Villa looked good again in a disappointing home defeat to Arsenal, but looks don’t get you points. They do, however, give you a gauge, and what I saw is a Villa that really does belong in the conversation. Two solid outings in the first two weeks is the sort of signal we were looking for. And we could quite easily have taken all six points, but for some rust and luck. Or lack thereof.
So, the feel-good factor remains and now Villa have a stretch they need to take advantage of. I’m hoping they’re smarting enough over what got away from them last week to go on the road and take care of business against Leicester in Youri Tieleman’s homecoming.
Team news is that Philogene is out, and Bogarde is in. One assumes he’s playing right back and got the nod over Kosta. Here’s hoping it’s a good debut for him.
Elsewhere, no changes:
Martinez, Bogarde, Konsa, Pau, Digne, Onana, Tielemans, McGinn, Bailey, Rogers, Watkins
The usual suspects remain available on the bench.
So, Emery will keep doing what he’s been doing and easing in players other than Onana. It’s a strong XI, and the options are reasonable.
Anyway, not much else to say. Oh, well, there’s the Champions League draw, and a very interesting set of fixtures in the league phase:
Tuesday, September 17: Young Boys v Aston Villa
Wednesday, October 2: Aston Villa v Bayern Munich
Tuesday, October 22: Aston Villa v Bologna
Wednesday, November 6: Club Brugge v Aston Villa
Wednesday, November 27: Aston Villa v Juventus
Tuesday, December 10: RB Leipzig v Aston Villa
Tuesday, January 21: AS Monaco v Aston Villa
Wednesday, January 29: Aston Villa v Celtic
In other words, can’t wait to get back from the break.
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 110
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Get in….brilliant routine. Who’d have thought Amadou would score two in three?
Also, obvs not gonna get called, or didn’t, but the shove in Ollie’s back as he goes to shoot was a foul, and did put him off.
Well done, Emi.
Foxes do love to fall over.
Not a pretty half, but deserve the lead, and have generally played smart and well.
Few stray passes, a little dallying at times, but overall, you just see them executing the system.
Wow. Great sequence, fabulous finish.
That was a bit nervy down the stretch, but a quality win.
What a bunch on cheating players the Foxes have. Their MO is to fall over every duel and Coots the blockhead fell for it and gave them a free kick. Bloody awful ref.
Thought we looked a bit weak down our RH side with SJM and Bogarde. Rogers was obstructed out of the game but got nowt from the ref. But, what the hell do we have to do to get a clean sheet?
Fine goal in the 1st half. Superb set piece from the free kick. Ramsey was switched on and Onana used his long legs to turn it in.
Big Jhon’s goal was just brilliant. So glad we held onto him during the window. He needed to generate all the pace on the cross to beat the keeper with a masterful header.
As John says, it became really nervy down the stretch. But we’ll take the 3 points thanks. Steve Cooper is a moaning git. Every decision was argued relentlessly. It wound the crowd up to do likewise. And of course Coots obliged.
It was a winnable game and it was job done. Moves us into the top half of the table. Time for a small celebration with a bottle or two of red. Weekend is perfect. Happy days.
This is the first time I’ve looked forward to an international break. Gives us chance to recover Bailey and Onana who both limped off with injuries. Not to mention Cash’s absence.
Only seen last 10mins plus injury time,got to feel for emery injuries are hurting, 3 straight matches early sub,we had no wiggle room yesterday even after offloading 4 on loan
On another note wasn’t it lovely to see rice get a red card,and why did coote bottle it with Leicester players ,constantly surrounded him after every decision
Also good job monchi held out with Durans fee,gained 4 points already
So my 1-2 win forecast didn’t jinx things after all. . . . more of the same methinks!
It’s a strong start to the season and we can feel reasonably confident that we’ll be in a position to properly compete again this season. . . . . provided, injuries aren’t too cruel to us.
JG, yes I was delighted to see a player sent off for kicking the ball away. . . .at last a referee applying the law!
The fact that it was an Arsenal player is even more pleasurable.
