The Aston Villa "lets not out stay our welcome and return to the premiership asap" thread.

by westisbest Wed 11 May 2016, 9:11 pm

First topic message reminder :

Ok, so writing this a little early, but in fairness we have been down for months.
Been an absolute shocking season to say the least.

With poitive talks of a new owner on the way, managers being touted about.
Pearson would be my choice, although hearing Di Matteo is now favourite.
Hopefully some good news comes out of this.

Players i hope leave in summer:-

Guzan, Lescott, Cissokho, Bacuna, Richardson, Sinclair, Gabby, Sanchez, Kozak, N'Zogbia, Westwood.

Thats alot of players to get rid of.

Players who have been out on loan.

Baker, can stay at Bristol City.
Bennett, back up to Amavi(if he stays).
Steer, can go.
Gardner, definatly keep, will be like a new signing.

Players in.
off the top of my head.

David Marshall, for me best keeper in champioship.
Cyrus Christie, every time i have seen him play for Derby and Ireland he has looked good. Need a new rb.
Alan Judge, had a great season with Brentford, would be a good addition.
Ross McCormack, his name has been touted around with us, could be a decent signing.
Wessi for the experience.
Will Grigg, scored a load for Wigan, i know its a step up in leagues, but he could do well.

Just a few names there, again just off the top of my head.

Will be difficult, but we really need to keep hold of Ayew and Amavi.

Youngsters.
Andre Green, Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, Kevin Toner, Jordan Lyden.
These 4 our the main ones for the future. Had a taste of first team action. Hopefully continue to get some first team action next season.

I would take Petrov back, moreso as experience for the team, especially the youngsters. Maybe in a coaching role. I know he wants to play, dont think he would get much first team action.

So the squad would look something like:-

Marshall, Bunn
Christie, Hutton, Okore, Clarke, Toner, Amavi, Bennett, Richards.
Judge, Wessi, Gana, Veretout, Traore, Gardner, Gil, Lyden, Green, Grealish
Ayew, Gestede, Hepburn-Murphy, McCormack, Grigg.

Again, this is just off the top of my head, re signings/squad, am sure we may sign 'better players' whoever they may be.

I know the championship will be tough. Games come thick and fast.
Really hope Pearson is the next manager. He knows the league, wont take any sh1t and will get the players performing.

Its a sad goodbye to the premiership and hello champioship.

Here's to a short stay and boune straight back up(whatever the squad is) Ale

by westisbest Wed 10 Aug 2016, 9:25 pm

Been terrible agin.

We seem to be mentally beaten as soon as we concede a goal.

We need a midfielder who is not afraid to get stuck in and win some balls.

When we get that win, then the mental side should change.

Its just the same heads down when we concede, no confidence.
There is no heart. Cant coach that, its up to the players to show the passion.

Have to win on saturday.

by Rowley Wed 10 Aug 2016, 9:53 pm

Utterly contemptible, spineless, lazy bell ends. Can forget promotion this year. They will be lucky to stay up. I barely have the words for the contempt I hold them in.

by westisbest Thu 11 Aug 2016, 5:04 pm

Apparently we are in for James Chester, Mile Jedinak & Richie De Laet.

All three I think would be useful.

Would like another forward, as still don't think Ayew will stick around.

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Thu 11 Aug 2016, 5:38 pm

Those would all be very good signings for Villa

by Rowley Fri 12 Aug 2016, 12:23 pm

westisbest wrote:

Would like another forward, as still don't think Ayew will stick around.

Can't make my mind up with Ayew, I went to the game at Hillsborough at the weekend and he is so clearly in a different class to anything on the pitch, but rarely seems to get the goals he should realistically be expected to get.

by westisbest Fri 12 Aug 2016, 4:12 pm

Good player. Wasted out wide.
Looks like he wants out to me.

Chester has signed.
Heard that Westwood will be sold in order to get in Jedanik.

Also hearing now that Bamford on season loan. Would be happy with that.

If Ayew does go than think Hernandez may come in.
Gabby says now he wants to stay.

