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!
Comments
221 responses to “A sum up of the season and what might be next.”
You forget one thing Holte.
We have a great manager who can punch above his weight, combined with a superb load of backroom support.
While Mam U have a donkey as a manager and backroom support/owners that their fans detest.
I don’t think it bodes well for them, even if they are one of the biggest clubs in the world.
Plus, we’re respected. They absolutely are not and are mostly derided.
That’s just an added bonus. 🙂
Financing the new stadium for Villa would not be a problem. Our current owners can find the money, and in fact the American side are keen on it. VP would probably be demolished, there isn’t the East and West stand symmetry which enabled Highbury to be turned into high class apartments keeping the outward facades. Perhaps the painted red-brick Holte End exterior could be kept, but nothing else. Villa as the freehold owners ought to be able to develop the whole site at a profit. Downside is the neighbours.
Could it not be kept and used more regularly as a concert venue, for the ladies’ and kids’ teams? Surely that would earn more cash long term?
If the ladies game is going to grow, then it could be a good option with top tiers of stands closed. While I’d consider giving tickets away to watch the kids to get attendances up. Then there’s tours and perhaps could add a comprehensive and interactive museum to capture fans’ imaginations, young and old.
Surely, it’s worth more alive than dead?
Womens football was massively popular decades ago. 40-50k crowds were quite a regular thing, but it proved to be a fad.
I wonder if it might go the same way now?
Don’t get me wrong, it’s being hyped and marketed much better nowadays.
But in a world where men can’t stand these screeching women in the mens game…..
Or is that just an old fogey attitude?
Things changed when shirt swapping became frowned upon!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
It wasn’t a fad. The FA banned it being played on any of their clubs grounds and so killed it off as it was proving more popular than many of the men’s teams.
The reality is that the land VP is built on isn’t worth a toss, imo.
Nobody wants to live there apart from minorities and there’s no way they will pay. That load of rubbish next to the Perry Barr stadium proves that, as there’s loads of properties that they can harly give away.
Spurs moved, yes, but they’re still near their heartland.
My view is 100% not to go south. It’s bloose country.
We go north, away from that scum. Back end of Sutton or nearer Bodymoor.
It only needs a decent rail spur.
But you’re right. If the best access is the aim, it’s where you suggest.
Then, any thought of going to a game again would go out of the window for me.
Because it would prove the club doesn’t give a flying F about actual fans.
I have watched Arsenal games at the Emirates and it empties before the end of games due to the hassle getting away. The biggest problem with VP is the train service. It’s all very well improving Witton station but the biggest problem is the number of trains allocated during match days. Also why not more carriages? Aston station is just a short walk away too and I agree with the principle of adding post match entertainment to prevent the bottleneck congestion caused by 40,000 exiting in a 5-10 minute spell.
I don’t want to move away from VP. Absolutely no way would I want to move to anywhere near the NEC, although I get the transport links but I tell you now, it would be soulless. Other clubs fans are envious of our stadium. Just ask West Ham supporters. We can easily develop the Doug Ellis / Witton Lane stand to get capacity up to 60,000.
I can’t believe we are even thinking about it. My son who is 26 said he would also hate leaving VP. It’s not a generational thing IMO. It only takes a few games at VP, particularly under the lights, to fall in love with Villa and our beautiful and historic home.
Holte, the Witton Lane seats 5K. It’s miniscule and would need flattening and something similar to the Trinity building, with the North stand also being flattened too, to make any serious difference.
I forget what the North stand being flattened proposal would have given us, but I suspect it was about 50k
It’s not enough.
We’re tinkering at the edges.
To get that extra 50 mins of fans staying at the ground, you need restaurants, pubs and all sorts.
Spuds is like a Star City.
And while we keep messing about at the edges, we will never get anywhere near the required revenue, imo.
I’m pretty sure Villa (Doug) bought loads of houses on Witton lane when noone wanted them. A wise move. Doug was always good with the dough.
But I also recall we sold them.
Who and how much?
It would be cheaper to rebuild 2 sides of the stadium than move away. I’m only engaging in the premise of moving based on the premise that the is no other way if we want to compete. If we can find a way with Villa Park and the surrounding area, then there’s no way we should move.
https://x.com/SibsMUFC/status/1930155543865209023?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
A counter argument.
It’s okay for a ManU fan to say that, but we had decades of abject failure while Sir Chewalot worked miracles. I’ve seen a lot of empty seats at Old Trafford recently. What would another 10 years of shite do to their matchday attendances? Close the Stretford End? Even Citeh has looked far from full this season.
If they keep pushing up prices, a minor recession would decimate these clubs.