It was also incredibly refreshing and heart warming to hear Arteta come out and say how disappointed he was with his player for kicking the ball away and risking being sent off. . . . . . oh. . .hang on, I’ve got that wrong. Apparently the correct response was to be “amazed, amazed, amazed” with the sending off as Rice only ‘touched the ball’ and it really shouldn’t count if it’s only an offence “according to the letter of the law”. . . . . and anyway, Brighton should have had a player sent off too!
So there!
You’re probably still feeling good after yesterday’s game and result, but if you want to cheer yourself up even more, take a visit to an Arsenal forum this morning 🙂
(And in keeping with your headline JC, I’ll be hopping on the tractor and collecting hay this morning, in anticipation of possible showers this afternoon)
Enjoying the Laandan media whinging this morning. By all accounts, Rice’s sending off was contentious. He kicked the ball away after the ref blew. Apparently that is only a booking for clubs norf of Watford. And yes, the Arse blogs are real diamonds today.
Six points from 3 games, averaging 2 per game again. On course for 76 points? Champions League again?
Plug. . . . “76 points” well, statistically, you’re right, although maybe we want to see a ‘slightly’ bigger sample size before getting too excited? 🙂
I see a few fans suggesting that Ollie should be benched. It’ll be Emery’s call of course, but that wouldn’t feel right to me. We’ve seen him go through lean patches before and then it clicks and there’s no stopping him. Let’s face it, he’s not the only top striker who’s like that. Haaland has set off like a train, but last season he missed endless simple chances (far more than Ollie I’ll wager), and it will be surprising if he doesn’t hit the buffers at some point.
As Emery said, it’s encouraging that Ollie is creating chances for himself and others, and unlucky that he’s been the wrong side of a few great saves. Having watched yesterday’s chances a couple of times, they didn’t look as nailed on as I’d imagined they’d be, based on some of the fan reactions and comments. In fact they had XG scores of .37 and .46, which are a long way short of nailed on certainties. To put those scores into context, Onana’s goal was a .6 chance and Duran’s .38 and I wouldn’t have said that either of those were ‘nailed on’ chances either.
Dam internationals, definitely don’t help ,saying that with few niggling injuries we can do with break
On should duran start over watkins never but seeing as it’s Everton next and with Bailey probably out could start both,emery is scared of changing it up,hopefully carlos will get over his injury/huff ,because I think we might need konsa at rightback for visit of kane Munich
The champions league fixtures look to be favourable leipzig look extremely decent beat reigning german champs yesterday, watched celtic today we should be big favourites in that one
2 weeks rest now then it’s games weekend and midweek super
Have to say, the break is probably coming at a good time. Feels a bit early, but it’ll give them all more time working and as said, a chance for the niggles to heal.
First pause of season ,how do we look
Bit thin squad wise but emery knows what’s happening and seems content so all is good,great to see bogarde involved with twinkles on bench,née signings ,onana is superb so far with added bonus of goals ,barclay fitting in again and matasen is going have to dislodge digne which won’t be easy,jaden nothing yet
Returnees ramsay is looking good,beundi hasn’t got minutes yet but with cup matches coming it won’t be long to see him play,mings back training and emery is hopeful on kamara
Mcginn and watkins haven’t fired yet hangover from long season and euros and finally what about duran two brilliantly taken goals and even mcginn praising him in interviews,so all in all decent start roll on champions league matches
JG, of all the points you make above, the one that made me smile most was Mcginn praising Duran. I’d seen that article too, and McGinn went out of his way to praise Duran’s new attitude on the training ground and with his teammates and Villa staff.
There had been criticisms of Monchi for holding out for £40m for him when the £35m we’d (apparently) been offered by West Ham would have enabled us to buy a player in some other position. After 3 games, that £40m is now looking on the low side, but more importantly, other teams will no longer be breathing a sigh of relief when Ollie takes a break on 60 minutes as they know they’ll have a face a new, and different challenge.
So according to the official AVFC website, we have TWO away games on the 17th Sept. One at Young Boys and one at Wycombe. Does that mean we’ll be sending the kids down to Wycombe for the League Cup game?
JG, r0bb0,
SJM’s comments are interesting. Glad they’re positive, and reminded me that he had been critical. Not overly, but in a way that showed he’s not afraid to wear the armband.
