The Unofficial Aston Villa thread!

[Paradigm]

Nothing is impossible

Look at Villarreal.

Load of rejects and cheap south american imports - decent team and they are in semi final of champions league.

We just got useless manager and chairman.

You're deluded. How can you call Villareal a team of rejects? Is Henry a reject because Juve let him go, or did he just flourish at a different club? Your squad's shite, and your manager isn't useless as tyler points out, he's just got nothing to work with and is having your chairman and your fans put pressure on him because, as I've said before, you have an inferiority complex regarding winning. You won the European cup in the '80s therefore you must be able to challenge for the title. Doesn't work like that and never has in football. Learn to accept that your team isn't any cop and maybe your results will improve. The less time spent bitching about who's to blame and the more time actually getting on and playing would be much better for you. And taking more of an active part in bringing youth players up.

[mash]

You're deluded. How can you call Villareal a team of rejects? Is Henry a reject because Juve let him go, or did he just flourish at a different club? Your squad's shite, and your manager isn't useless as tyler points out, he's just got nothing to work with and is having your chairman and your fans put pressure on him because, as I've said before, you have an inferiority complex regarding winning. You won the European cup in the '80s therefore you must be able to challenge for the title. Doesn't work like that and never has in football. Learn to accept that your team isn't any cop and maybe your results will improve. The less time spent bitching about who's to blame and the more time actually getting on and playing would be much better for you. And taking more of an active part in bringing youth players up.

Ouch! To be fair, O'Dreary is shit. The resources excuse doesn't wash. Other teams with less money and better managers have faired alot better. Bolton, Wigan and Charlton for instance. We spent £6million on Baros and £4 million on Bouma so its not as if he hasn't been given any backing. I can't believe he let Nobby go to Newcastle for £1.5 million after proclaiming he was his best piece of business ever. A shrewder manager might have got Milner going the other way on a PERMANENT as opposed to loan deal.

[Paradigm]

You can't do anything if the player wants to go back though. It was well known that Solano missed being at Newcastle hugely despite playing very well. Eventually he would have just ended up playing poorly due to not actually having any passion. Part of being a good manager is knowing who to let go if it's in their best interests.

O'Leary isn't shit, as tyler has pointed out he took Leeds to the CL semi-finals and was generally very good for us until it fell apart - but that does happen in football and it wasn't hugely his fault. He's been no worse than Gregory IMO, he just gets absolutely no backing from anyone in the setup. The fans and the board expect instant success, and it's absolutely impossible when you don't have much to work with - it takes time. Yes, Bolton, Wigan and Charlton have done well, but in the case of the latter Curbishly has been there what, 16/7 years? He's built the entire team. It took time and a lot of effort. Both Bolton's and Wigan's success were likewise the results of clubs who had excellent backing from the board and fans, and though they may not be cash-rich in terms of Man Utd standards have both had a LOT of invetsment.

Villa, on the other hand, have not invested their cash. They don't have a great squad and haven't had for many years. Their youth team is nowhere near as good as it used to be and there are far less youngsters coming through. Ellis has spent his money unwisely and now is incredibly tight-fisted because of this. It's a completely stagnant club, period. The fans are restless and bored and there's no passion because there's nothing to be proud of. So they hark back to the 'glory days' and the vicious circle begins once again. What Villa need is a long period of rebuild starting from the youth training academy upwards.

[villenium]

Para, I don't really agree on quite a few things...

1. Instant success - you are joking, fella. No Villa fan expects instant success, they just was a team that plays for the shirt and a board that backs the manager at the right time. And a manager who doesn't roll out the same tired excuses every time he's on TV or in the papers.

2. Squad - we have and have had good players, young & old. They do not seem to perform or progress...I directly blame training and management for this.

3. Youth team - we have had and have good young players.

4. Stagnant - agree.

5. Nothing to be proud of - anyone who thinks this really is a prick.

[SuperBrother]

Woo - relegation dogfight and back to back derbies, at last some excitement this season!

