markavfc40

2 hours ago, John said:

You cannot be serious! Whilst I agree things haven't gone as well as we would all have hoped in recent weeks, it isn't really reasonable to use that, as a reason to describe 2024 as being a "crap year". We could after all, still qualify for the CL at the end of this season and win the Conference League, despite the injuries and suspensions we have had to cope with. 

I'm scratching my head to see how, regardless of the promise of what may come, it has been a crap 2024 so far anyway. We have played 8 league games and won 4 and drew one. Do that over a 38 game season and that is 62 points.

Even if we want to include the cup games then we beat Boro away in the FA Cup, got a draw away to Chelsea and then lost the replay to them. A Chelsea whilst inconsistent still on their day capable of giving any team a game. Oh and to top off our cup games this year we got a good result at Ajax leaving us in a great position to finish the job against them at a hopefully rocking VP under the lights on Thursday to take us into the quarter final of a European Cup competition.

It is measure of how far we have come I guess, or how expectations have gotten way out of hand, that the above is now considered by some as being a big contributor to considering the year to so far be crap.

18 minutes ago, imavillan said:

I Enjoyed this. A fascinating insight in to a real life court room case along with cultural values/differences of a women trying to live a western lifestyle and then being suppressed. 

Yes it was interesting. I felt so sorry for the victims family and when the dad showed the first bit of emotion we had seen from him when the verdict was given I found that hit hard as up until that point he had just sat quietly and come across as a quiet and considered man but clearly he was just bottling things up. . 

The Push: Murder on the Cliff on Channel 4 is a two part documentary following the trial of a man accused of murdering his wife by pushing her off a cliff. It is a tough watch at times but well worth watching.

Based on what we saw in pre season, where he looked to have bulked up ever so slightly and was more robust/not easily knocked off the ball, then I think we were about to see the best of him this season. We'll never know the difference he could have made but it could surely have only have been positive.

I hope he can get back to the level he was at for his sake and ours. 

It'll be on each individual how bright you think it is and it certainly won't be a collective response as we'll all have different expectations and some of us will naturally be glass half empty merchants whilst others will be glass half full.

For me having never contemplated us challenging for champs league qualification this season then the future is probably brighter than I thought it would be. I expected at this stage to be sniffing around 6th/7th spot and to hopefully still be in at least one cup competition. We've far exceeded that. Going forward I think 12 points from a possible 30 will get us top 5 and I think despite the injuries/suspensions/us losing our way a little that is very much doable and that would be a remarkable achievement. Add a cup win to that, or even a cup win and a top 6 finish, and that is dreamland territory.

Beyond that I think right from the top of the club down the will and the wherewithal is there to build on whatever is achieved this season. So for me the immediate future is brighter than I thought it would be at this stage and beyond that it looks very bright going forwards.

The atmosphere was flat yesterday right from the off. I don't think early kick offs help and that applies to all teams not just us. I'd say 90% of the early kick offs I've been to on a Saturday or Sunday the atmosphere hasn't been as good as a 3pm or later kick off and nowhere near a night game. You then add in the dire wet/grey weather which  I also don't think helped. The game never really got going in the first half either aside from 3 or 4 decent breaks/moves by us so the atmosphere was never lifted/ignited by what happened on the pitch. Spurs support was really poor as well. 

11 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

I definitely wouldn't risk Torres for this one - there's no way he'll through three nineties in a week and we really should be beating these without him.  Luiz needs a rest and would benefit too.

I think we drop as many as we comfortably can for what ought to be a fairly straightforward game on Thursday and save the rest for West Ham, that's a much tougher challenge.

 

Possibly Lenglet may start for Torres although I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if Torres starts and plays 45 mins or a hour.

As for Luiz I know some feel he needs a rest but much like Watkins I think he is probably up there with the fittest players we have and is a bit of a machine so I expect he'll start.

I get that we may have one eye on West Ham next Sunday but I expect we'll start strong, get the game won, then make 3 or 4 changes at the 60-70 min mark. Another factor is that West Ham have a tough game on Thursday (tougher than us) so they will have to go strong so they'll be in the same boat as us when we play.

After the disappointment of today you'd couldn't pick a better game to help quickly get over it. Under the lights at a rocking VP in our biggest European game in 15 years hopefully has the players chomping at the bit.

I'd imagine we'll definitely revert back to a back 4 and unlike today, where the plan seemed to be keep it tight then make positive changes, we'll start with a much more attacking line up.

Back line of Cash, Carlos, Torres and Moreno.

Dougie and McGinn in the middle with Bailey and Ramsey (if fit if not Rogers) wide midfield and Watkins and Diaby up top. Look to get the game won by the hour mark and then utilise Tim, Duran, Digne, Lenglet etc and keep plenty in the bank for Sunday.

I can't wait. Should be a special night. 

I think it is easy in hindsight to say he got it wrong today but being honest I felt when I heard the line up before the game that it was a little negative. I think for the first half though Emery was arguably proved right. Whilst they had more possession they created next to nothing whilst we had 3 or 4 promising openngs. The general feeling in the ground at half time seemed to be so far so good and that we'd done okay.

Clearly the second half didn't plan out as Emery would have hoped. I'd imagine the plan was to keep it tight until around the hour plus mark then make 3 or 4 positive changes and utilise Diaby, Moreno, Zaniolo, Rogers (and possibly even Duran) and go for the win. 2 quick goals, from our own mistakes rather than due to the system and McGinn, who otherwise had a good game, losing his head for a split second, put paid to all that though.

