I don’t deny it. I’ve been one of the team’s most critical (ok, moany) Villa fans of all, this season.
I can’t help it. The older I’ve got, the more critical I’ve become overall and I honestly wish I was more like my grandsons, who always have 100% belief that we are going to win. I used to be like that too, when I was late teens. What happened?
The simple answer is life and experience. Along with many of you, seeing us fail year after year to win anywhere near like our fair share of anything has ground me down. So much so that my expectations are minimised, because missing out yet again hurts less. Will the Grandsons feel the same in 40 year’s time? I hope not.
And then Unai Emery hasn’t helped. He’s raised expectations so much since his arrival, that victory is just that: expected. And when it doesn’t come, it’s all the more gutting.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good thing. I’d much rather we get close to something than not be in the running at all.
So with that in mind, while this season was one of ups and downs, it was generally massively successful and apart from winning big ears, you probably have to go back to the early 20th century, if not the 19th, to think of a better one.
I mean, it doesn’t get much better really. I obviously don’t need to recap, but I’m writing it for posterity. We reached the quarters of the Champions league, missed out on qualifying for next season’s Champions league by a whisper and wrongly disallowed goal, qualified for the Europa league and reached the semis of the FA cup.
So a load of “nearlys”, but still a great result overall. The big hope is it wasn’t a one-off and we continue to push on.
What went wrong then?
The Champions league, we battered PSG in the second half at home, but the first tie was our undoing. If only.
Premier league? Well Unai got it spot on. We were mostly really good, but that wretched run in the, I don’t know, six weeks? before Christmas proved our undoing. Thinking back to then, I think the consensus was that the lack of backup in the squad was our biggest failing and in hindsight, it was probably to be expected. The fact that we got some great loan players, that gave the team a big boost straightaway, proves the point and that was probably the biggest disappointment of all.
Still, building a better squad has to be a slow job now, given the financial restrictions, but we have a pair of the best in the game trying to get us there. I’m sure they’ll continue to do that in the summer.
And the FA cup? Well, things were going fine until we absolutely never turned up against Palace, who also knocked us out of the Carabou cup. Sometimes the opposition just seems to have your number and there’s not much you can do about it.
Missing out on Champions league qualification was the biggest disappointment of all for me. Yes, you can talk about what the Europa league might bring in , but the revenue is dwarfed by the Champions league and there’s no trying to gloss over it. It’s cost us millions and I really do hope the club try to take the PGMOL to the cleaners. They won’t win, because the game won’t let it happen. But it would make me and I suspect the owners feel better that the clowns who run our game are at least being held to account. A “complaint” is a total waste of an e-mail in my opinion.
So having looked back, we now have to look forward to the summer transfer window.
Emery has said we’re going to be busy and I’m sure we are. There are a few young players who can go and plenty of fringe and even first team players too, I suspect. First and most obvious is Marcus Rashford. There is not a chance in hell that we will be signing him. It might have been a possiblility if we’d qualified for the CL, but even then, I think it was very doubtful, I read today that he’s on £225k a week for us and coupled with a 40mill fee (even though that will be reduced) it just doesn’t make economic sense. Yes, we pay well, but we’re not as stupid as Man U.
Asensio, I’m not sure about. He’s on £150k, I believe, along with a few others. I like him, but a 4 year contract? I’m not sure, but would trust Unai’s judgement on that one.
Bailey is another cert, while he still has some value. What that value would be now, is the question? £20 mill perhaps? I’d take it, I think.
Olsen has gone, so we definitely need a new goalie. By all accounts we might need two if Martinez goes, which I think is a distinct possibility, if he gets the right offer.
Would just Martinez, who I’d expect to get us maybe £40 mill be enough to stave off PSR and the squad to revenue rules? PSR, probably but I believe the rules in Uefa competions are much more stringent, so most likely not.
And then it gets a bit concerning. We have other players who can bring us decent money in and I’ve heard talk of £100 million being raised, which is nice, but frankly not a great amount these days (it seems obscene that I’ve just written that, but that’s how it is).
So we then come into the realms of one of our top players having to leave. And we’re probably talking about Jacob Ramsay, Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers.
