Plans, projects and performance

[Nunkin1965]

A great piece Dave.
Our football club is in a genuinely unique position for us in that we are now owned by people with huge financial standing.
Now it's up to them how far this goes and potentially we can reach higher than we ever have but as far as I'm concerned we've talked the talk and thats it.

[LeonW]

The longer this situation goes on, the more you have to question NSWE level of interest or grasp of things. With Edens in particular having a track record of successfully managing a sporting entity, it can't see that it's purely a case of delegating to Purslow and taking all relevant and pertinent information from him or Lange on recruitment.

Our current problems are definitely structural; Purslow should have zero involvement whatsoever in any football matters but this is clearly not the case when he's involved heavily in managerial appointments and signing players. This impacted the appointment and subsequent management of Gerrard, who either was appointed without showing a clearly defined way of managing our summer acquisitions of 2021 or has just refused to. Purslow's statement about not even having considered replacing Gerrard when asked is not just a red flag; it's indicative of the situation.

For the good of the club, both Gerrard and Purslow have to be removed from post and Lange's role reviewed.

This is the second (and more important) challenge that faces NSWE. They lost Grealish and now have to demonstrate to a fanbase that are familiar with being misled about a jam tomorrow, that they can sort this mess out and demonstrate the reality of their ambition.

[ChicagoLion]

The owners have to ask what the fuck has happened.The dilemma they should have is who do they sack first.

[Mister E]

Your last paragraph ("Then there are the owners. They’ve put a lot of money in, and for that we should be grateful, although the buck has to stop with them. It’s their club and if they want the praise for what they’ve done then they should also take criticism for what they haven’t. We’re now into the fifth season since that glorious day in summer 2019 when we realised that we’d won the New Owner Lottery. I really thought that by now, if we were trying to attract a new manager we’d be offering him something a bit more tangible than a project.") sums it up perfectly.
The next few days will clarify where we go next, I guess.

[Smirker]

The owners have to ask what the fuck has happened.The dilemma they should have is who do they sack first.

Its not THAT bad. We're an established PL club. Progress hasn't been as quick as we'd like since we came up but we're in a miles better position now.

[Legion]

We're teetering on the brink due to the appointment of Gerrard.

[LeonW]

The owners have to ask what the fuck has happened.The dilemma they should have is who do they sack first.

Its not THAT bad. We're an established PL club. Progress hasn't been as quick as we'd like since we came up but we're in a miles better position now.

We’re averaging less than a goal and a point a game this season, with a number of presentable fixtures gone. Our XG both in creating opportunities and conceding from shots faced is terrible. Yet our wage spend is the 7th highest in the league and our manager thinks we should be getting thrashed by Chelsea at VP. He was appointed because of his name and his relationship with our current CEO because if he’d been managing Rangers for 3 years and his name was Stephan Henchoz or Diji Traore, he’d be getting not a sniff of the VP job. We were in a decent position for a new manager to come in and replace Smith thanks to the good work he’d done but as a result of Purslow-nomics, that’s been set fire to, yet he hasn’t considered replacing Gerrard apparently. We’re saddled with higher wages on depreciating assets as we’ve increased the age profile of the squad, are in a relegation battle and at the same time, expanding the stadium and infrastructure. And yet no moves (seemingly) are being made to address a situation that stretches back across the entirety of 2022, when we’ve won, what, 5 games against current Premier League teams in that period and we’re almost in November? Are we going to wait until the World Cup before making a change when the situation could be dire? It’s a toxic combination because manager, likely some coaching staff and CEO need to go at a hefty cost and if we went down at this point it could well be peak Villa. I think we’re not in great shape, particularly if our owners have lost interest. So i’m struggling to feel positive at the minute.

[purpletrousers]

Your last paragraph ("Then there are the owners. They’ve put a lot of money in, and for that we should be grateful, although the buck has to stop with them. It’s their club and if they want the praise for what they’ve done then they should also take criticism for what they haven’t. We’re now into the fifth season since that glorious day in summer 2019 when we realised that we’d won the New Owner Lottery. I really thought that by now, if we were trying to attract a new manager we’d be offering him something a bit more tangible than a project.") sums it up perfectly.
The next few days will clarify where we go next, I guess.

Agreed.
Though
19/20
20/21
21/22
22/23

We are mid 4th season since coming back up rather than 5th?

[dave.woodhall]

Typo. Should have been 2018.

[Rory]

Typo. Should have been 2018.

Some of us gave you the benefit of the doubt that you were referring to when we got completely rid of the shyster Xia. The pretence for the first ten months was, after all, that shit-shoes was still relevant.

[Scott Nielsen]

Great article, Dave.

[purpletrousers]

Typo. Should have been 2018.

Some of us gave you the benefit of the doubt that you were referring to when we got completely rid of the shyster Xia. The pretence for the first ten months was, after all, that shit-shoes was still relevant.

Ah yes. I didn’t even read properly I was focussed on the emotional 2019 day out in the sun, which was a fab day, but I know Dave well enough not to be still glorying in finishing 5th/7 points behind Leeds in 3rd.

Thinking about it all again takes me back to how successful Dean was, just how quickly. Of course supercharged by a once in a generation talent but he was able to utilise that and build around it in a way another didn’t.

Pedantry aside, Dave you tell it like it is. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll make a big move, and in a couple of years time we won’t be talking about a challenging project for someone to relish. I’m going to have faith our owners still mean business and aren’t willing to give up on how much they’ve invested thus far. It is possible. Let it be so.

[ChicagoLion]

The owners have to ask what the fuck has happened.The dilemma they should have is who do they sack first.

Its not THAT bad. We're an established PL club. Progress hasn't been as quick as we'd like since we came up but we're in a miles better position now.

We’re averaging less than a goal and a point a game this season, with a number of presentable fixtures gone. Our XG both in creating opportunities and conceding from shots faced is terrible. Yet our wage spend is the 7th highest in the league and our manager thinks we should be getting thrashed by Chelsea at VP. He was appointed because of his name and his relationship with our current CEO because if he’d been managing Rangers for 3 years and his name was Stephan Henchoz or Diji Traore, he’d be getting not a sniff of the VP job. We were in a decent position for a new manager to come in and replace Smith thanks to the good work he’d done but as a result of Purslow-nomics, that’s been set fire to, yet he hasn’t considered replacing Gerrard apparently. We’re saddled with higher wages on depreciating assets as we’ve increased the age profile of the squad, are in a relegation battle and at the same time, expanding the stadium and infrastructure. And yet no moves (seemingly) are being made to address a situation that stretches back across the entirety of 2022, when we’ve won, what, 5 games against current Premier League teams in that period and we’re almost in November? Are we going to wait until the World Cup before making a change when the situation could be dire? It’s a toxic combination because manager, likely some coaching staff and CEO need to go at a hefty cost and if we went down at this point it could well be peak Villa. I think we’re not in great shape, particularly if our owners have lost interest. So i’m struggling to feel positive at the minute.

Exactly Lyon, the decisions that have set this state of affairs in motion is down to Purslow. The owners now have to start making decisions and good ones.

[Villan For Life]

What a depressing read!  Why do we keep getting it so wrong?

I feel such a disconnection from the club right now, I really can’t summon anything to overcome my apathy towards AVFC. I’ve felt like this before but Dean Smith reinvigorated the club and the fan base. With the ego in charge and a seemingly inept CEO we really need the owners to shake the whole shit show up with two high profile dismissals and two even more high profile appointments, the kind of people who “get” the Villa in the same way that Dean and Sir Graham did.

[Risso]

Us, Wolves and Leicester have shown this season that if you don't invest enough in the playing side, you fall behind.