RichW

1 minute ago, turvontour said:

Can someone help me with amounts of injury time. It literally feels like you can roll a dice to come up with the amount of minutes. Why was there 3 at the end of that first half? In the premier league it would have been 6 or 7. Equally the second half in the premier league is 8 or 9. Is there a different criteria for injury time in Europe? 

UEFA decided not to use the injury time rules that the Premier League/World Cup used. 

44 minutes ago, stewiek2 said:

Were they?! I've sat listening since they came on air and didn't hear them talking about us.

Definitely spoke about us in the first hour or so. Both said they hope Villa go through and win the competition.  

Expect the Spurs game to be like the Chelsea/Man Utd game. Hopefully Cole Palmer turns up tonight but I've had a feeling for a while Spurs will win tonight. Every stat going points towards a Chelsea win near enough but what sort of defence are they putting out? 

Will watch the first half hour before the Villa game kicks off. Spurs to win 3-2. 

Expect us to win tonight. Need a two goal lead minimum though. 

47 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

I think they have the option to extend for another year. At the time it was being reported a 2 year loan was being agreed. 

I've just had a good look around and can't find any article mentioning an option for another year/2 year loan deal. 

I'm going to assume he will be back with us in the summer and we will try and offload him to MLS (Inter Miami) or Saudi Arabia. 

11 hours ago, Made In Aston said:

It sounds worse than it is. Wages have been covered for this season and next by the Qatar club. We just have to sell him after that or loan him out again for the remaining 12 months.

Where was this reported? I can only see that it was a season-long loan deal. 

2 hours ago, Kiwivillan said:

Don't understand any "I'm not sure if we're ready for the CL" posts. It's small time, loser mentality. 

"I'm not sure we're ready for the Battle of Britain." - Churchill 

I am going to assume the same people were saying Villa weren't ready for Europe last season too! 

Don't think Villa are ever going to be in a position where they can pick and choose what year to qualify for the Champions League. Just got to make the most of it. 

20 minutes ago, TRO said:

Are we ready for Champions league?.....missing out on the Europa, is a huge step up.

Don't get me wrong, I want to achieve it, but I wonder, if we are actually ready for it.

I think the new format helps us tbh. Going to get drawn with two teams from pot three and four so there is four games where we can pick up some points. Would like to think we could at least finish in the 9th - 24th bracket where we would make the play off round before the last 16. Not sure many of those teams would like to play Villa over two legs! 

1 hour ago, nick76 said:

I don’t agree re City…with nothing to play for City would be very dangerous because they will just play with their toy (Spurs).  City are deadly in two periods, firstly when chasing the last dozen of games or more of a season and secondly when they have nothing to play for because they are free and the quality shines.

Pretty sure Man City drew with Brighton and lost to Brentford last season when they had nothing to play for. 

1 minute ago, omariqy said:

Whether last night was a point gained or two lost will depend on Spurs result today. If they win then it’s likely City have nothing to play for against them in the penultimate game. That would mean Spurs would more than likely get at least another 12 points.

Think it’s ideal for us Arsenal play before Man City today. If it was the reverse order and Man City were to slip up then you’d sense Arsenal would all of a sudden get excited and maybe feel the pressure a bit. 

This is the game which everybody sees as the big test to their title credentials. If they win today you get the feeling they are running Man City to the last day.

Obviously I would love Villa to qualify for the Champions League but I’m kinda at the point where if Spurs do finish above us from here then you gotta hold your hands up and say fair play. 
 

Normally after throwing a 2-0 lead I’d be annoyed but Chelsea should have won last night and we were lucky to get a point. Squad have given us the best season in ages and we have lived up to the pre-season dark horses tag.

Before I had Brighton/Liverpool games as losses but I’m actually confident we can get 4 points at least from our last three games which should just about be enough as I see Spurs finishing on 70. 
 

I’m going to presume it’s a season ender unfortunately. Not long left now. 

12 minutes ago, RicRic said:

Does this mean its more likely we play more of some of the european giants such as Real and Bayern ?

Not 100% sure but I’d imagine you get drawn with 2 teams from each pot (one home and one away). So I bet there will be 2 games against one of the big boys at least and probably more as some tend to find themselves in pot 2. 

Hope Brighton play like this next week (they won’t). Some of the passing out from the back has been ridiculous!

1 hour ago, dappadan said:

Spurs lose the next 2 and we win the next 2 it will be job done. 

Easy

Bit like how it looked like the Premier League was going to have five champions league places all season and we could have been all but qualified for it right now but that would have been too easy.

It will go down to the last day. 

Chelsea were dreadful tonight but you just know they won’t be that bad Saturday night. They will get slaughtered tomorrow in the media no doubt and I bet Gusto and Palmer will be back for the game. 
 

If we can score early feel like Chelsea capable of collapsing quickly but we don’t seem to have fast starts at Villa Park these days. 

Express and Star confirming it was an extra year option triggered rather than a new contract. 

Quote

Aston Villa boosted by Unai Emery contract extension
Unai Emery has demonstrated his commitment to Villa by agreeing to extend his contract to 2027.

Guess none of us will know the finer details but the wording of The Athletic article about sitting down with the owners in the summer and prolonging his terms further would indicate to me at least both the club and Emery have agreed for the option of the extra year to be triggered and that in summer he will sign a new contract with higher pay, bigger release clause and maybe additional years? 

The fact its news that his extended to 2027 even though he was already tied to 2027  would tell me that the final year was definitely an option. I guess the club will wait till the summer when his signed his new contract before it's officially announced from the club as they've not mentioned anything (yet).  

4 minutes ago, Mantis said:

I presume he's gotten a big payrise - well deserved!

His original contract was already till 2027 I don't think his signed a new one, more the club and him have agreed to take up the option of the extra year he had to put a stop to the clickbait speculation that was starting to appear. 

The Athletic have reported he will sit down with the owners in the summer which I'd imagine is where he'd get a pay rise and maybe even sign for longer. Presume him and the club don't want any distractions whilst the season is ongoing. 

This would be a good appointment for West Ham. Lot of good managers in the Premier League nowadays. 

Would love to see both Ramsey/Rogers in the same line-up next season. I'd imagine Rogers would play as a 10 with Watkins like the Man City/Arsenal games if they were to play together. 

8 minutes ago, ender4 said:

Well we've only played 10 games in the proper Conference league, just that we had no European coefficient so we had to play 2 qualifying games as well. 

That's incorrect. Every team entered the play-off round.

2 hours ago, Delphinho123 said:

Beat Chelsea and surely, surely 4th is all but sewn up?

If we beat Chelsea I think that put's a lot of pressure on Spurs but I wouldn't say its all but sewn up. If Villa can beat Man City and Arsenal at home then I'd argue Spurs can do the same. 

Not many saw Villa winning away at Arsenal and I think Spurs will get a surprise result somewhere. Villa and Spurs are both equally good sides which is why it's been pretty much neck and neck for months now. 72 points will do the job for either side (I think). 

I think 72 points will be enough for Champions League so 2 more wins. 70 points I think we would be relying on goal difference as I can see Spurs getting to 70. 

Intrigued to see if he starts this weekend especially with Luiz out and Emery might feel the need to rotate after last night  

If he doesn’t start this weekend then I’m not sure when his next start is going to be. Won’t be surprised if his sold in the summer.