My usual viewing source went down, plain and simple.
Which meant my frantically trying to sort it out just meant I missed the whole of the first half. I never got the second either and had to look elsewhere. Fortunately I did get the second 45.
Sometimes it just pays to go with Now TV, I suppose.
But from what I did see, we looked really good.
Brighton, as expected also looked very threatening, but we defended resolutely. I constantly got the feeling that we’d have collapsed lots of times under Gerrard (I still struggle to realise how bad a manager he was for us), yet while my proverbial was twitching like mad, the lads seemed as though they were comfortable and had it all under control.
The midfield won this for us, I reckon. McGinn put in his usual outstanding shift of late, but it was Ramsey who caught my eye this time. He really is looking like the real deal.
I know I’ve been slow to appreciate him, which is quite unlike me, but I’m now seeing it.
His marauding runs are truly frightening to any opposition and he just seems to be getting better. He’ll surely be tearing European defences a new arsehole, I reckon.
So it was a bit scary, because Brighton offer plenty, but we overcame.
I know quite a few will think us achieving the Conference will be a bad thing.
And I get it. Thursday games take it out of a side.
But it’s what Unai does.
I’m convinced that while it might indeed detract from our season next year, it’ll be used to further the players’ experience and the real long game is more likely the season after.
Emery did a good job at Arsenal, yet was ridiculed for making a pronunciation mistake.
We won’t make that same mistake in getting rid of him .
Even though I was incredibly nervous watching things, I couldn’t fail to be impressed with some of our play. I’ve hated the way we play out of the back, but we actually now look accomplished in doing it.
So much so, that more often than not, I expect us to create a chance from it.
It’s all about belief, isn’t it?
The players obviously believe and I do too.
I’m obviously not alone, as the crowd was outstanding today.
My mouth is watering at the thought of Emery having a window to kick some out, get some in and do what he loves.
Playing in Europe.
What a difference from how it was under the clown.
Oh and I predicted correctly again. There’s something wrong there.
UTV! and roll on next season!
Comments
122 responses to “Villa 2 – 1 Brighton; They fought like lions. Europe!”
Chuffed, just Chuffed.
And one of the grandsons has just texted me to tell me how it’s brought a tear to his eye.
It doesn’t get much better 🙂
Too right Badger, we would definitely have lost that with Gerrard. Pity we didn’t kick him out a few games earlier but thankfully we now have a future with Emery where we can be optimistic. UTMV!
Yeeaaassss what a job unai.has done questioned him after the stevenage defeat but he has an absolute amazing job whith this team few beers tonight for the mighty, beautiful, brilliant Villa
Woo hoooo
Badger
Firstly, thank you for running the site. I really appreciate the time and effort you put into your considered thoughts and allowing us Villa fans to sound off to each other.
What a result! Emery truly is an elite manager. Personally I have him and Klopp neck and neck behind Pep.
Brighton came to win! Emery set Villa up to win. The 11 players in the pitch believed they would win. Emery, the players and we won. Just so over the moon. This is the first step on our very long over due return to the top table. I really am going to look forward to Sky and the pundits having to reevaluate. We now have the right owners and the right manager. Together they will start to win trophies.
But to now. Let’s rejoice!
Badger, will you run a transfer thread. I think this really will be a summer of elevation.
UTV
Sid, we’ll definitely be here next season and ta for the appreciation.
You see the site for what it is; a sounding board.
As for a transfer thread, well, I’ll try and keep up.
But if anyone fancies running a proper speculation thread, I’m all ears and will do everything to help.
Roll on next season!!!!!!!
I think if the squad is strengthened over the summer and with UE as manager – who has the experience of midweek play – I don’t think it will be too daunting.
Hopefully, the likes of Manure won’t be stealing our best players so 23-24 is for me a season to look forward to a lot more than the last 15 or 20.
Anyway, we’re there and it’s time now to celebrate and see what ensues.
