blandy

It shows. And it's enormously re-assuring and impressive. So far, at least, you (all) have not put a foot wrong and have done so much right, it's been outstanding. Compared to what went before it's frankly mind boggling. If someone were to do a case study into how to take over and revitalise a football club they just would not find a better example, or better people. What comes across is not just professionalism, not just courtesy, not just open-ness and imagination and energy, but genuine excitement and joy. And to be honest, while having real top quality people in control of things is hugely re-assuring, it's the obvious respect and affection for the club and appreciation of everyone involved with the club that provides the real bonus reward for us long suffering Villans. There have been many discussions in tha past about "who would you like to see running the club? - should they be fans, or businessmen with acumen, or...whatever" We appear to have got all those and more. As with players, who earn high wages, people don't begrudge them a penny when they do well, and will always accept those who give their all, but the ones that linger long in the affections of the fans are those that form an affinity with the club and a bond with the supporters through doing more than earning their wages. People who show they care as much as we do about the club are a part of "us". Cloud nine is a nice place to be, isn't it.

Brilliant. His shooting was really terrible. I can't claim the "banana" thing as my own - someone started a chant "he's got bananas on his feet" and then when he dived it was "he must have slipped on a banana" and so on. Little things that keep me happy

Thanks Chris and Co. I like doing 'em, and appreciate the comments.

Oh and at the risk of being a posting whore, this is last season's report to show the huge change.

It's a really good subject, because it goes to the heart of being a supporter. Da's post is a cracker, and the sentiment will undoubtedly be shared by many. But we're all different, our brains are wired slightly differently (or mine is, anyway). There's a part of my brain (or heart?) that has the same outlook as Da's - basically I "just" (such a small word for a massive emotion) want Villa to do well. But I confess there's another part of me which is different - last season particularly, for example on and off the pitch, players, board, some fans even, just "broke" something. They broke my faith, my "belief" - in people in players and in the club. I didn't want to go to games, didn't want to know anymore. It made me miserable - whether it be ineptitude on the pitch, incompetence in the boardroom or (to me) basically lies and attacks on people I know not to deserve a fraction of the abuse and ill considered hostility. Mind you I still went to games (away only after Jan) and still talked to people and still wanted Villa to do well, but I just felt massively let down. Shattered even. And surely there's a part in every fan that thinks, even if 2-0 up with 30 seconds left, "they could still throw this away" - so that's not really "belief". More bitter experience It's a complicated old business. And there's the last part - the "eveidence of my eyes" part. I'm sure Chelsea fans look at their team, manager and players, and think "Yep, they're a cracking side, with a cracking coach, and 90% of the time they'll win at home." Whereas fans of, say, Sheffield Wednesday will look at their side and think "For all the great Stadium....etc....the team's a bit very average and won't get promoted this year, won't storm the division.... So with Villa, I look at the team and manager and Chairman, and the circumstances and think we'll do OK. We won't win the league, won't go down....etc And when you see that, it's not unreasonable to explain why you reach that conclusion. We need al lthe different facets - the people who just believe and believe in the face of all evidence. The people who pick up every flaw, even when we win - how else do you improve? The people who look at the picture "dispassionately" and see something that isn't apparent, perhaps to those with their head in their hands, or those leaping about in joy. Anyway, good thread, good post DaH

Sounds like a good day out, spoilt only by the football. Thanks for the excellent report.

I'm not asking for a miracle, I'm not asking for huge spending, just a little ambition, a little positive thinking, for in my opinion something with our present setup shouldn't be such a big ask. Amen . And to my eyes that's exactly what we're getting - oh, and also on "positive thinking" that is something the vast majority of the supporters have been given back and gladly accepted and taken on. Good innit?

I agree with the rest, Ian (Drat) , but this! No way, Pedro. I thought and I know most others did that I spoke to at the time "who?" and "why?" and "it's not another midfield scuffler that we need" and other such rather negative thoughts. Similar to when GT signed Leonhardsen, basically - WTF! sorry for going OT