I wouldn’t have minded the money, but as we can see, there’s a real player there. And while he doesn’t offer the all-round game Ollie does, we just have to have an effective second striker. And he’s been very effective indeed so far.
I thought he was going and that bridges had probably been burned. And maybe someone will come in with £40m or more next time. But I’m glad we held out, no point in strengthening a rival without exacting a price. And so far, doesn’t look as if there’s been any permanent damage done within the camp.
That’s exactly how I feel about Duran JC, particularly the bit about strengthening an opponent. You just know that the boot would have been on the other foot had he gone too West Ham, and he’d have scored against us instead of for us. . . . it’s the way it works!
If he really does continue to improve, and you wouldn’t bet against Emery guiding him to do that, then it would have been galling seeing his increased value going into the pockets of a competitor, when all the signs are that we’ll need to box clever again and raise more cash just to stay within the various financial strictures again next summer.
Ollie has energy to spare, runs all day and is a thorn in the sides of opposing players. Maybe try him in the mid field and Duran up top.
Ian, it’s a tempting thought, but bearing in mind the goals and assists that Ollie gave us last season, I’d be more inclined to give him time to click again in his preferred role. If Emery is able to give enough minutes on the pitch to keep both Ollie and Duran happy, it’d be good to know that we have a top striker and a very good back up for when the fixture list is just too congested.
It’d be great to think that Buendia is going to thrive under Emery and could become a valuable provider for whichever of Ollie or Duran are up top. He’s never going to have the endless energy that Ollie seems to have, so it would be different from the role you had in mind, but it would keep us with the two striking options up front.
You may have seen parts of Monchi and Videgany’s interview, but this article summarises it nicely: https://www.reddit.com/r/avfc/comments/1f8dft9/the_athletic_videgany_and_monchi_on_psr_the/
We’re inevitably, more interested in what happens on the pitch on match days, and the build up to that, but It’s good to get a glimpse behind the curtain to see what goes on behind the scenes too, and their interview gives a good insight into the pressure they must have felt at the end of last season.
It’s another demonstration of how tough it must be to align the financial management, and playing sides of the club, particularly one that is trying to break into the ‘top 6’. The ‘top 6’ currently have such a head start, and the rules make it really tough for anyone else to break the mould, but our owners, and the on, and off pitch, managers are making a fantastic attempt at doing just that.
Working within the two sets of financial rules must be like playing three dimensional chess, and it’s tempting to wish the rules weren’t there, but without them, it would now be Man City and Newcastle at the top of the pile, until some other corrupt set of owners decided that they wanted to buy the league. It would help if UEFA and FA rules were aligned, and you imagine that will surely happen eventually, to reduce the complexity somewhat, and maybe there are other tweaks that could be made, to help clubs such as Villa to break up the existing top 6 hegemony, but right now, it feels as if we have a shout of doing it, ‘despite’ the many barriers placed in our way.
It was a fascinating interview given by Vidagany and provides an insight into how things can change in the world of player recruitment. Him and Monchi had a handshake from the President of Juve on the Dougie deal the previous month but it was still in the balance at the death of our financial year. What if player or Juve pulled out? Who would we have had to sell quickly and cheaply for plan B? It can be seat of the pants stuff. Some might say that’s why they are paid big bucks but in an extremely fluid marketplace even the best laid plans can fail. So glad our owners employ the best in the business.
On the Ollie/Duran debate, I think there is more than enough game time available for both players to be happy. It’s squad football these days and the best teams have great squads. We need one too. The days of player discontent if they are not automatically first choice belong to history. Such thinking will just pile up players’ injuries rather than take care of their welfare. As I see it, the only time a problem occurs is when we reach a cup final where of course, everyone wants to play.
VP has been a hive of activity this week with contractors everywhere. It looked like they were installing new scanning machines at the turnstiles but I couldn’t be certain. No doubt trying to rectify the entrance gate fiasco that many experienced last home game.
Villa copping pelters over their ticket prices for the home Champions League matches. At the published rates I’d guess Heck has reached an admission price ceiling. London prices will be a struggle to achieve in Brum.
