Relegated already

13 matches - 5 points. Mission impossible?

Or are we thinking that we are 2 wins away from 17th place?

It's dire alright but not for the first time the sides around us are trying their best to help us out of our self-dug hole. Unfortunately we are going against conventional wisdom and we keep digging.

We are still in with a chance until they stop fucking up.

We are fUcked.

There are at least 4 or 5 teams that are currently not premiership quality. We are one if those. Not all is lost but Watford is a very big game now.

I'm really worried I'm just hoping there are three worse teams than us.

Watford is a must win, need to get rid of Guzan no confidence, why we did not get a goal keeper in the summer is a big mistake. Need the 12th Man, plus the away support today were great again. UTV

I didn't watch second half, so obviously I can't speak for the entire match, but Guzan wasn't the problem today was he? I thought he did okey.

The chance of buying new, better players in January is receding game by game. We'll be too far gone by then and Lerner will keep his money in his pocket.

We need to be in a better position for us to get better players in , no body will come to villa unless they have a escape clause in the contract. And the big if is will we get money to spend on players.

I wonder what our net spend is each season since 2011. I'd love to see some maths on this. I just can't fucking believe we are spending cash. We went from having a pretty solid squad to a championship team in 5 years. Amazing.

Army villain wrote:Watford is a must win, need to get rid of Guzan no confidence, why we did not get a goal keeper in the summer is a big mistake. Need the 12th Man, plus the away support today were great again. UTV

We did, Bunn. And yes, I don't know either.

I'd recall Jed Steer along with Bennett. The latter is on loan at Bournemouth, where he's made no appearances. On the plus side if there's no recall clause, we get him back in January anyway.

Army villain wrote:We need to be in a better position for us to get better players in , no body will come to villa unless they have a escape clause in the contract. And the big if is will we get money to spend on players.

Frankly an escape clause would be beneficial to us in the sense that "better" players can demand "better" salaries and that isn't something a club with Championship revenues wants or needs.

If I was negotiating the contracts for such players I'd want a, "We get relegated, we mutually cancel this contract with no penalty on us" clause to get rid of them. I know that's not doable but you get the point.

As I said hours before Amavi busted his knee, we have every chance of turning things around but injuries are going to be the big issue. But that also applies to them teams around us.

I'm still hopeful that the Remi affect will kick in - I'm a half-full kind of guy.

Newcastle, Sunderland, Bournemouth, Norwich, Villa.

That's the league we need to make it to the top of. And we're starting behind but it's not impossible.


The constant negative stuff on here from some is so repetitive I wonder if they're even Villans at all ...

mefromhere wrote:Newcastle, Sunderland, Bournemouth, Norwich, Villa.

That's the league we need to make it to the top of. And we're starting behind but it's not impossible.


The constant negative stuff on here from some is so repetitive I wonder if they're  even Villans at all ...

Not Watford?

We have had a policy for many years now of selling our best players to CL or Uefa Cup teams for good money. However unlike teams such as Southampton or Swansea we have not replaced these players clever buys hence we have weakened the team and not made it stronger.

Garde made errors yesterday. Richardson is truly awful and was just either getting beaten or fouling Delefeu (sp) and most of the first half goals came from this area. Having Grealish infront of Richardson was always going to leave him exposed as he Jack wasn't tracking Coleman.

Having Westwood in the team is a huge mistake as he provides zero protection for the back four and nothing going forward. Bringing on Sanchez at the same time meant we had one player that can't pass and one that only passes backwards.

Ayew was our best player however in the first half he was horribly isolated and then when Gestede came on all Rudy did was nothing.

We are heading for the drop and no one is really that surprised after years of poor ownership from Lerner. I will support Villa whichever league they are in, I don't want us to drop out the Premier League but after the past 5 years of struggle it seems it is our year to finally fall into the Championship.

Lets be honest with ourselves. We have been stinking up the PL for at least the last 4/5 years.

The current squad appears to be Championship quality at best and I seriously believe that quite a few of them will not have the stomach and physical strength to compete in that league.

We probably need to go down to re-group and to regain the necessary confidence/team spirit which is required for any team to suceed at any level.I pray that we can stop the rot without free-falling down the leagues. I fully expect a White Knight to appear at some stage.

After the past few years, the Club and the Fans have been ground down by the never ending struggle. The only consolation is the thought that Lerner will have shafted himself as badly as he has shafted all of us.

If I'm looking at this half rational a couple of things come to mind.

