Questions for sofoot.com article

[Legion]

- Are you surprised by the first results of your club this season ?

- Do the Villans deserve to be 19th in the table ?

- Do you think that the precedent season still has an impact on the results of the club ?

- Are you satisfied by the new players arriving during the transfer window ? 

- When Tony Xia said : "I hope in five years, or after five years, we will talk of this club as Madrid or Barcelona", how did you react ?
- Does his project for the club seems to be sound, solid ?

- Was Roberto di Matteo a casting error ? And why ?

- Does Steve Bruce could be capable to bring back Aston Villa to the Premier League in may 2017 ?

[Legion]

Hello,

I am a French journalist working for sofoot.com, a French website of football, culture and society.

I make an article about the season of Aston Villa in Championship and I'd like to ask some questions to a representative of your fanzine (by phone or email if it is more convenient for you).

Thank you in advance
Florian Lefèvre

[olaftab]

- Are you surprised by the first results of your club this season ? Yes I thought we would win most of the games.

- Do the Villans deserve to be 19th in the table ?  Yes. Table never lies.

- Do you think that the precedent season still has an impact on the results of the club ? No. We appointed a Restaurant Manager as our Head Coach.

- Are you satisfied by the new players arriving during the transfer window ?  No. We bought some very bad players however Kodjia is going to be good.

- When Tony Xia said : "I hope in five years, or after five years, we will talk of this club as Madrid or Barcelona", how did you react ? Silly man.
- Does his project for the club seems to be sound, solid ? I like his general approach.

- Was Roberto di Matteo a casting error ? And why ? He is not a good  team manager and not a coach other than that he is OK.

- Does Steve Bruce could be capable to bring back Aston Villa to the Premier League in may 2017 ? I am not a fan of this man however he should at least organise us properly. I hope he still has some "promotions" left in him. Personally I would have preferred a younger new age coach to build the club  up again.

[Salsa Party Animal]

- Are you surprised by the first results of your club this season ?
No but I am annoyed and bored with all the draws.

- Do the Villans deserve to be 19th in the table ?
Yes as we don't win enough games or keep clean sheet.
- Do you think that the precedent season still has an impact on the results of the club ?
Yes as it is hard to turn round the team form and every team love to play against Aston Villa.

- Are you satisfied by the new players arriving during the transfer window ? 
Yes some good players but we still not sorted out the midfield or find a playmaker.

- When Tony Xia said : "I hope in five years, or after five years, we will talk of this club as Madrid or Barcelona", how did you react ?

It will take longer than that, but I like it.

- Does his project for the club seems to be sound, solid ?
early days as we need to develop an identity and style. There are more football people at the club management which is good start.

- Was Roberto di Matteo a casting error ? And why ?
He sound good on paper with promotion at West Brom, managed aboard and win Champions League. But he is unproven and lacked experience for the big job.

- Does Steve Bruce could be capable to bring back Aston Villa to the Premier League in may 2017 ?

I think he is capable of doing it, but it won't be easy challenge. We might have to wait until May 2018 for promotion.

[Villa in Denmark]

- Are you surprised by the first results of your club this season ?
Yes. Expected to be upper mid-table and getting better, both results and performances. Instead we started poorly and got worse

- Do the Villans deserve to be 19th in the table ?
Yes. From the games I've seen we've been mostly rubbish but giving maybe 20 minutes of decent performance most games. That's not going to win you games at any level.

- Do you think that the precedent season still has an impact on the results of the club ?
No. This is the cumulative effect of 3 or 4 years of incoherent strategy from the previous owner and the numerous assortment of coaches allied to cost cutting that went too far. As a result hardly any of the squad have a feel for the club or each other. You don't change that in 12 weeks.

- Are you satisfied by the new players arriving during the transfer window ? 
As individual signings, mostly OK. As a coherent strategy to rebuild the squad and make us competitive at the top of the league no. Midfield is too weak and lacking bodies to give cover for injury/suspensions. In defence the central pairing still doesn't look strong enough.

