Enjoying being excited again

[Stu]

As Eamonn has already said, I think we'll be ok away from home generally, but when the onus is on us to break teams down at home, I think we might struggle.

[bilsim]

It's great to feel the excitement again, but I'm also really enjoying how non-Villa fans are now cheering us on and want us to do well. In an age of mercenaries and stupid paydays, we've got a team of young, hungry players and regardless of results, that is something to be very proud of.

[PeterWithesShin]

As for under Lambert, I got loads of stick on here last season as I kept saying I was loving following us again, even when we were not exactly firing on all cylinders. I probably enjoyed last season more than any season since 95/96. It felt like MY Aston Villa again.

I know you're more, ahem, happy-clappy than most, but to have enjoyed last season more than 96/97 and 2007/08 and arguably many others - 97/98, 98/99, 99/00, 03/04, even O'Neill's first season (where you could argue it felt like ''our Villa'' again) or 2008-2010 strikes me as a bit nuts to be honest.

The best Feb-May period since Gregory took over or in Dolly's first season, maybe.

There is a big difference between enjoying the Villa and being a happy clapper. I criticise plenty when there is something worth criticising 

It never felt like my Villa under Pubehead. It always felt like his and we were just bit parts. The main feelgood for me was because of Ellis going, not what Pubey was doing. Of course I enjoyed other seasons to varying degrees, but none since 95/96 as much as last season.

For the whole of last season I looked forward to games. I liked what we were trying to do even when it tits up. Same as i'll enjoy it this season and not be hitting the panic button everytime it doesn't work. I enjoyed it so much I did my first league aways for donkeys years.

[Dave Cooper please]

Let's not forget one thing, though.

Last season we went to Liverpool and won 3-1 and got lots of plaudits. Then the next week we went to Chelsea, lost 8-0 and started on that terrible run.

I am not suggesting anything so hideous is going to happen again, just a note of caution, really, that this is going to be a really difficult fixture, and let's not all get our arses in our hands if we lose it.

No.
No notes of caution, no remembering a freak result from another year, just enjoy this resurgent, young Villa side without worrying about what's around the corner.
Yes we might lose at Chelsea,but so what, we now know that they will bounce back anyway.
These are good times people, have fun!

[ciggiesnbeer]

Yeah, if we get thrashed at Chelsea, who cares?  One of the very few upsides of getting hammered so badly and then having such a terrible run last year is that we know the worst can happen to this team and yet they can turn it around. We will be fine and we go again.

[Percy McCarthy]

I'm just thankful that TSM failed so miserably. If he'd have kept us comfortably mid-table he'd probably still be here now, despite the awful football.

Worse still, the club would be riddled with contemptuous wankers like Collins and Warnock, and shit players like Hutton.

[LeeB]

Hurrah to the last three posts, and bollocks to caution.

[pauliewalnuts]

Let's not forget one thing, though.

Last season we went to Liverpool and won 3-1 and got lots of plaudits. Then the next week we went to Chelsea, lost 8-0 and started on that terrible run.

I am not suggesting anything so hideous is going to happen again, just a note of caution, really, that this is going to be a really difficult fixture, and let's not all get our arses in our hands if we lose it.

No.
No notes of caution, no remembering a freak result from another year, just enjoy this resurgent, young Villa side without worrying about what's around the corner.
Yes we might lose at Chelsea,but so what, we now know that they will bounce back anyway.
These are good times people, have fun!

Hence "let's not get our arses in our hands if we lose".

[john e]

I'm just thankful that TSM failed so miserably. If he'd have kept us comfortably mid-table he'd probably still be here now, despite the awful football.

