villa-revolution Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 At this early stage of the season I am amazed to discover that there already exists a relegation thread on VT. What is the matter? Has Gobby Savage secretly signed up to sabotage VillaTalk & sneaked past the Mods in order to try & put every one on a downer? The majority of Villa fans that I have spoken to give me the impression that a mid table finish would be more than acceptable in Lambo No. 5's first season in charge. However, the general constant feeling that exists in the game from outside sources about our beloved Aston Villa F. C. & the expectation of the fan base is that we should target a top 6 finish as a minimum requirement every season & rightly so. Therefore, why should this season be any different? My own personal view is that PL needs time for his ideas to be fully implemented & similarly it will take more than a few transfer windows to fully carry out the reconstruction now necessary to hopefully bring us the success that we all crave, deserve & hopefully realize. I think that it will initially take Lambo more than half the season to finally turn our great old Club around & I predict that we may incur some heart breaking results along the way. However, after Xmas, I fully expect the new identity of our club & it's playing style to begin to evolve & burst out from this embryonic stage. The true hallmark of a PL team is that it just doesn't know when it is beaten & goes all out on the attack. These facets were distinctly & sadly absent against West Ham in the opening game as everyone at Villa Park quickly need time to adjust to the Paul Lambert dispensation. Additionally, we were also absent due to injury of the undoubted attacking speed & prowess that the Gabster will provide upon his return to fitness & Marc Albrighton's ability to beat a man & get decent crosses & service into Darren Bent & which ever other striker turns up at Villa Park before deadline day. The bottom line is that I see absolutely no reason why we can't qualify for the Europa Leage spots available this season, especially so if we are able to build up a late head of steam like this saturdays opponents Everton always seem to do & obviously if PL has worked the magic oracle. Remember too that reaching one of the domestic Cup Finals can also sometimes be enough to qualify for Europe so why not. Finally, given that this season's Premier League title race appears to be a 3 horse race between the Mancs & Chelski, and given that Arsenal & Liverpool are in decline & the jury is definitely out on AVB who is to say that even a 4th spot & Champions League Qualification are not beyond the realms of possibility for any club that gets it's act together? Anyway, for now, the Europa League is my minim expectation & this is the thread. AVFC4EVER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samjp26 Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 I tip my hat for the optimism, but I don't think anybody expects us to be fighting for Europa League football. Simply put, our team is shit, and the majority of teams in the league have much better quality than what we have. Champions League Qualification is a whole other story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilchard Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 I thought the stuff about villa fans having too high an expectation was a myth. And then I saw this. Staying up will do me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam_ Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 I'd be well happy with a top 10 finish..... Realistically I think we will come around 15th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 I guess if we're lucky with the draw in the League Cup and all the good teams focus on other competitions we might have an outside chance of reaching the final. Other than this we have no chance what so ever of reaching Europe. Staying up is all we can hope for as the squad is now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 I will just be pleased if we stay up and have another go at improving the squad next summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Europa League is a third rate competition, I wouldn't give much of a shit if we qualified for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulver Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 With the squad we have, we'll be lucky to finish top half nevermind the Europa positions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHV Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 If we go the entire season with this current squad then robbie savage might not be wrong.If we sign about 7 players before the window shuts then we can talk about europa league Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regular_john Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 With the squad as it is we'll be very, very lucky to stay up. With some good signings, improved form from CNZ and Ireland, and some good luck with injuries and suspensions we may just about sneak back into the top half. Europa league will be way beyond us for the next couple of seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Europa League is a third rate competition, I wouldn't give much of a shit if we qualified for it. You do realise that if we qualify for Europe it means we either had a very good season in the league or excellent cup run. Also don't get this view against the Europa League, I'd love us to be back in Europe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Europa League is a third rate competition, I wouldn't give much of a shit if we qualified for it. You do realise that if we qualify for Europe it means we either had a very good season in the league or excellent cup run. Also don't get this view against the Europa League, I'd love us to be back in Europe Or it means we won the fair play league. In all seriousness, if Europa League qualification is the consequence of finishing 6th or winning/finishing in the final of a cup then great. But I still wouldn't care much for our participation in that actual tournament. It's a sham of a tournament consisting of third rate European teams battling it out until the second rate teams that failed in the champions league join in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 We can but dream of being a third rate european team, atm we are eight rate at best... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshVilla Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Are you Paul Faulkner by any chance? Even he said we were going for Europe when McLeish was in charge Were more likely to get relegated than we are to even finish Midtable let alone Europe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moose Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 I'd not at all mind being in the Europa League, but I doubt we'd take it all too seriously and even if you win it takes 45 matches to get there and you end up with 50p and a bag of conkers. On the plus side, it would be fun to go to some remote village in Khazakstan for a qualifier. Or would it. Hmm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 If you win the tournament you earn something like 5-6 million Euro depending on how many games you won on the way to the final, add to that any tv money you get and gate receipts. Sure we could find some use for that money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1974Centenary Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Lot of people wont touch the europa league with a barge pole,but give 'em a nice run in the league cup and they'll be happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8pints Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 even a 4th spot & Champions League Qualification are not beyond the realms of possibility for any club that gets it's act together? After only one game, anything is possible. It's as exciting as it is nerve-wracking, everything could gel fantastically in the next few games and come together in a very successful season. We don't know yet!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KjParton Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 What I would give to win the FA Cup/ League Cup again ;P. To see it first hand would be amazing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEAP Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 I put a bet on for us to beat everton 6-0 after reading this thread... Im not even joking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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