Aston Villa v Olympiacos - UECL Semi Final First Leg Pre Match

[simboy]

I thought the reason lots of people were prioritising 4th place over the Conference League was the financial reward on offer?  If so then the Conference League is far more important than either the FA or League Cups, as we will have earned 9 or 10 times as much from it as we would have from either of those.

The Champions League is a game changer in terms of sponsors deals etc .
None of the others are  .

We have done our business regarding sponsorship for this year, and done it well if the figures quoted are to be believed. The deals all look like two or three year deals on shirt and kit. A regular run in the Chumps League will of course increase the profile further.

[VillaTim]

I thought the reason lots of people were prioritising 4th place over the Conference League was the financial reward on offer?  If so then the Conference League is far more important than either the FA or League Cups, as we will have earned 9 or 10 times as much from it as we would have from either of those.

The Champions League is a game changer in terms of sponsors deals etc .
None of the others are  .

We have done our business regarding sponsorship for this year, and done it well if the figures quoted are to be believed. The deals all look like two or three year deals on shirt and kit. A regular run in the Chumps League will of course increase the profile further.

We aren't done yet by far. If we qualify Heck can go to town with other sponsorship deals / new partners etc .

[Somniloquism]

Well you obviously can't play in all of the 6 competitions at once, so that's a bit daft. I'd put the Conference League ahead of the League Cup, and probably on a par with with the FA Cup. Given how we've treated the competitions, I'd guess Emery ranks it slightly ahead of both of them. Also, being in the Conference League means you've done quite well to qualify for it; you get entered into the domestic cups automatically.

But they are all competitions we could play in and would feature in most clubs lists of trophy's.
So not daft at all.

What Risso and myself were getting at is that only 4 of those competitions can be played in each year (especially now UEFA doesn't offer consolation prizes for being slightly bad).

So shouldn't the numbering of importance be in which the competitions we can enter each year rather then just generic. For example on your list, last August you would have seen it as fourth most important. This summer you would see the CL as 1st most important and the LC as fourth most important.

[Dogtanian]

I wouldn’t consider the League Cup to be on the same level as the Conference League. I think it’s much harder to win the conference league, and getting into it is an achievement most English clubs would relish.

In the last 15 years the league cup has been won by Swansea, Birmingham City, and even eternal losers Spurs. Basically, if those lot can win it then we should be setting our sites higher.

[Risso]

Also, whatever order you have say, the League Cup or Europa Conference League in, I'd still like us to win both and would be delighted with either. When we secured 7th place by beating Brighton last season, was there anybody who wasn't absolutely delighted to qualify for Europe again? I mean, there's not a huge difference between 7th and 8th ordinarily, but the European thing made it absolutely huge, surely?

[VillaTim]

I wouldn’t consider the League Cup to be on the same level as the Conference League. I think it’s much harder to win the conference league, and getting into it is an achievement most English clubs would relish.

In the last 15 years the league cup has been won by Swansea, Birmingham City, and even eternal losers Spurs. Basically, if those lot can win it then we should be setting our sites higher.

Nice spin but that landscape has changed now . The League Cup is harder to win. In the last 10 years the League Cup has only been won by Stockport115 (6) Newton Heath (2) Liverpool (2) Chelsea (1) .

[pauliewalnuts]

Also, whatever order you have say, the League Cup or Europa Conference League in, I'd still like us to win both and would be delighted with either. When we secured 7th place by beating Brighton last season, was there anybody who wasn't absolutely delighted to qualify for Europe again? I mean, there's not a huge difference between 7th and 8th ordinarily, but the European thing made it absolutely huge, surely?

Absolutely agree with this. It's the chance to win another European trophy - to go alongside that other one that we sing that song about every 3 minutes without fail.

I want us to win every competition we enter, but the Conference League is more prestigious than the League Cup, without a doubt, even if you just look at European level, it raises the club's profile, and will do even more if we win it.It also gets you into the Europa League, which I know we've already qualified for (at the worst)

Again, we're a club that hasn't won anything for 28 years, and even then, the last two trophies we won were the one lots and lots of people (inc coaches) don't give a shit about any more, so if you go beyond there, it's over 40 years since we won anything of note.

There are Villa fans in their 30s who have never seen us winning anything at all, but there are a load of us here - let's be honest, we're an older demographic than most - who remember winning league cups, league titles, and the European Cup casually consigning a UEFA cup competition to the dustbin alongside the Intertoto and the Peace Cup, because we've seen us win really big things. What about the poor fuckers who have seen us win bollock all?

