The Big Interview

[Damo70]

I was impressed reading that. Some joined up thinking at last. Some real communication at last. Does it guarantee success on or off the pitch, of course not. But if he can pull off most of what he is aiming for we will be in a far healthier state. We complain about lack of communication in the past and then pick holes with a guy who has stated clear goals and explained himself as much as possible. Without feeling the need to mention those mates of Randy's who we never saw. The Summanites or something like that. The way he spoke I thought he was about to sell the club to them. Maybe they didn't bother coming down from the mountain or wherever they lived.

[pauliewalnuts]

If that's Heskey you're talking about then thats exactly the point many Villa fans realised the downwards curve was about to start.

Heskey ffs.

We signed Luke Young as well. What more did you want?

All that money Lerner spent, and other than Ashley Young, not a single bums on seats player, just lots of ok £7m workers.

I felt sorry for him on that front.

Our home form under MON meant we'd always struggle with crowds, and signings like Heskey won't have shifted a single ticket.

Did we even break our record signing under Lerner?

[olaftab]

If I say the 'L' word, does everyone promise not to immediately jump up and down? Right then:

When Lerner took over we peaked with an average attendance of just over 40,000 in 2007-08 and despite another two top six finished gates slipped from then on. I don't think, as it stands, we could make the next jump towards making a 60,000 seater or anything like that stadium viable. Realistically, it would mean getting over 50,000 at least half a dozen times a year (which we've done in the past) and over forty the rest of the time (which we never have).

Agree completely, but what have Citeh got that we haven't.? Money?

Fabian Delph.

But they keep him well hidden.

[PeterWithesShin]

If that's Heskey you're talking about then thats exactly the point many Villa fans realised the downwards curve was about to start.

Heskey ffs.

We signed Luke Young as well. What more did you want?

All that money Lerner spent, and other than Ashley Young, not a single bums on seats player, just lots of ok £7m workers.

I felt sorry for him on that front.

Our home form under MON meant we'd always struggle with crowds, and signings like Heskey won't have shifted a single ticket.

Did we even break our record signing under Lerner?

Darren Bent says hello.

[olaftab]

I was with him till I got to "He's a good man" as that reminded me of Trump's favourite saying followed by the good man disappearing.

[PeterWithesShin]

Our record signing when Lerner took over was JPA at about 9.5m, 4 times we spent more than that under Lerner. Young, Milner, Downing and Bent.

[cdbearsfan]

Davies and Cuellar weren't far off that, either.

We do never seem to sign a glamour signing from a position of strength. Partly MON's fault. I reckon the Villa version of Juninho signing for Boro or Klinsmann joining Tottenham could add a decent number to the gate.

If would be going some to envisage a time where we could come close to packing 60,000 in, mind. But I welcome the ambition.

[KevinGage]

I don't know about a 60,000 capacity, but there's a possibility the Premier League crowds of the future could look quite different to the crowds of today and yesterday. It might not just be home and away fans any more.

Aliens ? 😱

Shape shifting lizards.

They'll fit right in at Stamford Bridge.

[ciggiesnbeer]

Our amiable CEO starred in BBC’s University Challenge, persuaded FIFA to bring in the referee vanishing spray, won the USA version of The Price is Right and survived Hurricane Andrew.

Well we have that in common. Although I evacuated INTO the center of it (it turned south at the last moment following me with uncanny accuracy)

[passitsideways]

Davies and Cuellar weren't far off that, either.

We do never seem to sign a glamour signing from a position of strength. Partly MON's fault. I reckon the Villa version of Juninho signing for Boro or Klinsmann joining Tottenham could add a decent number to the gate.

If would be going some to envisage a time where we could come close to packing 60,000 in, mind. But I welcome the ambition.

Or simply someone who could've turned into a top player, and given the club one or two seasons at that sort of level - I mean, Milner, Barry, Petrov, Downing, Young were all quality players, but not exactly cream of the crop.

I'm not sure whether those Falcao rumours were ever actually true, but imagine him being supplied crosses by Young and Milner for a couple of seasons.

[Hoppo]

The cosmopolitan make up of the West Midlands will dictate the bigger crowds. 40k Villa fans and 10/20k daytrippers coming to see a successful team.
We just have to suffer watching us huff and puff our way out of this league first.

[IFWaters]

If I say the 'L' word, does everyone promise not to immediately jump up and down? Right then:

When Lerner took over we peaked with an average attendance of just over 40,000 in 2007-08 and despite another two top six finished gates slipped from then on. I don't think, as it stands, we could make the next jump towards making a 60,000 seater or anything like that stadium viable. Realistically, it would mean getting over 50,000 at least half a dozen times a year (which we've done in the past) and over forty the rest of the time (which we never have).

I love it when  talk of ground expansion takes place and people quote what we can't / won't achieve, I've always been uber optimistic on this one . I think there are something like 10 million people within a 1.5 hour travelling time from our stadium , and it feels like 1 million people in the West Midlands are wearing glory hunting kits that have nothing to do with our region's teams. We'll only ever know what we're capable of when we have some sustained success on the pitch. Not flirting with top six finishes- actually picking up the big prizes. No disrespect to the league cup but as much as I've loved seeing us win it it isn't a major trophy as I keep telling Bluenoses they've yet to win a major prize !
 Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal have the fan bases they have due to their sustained success from 1950 onwards , all of them winning more since then than us in our 143 year history . But despite our lack of recent success and being one of the worst teams to watch over he last five years we have a fantastic fan base to build upon.

I agree. When you look at the population within travelling distance to the ground then it's definitely possible. Also consider the lack of local glamourous alternatives even more so. The only question is why it hasn't happened previously.

[Clampy]

I was impressed reading that. Some joined up thinking at last. Some real communication at last. Does it guarantee success on or off the pitch, of course not. But if he can pull off most of what he is aiming for we will be in a far healthier state. We complain about lack of communication in the past and then pick holes with a guy who has stated clear goals and explained himself as much as possible.

That's the way it is i'm afraid for some people. I thought it was an interesting read and no, a lot of what we're planning might not come off, well not yet anyway because of where we are but at least there's some forward thinking. For some though, everything has to happen now, or it won't happen at all because everything's shit. Oh well.

[Charlie8182]

With regards to Villa Park, I was once always in the knowledge that it was one of the biggest and best stadiums in Britain and was the envy of other clubs, held semi finals etc.   This may be unpopular but I now think its a good but not necessarily a great stadium and is perhaps looking a bit tired and has been left behind.  In terms of capacity you can now name and quite a number of clubs with [much] larger grounds instead of about 3 as once was.

[ciggiesnbeer]

More new fans come with success. Thats the harsh truth. Start winning things and you get more fans, keep doing that for a decade or two and you can fill any stadium you like.