Delighted to see Tyrone has signed an extension to his deal. He has to start if fit, in my opinion. If he’d started more games in the run-in, we’d be in the CL. Just my opinion. An error on Unai’s part. Again, just my opinion.
Really happy for this news. Players like Mings and McGinn will be Villa legends who went from Championship to Champions League with us. It’s a shame Jack didn’t stick around and gain the same level of respect and status. I suppose the silverware and huge salary for a handful of appearances makes up for it though.
It looks like the Witton station modernisation has been given the green light with funding in place. I wonder if the queuing will be much worse while the work is carried out.
Excellent news about Mings – top player, top bloke.
The other side of the coin and I really hope this is just a rubbish rumour – Villa reported to be showing interest in Sancho – why and just no?! He’s ‘Deli Ali the sequel’ and like most sequels a great deal worse.
Sancho! Nooooooooooo 😩
Just a thought on expanding Villa Park. The North Stand is being increased by 8,000 seats bringing the capacity up to approximately 50,000.
The Doug Ellis stand currently holds approximately 9,000. Does this mean this stand could be demolished/ rebuilt to take the ground up to and beyond 60,500 (which the Blue noses are going to build). By doing this after expanding the North Stand capacity would be similar to what it is now whilst the rebuild is going on. In turn the short term hit on revenue stream would be limited.
On another note an interesting podcast on Claret and Blue. The financial expert feels that with the winter transfer business and increased Champions League revenue, Villa might just be OK with PSR requirements. The harder part will be next financial year with the drop off in revenue due to no Champions League. Therefore, do Villa look to enhance their balance sheet by doing a Chelsea? The Premier League failed to agree to stop the selling of women’s football teams. Could NSWE sell the women’s football club for an inflated fee. For example, let’s say’s it’s worth £50m, could they put £100m into the women’s football team in cash to help it improve the playing squad. And then sell it V Sports for £150m. This allowable sale would clear any PSR issues with Premier League. It would not meet UEFA rules, where our salaries to income percentage is the determining factor. However, Barcelona have shown just keep paying the fine for none compliance.
Sid – EUFA’s approach to non compliance seems more pragmatic than the EPL’s vindictive points deduction (and one where Villa are content to accept the fine) all designed to keep the hoi polloi in place and protect the position of the Sky Six. More so because PSR is a complete nonsense in terms of the real financial position of clubs given the original objective was to protect clubs from being put at risk by owners debt (Portsmouth).
So why do clubs like Liverpool and Manure get away without any recognition of massive debt liabilities whereas Villa are persecuted for losses notwithstanding they have no debt and the owners have continued to invest through share ownership – to the point where our owners have now concluded they may as well raise debt – rather than continuing to invest in shares – as it has no impact on PSR!!!
The £105m cumulative losses over three seasons has never been adjusted for inflation – which in itself is complete b**locks – and is voted against by the clubs! This means that, in addition to the Sky 6, many clubs like Brentford with no ambition other than to stay in the EPL vote against these changes to deny the ambitious clubs the opportunity to challenge the elite thus perpetuating the lack of real competition in the league.
Even when alternatives to PSR are mooted such as a similar model to the EUFA SCR the clubs cannot agree and PSR rumbles on.
At what point do our owners throw their hands into the air and say enough is enough – that’s my principle concern.
Maybe I’ve got it all wrong but, as a fan of Villa, it’s extremely frustrating, annoying and worrying.
Rant over!
Careful what you wish for. If the Yanks get their hands on the EPL fully, there will be zero promotion/relegation.
It’ll be the Harlem Globetrotters every week. This appalling World Club Championship is a perfect example of pointless bureaucracy.
Interesting what you say about Brentford voting to maintain the 2nd tier outside of the Sky 6. Hope they go down in that case.
From the Times today “Arsenal target Rogers.” I bet they do, but unless they are going to do a Citeh and pay us double what he is worth it is just close-season tosh.
I will start the counter-rumour here. “Villa target Rice.” spread it around – thanks.
I heard the same rumour about Rice OLL – it appears were prepared to do a PSR swap deal where Arsenal pay £100m for Rogers and we takeRice off their hands for £50m
Remember- you heard it here first 🙂
Would you welcome Grealish back to VP?
It’s clear that we need to bring in a wide left player and it’s,not going to be Rashford!
Problem is his wages, even with a loan deal.
My own view is no – he left us for money and trophies and so ended his Villa story.
Except, having said that, if he were to slash his wages to within our structure because he is determined to contribute to Villa’s future and we could get an initial loan deal with an option to buy then I would have to reconsider.
Interested in others point of view.
No. Over the hill.
Right player, wrong time.
I don’t believe he’d want it.
Never go back.
Now, he is one who has every chance of ending up in one of the arab countries.