- When Tony Xia said : "I hope in five years, or after five years, we will talk of this club as Madrid or Barcelona", how did you react ?
Oh dear
- Does his project for the club seems to be sound, solid ? If I'd got to pick one word I'd say ambitious, which on the surface is refreshing. I'll remain a little uneasy about where the money is coming from until we've seen a couple of years worth of accounts

- Was Roberto di Matteo a casting error ? And why ?
Definitely. The results speak for themselves. As to why? He didn't seem very engaged or interested, which may be doing him a disservice, but on the pitch his solution to any problem seemed to be to force another attacker onto the pitch and usually make the problem, large holes in midfield, worse.

- Does Steve Bruce could be capable to bring back Aston Villa to the Premier League in may 2017 ?
He's got a better chance than de Matteo had, although I think we may have to settle for 2017/18

[KevinGage]

- Are you surprised by the first results of your club this season ?
No. Did you see us last season?

- Do the Villans deserve to be 19th in the table ?
Darn tootin.

- Do you think that the precedent season still has an impact on the results of the club ?
Yes. Naturellement

- Are you satisfied by the new players arriving during the transfer window ?
No. For that level of investment we could have seen better quality up front and better than a rookie goalkeeper. And the midfield!

- When Tony Xia said : "I hope in five years, or after five years, we will talk of this club as Madrid or Barcelona", how did you react ?
- Does his project for the club seems to be sound, solid ?
Personally, I thought he undersold it.  Masters of the Universe by 2020.

- Was Roberto di Matteo a casting error ? And why ?
Looking at the other candidates, it's a decision that made sense at the time. But his approach as per the Chelsea and Schalke jobs wasn't what was needed after our car crash of a season last year.

- Does Steve Bruce could be capable to bring back Aston Villa to the Premier League in may 2017 ?

His record indicates that he could. Smart recruitment in Jan to plug the gaps we still have in midfield should see us there or thereabouts for the play-offs. As mediocre as we have been this season, there isn't a huge amount of quality in the division.

[cdbearsfan]

- Are you surprised by the first results of your club this season ?

If you'd asked me at the end of last season, I'd have said no, I expect us to carry on being shite forever. However, after the change of ownership, spending a shitload of cash and appointing a manager who had a history of competence (at least) I expected better. I didn't necessarily think we'd be top of the league straight away but neither did I expect us to be so far adrift before the clocks go back.

- Do the Villans deserve to be 19th in the table ?

We were unlucky in a few games so, no. We probably deserve to be about 13th. Still not spectacular though.

- Do you think that the precedent season still has an impact on the results of the club ?

I don't blame it for the non-performance against Preston and Luton but I do think the scars of last season, and the awful last five or six seasons, still affect us when trying to see a game out. There is a culture of not winning at the club.

- Are you satisfied by the new players arriving during the transfer window ? 

It's unfair to judge this early but I said at the time I wanted an extra midfielder and that's the area where where he been lacking most.

I think a few players are still finding their feet. I see promise in Tshibola and am very excited by Kodjia. He looks like he could be a huge star.

- When Tony Xia said : "I hope in five years, or after five years, we will talk of this club as Madrid or Barcelona", how did you react ?

I just thought he's a bit of a mad bastard and had a laugh. It didn't bother me though.

- Does his project for the club seems to be sound, solid ?

It's hard to say. Depends if we go up and if/when the money dries up. So far, we can't really fault the way he has invigorated and invested in the club. I wish he'd appointed a better manager than RDM but I can't blame him for that too much as his prior record looked good and I was among those that supported his appointment.

- Was Roberto di Matteo a casting error ? And why ?

Yes. Because we are 19th! His main problems seemed to be lack of tactical nouse. He also must have used up all his luck when Chelsea fluked the European Cup.

- Does Steve Bruce could be capable to bring back Aston Villa to the Premier League in may 2017 ?

Who knows? It's a big task but if we make a running start, anything is possible.

[supertom]

- Are you surprised by the first results of your club this season ?
Yes and no. Nothing really surprises me with Villa, particularly with how dreadful we've been capable of being in the last 6 years. That said I expected far more.

- Do the Villans deserve to be 19th in the table ?
You could argue we've dominated a lot of games in periods only to give away sloppy goals and drop points (particularly late on in games) but ultimately, the table doesn't lie and games last for 90+ minutes. We deserve nothing more, nothing less, but there's 36 games left to rectify the dreadful start.

