duke313

That’s a decent appointment. Brentford losing their manager this late in the season is a big blow.

6th or 7th should be our aim, anything above that is not happening unless we win all our remaining games.

That idea has been abandoned

Which is good news for us next few seasons with Emery building his team. There is a vacancy the big 6.

This feels bigger than just a below par season for those teams, we could be seeing a genuine shift in power. Chelsea - Complete shambles of a club, owner hasn't a clue, going to get destroyed by FFP. Liverpool - Wheels coming off for Klopp, aging spine, VVD is done, no midfield, Salah will be off if they don't get CL. Spurs - Too reliant on one player, Kane will be gone in Summer, manager merry go round, they're Spurs they've no right to be included in the elite anyway. Us, along with Newcastle and possibly Brighton are in a good position to take advantage. The timing of us getting Emery is perfect.

Credit where credit is due. I might be in the minority, but I feel the Newcastle rivalry is a bit forced. I’d much rather them get top 4 than seeing Spurs or Liverpool qualify again.

Long May it continue

Sounds like Bailey

As if sacking two managers in one season, sitting in 11th after spending £300m, they now hire an average manager the previously sacked. Chelsea have officially entered their banter era.

No chance we catch them, even if we beat them. 9 points ahead now, only lost 3 all season

Off to a good start, Newcastle 1 up already.

Draws would do

Having looked at villa match thread on their forum, their fans are all predicting a win for them. Am I missing something? Are their fans delusional?

We'd been linked with Antonio Cordón, was Sporting Director at Betis recently, largely responsible for their recent recruitment and resurgence. Left Betis not that long ago, so is a free agent. Was also linked with Barca recently. Maybe Don Emery can convince to join the project.

2021-22 - 6th 2020-21 - 8th 2019-20 - 6th Yes and No

Maybe we can include Bailey in any deal for Kudus, wasn't he linked there before or was that bullshit?

It's understandable from a certain perspective. You only have to look at Leicester and West Ham and see that a couple seasons in Europe and playing so many games in 2 years, they are both now struggling massively, and might even get relegated. There are of course other factors to that, but long European campaigns definitely contributed. The main difference for us is we have a hugely experienced European manager, so if we break into Europe, we might not end up like Leicester or West Ham

No more than 3 losses in a row in his entire career.

Refuses to change system even if he doesn't have the personnel, sounds familiar. I think the wheels are coming off like they did at Dortmund. Don't think he was sacked there, if I remember correctly, he walked at the end of the season, can see him doing that again. As for what he'll do next, don't think he'll have any shortage of job offers, he'd likely decline any English jobs, but after a break he'll go to Spain or Italy. I could see him at either of the Milan clubs.

Still heavy links with Luis Enrique, most Chelsea fans want either him or Naglesmann. Think I'd prefer Enrique to be honest, don't think he's that good a manager. His Barca tenure aside, he has been extremely underwhelming, and even when he was at Barca, he had possibly the best forward 3 attack in history all in their prime. His Spanish team played some of the most boring football I'd seen at the World Cup last year.

Probably just one of his mates in the media trying to get his name about for a job. They'll be doing the same for Slippy G when/if Klopp leaves.

Buendia has also played that role Bailey played last night, possibly swap him back out left?

Always interesting to see how we are viewed on other clubs' forums. I took a look at the Arsenal forum, and they have a thread on us titled 'Aston Villa: The Emery Era'. They still have a lot of love for Unai there, but also some weird comments like why we are not playing Digne more, and another somewhat bitter comment hoping we get relegated because we are a horrible club.

I could be wrong, but I believe that Arsenal's recruitment is mainly handled by their Sporting Director, Edu. Not sure how much input the manager gets, if any.