It's not about having it both ways, IMO, it's about there being something between "total hero" and "total useless" at every level That would depend on your dream being the same as anyone else's? About 7 as of today, including the top 4. No it's absolutely not. It's reality in my view. If the owners and manager weren't looking at every aspect of the club, continulally, then they'd be failing. Some parts are good, most aren't. Youth development - good, attitude to fans - good in parts, but terrible in others until the takeover. Facilities - average to poor in a lot of respects. PR, relationships with media, the council the local community, marketing....I could go on - but they weren't great were they? There's a lot to do to make us a top club, as opposed to a flash in the pan. Aye, top 10 should be possible. And 16/17th, too. He got worse, MO'N should get better - over 3 years. Now that's jam today, but stuff tomorrow, isn't it? Surely both are important. Make the team better, go for a good finish as you say, but at the same time improve other parts of the club. It was rotting in places. Aye. You can learn from others mistakes, if you're wise. Ellis IMO wasn't just inadequate, he was of the wrong character to be able to learn lessons, get better, but that's irrelevant, except that he damaged our standing and reputation and it needs repairing. If people think highly of him, it does not automatically follow that they expect us to win the league this season, or get in Euro telly cup this season. I believe most sane observers want us to progress. They want us to show eveidence of real progress by the end of the season, but understand where we're coming from, which was disarray. The players statement wasn't a fabrication. It reflected a terrible mood at the club, and a rotten situation. It shouldn't be forgotten, but it shouldn't be an excuse either. It's not impossible, but it shouldn't be the bar against which he is judged at the end of the season, let alone after 10 games. Personally speaking, there is always a fear that any manager, whether he be Lippi, Fergie, Wenger, or Morinho etc. will not do all that is expected. The same applies to MON. He does have a lot to prove to be judged as truly top quality with loads of trophies to prove it, but equally he has a lot to suggest he will take us forwards, The same applies to RL and GK and the rest of the board. Basically so much of football is about the intangibles - hope, belief, confidence and right now we're hopeful. Allow us that.

I like the ones of the insects. I've put one as my desktop, Cat.

I sort of agree with all of this. It's not tbh like any of us are saying anything significantly different I don't think. Basically, I would imagine that any competent board and manager would want to do things as quickly as possible, but not to act in haste, if that makes sense. There's absolutely no point dicking about, or prevaricating. Definitely. Equally there's no point going at things like a bull in a china shop. Planned, sustainable improvement is what's needed, and with a good pace to it. My sort of reserve is that I have absolutely no idea what level of resource is available, and therefore no idea what level of progress based around resources to expect. I do have an impression as to the level of expertise and ability available to the top men, and as a result of that have already been hugely delighted with the steps taken ,and feel rewarded in having being very keen on them coming to the club before they actually did. The Team improvements will depend to an extent on the cash available, but also on the image of the club as somewhere players want to come - not (just) for the money, but for the professional opportunities it offers them, for the non-financial rewards - playing to supportive full houses, top facilities, the real promise of improving their games, etc. Malc's article is not totally in line with the way I look at things, but it's also not that different.

There's two elements really to our desire, and the board and managers desire to see the club improve. The playing side of the club and the infrastructure/support side. In some respects the non-playing stuff is easier to get right, and improve - it "merely" requires expertise, finance, willpower, enthusiasm and co-operation. So re-starting work on long overdue upgrade to the training facilities can be put into place almost straight away, and results will be seen in May or June next year, for example. Fan relationships and marketing and so on - we've already seen results. The football team side of things is a bit different. It is possible, to beat the odds a bit and take a side from say 16th to 6th over the period of a season, but it's a lot harder to keep it at 6th, as the element of luck needed is not going to stay - ask David Moyes, or David O'Leary for example. What I'm saying here is that it is impossible to go from last seasons 17th place to winning the league this year. To demand or expect that would be basically, stupid. What is it reasonable to hope for is sustainable improvement in the team and squad and league form and placing. It is reasonable to hope for luck in the cups and determination from the team. To expect this, or demand it even, is fair enough. 10 league games in to the season, and a couple of away ties in the Okey Cokey Cup we've won 5, drawn 6, lost 1. Last season we were losing to Doncaster. There has been improvement, and it's happened with basically the same squad. It's not luck either - injuries are still a problem, as they were last year. There are NO valid grounds for complaint, to my mind, at the moment, and I'd also say it's too early to make "demands"/set expectation levels quite as high as you seem to be doing do for this season, Malc. I want our improvement to be sustainable, gradual and the culture of improvement to seep into every pore of the club, rather than be bolted on, on the back of some dollars and some flashy managerial PR. In every respect the new Chairman and board are much better than the last lot and the new manager is much better than the last one. Essentially, I trust the Club to get it right. I don't demand that they do, or have a right to expect that they must. But I believe they will. And that's a big change, given that maybe 3 months or so ago we were run by a bunch of clueless clowns and were going to get relegated.