Have a good summer all Villains
UTV
I’m so proud of everyone at Villa in making what seems the impossible happen. I was fortunate to see the game along with people who wasn’t our fans but joined in with me cheering us on, Badger I know how hard it is to run this site and you have given us a platform to be proud of, I thank you . Lads like me , hold our heads up high we are back in the big time’s something I didn’t think I would see again , my lad would have been so proud seeing this it was his dream. Vtid
Emery was saying how important Europe is to him – 17 consecutive seasons in European competition – now make that 18.
He didn’t let Villa down, the players didn’t let him down, nor did the supporters.
I, I suspect like Bill, never thought we would see Villa successful again.
UTMV
Massive congratulations and huge “THANK YOU” to Mr Unai Emery – gentleman, master tactician and Aston Villa’s manager. Congratulations also to Mr Sawiris for taking charge of his (and Mr Edens’) club back in the autumn and appointing a brilliant, elite coach. We are lucky to have him but I think he knows he is lucky to have Aston Villa, too – a perfect match.
Finally, congratulations to the players for responding to Mr Emery in relatively no time at all and showing that they are actually Premier League quality – something many of us doubted last season and the beginning of this.
A remarkable season to be proud of.
Looking ahead, we finish 10 points behind Newcastle in 4th – hardly insurmountable by any means, and we all know that had the season begun when Unai arrived, it would have been CL and not ECL. Nonetheless, 71 points was also enough for Spurs to qualify for CL last season, while 67 was enough for Chelsea in 2021 and an even lower 66 in 2020. I can keep going but you get the picture – AVFC are only 5-10 points off being good enough to qualify for the CL, and that’s with giving everyone in the league an eleven game head start – eleven!
So, Mr Sawiris, Mr Edens, Mr Emery, and the players, keep doing what you’re doing and the glory days will surely return! But please, don’t strive for 4th – with the right recruitment in the summer, a deeper squad with enhanced quality is capable of doing what Arsenal did this season, at least. Belief is the key. The fans have started to believe, Unai believes, so if the players also believe, just f****** go for it!!!
UTMV!
That’s an interesting stance, BFR.
And also one that chimes with me.
I’ve told the grandsons to make the most of this, because it doesn’t come too often.
They and my SIL raved about the cheering when the lads turned up on the bus.
I’d suggest this is not far off as good as it gets.
Even us old fogies who have seen the promise before, need to lap this up.
I think the fans believe.
Nice write up Badger but seeing as you brought the clown…
If he’d have still been there I reckon we’d have been battling with Leeds, Liecester and Everton and not Spurs and Brentford for a European place.
Thank God the Villa top brass saw the error of their ways .
I think we’d have already been gone, but fair play for giving him some credit.
I don’t get much right, but was pleased to see him for what he was;
An egotist, who thinks the game is about him.
He’s hopefully finished as a manager.
It’s quite strange really, as the only one who comes close to my disgust is McLeish.
Ah well, it’s history.
Absolutely joyous tonight so enjoying my beer drinking in being back in Europe watching all the fan sites
Even the last 20 minutes we could of got a couple more if we had the last pass right
Villa back in Europe woo hooo
This is what Emery is about;
“In my career, I have had more success than less by doing it the same way, in Villarreal, in Paris, in Arsenal, in Valencia, in Sevilla, and here at Villa.
“The players want to win. But they also want to work more than less. They want our support from the coaches and the club and the supporters. My direction with them is to help them always.
“But this is only the first step. I want more moments like today.”
First thanks to badger for running this excellent villa site I really enjoy all the different points of view yet all supporting the villa.
I’ve been a villa fan and shareholder since 1957 been through the rubbish times and good times
Still not sure if we at the beginning of good times again,but that’s what it’s like being a villa fan.
The day was spoilt for me by sky,they chose today switch off my sky sports card because I refused to sign up to sky Q last month
I told them in exactly what they could do with their sky especially as been with them for 41 years
Managed to get now pass for £11 for 60min of match.
