Unai Emery

[Toronto Villa]

I realize Heck has his detractors, and for good reason for some things. Mostly his shoddy communication. But he does still work directly for our owners who we all love. So unless he his operating in some sort of vacuum, he’s clearly convinced our owners that the plans as previously proposed could be improved upon, or needed additional consideration. I’d be stunned if Aston Villa has come to the conclusion that 42000 is the right capacity long term to compete at the top end of football domestically or in Europe.

[Risso]

I realize Heck has his detractors, and for good reason for some things. Mostly his shoddy communication. But he does still work directly for our owners who we all love. So unless he his operating in some sort of vacuum, he’s clearly convinced our owners that the plans as previously proposed could be improved upon, or needed additional consideration. I’d be stunned if Aston Villa has come to the conclusion that 42000 is the right capacity long term to compete at the top end of football domestically or in Europe.

So you're just inferring stuff now. All he's said as Paulie points out, is that 10,000 seats is too much, too soon. He hasn't said anything else about enlarging the ground, and there are no plans in place to do so.

[pablo_picasso]

De Zerbi would be the manager to go for , for 'The Mighty Reds YNWA' . Cant believe Manure not looked at getting him , would save them loads with his scouting team.

It's not "his" scouting team is it? Most of the players that have got people excited over Brighton over the last couple of years were signed under Potter and the de Zerbi time is just a continuation of that.

Its the owners scouting software.

https://theathletic.com/4237821/2023/04/21/brighton-scouting-premier-league-tony-bloom/

[Toronto Villa]

I realize Heck has his detractors, and for good reason for some things. Mostly his shoddy communication. But he does still work directly for our owners who we all love. So unless he his operating in some sort of vacuum, he’s clearly convinced our owners that the plans as previously proposed could be improved upon, or needed additional consideration. I’d be stunned if Aston Villa has come to the conclusion that 42000 is the right capacity long term to compete at the top end of football domestically or in Europe.

So you're just inferring stuff now. All he's said as Paulie points out, is that 10,000 seats is too much, too soon. He hasn't said anything else about enlarging the ground, and there are no plans in place to do so.

In the same way, you’re inferring from what he’s said that HE has cancelled the plans to expand the ground.

[pablo_picasso]

I realize Heck has his detractors, and for good reason for some things. Mostly his shoddy communication. But he does still work directly for our owners who we all love. So unless he his operating in some sort of vacuum, he’s clearly convinced our owners that the plans as previously proposed could be improved upon, or needed additional consideration. I’d be stunned if Aston Villa has come to the conclusion that 42000 is the right capacity long term to compete at the top end of football domestically or in Europe.

So you're just inferring stuff now. All he's said as Paulie points out, is that 10,000 seats is too much, too soon. He hasn't said anything else about enlarging the ground, and there are no plans in place to do so.

In the same way, you’re inferring from what he’s said that HE has cancelled the plans to expand the ground.

Yes, but the only thing that changed from us building 10k seats & not is Purslow leaving & Heck arriving.

Granted the owners have the final say, but they don't just do that on a whim.

There has to be reasoning & data presented by the person they hired & gave responsibility to regarding some of the larger decisions to be made for the club.

And if they don't listen to him, then why hire him in the first place?

Its just a shame they weren't brave enough to tell him that they were more convinced by Purlsows reasoning & data...

[pauliewalnuts]

Genuine question - with no increased capacity at Villa Park, and no plans to move elsewhere, how does he increase commercial revenue enough to close the gap?

I am sure we'll get a better sponsorship deal, esp if we get to the Champions League, and I am sure Adidas will pay us more than Castore did. But that, plus some sort of big bar and weddings centre in the car park, are not going to be enough.

So how is he going to do it?

[Brazilian Villain]

So how is he going to do it?

Move the seats closer together, apparently.

[pauliewalnuts]

So how is he going to do it?

Move the seats closer together, apparently.

Dig down, in a maths and physics defying expansion of the ground.

[JUAN PABLO]

De Zerbi would be the manager to go for , for 'The Mighty Reds YNWA' . Cant believe Manure not looked at getting him , would save them loads with his scouting team.

It's not "his" scouting team is it? Most of the players that have got people excited over Brighton over the last couple of years were signed under Potter and the de Zerbi time is just a continuation of that.