If we beat the scum and get them sent down I will forgive Ellis for the last 20 odd years!

[Dude Ranch]

Look at Villarreal.

There's one, and only one, similarity between them and you. And it ain't nothin' to do with football.

[villenium]

Don't be stupid. Villarreal have never won the European Cup.

[Dude Ranch]

Don't be stupid. Villarreal have never won the European Cup.

True, but that's not fair cos it's a dead competition now. But Real might win the Champions League whereas Villa never, ever, ever will regardless of how long the competition runs for.

I'll end that with a and a .

[Paradigm]

Para, I don't really agree on quite a few things...

1. Instant success - you are joking, fella. No Villa fan expects instant success, they just was a team that plays for the shirt and a board that backs the manager at the right time. And a manager who doesn't roll out the same tired excuses every time he's on TV or in the papers.

2. Squad - we have and have had good players, young & old. They do not seem to perform or progress...I directly blame training and management for this.

3. Youth team - we have had and have good young players.

4. Stagnant - agree.

5. Nothing to be proud of - anyone who thinks this really is a prick.

1. Every time a new manager comes in he's supposed to turn the club around and the expectation is that Villa could contend for at least a top 6 spot. This is highly unrealistic and has been for many years. I don't however agree with O'Leary's excuses, it must be said, he is full of shit sometimes.

2. Well I was trying to imply that anyway. The club needs to go back to grass roots rather than keep trying to buy in... players who end up as failures.

3. Nowhere near as good as it used to be, IMO.

5. You have had nothing to be proud of recently. Your last cup was the '96 Coca Cola, IIRC (which I should as you beat my club ) and you've not really done a lot since. It's a long, long time ago, and your European campaigns are back in the '80s. It's not just the players who have little passion, I think, but the players too. It needs to be reinforced that they ought to be proud of themselves and for playing for such a big club, not about trophies and achievement, which is where it's been built upon before. As was mentioned in examples earlier in the thread, you can achieve passion without having physical materials to be proud of.

I just reckon everyone needs a kick up the arse and a large dose of reality, really.

[villenium]

I agree with your clarified points more to be honest but...

Everytime a new manager comes in to any club, they come in with expectations.

Take a look at Villa's finishes since the Premiership started...and you should find that the fans aren't wrong to expect a little more but we've been going backwards since Gregory left.

As for what we have achieved since 96, true not the best but we have had quite a few forays into Europe, an FA Cup final and some good finishes in the Premiership. In fact a lot more than most clubs barring 4 or 5 big hitters, I'd wager.

[ClassicReplay]

Source: http://www.myfootballnews.co.uk/news_jump....=6&story=634991

John Gregory admits he fears former club Aston Villa will be relegated this season.

Ahead of their big clash with West Brom, Gregory said: "In the last few years these derby games have just been about local pride. This time there's a lot more at stake - the manager's neck is on the line and fighting for survival dictates a different approach.

"David O'Leary is manager of one of the biggest clubs in the country and has one of the most coveted jobs in the country.

"But the captain recently said the atmosphere was like a graveyard in the dressing room and there is a lot of negativity around the place. There's a malaise."

[villenium]

If that's true then it is the manager's job to do something about it.

It is possible to make people believe and fight for a cause, you just have to find what makes the individuals tick first and then work on that.

To be honest, a footballer shouldn't need that much encouragement...it's a great game to play and is certainly a lot more enjoyable than doing a 9-5 job. Or a 9-10 job in my case.

No one expects the current Villa team to finish top 10, or indeed win anything, but it is right to expect better performances than we have seen from the squad we have. That is solely down to the manager to sort out.

If you want a top 10 finish, then the Chairman and the board have to step up and do their bit.

[dr_manhattan^]

Any thoughts on why all five clubs in the west midlands seem to be doing crap lately?