He won’t be able to resist the money now, the greedy get.
Fair enough Badger – difficult to argue with that.
Time will tell.
Grealish
Another restoration job. One of the 1000 trades that Birmingham homes is a thorough service and overhaul of players in Unai’s workshop in B6. Change the oil, fit new pads, adjust the pull-to-the-left and restore that England shine. Jack has been ruined by Pep, he has many more miles on the clock and is expensive to run. Only a consideration at a knock-down price.
How much bubble wrap needs to go around his shins?
Big Ange sacked. That’s what you get for delivering major silverware for the first time in how many years? Harsh.
He was fired for looking at the mike instead of the camera – and for being surplus to requirements once Levy had tapped up a replacement.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cd9lwdegxvxo
Fascinating.
The real joke is that Manure can ignore PSR whereas Villa with little debt and responsible wealthy owners have to sell to meet the nonsensical regulations.
It’s a f*ing joke.
Absolutely. But clubs like Villa should make a lot more noise about it. The issue should be public knowledge, but it’s not. Villa officials should be laying out the situation in full in the national press, not with a ‘sour grapes/sore losers’ context, but with a ‘this is ridiculous, unfair and plain stupid’ angle. The powers that be should be pressured to comment, explain and justify. Are there no decent journalists these days?
Journalists are raising the issue; the problem is the clubs who are only interested in perpetuating their membership of the EPL on terms that suit them rather than being prepared to see the ‘bigger picture’
https://www.footballfancast.com/psr-updates-aston-villa-transfers-15m-loss/
Maybe, Hitch. But I’d like to see someone from the Premier League, the chief exec ideally, being put in a position where they’re required to justify how these rules are fair or even logical, based on United vs Villa, for example. More can be done. Shout louder…
I’m in your court BFR, I really am but the reality is nothing will be changed.
It’s like the ref Bobby Madley who’s said what every fan feels about VAR plus he’s gone further on laying the blame for VAR at the feet of those with financial vested interests in the EPL – article below
https://www.footballinsider247.com/hackett-bobby-madley-in-serious-trouble-with-howard-webb-after-amazing-var-claim/
Instead of people taking notice he’ll be censured for speaking out, probably banned and shamed into retracting his views – football, the game we were brought up on, has been destroyed.
The elite will continue to be protected no matter how reckless their owners nor how much they twist the rules.
NSWE might as well ‘join the club’ sell the women’s team to V Sports and use every other financial artifice available to them – it’s a fools game in football to be ‘honest’ and principled.
Well done, Bobby Madley. Why would he get into trouble to speaking the truth? I hope he tells Webb to stick his job up his a*** if he reprimands him. He’ll be a hero amongst fans and will no doubt get another job giving expert insight on radio or TV.
On another, but I suppose related track, it’s being widely reported that Villa, Coutinho and Vasco de Gama are working towards the termination of his contract on a mutually agreeable basis.
His current loan with Vasco ends on 30th June and the implication is that all parties want to achieve the same aim – Coutinho’s contract terminated (it still has a year to run) so that the player can sign a permanent deal with Vasco.
Assuming that there is no compensation involved then this would be a win, win all round and take £125k per week off Villa’s wage bill. Add to this the end of Hause’ contract plus the probable sale of Buendia, Dendonker, Digne, Ned Kelly and possibly Martinez would see a big reduction in the wage bill problem (have I missed any high earners?)
I expect us to pursue a policy of signing young players with potential along the Morgan Rogers ideal rather than established names earning big wages. The one exception might be Asensio with a significant reduction in his wages but a decent signing on fee in compensation which, I believe, can be treated as part of the transfer fee and amortised over the length of the contract.
Forgot Bailey – expect him to be sold as well.
While we’re on refs, sad news about Uriah Rennie. Blast from the past. RIP.
Yes, indeed BFR – very sad.
Not happy with some of the rumours swirling around VP.
Now, it seems, Tielemans is not committing himself alongside Kamara having not signed a new contract and Martinez and possibly Watkins looking to move.
I’m becoming really concerned about next season – already!
That is not good news considering how Emery has developed these players into what they are today. I’d be well ****ed off if they upped and left.
Honestly, as soon as I hear a player of our speak like that, my support for them is done. Move him on asap – no matter how important he was for us last season. With the exception of Gareth Barry, Dwight Yorke, Grealish, I don’t recall many players who thought they were bigger than Villa, moved on and did much better. So many leave us and fade into oblivion. I think he’s 10x the player for us than he was at Leicester, and would do well to remember the reason why; Emery.
