Unai Emery

[Stinkin_Thinkin]

Emery's arrival at villa coincided with the club playing hardball with the fans, ramping up prices, get a new phone or dont get in and other supercilious behaviours. It's obvious the boo boys would be out in force as soon as results dropped off, the fans are angry at the club, the players are angry at the club (you sold our mate you bastard) Emery is copping the flack. With Sunderland Fulham and Burnley coming up a few points (five or six) on the board should pacifty the angry mob.

[algy]

The Percy article in general is a good summary, and ends on a positive note which I am desperate for at the moment. But one thing keeps puzzling me (and please forgive my ignorance if there is an obvious answer) - this notion that we have 'spent big' since Emery came in. Is it true? I was under the assumption we had a negative net spend since he arrived. Presumably this is much less than most other teams?

I know that the wages to revenue ratio is a big worry, but does that translate to us being big spenders? In the context of the Premier League, aren't we the complete opposite? Is this perception purely to do with our wages, or is it based on something else that I'm missing?

If Transfermarkt is to be believed, and why wouldn't it be? ...

22/23
Bought Moreno (€13.5m), Duran (€29.5m)
Sold Ings (€12m), Targett (€17.5m)
Net Spend €13.5m

23/24
Bought Diaby (€55m), Torres (€33m), Rogers (€9.4m), Nedeljkovic (€7.6m), Zaniola (€5m loan fee), Gauci (€1.5m), Tielemans (free)
Sold Archer (€21.55m), Philogene (€5.8m), Nakamba (€2.9m), Davis (€2.3m), Dendoncker (€0.6m loan fee)
Net Spend €78.3m

24/25
Bought Onana (€59.3m), Maatsen (€44.5m), Malen (€25m), Archer (€16.6m), Philogene (€16m), Iling-Junior (€14m), Dobbin (€11.8m), Barrenechea (€8m), Garcia (€7m), Disasi (€6m loan fee), Barkley (€5.9m)
Sold Duran (€77m), Diaby (€60m), Douglas Luiz (€51.5m), Philogene (€23.7m), Archer (€17.6m), Diego Carlos (€11.5m), Iroegbunham (€10.7m), Sanson (€4m), Sinsalo (€1.2m)
Net Spend -€43m

25/26
Bought Gussand (€30m), Bizot (€0.5m), Lindelof (free)
Sold Ramsey (€45.15m), Kesler-Hayden (€4m), Barrenechea (€3m loan fee), Bailey (€3m loan fee)
Net Spend -€24.6m

Net spend over the whole time he's been here is €24.15m

[algy]

As an aside to that, since we came up we've spent €233.73m.  Take out the first season, though, and we've had a net spend of €77.23m (over 5 full seasons + this summer) .. about €15.4m per season.  Take away 20/21 and we've overall sold more han we've bought.

Bad maths.  We've spent €327.6m.  Take away the first season and that drops to €171.1m.  Take away the second season (ie 2021/22 onwards) and it's €72.5m, or an average of €16.1m per season

[Billy Walker]

Genuinely, I can't get my head around anyone thinking it's time to start thinking about a new boss*.  I recall similar restlessness  on the forums after our third consecutive top six finish under O'Neill - back then it was all about the boring, one dimensional style of football and his inability to crack the top four. (Picking the youngsters for the match in Moscow didn't help his cause either.)

We currently have a manager a million times superior to Martin O'Neill - a man who has taken us three times into Europe, including the Champs League, on the back of the fourteenth highest net spend (since he took the job) in the Premier League.  Seriously, the man has been working miracles.  Think about the records achieved in that spell: the consecutive home wins, the year unbeaten at Villa Park etc., none of this happens by chance or fluke.  Our slump right now is not down to Unai (or the owners etc.) to me, at least, it is chiefly down to our Club being suffocated by regulations and not being allowed to naturally build on the momentum of the past three seasons.  It absolutely stinks, but there we are, we have to deal with it and in Unai Emery we have the very best man to work out a way of dealing with it.

We have to be careful here, as Villa fans we all love a moan and a target. Since returning the the top flight we have thrown pelters at a number of folk to relieve frustrations: Purslow has taken the heat, followed by Heck and, over the summer, Monchi.  If we start to "get all Arsenal" and shift the focus of our frustrations onto Unai, I reckon we will be making, possibly, a catastrophic mistake.  I think we need to look at the wider picture, show patience with the boss and team, and allow time for the new dynamics within the squad to settle. 

Yes, patience and time are rare commodities in football but Unai Emery has surely earned both from the supporters?  If we gave him the boot, what would happen next? Appoint the 2025 version of Houllier? Or maybe have our away fans  serenade the Bournemouth boss when we next play them?  Like I say, I think we've kind of been here before but - crucially - this time we have owners far, far superior to Randy Lerner and a boss far, far superior to Martin O'Neill. We have to get behind the manager and players and push through this moment of poor form together.

*I'm not referring to any posters specifically on this forum, just some Villa fans on social media and forums generally.

[brontebilly]

The Percy article in general is a good summary, and ends on a positive note which I am desperate for at the moment. But one thing keeps puzzling me (and please forgive my ignorance if there is an obvious answer) - this notion that we have 'spent big' since Emery came in. Is it true? I was under the assumption we had a negative net spend since he arrived. Presumably this is much less than most other teams?

I know that the wages to revenue ratio is a big worry, but does that translate to us being big spenders? In the context of the Premier League, aren't we the complete opposite? Is this perception purely to do with our wages, or is it based on something else that I'm missing?

If Transfermarkt is to be believed, and why wouldn't it be? ...

