Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: dave.woodhall on July 08, 2022, 12:33:04 PM
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Something I knocked up in a quiet moment.
https://heroesandvillains.info/2022/07/08/right-here-right-now/
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Good read Dave.
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Some good points there Dave - the days of finishing sixth are such a dim and distant memory :(
I recently met and spoke with many fans of other clubs whilst on holiday in Greece - in the main the conversations were respectful and positive - Villa still seen as a "big club" with a glorious past, however no one seemed to consider us as likely to break into the top six anytime soon.
Spurs, Arsenal,Newcastle, Leeds and even Brighton fans were of the opinion that they would finish comfortably above us this season.
I am hoping the squad has a good pre-season and that SG and his team of coaches can develop a good team spirit and maybe add a couple of more signings before we play Bournemouth.
Sadly I no longer look forward to the start of a season with the passion I used to - but that is probably down to my age rather than other factors - thankfully I have witnessed great times with this club - I just hope VCTM jnr , now aged 21, gets the opportunity to witness us win something in the coming seasons under SG - if not we know where SG lives and we will be visiting him for a chat :)
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6th/7th achievable this season.
I don’t see why we can’t have a few seasons like West Ham have had and a good run in the cups.
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Great read and especially the part of us improving but also relying on some of those above us falling back which is equally difficult
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We've spent some serious money over the years but I'd probably have to go back to the Holy Trinity of Sir Brian, Alan Evans and John Gregory where we had a side that played greater than the sum of its parts. Obviously with so much money in the PL teams were far stronger than when we were relegated and we're still playing catch up.
That said I don't think we've matched the money paid out with our performances except for a few rare occasions. That needs to change this season as does our home form which has generally been pretty poor overall. Right now it's the investment that has kept us up thanks to our owners, hopefully our Manager and squad can start repaying on the pitch. Get it right and anything outside the top two is up for grabs. It's still a massive step but I except us to be equipped for the job. Why not?
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I don’t think we have enough up front to bother the top 6 unless we buy someone or Archer turns out to be the real deal, which is unfair on him.
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I don’t think we have enough up front to bother the top 6 unless we buy someone or Archer turns out to be the real deal, which is unfair on him.
Agree, and would add that we would need our top players to have injury free, outstanding seasons. That said, West Ham.
Like you say, if Archer can do what he did last season against faster, smarter defences, then we will have a special player in our squad that could make a (if not 'the') difference.
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Good read Dave.
Thanks Daz.
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Good read Dave, as I have said before the 95/96 season was my first proper season following the Villa. It spoilt me as we have never been as good since.
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We've spent some serious money over the years but I'd probably have to go back to the Holy Trinity of Sir Brian, Alan Evans and John Gregory where we had a side that played greater than the sum of its parts. Obviously with so much money in the PL teams were far stronger than when we were relegated and we're still playing catch up.
That said I don't think we've matched the money paid out with our performances except for a few rare occasions. That needs to change this season as does our home form which has generally been pretty poor overall. Right now it's the investment that has kept us up thanks to our owners, hopefully our Manager and squad can start repaying on the pitch. Get it right and anything outside the top two is up for grabs. It's still a massive step but I except us to be equipped for the job. Why not?
I think this is very true about the sum of parts - and also where David moyes has done well at Everton and now West Ham. We haven’t done it other than the odd game / run since we came back up
I think we’re just gambling on the fact that Gerrard is actually going to be a very good manager who can achieve that synergy. I thought we would have used his name even more than we have and maybe have a couple of other big signings this summer - maybe they will come
We have done some great business, but can’t see us really threatening the top 8 unless SG develops the team and finds that synergy
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We need to improve defensively. Based on our signings so far this window Carlos, Kamara, Olsen, Augustinson, SG knows it too.
We have to learn from the games where we threw away (2 goal) leads.
Martinez needs to keep a few early clean sheets to grow the confidence, and i'm hoping that playing with a proper no. 6 in Kamara, we will be harder to beat.
The PL is stronger than ever, so finishing top 8 or 7 will be difficult, but we can give anyone a game, but so can everybody else.