Looks in better shape than few months ago.
Only thing he would be useful for would be his pace.

Hopefully Lescott, Westwood and Bacuna go next week.
Hoping De Laet signs.

Squad would look a fair bit better.

by westisbest Sat 13 Aug 2016, 4:57 pm

Finally a Villa win.
Clean sheet to.
Great stuff, we are off and running.
Couple more signings and we could push on in this league.
Don't want to get carried away, as a tough game against Huddersfield Tuesday who had a great result today.

The pints will taste good tonight.

by **Galted** Sat 13 Aug 2016, 6:58 pm

I think I've become Championshipped - was following the scores on the BBC and it didn't even occur to me to check the Premier League scores. Hopefully this doesn't lead to becoming League Oned which is just a short step from alcoholism and benefit fraud.

by **Dolphin Ziggler** Mon 15 Aug 2016, 11:17 am

In somewhat depressing news it is being reported that Dalian Atkinson has died after being tasered by police in Telford. A young me saw him score goals and thought he was the best striker in England, possibly based on that great solo goal against Wimbledon. RIP

by westisbest Mon 15 Aug 2016, 7:12 pm

Yeah sad to hear the news to.
Was a favourite at Villa.

That Wimbledon goal was special.
Him and Saunders were good together.

Seemed like a great character to.

Will be an applause in the 10th minute tomorrow night.

RIP.

by westisbest Tue 16 Aug 2016, 9:57 pm

Dissapointing not to hold onto the win.
Gollini's clearance kick hit the back of a Huddersfield player and went into the goal.

Cant afford to be conceding late goals.

Thats 2 in 3 games gone.

4 points from 9. would have been hoping 6/7.

Need to beat Derby saturday, dont want to drop back behind the early pace setters.

by Rowley Wed 17 Aug 2016, 6:28 pm

Jedenik added to the ranks today. Great signing, born leader and a bit of steel in the midfield, which we will need in the championship. I think we're a striker away from being a genuinely good side in that division. Ayew again was a cause for concern. Had at least one or two good chances to put the game out of reach. McCormack will score plenty but can't be expected to carry the responsibility single handedly.

by westisbest Sat 20 Aug 2016, 10:09 pm

Didn't see the match, just seen the highlights.

Disappointing again not to get the 3 points.
Woodwork against us again.

Some of our play so far this season has been great.

Couple of mistakes from the keeper and we would be higher up the table.

Gardner looked a bit better.
Looking forward to seeing Jedinak play.

Tough one away at Bristol city next sat.

I'll be there, first game this season, but unfortunately in home end as couldn't get away ticket.

Be difficult with the following and smaller grounds.

by Rowley Sun 21 Aug 2016, 12:16 pm

Watched it all westi. In the first half you'd struggle to see a side have so much possession and create so little. Complete lack of creativity from Westwood and Gardner. Think we're another forward and s creative midfielder away from being half decent though.

by Guest Sun 21 Aug 2016, 12:28 pm

Villa after Ravel Morrison, Westi? Seems desperate that move, not a character you really want, but probably a reflection on Villa needing something in the latter third

by westisbest Sun 21 Aug 2016, 2:23 pm

Yeah would like to see Westwood go.
Gardner hopefully will get better.
Jedinak hopefully will be the 'rock' we have been missing in midfield.

Though we were linked with Morrison few months ago.

Bamford still on radar. He would be decent.

Rowley, heard Kozak came on as sub, then got subbed off.

Take both mistakes from Gollini, and we would be on 8 points.

Win against City would be great going into the international break.

Need to keep up with the teams in the play off spots.

Team has changed quite dramatically which is what's needed.

Could do with getting rid of Lescott, hanging around like a bad smell.
Traore to as he has apparently said he wants out.

De Laet link has died down.

by westisbest Tue 23 Aug 2016, 2:32 pm

Richie De Laet signed.
Should be a good signing.
An improvement oh Hutton.

We're still after another striker and midfielder.
Viviani from Hellas Verona(same club Gollini was signed from) been linked.

by westisbest Sun 28 Aug 2016, 6:53 pm

Good first half yesterday.
Totally opposite second.
Heads go down after we concede.

