Dodgyknees Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 (edited) I've just read Mark's post on the way to work and it is exactly how I feel right now and how I have always felt. I've always believed we are a big club, I have heard stories, spoken to many people (including Villa legends) and we really are an incredible club. Nothing can change that in my head, nor in my heart. For the record, Mark's post is HERE. So it got me thinking about how we see the club. I'm interested in hearing what your thoughts are on Villa and thought I would ask four simple questions. For the record... this is not a chairman, manager or poster-bashing topic, it's just because I thought it would be interesting to see how views change/have changed. Be honest! 1) What were your expectations when Doug was in charge? 2) What were your expectations when Randy took over? 3) What are your expectations now (today as things stand). 4) What are your expectations for the future. My reply... 1) To battle for top six, to look at winning a cup. 2) To push on and look to get 4th, to win cups and keep progressing. 3) To be competing nearer the top of the table (6-10), to challenge for a cup, to be dominant at home, to show no fear who-ever the opponent. 4) To compete in the top six, look at winning a cup. In the long term to once again be at "the top" Over to you.. Edited October 30, 2013 by dodgyknees 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 1) Until about 2000, winning the league was always a distant hope. We had very competitive sides at times under Little and Gregory. Although Doug held us back beforehand the true rot didn't set in until about 2001. 2) Investment the likes of which we have never experienced in order to have a real go at the Champions League places. 3) To end the few year run of battling relegation and establish ourselves as a mid table team, then with that security aim to push on. 4) Without being pimped up by some Arab sugar daddy, continue to invest in youth with a sprinkling of proven quality. A slightly looser reign on the wage bill to allow the latter and get up hovering around the top 6 with a view to Europa League qualification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderPower_14 Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 (edited) 1) Midtable wilderness for eternity 2) We'd nab a champions league spot at some stage (until Man City were taken over) 3) Midtable wilderness for eternity. Barring a fair bit of investment something like a 6th place seems like a pipe dream tbh. 4) At one point in my lifetime i'd like us to be challenging for the title. Even just one season. I should be around for another 50 or 60 years. Whether that happens because we become awesome or because world football explodes financially I don't really care. Edited October 30, 2013 by ThunderPower_14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villan_007 Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 1) Midtable wilderness for eternity 2) We'd nab a champions league spot at some stage (until Man City were taken over) 3) Midtable wilderness for eternity. Barring a fair bit of investment something like a 6th place seems like a pipe dream tbh. 4) At one point in my lifetime i'd like us to be challenging for the title. Even just one season. I should be around for another 50 or 60 years. Whether that happens because we become awesome or because world football explodes financially I don't really care. Got to experience that the first season of the prem. Loved every minute, Big Ron coming on with the Mic last game of the season. I thought we'd go from strength to strength. 1) At first I thought we could compete, then it became apparent we were the kings of almost... 2) That we'd made it! we were the next Chelsea 3) I like to think we are at the beginnig of a smart new model, but to be honest I haven't a clue what we are. 4) Back to top6 and pushing on. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG_Villa_Fan Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 1) What were your expectations when Doug was in charge? To battle for top six, to look at winning a cup. 2) What were your expectations when Randy took over? To push on and look to get 4th, to win cups and keep progressing. 3) What are your expectations now (today as things stand)? To avoid relegation. 4) What are your expectations for the future? Tough one as 'future' is too vague. In the nearest future, say 5 years, I expect Villa to be a comfortable mid-table club, as things stand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romavillan Posted October 30, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted October 30, 2013 1. Last century (after GT got us out of the second tier) to have a crack at winning things, we were so close a couple of times. This century though, under Doug I expected us to survive in the top flight and make up the numbers. 2. Solid investment on and off the pitch to get us into perennial european competition, then possibly top 4. 3. see 2, just we need another year or so to shake off the hangover from the last time 4. see 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 1) 8th or higher and an odd cup run back then. But there was always the hope that a club like us could come out of the pack and win something as we did with the League Cup and almost did in the league in 89/90 & 92/3 and with the FA Cup in 2000. But under the former chairman we never pushed on as was best shown on his return post Rotterdam 82 glory.2) That we would really give getting into the top 4 a go, win the odd cup and be in Europe more often than not and we would not give up on these things happening any time soon.3) Mid-table at best or a relegation fight and no cup wins.4) More of the same. I think we are stuck on a cycle of building up players, selling them on at a profit and going again. What has happened to that bright future? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 (edited) I love Villa against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be. Edited October 30, 2013 by CarewsEyebrowDesigner 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 1) It’s a tough one isn't it. We flirted with winning the title a couple of times both in 89/90 and 92/93 and had an excellent season in 95/96. On two or three occasions we got close to achieving something really special so I'd say my expectations for the most part under Ellis were for us to at the very least be in the top 6. 2) Given that my expectations under Ellis were for us to be a top 6 club I'd say under Lerner I expected us to be a top 4 club. I fell for his bull along with the rest of us I guess. I can remember standing in Villa Park last game of the season against Sheff Utd in 2007. It was a full house and the European Cup winners had just been presented to the crowd. When the team came out that day the atmosphere was electric and stayed that way throughout. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I don't mind admitting I was on the verge of tears. You'd of thought we had just won the league when in fact we were about to finish 11th. It wasn't about that though it was about the promise of what we all thought was to come. 3) My expectations now are mixed. I said after the game on Saturday that I went to Villa Park not expecting to win and that in my 26 years as a season ticket holder I had experienced that feeling many times against the likes of Liverpool and Man Utd. Saturday we played Everton though a club that will finish around 7th - 9th. Lerner has slowly sucked the life out of my expectations for this club under him. That is under him though. Overall my hopes and expectations remain as high as they have always been for this great club. 4) The future can be a fantastic one for this club. It needs the right owner though and they don't need to be Man City rich. What it needs is an owner to employ the right manager, give him good initial backing and then the whole thing can take off. We had a glimmer of hope back in 2007 and off the back of just a glimmer we averaged crowds of over 40k in 2007/08. We finished 6th. You give us a sniff of some real sustained success and this club can really go places. In fact back to where it has been many times at the top of the pile. This club is special you see. We have been, along with just a handful of other clubs, what most clubs can only dream of being and so long as we as supporters continue to set our standards and expectations high then we can once again achieve greatness. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG_Villa_Fan Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 Seems like a lot of people's expectations are lower, or equal at best, compared to what they were under Doug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 (edited) 1) What were your expectations when Doug was in charge? Ever-declining. After the initial disaster of the post-1982 years, and our return to the top flight under GT, I really thought we could challenge for the top spot consistently. We had our hopes raised a few times but managers fell by the wayside too quickly; nevertheless, more times than not we ended up in the top 8. The investment in players was patchy and after 2000 we were starved of resources and faltered badly. By 2006 I was ready for the first time in my life to stop going to matches until Ellis left 2) What were your expectations when Randy took over? Ridiculously high as it turned out. I'm embarrassed to say I bought into all the rhetoric about challenging for top 4 and really enjoyed the three seasons when we were there or thereabouts. My assumptions that the investment would continue, MON would maybe have one more shot at it before we stood him down and poached Moyes from Everton, and we would finally get to the top 4, were disastrously shot down in summer 2010. I have watched with dumb misery since then as he appointed two useless managers who dragged us down into relegation struggles, and sold off all our best players with no clear strategy to replace them. 3) What are your expectations now (today as things stand). (Possibly by accident) we now have a manager who at least has the nous to be able to operate within the new, less ambitious approach from the owner, so let's hope relegation is no longer such a real threat. Despite faltering more than we might have expected on tactics and team selection, Lambert should be capable of establishing us as a mid-table side and I suppose we can hope for a bit of a cup run once the team is more settled. 4) What are your expectations for the future. The problem is that Lambert will not want to stay with us for too long if the money to buy and keep decent players isn't turned back on at some point soon . I expect Benteke to go next summer (January if we are really unlucky) and that will be a big moment - the current squad is significantly poorer without him. Will the money be there to replace him and will we be able to find a player of similar stature? If Lambert moves on will we find a replacement of similar ability? I expect Lerner will seek to sell the club within the next 5 years. Will we find a buyer prepared to inject real resources to enable us to challenge for top 6 again? Edited October 30, 2013 by briny_ear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isa Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 1) Challenging for European spots. 