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I’ve said before, we have spent a shitload more than Brentford or Brighton and we really should be finishing above them. I think 7th is very optimistic.
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Great article, Dave. In some games last season the margins were very tight. Hopefully, we have now improved both in defence, midfield and squad depth. With more consistency we could be in with a shout of seventh.
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Still think we need a better midfielder who has energy and can use the ball. McGinn and Luiz are too sloppy. I'd also agree with the thoughts of a top 7 finish if we can find a system that creates and suits one of our forwards, that is if we're not signing one.
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as we only lost two games by more than a single goal, a slight but real improvement should mean plenty more points.
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as we only lost two games by more than a single goal, a slight but real improvement should mean plenty more points.
And it seemed lots of those games/points were lost by pointing the gun at our own feet and firing. The end of that sort of thing would go a long way too.
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as we only lost two games by more than a single goal, a slight but real improvement should mean plenty more points.
This is very true. Given what we've spent and the strength of our squad we should absolutely be competing for 7th this season. It's a shame Arsenal got themselves together and Man U have finally got a top manager, as both looked vunerable. Spurs look to have done fantastic business this window and look well out of reach.
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as we only lost two games by more than a single goal, a slight but real improvement should mean plenty more points.
This is very true. Given what we've spent and the strength of our squad we should absolutely be competing for 7th this season. It's a shame Arsenal got themselves together and Man U have finally got a top manager, as both looked vunerable. Spurs look to have done fantastic business this window and look well out of reach.
This is what's annoying me a bit. We still think of ourselves as a top side and there's the belief that we're making progress, yet seventh is all we can aim for.
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as we only lost two games by more than a single goal, a slight but real improvement should mean plenty more points.
This is very true. Given what we've spent and the strength of our squad we should absolutely be competing for 7th this season. It's a shame Arsenal got themselves together and Man U have finally got a top manager, as both looked vunerable. Spurs look to have done fantastic business this window and look well out of reach.
This is what's annoying me a bit. We still think of ourselves as a top side and there's the belief that we're making progress, yet seventh is all we can aim for.
"The problem with success is you become what you detest"
The only way to compete in the rigged deck of the Premiership top 6 financially huge teams is to become one of them.
*Become darlings of the media - huge way to go to even achieve Newcastle or Leeds current standings
*Continue to spend huge sums of cash - But the scum 6 are already 10 years ahead of us so this is only ever catch up
*Hold onto your best players whilst doing the above
*Actually start to get into finals, Europe and win things
Seems easy doesn't it?
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as we only lost two games by more than a single goal, a slight but real improvement should mean plenty more points.
This is very true. Given what we've spent and the strength of our squad we should absolutely be competing for 7th this season. It's a shame Arsenal got themselves together and Man U have finally got a top manager, as both looked vunerable. Spurs look to have done fantastic business this window and look well out of reach.
This is what's annoying me a bit. We still think of ourselves as a top side and there's the belief that we're making progress, yet seventh is all we can aim for.
Leicester managed 2 x 5ths and an FA Cup in recent seasons.
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as we only lost two games by more than a single goal, a slight but real improvement should mean plenty more points.
This is very true. Given what we've spent and the strength of our squad we should absolutely be competing for 7th this season. It's a shame Arsenal got themselves together and Man U have finally got a top manager, as both looked vunerable. Spurs look to have done fantastic business this window and look well out of reach.
This is what's annoying me a bit. We still think of ourselves as a top side and there's the belief that we're making progress, yet seventh is all we can aim for.
Leicester managed 2 x 5ths and an FA Cup in recent seasons.
Exactly. We have some idea that success is inevitable with our owners and manager then say seventh is the target.
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as we only lost two games by more than a single goal, a slight but real improvement should mean plenty more points.
This is very true. Given what we've spent and the strength of our squad we should absolutely be competing for 7th this season. It's a shame Arsenal got themselves together and Man U have finally got a top manager, as both looked vunerable. Spurs look to have done fantastic business this window and look well out of reach.
This is what's annoying me a bit. We still think of ourselves as a top side and there's the belief that we're making progress, yet seventh is all we can aim for.
Leicester managed 2 x 5ths and an FA Cup in recent seasons.