What’s really needed is a larger stadium. The Witton Lane and North Stands require expansion which Heck has put on hold/cancelled in the case of the North Stand. Expansion of both stands should be possible without demolition works taking place. They could use the space behind to construct the additional capacity whilst keeping access open to the existing stands. Sure it’ll cost more money than a demolition and rebuild job but it could be done.
My experience of the existing food and beverage services in the North Stand leave so much to be desired. Can’t speak about the current status of the other stands but Villa must be passing up millions in lost revenue over a season.
Plug,
It’s an interesting thing trying to work with older stadiums, the concourse widths, bathrooms, concessions. They may well be staying put with the club shop, etc., but the appeal of starting fresh must be strong.
As far as the interview goes, it was a very interesting look behind the curtain. Given the precariousness of the Luiz deal, my bet would be that Ramsey at least was quietly on the block as a back up.
But seems like they did the best they could and you hope (vainly) that some ‘critics’ take it on board. Some deals are easy (Ross Barkley), others are ordeals.
What I really hate is the absolute “they have to sell by” written all over it. Actually surprised they got a good price never mind anything more in return, regardless of whether SI Jr and Barrenecheo were labeled as a separate deal. One assumes we’ll be able to sell either/both for more than the £18.75m we paid for the pair.
The only card you have up your sleeve in negotiations with a want-away player is the other club not knowing your exact financial position at any given point in time.
Anyway, tough job, and interesting that apparently they (Emery) wanted to push the deal through and hang on to Ramsey.
The fans can’t have it both ways. Being in love with a stadium that was state of the art in 1920 and complaining about all the short comings in 2024 over 100 years later…well if you like it that much you have to put up with inconvenience. Same with the prices of tickets. You can’t have it both ways. Playing in the Champions League, pushing for top 6 or 4, investing in Bodymoor, a new inner city project for city youth, all things to give the fan what that they would want in their football club. Oh, and don’t forget the boat loads of money spent and the commitment from NSWE to the club. The addition of the best of the best for back room staff and coaching staff…it just goes on and on. The cost of bringing in top draw players whose pay packets are astronomical to which they have no control unless you want to spend your life looking for hidden gems and putting out squads just past their prime. Again, fans can’t have it both ways. NSWE have shown their willingness to spend and spend a lot. Yup, it’s hard on fans to cough up some extra dough but really, what do they expect for world class football in their own backyard.
I mentioned a new stadium a few months ago and was met with resistance. A new coat of paint on Villa Park isn’t going to cut it looking at the future. A time comes to pull up sticks and move on. Every big London Club has done it, put nostalgia aside and gone big or go home regarding stadiums. By the way, MUFC are in the same dilemma. Expect a new stadium to go up shortly.
By the way, Vancouver Whitecaps vs Wrexham tickets for a decent seat at an exhibition game cost $168 and change. Or just over 100 pounds. Beer was $18 a cup,mind you it was imported from Wrexham. Burgers $15. Thank god the urinals were free.
Ian, it may seem harsh, but you’re so right. It would be nice, if at some point in the future, the management felt able to give something extra back to the season ticket holders in particular, but right now they’re fighting hard to get the club back to where Villa fans feel it ought to be. This is no small challenge, and they’re having to fight for every bit of cash to save us having to take two steps back at the end of the season when we’re having to meet the FA and Euro criteria. If they dropped the CL ticket prices by £25 or more as some are calling for, that would reduce revenue by around £4million. This may not seem huge when the plan is to increase income to £400m, but they’re at the stage when they need to look at every single line in the accounts and make each one as effective as possible.
If fans really want us to compete at the top level ‘consistently’, then some sacrifices will need to be made. As you say, the owners are showing their commitment, and right now, it’s time for fans to hold their noses and show theirs too.
Theres no god given right to be able to watch inexpensive CL games. Up to now, there’s been no opportunity to watch CL games at Villa park at all! Maybe some die hard fans won’t be able to afford to get to all 4 home games, but let’s face it. . . .even going to one, will be a thrill that none of us
would have expected this year. If the games don’t sell out, then the management will have got it wrong. . . .anyone want to bet on that happening?