- Do you think that the precedent season still has an impact on the results of the club ?
The precedent 6 years since O Neill ran off like a coward in the night (probably knowing full well a rapid decline was on the cards).

- Are you satisfied by the new players arriving during the transfer window ? 
Aside from (STILL) not addressing the midfield, yes. January is going to make or break our hopes of a late playoff push. A new Keeper, centerhalf and centre midfielder are absolutely essential.

- When Tony Xia said : "I hope in five years, or after five years, we will talk of this club as Madrid or Barcelona", how did you react ?
He's mad as a box of frogs but I like Tony. No one can argue he hasn't put his money where his mouth is.
- Does his project for the club seems to be sound, solid?
Ask me in 2-3 years time. He can't spend 50 million every summer, and nor would I want him to. At some point we need the right manager. For where we are, Steve Bruce is the first steady appointment we've made since Herbert appointed Martin O Neill on his way out the door.

- Was Roberto di Matteo a casting error ? And why ?
Yes. Too long out of England. Tactically naive and lacking enough character to alter this losing mentality. If you gift results through silly mistakes in 1-2 games that's fair enough, but making the same mistakes over and over again is unforgivable. He lost my support after leaving us with one central midfielder on the pitch in a game, with 5 attack minded players on, when we should really have been adding another on the pitch to make three and give some solidity to see out the game. He did this in 2-3 games in fact. Idiotic tactical blunders that rank almost as high as Paul Lamberts Bradford debacle.

- Does Steve Bruce could be capable to bring back Aston Villa to the Premier League in may 2017 ?
If he does it this season, for me it would rank as one of the biggest managerial achievements in the clubs history. Of course not European Cup level by any stretch, but in a level below that. I mean after this start, it would be astonishing to go up. We've got a lot of ground to make up on squads with far more cohesion than us. If he does it he's going to be a hero. If he doesn't manage it, I think we'll do it next season. But for this season I want to see us establish some consistent results, particularly at Villa park. January can't come quick enough though because Bruce has a lot of weak areas in the squad to address.

[ChicagoLion]

- Are you surprised by the first results of your club this season ?
Yes I thought we might have trouble adjusting to the division with lots of new players but only one win is disaster.
- Do the Villans deserve to be 19th in the table ? Yes

- Do you think that the precedent season still has an impact on the results of the club ?
Without doubt, the 6 years of neglect is hard to turn around

- Are you satisfied by the new players arriving during the transfer window ? 
It allways is a gamble to buy that many players in a such a small period of time.
Still to early to see how they will progress, but the team looks unbalanced and centre midfield remains an obvious problem. Not too sure how the attacking players will fit into a cohesive attack.

- When Tony Xia said : "I hope in five years, or after five years, we will talk of this club as Madrid or Barcelona", how did you react ? With incredulity and did not take it seriously.
- Does his project for the club seems to be sound, solid ? No idea, still to early to tell, it does appear that we have a more solid structure than in the past.

- Was Roberto di Matteo a casting error ? And why ? The concerns were allways the rumours that he is not a hands on manager, when things did not go well he did not appear to have the wherewithall to react.

- Does Steve Bruce could be capable to bring back Aston Villa to the Premier League in may 2017 ?a very tall order from where we are now, so no i do not think so

[AVH87]

- Are you surprised by the first results of your club this season ? A little bit, yes. With some of the big-name Championship signings brought in I thought we'd be in or around the top 6.

- Do the Villans deserve to be 19th in the table ? Yes, because for me the goals haven't come as a surprise in games, even when they've been late. The warnings signs have been there but the manager and players haven't been good enough to prevent it.

- Do you think that the precedent season still has an impact on the results of the club ? It looks like it has now. It didn't need to though, if we'd appointed a manager with the right sort of mentality and personality, also spending more of the budget on CM and DF would have helped.

- Are you satisfied by the new players arriving during the transfer window ?  In attacking areas yes, midfield is weak.

- When Tony Xia said : "I hope in five years, or after five years, we will talk of this club as Madrid or Barcelona", how did you react ? It's good to see some ambition, but this is OTT and unrealistic.