Exactly. We have some idea that success is inevitable with our owners and manager then say seventh is the target.
I think it's just being realistic with expectations. A couple of seasons in and around that position and the aims will move higher.
I know what you mean, I had the same thought myself recently, but it's the reality of an overly wealthy league that is packed with great players.
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as we only lost two games by more than a single goal, a slight but real improvement should mean plenty more points.
This is very true. Given what we've spent and the strength of our squad we should absolutely be competing for 7th this season. It's a shame Arsenal got themselves together and Man U have finally got a top manager, as both looked vunerable. Spurs look to have done fantastic business this window and look well out of reach.
This is what's annoying me a bit. We still think of ourselves as a top side and there's the belief that we're making progress, yet seventh is all we can aim for.
"This season"
Personally I don't think 9th will be progress. For me 7/8th is minimum requirement and we look to kick on from there. This means we must finish above either or both West Ham and Leicester and not let the likes of Newcastle overtake us. We really shouldn't be fucking about with the likes of Southampton, Brighton, Leeds and Palace given the relative strength of our squads.
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We can't keep saying "a couple of seasons". We're buying players who won't hang around that long.
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We can't keep saying "a couple of seasons". We're buying players who won't hang around that long.
I know. But I doubt Digne, Coutinho and Kamara realistically expect us to finish above Man U, Arsenal or Spurs this season (although Man U must be a bit vunerable). Next, possibly.
This is why I'm sacking Gerrard if we finish 9th. 9th/10th simply isn't progress as far as I'm concerned.
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We can't keep saying "a couple of seasons". We're buying players who won't hang around that long.
On the flip side, we have players who I would argue clearly aren't good enough if we want to go any higher than 7th (eg McGinn and Watkins) but any talk of replacing them is shouted down as the worst kind of heresy.
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We can't keep saying "a couple of seasons". We're buying players who won't hang around that long.
On the flip side, we have players who I would argue clearly aren't good enough if we want to go any higher than 7th (eg McGinn and Watkins) but any talk of replacing them is shouted down as the worst kind of heresy.
To me they’re both good enough to be in a squad challenging for the top 6. If Gerrard is to be believed he wants competition for places with fewer guaranteed starters so if he’s true to his word then both will need to perform at the top of their game to keep the shirt. That should raise standards across the board.
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We can't keep saying "a couple of seasons". We're buying players who won't hang around that long.
Its the perennial work in progress mentality.
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We can't keep saying "a couple of seasons". We're buying players who won't hang around that long.
On the flip side, we have players who I would argue clearly aren't good enough if we want to go any higher than 7th (eg McGinn and Watkins) but any talk of replacing them is shouted down as the worst kind of heresy.
The problem is, in the last 10 years, apart from the a couple of 6 month periods under Dean Smith, we have never had a team that is greater than (or even equal to) the sum of its parts. Til we find a manager that can do that it will always be a couple of seasons away.
I agree McGinn and Watkins arent good enough for top 6 - but were not going to get anyone better than them easily.
We need to a manager to get the team to over perform, like west ham have, and then hope our amazing owners then back that up with continued ambition.
SG has allowed us to get better players, he now needs to make them at least equal to the sum of their parts.
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We can't keep saying "a couple of seasons". We're buying players who won't hang around that long.
I know. But I doubt Digne, Coutinho and Kamara realistically expect us to finish above Man U, Arsenal or Spurs this season (although Man U must be a bit vunerable). Next, possibly.
This is why I'm sacking Gerrard if we finish 9th. 9th/10th simply isn't progress as far as I'm concerned.
Unless win finish 9th and win the FA Cup.
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We can't keep saying "a couple of seasons". We're buying players who won't hang around that long.
I know. But I doubt Digne, Coutinho and Kamara realistically expect us to finish above Man U, Arsenal or Spurs this season (although Man U must be a bit vunerable). Next, possibly.
This is why I'm sacking Gerrard if we finish 9th. 9th/10th simply isn't progress as far as I'm concerned.
Unless win finish 9th and win the FA Cup.
Absolutely. Or other significant mitigating circumstances.