HanoiVillan Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 How have managed to attract a player like that? She looks amazing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ender4 Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Great news Hopefully it’s the start of some great talent coming into the team over the next 12-18 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyblade Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 Wow, how did we manage to sign her? She looks awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ender4 Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/dec/31/aston-villa-my-crazy-challenging-first-year-has-ended-on-a-high Interesting article in the Guardian from our new(ish) Women's Sporting Director. Quote My crazy, challenging first year at Aston Villa has ended on a high Last Monday Aston Villa Women announced the signing of Mana Iwabuchi, the 27-year-old Japan international and World Cup winner. This was a statement signing for a club in our first season in the WSL, the culmination of a process I’d been working on since the summer, and the moment the deal was concluded has to go down as a highlight of my short career so far as a sporting director. Villa’s head coach Gemma Davies and I share an admiration and respect for Japanese women’s football and its players past and present. I was fortunate to benefit from the footballing artistry of Japanese legends when playing with Aya Miyama at St Louis Athletica in the USA and Yuki Nagasato during my time at Chelsea, players who, like Mana, displayed the precision and grace that are part of the DNA of Japanese women’s football. We first tried to sign Mana before the Tokyo Olympics were postponed and she chose to stay in Japan. We never gave up, though, and – having worked with Mana’s European agent during my playing career – when the opportunity came up again to have a conversation about bringing her over, I was at the front of the queue. I knew we would be competing with other top clubs, but Gemma and I were able to deliver a Microsoft Teams presentation to Mana about our long-term ambitions, our playing and training environment, and how she would fit into our team. Fortunately that was a great conversation, and then it was about trying to construct a deal. This time I presented to Christian Purslow, our CEO, about the benefits of signing Mana, both on and off the pitch; not only will she improve our side, she will also boost our profile in women’s football, and in Japan. Constructing a unique deal with our CEO is something I’m really proud of. It feels like a great way to end what has been a crazy year transitioning from the pitch to life on the other side of the white lines. This time last year I had just left Juventus, and I announced my retirement in January before being appointed by Villa later that month. The team were unbeaten, looking all but promoted, and starting to plan for potential life in the WSL with lots of player recruitment decisions already made. Then my first week in the job coincided with the beginning of a global pandemic, which brought challenges I could never have foreseen, including game and league cancellations, Covid testing and establishing bubbles. I was confident in my ability to do this job, because I’ve played the game at the highest level, I’ve qualified and worked as a lawyer, I have developed my own personal commercial profile, and I’d studied through Uefa for a master’s in sporting directorship. I felt ready to make the jump, but to transition so quickly from being a full-time professional footballer to working in football administration during a global pandemic has been a challenge. In many ways, even without the pandemic it was a tricky time to arrive – the team were successful and there was a massive high in the group, so I came into an established culture that I wanted to try to shape moving forward. The season was cancelled – submitting a letter to the FA in support of our promotion was nerve-racking to say the least – but thankfully the hard work of the players and staff was deservedly rewarded. My message then was that what it took to get us promoted might not enable us to be successful in the WSL, the most competitive women’s league in the world. Naturally people in successful environments sometimes resist change, and it was inevitable that not everyone would welcome a high-profile former footballer coming in and talking about improvements, but a sporting director has to be objective, to drive standards and have the courage to have new ideas. I have had to get used to a different way of working to the one I was used to. There’s a special atmosphere in a successful football team, created by everyone working together and sharing in their achievements. As a striker it used to be my job to score goals, but even if I did not get on the scoresheet, we celebrated together if the team won. There was no disguising where individual credit lay – it’s perfectly obvious who has scored, or assisted, or made saves, tackles or good runs – but the priority is collective success. In football administration, and probably most corporate jobs, the lines are more blurred and people demonstrate their ambition in different ways. It can be harder to know where responsibility lies, and I have found it tricky and sometimes isolating to get accustomed to that side of my new working life. It took me a little while to accept that the on-pitch bonds with teammates, forged from winning trophies and creating timeless memories, are almost impossible to replicate off the pitch. Having won promotion Villa Women haven’t had the best start, and we sit 11th in a 12-team league, so our work of trying to secure points, developing as a group, building the brand, continues. Though they are a bigger club, the fact that Manchester United, in their second season in the WSL, are top shows us that we don’t have to limit