Hard to believe the final day is here, but it is—and it’s been quite a ride.
Really not much to say since so much hinges on this match and, most likely, Forest-Chelsea. A Villa win and either a Forest victory or draw send us back into the Champions League. There are other permutations of course, but I’m guessing these two matches probably tell the tale.
And, for all the reasons everyone might suspect, I really hope it works out nicely. United and Old Trafford? Not a happy hunting ground for us. But if we are to get over the line, this is the time. If there’s a side that can dent Chelsea’s ambitions, I’d think it’s Forest.
But we’ll soon know and then all the other pieces will start falling into place.
Me, I’ve enjoyed it immensely. Disappointments are almost inevitable, but we’ve seen that Villa can finally mix it up with almost anyone. Big nights, big performances and results. So many matches. It’s been a season to remember, silverware or not.
Now it’s about the money and prestige conferred by returning to the Champions League. Which I like to think we deserve since we more than played our part in the Premier League earning a fifth spot.
And after all those matches, after all the drama, elation, and despair, there’s still something to be won on the final day.
So let’s go do it, Villa.
Over to you.
The Author
John Clark
John is co-owner of AVL, and has followed the Villa since the '70s. A journalist by trade, he is, by most accounts, a very nice person. You can follow me on Twitter @JClarkKohoutek. It's an astonishing experience. Or a complete waste of time.Comments 76
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Just looked on a man United forum. I wish we were playing their fans . . . . they’re really unhappy and just want the season over
Sadly we’re not
It’s hard to believe it’s all over at about 6pm,what a season almighty highs,some lows,new signings, big john leaving
Now we have to win today and if it’s not enough it will have been our best season in living memory
The bench today is unreal
I hope we settle down soon and forget the magnitude of the game.
This is the worst I’ve seen us this season
You’re right about the bench JG
I wonder how many of them will be with us next season
McGinn just can’t get the ball to stick so far
We’ve been awful. Nerves on full display.
Asensio has been good again so far today. Wonder if he’ll be with us next year. More chance of him staying than Rashford I reckon .
How are we still in this?
I suppose the only saving grace is that if this was the other way round, we’d be saying that we’ll pay for not having scored when we had all those early chances !
There’s just no linking up between defence and attack.
I hope Teilemans can come on at some point
They’re just outcompeting us all over, as if this matters more to them than us.
I’d like to see Mings there, to give them all a kick up the arse!
Yeah, that’s basically it, r0bb0…they’re getting to everything, and we have no initiative.
I’m a huge fan of Watkins, but one of his key attributes is holding the ball up, but today it’s as if his boots are smothered in vaseline
Sort of the same for everyone. Like we’re wading through treacle.
Oh how stupid
JFC
Fucking Cash. Best pass of the day for United.
His last action for Villa. . .
what a sad way to bow out
Terrible, r0bb0. And he was playing well.
Cash I certainly hope is his last game for us,martinez shouldn’t have done that ,better a goal down than a man
Do you know. . . our only hope is that this makes them feel they’re right up against it and it gets them fired up, and united become complacent
Yep. . . clutching at straws
We have been woeful all over the park apart from martinez
Yeah, looking back JG you’d think he should’ve just conceded. But out there and committed, doubt he was thinking all that clearly.
Fcuk these commentators Tyler and Holland thinking our players are all for sale and they want to sign for great man u
r0bb0,
I was wondering if we’d get better going down. Maybe clutching at straws, but it’s still 0-0.
SPEECHLESS!
Anyone at Arsenal on the last game of the league winning season? Same sort of a Villa freeze.
Had to be at Old Trafford. ManU waking up against Villa as always. Brain fart from Cash, Martinez panicking. F@@@@@ck
I’m not sure Hojland would have scored from there, as other players were getting back, why couldn’t Martinez have just tried to just slow him up slightly rather than take him out so blatantly
But as others have said. . . . how truly awful from Cash
I guess we now just have to hope that Chelsea beat Forest, so we get Europa rather than conference
Anyone that thought utd would lie down today were mad,last homemade after shocking season,.ore disappointed in us,so far we can’t run pass tackle show intent and it’s happened a few times under emery don’t know why,back behind sofa for 45 mins
You were right JG. . . Martinez ‘had’ been the only player to come out with any credit for most of the first half
I reckon Roger’s needs a proper summer break and to come back rejuvenated
He’s not been great for the last few games. . . . may be down to where he’s playing to some extent mind you
I really don’t understand the reasons for playing Torres ahead of Mings
Well that proves that Hojland didn’t have a clear goal scoring opportunity from that Cash back pass
Likewise about Mings. Torres just doesn’t do it for me.
