The Big Interview

[richtheholtender]

Interesting read, not sure if we would ever fill a 60,000 seater stadium even if we were to be successful for a sustained period of time.

I think we would. Bigger crowds have been inside VP when it was standing and there was less people to target then. The product and the price need to be right though which they currently are not.

[olaftab]

The days of Villa Park as the big stadium and venue of choice for the FA cup semis has long gone. There was only old Trafford to compete with in the past now a number of stadiums such as Emirates, tax payers, new spurs, redeveloped Anfield, Manchester council house, stadium of light and St James park offer more capacity and better facilities. Our unique location in the centre of the country is just about the only advantage left.

[FranzBiberkopf]

Nice words - time will tell I guess.

"The Villa Engine". Same as "Der Hamburger Weg" etc? Whether its a fundamental and sustained vision that everyone works towards or simply corporate bullsh&t that changes as soon as the manager changes; I'm not so sure.

In terms of 60K? Interesting. The current American model seems to be build smaller, but rake more cash in from the punters that are present (better concession stands etc). Not sure if that approach wouldn't be better?

[villasjf]

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.

Next year Rodders were going to be mirrionaires.

[villasjf]

Interesting read, not sure if we would ever fill a 60,000 seater stadium even if we were to be successful for a sustained period of time.

I think we would. Bigger crowds have been inside VP when it was standing and there was less people to target then. The product and the price need to be right though which they currently are not.

We had 54000+ for a friendly against Santos, what a night that was.

[Percy McCarthy]

Really looking forward to the development of the ground and surrounding area. We are in a dream location and setting that we've never really sussed how to utilise. Five minutes from Spaghetti, two train stations, not far from city centre, massive catchment area both local and slightly further afield.

What we need for it all to come to fruition is a team that can compete with anybody, regularly qualifies for the CL, wins trophies at least every two or three years and has players Sanchez, Silva, Hazzard etc. who we can keep from wanting to jump ship at the first sign of a club perceived as more glamorous making eyes at them.

Barry wanting to go to Liverpool was kind of the death of Lerner's dream in some respects, followed by all the others like Milner and Young. Next time we have a team like that, or Sir Brian's or BFR's, or players like Platt, they must be kept and added to. This would be a post-war first for us and only then will we know for certain our full potential.

I don't see why people are so sure we can't get 60k every week. Do they really think we wouldn't if we were throwing money around like PSG or Man City, or caught up again with the histories of Liverpool or Man Utd?

We have won 1 league title and 1 FA Cup in nearly a hundred years and we still have fantastic support IMO.

[olaftab]

What I do like is the flagged messages and directions on lamp posts starting from the express way bridge on Aston Hall road/Witton/Trinity. Saw them for the very first time as I drove past last night as normally my approach is from Bevintgton road side. Nice touch.

[Boz]

Really looking forward to the development of the ground and surrounding area. We are in a dream location and setting that we've never really sussed how to utilise. Five minutes from Spaghetti, two train stations, not far from city centre, massive catchment area both local and slightly further afield.

What we need for it all to come to fruition is a team that can compete with anybody, regularly qualifies for the CL, wins trophies at least every two or three years and has players Sanchez, Silva, Hazzard etc. who we can keep from wanting to jump ship at the first sign of a club perceived as more glamorous making eyes at them.

Barry wanting to go to Liverpool was kind of the death of Lerner's dream in some respects, followed by all the others like Milner and Young. Next time we have a team like that, or Sir Brian's or BFR's, or players like Platt, they must be kept and added to. This would be a post-war first for us and only then will we know for certain our full potential.

I don't see why people are so sure we can't get 60k every week. Do they really think we wouldn't if we were throwing money around like PSG or Man City, or caught up again with the histories of Liverpool or Man Utd?

We have won 1 league title and 1 FA Cup in nearly a hundred years and we still have fantastic support IMO.