Good posts Ian and r0bBo. Monchi, Vidagany and Heck will have the spreadsheets in front of them for the current financial year with the projected costs and wages up to 30June 2025. We are not privy to these but can rest assured they will take action accordingly where necessary. We are in extremely safe hands.
The owners have pumped another £44 million into the club this week. We can assume the sums are required for cash flow purposes but it is another indication of how lucky we are to have these 2 gents at the helm. Not to mention Unai as coach.
Absolutely Plug. I’m not surprised the high prices have wound some fans up, and I don’t blame them for complaining, but I still agree with Ians’s position.
I imagine it’s season ticket holders in particular, who feel that they ought not to be priced out of attending all games, but look at it this way. . . .there are thousands of genuine fans on the season ticket waiting list, and many others who are unable to get to all home games and the Champion’s League offers them a chance to see their team too. I imagine Season ticket holders will have priority when buying CL tickets, but if they are unable to afford to go to all of them, maybe that’s a good thing, as some of the other genuine fans can get to see one of the games that they would otherwise be excluded from.
Is there another large venue in Birmingham? In Vancouver during the Stanley Cup playoffs the Canucks filled the arena (20,000) to watch the team”s away games on giant screens. They also put up large screens in Stanley Park so people could sit on the grass in one of the bowls to watch. Under the stars so to speak. It was very successful..literally full attendance at both sites. So much so that the park setting had home games broadcast too. Like football hockey looks under every rock for revenue.
The Calgary Flames hockey team is tearing down a perfectly good arena that sits over 20,000. Why? So they can put in more executive suites, make it more appealing to musical groups to play in, better concourse amenities, and so on. At 41 years old the Saddledome is the second oldest venue in the NHL..give or take and its a good building that’s been left to deteriorate as a new one has been in the plans for several years.
That sounds a really good idea Ian. You can think of a number of venues in Birmingham that could be used, but it’d be tricky trying to book them at this short notice. It actually feels like a missed opportunity ‘not’ to have laid on something like this. There are potential open air sites, but October to January aren’t the ideal months to be doing that.
I’m seeing plenty of comments along the lines of “how am I expected to afford all 4 games at these prices? Well, maybe that’s a selfish attitude. . . .how about allowing more fans to watch the games live?
As for the criticism over doubling the [rice for the disabled parking spaces. . . .well yes, that was worse than clumsy, especially, announcing it right at the last minute.
It’s good that the club has quickly rowed back on that one, but it shouldn’t have slipped through. It may be that the spaces are way underpriced compared with other clubs, but even from a PR perspective, someone should have put their hand up and said “this is going to play really badly guys!”
It’s difficult to know what measure we should use to decide what is a ‘reasonable’ price to see a football match. I know when we’re taken trips to London and thought about going to see a show, more than once, Ive thought, I’m buggered if I’m paying that much, and we’ve found something else to do instead. . . . and yet, the show goes on, so somebody must be willing to pay.
If you want to see a new film then of course it’s way cheaper, but then the running costs for each film in a multi theatre cinema will be far cheaper too.
One comparison we can make, is between Villa’s ticket prices and those of other clubs. If you compare the cheapest season ticket across all clubs for this season, we rank 6th most expensive, which is probably ‘fair’ in the context of our current status, particularly when you then factor in ground capacities and supply and demand. Our prices did go up nearly 5% this year, which has upset some fans, but 12 clubs had bigger percentage increases, with Southampton registering a huge 26% increase!
As for the most expensive season tickets, there are 11 clubs charging more than us this season, including Wolves.
I don’t know what the answer is, but some of the current anger feels a little overdone to me.
It makes you wonder how UEFA could ever consider applying a level playing to anything within their control. Villa have just been fined Euros 60K for late submission of their financial results to UEFA. Marseille also submitted theirs late but they get a Euros 20K fine. The lack of consistency is eye watering. Why do they do this? Do we piss them off so badly to make them behave like that?
I heard that Blackpool are putting in cabbage vending machines to raise a few extra pounds.
