Ginko

2 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

I think it's worth keeping in mind in terms of our release date just how many "Year 1's" we've got - it's a first year with adidas, a first year with Betano, a first year with a new badge and (maybe) a first year with a new sleeve sponsor (I haven't seen anything announced anywhere about a sleeve sponsor, don't know if we're just keeping last years). All of those things are going to slow the process and I wouldn't' be surprised if we're one of the last people to release kits.

The photo of the advertising boards doing the rounds on social media included Trade Nation, so whereas that’s by no means definitive, I’d take an educated guess that they’ll still be our sleeve sponsor next year.

You’re right about the other things, though. Hopefully the Adidas partnership will be long and fruitful and our kits will be ready earlier next year. I also hope we finally manage to attract a sponsor that’s not a bloody gambling company.

20 minutes ago, Delphouneso said:

Was about to post the same thing.

Had this beauty when I was a kid - socks and everything - and always reminds me of Oakes rather than Bosnich.

 

Which is weird, given the Aussie colour scheme.

40 minutes ago, GarethRDR said:

The turquoise/black goalie kit from that year is possibly my favourite goalie kit we've ever had, above even the Asics stained glass efforts of the previous campaign.

This one? 

I had it, I think. Is this one of them that had padding?

1 hour ago, Talldarkandransome said:

Yeah, it's like a posh shop smell.. not like sports direct that smells like toilet.

I think it encourages you spend a little more than you were planning.

I haven’t been in years, but when I was a kid we made the annual pilgrimage to the Villa Village to pick up the new shirt, and I can still recall the smell. I wonder if it’s the same one. God that brings back some happy memories.

I might have told this story before, but on one of those visits, Savo was just hanging out in the shop with two gorgeous women, one on each arm, the absolute stud. I bought a bandana and got his autograph. I should have asked him to sign the bandana, now that I think about it. Might have been worth something today. Ah, the folly of youth.

1 hour ago, NorthEastVillan said:

With Adidas choosing to honor the "history" of Arsenal by just having the simplistic cannon on their new home kit, what odds they may do similar with Villa to pay homage to our 150th anniversary with a lion?

God that looks dogs**t. Cannon looks like clip art.

2 minutes ago, KMitch said:

lol...  Why on earth would he leave?  We've already built the entire club around him in the past year and a half.  Would Man United do the same for him?  Not a chance...  In fact, they've done anything but support their managers since Fergie retired...  It shows just how out of touch the media is.

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.

25 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

Actually you Don't need to be gIven a clue. you shoulD reAd between the lineS

 

#stevoitk

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

#stevoitk

1 minute ago, pichichi said:

The club crest is a key part of the club's identity so I'd say it's pretty important and is why the fans care so much.

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

14 minutes ago, MrBlack said:

But... Superstition ain't the way.

3 minutes ago, Marka Ragnos said:

I don't know. I can't see…

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.

38 minutes ago, useless said:

I can't believe people are actually saying they'd rather qualify for the Champions League than win an actual trophy, we aren't going to turn into the next Wigan if we don't qualify for the Champions League, they've just returned to their natural position, as have Portsmouth, both had financial difficulties, but so have Everton who have qualified for Champions League Also qualifying for Champions League wouldn't mean we would suddenly magically have a much better chance of winning other trophies, as other clubs like Spurs and Everton have found, and we wouldn't suddenly start signing players of a better class than we already have either, that kind of logic would only begin to make some sort of sense if the quesiton was would you rather win a trophy or be guaranteed a top four finish for the next five plus seasons; Newcastle qualified for the Champions League this season, they don't look any more likely to win a domestic trophy than they did, and haven't suddenly started buying players of a better class than they were already able to Ask Spurs fans and I bet most of them would swap all their Champions League Qualifications for just one FA Cup win And if we were to actually win the FA Cup, not one person would swap that for Cl qualification  Champions League qualification isn't a prize in of itself, it's just been marketed that way Winning a trophy would mean our best season in over twenty years, that wouldn't be worth throwing away for a top four place which would guarantee us nothing whatsoever, other than the chance to take part in another competition

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.

7 minutes ago, ejs1111 said:

But the UCL qualification will certainly be what UE and the owners are reaching for.  It will raise the commercial stature of AVFC globally, increase our revenue to new levels, allow Monchi and co. to recruit a higher caliber of player as well.  This will improve the overall squad significantly- which will make League Cup and FA Cup trophies more achievable in future seasons with a rotated squad.

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.

6 hours ago, skarroki said:

We are but mortals. I'm not sure I want to be exposed to the raw magnificence of Unai's mind. It could be dangerous.

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.

44 minutes ago, Teale's 'tache said:

Using AV in a graphic would have no bearing at all on SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), Google can't accurately read the letters that are part of a graphic, and so can't use it in their search algorithms, only if we constantly refer to ourselves as just 'AV' would there be any overlap. 

Personally, I think the whole Audio/Visual thing is a bit overblown, and if anything it could be used to our advantage by a skilled marketeer.

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.

10 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

it's not about heritage necessarily, it's about those initials already meaning something else to most of the world - there's a reason we're not playing B&H on Saturday.

 

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? 

31 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I did think of the " Villan " concept as mentioned by another poster, but not sure how it would go down with fans.

It would certainly be different to all the other badges though for sure.

Had a look at the company which did the 76ers work, and they've done work for some massive companies, Cadillac etc.

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.

9 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

One interesting one on the use of AV in any lettering or form is that the design and marketing companies hate it - in foreign markets it's Audio Visual or Audio Visual Football Club, it confuses people who don't know us and they very much wanted to get away from it. With this management team very much driven by the marketing numbers and the desire to maximise incomes for the brand, I'd be astonished if we see the initials back again any time soon.

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.

3 minutes ago, Mantis said:

Wonder what number he'll wear?

 

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.

Just now, villa89 said:

Their deadline is much later isn't it? So there's no rush. 

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.

1 hour ago, theboyangel said:

Does that mean he’s ineligible for the whole cup? 

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

1 minute ago, Keener window-cleaner said:

Kept a clean sheet! I couldn't watch the game, how did he play?

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.

1 hour ago, alreadyexists said:

His nickname is Huevo (Egg) … that’s all I need to know, sign him up!! 

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