I don't think we'll walk it, but I think with the improvement we've shown under Rafa tactically, as well as mentally, we should be able to gain automatic promotion first time around. There are some decent teams in the championship at the moment, but I think Villa and Norwich looked like mediocre championship teams towards the end of the season, where as we looked like a good premier league quality side. Hull, Burnley and Middlesbrough look far superior to the two teams that came down with us.
never normally bet, BUT 5/2 to win the Champ is just too good, gonna stick a **** off great load on that. 12/1 to 100? hmmm, £50 maybe...
Agree with this. Villa's new owner doesnt have a pot to pi55 in, administration looms, points deductions e.t.c. I've looked for their owner Dr Tony Xia and he is not on any rich list and is extremely hard to locate online. I understand he owns an investment fund company in china which failed to register any profit last year. just another crackpot taking over a football club and ruining it, but nevermind its only villa
I think some give it far more credit than it deserves. Exactly the same was said last time around and from the matches I have seen this season the league if full of some absolute turd - even the teams that were in the playoffs. Also many seem to like to suggest things without looking at the statistics - out of the past five years there has only been one season where at least one of the teams relegated the year before that did not jump back up automatically. Looking at the sides that went down, the quality they had, their ends to the season and potential player/manager retention it is no shock we are the favourites to do so. I for one do not think it's unreasonable for the fans to be expecting us to get automatic promotion next year, or at least push for it the whole way.
No not all, I myself expect automatic promotion. I just don't think it will be the cakewalk many are predicting. With a manager now committed and a bit of freedom to get the right mix you'd have to hope we will be in the mix at the very least. However we were relegated for a reason, and as it stands we are not as well equipped for a return as we were last time. By that I look at the type of players required. The likes of Barton, Nolan, Jonas, Carroll, Lovenkrands, Simpson, Raylor, Smith, Enrique, all had a grittiness to grind out results week after week. Will that be the case with the current squad? Possibly not.
Simpson? Grittiness? Grind? I know he won the league and all, but the guys a muppet! Enrique too! I get that the type of player we had last time were much more accustomed to Championship football, but I have no doubts that Rafa will have the players prepared, warned against complacency and ready for next season. If the majority of players who beat spurs 5-1 stay and perform like they did that game, it doesn’t matter who we play, we should tear anyone apart. New signing will come in and we should walk it. Literally smash it so hard that the football league start telling us to play with 10 men to give the other teams a chance! I'm going £5.00 on unbeaten all season!
Simpson was extremely gritty. A proper no nonsense full back, who got stuck in. Enrique too did not mind the physical battle. Our current lot fared badly in the physical battle of the PL. I actually think the Championship is less demanding physically but our mental approach would worry me as we have been shown to be extremely weak in that department for a few years now. Hopefully Rafa can sort it out. We won't be walking it, it will be tough!
I don't really like the idea that you need 'grit'. Sure you may need some grit to stay in the Championship if you're squad isn't able to compete for promotion, but many of the teams that now go up play some ****ing good football. They may have solid defenders but further up the pitch there is a lot of skill involved. That said, the key for me remains getting a British spine to the team. We're missing real British presence upfront, central midfield and one more in defence. Would want some players that are ideally proven in the Championship (at least) and to replace mercenaries such as Sissoko and I think the noises coming from the club so far are good. In my opinion our decline started when we slowly dismantled the Britishness of the squad (peaked at fifth the season after we did that but then a slow decline). We need to keep some of those flair players such as Perez as they can make the difference between a draw and a win and I also think that Rafa, with a full summer, will have the team fully set up to not lose or let their heads drop if we concede a goal. Anyway, if you want grit you need to look no further that Mitro. He eats grit for breakfast.
I think by grit, I mean more the being mentally strong. When things don't go your way which they won't at times. We keep turning to jelly for the last 5 years and teams have picked up on it. Often they'd just get at us playing high tempo, and we'd crumble. If we concede we lose generally, and we don't have that mental strength to deal with adversity. I don't think it is just down to the lack of british players, more the types. I do believe we need a strong British base because our football is a hard old slog compared to elsewhere once you factor in number of games, pace and weather. British lads are brought up on a diet of this so quite naturally deal with it better. Its only when you start buying the very best players you can overcome it somewhat.
You will be many peoples favorite to top the table, but talk of topping 100pts mark is laughable. The Championship looks set to be the most competitive it has ever been, and thats saying something!
Why is 100 points laughable? We were in disarray last time we got relegated, with no permanent manager and a lazy rabble of a team, but we destroyed the league and got 102 points. This year we have a far better manager, assurances about funding, and a team that looks more focused for the task. The championship wasn't hugely competitive last time we were in it, there is a big gulf in class and quality from the Prem. There are a few championship stalwarts who will be at the top of the table challenging and in the play off mix (Derby, Forest, Brighton, Cardiff, etc), but the likes of Huddersfield, Rotherham, Burton, Brentford are hardly the stuff of nightmares. Worth making a sizeable bet for winning the league, then offsetting that with a few other bets for over 100 points and the points record, then if we win but don't get over 100, there's still a profit.
Err, last time you went down people said 'that team was too good to go down......' we are not saying that this time. The manager is a big plus, agreed on that. Last time you kept players like Barton, who I think you'll agree he is pretty useful at that level. Last time teams like Plymouth were there. I reckon your over confidence might come back and kick your arse.
I certainly wasn't saying we were too good to go down last time, we had a wretched season and deserved to go down, same this time around. And Barton didn't play much in the championship last time, he was injured most of the season. The key players for us were Nolan, Collocini, Enrique, Carroll, Ryan Taylor and Lovenkrands, players who had been poor or anonymous in the Prem, who were excellent when we went down. The likes of Shelvey and Colback can do the tough midfield roles, and we have players like Laecelles and Darlow used to the championship, it's not going to be the shock to the system people seem to be forecasting. Not overconfident, but certainly fancy a bet on it.
Agreed, we are in a far stronger position than we were in 2009. The standard in the Championship is a little better now but I can't see most teams being able to handle the quality we have in the side (although we will need to see who goes and comes over the summer of course). 12/1 on 100 points is a perfectly reasonable bet when you weigh everything up IMHO.
Last time we went down the players people were talking about when they said "too good to go down" were: Owen, Viduka, Martins, Duff, Bassong, Beye, Given (who went mid-season), Taylor, Nolan, Barton and Butt. 7 of those went pre-season, Taylor was injured for chunks and Barton barely played any games for us in the Championship. The excellent players were Smith, Enrique, Carroll, Colocini, Simpson, Raylor, Gutierrez, etc many of whom were either a laughing stock prior to relegation or on the sidelines. That season made most of those players and whilst in hindsight people may say "we don't have the likes of them" the reality is that going into that season no-one was thinking "Oh it's ok we've sold all our big names as we've kept Ryan Taylor and Andy Carroll". Hell i seem to recall our first team losing 6-1 to Leyton Orient a week or so before the season started.
The team should easily be strong enough to come back up, no problem. The only concern I would have is whether Ashley and co. can keep to their promise and keep their beaks out and let Benitez get on with things.
Nah, we lost 4 games last time - Blackpool, Forest, Scunthorpe and Derby. Plus we dropped quite a few points needlessly, ie vs Ipswich at home. Can see Villa imploding rapidly with the fiasco surrounding them, so Norwich, Brighton and Derby look like our main threats.