22/23
Bought Moreno (€13.5m), Duran (€29.5m)
Sold Ings (€12m), Targett (€17.5m)
Net Spend €13.5m

23/24
Bought Diaby (€55m), Torres (€33m), Rogers (€9.4m), Nedeljkovic (€7.6m), Zaniola (€5m loan fee), Gauci (€1.5m), Tielemans (free)
Sold Archer (€21.55m), Philogene (€5.8m), Nakamba (€2.9m), Davis (€2.3m), Dendoncker (€0.6m loan fee)
Net Spend €78.3m

24/25
Bought Onana (€59.3m), Maatsen (€44.5m), Malen (€25m), Archer (€16.6m), Philogene (€16m), Iling-Junior (€14m), Dobbin (€11.8m), Barrenechea (€8m), Garcia (€7m), Disasi (€6m loan fee), Barkley (€5.9m)
Sold Duran (€77m), Diaby (€60m), Douglas Luiz (€51.5m), Philogene (€23.7m), Archer (€17.6m), Diego Carlos (€11.5m), Iroegbunham (€10.7m), Sanson (€4m), Sinsalo (€1.2m)
Net Spend -€43m

25/26
Bought Gussand (€30m), Bizot (€0.5m), Lindelof (free)
Sold Ramsey (€45.15m), Kesler-Hayden (€4m), Barrenechea (€3m loan fee), Bailey (€3m loan fee)
Net Spend -€24.6m

Net spend over the whole time he's been here is €24.15m

More recent signings like Elliot and Sancho on loan to be added there.

24/25 was really poor looking back, ignoring the PSR fodder. Think we made a mess of the recent transfer window too, Guessand/Sancho/Elliot in with Malen already at the club doesn't make sense. Stupid too when we could have got Grealish and Luiz back instead. Would have been an immediate narrative shift with Ramsey leaving but two popular players returning into the dressing room.

[boozey182]

The Percy article in general is a good summary, and ends on a positive note which I am desperate for at the moment. But one thing keeps puzzling me (and please forgive my ignorance if there is an obvious answer) - this notion that we have 'spent big' since Emery came in. Is it true? I was under the assumption we had a negative net spend since he arrived. Presumably this is much less than most other teams?

I know that the wages to revenue ratio is a big worry, but does that translate to us being big spenders? In the context of the Premier League, aren't we the complete opposite? Is this perception purely to do with our wages, or is it based on something else that I'm missing?

If Transfermarkt is to be believed, and why wouldn't it be? ...

22/23
Bought Moreno (€13.5m), Duran (€29.5m)
Sold Ings (€12m), Targett (€17.5m)
Net Spend €13.5m

23/24
Bought Diaby (€55m), Torres (€33m), Rogers (€9.4m), Nedeljkovic (€7.6m), Zaniola (€5m loan fee), Gauci (€1.5m), Tielemans (free)
Sold Archer (€21.55m), Philogene (€5.8m), Nakamba (€2.9m), Davis (€2.3m), Dendoncker (€0.6m loan fee)
Net Spend €78.3m

24/25
Bought Onana (€59.3m), Maatsen (€44.5m), Malen (€25m), Archer (€16.6m), Philogene (€16m), Iling-Junior (€14m), Dobbin (€11.8m), Barrenechea (€8m), Garcia (€7m), Disasi (€6m loan fee), Barkley (€5.9m)
Sold Duran (€77m), Diaby (€60m), Douglas Luiz (€51.5m), Philogene (€23.7m), Archer (€17.6m), Diego Carlos (€11.5m), Iroegbunham (€10.7m), Sanson (€4m), Sinsalo (€1.2m)
Net Spend -€43m

25/26
Bought Gussand (€30m), Bizot (€0.5m), Lindelof (free)
Sold Ramsey (€45.15m), Kesler-Hayden (€4m), Barrenechea (€3m loan fee), Bailey (€3m loan fee)
Net Spend -€24.6m

Net spend over the whole time he's been here is €24.15m

More recent signings like Elliot and Sancho on loan to be added there.

24/25 was really poor looking back, ignoring the PSR fodder. Think we made a mess of the recent transfer window too, Guessand/Sancho/Elliot in with Malen already at the club doesn't make sense. Stupid too when we could have got Grealish and Luiz back instead. Would have been an immediate narrative shift with Ramsey leaving but two popular players returning into the dressing room.

Thanks for these answers, even if I still don't really understand what the problem is. An average of spending £7 million a year doesn't sound like the sort of money that would cause us problems?

And, while I fully confess to not understanding the rules, I think I can hazard a guess why we didn't replace Jacob Ramsey's £70,000 a week with Jack Grealish's £300,000.

[algy]

More recent signings like Elliot and Sancho on loan to be added there.

They're just down as "loan", as were Rashford and Asensio. We loan loads of players out too, who are just listed as "loan" so going to assume that they roughly balance out.

[Rico]

Gerrard lasted until the end of October. I would suggest that Emery has longer than that due to the good performances of the previous three seasons. However, if we get bombed out of the Europa and are in a relegation battle come December I wouldn't be surprised if his position becomes under more and more scrutiny. As a previous poster pointed out, once the away following turns, then you're out!

I'm still confident Emery will turn this around once everyone is up to speed and fit again.

[lovejoy]

You keep trawling through.  I am sure you will find that smoking gun you are looking for.

Do you have trouble reading? Understandable and sorry I should have worked this out from your posts.

[LeeB]

You keep trawling through.  I am sure you will find that smoking gun you are looking for.

Do you have trouble reading? Understandable and sorry I should have worked this out from your posts.

None of the statements you quoted actually backed up your claim though. People will ask questions due to the circumstances obviously, but not one of the posters was 'seriously debating the manager leaving'.

[olaftab]

For me Emery is now a bit like Simone is to AM. Fix the problems around the club there is no need to fix the manager. We won't get a better coach.