Of our last two games, Pool and Palace, I’d normally be most worried about the former, probably because it’s rare for us to beat them.
But Palace are in excellent form and have taken 16 points from their last 18, only bettered by Citeh, who we rely on tomorrow.
A glance at the form table is a bit of a surprise really, because while it’s pretty universally accepted by us that we’ve been miles off our best, with our small squad and tiredness having taken their toll, we’ve won two, drawn two and lost two in our last six games.
The surprise then is that Liverpool have done exactly the same.
We’ve actually done better than them if you only take the last five games into account and while I don’t set to much store by previous games, it is at least a bit of an indicator that Liverpool aren’t exactly flying either. Not that they need to be. Third place is guaranteed, so can we hope they will have their holiday attire on?
I doubt it, as we don’t get that sort of luck.
Squad news then and with Villa, a lot is up in the air as the fitness of several players with small injuries, including Nicolo Zaniolo, Youri Tielemans and Alex Moreno is being monitored.
It’s all demonstrative of how fatigue has caught up with the lads.
As for Liverpool, Joel Matip and Thiago Alcantara are out,but they are hoping Diogo Jota is ready for a return.
A Reds fan who I’m working with in Liverpool has had a bet that Nunez and Watkins will get two shots each and Luiz will be booked. I told him it could be a decent bet, particularly the Luiz part, but that I wasn’t sure about Ollie, as he can sometimes be taken out of the game if the midfield isn’t offering any supply.
I think this game is easily summed up by the fact that if we were in top form, this is a game I’d have been pretty confident of winning.
Unfortunately, we look jaded and slow, hence I don’t think we’ll be able to live with Liverpool’s overall pace and press.
Would a draw do tonight? Maybe, but Spurs need to win both their gams really because a win and a draw would also require them turning round our 8 goal difference in the difference.
The trouble is, I don’t see a draw, as much as I’d probably take it and it’s another game where I just don’t see us winning either.
It’s a 2-1 or maybe even 3-1 defeat, I’m afraid, with us holding our breath tommorow night.
UTV! and come on lads, one last push!
If spurs could finished 7th then they will probably fail again
Any word if united can still beat us to fourth place. Lol!
Yeah, Ten Bob is berating the media as we speak…
It must have been some night at the End of Season Awards dinner which coincided with the Spuds / Citeh game.
Hope they had enough bottles of bubbly available.
I bet the players are going mental at the end of season awards dinner!!!!!
It is gonna take a while to sink in!!!! For a while it looked like Spuds may have ‘Done a Villa’ and come back against Citeh!!!🤣🤣😍
I bet you we bloody well crush Palace now!!!!!!
(And I’d wager Unai is hunched over his laptop beavering away!!!).
I’m sure he’s got an ergonomic chair, Bum Bum. The best on the market, I hope! 😉
At times I’ve been critical but how on earth did Saint Unai get us over the line with all those injuries? All those games?
Sir, you are a genius.
I thought that we might do it but thinking about it and it actually happening feels quite different. My bet is that Monchi’s phone is red hot right now as being a CL team is a real carrot for the best players.
Just the thought of Barca, Real or Bayern lining up at VP as the music plays sends shivers down my spine. We need to beef up our squad, something that I’m sure that Emery and Monchi have planned for. I’m hearing that Alex Baena might be a target, great young player who has the most assists in La Liga with a middling club. Hope we get him.
Anyway, whatever happens let’s enjoy the moment. The rollercoaster has gone up and down and we have had to grind out some results but we made it. Emery is a genius and long may be continue to work his magic at VP.
tears in a villan’s eyes not gonna lie. what a great day, & how enjoyable the last game will be. we can just relax not a care in the world now
Stick the kids on v palace! And maybe advertise some of the dead wood!
I had the strangest dream last night…😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀
Gotta agree with Korean Villa. Tears in my eyes this morning too.
https://twitter.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1790488207924113749
This pic will be my phones screensaver for a while!!!!
Is it too early to go out for a celebration beer???? 🤪🤪🤪
I’m the one with tears in my eyes, My heavenly son would be doing somersaults over this. he had a snooker room kitted out with memorabilia of the Villa plus he had a car with a Villa plate and corporate seats at the Villa son they did it . I see the club was together last night watching the match and boy I bet it was a party.
THANKS, UNI Your the best ..
What a lovely thought, Bill. I’m sure he celebrated with you last night!
Indeed Bill. He’ll be cheering us on from another place.
Unai’s speech from last night. What a legend this man is. Pure class. Not many true gents like this guy around in the game. An example for all young fans of how to conduct oneself. Maybe I should stop swearing so much on here!
“It’s a very special day today,” said boss Emery.“It’s our dream, it was our dream when we started the season to be here.”
“To play Champions League is, after the Premier League, the best. You can play in the Premier League against the best teams in the world, it’s very difficult. When you are playing in the Champions League you are playing against the best teams, at the same time, from other countries. And it’s amazing.
“And we are always responsible about the history here, we know the history of Aston Villa is so long and so successful. Even in the Champions League, before it was the European Cup, we knew the responsibility was to try to increase our level, try to be demanding and to dream.”
“And now to win the Champions League like Aston Villa did in 1982, if we are there and we are in, then it’s more easy than if we are not. It’s another dream and the most important is to have dreams and try to work hard for it.
“Of course, I’m very, very, very happy and very proud of you (the supporters), the players and everybody. I want to enjoy more and, next year, now the new challenge starts for us. To build again a team, being strong and being strong to go and always increase our level.
“This is our objective and always it’s trying to enjoy with you, the supporters; you are the heart of the club. Up the Villa!”
