FLVillan

4 hours ago, Caravella82 said:

Hello all. Long time reader but first time poster here. I guess the reason I've finally decided to post is mainly down to the uncertain elements around the development of the North stand.

I have to admit I've never been overly impressed with the plans made for the redevelopment. The walkway from the academy to stadium is good but I believe Villa Live appears too close to the stadium while the North stand itself does not give me any sense that it represents Aston Villa or Villa Park History. I would have loved the designs to be unique to us rather than have me think "Well, it's better than the current North stand but it looks a bit like the Anfield redevelopments."

When I describe Villa park I describe red brickwork, stained glass, mosaics and stairs that lead into the stands. I describe the Holte End and I describe the old Trinity Road stand. I don't describe the North stand or the Witton lane stand because there is nothing really unique about them. Occasionally I describe the New Trinity with its Industrial panels but only to emphasize what has gone wrong.

Watching the Chris Heck video on his thread a few days ago where he mentioned how important History was to the 76ers, I can only hope he is looking at the plans and seeing what improvements can be made so that he can ask Architects to bring forward designs that better represents Aston Villa, Villa Park and it's unique history in British Football.

I see where you're coming from on this, and agree with what you say to a point.  On the flip side though, I think the new Holte was built the way it was to essentially become the new focal point after Ellis butchered the Trinity Rd, hence the architecture.  From a viewing standpoint, the Holte is the most visible stand when approaching the ground, as two sides (Witton Lane and Witton End) are both hemmed in by housing and other infrastructure.  Space around the ground is very limited and (I think) most designing is done with interior space, capacity and comfort in mind.  

I think we would all love to see a facade similar to the Holte on all four sides of the ground, but not necessarily at the expense of capacity and comfort. After all, it is inside the ground where all of us spend more of our time..... I think if the surrounding area had more open space, then it would be far more feasible to have grand brick facade and outside stairs leading up (like the Holte), but on the Witton side/end there just isn't the space to do it.

Given the choice between a compromise in stand design/capacity or relocation to a more spacious plot of land, there is no discussion to be had among 99% of Villa fans.  I for one am grateful to our last three owners (even the fraud Xia) that discussion about relocation to a shiny new 60,000-seat stadium somewhere outside Aston has never been raised. 

On 12/06/2023 at 14:17, HalfTimePost said:

                  Moreira

Beye, Unsworth, Lescott, Stevens

             Sylla, Holman

N'Zogbia,   Tonev,    Dawkins

                  Balaban

Bench: Marshall, Richards, Curtis Davies, Djemba-Djemba, Curcic, Berson, Pires, Bowery, Baston

Based on the above I think I'm older than you, so I present:

(I've gone for players who all, at some time or another, played at a decent level but were a complete waste of a shirt at Villa.......)

                                        1. Les Sealey (RIP)

2. Habib Beye   3. Noel Blake   4. Joleon Lescott  5. David Unsworth  

                   6. Steve Hodge   7. Tommy Craig    11 Sasa Curcic

               8. Robert Hopkins   9. Tony Cascarino   10. Nigel Callahan

Subs:

GK: Mervyn Day. 

ST: Frank Macavennie, Chris Sutton, Grant "proper man" Holt, Bosko Balaban. 

MF: Djemba Twins, Leandro "Champions League" Bacuna.

DF: Kieran Richardson, Steve Foster,

Honorable Mentions to: Richard Dunne/James Collins (both were OK for a year but then disgraced themselves by disrespecting a club legend).

Going to Spuds as an assistant is great move for anyone looking to raise their profile in coaching.  Good chance he'll be a caretaker manager within 6 months.... 

15 hours ago, nick76 said:

For me I’m the least relaxed.  Over my life supporting Villa there are a few times we had a moment to kick on.  It’s rare but there is a chance and we tend to not take it and we are at one of those moments now imo.  I believe because of all the right reasons we will kick on this time but in my 40 odd years I’ve being let down, this moment is a little nerve racking…

We do have a "history" when it comes to needing to kick on, and I share your ingrained pessimism on the subject!   There were a few times when we did do it, the most notable of course being the acquisition of a certain Peter Withe for a club record fee in 1980.  The Dean Saunders purchase in 1991 and Collymore in 1997 were also similar moments, with the latter being a spectacular failure.  However, for the most part the club (Doug Ellis) always has failed to recognize the need and opportunity, or be willing to "speculate to accumulate" and take the required risk....  We bought Cascarino when Sheringham was the answer.  We bottled the deal for Juninho. We bought Heskey and Harewood when there were plenty of better options. 

