Ginko

Let’s not forget, Goldstein is not only a diehard United fan, but also paid to incite people to ring up his shitty radio station. That said, if United did acquiesce to all of Emery’s conditions, maybe he would leave. You’d like to think he wouldn’t, especially since he’s been burned at the ‘bigger’ clubs he’s worked at previously, but you never know. Might be too good an opportunity to turn down.

I saw a lot of people on social media (and a couple of posters here, on the previous page) talking about how fired up he was at the press conference and thinking it was a good thing, but I couldn’t help but feel a bit uncomfortable by it. Now, it could just be coincidence, but judging by his manner and the things he was saying at the presser, I did start to think the FA Cup wasn’t exactly a priority of his. That’s fine, and understandable, but I don’t think he conducted himself well in the press conference, and now he looks a little daft after the result tonight and the way we played. I know some people here would take the FA Cup over a top four finish (I personally wouldn’t), but it’s clearly not Emery’s priority. He put out a strong team tonight barring our back four, but I do wonder if his demeanour at the presser and his somewhat apathetic feeling towards this competition rubbed off on the players, or perhaps he even told them to not play at full speed tonight to save energy for the next PL fixture. His tactics and lack of subs don’t exactly fit that rhetoric I suppose, or maybe he just a) doesn’t trust the second string or b) knew he’d get an earful if he played a weakened side. Maybe that dilemma is what pissed him off so much. We do have to take into account our threadbare back four at the moment, though, and the lack of depth we have. He’ll bounce back, but I do wonder if he’ll be a bit embarrassed about the presser and the result tonight.

Post evening meal, one performed a bowel movement, you say? #stevoitk

This, and the fact that it definitely feels like the fans are getting completely ignored, maybe even lied to.

Stevie posting back to back on multiple accounts, eh?

Getting fourth now sets us up better to win more trophies in the future. Winning a trophy this season but missing out on CL isn’t the end of the world, but it doesn’t progress us as far. Either would be amazing, I don’t think anyone would disagree with that.

Portsmouth, Wigan and Everton didn’t have the resources we have, and they definitely didn’t have as good a manager and one who is used to qualifying (and winning) European cup competitions. As for your other example at the other end of the scale, Newcastle are a special case in that as soon as they got taken over they were able to buy a higher standard of player, and I bet you their odds of winning a cup are higher than they were in previous seasons. Spurs are doing well this year, and if they keep it up and finish high then they’ll definitely be in a better position to strengthen, so that argument doesn’t work either. Obviously it’s not a sure thing, but with the team we’ve been assembling both on and off the pitch over the last year, we’re in a great position to kick on to the next level, and qualifying for Champion’s League football will help us massively with that. Also, in order to qualify for the next five seasons in a row, you have to start by qualifying once. Winning a domestic cup competition would be amazing, but it would do little to aid our progression and cement a place in the upper echelons of the league. Your thinking is too short-term and romanticised.

Yep, agreed. As nice as a trophy would be, CL qualification would do more to help us grow as a club and a squad, which would set us up for more success in future. It’s a no-brainer for me.

Insanely cheesy and outdated — a definite no. Fortunately, I can’t see it happening. We need to be looking towards the future with modern branding, not that I think we will with the next crest, though. I’m fully prepared to be underwhelmed, but it won’t be as embarrassing as the Villa Villan, thank Christ.

Gotcha. Yeah, I was struggling to think of the specific reasons why design and marketing experts wouldn’t think using AV would work. I see what OBE is saying about getting confused with an electronics company, but I’m confident we could implement the AV into our branding in such a way that it was unique and obvious enough this wasn’t the case. For what it’s worth, I’m not suggesting we use AVFC on the badge instead of Aston Villa, I just mean using the initials in unique and recognisable logo, similar to what the new Juventus badge achieved.

Fair enough, but there must be a way around it? Did the design team go I to specifics as to why they thought using AV wouldn’t work? Search engine optimisation, perhaps?

Yeah, I’m not sure it’d really work in this country. I don’t want to see an incarnation of this guy on the badge: The only cartoon character on a badge that works is the leprechaun on the Boston Celtics logo, and even that’s a bit of a stretch in my opinion.

This would be a real shame, in my opinion, but obviously I don’t know as much about global marketing as the people at the club (hopefully, at least). Our name and the initials are so unique and complimentary that it’s absolute madness we haven’t used this as the main focus for our brand. Surely there’s a way we could implement it that made it obvious we’re an enormous, historic football club and not a bloody electronics company? Ditch the lion and use the AV as our unique marketing angle. Surely we can do this without falling afoul of heritage laws and confusing foreign markets.

I reckon 17 or 18, though what I really want is for the 13 shirt to get some love. I think it was Michael Bradley who last wore it for us, wasn’t it? If I were a DCM I’d definitely wear it.

Yep, Qatar’s transfer deadline ends on September 18, and Saudi’s on September 20.

He was a bit disappointing tonight for me. Gave the ball away cheaply with some bad passing and I think he was the one who lost it trying to do a fancy flick which went didn’t come off. Not his night tonight, but perhaps he was saving his energy for the weekend. Most of the players didn’t look like they were getting out of second gear, to be fair to him. One thing that does concern me a bit is his shooting. Might just be me, but I’ve noticed he hits them hard, low and quite close to the keeper a lot of the time rather than placing them. I think most PL keepers would save those kind of shots nine times out of ten. Obviously his volley at the weekend was quality, though, so he has the ability. Perhaps it’s his decision-making that may need improving a bit.

Apparently he can play the group stage games, just not the qualifiers, so all is well.

He only played the second half, but he was pretty comfortable passing it around the back. They tested him early on with a rising shot, but he tipped it over the bar easily enough. Can’t complain, really, but he wasn’t really challenged.

And it’s Egg with possession now… he passes it across the field to Meatball, who pings a driven pass to Moussa(ka) Diaby…

What is the usual protocol for footballers with long-term injuries re: being around the team? Obviously they’ll take time off to have assessments, surgery, rest and then physiotherapy, but do they still attend team meetings or sit in on training? I guess my point is that if Ty is still a presence for us during the week leading up to a game, and assuming he attends the matches, then at least his leadership will be felt in some way. Obviously it’s not the same as him barking orders on the pitch, but we haven’t totally lost his influence. Hopefully he’ll help the CBs in particular, and one or two of them will step up.

Maybe. I’ve seen some of his posts where he’s held his hands up and said he was wrong because he’s not privy to every shred of information, but that’s mainly because he’s called bullshit on some things. Buendia’s injury is one example. He laughed it off but then backtracked saying his source wasn’t placed for injury info — so why comment in the first place? He might get legit information, but he does ask for grief sometimes. He said he’s been getting death threats, though, which is obviously not on.

I think he said recently he works closely with agents and has an agent friend that gives him info. He’s called some things correctly.

Ha, fair enough. Either way, you’d have been well within your rights to tell me to sod off for being a pedant