The season overall

[rob_bridge]

Got a horrible feeling we are really going to regret not qualifying for the Champions League. Another “what if” Villa moment!

Lerner and O'Neil aren't in charge this time. No 3 strikes and you are out.

Toon (likely), Spuds and even Chelsea won't find the balance of Premier League and ECL any easier than us.

Chelsea done well this season because they had a great competition to cut youngsters in. No hiding place for them next year.

[Toronto Villa]

Got a horrible feeling we are really going to regret not qualifying for the Champions League. Another “what if” Villa moment!

Newcastle got back in (just) after a year out. Why can’t we?

[paul_e]

I get people are disappointed but fuck me some of you are coming across as a bit entitled on here.

CL QF
FA CUP SF
6th in the league

"c"
"6/10"

As much as it's disappointing to come away with nothing more than Europa League qualification I'd still say this is out most successful season for about 30 years (since we last won something) and came with a period of injuries that really hurt us in the winter.

I think the pressure probably did get to us in the end and we probably need to add a little more leadership into the group but if you think this was a bad season I reckon you need to take a few days to calm down and then come back to this thread.

[andyh]

No one is saying it’s been a bad season.
But 2 shit the bed performances, when it REALLY mattered have stopped it being a spectacular season.

[PaulWinch again]

Got a horrible feeling we are really going to regret not qualifying for the Champions League. Another “what if” Villa moment!

Newcastle got back in (just) after a year out. Why can’t we?

We can, but they had no European football. Also I suspect this will unlock their spending potential too.

[Toronto Villa]

Got a horrible feeling we are really going to regret not qualifying for the Champions League. Another “what if” Villa moment!

Newcastle got back in (just) after a year out. Why can’t we?

We can, but they had no European football. Also I suspect this will unlock their spending potential too.

They didn’t go crazy last time they were because they couldn’t. What it’s done is likely allowed them to keep the likes of Isak. And even then they might still need to sell a player or two.

[Ian.]

A solid 8/10

We competed with the best, qualified for Europe, a Wembley Semi Final and made progress yet again, even after the Premier League are determined to make us sell some of our best players.

UTV

[andyh]

The fact we will see an exodus of players with lesser ones coming in is a strange one to comprehend, after qualifying for a major European competition.

You would think it should be a massive achievement  and one to build on, but somehow this really feels like a disappointment.

[Toronto Villa]

That’s not necessarily true Andy. Newcastle held on to their top players despite missing out entirely on Europe. There are plenty of excellent players out there where PL, Europa League Aston Villa is a great opportunity to step up. And we will be a side that will be competing again for a CL spot.

[paul_e]

No one is saying it’s been a bad season.
But 2 shit the bed performances, when it REALLY mattered have stopped it being a spectacular season.

but this thread about the whole season, and people are rating it pretty much entirely because of 2-3 defeats when, in truth, it's been our best season (results wise) since the mid 90s.

[Paul.S]

The fact we will see an exodus of players with lesser ones coming in is a strange one to comprehend, after qualifying for a major European competition.

You would think it should be a massive achievement  and one to build on, but somehow this really feels like a disappointment.

How many is an exodus?

[PaulWinch again]

Yeah but outcomes are ultimately what it’s about - we didn’t win anything (which we haven’t done for nearly 30 years so that’s standard) but we also qualified for a lower tier European competition. It’s a decent effort, but it can’t be anymore than that.

[rob_bridge]

The fact we will see an exodus of players with lesser ones coming in is a strange one to comprehend, after qualifying for a major European competition.

You would think it should be a massive achievement  and one to build on, but somehow this really feels like a disappointment.

Which exodus are we talking about? And which lesser ones who can't possibly be as good as them are replacing them? Not heard who we have signed - didn't think we could for a couple of weeks. 

If we sell everyone rumours that have said we are we' be getting rid of about 38 players.

We have people in the key footballing positions at the club who know what they are doing. That hasn't often been the case for all of my supporting life.

[andyh]

The fact we will see an exodus of players with lesser ones coming in is a strange one to comprehend, after qualifying for a major European competition.

You would think it should be a massive achievement  and one to build on, but somehow this really feels like a disappointment.

Which exodus are we talking about? And which lesser ones who can't possibly be as good as them are replacing them? Not heard who we have signed - didn't think we could for a couple of weeks. 

If we sell everyone rumours that have said we are we' be getting rid of about 38 players.

We have people in the key footballing positions at the club who know what they are doing. That hasn't often been the case for all of my supporting life.

Oh, I completely agree, and I am sure that the club knows exactly what they are doing and who they will be bringing in.
But I suspect we’ll now be shopping at Sainsbury’s rather than Waitrose.

[MillerBall]

On the face of it 6th position is good but our failure to turn up in the really big games (to name a recent few, today, Palace and Man City away) suggests we are some way off realistically breaking into that top group.
The Champions League sapped a lot of our energy and let's face it the Semi final performance against a good Palace side that has pace was bizarrely tactically lethargic and second gear. Memories of Olympiakos (another good side who beat us easily) come to the fore.
The FA Youth Cup win was great plus the other Youth trophies but this will be a huge summer to try and strengthen the squad and Uno needs a lot of time to reflect on where we  fell short and indeed where we did well.
We are trying to employ game management but our away from home we are saying very close to the wind most of the time.