Fair point that Derby side were dreadful. On current form however villa will end up with 16 points. That would be similar to the Sunderland season (15). However they already already have a longer streak without a win than Sunderland did that season. Generally it's s moot point those memorably dreadful teams are going to be joined by one more.
I'm really curious how Villa approach January. I doubt they'll spend a great deal, but if I was them I'd be doing all my shopping from the championship. Make it clear that the club won't stand in their way if they impress enough in the PL to earn a move, and then you've got players wanting to do well despite the threat of relegation, and if the seemingly inevitable does happen, you've got some championship-proven players in the squad. They've probably only 3 or 4 players with championship experience as it is, and they'll need to build on that in the summer if not now. I fully expect them to bring in cheaper overseas players though.
You would have thought their gaffer would have an idea of some gems from the French league. It's just getting them to want to play for them. Maybe a few French loans.
True, but with Garde 8 games in without a win to his name, and no championship experience to speak of, what are the odds he'll still be there in October? Someone he knows from France wouldn't surprise me, but they'd be mad to rely too heavily on him.
You say that, but I'd rather be one now than 2-3 years ago. Rather than flirting with relegation year on year, with the worry that you might just stay up, only to be in the same position next season, it feels like their resigned to relegation now. With that out of the way, I guess you can think positively about a season where you might win a few games, and the chance to rebuild the club so they can bounce back stronger.
Yeah, throw in some references to our championship relegation and how we bounced back, and its a speech Churchill would be proud of. Somehow I suspect it wouldn't go down so well!
Considering there's nothing but tumbleweed on the Villa board DH would be preaching to no-one but himself
The problem is that recruiting from the championship is hard in Jan. No player with a chance of promotion will want to leave for a club that is an almost certainty to get relegated. Better stick it out and asses in the summer as villa are unlikely even to be challenging for promotion next season they need a full overhaul. It also unlikely to be a good place to prove yourself as a PL player. The best place together players in Jan are those who are willing to drop down from bigger clubs to get more regular football. Ultimately I can't see why Lerner would invest a single cent. At this point it feels very much like throwing good money after bad. Especially as a relegation vastly reduces the value of the club, meaning he either can't sell or will have to take a massive loss.
Excellent post Bath and I feel you've really 'hit the nail on the head' re Villa and I can see them taking a few years to recover. When I was walking to the pub on Monday, I saw a Villa fan wearing a jumper with a badge 'Aston Villa Champions of Europe!!' That was 1982!!!! I've just been looking at the championship table and see that Brighton are beginning to slide down the table (no win in 5 matches, so CH will have to 'earn his crust now!!'). Boro are top with Derby 2nd (and a game in hand), so should be some game at the Riverside on Saturday and I bet Sky are kicking themselves that it's not being televised. Edit - I wonder if Delia will arrange for everyone to be given a free pie - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...r-ahead-Manchester-City-clash-toast-2015.html!!!! I see according to the Daily Fail, there was a £270M difference in the cost of the 2 squads at the King Power last night!!!!
Good on you Leicester. Proving them wrong yet again. I hoped they could pick up a draw or rob a win.That's another very impressive result.
Ah god, Ipswich are pulling out a good run of Impressive results.They will probably be playoffs again this year, and we wont be there to stop them this time!