We're having an awful season in these parts with Wolves and Villa drastically underachieving and Walsall, West Brom and Blues looking at relegation.

With the exception of Walsall all of these clubs have invested so that's not the problem.

I'm not sure if any of you guys care as you're still top dogs but I find it a little worrying to be honest.

[ClassicReplay]

Any thoughts on why all five clubs in the west midlands seem to be doing crap lately?

We're having an awful season in these parts with Wolves and Villa drastically underachieving and Walsall, West Brom and Blues looking at relegation.

With the exception of Walsall all of these clubs have invested so that's not the problem.

I'm not sure if any of you guys care as you're still top dogs but I find it a little worrying to be honest.

edit 20:23 Wed

On a serious note, what player in his right mind of any decent quality would wanna come to the Villa or Birmingham? London and Manchester will always attract bigger players as these clubs pay stupid amounts of money.

Nobby Solano couldn’t wait to get back to Newcastle; he already had his bags packed before speaking to O'Dreary... The days of Paul McGrath, Andy Gray, Gary Shaw and Peter Withe are long gone, Villa currently has a shit team, I hate to say this but it’s true. 3-1 up or 3-1 down I'll always support them though, Villa till I die.

[Don Rosco]

Gary Cahill makes it 2-1 against Birmingham City.

"Ha Ha!"

[Beertiger]

That second goal was amazing.

A far better game than the snoozefest that was Blackburn vs Liverpool.

[theredstar]

I'm suprised that anyone would say our youth set up is poor.

Moore, Ridgewell, Cahill, Samuel and Davis have all come through recently. I'm not sure that all of them will have great careers in the Prem, but we've had more kids come through under O'Leary than for years.

[SuperBrother]

YESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!

Just back from the pub and it was lovely to put the scum back in their place.....VILLA!!!!!

[Paradigm]

I'm suprised that anyone would say our youth set up is poor.

Moore, Ridgewell, Cahill, Samuel and Davis have all come through recently. I'm not sure that all of them will have great careers in the Prem, but we've had more kids come through under O'Leary than for years.

How many of those are from Birmingham? Er...

[Salsa Party Animal]

For today squad

All home grown players (or bought before starting youth football)

Samuel from South London

Davis from Northern Ireland

Cahill from Yorkshire

Ridgewell from East London

Barry from Brighton

Luke Moore from Birmingham

Craig Gardner from Birmingham

Gabby from Birmingham

Signing

Angel, De La Cruz from South America

Baros, Berger from Czech Republic

Sorensen from Denmark

Bourma from Holland

McCann from Merseyside

Taylor from London ?

Phillip from London ?

Loan

Milner from Yorkshire ?

Hughes from Republic Ireland

We got healthy mixture and good youth policy, we just need to improve development on midfielders and Full Backs.

Great result and fanstatic goal especially Cahill. I do think the midfield and Milan's strike partner need to work together and hunt more effectively.

[SuperBrother]

How many of those are from Birmingham? Er...

Who cares?! Blues are down, Villa are the only premiership side in the Midlands - we could play a team of umpalumpas and I'd be happy!

[villenium]

No real crowing from me about beating Blues because we just had to win regardless of who we were playing.

Once we settled we showed a bit of grit today and the young lads are doing us proud.

A word for Baros too...if you give him service, he scores. Simple. But you can't expect strikers to win games on their own. Unless they happen to be Maradonna of course.

We still need to get 40 or more points and then it's time to take stock. Build the team around a few experienced heads and bring the younger players on.

In the next year or two it could all go very well or very badly....O'Leary, it's over to you...

[SuperBrother]

Hmmmmmmm, It's Jo - Superbrother's bluenose better half here, he's gonna hate this.........