I believe Unai would rather sell his soul than Rogers, so there’s no way, for me. I don’t see Ollie going either. I’ve thought for a good while that we don’t necessarily have a problem scoring goals if a striker is out, but looking at the closing table shows us we do. Ollie contributed what you’d expect and finished the highest English goalscorer. But we finished the equal lowest scorers in the top ten. Unless we can bring better in, I can’t see it happening unless someone makes an offer we can’t refuse.
Which leaves Ramsay. Unai has come out and said he won’t be leaving, but I’m not convinced. If we have to sacrifice a name, I think he is favourite.
I sincerely hope not, but nowadays needs must and even though I think we’re on track to bring in around £325 million this season, there’s a good chance it won’t be enough.
I think one thing’s for sure. It’s going to be a very interesting window and I expect Unai to do a flurry of business early on.
There’s a Europa league to prepare for, after all.
UTV!
I thought it was only going to be a very quick post, but there’s so much to think about; various other transfers for a start.
Badger – just one big point – we’re in The Europa League not the Conference next season which, whilst not the CL is a step up from the Conference.
Also, win it and you qualify for the CL so, whilst the revenue is less, it gives us two strings to the CL bow and the Europa League belongs to Emery!
It’s been reported that Asensio wants to join us; the fee is reported to be £12.5 which is nominal (in today’s market) and a three year contract was mooted. He may be prepared to drop his salary if that add incentives to his contract.
PSR is the big challenge in the EPL (a completely discredited financial regulation imho) designed to protect the established clubs. In Europe it’s SCR (squad cost ratio) which drops to 70% of revenue next season – this our biggest challenge so I woukd expect us to trim the peripheral squad (loanees, Hause, Coutinho etc.) as well as players like Digne who have a year left on their contract, is 32 and one of the highest earners.
If PSR is an issue then we’ll have to make sales in June so keep an eye on that.
Going to be an interesting summer but we have a good management team and excellent owners.
UTV
Freudian slip Hitch, in that it shows what I think of both of them compared to CL.
I think the question is do I think the reward of winning it outweighs the risk of not qualifying for the CL , because we’ve burned out the squad again?
Frankly, I’m not convinced it is.
What a great summary of our season
Totally agree , Unai has increased our expectations . And for one minute I’d rather have it that way .
FFP – reckon Ramsey will be sacrificed , pure profit .
When we do buy , loan or freebies it has to make us stronger and better .
I’d take a punt on Arsensio at the right money , the guy is class and with hopefully better players around him , he will flourish .
Malen has a big part to play next season also
Onwards and Upwards and remember a few years back , Rotherham was our 1st home game of the season
UTV
Rimmer, agreed. I don’t understand Malen or Garcia, for that matter, not getting a lot more minutes.
Rotherham. Hmm
It’s been quite the rapid rise, really. And I think that’s the point of the article: We’ve a lot to be grateful for.
Malen. I appeared the touch paper had been lit early spring, coinciding with the the great run. Then, nothing. out of the team again. I don’t get it. As for Garcia…weird.
It appeared
Young Villans. Appropriate perhaps when the youngest European Final winners, Chelsea just thrashed Real Betis 4-1. I won’t comment on our 1st team comings and goings but I think we will be on the lookout for crafty loans and a free transfer to supplement in-comings, and I am resigned to losing some stars now to balance the books.
That makes preserving our U-18 side a key piece of asset management. They are the best in the Country and just won the double of PL U-18 champions and FA Youth Cup. They won’t be ready for the 1st team for probably 4 years and some of them won’t train-on. In the age-group above – the Villa U-21s were really poor, but that group was gutted by the policy of loaning out the more mature players, leaving the less able behind at VP. So there is the challenge, should the U-18s be moved up as a group to form our U-21s for next season, or dare we loan some of them out?
No, for me OLL.
I get what you’re saying, but if you were to move them up en masse, you lose the continuity. Who takes the place of the U-18s?
I say we should just keep going as we are, but to be honest, I don’t look much at anything other than the main squad, so don’t profess to know much about it.
If Villa give Asensio a 4 year contract, then frankly, they deserve to be in financial shit. 2 years with an OPTION of a third maximum, IF the club wants. In other words, IF you produce the goods and make a difference, which you didn’t in your loan. 4 years would be stupidity, 3 optimistic.
I agree BFR.
I only mentioned 4 years because it’s the standard term.