Was just typing the 4 substitutions I’d make right now
Teilemans for McGinn was one of them
Mings for Torres
Malen for Watkins
Ramsey for Onana
Credit to Emery for those subs. He is going for it.
Indeed jbd
It is good to have a manager who is prepared to try and change the game with substitutions
Look. . . we haven’t deserved to be winning, but that decision is so so wrong
Really naughty
Especially after Maguire had pushed Rogers on his way through
Blatant cheating ref
Top it of utd score
JG. I actually don’t think the ref cheated. . . he just made a bad mistake. . . I hope he can’t get to sleep tonight as he keeps replaying it in his head.
We have this ability to not show up in so many matches
Watkins has been absent today again yes he broke the record this season but in general he has been not the same player as a year ago
Cash cannot start the season as even a squad player every team we play targets him,leaving kamara to play there as well
To top it all my firestick took today to play up
I certainly hope emery let’s rip about referee and var this season plus fa moving spurs and Liverpool games
Ipswich game lad had about 6 bookable fouls after getting booked no red card,forest games rogers blatant arm pull forest winner big foul on cash,pool game blatant pull on torres,red card v duran and upheld it after appeal,today’s decision shocking pissed of tonight
Still big well done to emery
Well…that was all so very disappointing.
Yeah, well done Emery, JG. Not his fault the players just didn’t show up.
What the fucking hell is a matter with us? Why are we mentally non existent on big games. This was worse than Palace in the semi. We just never turned up. FFS.
We’ve had all week to prepare for this game. Then we see inertia. And more inertia. Didn’t deserve anything from the game. Can’t say the players left everything out on the pitch because they didn’t.
It was a perfect storm.
Old Trafford and United have always had a voodoo on us, 2 wins in 38 is an unbelievably poor stay.
We played poorly from the start, Martinez and Cash messed up. Tielemans injury. That ref decision.
We didn’t deserve to win but a loss seems cruel given the Newcastle result. But this is par for being a Villa supporter, always a case of missing out.
I hate picking on individual players but let’s call a spade a spade. Cash was appalling. His standard play is receive a ball, run to the half way line, turn and play it back. Sorry but he has to go. Thought Pau and Konsa were poor as well. Question marks over both of them for me. And Ollie had a stinker. Rogers is more effective down the left but Unai plays him down the right with SJM down the left.
My big gripe from this season has been the perpetual passing back to the goalkeeper from quite advanced positions. Today’s Cash /Martinez cock up just about crystallises our main failing for me.
Another niggle is the Torres/Mings arguement. Torres is not built for our league. He is neither a full on LCB nor a midfielder. Sell him for psr purposes. Emery is trying to instal a cold blooded scientific possession based game which will always come short in our red blooded 100mph league. Likewise Asensio will only get so far in a game then flake out.
While I’m in a venting mood, WTF is Rogers being wasted on the RW? WTF is Malen not getting the same chance that Rogers got when he first came?
I’ve got to acknowledge that we have an excellent squad and we have had an ultimately formidable season- but we keep on shooting ourselves in the foot when other teams throw the kitchen sink at us. Tippy tappy tika taka will always be thwarted by big lump dinosaurs like maguire and evans just getting in the way.
I’ll save my worst venom for the “ref”. Well fucking sub-standard. His ruling on Rogers goal was despicable. Over the game, he gave them a penalty, sent off our keeper and rubbed out a perfectly good Villa goal. Hope they never choose him for a Villa home game down the line.
Manure were crap today yet they won with a canter without breaking sweat. This really pisses me off.
It’s going to take me some time to recover from this result. I’m still smarting from our no-show against Palace. Think Unai is too. He looked livid at the unfolding events.
I’m with you all…I mean, on balance ECL, CL, and UEL aren’t bad at all. But the manner of today’s loss was galling. As was the Palace defeat.
And I’ve no real answers, would have to know a lot more about each player, Emery, mood in the camp.
Are the players being too reigned in by Emery wanting to cold bloodedly control the game and dictate the game by going slow slow quick quick slow? Are their natural instincts being blunted by the need to overthink what they should do? I’m sad that Guardiola’s sterile boring pass pass game won so much with shitty and the previous tica taka merchants at barcelona. Could he have done that much without the financial cheating that both clubs did before sky locked everything in?
