Players who I think could get a decent amount of game time in a top 6 team:MartinezDigneRamseyMcGInnCoutinhoBuendiaRamsey is still a bit raw and McGinn can be hit and miss, but I can see both doing a job at the likes of Arsenal, Spurs or Man Utd and think both would benefit from better players around them.Lots of work to do.
I hate to say this, but being honest, we've been mediocre for way more than ten years. More like thirty. Not that I care, but I think the general public's consensus of Villa would be a middling, do-nothing club, because a whole generation has grown up with us being also-rans. I'm not sure how to change that.Saying that, in this timeframe we've lost more cup finals than some clubs will see forth-rounds.
There just seems to be something about the Villa over the past twenty years that drags everyone down who comes into contact with us. Even when O'Neill was spending big, the football was rarely more than workmanlike.
As I said after beating Arsenal in 2020. Then tonight happened. Because no matter how much you try to pretend you don’t care anymore, sooner or later you realise that you’re only fooling yourself. It doesn’t matter what the level, how good, bad or indifferent, or ‘ow many times they break yer ‘eart, once they’ve got you, you’re theirs for life. They can make you feel like you’ve just been kicked in the guts repeatedly (often), or looking for the nearest bridge to jump off (sometimes), but no matter how many times that happens, it’s all worth it for nights like this.
Quote from: dave.woodhall on May 20, 2022, 03:26:52 PMThere just seems to be something about the Villa over the past twenty years that drags everyone down who comes into contact with us. Even when O'Neill was spending big, the football was rarely more than workmanlike.We need new heroes.
Quote from: Stu on May 20, 2022, 05:09:02 PMQuote from: dave.woodhall on May 20, 2022, 03:26:52 PMThere just seems to be something about the Villa over the past twenty years that drags everyone down who comes into contact with us. Even when O'Neill was spending big, the football was rarely more than workmanlike.We need new heroes.Very much this.
Quote from: Nelly on May 19, 2022, 10:05:41 PMI hate to say this, but being honest, we've been mediocre for way more than ten years. More like thirty. Not that I care, but I think the general public's consensus of Villa would be a middling, do-nothing club, because a whole generation has grown up with us being also-rans. I'm not sure how to change that.Saying that, in this timeframe we've lost more cup finals than some clubs will see forth-rounds.Not 30 years but close. 1996 was a very competitive season end for us. Won the League cup, semi final of the FA cup and 4th place in the League. it was the "love it" season but after that Doug decided to prune us down a little like his roses and restricted the fertiliser and here we are.
Breaking our transfer record two seasons in a row with Sasa Curcic and Stan Collymore were huge mistakes. We totally lost momentum and although we signed some good players between 98 and 2002 we also lost quite a few. Doug then pretty much gave up by 03 and took 3 years to sell us.