Unai Emery

[Risso]

And I know it's a couple of days and we haven't played yet but this is the man, he seems to be to have the right character for us as a club, as somebody else said there's strong SGT vibes with him. If he can't get us going we may as well pack it in.

Quite right Lee. If he can't get us going, I don't know what we do next tbh.

[LeeB]

And also by 'get us going' I'll refer back to SGT's aim, not to have us winning the league or the European Cup, but to establish ourselves back in the top six consistently. Only from there will we ever have a chance of ever doing anything significant again, but I'd just like again to listen to or watch football programmes where the pundits say things like "..and it doesn't get any easier for Jurgen's side as they've got Villa next"

[Risso]

And also by 'get us going' I'll refer back to SGT's aim, not to have us winning the league or the European Cup, but to establish ourselves back in the top six consistently. Only from there will we ever have a chance of ever doing anything significant again, but I'd just like again to listen to or watch football programmes where the pundits say things like "..and it doesn't get any easier for Jurgen's side as they've got Villa next"

Or patronising us after another plucky defeat.

[Hillbilly]

The other thing with twat articles like this is they're generally written by Generation Z/ late millenials who have little interest in football beyond the last 10 years.

If the last decade was your only reference you probably would think we were a perma lower table/ Championship side.

Must be the same work experience kid who trailed on Channel 5 social media an interview with Ben Elton by describing him as an 'unlikely political commentator'.

[Toronto Villa]

Urai Emery improves the clubs he’s at pretty quickly. And much of it is the mental side. About belief and confidence. I actually think more than anything that’s what Eddie Howe has done well at Newcastle. Having players believe in their ability and then coaching them to become better. Watching us vs Brentford we saw how good we could be. Watching us vs Newcastle you saw how fragile that confidence is and how easily it got shattered. First thing for the new staff is not have such emotional volatility. That we can score and continue to press for more. And if we concede we don’t just fold and fall apart. It won’t happen overnight.

[Beard82]

I think he also represents a sea-change.  I think the owners have realised that every area of the club needs the very best.  Not the "next big thing" or whatever, but the very best we can possibly attract.

And that CP might be very good at some things - but he shouldn't get involved in what happens on the pitch.

[andyh]

I really enjoyed listening to his interview. It made me smile. You can just feel he is a proper football man, a proper coach.
I have a good feeling about this.

The very fact he hasn’t posted his player fines structure within 5 mins of coming through the door shows a marked improvement in professionalism
.

[Pete3206]

Good players but under performing. Pretty much sussed the playing staff in one day. Big changes coming.

Good.

[Steve67]

I'm looking forward to seeing how we evolve as a club with him in charge.  Being linked to some classy players too, which I hope are not just lazy links.  Quite excited about being a Villa fan again.  First time in a long time, other than when Dean was first appointed.

[pauliewalnuts]

Urai Emery improves the clubs he’s at pretty quickly. And much of it is the mental side. About belief and confidence. I actually think more than anything that’s what Eddie Howe has done well at Newcastle. Having players believe in their ability and then coaching them to become better. Watching us vs Brentford we saw how good we could be. Watching us vs Newcastle you saw how fragile that confidence is and how easily it got shattered. First thing for the new staff is not have such emotional volatility. That we can score and continue to press for more. And if we concede we don’t just fold and fall apart. It won’t happen overnight.

Newcastle look like a team who are well coached, but who are also absolutely full of confidence.

Confidence is such a massive, massive thing.

[gpbarr]

Very impressive interview. What struck me straight from the off was the assurance he gave - he was calm, measured, logical, and struck the right chord immediately. And his passion for the game, and perhaps more importantly for his family shone through - this is a guy with his head and heart in the right place - I was excited by his appointment, listening to that, I'm now even more convinced that we have the man, finally, to resurrect our great club.

It will take time - this season will be a rollercoaster and we need to give this guy (& the players) breathing space to work through the transition. if we, as fans, can show the same assurance as he showed, the club is in great shape for the growth we all want to see.

Unai / Nassif / Wes - thanks, you have brought genuine hope back into our lives.   

[usav]

Full interview:

[Rory]

Obviously I'm biased because I'm now in love with the man, but I don't understand the mockery of his accent. He sounds no more 'comedic' than Guardiola, Klopp or, for that matter, Lampard.

[Toronto Villa]

Obviously I'm biased because I'm now in love with the man, but I don't understand the mockery of his accent. He sounds no more 'comedic' than Guardiola, Klopp or, for that matter, Lampard.

I despise it. And I’ve called out some Villa fans on Twitter who thought it would be funny to do the same. It’s wasn’t clever when Arsenal fans and others took the piss when he was last in England. It’s frankly pathetic that anyone would mock his accent. A man who actually speaks 4 or 5 languages.

[eamonn]

I used to teach English in Spain so some of the mannerisms reminded me of my students at that kind of intermediate level  ie moving the head forward a lot as if to demonstrate the physical effort in speaking a foreign language and wrapping the mouth around words that are hard to pronounce.

I hope there aren't issues in communication with players and I hope they're patient with him when he's trying to get his point across.

Does anyone know if he used a mixture of languages at Arsenal with his squad or was it English only?

Anyway, despite all that, he uttered a keyword that we never heard from Gerrard - the fact that the group of players is "underperforming". Interesting to hear him say that the squad will have a couple of weeks break off during the World Cup but then they'll be back in (beginning of December presumably) and his coaching staff can work on "identity".

He comes across really well though, a dedicated and intelligent man who knows how to be successful.