Anyway sorry for going off track
Everyone have a great summer and even better next season
A great 2/3 of a season for Aston Villa and its long suffering fans.
We were part of a major change in the effect of money on the EPL, a season where the quality of the management reasserted itself as a factor which wasn’t swamped by the cash available, partly because more teams had access to substantial funds – but also because some clubs hired, and some fired, good managers!
The classic EPL transfer window had the top 4 teams looking at the teams expected to finish 5,6,7 and buying a good player from each to scupper their chances. The teams expected to finish 5,6,7 in the bookies lists – which is the better guide than last season’s table – were Arsenal, Man Utd and Newcastle. All 3 finished in the champions league slots at the expense of the expected trio Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool. Arsenal might be vulnerable but United and Newcastle will be difficult to displace.
I suggest that the sky 6 (will they have to change?) have many more trappy fixtures next season with matches against Brighton, Brentford, Villa and Palace all possible defeats.
It’s the other end of the table I found interesting – Southampton, Leeds and Liecester all big(ish) clubs, I’d have put my house on either or both Forest and / or Bournemouth going down.
With that as a backdrop and given the money invested and the ground capacity of some of those promoted you have to wonder how long before something gives?
Either a ground capacity rule or some kind of playoffs between the bottom of the premiership and the top of the championship?
As much as I agree with relegation and promotion, money talks, so long-term I can’t see the status quo remaining.
The East Midlands has a Yo-Yo like Birmingham. 2 of Derby, Forest and Leicester in the top flight is unstable as is 2 of Villa, Baggies and Bluenoses so you can expect it to move to a stable 1. The South coast cannot support 3 EPL teams for long either.
If you are betting your house on relegation next year put it on Luton. I expect the Cherries to survive but I would be worried about Wolves – and West Ham without Rice.
More a turn of phrase than a reality OLL (:
OLL, not sure about your logic here: ” as is 2 of Villa, Baggies and Bluenoses* – why? If Blues had (a) genuinely wealthy & stable owners, and (b) actually fixed the Sty so as to operate at full capacity, I could easily see them as at least a long-term (ish) fixture in the EPL.
By the same token, I would have said that west London can’t sustain all 3 of Chelsea, Brentford & Fulham.
Not so much logic as history Ardent. And you could be right about West London – but we have never seen the trio include Brentford before so it is too soon to say. You would be correct when the third was QPR.
On only four occasions have all three promoted teams survived in the EPL – the last being 2017/18 season.
Am I big enough geek to find out who were the other teams and their eventual survival rates 🙂
* including this season
Newcastle, Brighton, Huddersfield was the last lot.
I’m not looking for the others 🙂
And from the other two season only Fulham are still in the EPL albeit they’ve travelled the escalator in both directions over the intervening years!
Nakamba is hoping to stay at Luton.
I would imagine that’ll be a goer if they can get near with his wages.
Fourth lowest wage bill in the Championship is impressive.
Nice to see he’s done really well for them and straight back in the Prem. For one season at least.
Just looking at the final table and a surprise was how few goals Wolves scored. 31 and the lowest in the league.
Yet they still finished 13th.
That’s interesting, if only because I don’t remember seeing something similar before.
It’s usually one of the bottom three with the lowest goals for?
It’s a weird final table in many ways.
Leicester scored the same number we did…
Just disappointed that Everton somehow stayed up (again) – really wanted to see them get a dose of being in the Championship for a while, along with Leeds!
Me too, if any team deserved the drop.
Liecester, pretty sure I posted on here earlier in the season of the parallels between their predicament and Villa at the end of Lerner’s tenure.
You could see a club destined for the drop.
This one literally had me howling with laughter.
Guess who they’re talking about?