Having said all that, I believe we are in a completely different moment in our history with this ownership and manager.  It is a more measured, calculated, and well-planned approach to improvement, which may not be accompanied by that marquee signing, but more the addition of players to fit into a very specific framework.

We shall see! 

5 minutes ago, pete101 said:

That contract would put him here just under 10 years, not including homegrown players , any others come to mind that have stayed similar length?

Allan Evans springs to mind.  Joined from Dunfermiline in 1977, left (I think) in 1988-89. 

29 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Question for the people who reckon having a gambling sponsor is going to turn everyone into zombies and addicts...

How many of you have ever owned a Mita copier, or gotten a car from Cazoo?

Ah yes, but I did enjoy a pint of Davenports once, and me mum drove a Rover... 

39 minutes ago, gaffer85 said:

I wonder will they being doing something special to mark the 150 year anniversary 

I've been wondering that myself.  Maybe they'll come out with a commemorative third kit in the new year? 

10 hours ago, CarryOnVilla said:

What are the best villa kits to be made, what are everyone’s top 5? 

My Top Three Home....

I grew up in Solihull and was definitely outnumbered by Small Heath fans growing up in the 70s and 80s - although the balance changed quite a bit in the early 80's when we were Kings of Europe.

Slightly off the topic here, but I now work as ground agent at the airport here in Melbourne, Florida (close to Orlando) and we get about 15 TUI charter flights a week from Birmingham, Newcastle, Gatwick, Manchester, Glasgow (one a week from Bristol too!).  Always interesting to see the footy shirts as people deplane.

Birmingham Flights -  about 50% Villa with the other 50% a mix of Small Heath, Baggies, Wolves, Forest, Cov, Leicester and Stoke.

Manchester - 50% Citeh, 20% ManUre 20% Bin Dippers and 10% others like Everton, Bolton

Gatwick - mixture of most of the London clubs and Brighton.  High number of West Ham this week.

Newcastle - 90% Newcastle and 10% Sunderland/Middlesborough

Glasgow - 80% Rangers/Celtic with a few Hibs and some occasional others.  Met a nice family last year all decked out in St Mirren shirts.  Turned out they were friends of the Super McGinn family - nothing but nice things to say about the family. 

Bristol - mostly scarecrows and a few Cardiff supporters. 

4 minutes ago, The Fun Factory said:

I wonder if the radio silence his end is because he is mulling over to go someplace else for one more season or to retire.

I think his radio silence is two-fold - one because he was off on holiday with his family as soon as the season ended.  If he's like me, when going holiday he will switch off completely and focus on a nice mental break while focussing on his family... And two, because perhaps he doesn't feel unfairly treated at all and is not going to make public statements to jeopardize his prospects of a short-term deal elsewhere to finish off his career

23 hours ago, rodders0223 said:

This one could have been resolved one way or another before the final game and we all could have had a send off so yes it is disappointing. 

Like Downing as Boro. 12m 100s of appearances. Euro final. Waived a clause entitling him to a new deal. Dropped down took a paycut to get them promoted and they released him without so much of a phonecall.

So no players shouldn't show loyalty because the second you are deemed worthless they won't show you an ounce of respect.

Pure speculation, but....

I honestly think the decision was made based on whether we made it into Europe or not.  If we had not, it's potentially 10-15 games less next year, and they probably saw Young as adequate cover for 40-45 domestic games.  Now that we are in Europe, it's more games, more travel, and requires different tactics.  It's also entirely possible that Unai was promised funding for a new fullback if we made Europe..... 

As we are not privy to conversations between club/player/agent, we could also speculate that he was demanding to stay on top-level wages while accepting a diminished on-pitch role.  We can recall that Alan Hutton took a significant pay cut to stay.  Maybe Young wasn't willing to do the same? We will probably never know...

I honestly do not believe that the club deliberately did something to avoid giving him a "send off."  After all, we witnessed a brilliant video and on-pitch send-off for a goalkeeper who played about 10% of first team games over a ten year period, most of which were in the lower division.  If the club does that for Jed, then no reason to think they wouldn't have done something similar for Ashley. 