Worse still, the club would be riddled with contemptuous wankers like Collins and Warnock, and shit players like Hutton.

agree,
 the nightmare synario would be TSM doing rubbishly average, and they would have kept hold of him, I went to one game that season,
 I know people will say support through thick and thin but I just couldn't stomach that sort of football, you knew what you were going to see before you went so there was no point, at least every game we lost was another nail in his tenure

I know its the unforgivable sin to want your team to lose, but I'l put my hands up and say I wanted him out so badly that I didn't mind especially after that Spurs game, get worse before it got better is the saying, and that was true with TSM

crackers though it seems, I quite like the guy, and have no hard feelings toward him, I would even like to think he could have some success somewhere in the championship, it was his football that was just unwatchable

anyway enough of TSM, we definitely have the right man at the helm now,
I was watching Newcastle last night and looking at that fella sissoco, who was the man we should have broken the bank for last season according to some or we would be doomed, him and Samba

Lambert stuck by his guns, and look at us now, whole different feel around the place,
i'm not expecting anything against Chelsea, but then I wasn't against Arse, but a good performance and some encouraging football would be great,
but you never know, I did have a bit of the 9/1, but only betting with their money after taking the 8/1 on saturday

[ktvillan]

I'd lost the excitement factor about two to two and a half years into O'Neill's tenure -probably around the time of the Harewood signing- because, although results and final positions were generally good, it was apparent that the type of players being signed and the style of football being encouraged were unlikely to take us any higher.  It wasn't great to watch either, at home at least.  See Sunderland last season for where I think O'Neill was slowly taking us. 

I revived under Le Gaffeur as he tried to play proper football, and hit rock bottom under TSM when it seemed the owners had totally lost the plot.  Yes those away games at Spurs and Norwich said it all about TSM, not to mention 10 men in our own half at home to Man Yoo. 

Last year was sphincter-clenching at times but it's difficult to deny it was exciting.  It was high risk, putting faith in so many inexperienced players, and defensively we are still far from solid.  But what I admire about Lambert is that he not only had a plan, which involved technique based, attacking football,  but he had the balls and faith in his players to stick to it even when the tits were rapidly turning skywards and people like me were flapping like a banner in a hurricane.  I think that belief eventually got through to the players and produced our very decent end of season run.  They seem to have a bit of a swagger about them now, whereby if they are dealt a blow, they pick themselves up and twat right back.  It's not the full Monty yet, but it's kind of nice to think that even if Chelsea do get 8 tonight, we'll be trying to get 9.

[Jimbo]

We should go for it as we always do. I still think Chelsea will win comfortably, but if we get four points from the opening three games we'll have four more than I thought we'd get. And we could easily get six.

3-1 to the chavs.

[ktvillan]

Oh and I've got  ticket for Saturday which will be my first live game under Lambert.  Looking forward to it.

[eastie]

We should go for it as we always do. I still think Chelsea will win comfortably, but if we get four points from the opening three games we'll have four more than I thought we'd get. And we could easily get six.

3-1 to the chavs.

I would take a narrow defeat at the bridge if we beat Liverpool on Saturday but there is a great spirit in the club right now and its not beyond us to get a result at Chelsea too.

[pauliewalnuts]

I'd lost the excitement factor about two to two and a half years into O'Neill's tenure -probably around the time of the Harewood signing- because, although results and final positions were generally good, it was apparent that the type of players being signed and the style of football being encouraged were unlikely to take us any higher.  It wasn't great to watch either, at home at least.  See Sunderland last season for where I think O'Neill was slowly taking us

I agree re the football under MON, but especially at home.

I don't think he had got us anywhere near as uncreative as he has Sunderland, though, nowhere near that bad. I think that is mostly because he inherited some decent players, and threw enough money at new players to get some of his signings to work out.

That ongoing struggle to unlock teams at home when we couldn't counter attack was not a lot of fun to watch. Nor were, as you mentioned, some of the signings. Harewood, FFS.

[not3bad]

Didn't MON sign Harewood in the Summer after his first season?  2007?  Maybe you're thinking of Heskey?  But I do remember making a joke about O'Neill turning us into a big budget Leicester City that didn't go down well with some.