Tnt involved in the corrupt refs,too cutting mcginn off in mid speech about the refs
Maybe a stepback mighten be worst thing to happen,as wonderful as January window was,rashford didn’t really catch fire,asenio had a wonderful 6 games but since he missed big chance v psg he has been really poor,dissai hasn’t been seen since doku skipped past him in injury time,malen was hard done by missing out on champions league games and not enough game time because of
emery 2 bigger signings
Watkins took the hump for 2nd time this season and moaned in public, Rogers was shunted to side to include asenio
Emery and monchi have a big summer which has to include cash being sold
The linesman in 1st half was a disgrace maybe 3/4of their shots would have been ruled out for offside, maguire was at least a yard offside before he walked past matasen but linesman and ref played on,yet couldn’t wait to blow whistle on our goal,fuming
There’s a lot to unpack, JG.
jbd,
I’m not really sure the players are suffering under constraint…a lot of our goals come from quick moves up the field, Rogers carrying and driving, Tielemans putting people through, etc.
I might look more to the January business and how it affected the squad: cohesion, selections, positions. It worked initially, got us pretty far in both competitions, helped us up the league, gave us a deep bench, but it might also have been too much change at once.
But I really don’t know how to explain the timidity and lack of energy off the ball today other than nerves, being over-cautious. So many poor passes, loose on the ball, slow decisions. United just wanted it more. My guess is that if the game had been at home it would’ve been different.
Emery’s reactions tell me he wasn’t happy but he never throws the players under the bus.
It was the level of performance that got my hackles up John. Such an important game, same as Palace in the semi and we froze. Didn’t think Manure were anything other than average. At one time I noticed we had a back 8 in a line on the edge of the box with just Ollie a few yards in front of it. Like a rabbit in the headlights.
We will now see how this result impacts our team development for next season. £75 million revenue lost. £30 million revenue gained from Europa League. Down £45 million. No UCL to attract players. Dendoncks and Couts still with us for another year. We’ll watch with interest at the outgoings and incomings this window.
The photograph in The Mirror newspaper shows the ref smiling as he waves the red card at Emi with obvious delight. Not a good look for the conspiracy theorists.
Almost 24 hours still annoyed at yesterday, but bigger picture it has been some run of nearly 3years of emery,a lot to be thankful of,some great games and a few real howlers thrown in
Our summer plans have to include players with steel that don’t all fold in same game even half,we have all nice guys no one that will leave a foot in,plenty moaners but no hard lads,our defence bar mings wouldn’t tackle a box of tissues, likewise midfielders
Pretty sure the money men no what’s what’s far as psr stands,emery is still dealing with gerards crazy summer 70m wasted along with massive wages
Assuming 3 loanees aren’t kept ,depending what players move on we don’t really need a major overhaul,a decent rightback and options on right of 3 would be a start
JG,
Yeah, it’s easy to forget sometimes the long tails of poor signings. I know some are probs having most/all their wages paid by others, but how is it possible Dendoncker is still someone we have to deal with? Or Phil?
And I’m with you on the loanees…Disasi was necessary insurance, but I’m sure we can do better. Rashford, not worth what he’ll cost I dont’ think. Asensio, dunno. Youri was hot and cold first season, and he won’t cost much.
Leon Bailey what has happened, from being o e 1st name on teamsheet, to not even getting on as sub,his last appearance in cup semi final he was our best player (not hard) last season unplayable this year unwatchable
As for dust settling on Sunday, still fuming at inept officials including the linesman who never put his flag up for offside in 1st half
Our players have being really quiet on social media,few if any apologies for performances
Everyone guessing at our money situation
Just watched a clip on YouTube today of all our signings this last 25 years,gosh we signed some crap balaban,Hagi berson postma bakke ronny johnson,kinsella joey gudjonson,routleddge
Djema djemba,all bar benteke from lamberts time,mcleish woefulsummer,fox and sherwoodcrazy summer,100 m between di matteo and bruce
We were some mess untildean smith steadied our club,slippy g had threw lifebelts all out,we were floundering holed above the waterline untim UNAI EMERY came on board roll on August,
We have signed some crap over the years James. Don’t forget Charles Nzogbia, Ross McCormack and Dick Turpin (Micah Richards).