Unai Emery

[Vive_La_Villa]

2 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

SeVILLA 

VILLAreal 

Aston VILLA 

He's clearly collecting clubs with VILLA in the name. A Villa man, through and through. 

If he leaves us, it would only be for Pelsall Villa. 

There could be something in this similar to how Arsene transformed Arsenal. 
 

It’s meant to be! 

[blandy]

1 hour ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

There could be something in this similar to how Arsene transformed Arsenal. 
 

It’s meant to be! 

And it's why Scunthorpe have never had much success.

Er, anyway, it's by giving Unai pretty much complete control over the football side of the club that the transformation has been so swift, without him having that control, I doubt he'd have come here, and even if he would have come, if he then didn't get the control he feels he needs he'd soon be off again, so it basically had to be like it is. And it's all the better for it.

[DaveAV1]

In my humble opinion many successful managers have an affinity with their club. Shankley had it at Liverpool as did many of his successors, Fergie at Man U, who haven’t found anyone similar since, although you could argue that OGS had a good connection to the club Arteta probably has it at Arsenal. Closer to home both Rons, Saunders and to a lesser extent Atkinson had it. Dean obviously had it but MON didn’t ever get our club, he was obsessed with his former Forest manager, who he believed he was the reincarnation of and his only affinity was with his own giant ego. Recently Stevie G understandably had his loyalty elsewhere as, unfortunately for us, did our CEO, who had zero connection or understanding of our club or the fan base in general. A Cockney Scouser if ever there was one! With all the worse attributes of both!  Fortunately Unai is developing an understanding and affinity for the club and its fans, which can arguably be extended to both Nas and Wes. So we are building a formidable back room team that can take us where we want to be from top to bottom. I’m confident that Unai recognises this and can see his and the club’s future as both successful and inextricably linked for a long time. Hopefully this is the start of a long dynasty for the Mighty Villa and not one that implodes like it did Thanks to we all know who in the 80s. It’s Villa time!!!!

[Vive_La_Villa]

2 minutes ago, blandy said:

And it's why Scunthorpe have never had much success.

Er, anyway, it's by giving Unai pretty much complete control over the football side of the club that the transformation has been so swift, without him having that control, I doubt he'd have come here, and even if he would have come, if he then didn't get the control he feels he needs he'd soon be off again, so it basically had to be like it is. And it's all the better for it.

I bet they’re not short of candidates though! 
 

100% agree with the rest of the post. It’s been the perfect fit so far 

[Pinebro]

2 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

There could be something in this similar to how Arsene transformed Arsenal. 
 

It’s meant to be! 

What about Villas Boas 

[Captain_Townsend]

Worth stating that Brian Little also had an affinity with Villa and was our last truly successful managet

 

As for Unai, I have always felt he could well be our Wenger. We never really adjusted to the 2000s whereas Unai seems to have totally modernised us, on and off the pitch.

Edited October 31, 2023 by Captain_Townsend

[Steero113]

7 hours ago, MrBlack said:

That spend figure is quite phenomenal.

Compared to the 400m spent by Newcastle, 1bn spent by Chelsea and however much by other scum 6 clubs.

Truly truly outstanding, in every sense of the word.

Believe it or not, there were quite a few people actually bemoaning our business in the Summer Transfer Window thread. 

[MrBlack]

4 minutes ago, Steero113 said:

Believe it or not, there were quite a few people actually bemoaning our business in the Summer Transfer Window thread. 

Indeed.  The business we did was great and always looked it to me.  But I would have welcomed one or two more. I suppose it's easy to look back at those that bemoaned it, look at our form, and smirk...

But we did look like we might be short staffed after the Buendia and Mings injury. We may yet still come unstuck due to further injury or lack of quality rotation options in a few key positions (striker, right back, DM) towards the end of December.

With how little (relatively) we've spent,  I felt we could have afforded one or two more, and maybe even needed one of two more to sustain us for the season. The quality of our first 11 was never really a concern of mine. 

Fair to say, that Emery exceeds my expectations consistently though. And knowing he does that on a sensible budget just makes it better. If he doesn't think we need anyone in Jan, fine with me!

[Jono62]

12 minutes ago, Steero113 said:

Believe it or not, there were quite a few people actually bemoaning our business in the Summer Transfer Window thread. 

On Villatalk? That's a new one.

[Steero113]

2 minutes ago, MrBlack said:

Indeed.  The business we did was great and always looked it to me.  But I would have welcomed one or two more. I suppose it's easy to look back at those that bemoaned it, look at our form, and smirk...