The above paragraph highlights the main issue. For the Wyness dream to become reality requires a successful team, AVFC are a football club first and foremost and on the back of that, all the commercial razzmatazz follows.

There's lots of good stuff in this plan, but there's a lot of improvement required at the team level first and I don't see Bruce being the manager to inspire this. He might be a good and sincere guy, but he's not a manager for the future IMO.

[Mister E]

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).

The driver to 60,000 crowds is regular Chumps League football. That guarantees a high TV presence both in the UK and globally whcih brings in all the occasional fans that make up the differfence between the loyal local numbers and the tourists.

[olaftab]

Let's be honest regardless of owners everytime we have been on the fringe of something good we have managed to turn the other way and pull out rather than ramming home our advantage. This happened in 1990, 1993, 1996 and in 2009/10. We just didn't do what was necessary to make a very good team into a great team and regressed.😥

[Risso]

Nobody can say that the ambition wasn't still there in 2008-09; we signed the then-England centre-forward for gawd's sake.

Emile Heskey?  I wouldn't say that was a sign of ambition, more that Martin O'Neill had lost what was left of his marbles.

[Chico Hamilton III]

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).

The driver to 60,000 crowds is regular Chumps League football. That guarantees a high TV presence both in the UK and globally whcih brings in all the occasional fans that make up the differfence between the loyal local numbers and the tourists.

Be careful what you wish for and all that. I’m not sure how comfortable I’d be sitting in a stadium with 60,000 silent fans ( like they are every week at Old Trafford, The Emirates, whatever Man City’s ground is called these days, Stamford Bridge, West Ham etc) all having paid a £1500 for their season tickets, waiting to be entertained by a team of mercenaries. My idea of Hell

It might just be me being an old stick in the mud but I’d sooner sit with 35,000 real Villa fans.

[tomd2103]

Really looking forward to the development of the ground and surrounding area. We are in a dream location and setting that we've never really sussed how to utilise. Five minutes from Spaghetti, two train stations, not far from city centre, massive catchment area both local and slightly further afield.

What we need for it all to come to fruition is a team that can compete with anybody, regularly qualifies for the CL, wins trophies at least every two or three years and has players Sanchez, Silva, Hazzard etc. who we can keep from wanting to jump ship at the first sign of a club perceived as more glamorous making eyes at them.

Barry wanting to go to Liverpool was kind of the death of Lerner's dream in some respects, followed by all the others like Milner and Young. Next time we have a team like that, or Sir Brian's or BFR's, or players like Platt, they must be kept and added to. This would be a post-war first for us and only then will we know for certain our full potential.

I don't see why people are so sure we can't get 60k every week. Do they really think we wouldn't if we were throwing money around like PSG or Man City, or caught up again with the histories of Liverpool or Man Utd?

We have won 1 league title and 1 FA Cup in nearly a hundred years and we still have fantastic support IMO.

The above paragraph highlights the main issue. For the Wyness dream to become reality requires a successful team, AVFC are a football club first and foremost and on the back of that, all the commercial razzmatazz follows.

There's lots of good stuff in this plan, but there's a lot of improvement required at the team level first and I don't see Bruce being the manager to inspire this. He might be a good and sincere guy, but he's not a manager for the future IMO.

Agree.  We would need Manchester City's / Chelsea's recent levels of success over a sustained period to build up those sort of crowds and that means we would need the level of investment those two clubs have had in that period, if not more. 

As others have said he is saying the right things and reading between the lines, Bruce is very much viewed as a short term option to get us up, 

[john e]

long term football strategy and playing style with the 'Villa engine' driving us forward

i'm looking forward to that happening

[paul_e]

The engine stuff is the only important bit of that for me right now, the commercial stuff is all important and needs to happen alongside those improvements but if we get the playing side wrong then no amount of commercial improvements will help.

The comments about Bruce worry me because he seems far too chummy with him. Bruce has to be seen as an employee first and foremost and has to have very strict criteria that he's judged against, we can't afford for him to slip up because if he does then most of that interview is hot air.