Young Jack ran the show. Was class.
Still very early days. Lot of new signings.

Despite the result had a cracking day/night in Bristol.
Great spot.

by westisbest Tue 30 Aug 2016, 3:06 pm

So Johnathan Kodjia has signed for a championship record of £15m.
scored 19 goals in his first season in England.

Would have preferred Hernandez, although Kodjia obviously has a season in the championship under his belt all the same.

Let's hope he can bang in the goals.

Looks like Ayew could well be on his way.
Not happy playing out wide, can't really blame him I suppose.

Wil Gestede get dropped to the bench now with RM & JK up front.

Interesting talking to a few Bristol City fans Saturday night, they said he was ok, did well in helping them stay up, but not great.

by Guest Wed 31 Aug 2016, 4:37 pm

Could Ayew, Gestede, Adomah & Kodjia all be away for four to six weeks in Jan/Feb for ACON's?

by westisbest Wed 31 Aug 2016, 4:45 pm

Think Ayew may well go at some stage today.

Good point though.
Unless we sign cover in January

by westisbest Thu 01 Sep 2016, 7:40 pm

So with the window closed are ins and outs.

Outs.

Guzan-Boro/ Clark-Newcastle/ Bennett-Cardiff/ Lescott-AEK Athens.
Richardson-released/ Okore-FC Copenhagen/ N'Zogbia-released/
Gueye-Everton/ Gil- Deportivo/ Veretout- Saint Etienne/
Sanchez- Fiorentina/ Robinson-Preston/ Toner-'Walsall/
Traore - Boro/ Crespo - PAOK/ Sinclair- Celtic/

Toner, Veretout, Gil & Sanchez are loans.

INS.

Gollini- Hellas Verona
De Laet - Leicester
Chester - WBA
Elphick - Bournemouth
Tshibola - Reading
Jedinak - Palace
Adomah - Boro
Kodjia - Bristol City
McCormack - Fulham

Much changed squad, more than i thought tbh.

Best signing for me is Elphick. Cracking centre back. Hopefully can be the rock at the back we have missed.

Player thats gone that i had hoped was still with the club is Gil.
Think he would have done well in this league.

Not been a great start, but hopefully we can push on.
Next up hopefully 3 points at home to Forest.

Hope ive not forgot any players.

by westisbest Fri 02 Sep 2016, 4:31 pm

Should probably have loaned Kozak out, as can't see him getting any game time.

by westisbest Wed 07 Sep 2016, 7:38 am

Just John wrote:Could Ayew, Gestede, Adomah & Kodjia all be away for four to six weeks in Jan/Feb for ACON's?

Well Gestede won't be going to the ACON. Good for us.

As the other 3 will be, good to have him playing at least.

by westisbest Wed 14 Sep 2016, 9:44 pm

Fk sake. Just cannot hold onto a lead.
So frustrating.

Gotta be a mental thing with the players.

Already out of the running for top 2, be lucky to make play offs at this rate.

Been a frustrating start in the championship.
Been unlucky in a couple of games and not taking our chances, we would be further up.

1 win in 8 is not good enough.

Onto Ipswich Saturday.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Wed 14 Sep 2016, 10:10 pm

You're not out of the running for top 2 in September Westi - long old way to go yet pal

by westisbest Wed 14 Sep 2016, 10:33 pm

We need to win 3-4 games in a row, which I don't see happening at the moment.
Anyway, let's hope we can get our first away win since opening day of last season on Saturday

by Guest Thu 15 Sep 2016, 9:01 am

Still time Westi, you're only five points off the play-off's.

Rafa snapped us out of that losing mentality at the back end of last season, which was crucial, whereas with Villa, you still sense a squad lacking that winning mentality & a nervousness around the whole club. The quality is in the squad, it just needs some patience now, for things to start clicking into place.

by NickisBHAFC Thu 15 Sep 2016, 10:24 am

Long way to go, heck i don't even think Derby are out of it yet.

by westisbest Thu 15 Sep 2016, 11:32 am

Thing with this league it's so tight, that a couple of wins shoots you up the table.