Brilliant speech that BFR – Unai has bought in 100% to the unique ethos that Villa is a family and to be part of it is special – he’s built on that bond.
Like Sir Ron before him he will forever be a Villan.
UTMV
Absolutely, mate.
Have just watched it on Villa TV. Unai shouting “up the Villa!” in a Brummie accent is absolute class. What. A. Legend. 👌👌👌
Love the guy BFR he’s brought back the love of the game of football to me . A proud Villa Fan am I thanks Villa you’re the best. .
Must say that I loved the maniacal look on Emi’s face when he started spraying everyone with champagne at the dinner. What a man! Lovely to see all the players so genuinely happy and, as ever, a thoughtful and aspirational speech from our leader and manager.
Isn’t it great to be a Villa fan!
(BTW you can exhale now)
And in other news – Sanson has completed his move to Nice.
We move on,
Hahaha! Just read Manchester United are thinking about signing Ollie Watkins
How about we are thinking about Garnacho….
Tom, why would Watkins go to an under performing side not in the Champions League – may not even be in Europe!
I did enjoy writing that 🙂
£350m, cash upfront and he’s yours.
Man Utd. Entitled losers.
(And Ollie would still say ‘No’, because he’s got his head screwed on).
Hear hear Hitch , bloody papers and refs they haven’t a clue when it come the the midlands have they . The home of football.
Badger – regarding the link you posted to the article on Villa’s increased revenue stream / commercial reach in qualifying for the Champions League.
It will e interesting to see how much Heck can leverage the commercial appeal of the revamped format – after all that’s why he was bought to the club.
If the Adidas and Bentano deals (secured before qualifying) are a yardstick then expect a significant boost in commercial income in the next financial year.
On the stadium – my take is that Heck doesn’t see the return on the expenditure involved currently making any commercial sense. The majority of revenue comes from TV, streaming, prize money and regular qualifying for Europe leveraged against commercial opportunities – not, sadly, bums on seats.
We do need to modernise elements of the stadium but need a more elegant solution than losing the use of a whole stand when we need 42,000 fans creating an atmosphere like Monday evening.
Great quote from a Brentford fan who visited Spurs stadium recently “It’s like watching a game in an IBIS hotel”.
Just about sums it up.
I wrote last night that Spuds stadium seems too big for them. We have to be careful not to go down the same route. Develop Villa Park, but in a sympathetic manner.
Daily Express: ‘Ollie Watkins devastated to the result last night because he’s an Arsenal fan’. Who believes this sh*te???? Who writes it????
And so it begins 😁
https://www.footballinsider247.com/aston-villa-set-to-announce-17m-deal-this-week-sources/
Old news RSS – Adidas deal announced a couple of weeks ago although no final details.
Maybe there were two sponsorship amounts on the table depending on whether we got Europa or Champions League.
The piece Badger linked earlier had a figure nearer £8m when benchmarked to Barcodes Adidas deal.
So the only point in question is how much!
Not to me me old China 😂
“On the stadium – my take is that Heck doesn’t see the return on the expenditure involved currently making any commercial sense. The majority of revenue comes from TV, streaming, prize money and regular qualifying for Europe leveraged against commercial opportunities – not, sadly, bums on seats.”
Hitch, I agree with the reasoning there; however, from various ‘sources’ my understanding is that the club still see a need to increase capacity at VP in the medium-term. As I understand it, two factors scuppered the previous plan: the 1st was the one mentioned by Heck – the idea of having a quarter of the ground as an empty building site for at least one season (possibly longer-) just as the fans have been making a difference to the on-field performances was not something they wanted.
Purslow’s plan was one where nothing would be built until the North Stand had been demolished; that’s not how Liverpool (for example) have steadily enlarged Anfield in recent years: the work there went on in the background and was intended to cause as little noticeable loss of capacity as possible while it was underway.
The 2nd ‘issue’ was the old bugbear of local infrastructure, particularly Witton rail, parking spaces and the abysmal road system around VP. The club have not had much encouragement from B’ham City Council (-maybe it’s in the name…) since they are bust; they were having some promising input from Andy Street , but now that he’s gone, they need to see what the new WM administration can offer.
Personally, I still expect that we’ll see VP at over 50,000 capacity within a couple of years – as long as the on-field success is there to justify (and pay for-) it!
Extremely well reasoned Ardent and, in principle, I don’t think we’re that far apart in our thinking.
Neither of us are arguing for a new ground and both of us are suggesting (implying on my part) a phased improvement (to 50,000 ? – although I didn’t use that figure) without disrupting the fan involvement and subject to a valid return on investment (cost) argument.
As you say the development of VP without substantial investment in transport infrastructure by the LA makes no sense and, given that BCC are essentially bust, why would they agree to it (in preference say to backing Blues space ship stand)? Andy Street was, in my view, a forward looking mayor who understood how to attract people / investment to Brum – will the new mayor have the same broad vision ?
Having said all that Villa are in the Champions League with two billionaire owners prepared to invest and back the club – simply Blues are not in the same league. If BCC and the mayor cannot see the massive potential financial benefit by investing in improving access to VP then BCC will continue to be in the financial mire and our owners may make decisions that BCC will regret.
I can’t believe it been dreaming of champions league since November and despite all them injuries we did it I’m absolutely buzzing
https://twitter.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1790488207924113749?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
That image will stand the test if time. Love it. 😍
Ollie looks like George Bush when being informed 911 was unfolding. Big boyhood Arsenal fan, apparently. So I can (just) forgive him the delayed celebration!