We're not about to win the Champions League next season, but we need to start winning stuff at some point - we're now in the semi finals now with a real chance of doing exactly that. That's surely got to mean a lot.

[Pat Mustard]

I thought the reason lots of people were prioritising 4th place over the Conference League was the financial reward on offer?  If so then the Conference League is far more important than either the FA or League Cups, as we will have earned 9 or 10 times as much from it as we would have from either of those.

The Champions League is a game changer in terms of sponsors deals etc .
None of the others are  .

That's not really true though - the massive financial advantage from the Champions League for a club like Villa is the revenue from broadcasting and prize money.  The mega sponsorship deals come down to much wider perceptions of a particular club (hence Man Utd keep increasing revenue from these areas despite to all intents and purposes not being a contender to win the CL for 10 years now), or if you are playing the system like Stockport.

[Holte L2]

I'm 40 in September.  I've seen us win two league cups.  I'm absolutely desperate to see us win the Conference League.  I've had the time of my life this season having done four out of six European Ties.  Flights and hotel booked for Athens regardless. 

Please Villa.  Don't Let me Down!

[Paul.S]

If we are lucky enough to win this competition I’ll celebrate it like the major European trophy it is. There are only 3 to win, we’ve won the big one which I was lucky enough to witness as a young lad. I’d love my son to be with me and to experience what’s it’s like in Athens.
Football is about winning trophies and many of our support haven’t seen us win anything. Winning a trophy in Europe is on another level.

[pauliewalnuts]

I thought the reason lots of people were prioritising 4th place over the Conference League was the financial reward on offer?  If so then the Conference League is far more important than either the FA or League Cups, as we will have earned 9 or 10 times as much from it as we would have from either of those.

The Champions League is a game changer in terms of sponsors deals etc .
None of the others are  .

That's not really true though - the massive financial advantage from the Champions League for a club like Villa is the revenue from broadcasting and prize money.  The mega sponsorship deals come down to much wider perceptions of a particular club (hence Man Utd keep increasing revenue from these areas despite to all intents and purposes not being a contender to win the CL for 10 years now), or if you are playing the system like Stockport.

Winning any of the three UEFA competitions would add to our profile / improve perceptions of us. Which in turn feeds into *does dry heave* our brand and allows us to look for money through sponsorship.

I was thinking the other day, and I don't know the answer to this, but what contributes more to the overall profile of a club like us - is it getting into the Champions League, earning lots more television money, but then having a run like Newcastle did (ie getting drawn into a group of death and not getting out of it, basically, getting to play six matches), or is it going much deeper in the Europa League?

I think it's the latter tbh, esp winning it. I also think getting into the top competition for the first time in decades is great, but you really need to do something once you're there as there's no guarantee you'll be in it the next season - almost certainly in a few seasons, nobody is going to remember Newcastle playing in it - you have to consistently qualify for it, ideally, or even the Europa or Conference League, to get seen as a club who are expected to compete in Europe.

Great example - Spurs, who we were talking about the other day, and saying they've got their high profile partly through that new stadium, but also via the fact they've played in Europe for over ten seasons in a row (or whatever it is). That's what we need to do.

[VillaTim]

I'm 40 in September.  I've seen us win two league cups.  I'm absolutely desperate to see us win the Conference League.  I've had the time of my life this season having done four out of six European Ties.  Flights and hotel booked for Athens regardless. 

Please Villa.  Don't Let me Down!

worth going just for the city break .

[tomd2103]

I'm 40 in September.  I've seen us win two league cups.  I'm absolutely desperate to see us win the Conference League.  I've had the time of my life this season having done four out of six European Ties.  Flights and hotel booked for Athens regardless. 

Please Villa.  Don't Let me Down!

I'm in the same boat.  The two winning League Cup finals were two of the best days I've had following the club.  Winning any of the competitions that we enter would be a great achievement and would live long in the memory.

[SamTheMouse]

I'd much rather win a European trophy then the League Cup. I have no idea who the previous winners of the LC are apart from us. I can't even remember who won it last year.

[eamonn]

You can't? Surely you remember the Geordies coming down and "taking" Trafalgar Square? And one of their Jimmy Five-Bellies did a head-first slide on the wet ground cos he's proper mad, man.