The quality is there, just need to click.
Players no doubt will be frustrated.

Thought it was wrong for the fans to boo the team at the end last night.

We are new to this league and knew it would be tough.
As Villa fans we shouldn't be surprised at not being able to hold out for the win.
I wonder how much patience Xia has. If we don't start getting wins soon, he may think about replacing RDM.
No easy games in this league.

Despite where we are, am actually enjoying the championship.

Have watched more championship games than premiership over the last 10 years or so.

Find the league exciting.

Still would love us to go straight back up.

This for me is the toughest league to predict who will go up and who will go down.

Makes it interesting.

by dyrewolfe Fri 16 Sep 2016, 1:01 pm

Its been that way ever since I started watching regularly (when we went down in 2009).

It truly is a league where just about anyone can beat anyone else, on any given day. Usually you get 1 or 2 teams that invest heavily and look like steamrollering the division, but even they can get caught out from time to time.

As others have said, don't get despondent yet. Even if you're languishing in mid table come February, a late run can see you into the play-offs. Or if you're in the play-off places, it can push you into the top 2.

It really is that changeable. Last season it was like nobody wanted to win the league, the lead changed so often. There was something like 3 points separating the top 6 at one point.

by westisbest Fri 16 Sep 2016, 1:20 pm

De Laet out for the season.
Although we have cover for rb position, he is better that what we have.

Real shame.

by westisbest Sat 17 Sep 2016, 5:18 pm

All the 8's for Villa

Played 8
Goals for 8
Goals against 8
Points 8.

Massive game next Saturday.
If we hadn't of had 3 draws in a row, would say I would take a point.

Need the 3, if only to get that winning feeling and confidence back.

Next 3 games before international break.

Newcastle h
Barnsley a
Preston a

7 points would be great, be lucky to get that though.

by Rowley Sat 17 Sep 2016, 5:33 pm

Hate saying stuff like this so early in the season but Di Matteo must be on shaky ground. Pretty much universal agreement was that Xia had done his bit in the summer. He has supported the manager massively and brought in a strong squad by championship standards. Di Matteo needs to start getting them playing and soon. The gap between us and the top two is already significant. We'll be out of contention if this is allowed to continue too long.

by westisbest Sat 17 Sep 2016, 5:45 pm

We've defiantly got the players to take us back to the prem, something is a miss.
Confidence seems to be shot, not getting the balance of the team right.

Xia will be getting impatient that's for sure.
Wonder how much time he will give RDM if we can't find a win.
If we don't get a win in next 3 games, wouldn't surprise me if we will be looking for a new manager come mid October.
Still need to give him time, owners don't seem to have to much patience.
Always going to be tough.

Only 8 games gone, but with every passing game and not getting 3 points, gap will widen.

Needs to click asap.

by dyrewolfe Mon 26 Sep 2016, 2:20 pm

This probably isn't much consolation, but I got my first look at Traore at the weekend, when he came on as a sub against Spurs.

We got thoroughly schooled in the first half and were lucky to only concede 2 goals. When Adama came on we looked a totally different side...largely due to the fact he was the only player that looked capable of taking people on and getting past them.

Danced past 3 Spurs players and played Rhodes through on goal. If the pass had been a bit less heavy, it would have been a great goalscoring opportunity. His mere presence seemed to make them a bit more wary and inclined to sit back.

Only 1 game and shouldn't really judge on that, but if he can sharpen up his passing, he could be a huge asset to the team. His pace and close control are on another level to the rest of the squad.

How's Adomah working out for you?

by Rowley Mon 26 Sep 2016, 6:25 pm

He started his first game Saturday and he was pretty awful. In his defence in the first hour of the game he was not in an exclusive club in that respect. Also he played the bulk of the game as a wing back which seemed a poor fit.

by Guest Mon 26 Sep 2016, 6:52 pm

Rowley wrote:He started his first game Saturday and he was pretty awful

In Dummett's pocket all game

by westisbest Mon 26 Sep 2016, 8:07 pm

Wasn't match fit. Sure he will do well.
Could and maybe should of scored if he had connected better at far post.