Who do their supporters think they are to even hint at it?
https://www.rousingthekop.com/2023/05/30/liverpool-reportedly-really-like-the-look-of-21-year-old-aston-villa-player/#comments-anchor
Er – Ramsey and he’s 22 as of Sunday 🙂
Not a snowball in hell’s chance.
But here’s a big name to start Badger’s transfer rumour thread.
According to TalkSh..e – Villa are in advanced talks to sign Marco Asensio on a free from Real Madrid – now that WOULD be some coup!
Why does ‘he who shall not be named’ get credited for blooding Ramsey? I’m sure that was a guy named Smith…
Correct BFR
Liverpool can have Coutinho back if they want. £12m sound fair?
Utter non-story.
Echoing Sid, yep, thanks for another season long dedication to the site, Badger. Cheers!!
Been looking at the Europa Conference League format – talk about complicated …….
Anyway it seems Villa will have to win a two legged qualifying game (in August) to get into the group stages – and I think that’s after a whole heap of teams have to play qualifying games first. Bit like the qualifying rounds of the FA Cup but in terms of European (rather than domestic) tier status.
What we don’t want is another ‘Stevenage’.
It sounds like a pain in the proverbial already, Hitch.
Different mentality now though and given the level, we’ll probably play the second string until it gets a bit more serious.
As for Asensio, there’s been talk of that for a few days,
Massive name, but his goalscoring record doesn’t convince me much. 37 in 190 for Real is nothing special, I’d suggest and I’d take Ramsey to better that in a much tougher league in his next 190 games.
Seriously over-priced too, I’ll bet, but in his favour, he’s the right age.
It’d be a romantic type signing though.
Just call me a cynic 🙂
I’m not sure I’m the right person to be doing a transfer thread lol 🙂
Fair points Badger but
– he’s possibly better known as a high quality creative midfielder which will add depth to our (already class) mid field.
– still relatively young – mid twenties.
– he’s a serial winner with RM including three Champions League so will bring a lot of European experience and
– no fee as his contract ends at the end of June (I think). With no fee payable we can afford to pay higher wages.
It’s the level of signing we should be aspiring to.
I heard this Ramsey business from a plastic red a couple of weeks ago and have it short shrift but if the money was ridiculous?
Well you never know.
All clear profit, Jack MKii?
I’d hate to see the lad go his potential is immense but never say never.
Hitch, a free? Interesting, but then he’d warrant massive wages.
Which worries me somewhat, unless we’re looking to elevate wages all through the squad.
I’m convinced the big differences in pay cause lots of friction amongst side. 10 or 20% difference is ok, but double, triple, quadruple?
You’re right though, he is the sort of signing we need to aspire too, if we want to move up a level.
RSS, by the same token, if we’re looking to move up, we can’t let Ramsey go at any price, imo.
Unless Emery thinks he could improve us more with the money.
I’d still be loathe though.
Same as letting Grealish go, it doesn’t help create the idea of an ambitious club.
To be fair, I was in favour of letting Grealish go, but we were in a different place then.
Still grieves me that we wasted that money though and that’s the risk 🙁
I’m no expert Badger but Ramsey is imo better than Jack ( at the same age). A different type of player maybe not so many tricks and flicks but more affective and versatile.
Yea absolutely I’d loathe to see him go and saying £&+koff does send the right message but you just never know.
RSS, agree about Ramsey being better than Grealish was at 21/22 – for the simple reason he actually has an end-product to most of his runs.
Grelish at that time used to run down the left until he either slipped-over or got fouled. Not much product most of the time, however exciting he used to make it look going forward.
The article is a complete non story – maybe, possibly or possibly not, sometime in the undefined future – even Birmingham Live would come up with something more plausible 🙂
Ramsey is going nowhere, not even for big bucks and it would take a serious pile of them. If Villa ‘extorted’ £25m from Chelsea for Chukweumeka, how much would it take to get Ramsey?
NSWE will undoubtedly protect their best assets with new contracts ring fenced with barbed wire and missiles 🙂
UTV
Liverpool: “Good morning. We’d like to submit a formal bid for Jacob Ramsey.”