Downing was/is a word-removed, so no comparison for me....

99% of players are loyal - to playing at the highest level they can, to their families,  and to securing their financial futures.

11 minutes ago, TheStagMan said:

Ash has given us good service during his second stint - and he has kept himself in amazing condition. To be able to play at the intensity he played at, at his age is remarkable.

That said, it seems a good place to part company, we are about to rebuild for the future and cannot carry anyone. Ash left us when he could do better, we are now leaving him now we can do better. Business decisions, perfectly stated!

If it were a choice between keeping him for sentimental reasons versus getting in a player better than he is now, then new player every time. And even if we bring in a 28 year old it gives us a player who is TEN years younger.... 

Yes, he has experience and words of wisdom to offer the younger players, but we have others who can do that. Exactly.  And let us not forget that all the talk about his value in this area was put forth by our previous, clueless, inexperienced manager who over-relied on that aspect.

I wish him well wherever he goes. 

So long and thanks for all the fish. 

Great Post.  Couldn't have put it any better....

I'll take what "career-over-at-25" Reo Coker says with a pinch of salt.... 

Trying to look at this from a neutral/logical perspective, I saw a significant decline in James Milner at the Dippers this year - looking very much off-the-pace and out of place when he's been called upon.  Almost felt bad for him a few times (except he played for the dippers so that's not an option)....  I'd hate to see that happen to Young here at Villa, and as such he'll be remembered well for his performances, still able to put in top performances, rather than being rolled out as a desperate measure and being seen as a liability.  

I imagine he (Young) was on very good money, and Lange/Unai will look at things from a financial standpoint and know that we can bring in someone 10-15 years younger, on similar or lower money.... Professional sports is a business whether we like it or not...

4 minutes ago, The_Steve said:

Assuming Donck, Naka and Morgan leave that leaves us very short on quality in the midfield if McGinn, Luiz or Bouba pick up injuries. I imagine Tim is due another loan next season too.

I'd be surprised if we sold Dendoncker to be honest.  He's a very versatile player with experience and has not let us down (except arguably the single mistake against Stevenage).  Great option off the bench and/or to cover injuries in midfield and in defence. 

30 minutes ago, TRO said:

And thats the essence of the whole scenario.....what he has done with Leicester, is in a different team to us, and subsequently he was subjected to their ills.

We took a chance on Emi Martinez, and look at how that turned out......players respond to their surroundings, some more than others....some get motivated by a move away.

We as Villa fans don't know, which Youri Tielemans we will get, but he is 26 and potentially in his prime, on a free transfer......what is there not to like from our point of view.This 

I understand the disappointment the Leicester fans feel, after relegation, but it wasn't a last minute thing, it was coming.......but my advice is not to blame other clubs for doing their job, for their clubs......Blame your club for not doing their job, for you.

Ps If Youri plays poor, he won't get in the team, its not complicated.

This is the most overlooked and perhaps shocking thing in this transfer.  Rare to get a player of this quality at this age on a free.  Plenty of over-30 types run down contracts and always a good number of academy "rejects" but to get a proven international with (potentially) his best years still to come is real coup in my mind... 

1 hour ago, MaVilla said:

one thing about this signing, if you look at both Tielemans and Buendia, they both love a through ball, so we need to buy a couple of players who really feed off a line breaking through ball.

 

Scott Hogan and Danny Ings...   I'll see myself out... 

On 23/04/2022 at 09:30, maqroll said:

But did he feature much after 1994? I still started following Villa in 1995 and don't recall seeing much of him.

Played six seasons in the Premier League, playing 166 premier league games including runners-up in 92-3, league cup winners in 1994 and again in the 1996 league cup winning team (had to have an injection in his shoulder before kick-off).  Premier league Player of the Season in 92-3.  He was a regular in the Villa team until the end of 95-96 season.  Part of a back-three that included Southgate and Ugo under Brian Little after partnering Shaun Teale under BFR..  Played on at Derby in 1996-97 season. 

3 minutes ago, TheAuthority said:

8 1/2 years and I worked all over the state. They say the further north of Miami you go the further South you get. 

Corrupt cops, corrupt government and mental "Q anoners" everywhere. Have you ever googled your birthday and "Florida Man." Just try it and see what you get.