A comfortable win for England. First half control but more even in the second when England seemed to ease off the forward passing and revert to Beaky ball. Thought Carsey was late with his subs, TAA very ordinary and Kane was never going to score had they played until midnight.
If I was a tangerine fan Ian, I’d be feeding the cabbage machine with coins very early on.
Plug, i think vending machines take debit cards. And do you prefer red or green cabbage.
Ian, Damn….they don’t trust anybody with cash these days. And I don’t trust the personal information they collect from your debit card. Who knows where your data gets sold on to. You need a mobile phone to gain admission to VP these days. A scanner reads your QR code from it. Again who knows what other info they collect from your phone.
But in the case of said vending machine, I’d risk a debit card for a cabbage any day in Blackpool. Being a traditionalist, it would have to be a green cabbage to match the memes flying around. Spud’s honeymoon period lasts for a few days more as their game against Huddersfield yesterday was postponed.
Plug, Same at BC Place regarding scanners. I’m not quite ready for a tin foil hat, do you recommend a brand of tin foil?
Think Ian’s points are very well taken (as well as those following). It’s just the way it is and will be. The prices of the past reflect the landscape of the past. As does the stadium.
You want more loos and wider concourses, more and better food and beverage choices…You just can’t shoehorn that into an old stadium. And even if you could (say by building out from behind), you’d be spending a fortune that modernizes nothing inside the ground. And it was a very different ground 100 years ago.
If Villa mean to stick with and become one of the so-called ‘big clubs’, then at some point the stadium and revenue structure will have to reflect that.
I get the anger and nostalgia, that for some ‘the game’s gone’, all of it. But there’s simply no looking back if the supporters want a top team competing in the CL every year, challenging for the title, etc. An extra £4m to the good = Barkley, basically.
Then with scanners, great when they work…I can’t think of a concert or sporting event I’ve been too lately where they didn’t prefer that.
When we get barcodes on our foreheads it will all be easier.
Looking forward, 7 game in 23 days. Two CLs, 1 League Cup, and 4 PLs included United at the end of the run. That’s a lot.
Not that we’ll see many starters vs Wycombe, and probs a good oppty for Buendia, etc., but.
Unimpressed with England this evening. Too much just going through the motions. It was certainly the case after they went 2-0 up. Jack looked lively. Carsey knows what he has to do to get the job permanently. Put on all 5 subs from Landaan clubs. Eze and Bowen were non productive. But my biggest concern by a mile was the injury to Konsa FFS.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed but MCFC have plans for a 100,000 seat stadium. Go big or go home.
Metro population of Manchester is 2.6 million give or take and Birmingham is 4.3 million. 2 major clubs in Manchester = 1.3 million each. 4 major clubs in Birmingham = 1.0 +/- million. A rough measure and I can see a much larger stadium being built than Villa Park.
Even Birmingham City are thinking of a new stadium at 50,000+.
https://www.tsn.ca/soccer/manchester-united-s-losses-rise-despite-a-year-of-record-revenues-1.2171972
Ian, the new stadium or not debate goes right to the heart of our owners thoughts. Are they in it for the long run like the Glazers, Fenway and co? Or is their intention to maximize it for value before selling? Judging by the world wide interest in buying into the EPL, the former would appear the most likely.
I’ve been in VP with 65,000 other Villa fans in days gone by. The gate has always responded to any success on the pitch. Like now, there is a scramble for Champions League tickets with disappointed fans missing out. But not that long ago, in the Championship, the upper tier of the Trinity Rd stand was closed due to lack of enthusiasm. So get a successful team and the demand is there.
Which leads to the question how much demand? I’d say 65,000 to 70,000 cuts the mustard. Bringing VP up to that capacity has cost and disruption factors to consider. Or build new. Everton’s new stadium has cost approx £800m. Spurs new stadium cost £1.2b.
Then there is the location factor. Seems to me the obvious place for a new stadium would be around the NEC and B’ham Airport with its rail links to the city centre and London. It’s also handily situated with respect to BMH training facilities. A perfect location with a first rate transport hub.
I’m sure all of these calculations have been done by the owners. We just have to see how it pans out.