- Does his project for the club seems to be sound, solid ? Too early to say for me.

- Was Roberto di Matteo a casting error ? And why ? Yes, Xia was fooled by the Euro Cup win which didn't need a lot of input from RDM as it was world-class players. Here the players are mainly average and with a losing mentality.

- Does Steve Bruce could be capable to bring back Aston Villa to the Premier League in may 2017 ? Sure, still 35 games to go.

[Richard E]

Are you surprised by the first results of your club this season ?  Nothing ever surprises me about Villa but I did expect to have started the season better than we have done.

- Do the Villans deserve to be 19th in the table ? We have the 19th highest points total in the division, so yes. But the performances have generally been better than the results.

- Do you think that the precedent season still has an impact on the results of the club ? Initially it did not appear to be the case but once a run of games without wins started all the old anxieties started to seep back in and I think that this is without doubt partly a hangover from last season.

- Are you satisfied by the new players arriving during the transfer window ?  Yes.

- When Tony Xia said : "I hope in five years, or after five years, we will talk of this club as Madrid or Barcelona", how did you react ? With my usual wry smile and cynical chuckle to myself.
- Does his project for the club seems to be sound, solid ? I think so, but I am not completely sure what it is. So far the communication is excellent and he has put his money where his mouth is. We await to see what the next step is as and when the Premier League beckons again.

- Was Roberto di Matteo a casting error ? And why ? Probably, with hindsight. I think it was premature to part company with him but I suspect we need someone mentally tougher to get the ship back on the right course.

- Does Steve Bruce could be capable to bring back Aston Villa to the Premier League in may 2017 ? It will be a tough ask after the start we have made but if anyone has it in them to get us close to the goal then Steve Bruce is the man given his track record at this level.

[seanthevillan]

- Are you surprised by the first results of your club this season ?

No, mainly because last season was so awful there was bound to be a bit of a mental hangover. We aren't able to put teams away when we're on top, have a very soft centre as a team, and lots of the players are still getting used to playing with each other - so its not a huge surprise how games have gone if you look at them individually.

- Do the Villans deserve to be 19th in the table ?

Maybe deserved isn't the word, but a month ago I thought we could easily be a top 6 club in this league. The last few performances have been very poor, and though we've thrown a lot of points away we can't complain about where we are.

- Do you think that the precedent season still has an impact on the results of the club ?

Absolutely - the whole club and support is still scarred in my opinion.

- Are you satisfied by the new players arriving during the transfer window ? 

The players individually looked good, and the prices are understandable seeing as everyone knew our owner had money and promotion (which is what we were buying for) is worth gazillions. I wanted us to buy some of the best players from the Championship (McCormack, Kodjia, Adomah), sign some experienced players in key positions (Jedinak, Elphick, de Laet) and some young players to inject some life into the team (Tshibola, Gollini). For a variety of reasons, not many of these signings have paid off so far, and we have a very unbalanced team/squad. I would like to see Sanchez + Veretout back in midfield, and another centre half.

- When Tony Xia said : "I hope in five years, or after five years, we will talk of this club as Madrid or Barcelona", how did you react ?

I think I laughed - always nice to show ambition, but Xia should be wary of making statements which the media will use to ridicule him with.

- Does his project for the club seems to be sound, solid ?

Tbh I don't know enough about his project and plans. Firing managers every few months probably wouldn't be, so hopefully Bruce will turn things round.

- Was Roberto di Matteo a casting error ? And why ?

There were reasons in his favour - I won't act all wise after the event, I was reasonably happy when we got him but can't say I've followed his career to closely or actually ever seen an interview with him. The job is a massive one and requires a huge personality - di Matteo lost confidence in himself and what he was doing with the team, and that ultimately is what I think lead to a downturn in performances and him getting the sack.

- Does Steve Bruce could be capable to bring back Aston Villa to the Premier League in may 2017 ?

Well his track record says yes, I'm afraid that the Blues connection may mean he is under even more pressure to deliver and will get less patience from fans (though I really hope not). If he does manage it this season it would be one of the best managerial feats in recent Villa history (more impressive than O'Neill's cup finals), if he doesn't next season may be more realistic.

flicked through so.foot a few times and basically understood nothing but it looked decent!