As for the recent PTA stuff....... e.g. the Principal who had to resign because a student observed Michaelangelo's statue of David.

It's a rancid state, with rancid politics and I for one am cheering on global warming so that uncultured, uneducated red-neck filled hellhole is under several feet of sea water as soon as possible.

How ironic that you ended that rant with.... uneducated....   And you stayed 8 1/2 years????   But you're right, the millions of transplants from the northeast and midwest to the fastest-growing state in the country are all mental rednecks.  All of them.  Not a solitary educated person among them.  Wow. 

1 hour ago, TheAuthority said:

Miami is an absolute shithole of a swamp. Florida is an appalling state to live in.

 

Agree that Miami has a good amount of crap areas (just like every city in the US including Denver), but that's one hell of a broad brush to paint the entire state with mate.  How long did you live in the state?  

2 hours ago, John said:

We have much not to be humble about!  As the chant goes, "We're by far the greatest team the world's ever seen" and hopefully we are now on the road to winning further trophies, that will stop opposition fan's singing "You weren't even born", when we ask them "Have you won the European Cup?". As someone who was born and was actually there, I look forward to the day when all of us fans are in that happy position.  As FLVillan has said, every team in the midlands region (west and east) does have bitterness/jealousy towards us, let's give them more to be bitter and jealous about. 

Being in Rotterdam, 41 years on, still ranks as the most memorable day of my life.  Just don't tell the wife that! 

10 hours ago, duke313 said:

Just had a look on their forum, some really bizarre comments on there about us, they seem really bitter.

Every team in the midlands region (west and east) have bitterness/jealousy towards Villa.  Stoke, Notts, Derby, Leicester, Coventry etc etc.  We are, by far, the biggest and most successful club in the region.  That region extends all the way down to the Watford gap and all the way up to the M56.

9 hours ago, Mic09 said:

Because he chose a career of playing for 78 different clubs, he will not be remembered as a great one.

But he should be up there with Cristiano in my opinion, just above Lewandowskis and Benzemas. 

Amazing player. 

I am not one for the big ego's, but he's always backed it up. 

Agree 100% on this.  As he got older he started to become one of my favourite characters.  Really doesn't care what people think, knows how good he is/was.  Always made me chuckle. 

I was fortunate to see him play for Sweden in Stockholm in a world cup qualifier against Portugal.  Sweden lost 3-2 and Ronaldo scored a couple - but he was on a different planet to every other player on the pitch that day.  I always knew he was an exceptional player, but until that day I didn't realize just how good he was....

39 minutes ago, Mark Albrighton said:

Recently I’ve been wondering about what would have happened if Gregory had stuck around working with Little.

Those two together we have arguably our most successful season in the premier league. Fourth and a cup probably beats finishing second.

Gregory leaves early at the start of the following season. We don’t drastically decline, but we certainly don’t improve. 

The season after things nosedive and Little leaves. Gregory comes back in and the good times roll. For a while it was fantastic but the wheels come off, we can’t quite manage a full season and burn out.

This isn’t so much a Little v Gregory thought exercise. It’s more of a musing that perhaps the styles and the personalities of the two were complimentary to each other and was a winning combination that we only experienced briefly despite them both being at the club for a number of years.

That coaching team was an ideal mix.  Three Villa men in Little, Gregory and Evans - all with very different personalities that combined to get the very best out of the team and give us that edge that only can come from Villa men in charge.  

First of all, brilliant idea for a thread, and the initial post I would agree with 100%.  Especially that Leicester game that propelled them to the title and us to the championship.

I have a two games to add, both involving Derby County....

1990 we sign Cascarino mid-season (terrible purchase because Ellis refused to pay the extra ten quid for Sheringham).  Cascarino makes his away debut at the baseball ground and midway through the first half plants a bullet header that was destined for the bottom corner, until a world-class save from Peter Shilton.  If that had gone in perhaps his Villa career would have taken off and he'd have scored the goals to get us the title.  Instead he was a poor man's Ian Olney and a complete waste of money.

2019 Grealish makes his comeback from injury at home to Derby, having been handed the captaincy by new manager Dean Smith.  He scores a worldy in a 4-0 hammering of the Rams to spark a ten-game winning streak and send us into the play-offs.  Ironically we would then beat Derby 2-1 in the final to seal promotion and an aggregate score of 9-1 against Fat Frank's Derby in three games that season.