Villa_Vids

1 hour ago, AvonVillain said:

I don't enjoy being a Villa fan. Plus, I genuinely believed in what DS was doing for the long haul, and feel the board jumped the gun at the second sign of trouble.

The first sign of trouble, incidentally, was the time of our miracle escape from relegation in our first season back, where I enjoyed the camaraderie on this forum after lockdown more than any other time, and the board did the right thing by sticking to the manager to prove himself capable. Which is exactly what happened. I don't expect ceaseless progression, and I do expect exceptions, like the start of this season, which I believed would pass and we'd be a vastly improved squad by now with someone to believe in and serious money to spend.

None of this matters of course. Which is why I waste time giving a largely meaningless opinion on this particular football forum, hoping for the best.

Take a break if you aren't enjoying it imo. 

Disappointed he isn't starting but happy to see Marv back. We have a lot of games coming thick and fast too.

11 minutes ago, hippo said:

The bit you highlighted was 

"Being a former Liverpool hero"

Does it really matter why ? - his points haul since arriving is decent. Rightly or wrongly and imo he has a higher amount of decenters v the results 

 

 

Forgive my error. It doesn't matter much, I just think if it stems from him playing for/or being a legend at Liverpool - it is a bit stupid. A bad manager is a bad manager regardless of history. I actually disagree with your assessment - I think it is indifference rather than "dissenters" - mainly because Smith was very popular and we are still coming to terms with Jack leaving, whilst also integrating a cluster of new players who haven't hit the ground running. It has been a lukewarm season.

Just now, hippo said:

Why is he a former Liverpool hero ?

Scored lots of goals and won a few cups for them helps I suppose 

Why would that make the fans turn quicker? 

Purslow being a GOAT again?  

1 hour ago, slovenian said:

....

4 minutes ago, hippo said:

If you're winning it doesn't matter - hell we'd have liked McLeish if he'd got us 4th and won the FA cup. !!!!

Liking/not liking Gerrard only becomes an issue if he isn't winning. Being a former Liverpool hero - I think the fans might turn slightly quicker.

But his popularity or otherwise is a sideshow to results on the pitch.

Why though? We aren't rivals with Liverpool. This is getting silly now, just get bloody behind him.  He is "all in" for Villa now.

Yes. A disappointing end for him at MK Dons. Vital experiences though. There is an interview on AVFC.co.uk - he comes across really well and appears to know where he wants to improve and where he wants to get to.  Also seems like he is being given an opportunity in pre-season to impress the manager and make himself part of the plans. Surely this means Guilbert is being sold. I can see KKH, Carney (new contract?), Tim and Archer all being included next season. Exciting. 

2 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

To be on AFTV?

No. That is my worst nightmare. 

24 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Why does Purslow look like he's been photoshopped into this the wrong size? Lol

I like how Purslow is cosplaying Steve Gerrard. Or is it SG who is cosplaying the GOAT Purslow - we will never know. 

23 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

My fever dream.

15 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

Where would you play Lingard in our system then?

As a striker instead of Watkins/Ings?

 

I think his best position has been in an AM role. Again, I like Buendia and Coutinho. We also have Bailey, Carney and Traore to think of also. The more I am reading and hearing about Lingard's attitude - I wouldn't sign him. 

It is about what Aston Villa do. I am not hoping for some other club to be our saviour or shining light. City were competition to us, we failed to use our resources wisely and put up a better fight. In the future - we need to get the majority of our recruitment correct. We need to ensure our coaching set up is the best possible. Our academy is one of the best in the country, if not the best. Our infrastructure enhanced and ready to take on the top 4/6. I am not scared of Newcastle under NSWE. I have seen signs we are capable of becoming a real top club again. Positive thinking.

15 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

Which one of Buendia or Coutinho would you drop for him?

He's a player that doesn't fit our system - he's a 4-3-3- man.

Neither. 

9 minutes ago, gwi1890 said:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CdQ-HpSMjoj/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
 

Humble young man seems grateful for every opportunity, whatever he decides to do you simply cannot questions his attitude or say he’s getting to big for his boots.

Yes. He even thanks Paul McGrath too. 

If it is the West Ham Lingard - Yes. If it is the Utd Lingard - No. 

17 minutes ago, hippo said:

Not a fan and probably never will be.

But to be fair his points haul since taking over mid season is decent. He's done it in a weird - a run victories followed by a run of defeats.

I can't really criticise his points haul so far. My fear has always been that he will undertake a massive overhaul in the summer - rather than add to what imo is already  decent squad of players.

We definitely need a CDM - Ollie + Ings have recently found there shooting boots - but another striker wouldn't go amiss in my book.

I don't think the current squad is far off being a decent team. I just hope we don't tear it up and start again based on a whim from Stevie G.

 

But you don't have to be his enemy.

The GOAT & OG.  (Martinez gutted about clean sheet )

1 minute ago, LondonLax said:

Newcastle are a similar mid table side to us. I wouldn’t call a loss at St James an upset for us myself. The Brentford one though, that’s an upset. We haven’t had any upset wins have we?

Not when we played them. It was the expectation of most fans we should beat them.

Purslow knew. Purslow is a GOAT in recruitment.

3 minutes ago, LondonLax said:

My perception under Gerrard (and I haven’t gone back through the results to check ) is that we tend to win the games we are expected to win on paper and lose the games we’re expected to lose i.e. we don’t have many upsets (the Watford loss is the only one I can think of?).

I think we play a fairly open style that you’d see from a team expecting to dominate the league. It works against teams you are better than but is too open against teams who are better than you. We don’t seem to play a cagey counter attacking game against the top 6 for instance.

I wonder if that is a legacy of Gerrard only playing for/managing teams at the top end of the table?

Add Brentford and Newcastle too. 

26 minutes ago, Zatman said:

Good victory, showed balls dropping his mate. Hopefully can continue vs Liverpool and we do not roll over

Jesus Christ...let us digest this victory first  

Got an assist.

1 hour ago, bannedfromHandV said:

It finished 6-4 to us (7–4 on aggregate), Blackburn had a man sent off too.

Amazing night.

Sam Allardyce's face when they went 2-0 up  - only for us to thwart him! Why the hell were we 2-0 down? ffs  Nostalgic. 

49 minutes ago, AvonVillain said:

An excellent post. However, I don't think it's a matter of anyone 'forgetting' the above, more a matter of trust that the club have got it right. It's clear as day he is young and developing, the concern stems that it's with our club!

In my opinion he's acquitted himself quite well so far in the role and media etc., whilst doing a poor job on the pitch. We obviously hope it's the kind of poor job that Ferguson did with United initially.

I'm also not as convinced or ameliorated as some by hypothetical 'average points over a season' claims. I'm more convinced by the summation so far: it's not going well, it's early days. Given that circumstance, the criticism, caution and hope for better that you'll find on this or any football forum is as expected as it is understandable.

That is all reasonable and understandable. However, it is truthful to say Gerrard has been compared with the likes of Keane, Robson, Bruce. McLeish etc (all coincidentally were Ferguson's students ). I am like - let him fail on his own merit. Lazy assumptions IMO. BTW I am guilty of it too, so I am not knocking anybody who compares with other managers who have failed or succeeded to justify their opinions. Admittedly, the performances and play under SG at times have been really poor, despite the talent we have at our disposal. And at other times we have played well and seen encouraging aspects.