1) It's a real shame we now exit due to the changes in the TV-deal (including the reduced parachute payments)

2) It's scary, as several big clubs have fallen out and failed to get back up, e.g. Leeds.

3) I think BM is right. I'd be surprised if we got better than mid table in the championship with this squad in our first year down. We're lacking leaders and players with strength and bollocks.
Fortunately, I think AVFC as a club is very strong in terms of the academy and infrastructure etc. I can easily see us get back up if we get down, though it will probably take a few years. If you look at the teams that are promoted from the championship they got players like Callum Wilson. We got Gabby. We need a serious revamp.

4) I nearly find it funny that Lerner, after asset stripping this club for five years running, may sit with a club he won't get any buyers or money for. What comes around goes around you fucking wanker.

It's not over yet, big let down yesterday , a big wake up call for the manager just shows him who not to pick, plus needs to do something to strengthen up the left hand side.
Games to win Watford in December we need to win Newcastle,West Ham, Norwich, in January Sunderland,crystal palace, Leicester, West brom, now after the shit we played yesterday, they should have had a good telling off, and be up for it against Watford, it's a must win to get the confidence back and we need to win a game.
In my life time I have been with villa in the good and bad times, I just hope we can get out of this bad place we are in, UTV

I'm with Army villain's post and apart from stating that, I'm not going to contribute to a thread called relegated already. Cos we're not.

mefromhere wrote:Newcastle, Sunderland, Bournemouth, Norwich, Villa.

That's the league we need to make it to the top of. And we're starting behind but it's not impossible.


The constant negative stuff on here from some is so repetitive I wonder if they're  even Villans at all ...

Most of the happy clappers will probably disappear if we go down.

We have been unlucky with injuries granted, but the team selections just baffle me, we need to get our better players on the pitch - where is Traore? - Sanchez was great against Man City and then dropped what was wrong with him please don't say tiredness absolute rubbish! Sinclair gets slated because end product is poor but for me he is one of our better players because he makes intelligent runs off the ball and causes the opposition defence to think he needs to start every week. I'm also baffled Kozak isnt even getting a run - did he break a leg or has he lost a leg because that's another baffling one, I am sick of poor team selections get the best team on the park and let's go!

avfc85 wrote:We have been unlucky with injuries granted, but the team selections just baffle me, we need to get our better players on the pitch - where is Traore? - Sanchez was great against Man City and then dropped what was wrong with him please don't say tiredness absolute rubbish! Sinclair gets slated because end product is poor but for me he is one of our better players because he makes intelligent runs off the ball and causes the opposition defence to think he needs to start every week. I'm also baffled Kozak isnt even getting a run - did he break a leg or has he lost a leg because that's another baffling one, I am sick of poor team selections get the best team on the park and let's go!

Yes, I agree. I quite fancy the idea of a front three of Sinclair, Kozak and Ayew. Stick Gueye back in front of whoever is at left centre back and right back, stick Veretout on the other side and Sanchez in the middle. Sure, Sinclair isn't great at defending, but if we're screwed in left defence, we shouldn't try to play a defensive game with no coherent attacking ideas. So any chance we can take some of the pressure off the defence by playing some good attacking football? Sinclair scores goals, Ayew looks dangerous, Kozak scores goals.

This is the team I think we should play:

Guzan
Hutton
Richards
Clark
Kinsella
Sanchez (in front of back 4)
Gueye
Gardner
Gil (in the centre, with freedom to  roam as he is too slow out wide)
Ayew
Agbonlahor (as Adama won't be getting chosen)

Subs:
Bunn
Grealish
Okore
Veretout
Ilori
Kozak
Sinclair

villajk wrote:This is the team I think we should play:

Guzan
Hutton
Richards
Clark
Kinsella
Sanchez (in front of back 4)
Gueye
Gardner
Gil (in the centre, with freedom to  roam as he is too slow out wide)
Ayew
Agbonlahor (as Adama won't be getting chosen)

Subs:
Bunn
Grealish
Okore
Veretout
Ilori
Kozak
Sinclair

Hmm, I don't think we have the team for a 4-1-4-1, we need to score some goals and we don't appear able to attack with any conviction. I'm still happy for Garde to have a good go at making it work though. I wonder, does the U21 team play the same way as the first team, so could Kinsella slot straight in? Is he good going forward and mixing it with the midfield and banging in crosses for a striker? Sure, he's one of the possibilities I put forward before but would Garde prefer to stick with PL experience and put Lescott at LB? I suppose he could always play three at the back and Richardson as a wing back, a position I suspect he'll be a lot better at than LB.