FLVillan

Grew up in Solihull (surrounded by noses).  Season ticket holder from 1972 to 1991 when I moved to the states.  Have lived in Rhode Island, New York, Arizona and now Florida.  Get to an average of one match a year at Villa Park, plus have been to every state-side match since we started coming over (New York to play Fiorentina).  

Favourite trip was a road trip to Montreal then Columbus, Ohio about 15 years ago.  Got to meet most of the squad at a reception in Columbus.

All family still in UK.  Mom & Dad still living in the house I grew up in.  Mom was born in Nechells - her family weren't really into football.  Dad was born in Yardley, and his Dad was hardcore Villa.  My grandad never talked about blues as a rival - it was Wolves and West Brom in his mind as blues were never at the same level...  

2 hours ago, fightoffyour said:

Not sure the connection. It’s the likes of Huddersfield, Rotherham, QPR and Wednesday that are key.

At the start of the day, the four teams I mentioned were 1 or 2 points behind blouse.  A win took them above them.  Three of them did, taking the sty dwellers from 15th to 18th.... 

11 hours ago, HanoiVillan said:

Probably don't want any noses seeing these results tbf

 

Similar survey for them would also be five choices: Yardley, Sheldon, Small Heath, Hay Mills or Acocks Green.  Their international fans are in Chelmsley Wood, Marston Green and Stirchley.

To be fair, more fans have participated in this survey that they get at the Sty each week... 

Right then, just need wins for Watford, Norwich, Millwall and Plymouth to make it a beautiful start to the weekend... 

11 hours ago, El Segundo said:

From Law 11

• gaining an advantage by playing the ball or interfering with an opponent when it has:
  • rebounded or been deflected off the goalpost, crossbar or an opponent
  • been deliberately saved by any opponent

A player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent who deliberately played* the ball, including by deliberate handball, is not considered to have gained an advantage, unless it was a deliberate save by any opponent. 

Looks to me that the offside call was correct, the only error was if the officials told the players they'd made a mistake.  

Still marked the ref as poor though - gave some non-fouls, let clear ones go, and seemed to have left his cards at home.

6 hours ago, Lichfield Dean said:

The defender being on the goal line doesn't render it not offside though if the goalkeeper was further out than Bailey. I think there was only one opposition player closer to the goal than Bailey, therefore it was offside.

I think according to the rules it probably was offside, although I don't personally think it should have been in terms of the reasons why offside was introduced in the first place (I.e. to stop goal hanging).

I'm curious as to why the officials have now said it should have stood though.

I would have thought that the ball traveling 30 yards wide to Bailey with all of their team between him and the goal would surely be considered a new phase of play, as it cleared anyone in a direct goalscoring position and the defence had ample time to react/get behind the ball.   If he had headed straight out to a Villa player who had popped it straight in to the goal, then same phase of play for sure, but 30 yards away and wide?  AZ literally had 11 men between Bailey and the goal.

Also, the moment the ball leaves Watkin's head the goalkeeper is falling back with one arm stretched out behind him (he can play the ball with that arm unlike an outfield player) so both he and the player on the line were technically keeping Bailey onside.... 

OK, I'll shut up now... 

Just saw the highlights on YouTube (I was flying home from Alaska during match).

How on God's Green Earth was that Lenglet goal disallowed?  Bailey has the ball headed directly to him by the AZ player on the line.  Not only was it "deliberately" played by the defender (he prevented a goal being scored), but said defender was on the flipping goal line.  So not offside for two very clear and easy to see reasons.  The mind boggles.  An early goal for us would have completely changed the game. 

Of course, all the mainstream media idiots focus on is that our corner for the second goal shouldn't have been awarded.  I hate the media.  If that had been Citeh or the Dippers the match report would have been headlined "Justice Served on Night of VAR Drama." 

49 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said:

Just not quite on it today and Forest did a job on us. At the end of the day we dominated the game without creating too many clear cut chances and we lost to two 25 yard strikes, the second of which was a goalkeeping error.

Too much broke down with Digne today, he’s been largely excellent this season but with the amount of opportunities he had he should have contributed much better. We struggled to find space in the middle which was credit to their setup and discipline, when we did get in we were wasteful - had to happen at some point.

If ever there was an indicator of why Unai bought Moreno it was this game.  Moreno would have got the same amount of space, but would have drawn a defender out and picked a pass.  Digne is a great crosser of the ball from deep/wide, but his final ball when going in behind a defence is not at the quality needed.

On 02/11/2023 at 15:06, VillaChris said:

Imagine Clough managing us in the 80s, especially after Ron.

Mind you he'd have lasted fewer days than at Leeds working under Ellis!

Nah, Cloughie would’ve driven Doug off a cliff and installed Steve Stride as Chairman… 

2 hours ago, The_Rev said:

 

This one has been doing the rounds over the past couple of days and I love it.  I'd have this framed and put on the wall at Bodymoor if I were the coach who drills our defensive line because damn.  The fact that the opposition player looking gormless is one Ross Barkley really is the icing on the cake. 

Every single coach at every single level should be showing this picture to their team.  Talk about discipline! 

On 30/10/2023 at 09:46, Greenfly said:

A good point, but it'll be harder to ignore Unai's greatness when there's a solid gold statue of him outside the stadium, and all four stands are named after him.

Rebuild the Witton Lane stand NOW if we can rename it..... 

5 minutes ago, Khizzy said:

This guy is the best keeper in the world right now, no question of that now and a world cup winner. 

