Summarise the Season - 21/22

[useless]

Disappointing season but not really surprised given the circumstances of losing best and most influential player so close to the season, then the poor start and having to change manager, injuries haven't helped either. We still have the feel of a club that's on the rise though, so still optimistic for the future.

U23s and U18s will probably feel they could have done better in terms of league position.

Women's team improved on last season, and since January changed their style of play and showed some very promising signs.

Good to see the U16 girls win the FA Youth Plate and the U14 boys win the Albert Phelan Cup.

[Rodders]

Shit season. Much better needed. 

[Don_Simon]

Went to around 10 home games. Didn't really enjoy them. Even the wins were laced with poor performances.

Suffice to say, I'm really glad the season is over - there is so much work to be done if the the walk is to match the talk. 

[May-Z]

The match summed it up in one go.

Moments of great skill, finishing and dogged defending for clean sheets.

Then weak, frail defending to take the game away from us. 

There's a reason we haven't drawn many games this season.

[AVTuco]

Grealish leaving in the summer defined our season. Our goal changed (in my opinion) from improving on last season and building on its' success, to preserving what we'd achieved and not giving up too much ground while we build the team again.

In the end, we did what was expected, and are able to keep our project going.   

[Spoony]

I’m going to go with **** shit

[AshVilla]

Much better required next season i don't want to hear any excuses.

[zab6359]

Where do people think we would have finished if we had bought in Eddie Howe instead of gerrard?

[El Segundo]

5 defeats in a row was bad under Smith but perhaps a bit unfair he was dispensed with so swiftly.  I think Purslow took the first opportunity he could to get his mate in, probably his plan all along.

The initial improvement meant that after round 30 of games we were effectively 10^th.  By round 33 we were 15^th and finished a mighty 14^th, a whole two places ahead of where we last were under Smith.  That, to me, means Gerrard has failed to improve us.   I reckon Smith was quite capable of getting us to 14^th if given the chance.

I don’t think it reflects well on Gerrard or Purslow that we:

·        finished below Newcastle who were 15 points behind us after 20 games. After another 12 games they were level with us and after one further game were ahead of us.    

·        finished below Palace who had to replace half their squad last close season, hired a manager with not much of a track record and whose squad probably cost less than half of ours.

·        finished below newly-promoted Brentford whose team was built on a shoestring

·        finished 6 points ahead of Everton and 7 ahead of Leeds who have both been shite all season.

·        Failed to win any game against top 7 opposition under Gerrard.

All this after inheriting a squad that was regarded by many as top 10 level quality (if you disagree, ask yourself, are they any worse than the squads of Brentford, Palace, Newcastle, or Brighton?).  Then adding someone who’s regarded as a world class playmaker, a French international left back and a utility defender with loads of PL and CL experience.   No doubt some of those players would not have signed for Smith,  which is one plus of having Gerrard.  But is there any point in having them if you can’t use them effectively? Compare to what Howe has achieved with a few additional signings to a squad that many would say was largely bottom 5/ championship level.  

No doubt we’ll attract some more top players because of Gerrards’ reputation but they will still need coaching and tactics for the team and results to be up to scratch.   I also hope the supposed pursuit of the likes of Suarez doesn’t mean our policy will be one of Galactic-OAPs

Hard to think of many positives really except for some of the players we might attract.  I’m not going to look at Stevie G through rose coloured specs because he was a huge name as a player and a media darling.  The style of play frustrates me, with no width and ultra-slow tempo and transitions. I kept an open mind when he was appointed and think he’s been average to mediocre as a manager so far. He needs to improve massively next season. 

[sne]

My favorite part was when it ended.

Now everyone look here. (No, he's not going to slap you)

[Talldarkandransome]

38 games, we didn't win or draw enough of them

[Ingram85]

Plop. 

[picicata]

12 minutes ago, zab6359 said:

Where do people think we would have finished if we had bought in Eddie Howe instead of gerrard?

Slightly higher than we have as I think Howe would have played to our players strengths rather than imposing a new style on them after a few games of coming in. Obviously the hope is that Gerrard has learnt all he needs to about who he can and can't use within his tactical set up and that this season's tribulations will make it easier for him to improve next season.

[It's Your Round]

In a word, unmemorable. 

[VillaParkAvenue]

1 hour ago, danceoftheshamen said:

Feeble season. Considering the players here compared to clubs that have finished above us (Which is the majority of them) that was not acceptable in my eyes.

You just knew that as soon as the Plastic Mancs scored today we would implode. To be 2-0 up in a game like that only to implode with 15 minutes left is shocking. Especially when you know what to expect from the opposition. It was Wolves all over again.

Wolves did the exact same today against Liverpool. And West Ham went from being 1-0 up at half time to losing 3-1 (thereby losing 6th and Europa League).

Villa may have a habit of throwing games away but aren’t alone.

[VillaChris]

Given what we've signed since January we simply have to do much better next year so pressure is on Gerrard big time.

Coutinho- started great, been up and down since but shown he's got quality to influence games v better teams.

Digne- Really shown his quality last few weeks and lovely assist today.

Chambers- Been pretty solid so at worst very good backup CB option next year for when injuries hit.

Kamara- For those who watch French league a massively rated 22 year old DM.

So we've signed all those + probably 2-3 others to finish 12th next season.....no it has to be top half so we'll soon see from first 10 games if Gerrard is up to it or not.

[VillaChris]

1 minute ago, VillaParkAvenue said:

Wolves did the exact same today against Liverpool. And West Ham went from being 1-0 up at half time to losing 3-1 (thereby losing 6th and Europa League).

Villa may have a habit of throwing games away but aren’t alone.

Anyone can lose a 1-0 lead. We'll no doubt do it countless times next season. Even 2-0 up plenty of teams only draw.

It's not really good enough though to lose two games from 2-0 up once the 75th minute mark has been hit in the space of six months though. One could be just put down to freak nature but two in a season dosen't reflect well on the squad at all in terms of mentality/game management etc.

[Spoony]

42 minutes ago, Don_Simon said:

Went to around 10 home games. Didn't really enjoy them. Even the wins were laced with poor performances.

Suffice to say, I'm really glad the season is over - there is so much work to be done if the the walk is to match the talk. 

It’s the same every **** season. Bit of pre season hope, realise we are shit quite early on, wait for season to end then ‘rebuild’. I’ve support Villa for 20 years and it has never, ever, ever been any different to that other than under O’Neill, and we **** that up as well. It’s exhausting. 

[VillaParkAvenue]

7 minutes ago, VillaChris said:

Anyone can lose a 1-0 lead. We'll no doubt do it countless times next season. Even 2-0 up plenty of teams only draw.

It's not really good enough though to lose two games from 2-0 up once the 75th minute mark has been hit in the space of six months though. One could be just put down to freak nature but two in a season dosen't reflect well on the squad at all in terms of mentality/game management etc.

I agree it’s a tendency and must be dealt with. A lot is mental, teams that have made late comebacks before are more likely to do it again and vice versa. It’s not always related to overall quality — Leeds often make late comebacks, and they’re generally shite.

[abdulaziz1]

I think it was always going to be a transition season with Grealish gone. We were solid and lost a lot of games by mistakes. We didn’t lose big apart from West Ham/Spurs (Spurs we didn’t deserve). A lot to build on. 
We’re going into the right direction. Atleast with Gerrard I’m more convinced than second half of last season with Grealish. Signings seems great. His signings at Rangers looking good. 
 

He has some issues but generally it’s looking bright. Add to that the fact that we don’t have to our core or star player, actually we’re trying to sell some just to upgrade. So all in all it was an ok season with all circumstances, could’ve been much better though.