KMitch Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 3 minutes ago, mrchnry said: Love the positivity of this thread but after 2 losses things will go into meltdown. I love football. That's the VillaTalk I know! Rain on everyone's parades!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazrim Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 5 minutes ago, mrchnry said: Love the positivity of this thread but after 2 losses things will go into meltdown. I love football. No, after 2 losses it will be February. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 39 minutes ago, mrchnry said: Love the positivity of this thread but after 2 losses things will go into meltdown. I love football. I think we would all accept that two losses next season would be quite acceptable. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLillis Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 3 hours ago, Mazrim said: I guess my point is that we've had more good times than a lot of people realise, particularly in this artificially induced "SKY big 6" era Very true. I've had to suffer many a hidden smirk or out and out laughter when I've stated we only expect big things because we are used to it. This last decade has done a lot of damage to our reputation as a club. People simply do not remember what we are capable of as a club..... even our own fans. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 I always think 1997 summer was peak hype. We'd become a very established team again in top flight and had finished 4th and 5th and really weren't far away from title challenges. Also won two league cups in those previous three seasons. We then signed Collymore and most were convinced he was the missing link. In the end his signing just caused a whole set of new issues and we lost our first four league games and eventually Little resigned in the February. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 6 hours ago, MarkLillis said: Very true. I've had to suffer many a hidden smirk or out and out laughter when I've stated we only expect big things because we are used to it. This last decade has done a lot of damage to our reputation as a club. People simply do not remember what we are capable of as a club..... even our own fans. We were far more established in the 90s than someone like Spurs. Newcastle were very strong middle part but then dropped off into mid table and Blackburn did a bit of a Leicester winning the title and quickly getting relegated. Leeds up there for a few seasons spending an insane amount before they blew up. In the 90s we finished 2nd, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 6th and then 7th in 2000 with the Cup final thrown in. That loss really did push us back into mid table also rans and Ellis should've sold up then soon after. Instead we drifted, Abramovich came into English football and suddenly the path to even finishing 4th become very distant. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Townsend Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 (edited) 13 minutes ago, VillaChris said: I always think 1997 summer was peak hype. We'd become a very established team again in top flight and had finished 4th and 5th and really weren't far away from title challenges. Also won two league cups in those previous three seasons. We then signed Collymore and most were convinced he was the missing link. In the end his signing just caused a whole set of new issues and we lost our first four league games and eventually Little resigned in the February. As an 11 year old, I was sure we were going to be challenging for the championship. It turned into such a disappointing start - Collymore really upset the balance of that team. People bang on about Newcastle of that era but we were far, far more successful in the 90s and actually won trophies! Edited July 25, 2023 by Captain_Townsend 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgyknees Posted July 26, 2023 Share Posted July 26, 2023 19 hours ago, Wainy316 said: 95 to 98 we were very competitive and looked like we'd push on. We come very close to but missed out on some very big signings (possibly deliberately -cheers Doug) in that time. Roberto Carlos, Paul Gascoigne and Juninho were all a whisker away from being Villa players. 95/96 is my personal favourite Villa side and I'm the same age as the OP. I’m a little older but this is the same for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted July 26, 2023 Moderator Share Posted July 26, 2023 20 hours ago, El Segundo said: Taylor's first season back in the first division with Platt, Cowans, McGrath etc. when we finished second - ended when Taylor left for England and Ellis appointed Venglos. Second season. The first we stayed up by the skin of our teeth. But apart from that tiny glitch I agree with everything in your bigger post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted July 26, 2023 Share Posted July 26, 2023 Brian Little years for me. It’s when I first started going games. We genuinely got discussed as potential title challengers by his third season. Also some great UEFA Cup nights. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted July 26, 2023 Share Posted July 26, 2023 (edited) Topping the table at Christmas day in 1998 was peak Villa- only for the second half of the season to go horribly wrong. Dan Bardell uses the peak Villa term in a typical situation when we repeatedly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Edited July 26, 2023 by The Fun Factory 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villan95 Posted July 26, 2023 Share Posted July 26, 2023 22 hours ago, mrchnry said: Love the positivity of this thread but after 2 losses things will go into meltdown. I love football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villan95 Posted July 26, 2023 Share Posted July 26, 2023 (edited) 14 hours ago, VillaChris said: We were far more established in the 90s than someone like Spurs. Newcastle were very strong middle part but then dropped off into mid table and Blackburn