We can speculate about what the owner’s long term objectives are, but whatever they may have been when they bought the club, odds are that they are fluid, depending on how things pan out on the pitch, in the boardroom and inevitably in the lives of the owners. In the meantime, I reckon we should just revel in the here and now.
I see people still talking about being ‘ripped off’ by the price of Champion’s league tickets. What utter nonsense.
You can be ripped off over petrol prices, where you need your car to get to work, or by house rent, when your landlord fails to do the repairs and then increases your rent. . . .but you can’t be ripped off by the price of a ticket to a sporting event that you ‘choose’ to attend, and could watch for free on a pub tv if you can’t afford the ticket price. If you’re complaining about not being able to afford to go to all 4 games, then honestly. . . get a grip.
There’s talk of protests at the Everton game. . . yeah. . . good move guys. Never mind the football, I want to throw a little tantrum instead. How selfish can you be, if you’re prepared to put your own little whinges ahead of supporting the team?
The tickets for the first game sold out in record time. . . how can that be a ‘rip off’ price?
.rObb0, exactly. I suppose it’s too bad the price of a ticket went up but like you said you don’t have to buy it. The article on MCFC proves that point to some degree where although their income was at a record high their outgoings was even higher.
Proper football at last,and a nice time Saturday evening,
Just seen konsa and watkins are available, for me if carlos is fit I would start him same with watkins and Duran
Champions league then next week,lucky bsatrads that we’re lucky enough to get tickets for the Munich game
Ramsay in for Bailey otherwise it’s same as Leicester
Ollie has had 2 decent chances already
No clean sheet again,onana caught napping and martinez should have done better
Dominated so far yet 1 down
Shocking start 2 down set play again,think martinez could have done better again
Watkins misses are hurting again
4th time lucky ollie gets 1 back come on the villa
Great cross from digne
Wonder will mings give carsley a sore ear
Bad touch from rogers otherwise we would be level,great ball from tielmens
Whatever happened to “Never Give a Sucker an Even Break”? Where has Fortress Villa gone?
Classic Villa from time immemorial.
Spot on classic C/F goal from Ollie but he’s still off the pace – much like the rest of them.
Like Jack Harrison – think he could do a job for us.
Barclay on onana off
Get in ollie all square now come win this
Young had arms wrapped around rogers in penalty area
Rogers so close to setting watkins up for his hat trick
Ooh ollie another miss
Captain Chaos Rules OK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Boom what a strike duran goal of season
we are 3 2 up but Calvin Lewis misses
Could do with a 4th settle nerves
Beundi on for ollie
Another win ,not as comfortable as should have been
What a strike from DURAN
The player flying under the radar for me is Barkley. Definitely controls the mid field.
Wow…what a ride. Could’ve/should’ve had more, could have conceded more.
Very hard to beat a team so desperate for a win, odds so far against it, I think first ever in PL history that a side has lost two consecutive games after leading 2-0.
Wait, never mind. Bournemouth did it in 2022.
It’s been a while since I thought like an Everton fan. Now I’m ticked when Villa concede not so much as to the final result which now I expect a win or at least a tie.
Yeah, Ian, Barkley very steady, glad he’s getting a chance to come along slowly. There’s more to come from him.
And great to see Buendia back on the pitch.
Same here Ian. This might be the first time we’ve gone down 0-2 that I believed, rather than hoped, we’d come all the way back.
Oh mate. Just back from the match. From the depths of despair to some hope to great excitement and culminating in riotous pandemonium when Big Jhon’s long range missile detonated VP.
Don’t know how much of this I can take. Another home game, another 2 goals shipped. But delighted to see Ollie is like the buses. Nothing for a while and then 2 come together. It’ll do him the world of good.
The winner was fit to win any match. It was worth the entrance fee alone and some. Goals like that get backsides off seats and 6 feet into the air. Sullivan you plank. Big Jhon was yours for £40m but you wouldn’t pay it. Went for Fullkrug instead. £40m won’t get him now. So pleased we held onto his talents. If he keeps his feet on the ground, the sky is the limit.
