Unai Emery

[astonvilla82]

Still unsure about him, don't know what the players do in training but he needs to buck his ideas up or we have to get a top quality manager in, Birmingham City have just signed one so keep a eye on him, you never know I think he's one for the future

[VILLA MOLE]

I am anxious he will leave one day 😳

[Smirker]

I am anxious he will leave one day 😳

Same.

Haha to think there were people who thought we should have stuck with Gerrard 😂

[SoccerHQ]

I am anxious he will leave one day 😳

He's already had a taste of Arsenal and PSG and neither went that well so sometimes inheriting CL teams on decline with endless egos in the squad is a dangerous job for a manager.

I think with us he saw us as an exciting project with huge potential and so far I imagine we've exceeded his expectations just as much as he has from our POV. We're basically the Villareal he managed with 10 times the budget.

I think only job he'd leave us for would be a Barca/Real Madrid (as Ancelotti of course did with Everton) but that will be many years away. Will probably want to manage Real Sociedad before he's done but that will be tail end of his career.

What the last year has shown is we've messed about endlessly for last 20 odd years appointing mainly small time managers who spend rather too long making snidey remarks at the crowd and generally downplaying things to our detriment e.g. Steve Bruce.

Hopefully that's a thing of the past and post Emery we'll continue employing top class managers who embrace playing at Villa Park and all that.

[Somniloquism]

I am anxious he will leave one day 😳

He's already had a taste of Arsenal and PSG and neither went that well so sometimes inheriting CL teams on decline with endless egos in the squad is a dangerous job for a manager.

I think with us he saw us as an exciting project with huge potential and so far I imagine we've exceeded his expectations just as much as he has from our POV. We're basically the Villareal he managed with 10 times the budget.

I think only job he'd leave us for would be a Barca/Real Madrid (as Ancelotti of course did with Everton) but that will be many years away. Will probably want to manage Real Sociedad before he's done but that will be tail end of his career.

What the last year has shown is we've messed about endlessly for last 20 odd years appointing mainly small time managers who spend rather too long making snidey remarks at the crowd and generally downplaying things to our detriment e.g. Steve Bruce.

Hopefully that's a thing of the past and post Emery we'll continue employing top class managers who embrace playing at Villa Park and all that.

Barca maybe, he might not be as keen on Real.

[AV84]

He seems to have been given full backing for his project here so unless things go terribly wrong, I can't really see him wanting to leave of his own accord before we've achieved some of his long term goals.

[Rory]

I am anxious he will leave one day 😳

Same.

Haha to think there were people who thought we should have stuck with Gerrard 😂

I'm not sure there were any by the end, to be fair. Certainly none who thought we'd go out and get someone of Unai's calibre to replace him. Much of the talk was of people like Dyche.

[not3bad]

I am anxious he will leave one day 😳

Well no one stays forever but the combination of Villa and Unai is pretty good, no? And he says himself that he appreciates the fact that everything Villa's owners promised they would do, they are doing.

[Rory]

As much as I hate this shit, it's important that we also bear in mind the prestige of the PL. If we're being honest, the 'project' wouldn't have been so appealing to Unai if we had been 16th place in Serie A or the Bundesliga.

As sad as it is in many ways, it's not 25 or 40 years ago. Of most of those clubs whose names conjured in me as a child a sense of exoticism and romanticism (Milan, Inter, Benfica, Lyon, Hamburg, Marseille, Ajax etc) the landscape has simply changed.

Such is the predominance of English football, for a manager seeking a professional challenge, competing for top six of the PL is probably more satisfying, high-profile and lucrative than anything but Madrid or Barcelona.

Germany is a one-horse race for people looking to pad out their trophy cabinets with Bayern. (And Unai doesn't seem fussed about baubles, what with his Europa medals.)

France likewise. (Plus Unai has already 'done' PSG.)

Italian football is the weakest it's been in a long time, so would the prospect of finishing top 4 with Villa be dramatically outweighed by winning Serie A with less competition on a lower salary? Maybe, but I'm honestly not sure, for a manager who clearly wants to push himself.

La Liga he has already spent many years in and is clearly looking for something new (which hopefully rules out Barca, and I agree with those who say his principles probably mean Real is a no-go).

In England, he's 'done' Arsenal. Man Utd and Chelsea are basket cases, and I honestly think he is a man of values who would be turned off by the idea of managing Man City.

So the only concern I would have is Liverpool.

We need to stop seeing ourselves as 'only' Aston Villa. We are a club with very wealthy owners and arguably the largest untapped potential, sat fifth in by far the biggest league in world football.

I love that we as Villa fans and as Brummies are so self-defeatist, but thinking practically and sensibly - maybe even as nothing more than a fluke of geography - there simply are not that many options out there that would be a definite 'upward' move for our beloved manager.

[Baldy]

Our existing squad and any potential new signings know for a fact they will have to 'earn' their wages under Unai's leadership.

A welcome change after decades of suffering from some players who were just here for a nice pay cheque.

Unai has succeeded in changing the whole mentality of the club, including the fans.

Onwards and upwards.

[chrisw1]

He's just 52 I think.  He really has time to build a legacy if he wants to.  Let's hope he does.  By the time he leaves we could be in a 60k seater and a firm top 4 club with trophies under our belt. 

Who would have thought that when Gerrerd was explaining to us that Chelsea should be wiping the floor with us?  Fortunately Unai wants to do the mopping, not be the mop.

[Somniloquism]

I am anxious he will leave one day 😳

As long as he is at least 3rd in longest managers in the Premier League before he does.

[Flamingo Lane]

I loved the expression on Emery's face as he strode down the touchline after the game yesterday, it was one of a huge smile but without him obviously moving his lips.

[SaddVillan]

Last August in the same fixture we lost 0-1 to West Ham and they got booed of. These are the 2 teams

0-1                      4-1
Martínez        Martinez
Cash               Cash
Konsa             Konsa
Chambers      Torres
Digne               Digne
Luiz                  Luiz
Kamara           Kamara
McGinn           McGinn
Coutinho         Zaniolo
Watkins           Watkins
Ings                  Diaby

Substitutes
Olsen                Olsen
Young               Dendoncker
Augustinsson  Carlos
Nakamba         Chambers
Archer              Tielemans
Ramsey            Lenglet
Bailey                Bailey
Buendia            Traore
Iroegbunam     Kellyman

The difference?

Emery

[SaddVillan]

... booed off.