We can debate why we didn't take the game to Spurs from the off but I'd imagine the game in Europe less than 3 days earlier plays a part and it would have always been in his mind to utilise all his subs to offset that in terms of freshness of legs.

Goals change games don't they though and two quick ones and the sending off soon after killed today's game for us. Regardless of formation you make errors like we did, both in terms of the goals and the sending off, then you'll lose. I'd imagine up until the point of them scoring the game was playing out pretty much how Emery would have hoped. 

On reflection I'm therefore not putting too much on him for today.

He lost his head out of sheer frustration it's as simple as that and I am sure no one will be more disappointed than him. In the heat of battle it can happen though and has happened to better players than him.

Up until the point he was sent off he was head and shoulders our best player and there is no dressing it up he'll be a huge miss especially with Kamara also out. Fingers crossed Ramsey is back soon as otherwise that midfield will lack drive and a player who can carry the ball. 

1 hour ago, OutByEaster? said:

We're more than capable of losing to West Ham and Wolves and being locked into a really tight battle with Spurs and United for 4th-6th at the end of this month even if we beat Spurs at the weekend.

 

We haven't lost two league games on the bounce this season (in fact it has only happened once in over a year) so to say we are more than capable of losing to West Ham and Wolves is doing us more than a bit of a disservice.

I'm very much of the opinion a win against Spurs and we're nailed on for Champs League qualification. 

I think Emery shared the workload really well tonight which means we can start all of Torres, Cash, Moreno, McGinn and Bailey, who played 45 mins or less tonight, and have plenty of fresh legs. Hopefully Ramsey is fit and can also start.

17 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

I think we have to be looking to the West Ham game in the team we select for the second leg - the likes of Luiz can't play 90 minutes tonight, then 90 against Spurs, 90 against Ajax and 90 against West Ham - we'll need to weaken for the second leg.

If we beat Spurs we are almost certainly only 3 wins from last 10 games from securing champ leagues qualification. I think if anything beat Spurs we'd be more likely to go full strength against Ajax and weaker against West Ham.

I don't think we over exerted ourselves tonight in fairness as didn't get out of 2nd gear.  I think Dougie, and Watkins, who are machines fitness wise, can comfortably play the next 3 after tonight. Of what we'd consider our current best outfield 10 you may see Digne, Konsa (enforced), Torres, Bailey, Tielemans not start all three but you have Moreno, Carlos, Lenglet, Diaby and Ramsey (hopefully) to switch in for/mix and match with them and can still be not far off as strong.  

I think we managed the workloads well tonight with Torres and Cash only having 45 mins, McGinn and Bailey only 30 minutes and Moreno only 15 allowing us to freshen it up on Sunday. 

Looked lively when he came on.

That was never in a million years a booking and now he misses the second leg. 

4 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

Given that we will need our strongest XI for the games against Spurs and West Ham, is there a case for 'Moscow-ing' this second leg and playing the kids?

I hope not, but I think we're going to have to do it with a weakened eleven again, possibly one weaker than tonight's and I'm hopeful that'll still be enough at VP, but jeeeesh we've made this hard for ourselves.

 

I'd be amazed if that is the case mate. If we beat Spurs I am 100% certain we go full strength in the second leg. Even if we don't I think we'll start at least as strong as tonight, more than likely stronger, and look to have the game put to bed by 60 minutes, then make changes.

Decent result from what was overall a dire game. One shot on target from both sides. Ref was absolutely shocking and out of his depth.

Overall though I think we'll be the happier and be confident of finishing the job at a rocking VP.

Way more changes than expected but that is still a really strong side. Great chance for Tim and Rogers and Diaby will hopefully grab his chance of a start for some time. Good options on bench as well if needed.

Get a result with this line up and can freshen things up on Sunday.

I'm going for a Villa win by 2 goals. 

40 minutes ago, Genie said:

Yet on the big estate I live on there are hundreds of houses paying nothing for more than 2 years because their accounts haven’t been set up yet.

I feel a bit better now knowing that my increased bill may be subsidising those paying f all. Cheers  

Just had water bill for upcoming year through. Pretty much a 10%increase to £626 a year. Robbing bastards.

1 minute ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Didn’t seem to be in the training pics. Good to see Carlos back though. I also thought I saw Duran but that can’t be right. 

Torres is in this video posted by the club today (about 11 seconds in). Duran is back in training.

27 minutes ago, rjw63 said:

Shome mishtake shurely?

Pretty sure Rego is a Villan.

I mean do you not remember his commentary when the Scottish Cafu  scored that wonder goal against small queef?

No mate he is definitely a blues fan. I spent a couple of hours in his company, along with Garry Thompson and Paul Franks (ex WM) and he never hid the fact. 

A lot of commentators don't like you to know where their allegiances lie and in fairness you can't blame them, especially those who work for other clubs. In fairness to Rego it has never come across in his commentary and he is very professional.

2 minutes ago, FLVillan said:

Our current commentator, despite being a million times better than the previous Jack Woodward, had a tendency to be a bit dull.  Sharing the booth with Sir Brian and Tayls the last few weeks has livened him up a bit... It's great to hear tbh.  It's our club channel, so why not give the big'un when we get a late winner... 

It is Mark Regan (ex radio WM). I think he is very good but he is a Sha fan so I don't know if that dampens his enthusiasm at times.

Going ahead against Man City and seeing the job through is not for every Champs League chasing team is it