After the euphoria, our defence is in need of some rectification. Clean sheets are rarer than rocking horse shit. Thought Emi in goal looked jet lagged. Onana looked off the pace. Our right side of SJM and Bogarde looked weak and most of our threats came from the left side. I’m sure Unai will have noted it. But it was good to see Emi Buendia back on the pitch.
Wouldn’t be surprised to see Maatsen and Ned as our FB’s against Young Boys. No criticism of Digne, who had an excellent game and his cross for Ollie’s first was perfection.
Agree with Ian about Barks as well. He looked in control and should do well against European sides. Just need Bouba and Tyro back now. But 4 games and 9 points, I’d have taken that any day.
Time to crack open a bottle of claret and revel in the latest 3 points.
The morning after and I’m still buzzing from Big Jhon’s missile. I’ve also had a chance to catch up on the highlights and I noticed the dark arts on show from Dyche’s coaching. Take a look at again Calvert-Lewin’s 2nd goal from a set piece. He’s offside. Except that Tielemans is playing him onside by a heel. That heel is trying to move out but Tielemans is being pushed back by one of their players and prevented from moving out. Clear obstruction Pawson which I too didn’t notice at the time. In the end Dyche got what he deserved.
its already been commented on, but the big thing for me yesterday was that despite us being 2-0 down I bet every one of us thought that we ‘might’ still come back and win it. At no point did I fell we were out of the game and that’s a feeling we haven’t had for a long time
Emery talking about finding ways of having 2 strikers on the pitch. I guess it’s a nice headache for him to have, but I imagine that if he’s unable to make it work, he’s not going to try to shoehorn 2 strikers onto the pitch at the same time . . . . they’ll have to take turns.
If that is the case, then Ollie still has to have first turn in most games (he was, after all, the number 1 striker for goals from open play in the whole division last year) but how will he then keep both strikers happy?
Onana was defo on the receiving end of very deliberate attention, which left him in some discomfort, obvs got pulled to protect him. Really hate the Dyche’s of the world. Petulant old-school tactics because he keeps taking shit jobs and doesn’t care about ruining a player’s or team’s season.
On the right side, yeah, Bogarde held up fairly well, but it’s a rough job. Harrison is no mug and he was getting mugged trying to play RB. He definitely wasn’t trusted further up the pitch (Bogarde). He did see it a little to keep them spread, but he and SJM were sort of non-factors are lot of the day.
Pau’s lack of pace is also part of the problem. He’s not ‘slow’, but Calvert-Lewin and most other strikers are going to have a step on him, and he’s not a really physical guy. Lovely on the ball, all of that, but Mings was faster and stronger. You can see Konsa is the one with make-up speed. What an intervention after DCL hesitated with Emi in his face.
And yes, Plug. As I watched the replay, you could see Youri being pushed back. I get it, but hard to really blame Villa in that situation. I’d like to concede less, absolutely, but we remember back in the day, Tyrone headed almost everything out of the danger zone.
Onana can help a bit there, but Ty was/is a master at that.
And I don’t mean to imply (because it sounds like I am) that you’re saying Villa were at fault there, Plug.
In less than 48 hours, we kick off against Young Boys in the Wankdorf stadium. It’s an artificial playing surface which must give the home team a big advantage as they’re used to playing on it whereas opponents aren’t. That doesn’t seem fair to me.
Stunned to learn of the passing of Gary Shaw. At 63, it’s no age at all. My sincere sympathies to his family and friends.
I saw him do something that I’d never seen at VP before. Receiving the ball with a defender up his backside, he could slip it behind his marker with the outside of his boot, turn and run past him. We knew then we had some special days ahead.
Hard to believe CL beckons. Agree about playing surfaces, Plug. They should all be the same.
My apologies for not getting a new page up…long story.
I’ll get one posted here shortly and we can pick up from there.
It’s seems to me that we’re struggling to work out the pace of the pitch. Does the ball tend to travel more slowly on artificial surfaces?
How’s the physio supposed to treat an injury like that?
Well. . . . .Ollie was robbed there.
That better not matter by the end
Ollie was robbed…Far too quick a review.
Fresh page is up, stay, migrate as you will.
At least the ref is consistent with the non hand balls.