In addition to the welcome I typed previously I thought that if this thread is to be more than just a "hello" thread there's something that's occurred to me. I apologise in advance for it's unsolicited nature, and also in the event that it's "outside the scope" of your reason for visiting, but anyway.... Having noted that Randy and yourself have taken great steps regarding both suporter's welfare/match experience, and also a deal of interest in the heritage of the club there are a couple of organisations, affiliated to the club which are worth knowing about (if you don't already). Firstly the AVIDS - Aston villa Disabled Supporters. A while back on the back of some money Independently raised by the supporters, the Club kindly doubled the money to help fund their minibus, so I know that the club looks after them, but it occurred to me that you should know of them. Secondly the FPA - former players Association - Again the club helps them out. I mentioned them because I went to see them play in the summer, at Chorley FC near Manchester. Well I say went to see them, but unfortunately their bus broke down, and they couldn't turn up, sadly. The team would have contained several of the '81/82 side and would have been a pleasure for the crowd to see. The match was a charitable one to raise money for a player from another club, and fortunately the event still raised a tidy sum for him. It just occurred that these 2 fine organisations would I guess appreciate the level of contact and approach that you have shown us on here and in the ground. No doubt you're extremely busy and get inundated with suggestions etc. and not enough time to address everything. I could provide contact details if necessary, although I'm sure the club has them already. thanks.

Ahem - Semper Fidelis means always faithful, BendtKoch (and Mrs BendtKoch).

Thanks for coming on and saying hello, General. You have no idea how refreshing, and frankly astounding it is to us to see the board of our club taking such steps as talking to the fans, paying for transport to Chelsea and basically being as enthusiastic about the Villa as we are. It's refreshing in the extreme - shocking in a pleasant way. I know we're all in one great big happy love-in (ahem) at the moment - we love you and Randy on the board, and obviously the team and manager and we get the same vibes back, but I hope that when one or other of us gets the hump at some point (and it'll probably be us lot !) that the 2 way communication continues. There are a lot of people on this site (and others too, to be fair) who campaigned long and hard for change at our club. Whether we had any effect doesn't really matter (in truth it was probably limited), but it's just brilliant to see that what we wanted for so long has not only come to pass, but exceeded all our wildest dreams. We've got the manager we wanted, a board and owner beyond compare and a club to be really really proud of again. Brilliant! Thank you.

Thanks, yes - what you say is exactly the reason I wrote it, Digsby.

It is retro itself - it's just a copy of a 1st generation iPod

It is Kalim. If you can afford it get one of those digital ones. Perfect sound quality, good choice of stations. And then listen to it. Like I say you can do other stuff too, while it's on. And there's something unique about being able to listen to, say, the test match cricket, or the Olympics, while lying in bed at daft O'Clock. Marvellous!

I love radio. I like it better than tellybox. I like the way the little voices come out of the little box and sing, or tell me what's going on, or talk about the footy, or tell jokes. Radio is somehow more intimate than telly. The one in my car can't get the footy, or cricket, or any am/mw so I end up listening to all kinds on FM. You can do other stuff while listening to the radio, but telly makes you look at it. You can do everything from work to driving, to making "sweet Owl music" to the radio, but on the telly you just get adverts about insurance and shampoo and some pictures of people. Digital radio, that doesn't go all fadey-outy at night is even better. Radio is good. Telly is average.

Tommy Sorensen: 6 - standard. Liam Ridgewell: 5 not a left back Aaron Hughes: 5 - not great today - last week he was good - has the internationals caught up with a few of 'em? Martin Laursen: 6 - no worries. Olly: Decent 6. Gareth Barry: decent 6 ‘Stan’ Petrov: 5 Sacrificed his attacking game because Gav wasn't there. Quiet. Steven Davis: 6 - much better in the middle, than on the left. A good little player in need of a week or two off. JPA: One sublime ball to Baros, had no service, 6 Milan: 4 - Hmmm. Not good. Well below par. The door beckons. Gabby Agbonlahor: 5 - energy and endeavour, but now he's been sussed off the telly by other teams - lost the element of surprise, he needs to develop more than just tip and run. Too often loses the ball, but he does have talent to be nurtured. Subs Didier Agathe: Cloddy. 4. Not much cop I reckon. Sutton: Hmmm. 4 at best unfit, at worst, past it and no good. Can't tell from 20 minutes viewing. Isiah Osbourne: Raw. Enthusiastic, and one to see how he goes. Not on long enough to mark Referee, Chris Foy: 5 - I didn't think the pen was a pen, from my seat in the Lower Rear centre of the Holte, but we could have had a better shout before that. Just, like so many refs, gets the big decisions wrong.

I'm with Al on this. Neither.

Good shout.

There was indeed. It was artificial too. 8) Ah, but only in the way that Sean Young and Daryll Hannah were. They all looked mighty fine to me!

From that lot, Bladerunner, for me, Rico. edit, wasn't there an Owl in it? too - if so - extra marks awarded

Pat Murphy on t'radio just said it's done - no other bids recieved, 5% of the shares in addition to Eliis's etc have been committed to RAL - total 62 and a bit % he has now, in just 10 days. hope he's right and that RAL gets another 10% at least