Unai Emery

[BoVillan esq]

the club needs to be careful because Unai could well have is head turned if the rest of the season doesn't happen. 

Nah, Unai's a lifer I reckon.

Nice optimism, just simply isn't reality, Unai is a winner first and foremost, if his hands are tied and come the summer or even sooner somebody offers a deal he can't refuse, sorry to say, he would be off.

[VancouverLion]

the club needs to be careful because Unai could well have is head turned if the rest of the season doesn't happen. 

Nah, Unai's a lifer I reckon.

Nice optimism, just simply isn't reality, Unai is a winner first and foremost, if his hands are tied and come the summer or even sooner somebody offers a deal he can't refuse, sorry to say, he would be off.

Agreed. Unai desperately wants to win the CL, and if the current financial restrictions continue beyond next season, I have no doubt there will come a time and an offer he simply cannot refuse to take.

[Dante Lavelli]

Having a cap on the number of players would at least force clubs to shift players if they want to bring someone in. It should apply across all ages too.

However I think clubs have already anticipated that with their multi-club model.

[Toronto Villa]

I actually felt strangely better watching that but I can't put my finger on why.

It is true ,  and jim white is a a sensationalist plonker

Jordan didn't have his research done. Emery wasn't allowed spend any money in the summer - nobody forced him or the club to spend 30m on one of those most technically limited players to play for us in recent memory. Sancho or Elliot, the same. The Rashford type loan deals are the kind that got us into trouble.

The general point about the 'game' being rigged against challengers like us and Newcastle is correct however.

That's a great use of hindsight. When we signed Guessand who you are referencing I don't recall anyone saying we were signing the player that we now know him to be. We made a mistake. It happens.  We thought he could adapt to the PL from what he was doing in France. He was less than 30M which in modern PL terms isn't a massive outlay. Obviously for us it has greater consequences but that kind of fee today doesn't guarantee a lot.

[BoVillan esq]

the club needs to be careful because Unai could well have is head turned if the rest of the season doesn't happen. 

Nah, Unai's a lifer I reckon.

Nice optimism, just simply isn't reality, Unai is a winner first and foremost, if his hands are tied and come the summer or even sooner somebody offers a deal he can't refuse, sorry to say, he would be off.

Agreed. Unai desperately wants to win the CL, and if the current financial restrictions continue beyond next season, I have no doubt there will come a time and an offer he simply cannot refuse to take.

Yeah, its in his blood every sinew, watching the post match interview yesterday my misses who knows zero about football or who Unai is said, look at his face, he's raging, that's one upset bloke, he wants blood, put a black cape on him now and you'd have Dracula. 

[Beard82]

But to be fair what more can the club do? 

I know our transfer business has been shit - but it was his best mate, and Im sure he had some say in it.

I think we will get Champions League - which is a hell of an achievement.  Maybe we need a little luck - but I would say we are due some.

[BoVillan esq]

But to be fair what more can the club do? 

I know our transfer business has been shit - but it was his best mate, and Im sure he had some say in it.

I think we will get Champions League - which is a hell of an achievement.  Maybe we need a little luck - but I would say we are due some.

Agree, I've been saying 4th spot would be amazing, read somewhere the other day because of something to do with English clubs in Europe 5th spot could well be available.

If we can get Champions league major achievement, maybe also some silverware, fantastic, but for me Champions League is where its at, because it solves a lot.

[Dante Lavelli]

Winning europa would be my preferred outcome this season (ignoring winning the league).

= Silverware and CL bounty next season

[Beard82]

Winning europa would be my preferred outcome this season (ignoring winning the league).

= Silverware and CL bounty next season

I want us to qualify for CL through the league, as otherise well bottle the Europa league - were not good if too much rides on a game

[Walmley_Villa]

Winning europa would be my preferred outcome this season (ignoring winning the league).

= Silverware and CL bounty next season

I want us to qualify for CL through the league, as otherise well bottle the Europa league - were not good if too much rides on a game

That is the thing we seem to bottle big games, an issue with the mentality that Unai needs them to overcome.

[dorsetvillian]

I think Unai has worked miracles on our mentality as a club. I sense the players are able to go up against any team and not fear them. His planning is obviously tactical but the consistency we have shown over three seasons (against all odds) has to be in part a positive mentality. We have won so many games from behind and made Villa Park a fortress. We have lost some important games, but don't all teams. That positive mentality will be tested yet again during the Jan transfer window. Like all the others it seems we are sent into chaos because of PSR problems. Hopefully we come through this window and get back on track in Feb. Unai and this squad deserve some silverware and so do the owners.

[RamboandBruno]

Winning europa would be my preferred outcome this season (ignoring winning the league).

= Silverware and CL bounty next season

I want us to qualify for CL through the league, as otherise well bottle the Europa league - were not good if too much rides on a game

That is the thing we seem to bottle big games, an issue with the mentality that Unai needs them to overcome.

I must of missed those three league wins in a row at home to Man City, or two out of three at home to Arsenal, or beating Man Utd at home twice in the last four seasons when we hadn’t beaten them at home in 27/28 years. Beating PSG at home and giving them their hardest game on their champions league run was another that passed me by….beating Bayern……coming from 1-3 down to draw with Liverpool…..,beating Chelsea away in 3 out of the last 4 seasons. Massive bottling twats

[TheToffnar]

the club needs to be careful because Unai could well have is head turned if the rest of the season doesn't happen. 

Nah, Unai's a lifer I reckon.

Nice optimism, just simply isn't reality, Unai is a winner first and foremost, if his hands are tied and come the summer or even sooner somebody offers a deal he can't refuse, sorry to say, he would be off.

Agreed. Unai desperately wants to win the CL, and if the current financial restrictions continue beyond next season, I have no doubt there will come a time and an offer he simply cannot refuse to take.

Can't dispute that.

Although, he himself has admitted this is nothing new to him and that navigating hostile financial situations is part of the job. There are only a very small handful of clubs that could offer him both a combination of the power he has here but without the potential financial headaches, and I'm counting Arsenal as one of those...

[Toronto Villa]

Winning europa would be my preferred outcome this season (ignoring winning the league).

= Silverware and CL bounty next season

I want us to qualify for CL through the league, as otherise well bottle the Europa league - were not good if too much rides on a game

That is the thing we seem to bottle big games, an issue with the mentality that Unai needs them to overcome.

Was Everton at home really a big game? It was another game in a long season. They are all worth three points. We didn’t play well in part because of the injury list. And maybe we were just flat. It was no more a big game for us to go 2nd than it was Arsenal to go 9 points clear with Man City having lost. These games will happen just as games we win that we didn’t expect like Arsenal at home or Chelsea away.

[dave.woodhall]

We seem to be getting back to the self-defeating, self-fulfilling mindset again. It's still the hardest job for any Villa manager.