It is all ‘Birmingham Lies’. Their hacks have to write anything that gets people to click on the story so they can bill the advertisers of scam medical products that pollute their side boxes. Under the ‘Tielemans shock’ headline the actual words Tielemans said were that he was happy at Villa and NOT thinking of leaving.
Just remember when the dust had settled on the January window the press nearly all agreed Villa had doe the best business in the EPL. Villa are not selling anyone unless we have a better replacement coming in, perhaps on loan if not bought.
We were just as concerned last January but with a couple of blips we were fantastic. It almost seems that some players run out of enthusiasm in less than a season and need a new challenge. So its not just our players but other clubs have the same and we swop. Simple so nobody need worry.
Always love your positivity Gerry – hope you’re right.
Tielemans, Kamara, Onana, Rogers, Watkins, Ramsey and Martinez all being linked with moves away. My view is the same as Texas Villan, whereby if they want to move, then ship them out. We should get over £200m from those players if they were all to leave.
Canadian Pete refers to players as commodities. We shouldn’t get attached to any of them, except for maybe Mings and Meatball McGinn!
I watched the second half of the pathetic England game against Andorra, followed by pathetic excuses for why we didn’t win easily. The next day I watched Alcaraz and Sinner in the French open final playing a 5 set thriller over more than 5 hours, both playing after a semi final a couple of days before, and realised that the modern day football players are a bunch of whining w*****s!
I’m getting to the stage where I can’t be bothered who goes and who comes in. Football is cutting itself adrift from the working class fans who remember the likes of the greatest team we have EVER had in 1980-82. A team that was mostly consisting of 14 players who made us proud with a no nonsense manager.
I feel for Unai Emery, because he has that same work ethic in a world of lazy overpaid (in the most part) world of modern day footballers.
Rant over!
Holte, this is why I refuse to listen/watch Canadian Pete. He is bloody clueless about the British passion for the game. That, plus I don’t like watching videos anyway and prefer the printed word.
Part of the reason our game is THE best in the world is because we do get attached to players. They are absolutely not commodities, at least not all of the time.
Consider Barry leaving, Mr U-turn and Grealish etc.
Were they commodities? I think not and it’s that shit thinking which is making the game even more soulless.
You should not delude yourself about what our owners are in it for either, as much as they’re doing a great job.
Clue. It isn’t about their love for the game.
Yorke – Gregory would’ve shot him (if he’d had a gun).
Milner – O’Neill took his ball and went home.
Further afield – Arnold – a born and bred scouser, now public enemy number one and despised by his own.
Even that Villas-Boas walked away from that French club after they sold Villa that crap French player whose name I can’t remember.
The list is long and fairly distinguished. I get the point, but to fans, rightly or wrongly, they’re not commodities.
Ramsey linked with a £30m sale to the BarCodes now.
It really is silly season. I like Canadian Pete but don’t always agree with him. He has a very cool head about him.
So many other podcasts are a joke at the minute. Going mental over any poor transfer link. It’s just clickbait.
Unfortunately it seems that pretty much any player is for sale due to PSR. It feels like this year fewer clubs are in danger of failing this absurd ruling. As a result selling clubs are at a real and dangerous disadvantage. Preditor clubs can low ball transfer offers at the 12th hour. If Villa don’t agree they fail PSR.
As we are not in the champions league next year, we really must look to sell dead wages and replace with home grown youth. I previously posted the amount of salary tied up discarded players:
Coutinho
Dendonker
Merano
These 3 represent £250,000 per week, or approximately 5% of salaries to revenue calculation. We just can’t keep up this strategy long term. We all know that if we are at risk of redundancy we start to look for new jobs. Every Villa player knows they might be sold due to PSR, therefore comments like Tilesman’s are natural.
Can the likes of Jimoh-Aloba, Bogarde, Rowe and Barry / Wilson step up as squad players who can be relied upon? They would save millions.
Otherwise Villa should take legal action against Premiership and UEFA for restrictive practices.
Finally for what it’s worth, I really like Canadian Pete. He is balanced and insightful.
The biggest tell is that no one is being linked with our deadwood players which continue to be millstones around our collective PSR / SCR neck!
I doubt if we could even give most of them away!
So selling our best first team players helps us not a jot as some, at least, would have to be replaced and the deadwood wages would still be there!
We should be suing Gerard and Purslow for fraud 🙂
It’s being “reported” that we’ve told dirty Leeds we want 5 mill for Moreno.
My first thought was that’s ridiculously cheap, but his contract is up next year and it’s about getting his wages off the books.
In that case it’s a decent deal on both sides. I like the lad and think he’ll do well for them.
18 YO Feyenoord free agent has passed a medical and will sign a contract at the end of the month:
https://getfootballnewsbene.com/feyenoord-striker-moves-to-aston-villa/