down and assess I understand everyone is angry after watching that.

4 hours ago, Leeroy said:

Chelsea did but they’re in a very expensive part of London. Also abramovich funded them out of his own pocket before FFP came in so they were able to get success by winning loads of trophies gaining them fans worldwide and large sponsorship and broadcasting deals and this in turn massively increased their revenue. Even then I strongly suspect Abramovich pulled off some shady deals to increase that revenue much like the oil barons in Manchester. 
 

I just don’t want us to be selling to buy all the time, it seems like we’re being punished for being successful. A team that goes from 14th to 7th to potentially 4th or 5th should be allowed to retain its best players and spend money to improve the team further in certain positions, not sell star Academy graduates or key components of the team. I still think though that if we can offload the likes of Sanson, Coutinho, Dendoncker, Olsen, Carlos, Chambers and Hause that will free up around £500K in wages which is £24m annually off the books.
 

IMO we just need tweaks this summer and nothing major but we do need to sign players in certain positions. We still need to invest in a holding midfielder given Kamara’s injury and Donk up for sale, probably a younger centre back to replace Carlos in the squad if we can move him on, and then if we moved Digne and Cash on which is also possible we’d need two new full backs too. I actually think we’re fine in attack especially with Buendia to come back and Diaby to hopefully do better next season but bringing in a high quality youngster like Gloukh would be very shrewd.

Didnt know ffp was linked to building and development of stadiums thought it only applied to player transfers