Lots of emotions flowing in my house this afternoon/evening. On the one hand, if we go down, I welcome the opportunity of Bruce resigning for the good of BCFC (which he should have bleedin' done months ago) and the majority of the big wage players leaving to leech off someone else, a chance to rebuid from scratch. Hope we can keep Jermaine Pennant who I think is a superb profressional but other than him, I'm quite happy for the 'names' like Heskey, Izzet, Butt, Forss, Dunn, Jiri, Sutters to 'do one' to bigger clubs.

I hope that we'll come up straight back up once we're rid of the dead wood and fill our team with hungry players again.

Even if you're a Villa fan, it's surely a bad day today - will next year be as fun when there's just you as the Midlands team in the Premiership and for how much longer is that going to last.

While I would always love for Blues to end up above Villa, I would never want them to go down. If I could have Blues, Villa, Baggies and Wolves in the top league year after year, then that would be brilliant, so exciting, full house derbys, etc.

It's a rotten, rotten day but we'll be back because we 'Keep Right On', there'll be 'Joys & Sorrows too' - more sorrows than joys that's for sure.

We ain't dead and buried yet - I'm off to see the Blackburn game on Wednesday and I'm hoping to see some fight and determination agains Sav the Judas and the rest of Welshburn. Superbro ain't been to a Villa game in bloody years but the rivalry's still there - t'is a good job he's good in bed otherwise I'd be off :-)))

Come on you Blueboys!!!!!

Jo

[villenium]

Nice sentiments there but since when did 'superb professional' mean drink-driving, turning up to work pissed and getting into fights in The Works?

Having said that I agree with more or less everything you say. It's good to have Midlands teams in the top flight but I'd rather that we all had something to cheer about other than the occasional derby win.

Whatever happens in the remaining games it will be a poor season for the Midlands clubs, one way or the other.

Mind you, we've suffered for years and we still stick by them and I can't see that changing.

Good luck for the rest of the season...and as long as we don't go down, I actually mean that.

[SuperBrother]

Jaysus chirst - how'd my beyatch get in here!?

[the_debaser]

We're going down with the baggies, down with the baggies...

;_;

[Don Rosco]

Even if you're a Villa fan, it's surely a bad day today -

I kind of agree with that, especially as one of my best mates is Kenny Cunningham's cousin. I don't want to see him go down (ROI legend), and the derbys are pretty much the only thing we have to look forward to. I do hope you come back up and we fucking batter you again.

I still can't shake the short-term glee of beating yiz 3-1 though, sorry. And we did need those points nearly as bad as you did.

[theredstar]

How many of those are from Birmingham? Er...

I don't see the relevance.

A decent youth set up can't just be restricted to the local area. All clubs employ scouts to find decent kids wherever they can find them. How many of any clubs youth players are from the local area? Davis is from Northern Ireland, how was he meant to get a decent (or coaching) game over there?

It'd be nice to have all local kids playing for the club (better still if they were fans), but that's never going to happen.

I'd still say our youth set up is as good as it's been for years.

[Paradigm]

I don't see the relevance.

A decent youth set up can't just be restricted to the local area. All clubs employ scouts to find decent kids wherever they can find them. How many of any clubs youth players are from the local area? Davis is from Northern Ireland, how was he meant to get a decent (or coaching) game over there?

It'd be nice to have all local kids playing for the club (better still if they were fans), but that's never going to happen.

I'd still say our youth set up is as good as it's been for years.

Because when you're in a city with a population of 1m and only a small proportion of actual locals are playing for the club or are going to have the opportunity to play then IMO something is quite wrong. Local lads intrinsically have a greater passion to play for the club and won't waver in devotion. Very important as far as I'm concerned, especially when you're at the wrong end of the table. Note that I'm not saying that lads from other places shouldn't be put into the system - of course they should - but there really ought to be more locals playing for Villa. I feel the same for B'ham too, in case you're wondering.

[Don Rosco]

there really ought to be more locals playing for Villa. I feel the same for B'ham too, in case you're wondering.

Show me a premiership club which has had more locals playing for it this season. Please.