This afternoon I received an email from Paul Lambert (ok, technically it is an email that got sent out to those of us who are season ticket holders) but I’ve included it below to show, in his own words, the thoughts of the manager:

In His Own Words – The Words Of The Manager

Dear Matthew,

The first thing I would like to place on record is my thanks for your support of Aston Villa Football Club. This is an incredible club, steeped in history and tradition and I feel honoured and privileged to be manager.

There is no doubt that an integral part of what I want to do here is to get the crowd going and to make Villa Park a vibrant, intimidating and exciting environment. On my first day here I was taken around Villa Park and I was able to appreciate for the first time the sheer scale of the stadium. It is instantly impressive and, if we work hard and get the place going, I believe we can make this club as successful as we all want it to be.

We have some exciting, young players at this football club and we have some very accomplished and experienced players, too. They will need a hand throughout the course of the coming campaign and in the opening week of the summer transfer window we have welcomed three new players in Brett Holman, Karim El Ahmadi and Matt Lowton. With his experience at club and international level, Karim will improve our squad and Brett should do the same, while Matt has the potential to be a really good player.

From my first few weeks here, I get the sense there is a really good feeling around the Club and it is this kind of positive mood that we want to carry into the season and then throughout the campaign. As soon as you walk in the door you know you’re at a big club and this challenge is one I am really looking forward to taking on. I am not daunted by it, I’m determined to embrace it and, as a Club, this must be our attitude going forward.

After we play Burton Albion on Saturday, we will be headed to the US for games against Philadelphia Union, Chicago Fire and Portland Timbers, all of which will be available on AVTV. We will play further games at Peterborough, Nottingham Forest and Werder Bremen, then the season will kick off in earnest at West Ham. For the majority of you, your first opportunity to see the team in person will be against Everton on August 25 at Villa Park when we will be looking to call on your incredible backing. Let me again express my thanks for your support and, like you, I’m looking forward with optimism and a strong sense of pride to the coming season.

Paul

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