Unai Emery

[geolex]

Maybe, I think that’s a bit premature.

I think the squad could do with a bit of an overhaul in the summer, but it's going to come down to whether the money is there to do so.

There's plenty of money to do it, its just we are not allowed to spend it because that would be wrong and not fair on the sky6 who should always have first pick of any player.

[Neil Hawkes]

This has a feeling of the end of an era of great progress.

It has the feeling of a side without its midfield. Its shit, but lets calm the fuck down.

I agree, take three of the best midfielders out of any of the teams above and around us and those teams would be as poor as we have recently been.

[OCD]

There's plenty of decent Bosman's and players going into the last years of the contracts in order to bring players in. It's moving some of them on that's tricky.

[PaulWinch again]

Maybe, I think that’s a bit premature.

I think the squad could do with a bit of an overhaul in the summer, but it's going to come down to whether the money is there to do so.

There's plenty of money to do it, its just we are not allowed to spend it because that would be wrong and not fair on the sky6 who should always have first pick of any player.

It amounts to the same thing though, and point of order the thing that’s really limiting us is not anything to do with the Sky 6 it’s the UEFA restrictions.

Whilst it would be nice to spend more freely, we do need to be better with what we do spend. The misalignment between the transfer strategy and what Unai appears to want is a real problem.

[N'ZMAV]

I'm worried Unai will be off in the summer.
I really do hope, even if that isn't the case, the club have a succession plan.

[Drummond]

There's absolutely no evidence whatsoever to suggest he's going anywhere.

[Olneythelonely]

There's absolutely no evidence whatsoever to suggest he's going anywhere.

There’s no evidence that he’s leaving, no. There is historical evidence that he doesn’t stay anywhere for more than 3 years. There’s a bit in the Balague book, where he says both he and his players get fatigued by his methods after that time. We are in a really bad period, where it’s difficult to see things improving.

He might be here for the long haul, but it’s not too difficult to understand why people might start to get worried about him leaving.

[Ian.]

There’s a really weird air of gloom descending here, other than us being on a poor run of form, which is hugely evident to three key injuries to one area of the pitch, the midfield, why do so many people jump to the conclusion Emery’s off?

That’s a huge leap!

[Exeter 77]

We have also been conditioned by the three year or so lifespan of  Villa manager. Unai has reached that point so we are expecting him to go.

[Ads]

How many times have a couple of billionaires built an entire ecosystem for him, at his own choice and design, inside a football club? Is there any history of that happening?

Its really easy to see things improving in this really bad period thats been going on ever since Miley kicked Tielemans off the park and that starts with one of our midfield returning shortly, then another not long after that. Then this long run of awfulness, and we have been playing shit since ~ the end of January, will come to an end.

Good job we're level with 3rd top and not bottom, then the ridiculous levels of mardy behaviour would be close to being justified. Can't have that level of coherent thinking and rationalisation.

[Steve67]

If the players are fatigued by his methods, then it’s the players who need to go. There is clear evidence on the pitch that it is the players who are not doing the business. Whilst we can criticise the manager for picking the same players too often, he is a brilliant manager who has got us up into the top six on a consistent basis and I suspect that is where we will stay. Some of the players can go, Unai stays.

[Olneythelonely]

How many times have a couple of billionaires built an entire ecosystem for him, at his own choice and design, inside a football club? Is there any history of that happening?

No. Which is the main reason, at the moment, I personally see him staying. But there is a chance he could leave and that would be shit.

I suppose we could just all say we’re going to win every game, every player is brilliant, he’s staying forever (although not much history of that happening anywhere, ever) and we’re going to win it all. Anything else is just blind panic and not worth mentioning.

[Olneythelonely]

We have also been conditioned by the three year or so lifespan of  Villa manager. Unai has reached that point so we are expecting him to go.

It also happens to be his lifespan at every club he’s been at. So you can see why people might wonder.

[HolteL4]

One thought keeps nagging at me: O'Neill had a whole bunch of money and talent and we nearly won things but didn't, and that crashed and burned in just a few years. There might be a huge gulf in expertise, but what's different, really?

That thought struck me earlier.  Completely different circumstances, and like you say ability, but the fear is this is the same story 20 years on. 

I think it comes down to whether the owners, and Unai are prepared to build "the next" team.  Mings, Digne, Watkins, Martinez look like there best days are behind them and how can they be replaced based on how hit and miss our recruitment has been. 

I think the rest of this season is huge - if we get CL then I think everyone sticks to plan a, otherwise I think Unai and the owners might be more open to alternatives.

In certain respects I would like to see the alternative to Plan A, because of what we're seeing here. But Plan B, imo, doesn't involve an elite coach, it involves somebody who is ready to see if they're an elite coach.

I think some need to remember where we were when we got Emery, no hope sinking to relegation only just outside the relegation zone.

Sawiris sacked Gerrard and got Emery in so if Emery does go at the end of the season (I really really hope he doesn't) I'm sure Sawiris has proven that he can be trusted to find a good replacement.

[Ads]

How many times have a couple of billionaires built an entire ecosystem for him, at his own choice and design, inside a football club? Is there any history of that happening?

No. Which is the main reason, at the moment, I personally see him staying. But there is a chance he could leave and that would be shit.

I suppose we could just all say we’re going to win every game, every player is brilliant, he’s staying forever (although not much history of that happening anywhere, ever) and we’re going to win it all. Anything else is just blind panic and not worth mentioning.

People could also call it how it is and dial back their dramatic takes, but then its not like anybody is charged for bandwidth use so they can crack on ruining their own enjoyment of a hobby by thinking the worst, when the club hasn't been this good in precisely 3 decades.

If you're not going to enjoy the good old days while you're in them, garden centres on a Saturday/Sunday 2pm are probably a better bet.