Our expectations

This is just a thread to get a sense of where fans think we, realistically, can be over the next five years. I feel that the last four seasons have seen a constant downgrading of the expectations everybody has of this magnificent club.

All through the 1990s there was an expectation we were about to make a breakthrough. It never happened. In the 2000s there was a sense we were not fulfilling our potential and were being overtaken. Yet we still made the occasional assault on the top six (five times between 2000 and 2010).

The new decade, lets call them the tens, have been a wasteland so far. Ninth, and nine points clear of the drop zone being the highlight so far. In that time, mere survival has become the holy grail and fans talk about how great a season of 'mid-table mediocrity' would be as a relief.

So, where do we stand as a club. Can we break the cycle and start seeing ourselves as a proud club once again on the march or will we continue to face each season hoping we get to 40 points asap.

What should our realistic expectations be? In five years will we be re-established as a top eight club with potential to go further, or will we have struggled to shake off the safety first mentality that has gripped us and what should fans realistically see as progress?

Top 8 at best without substantial investment.
Lambert will never be tactically adept to get a team into the top 6 at this level - get rid and someone may get the team to produce more consistently but top 8 at best .

Best hope is a cup somewhere down the line.

Eastie wrote:Top 8 at best without substantial investment.
Lambert will never be tactically adept to get a team into the top 6 at this level - get rid and someone may get the team to produce more consistently but top 8 at best .

Best hope is a cup somewhere down the line.

In short then, such is the damage of the past few years that we feel the next five years won't even take us to what were considered decent seasons in the decade just gone.

For what it's worth I agree with you. Cup runs are about all we have to get excited about. We seem so far away from Champion's League now. Would a change of policy at the club even get us roaring again?

My worry is that the present malaise will lead to us standing still and when you stand still even the average clubs overtake you, the Stoke City and Norwich of the league. The money has equalised out that cyclical nature of things. Once established high up the league, it is hard to knock a club out (unless they are villa)

I can't see Lerner still being here in five years. If you look at the enthusiasm he had when he first bought in to what he's showing now, do we really think another five years will pass before he chucks it all in.

Rumours abound that he suffers from depression so either he'll self harm financially or he'll just fuck us off.

We can only hope that he cuts us loose and that the next owner has something about him.

Neither lerner or lambert will be here next time we are an established top 6 club - I'm just hoping I will be see the day .

Sadly, I do crave a dull season.

One where we creep to double-figures in the home wins column, one where the 40 pts tally is achieved by late February at the latest, one where we're not constantly looking over our shoulders at whats below, but instead have an eye on a crafty Europa League berth (assuming alot of luck).

I suspect we are still a way from this. I'm not saying that the Lerner/Lambert combo won't or can't achieve this - ultimately its not a huge jump in performances. Just that I cannot see it coming soon because the evidence is that it won't happen for a while.

I guess then, medium term we should be openly talking about europa qualification as an aspiration, either through cups or league.

That will take a nice chunk of investment and a couple of seasons of proper stability first.

Chris Harte wrote:Sadly, I do crave a dull season.

One where we creep to double-figures in the home wins column, one where the 40 pts tally is achieved by late February at the latest, one where we're not constantly looking over our shoulders at whats below, but instead have an eye on a crafty Europa League berth (assuming alot of luck).

I suspect we are still a way from this. I'm not saying that the Lerner/Lambert combo won't or can't achieve this - ultimately its not a huge jump in performances. Just that I cannot see it coming soon because the evidence is that it won't happen for a while.

I think all Villa fans look forward to a season like this.

LernerFaulkner would then have realised their dream of diminishing our expectations. Rather dramatically.

Welcome to the new dawn. It's boring. Go back to bed.

Eastie wrote:Top 8 at best without substantial investment.
Lambert will never be tactically adept to get a team into the top 6 at this level - get rid and someone may get the team to produce more consistently but top 8 at best .

Best hope is a cup somewhere down the line.

THIS.

The problem is the mismatch between our capabilities and our expectations. We're a big enough club that we expect to do better than we are, but considering the investment, the quality of players at our disposal and other factors 11th is where we should be this season. It's near enough my pre-season expectation. It shouldn't have been so hard to watch at times and we probably shouldn't have been worried about relegation as recently as a few weeks back, though.

I do think Lerner would quite happily sell, without going as far as actively seeking a buyer. In a season the books will probably look pretty good, too.

I just want us to win the FA Cup. Please God.

No.

Admin wrote:No.

That is class. Evening Morgan. Welcome to the thread.

PDC Lion wrote:

Admin wrote:No.

That is class. Evening Morgan. Welcome to the thread.

Even an odd 8th placed finish once every four seasons God???



In between three year cycles in the top four

This is Hard Talk. I've said no, so leave it at that. Don't fucking make me come down there!

Admin wrote:This is Hard Talk. I've said no, so leave it at that. Don't fucking make me come down there!

Your only a myth anyway, Lucifer told me so.  

PDC Lion wrote:

Admin wrote:This is Hard Talk. I've said no, so leave it at that. Don't fucking make me come down there!

Your only a myth anyway, Lucifer told me so.  

Owned.

  

Bitch slapped

I for one am glad that our expectations have not changed at all and that I have seen us overachieve so many times. In fact, we have finished so far clear of relegation so many seasons in the past twenty years you could call it a golden era.

I expect that the owner, CEO and manager don't give a fuck what my expectations are.

They have their own set of expectations that they've set so ridiculously low yet I'll be they're failing to reach even those.

I'm surprised old Doug hasn't broken his silence. He must be itching to say something. Maybe they've managed to offer him a sweetener to keep his mouth shut like they have others.

Our expectations are now so low as to escape relegation is considered all we can do with the hand we've supposedly been dealt. If this mess was happening under Ellis there'd have been blood.

BillyBleach wrote:Our expectations are now so low as to escape relegation is considered all we can do with the hand we've supposedly been dealt. If this mess was happening under Ellis there'd have been blood.

Ellis would have sacked Lambert last season.
To be honest, i have no clue what our expectations are at the moment, neither does the club from what i can see.

I just wish we would win a trophy. A proper trophy. How long has it been since we have?

Nigel Lowe wrote:I just wish we would win a trophy. A proper trophy. How long has it been since we have?

It would be nice to think that we wanted to win a cup but there have been some gutless displays by various managers and players in recent times. The two domestic cups have never been so easy to win but we never seem to go all out for them, but sooner look after our place in mid-table.

So it comes to the question for Randy, "What is it you're trying to achieve?" Did he not say at the start of his tenure that if he ever got to the stage where he could do no more, he'd move on?

So if he feels he CAN do more, what is it he thinks he can do?

Nigel Lowe wrote:I just wish we would win a trophy. A proper trophy. How long has it been since we have?

The League Cup in 1996, Nigel. That was the last 'proper' trophy Villa lifted. Oh, and there was that Peace Cup we won a few years ago in the Far East. We beat Juventus in a penalty shoot out after the ref, for some reason best known to himself, blew for full time about six minutes shy of the end of extra time.