Based purely on that he has to be our best goalie of all time. Could have easily left in the summer but chose to stick with us, unlike some other players we've had in recent years. Genuinely loves us too. I'm certain he will win something with us, sooner rather than later and drive us on to bigger and better things. 

I think he will probably be seen as our best ever eventually, but winning a major trophy will be an essential component of that.  Rimmer, in an age when English keepers were indisputably the best in the world, was absolutely magnificent for us and helped us win it all.  It was only Shilton and Clemence that kept him out of the England team.  The narrative around the European Cup final and Nigel getting all the attention forgets the fact that Jimmy Rimmer was absolutely magnificent throughout that season and the season before when we won the league, including the double-penalty-save away in the earlier rounds that got us to the final.... 

3 minutes ago, TRO said:

Both Emi and Jimmy from Arsenal seconds.

Not lost on me that one!  Had a chat with my old man on the phone yesterday and he doesn't do well nowadays with his memory, but he had a good laugh about the Rimmer/Emi coincidence.  

To be fair to Arsenal they had replaced Jimmy with Pat Jennings, so you could see the reason, but I'm not putting Leno, Ramsdale or Raya in the same category as Jennings.... 

1 hour ago, Jono62 said:

Wasn't it Cutler's recommendation?

Cutler was a part of the process once they'd narrowed it down, but I think the interview with him (Cutler) made it look too much like he was the reason we signed him. From what I gathered they had a shortlist that included Emi, Butland and a couple more.....

Cutler was definitely key to his development when he joined us, but Emi's distribution and tactical nous has improved ten-fold since Unai brought in his own GK coach.

To think he was preceded by the likes of Nyland, Kalinic and zimmer-frame wielding Reina.... 

3 hours ago, The Fun Factory said:

We are so lucky to have him and he seems to really love it at Villa. I am also doing this to make this t bump this thread to  500 pages.

For context the Ashley Westood thread was 610 pages.

Ah yes, but to be fair, there was a lot more debate around Westwood.  Everything from he's our version of Pirlo to he ain't fit to lace Gavin McCann's boots...

Emi on the other hand has the thread united in the knowledge that he is really really good, just creates debate about just HOW really really good he is.... 

Rimmer still ranks as best-ever in my lifetime.... But Emi has overtaken all the others at this point for me, and he's in good company - Spink, Bosnich, Friedel....

Growing up I always wanted to wear number 3 when I played, no matter what position I was playing.  It was because of Charlie Aitken.  His name is and was synonymous with pure class and Aston Villa.  May he Rest In Peace.  The ultimate Holte Ender in the Sky. 

6 hours ago, AVFCDAN said:

Lucky for us we’re playing so well that Zaniolos poor form isn’t hampering us. Feels like there could be a good player there but he needs to do something soon.

Apart from that it was a routine win and we haven’t been able to say that in years.

He needs a goal, or an extra-special moment to set up a goal.  You can see he's struggling for confidence.  Anything will do - a rebound, a tap-in, anything.  Then I think we'll see a top player.  

I don't think Unai replaced him at half-time today solely because of his performance, but also to change our shape by putting Bailey out wide and giving McGinn license to get wide on the left to counter their back-three.  Paid immediate dividends too with the second goal coming from a Digne cross after McGinn had put him in wide-left. Luton changed to a back-four a few minutes later. 

35 minutes ago, nepal_villan said:

Wasn't that some silly politician's idea? Don't think it originated from the club or supporters.

I think so, yeah.  I think even as a brand new American ownership group, Randy and Gen Krulak weren't that naive! 

On 18/10/2023 at 09:43, Tomaszk said:

That is so so bad isn't it.

LONDON

 

I remember just after Lerner bought the club that there was some talk circulating that a rebrand of Villa would include more reference to Birmingham and it may be incorporated somehow into our name.  It was quickly dismissed! Would have been a bigger PR disaster than the Leeds bicep badge.

2 minutes ago, VillaChris said:

When was he linked to us? When we changed managers in the championship he was always in jobs.

Ideal job for Eustace really if he wants to get back in quickly as Millwall can still challenge for the play offs.

If I was QPR I'd be sacking Ainsworth and appointing Rowett as he'd comfortably keep them in the division.

If memory serves there were some rumours around about Rowett before we went down - maybe around the time Lambert was hired, or maybe as replacement for Lambert... 

2 hours ago, rodders0223 said:

Sorenson was shite.

Not our best and not up there with Schmeichel but I wouldn't say he was shite.... certainly not as blunder-bound as Nyland and Olsen....

5 hours ago, Zatman said:

Finland is not Scandinavia

OK, "Nordic Goalkeepers" ....  Forgot Jussi Jaaskelainen too... 

Turned on the telly tonight and witnessed none other than a long-haired Orjan Nyland in goal for Norway against Spain.  Only saw about half-an-hour of the match, but he looked just as scary as he did when he was in our colours!

With Olsen, Nyland and Sinisalo (good prospect but our 4th choice) all being regulars for their respective countries it begs the question, what the heck happened to the Thorsveldts, Ravellis, Schmeichels and Sorensens?  Did Enckleman lower the bar for all to follow?

3 hours ago, S-Platt said:

Victor Moses 

Yeah what the hell ever happened to him?  Was a bit-part player at Chelski, then all of a sudden was a key part of their team under Conte, then seemed to completely disappear again.... 

It's all about the booze.  Pre-match pint or three and everyone is fired up for kick-off.  Then the buzz wears off about 15-20 minutes in unless we get an early goal.  Half-time pint gets everyone going again except those who stood in a queue for the entire break to go to the bog, and they are thoroughly p**ed off and blame Leon Bailey..