I wouldn’t give him that long either and think giving players incentives is always a good idea when they’re at the back end of their career.
The trouble is the player will want the longest deal they can get, so it boils down to how much we want him and how much other interest there is in him.
Personally, I’d like to see him on around £100k a week too, but that’s not going to happen.
I wonder if bonuses for goals scored and assists etc still apply these days?
You never seem to hear of them anymore.
Ye thought malen was really good and with a run of games can only improve
Still coming to terms with how we never turned up Sunday
I hope Malen and Garcia can contribute more next season, just like Tielemans who wasn’t used too much in his first season here.
The secret of success historically if you look at Liverpool and Manure under Ferguson, is continuity. They added 1-2 top players every season and shipped out only those who weren’t making the grade.
If we do have a mass clear out with lots of incomings, I can’t see us improving on this season. When you look at the Premier League as we have now, there are the Sky 6 plus Newcastle now who you would expect to finish above us. Spurs and Manure simply won’t have as bad a season as the last one. Spurs will be able to sign better players than us with their revenue and CL. Manure despite their fall from grace will still have a bigger pull than us, plus they won’t have Europe to affect their league form.
IMO, we are in a pool of teams including Forest, Everton and Brighton trying to upset the big boys club. With Everton and now Leeds if they can stay in the Premier League next season, with bigger stadiums on the horizon, we are always going to find it tough to compete.
I’m the same as Badger, whereby I struggle to get optimistic about the future having experienced decades of mostly mediocrity and missed opportunities.
To be honest, I don’t care about JUST qualifying for Europe every season. I want to see us win silverware like bloody Palace, Newcastle, Liverpool, Citeh, Chelsea, Spurs, Arsenal , Leicester, Man Ure and even West Ham have achieved in the last decade.
To win silverware, we need winning mentality and not the fragile mentality possessed by too many of our squad, as shown against Olympiakos, Palace (twice) and Manure in what was effectively a final. The PSG game I won’t count because they are at a different level to nearly all other clubs.
Next season will be 30 years without a significant trophy.
Come on Unai and Monchi, let’s make next season a winning one!
Holte, we’re not in the same category as Everton and Leeds. It’s exactly that kind of thinking that’s holding us back. We’re not trying to break the Sky 6. We’ve done it 2 seasons in a row. We’re one of THE biggest clubs in England.
If top 5 gets Champions League, the target if MINIMUM 5th. We missed it by a whisker this season because of the toll the maiden CL campaign took on the squad in the first two thirds of the season. Please don’t anyone ever mention Villa in the same breath as Everton and Leeds.
Regarding squad overhaul, Fergie didn’t get rid of players who didn’t make the grade. He got rid of players who were pushing 30. Those are the players we need to move on, regardless of how soft the spot we have for them is. That’s why I wouldn’t go near Asensio. He’s got nothing to prove and the hunger simply will not be there. It’s basic psychology.
As we’re in the Europa League, everyone will expect us to win it and Unai won’t give a toss about the domestic cups; we won’t be anywhere near the latter stages next season. However, there’s a problem: Crystal f****** Palace. If I’m not mistaken, have they not qualified for the same competition? If we meet them in the latter stages in Europe, would you bet against us? Erm, yep. I would.
Personally, I believe the number 1 target for Unai and his players should be the league title. Yes, the title. But that’s just me. F*** Everton and Leeds. Especially Leeds.
UTV!!!
You’re right BFR, we have broke into the top 6 over the last two seasons and long may it continue. Unfortunately my Spidey senses tell me that it’s likely to be short term rather than long term. One day Emery will be gone and we will be hoping for a capable replacement. It’s just a fact that we can’t compete financially thanks to the financial restrictions suited to the already established top 6.
Putting tickets prices up another 5% which is more than inflation currently at 3.5% to drive up revenue is just peanuts in the scheme of things and will alienate the fan base as they exploit their loyalty. They should have frozen ticket prices as they make their fortunes mostly from TV and merchandise etc.
Some fans will be happy for a while with just European adventures, but in time history books will show a big fat zero for honours won.
Next season, Emery will be almost expected to win the Europa League cup with his track record which is massive pressure. Will we have the players capable of dealing with this pressure seeing as we don’t currently.