But we did look like we might be short staffed after the Buendia and Mings injury. We may yet still come unstuck due to further injury or lack of quality rotation options in a few key positions (striker, right back, DM) towards the end of December.

With how little (relatively) we've spent,  I felt we could have afforded one or two more, and maybe even needed one of two more to sustain us for the season. The quality of our first 11 was never really a concern of mine. 

Fair to say, that Emery exceeds my expectations consistently though. And knowing he does that on a sensible budget just makes it better. If he doesn't think we need anyone in Jan, fine with me!

The budget restraint (relatively speaking compared to sides lower than us in the table) in the summer will come in handy if we are around the CL spots in January that's for sure. 

[TRO]

4 hours ago, blandy said:

And it's why Scunthorpe have never had much success.

Er, anyway, it's by giving Unai pretty much complete control over the football side of the club that the transformation has been so swift, without him having that control, I doubt he'd have come here, and even if he would have come, if he then didn't get the control he feels he needs he'd soon be off again, so it basically had to be like it is. And it's all the better for it.

Its a really good point Pete....and it takes some conkers ( after SG) for the owners to give him that Autonomy.

He has now ratified their judgment, by his results....and further more by improving just about every player in the squad, this raising their value in the market, not to mention the superb footballing results.

It must be great comfort to all at the club, to see this exponential rise in fortunes so quickly, it shows that so many good decisions being made, sends us on this journey.

I would imagine, many fans are pinching themselves....but my comfort goes with the new fans, who have not witnessed the times in Rotterdam, like I did.....I think, their time is coming...I never thought I would see it again in my lifetime, but I could.

I am working hard on myself, not to get too carried away, and keeping my powder dry for when we have a loss( meaning that's the real time to support him).....This is when our manager, needs our support most, its easy now when we are winning....he needs our support most when we have a wobble, like last season.

In all my lifetime supporting this club, this football is up there with the best....fingers crossed, we are on to something special.

Edited October 31, 2023 by TRO

[TRO]

4 hours ago, DaveAV1 said:

In my humble opinion many successful managers have an affinity with their club. Shankley had it at Liverpool as did many of his successors, Fergie at Man U, who haven’t found anyone similar since, although you could argue that OGS had a good connection to the club Arteta probably has it at Arsenal. Closer to home both Rons, Saunders and to a lesser extent Atkinson had it. Dean obviously had it but MON didn’t ever get our club, he was obsessed with his former Forest manager, who he believed he was the reincarnation of and his only affinity was with his own giant ego. Recently Stevie G understandably had his loyalty elsewhere as, unfortunately for us, did our CEO, who had zero connection or understanding of our club or the fan base in general. A Cockney Scouser if ever there was one! With all the worse attributes of both!  Fortunately Unai is developing an understanding and affinity for the club and its fans, which can arguably be extended to both Nas and Wes. So we are building a formidable back room team that can take us where we want to be from top to bottom. I’m confident that Unai recognises this and can see his and the club’s future as both successful and inextricably linked for a long time. Hopefully this is the start of a long dynasty for the Mighty Villa and not one that implodes like it did Thanks to we all know who in the 80s. It’s Villa time!!!!

Bravo Dave.

[FLVillan]

On 30/10/2023 at 09:46, Greenfly said:

A good point, but it'll be harder to ignore Unai's greatness when there's a solid gold statue of him outside the stadium, and all four stands are named after him.

Rebuild the Witton Lane stand NOW if we can rename it..... 

[Follyfoot]

6 hours ago, blandy said:

And it's why Scunthorpe have never had much success.

Er, anyway, it's by giving Unai pretty much complete control over the football side of the club that the transformation has been so swift, without him having that control, I doubt he'd have come here, and even if he would have come, if he then didn't get the control he feels he needs he'd soon be off again, so it basically had to be like it is. And it's all the better for it.

Three England captains mind 

[blandy]

2 hours ago, TRO said:

Its a really good point Pete....and it takes some conkers ( after SG) for the owners to give him that Autonomy.

He has now ratified their judgment, by his results....and further more by improving just about every player in the squad, this raising their value in the market, not to mention the superb footballing results.

It must be great comfort to all at the club, to see this exponential rise in fortunes so quickly, it shows that so many good decisions being made, sends us on this journey.

I would imagine, many fans are pinching themselves....but my comfort goes with the new fans, who have not witnessed the times in Rotterdam, like I did.....I think, their time is coming...I never thought I would see it again in my lifetime, but I could.