AVFC: “I see. How much?”
Liverpool: “80 million pounds, sterling.”
AVFC: “Get stuffed.”
Liverpool: “Wait wait, I meant 90. 90 million?…Hello?…Hello?”
– Line goes dead –
I actually thought that the Chumbawamba deal was good business.
Can you believe they’re paying him £100k per week?
F##king crazy.
Spot on BFR 👍
Yep, for a kid who’d hardly ever played a first team game.
Just for clarity, that’s £5 mill a year, on a six year contract.
He’ll have earned £30 mill by the age of 24.
And we wonder/debate why he left?
You’d have to be crazy to not go for a deal like that, imo.
And totally off your tits to pay it (imo).
– Which is why Chelsea are in trouble.
They’ve thrown cash around like confetti, hoping that some of it sticks; then gone in for some ‘creative accounting’ to try and get around the spending rules – and ended up with a load of players that they’re going to have to sell before they can spend more.
Don’t forget the interest, Badger. And the compound interest…
You only get one short career, though, and one wrong move can derail it permanently. Waste.
That’s the thing isn’t it BFR?
He could have stayed with us on, say 30k, and then suffered a career ending injury. That £30 mill is locked in and guaranteed.
His advisors must have been begging him to take it.
It’s easy for us fans to say that he should have stayed and gone on to god-like status etc (Grealish), but when you’re offered security for life, at such a young age, it must be very tempting.
I was very much an idealist when I was younger, but would I have turned that sort of deal down?
I honestly doubt it.
No one in their right mind would but it’s the fact it was on the the table in the first place (based totally on potential) is sheer madness imo.
I appreciate that, Badger. But at his age and with his talent/potential should he be looking to play football or get security for life. Doesn’t 30 large a week give security for life anymore? And that’s starting. If he progressed like JJ, it goes up and up, and then the big move might come, assuming Villa’s not big enough for him and he’s earned the right to go higher.
Chelsea’s offer was a complete anomaly and not standard in football: a snapshot for their new owner’s incompetence. Two wrong’s don’t make a right, and Chuky taking it doesn’t make it right, or even the right decision. It’s only right for him financially, in which case we’re saying that young talented footballers are only in it for the cash. If that’s the case, then there’s no hope! Play for the love of the game! And if you’re good and you graft, the financial rewards will come!
See that Ashley Young’s contract isn’t being renewed. Sad in some ways, but it suggests that there’s going to be some big spending coming-up; starting with a right-back to challenge/replace Matty Cash….
Good luck to Young, wherever he goes next.
Also shows there’s no room for sentimentality in Villa’s forward planning which, if they want to progress further, is the only way to go.
He did a great job for us over the past two years but, at 38, maybe another season may well have proved one too many. Better for him to leave on a high as a VP legend than fade into the background.
Like you Ardent, I wish him only the best in whatever he decides to do next.
After his performances this season, I would have kept him for another year, personally, especially with the increased fixture list. He would’ve been ideal against lesser PL teams when injuries and suspensions start to kick-in. Fantastic professional and example to all. A big loss to the dressing room and on the pitch. Despite his age, the quality he brought will take some replacing. Thank you, Ashley Young and all the best.
Just watching the Europa final.
What an absolute disgrace to the game both Sevilla and Roma are.
Cheating bastards, the lot of them and I hope they both lose (!)
Badger been in the pub for a quiz and only glancing at the screen but every time I looked up someone was rolling on the ground, holding heads, kicking someone, diving in the penalty area (not as expertly as Kane) or shouting at the referee – it looked like a rubbish game.
There have been at least 13 yellows!
On a more positive note a really class tweet from Prince William following the announcement of Youngs departure.
He retweeted the clubs tweet with ‘Thanks for the memories Ash. W’
I think that probably sums up the feelings of the vast majority of Villans.