2) Challenging for fourth place. 3) Having a season without being involved in a relegation battle for most of it. 4) Really can't say as I am unsure of the owner's ambition for the long-term project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 Great expectations... It's not all we hoped for is it? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqAPvh5AsKE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa-revolution Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 Great thread dodgyknees & I love your passion & enthusiasm. To try & attempt to answer the questions you pose: 1. To have our corner shop shut down & the tea bags & toilet rolls recycled on the washing line. 2 To win the Champions League 3 Mid table security for the next couple of years as we build season on season & recover financially. 4 Aston Villa to compete for trophies both domestically & in Europe & to fight for the title of The English, European & World Club Champions. Bottom line - The dream never dies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Lerwill Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 [His expectations] 1) To battle for top six, to look at winning a cup. [under Doug] 2) To push on and look to get 4th, to win cups and keep progressing. [on Randy's take-over] 3) To be competing nearer the top of the table (6-10), to challenge for a cup, to be dominant at home, to show no fear who-ever the opponent. [now] 4) To compete in the top six, look at winning a cup. In the long term to once again be at "the top" [future] An excellent post and I totally agree with your expectations as they were, now and the future. But ... we have been through very difficult times in the past 3 years with less than 25% wins at home (and 50% defeats) and an average of about 1 Villa goal scored per match. On top of that the biggest defeat in Villa's history occurred last season. Though I accept this is a transition period, I am not happy with the progress at home, in particular. In some ways we seem to have gone back to the situation as things were in the mid 1960s, and that led to a terrible decline in the club's fortunes. I didn''t think we'd want to re-visit those times. To stand a chance of reaching expectation (4), my feeling is that there needs to be something a little more ambitious about our signings. The manager can get the club to its rightful place, but the strategy will need to be updated i.m.o., assuming that expectation (3) is reached. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVTuco Posted October 30, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted October 30, 2013 Where's Jenny Noel? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KennyPowers Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 Right now I'd love to believe we could be relatively successful with a British manager and a core group of British players but I'm not sure it's possible any more and only will be if the Premier League collapses financially in some way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 1) What were your expectations when Doug was in charge? 2) What were your expectations when Randy took over? 3) What are your expectations now (today as things stand). 4) What are your expectations for the future. 1] It's too long a time frame to cover with a short answer, but in the 90s I always kinda hoped we might win the league. We finished 2nd in 1991 and again in 1993 and the teams were more evenly matched back then because money wasn't such an issue and there were rules in place to stop the richest clubs from having 20+ full internationals on their books. As time went by I just wanted us to win more often than we lost and perhaps win the FA cup. 2] I thought he would deliver Champions League football and a trophy or two. 3] I'd just like to see us stay up. Play nice football and stay up. 4] More of what we are currently getting I'm afraid. Poor football being served up by below par players. Relegation battles and maybe even getting relegated at some point in the not too distant future. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 as we wlll probably never win league again unless a sugar dady arrives, I suppose I just want good attacking football and entertainment which I think Lambert can bring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 1)Bit before my time but I guess before around 2000ish, top 6 and a good cup run. After that it went downhill and we were all delighted he sold up. 2)Top four/finally winning the FA Cup/World domination. The first few years under Lerner the sky seemed the limit. How foolish we were all were. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss...... 3)Mid table/staying up 4)If football in england does not have a major change (wage caps/more equal money distribution) and no new owner, I would say upper mid table with the occasional league cup run. The north stand redevelopment to be a running joke and the creeping realisation that we are going slowly backwards. And that is the best case scenario. Living the dream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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