Great through ball to Kodjia who may well have done better.

On Kodjia, the guy was quality.

Hopefully can get 6 points this week.

Needs to play 2 centre backs and not 3.

by dyrewolfe Tue 27 Sep 2016, 1:45 pm

Rowley wrote:He started his first game Saturday and he was pretty awful. In his defence in the first hour of the game he was not in an exclusive club in that respect. Also he played the bulk of the game as a wing back which seemed a poor fit.

Not surprised he didn't shine then, match fitness apart. He always played as an attacking midfielder / winger for us. His strengths are his pace and ability to hold the ball up. Also has a decent shot on him and heading ability. Don't recall him ever being asked to play a defensive role for us.

by westisbest Tue 27 Sep 2016, 7:05 pm

He starts tonight it what looks a strong team.
Grealish back.

2 centre backs.

Gollini Bacuna Elphick Chester Cissokho Jedinak Grealish Ayew Tshbola Kodjia Adomah.

Also good to see McCormack back on the bench.

3 points is a must.

by Guest Tue 27 Sep 2016, 9:42 pm

westisbest wrote:3 points is a must.

90th min equaliser. Wounder

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Tue 27 Sep 2016, 9:45 pm

Another solid away point in the quest for safety

by westisbest Tue 27 Sep 2016, 9:46 pm

Same old sh1t again.
Cannot hold onto a fkng lead.

Sooooo frustrating.
Something seriously wrong.

This is the 5th game in 10 where we have been winning and thrown it away.

How long is this going to on for.

Need to be at least 2 goals up to have any chance of winning it seems.

Oh dear me.

by westisbest Tue 27 Sep 2016, 9:47 pm

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Another solid away point in the quest for safety

I see your obsession with Villa continues in a different league.

by **Galted** Tue 27 Sep 2016, 10:01 pm

It's really easy to understand how fans can smash up stadiums and trains when this keeps f*cking happening.

by westisbest Tue 27 Sep 2016, 10:18 pm

The annoying thing is we have one of the best/equipped squads in the league, but cannot seem to score more than 1 goal a game or hang onto leads.

Have to seriously question RDM aswell as the players.

by Rowley Wed 28 Sep 2016, 7:44 am

I was at the game last night. For me RDM can go. At the point we scored we were absolutely bossing the game. Rather than leaving things as they are and getting the second he subs Tshbola, who was our best player on the night, to bring on Westwood.

All this did was deny us the attacking impetus we had and push us back into our own half. The idea of getting a lead and then defending it might have worked well at Chelsea when he had Terry and Cech to rely on, at Villa it is clearly not working. The frustrating thing is we have good players, he simply cannot set them up to win games.

by westisbest Wed 28 Sep 2016, 8:56 am

Spot on Rowley.
Westwood is even worse than he was last season.

You have to go and kill games off when you are winning and not sit back and try to defend.

RDM is falling out of favour with a lot of villa fans.

Again, it's very frustrating.

It's got to the point that if we go 1-0 up on Saturday can't get excited as you know what will happen.

Although let's hope the change starts Saturday.

by dyrewolfe Wed 28 Sep 2016, 11:56 am

I sympathise with you. It took us a couple of seasons to adapt to the Championship...and much longer to find a manager capable of taking us back up.

Its a different type of football. You need to be prepared to scrap and really fight to earn the right to win games. Both players and manager need a different mindset. Quite often it comes down to out-working the opposition, rather than outplaying them with silky skills.

If RDM is still trying to play Premier League style football, that could be why you're struggling, as teams tend to give you little respect. They will try to harrass and disrupt you and give you little time or space to play.

I think first and foremost you need to get your defence sorted out and be able to defend set pieces well (don't get too many 30 yard screamers / wonder goals). Given the type of player Di Matteo was he may not see that as a priority...and to be fair Tony Mowbray took West Brom up a while back on the basis of outscoring the opposition.

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