I am working hard on myself, not to get too carried away, and keeping my powder dry for when we have a loss( meaning that's the real time to support him).....This is when our manager, needs our support most, its easy now when we are winning....he needs our support most when we have a wobble, like last season.

In all my lifetime supporting this club, this football is up there with the best....fingers crossed, we are on to something special.

Thanks.

I agree with all of that, apart perhaps from one quibble. About the 'conkers' in giving him the autonomy. We're all psychologically different, but I think it's not just about Unai having control. I think from an owner's perspective, if you want as much control as possible over your financial and emotional investment, then the delegation needs to be to someone who both knows better than you about the area they have responsibility for, and has demonstrated that they do. Unai demonstrably fits that bill. The 'conkers' is more in giving someone with little or no experience that control - you're going on the blind faith of an underling. Handing the wheel to a learner driver.

In Nas, particularly, and Wes going directly to Unai and persuading and talking and explaining what they wanted and needed, meant they not only got themselves a man who is clearly up to the job of taking the club forward in the way they want, but also took a big chunk of risk out of the equation. Smart, not brave, in other words.

[Keyblade]

11 hours ago, villa4europe said:

Said before and this is hard to explain without sounding like I'm criticising the guy, I don't think that mega club is his thing, it's wrong to say it's not his level more it's not his skill set, this thing where people say anyone can do peps job is not true, managing those elite players or more keeping those elite players happy is a skill, conversely Bielsa obvious got something about him as a manger will never get an elite job because those players won't buy in to him

I look at what happened at Arsenal and to a lesser extent at psg and then look at us, villarreal and Sevilla and just think we are what he is, we are what he's brilliant at, man utd Chelsea even to an extent real Madrid or man City of they came in a couple of years they aren't his skill set and hed no doubt be successful but wouldn't see the same turn around

Whether or not he thinks that is something different... Obviously hope not

I see this sentiment a lot, but I'm not having that he didn't do well at Arsenal. He finished 5th and got to a European final in his first season there, and also started his reign with something like a 24 game unbeaten run. He was sacked because he started the following season with 7 games without a win. Madness. It took Arteta 3 seasons and about half a billion spent to get back to his 5th place.

Emery just wasn't given any time. His backline had Mustafi, Kolasinac and Sokratis in it. He did well to even eke out a 5th place finish quite frankly. He was in hindsight a really good pick for Wenger's successor, but they were too chickenshit to see it through. It's made even more baffling that they stuck with a complete rookie in his successor through back to back 8th place finishes and the fans going insane.

Edit: Also, if I'm not wrong he's PSG's most successful manager of the Qatari era. I don't think the problem is Emery, but the perception of him. So in a roundabout way I agree with your post, because the bigger players don't seem to respect him for whatever reason.

Edited October 31, 2023 by Keyblade

[TRO]

42 minutes ago, blandy said:

Thanks.

I agree with all of that, apart perhaps from one quibble. About the 'conkers' in giving him the autonomy. We're all psychologically different, but I think it's not just about Unai having control. I think from an owner's perspective, if you want as much control as possible over your financial and emotional investment, then the delegation needs to be to someone who both knows better than you about the area they have responsibility for, and has demonstrated that they do. Unai demonstrably fits that bill. The 'conkers' is more in giving someone with little or no experience that control - you're going on the blind faith of an underling. Handing the wheel to a learner driver.

In Nas, particularly, and Wes going directly to Unai and persuading and talking and explaining what they wanted and needed, meant they not only got themselves a man who is clearly up to the job of taking the club forward in the way they want, but also took a big chunk of risk out of the equation. Smart, not brave, in other words.

I still think it was brave Pete after the SG debacle....yes your view is right too, and they obviously did their due dilligence, and that bit was Smart, but how many times have other clubs made supposedly smart moves like Mourinho and LVG at Man U and Pochettino at Chelsea is still to be played out, as with Ten Hag.

We will beg to differ, in as much as while I agree with your point, I still think mine has merit too.

I am praising the owners, and was not saying that it was just all down to just courage,alone, but merely saying, I think that was a factor too.

After, SG i would have have nightmares giving someone the latitude NWSE has given Unai......just goes to show, I would be no good in that job, even if I had the wherewithal of our owners.

[Brumstopdogs]

 

[Hank Scorpio]

Spurs getting our head of recruitment Rob mackenzie

[MaVilla]

23 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Spurs getting our head of recruitment Rob mackenzie

Interesting.

i wonder with the new structure under Emery, with Moncho etc etc, whether Mackenzie has taken a bit of a back seat to them?

Would be interesting to know the ins and outs.