Its the owners scouting software.

https://theathletic.com/4237821/2023/04/21/brighton-scouting-premier-league-tony-bloom/

I suppose I didnt mean his scouting team but MAnure could throw money at the scounting team and and add Di Zerbi  , cant be any worse than the money they waste which I enjoy seeing it. 

Anyway pl op wont be getting Unai .    Alonso is good , I meantioned him before we got that hopeless Gerrard

[exigo]

"Atairos’ capital investment will primarily be used to fund growth and infrastructure investments."

Fair to assume these guys aren't just here to put a marquee up in the car park.

[paul_e]

I realize Heck has his detractors, and for good reason for some things. Mostly his shoddy communication. But he does still work directly for our owners who we all love. So unless he his operating in some sort of vacuum, he’s clearly convinced our owners that the plans as previously proposed could be improved upon, or needed additional consideration. I’d be stunned if Aston Villa has come to the conclusion that 42000 is the right capacity long term to compete at the top end of football domestically or in Europe.

So you're just inferring stuff now. All he's said as Paulie points out, is that 10,000 seats is too much, too soon. He hasn't said anything else about enlarging the ground, and there are no plans in place to do so.

That's not quite right:

“I became more concerned we were adding too many seats too fast,” said Heck. “So I do believe it’s important we took a step back and re-evaluate what’s best. I mention this with transportation and the parking. So adding 10,000 seats doesn’t sound practical to me.”

“I think it would be a bad idea to tear down one of our stands for two years playing like we are,” said Heck, before outlining new plans. “Going forward, everything should be about all fans.

For me the first part isn't saying that there aren't enough fans, etc but rather that there are transport problems to resolve around the game and adding 10k seats without a solution for that would be a bad idea. Does anyone actually disagree with this? Witton station is part of the solution but there's lots more to do and I suspect the next bigg-ish developments we'll hear about will be addressing getting people to and from the ground rather than getting more people in.

Aftre that the bold bit is important because it suggests that whatever comes next will be much more phased to keep the capacity reduction down to the smallest amount and for the shortest time.

[chrisw1]

They haven't cancelled it because of the transport.  If they had they'd say so to put pressure on the council.

Too many too fast is pretty unequivocal to me.  The bit about all fans is the consolation - 'we'll paint your concourse don't worry'

But however we choose to analyse his words, one thing for sure is we wont have a significantly improved stadium and commercial facilities in 2 years.  So whilst I'm sure we're safe in keeping Emery for now, if he's as successful as we hope he is in the next two years when the next club comes calling he'll be making the decision against the background that his current club is hamstrung in how much they can support him financially there and then by an inadequate stadium.  He won't give a fuck that we may have a new ground in another 8 years time.

[pablo_picasso]

De Zerbi would be the manager to go for , for 'The Mighty Reds YNWA' . Cant believe Manure not looked at getting him , would save them loads with his scouting team.

It's not "his" scouting team is it? Most of the players that have got people excited over Brighton over the last couple of years were signed under Potter and the de Zerbi time is just a continuation of that.

Its the owners scouting software.

https://theathletic.com/4237821/2023/04/21/brighton-scouting-premier-league-tony-bloom/

I suppose I didnt mean his scouting team but MAnure could throw money at the scounting team and and add Di Zerbi  , cant be any worse than the money they waste which I enjoy seeing it. 

Anyway pl op wont be getting Unai .    Alonso is good , I meantioned him before we got that hopeless Gerrard

They should just do what Everton used to do & use the Championship Manager database...

Cant be any worse than some of the shit they have signed in recent years... 😉

[Risso]

He's talking shite though. The plans to develop Witton station are now advancing, which was one of the main bones of contention. Addressing getting people to and from the ground as it stands isn't going to increase revenue, it's the football equivalent of rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.

As for "Going forward, everything should be about all fans" what a load of meaningless guff. His taking space from the existing shit Holte End facilities and giving the space to the Terrace View wasn't about 'all fans' it was about giving a few hundred people better facilities and actually making things worse for the existing users.

As for the bit in bold, that's not the long term thinking you expect from a senior exec. Basing capital expansion plans on something as potentially ephemeral as current playing form is ridiculous. What if we go on a bit of a shit run with all our injuries and end up 7th and in the Conference League again?

[PeterWithesShin]

Do I need to go to the stadium thread to find where people are talking about Unai?