Popular Post AEK fan Posted May 6 Visiting Supporter Popular Post Share Posted May 6 Hi to all. I keep reading various Villans' posts saying that "you're running on fumes", and other comments to this effect. I think I speak for millions of Greeks, not only AEK fans like myself but also, presumably, Panathinaikos and PAOK fans as well, when I say that you have our fervent wishes for a glorious qualification against Olympiacos come Thursday! I just hope for two things: 1. That Emery (or the club in general) won't be thowing in the towel in order to focus strictly on finishing fourth in the PL. 2. That Villa won't have to face such horrible refereeing as the one we all --except Olympiacos; fans of course...-- witnessed last Thursday! [If only AEK, my team, had a similarly "friendly" referee for even ONE of our Europa League matches...] 30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marka Ragnos Posted May 6 VT Supporter Share Posted May 6 11 minutes ago, AEK fan said: Hi to all. I keep reading various Villans' posts saying that "you're running on fumes", and other comments to this effect. I think I speak for millions of Greeks, not only AEK fans like myself but also, presumably, Panathinaikos and PAOK fans as well, when I say that you have our fervent wishes for a glorious qualification against Olympiacos come Thursday! I just hope for two things: 1. That Emery (or the club in general) won't be thowing in the towel in order to focus strictly on finishing fourth in the PL. 2. That Villa won't have to face such horrible refereeing as the one we all --except Olympiacos; fans of course...-- witnessed last Thursday! [If only AEK, my team, had a similarly "friendly" referee for even ONE of our Europa League matches...] I love your post. Thank you so much. It's my belief that Emery is constitutionally incapable of giving up. Obviously can't speak for him or any of our players, but in terms of the will to win, I think it's fully intact. With the players, not sure about the legs though. It reminds me a little bit of that line from that great cowboy film, Open Range, where the dog wants to keep running, but it's just too tired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AEK fan Posted May 6 Visiting Supporter Share Posted May 6 Thank you kindly, Marka. One thing you should bear in mind is that Olympiacos' players are ALSO somewhat worn out, being the end of the season for them as well; not so much as Villa's players, of course, as there is no comparison whatsoever between the PL and the Greek Super League (plus, Villa, did not have the luxury of taking a week off matches in preparation for the Conference League match). All in all, I REALLY think you stand a fair chance! P.S. I won't go into all the...gory details about the reasons for which so many of us utterly loathe Olympiacos; first, all the relevant info about what sort of club they are can easily be found on the internet, and second I don't want to incur the wrath of any of their fans who may be attending this forum... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhan_Zhuang Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 1 hour ago, AEK fan said: Hi to all. I keep reading various Villans' posts saying that "you're running on fumes", and other comments to this effect. I think I speak for millions of Greeks, not only AEK fans like myself but also, presumably, Panathinaikos and PAOK fans as well, when I say that you have our fervent wishes for a glorious qualification against Olympiacos come Thursday! I just hope for two things: 1. That Emery (or the club in general) won't be thowing in the towel in order to focus strictly on finishing fourth in the PL. 2. That Villa won't have to face such horrible refereeing as the one we all --except Olympiacos; fans of course...-- witnessed last Thursday! [If only AEK, my team, had a similarly "friendly" referee for even ONE of our Europa League matches...] Hello and welcome to Villa Talk. The refereeing standard throughout the entire Conference League has been awful but last Thursday was very bad, almost unbelievable decisions. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AEK fan Posted May 6 Visiting Supporter Share Posted May 6 Thank you kindly Zhan, glad to be here. As I mentioned in a post at the Welcome Forum, I'm fond of Aston Villa because of a Brummie friend of mine --and a Villan of course-- who was living here in Greece for a few decades. In regard to the officiating last Thursday, I refer you to my "cryptic" postscript in my last post; if one has the time and the willingness to do so, one can easily find on the internet many things (not everything, though, mind you) about what Olympiacos has frequently been accused of, and this will go a long way towards "explaining" that God-awful refereeing... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villa_Vids Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 1 hour ago, AEK fan said: Hi to all. I keep reading various Villans' posts saying that "you're running on fumes", and other comments to this effect. I think I speak for millions of Greeks, not only AEK fans like myself but also, presumably, Panathinaikos and PAOK fans as well, when I say that you have our fervent wishes for a glorious qualification against Olympiacos come Thursday! I just hope for two things: 1. That Emery (or the club in general) won't be thowing in the towel in order to focus strictly on finishing fourth in the PL. 2. That Villa won't have to face such horrible refereeing as the one we all --except Olympiacos; fans of course...-- witnessed last Thursday! [If only AEK, my team, had a similarly "friendly" referee for even ONE of our Europa League matches...] Great post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AEK fan Posted May 6 Visiting Supporter Share Posted May 6 Thank you cordially, Villa_Vids (sadly, I haven't yet figured out how to award "hearts" to other members' posts). The part of my post you underlined is simply the truth, which is something Olympiacos' fans in particular are invariably unable to acknowledge when it's not to their liking... Trust me when I say that NEVER have another Greek club enjoyed such blatantly favourable refereeing towards them in all the decades they have been competing in European matches! In fact, AEK, the team I support in Greece, were cheated by the referees out of standing a chance to qualify in the next round of the Europa League this year; this goes for almost all of their games, against Brighton, Ajax, and Marseilles (SIX soft penalties against us, if you can believe it). Even so, last Thursday I just couldn't believe my eyes with the calls that Italian was making... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilski Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 Do we know or can we find out who the ref is for this game? ...actually im not sure i want to know!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AEK fan Posted May 6 Visiting Supporter Share Posted May 6 @neilski I think it is yet to be confirmed. Unfortunately, it is almost a certainty that, whoever he is, he won't be doing Villa any favours... I suppose you do know of the ties between UEFA's general secretary and Olympiacos, right? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pongo Waring Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 Olympiakos fans, players and owner celebrated the first game like they had won the tie. Embarrassing. The pressure is on them now, they're the favourites to win the tie. I bet they crumble like they did against Panathinaikos who smashed them 3-1 at their home ground. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pongo Waring Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 13 minutes ago, neilski said: Do we know or can we find out who the ref is for this game? ...actually im not sure i want to know!? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben1505 Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 1 hour ago, AEK fan said: @neilski I think it is yet to be confirmed. Unfortunately, it is almost a certainty that, whoever he is, he won't be doing Villa any favours... I suppose you do know of the ties between UEFA's general secretary and Olympiacos, right? Wasn't he (Theodore Theodoridis) on the board at Olympiacos when there was some talk of corruption? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben1505 Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 Would you start Duran up front with Watkins playing in behind for this game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben1505 Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 (edited) Olymbiakós SFP (GRE) - Aston Villa FC (ENG) Referee: Felix Zwayer GER Assistant Referee 1: Stefan Lupp GER Assistant Referee 2: Marco Achmüller GER Fourth Official: Glenn Nyberg SWE Video Assistant Referee: Bastian Dankert GER Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Tiago Martins POR UEFA Referee Observer: Rune Pedersen NOR UEFA Delegate: Fernand Meese BEL I'm pretty sure that ref was done for match-fixing? Edited May 7 by ben1505 error 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AEK fan Posted May 7 Visiting Supporter Share Posted May 7 8 hours ago, ben1505 said: Wasn't he (Theodore Theodoridis) on the board at Olympiacos when there was some talk of corruption? You hit it on the nose... Aside from that, he is the son of an ex-goalie for Oly (see what I did there with the rhyme?), who, after retiring, became a club official till his death... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AEK fan Posted May 7 Visiting Supporter Share Posted May 7 10 hours ago, Pongo Waring said: Olympiakos fans, players and owner celebrated the first game like they had won the tie. Embarrassing. The pressure is on them now, they're the favourites to win the tie. I bet they crumble like they did against Panathinaikos who smashed them 3-1 at their home ground. They are under a lot of pressure for umpteen reasons, and not just because they're now the favourites... Here's one of them: https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1237063/hooligans-arrested-over-officer-killing/ Here's another: They're currently fourth in the Greek Superleague, which means that there's a fair chance they'll be out of any European cup for next season if they don't win the Conference League. Their fans WILL get nervy, perhaps even turn on their own team, if Villa score the first goal. Ah, there's one more important "detail" I'm sure Emerey already knows: the majority of their players are there on loan, which just might make them think twice before giving it their 110%, as I sure hope Villa's players will do! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhan_Zhuang Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 Corruption, bribery and dodgy referees, it all makes sense now... Throughout the whole Europa Conference League there have been many dubious decisions, last week at Villa Park was up there with them all. The only way Villa win and qualify is getting the early goal.... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 What a strange feel to this match. No idea how we'll do. If Emery decides to push all his chips in or hedge his bet. Personally, I'm kind of looking past it to Liverpool, which will be our last home game of the campaign, and most likely the game that can secure us CL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 I hope traveling Villans stay alert and safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 57 minutes ago, Zhan_Zhuang said: The only way Villa win and qualify is getting the early goal.... I don't think an early goal is crucial but we obviously need to score the first goal and if we do that even if there are only 10-15 mins to go then it is game on. As mad as it sounds I think it may be better in our position to be away from home. I think at home we may have been too gung ho with the fans demanding all out attack and left ourselves open to a counter. Away from home we can be a little more controlled. I also think that Olympiacos would have found it easier to sit in away from home and protect what they have whereas at home you can imagine their fans will push them to attack so it could well be quite open which is what we want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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