did a bit of a Leicester winning the title and quickly getting relegated. Leeds up there for a few seasons spending an insane amount before they blew up. In the 90s we finished 2nd, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 6th and then 7th in 2000 with the Cup final thrown in. That loss really did push us back into mid table also rans and Ellis should've sold up then soon after. Instead we drifted, Abramovich came into English football and suddenly the path to even finishing 4th become very distant. We were probably unfortunate too that in the 90's there were less Champions League places so the seasons we actually did well only got us into the UEFA cup. Whereas the last 10-20 years teams such as Spurs have benefitted from being in an era where more teams qualify and it's obviously become far more lucrative, allowing them to build their reputation and commercial income. Edited July 26, 2023 by villan95 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Townsend Posted July 26, 2023 Share Posted July 26, 2023 (edited) Not only that, but in 2004 we finished 6th (Newcastle sneaking 5th on goal difference!) and didn't even get the Uefa Cup! I think that was pretty much the only year in about 25 years that 6th didn't qualify you for the Uefa Cup/Europa League. We actually have had some bad luck in fairness. Edited July 26, 2023 by Captain_Townsend 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted July 26, 2023 Share Posted July 26, 2023 On 25/07/2023 at 11:52, El Segundo said: Whilst 80-82 was our peak in terms of achievement I wouldn't say there was a great deal of hope or expectation at the start of the 1980-81 season and the achievements that followed were somewhat out of the blue, and perhaps aided by Ellis not being around. Then Ellis soon returned and ruined it. Past periods where there was a lot of hope and expectation for me were: 1976-1978-ish, Saunders team with Andy Gray/Dennis Mortimer/Alex Cropley/John Gidman etc. when we played some of the most exciting football we've ever played - but it didn't last after Gray and Gidman left. Taylor's first season back in the first division with Platt, Cowans, McGrath etc. when we finished second - ended when Taylor left for England and Ellis appointed Venglos. Big Ron's era with Saunders/Dalian/Mcgrath/Yorke, also second and won the League Cup. Just went downhill after some of the players got too old and we signed the likes of Fashanu. The early part of the Lerner/O'Neil era up to the "Marlon Harewood moment" where it became obvious to me O'Neill was a dick and that Lerner would fund whatever dickery he pursued. I'd say now is the first time we've had the full package of elite manager and coaches, top players, wealthy and ambitious owners, top notch academy, state of the art training facilities, and the stadium sold out every game. It does feel like we could be on the verge of some good times, but then there are 6 or 7 other clubs in similar positions so it's still a battle. Very good resume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post TRO Posted July 26, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 26, 2023 The most swashbuckling season was 1976-77.....we finished 4th, but simply ripped teams apart. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Follyfoot Posted July 26, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted July 26, 2023 2 minutes ago, TRO said: The most swashbuckling season was 1976-77.....we finished 4th, but simply ripped teams apart. A joy to behold 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villanbee Posted July 26, 2023 Share Posted July 26, 2023 I often think about what might have been if Graham Taylor had not left in 1990. But Villa in that era is filled with What It's. That year when we finished second under big Ron... Over those years, when we had a real chance to kick on, we didn't. And when we did bring in exciting signings some failed to deliver (Guy Whittingham and Collymore a few years later). But I feel as positive about Villa as I ever have since. Unai Emery is the best manager we've had since Graham Taylor. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted July 26, 2023 Share Posted July 26, 2023 (edited) 40 minutes ago, Captain_Townsend said: Not only that, but in 2004 we finished 6th (Newcastle sneaking 5th on goal difference!) and didn't even get the Uefa Cup! I think that was pretty much the only year in about 25 years that 6th didn't qualify you for the Uefa Cup/Europa League. We actually have had some bad luck in fairness. Yep. And if you go back to 60's when football started to dip its toe into modern media, we had the worst run in our history. Clubs like Liverpool and Leeds grew at this time. And then we did produce a great team it was in the early 80s in which the background was a recession, high unemployment, and declining interest in football. We recovered to be a fairly solid top 6/8 club for much of the 90s, only for then Chelsea to blow us out of the water. Then later Lerner years went into decline just when the Premier League became a massive global product and watched teams like Spurs pass us buy and sports washing projects like City and Newcastle come into fruition. Now we are back in a good position to challenge the elite, and I hope this team sees it through. Edited July 26, 2023 by The Fun Factory 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seal Posted July 26, 2023 Share Posted July 26, 2023 On 25/07/2023 at 12:15, Wainy316 said: 95 to 98 we were very competitive and looked like we'd push on. We come very close to but missed out on some very big signings (possibly deliberately -cheers Doug) in that time. Roberto Carlos, Paul Gascoigne and Juninho were all a whisker away from being Villa players. 95/96 is my personal favourite Villa side and I'm the same age as the OP. I don't know how true it is, but I also understood that we were also very close to Arsene Wenger and Bergkamp as well at points, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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