To be honest, if we finish mid table with an Carabao league cup win, that would be preferable myself and to most fans over a 4th place finish and nothing else. People remember silverware over top 6 finishes!
https://x.com/AvfcArchive/status/1928154469381898659?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
Love this.
Many outlets reporting we bid 40m for Lucas Chevalier. I remember being impressed last season but don’t know too much. Good age for long term investment.
Definitely. He looked good when he played against us in the quarters.
https://youtu.be/6iib_FEE_6I?si=sbq67CGaPDdBpCHw
A brilliant listen.
Thanks for the link Bum Bum – it was interesting but also very sobering.
The message that came over loud and clear was – if we want a successful team then there’s no room for sentimentality.
I’m reassured by Emery staying that our owners are in for the long haul – it’s going to be a fascinating two or three years and I can well see the discussions around a new stadium rather than further ‘fiddling’ at VP taking centre stage.
Hitch my apologies if my post came across aggressive it was born out of frustration and wasn’t meant personally.
Hopefully we can kiss and make up matey? 💋 😁😂
No problems RSS – we all get emotional about the Villa!
Cheers Hitch.
Opta rating Villa as the 10th best team in the World – who would have thought it. See interesting MOMs article below.
https://myoldmansaid.com/five-reasons-to-be-cheerful-after-disappointing-season-finale/
And Emi wins Save of the Season – another trophy to add to his impressive haul.
Well done Emi.
RSS has done his stint on the naughty step and is now free to rave about Matty Cash again.
Heh, welcome back fella 🙂
Cheers Badger 😁
Come on mate you know deep in your heart Cash is the dogs.
Just how good are this PSG side?
We gave them a good run for their money.
We sure did and were probably the only team to really test them. What a night this could have been for Aston Villa.
On this showing we are a much better side than Inter.
This Doué is some player and still only 19?
I wanted PSG to win as I believe they’re currently the best side in the world.
I’ve just said to the missus, another 10 mins and we’d have beaten them.
I also think we’d have beaten Arse too, in the next round.
And then pissed all over Inter, as they really aren’t very good and they’ve been totally embarrassed tonight.
PSG have battered them and that’s absolutely not supposed to happen in a CL final.
I’m happy knowing we lost closely to by the ultimate winners.
Because that’s what it took to beat us.
Just happened to be the wrong side of the draw?
Watching that performance I don’t feel we’d have a enough to turn PSG over, they were on fire tonight but there’s no way we’d have been done 5-0.
That PSG performance puts our 1 goal aggregate defeat to them in perspective. I said they gave us a lesson in finishing, and PSG demonstrated again tonight how accurately they shoot. Worthy winners and best team in the competition. Arteta – are you still being a petulant trash-talking clown or do you agree?
Here’s an absolutely bonkers scenario 🙂
Villa sell Watkins for £50m and sign Rashford either outright or on another years loan with an obligation to buy!
When Rashford came to Villa, Emery seemed to prefer him to Watkins.
There may be a trend developing here where Emery wants to build a team with ‘his’ players rather than those he’s inherited – or am I being completely barmy?
There are clearly exceptions – Konsa, McGinn and Ramsey to name just three!
Hitch, you’re right.
That’s bonkers.
Emery’s got a lot of leeway, but just no.
Absolutely no.
Onana being linked with a Saudi move. We paid over £50m so I wouldn’t entertain anything below £75m and that’s not going to happen. Towards the end of the season, he was beginning to show the quality we hoped he had. He also built up a great rapport with the fans.
I don’t think Villa need to sell players who we see as our future. Onana is young and already experienced. We can offload a number of players at the end of their contracts. Bailey and Digne I can see leaving. The one player who I would want us to keep, but might be on his way, is Kamara if he doesn’t sign a new contract.
Onana probably the next Villa captain…
Does every club have their players linked with Saudi? It was a shame to lose Daiby last year.
I have no idea of Emery’s plans but we were severely hamped by defensive injuries earlier in the season. We have short memories as to how decimated we were. If we take the average points tally when even ‘most’ of the squad is fit, we’d have 10 or 15 more points this season.
I think we’ll see some ruthless moves this summer.
A bloody mess in Paris and France in general. 2 dead and hundreds arrested.
And they have the cheek to call hooliganism the ‘British disease’? Awful times.