our ambitions. I have to look two or three years ahead, set realistic goals and work with the multi-disciplinary team behind the team to develop the environment we need to achieve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 Iwabuchi on the bench for tonight's game in the league cup against Bristol City, presumably she'll come on at some point to make her first appearance. Game is going to be aired on the FA website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ender4 Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 37 minutes ago, useless said: Iwabuchi on the bench for tonight's game in the league cup against Bristol City, presumably she'll come on at some point to make her first appearance. Game is going to be aired on the FA website. Could you post a link as I can’t find any live games on the FA website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hornso Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 Lost 2-1. Stine Larsen with the goal. Iwabuchi came on after 73 minutes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YouUnastanFren Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Chins up ladies. They're there for the taking second half Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farlz Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 6-0 down at half time to Man City Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenfly Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 The disparity between the sides at the top of the table and those at the bottom is striking. I've said it before, but that's down to us for totally neglecting the women's game for so long. With NSWE about these days, it's probably just a matter of time before they're competitive. Patience will be required, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 (edited) The gulf in quality in women's football seem to be enormous. You see these scorelines way too often than you'd think you should. You see them in the World Cup as well. It's not just at club level. Edited January 17, 2021 by villalad21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 The good news is that Bristol City also lost, so at least we remain four points clear of them and relegation and have two games in hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smg Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Games in hand aren’t much use if you lose regularly though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-R Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 I was on the Bog watching UTD v SPURS when at half time I seen a score flash up MAN CITY 7 VILLA 0, I shouted out right loud WTFing hell. My lad said whatsup dad, I told him weve lost to man F'ing city 7 bloody nil kid thinking the game had been brought forward. Then after a bit of wiping and further sitting on the BOG and digging (not in the toilet by the way) before some of you sarcastic funny gits around here may suggest, I dug up some Shit ( again not the toilet ) but the net that it was the Villa Ladies who had got trashed. I then had a breather, managed to get off the toilet and thought man that's still absolutely Crap even now. So yeah Unlucky Villa Ladies on a bad day to City, but you did make me do something I've never ever done on toilet which was to shout out WTF'ing Hell proper thinking our game had been brought forward, thanks Ladies. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 (edited) Games in hand are useful when you're winning more than the team below you. Our win percentage isn't great, but at the same time it isn't much worse than most teams in the division outside of the top five. Main aim this season is just to make sure we don't finish bottom of the table. Edited January 17, 2021 by useless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 6 hours ago, Dave-R said: I was on the Bog watching UTD v SPURS when at half time I seen a score flash up MAN CITY 7 VILLA 0, I shouted out right loud WTFing hell. My lad said whatsup dad, I told him weve lost to man F'ing city 7 bloody nil kid thinking the game had been brought forward. Then after a bit of wiping and further sitting on the BOG and digging (not in the toilet by the way) before some of you sarcastic funny gits around here may suggest, I dug up some Shit ( again not the toilet ) but the net that it was the Villa Ladies who had got trashed. I then had a breather, managed to get off the toilet and thought man that's still absolutely Crap even now. So yeah Unlucky Villa Ladies on a bad day to City, but you did make me do something I've never ever done on toilet which was to shout out WTF'ing Hell proper thinking our game had been brought forward, thanks Ladies. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc1982am Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 https://underagaslitlamp.com/2021/01/23/iwabuchi-stars-as-aston-villa-women-pick-up-first-home-point/ Iwabuchi goal and assist in only her second appearance. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenfly Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 52 minutes ago, avfc1982am said: https://underagaslitlamp.com/2021/01/23/iwabuchi-stars-as-aston-villa-women-pick-up-first-home-point/ Iwabuchi goal and assist in only her second appearance. A proper statement signing. She's really upped the quality of the team already. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 Good result. 5 points clear of relegation and game in hand, plus much better goal difference. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nepal_villan Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 4 hours ago, avfc1982am said: https://underagaslitlamp.com/2021/01/23/iwabuchi-stars-as-aston-villa-women-pick-up-first-home-point/ Iwabuchi goal and assist in only her second appearance. She looked class. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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