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WAFC Red
Sunday 15th May 2016
Curtain Comes Down on 2015/16
Nail Biting End Last Day Sees Cherries, Black Cats And Villains Relegated
The 2015/16 season reached it's conclusion today with five teams in danger of dropping through the trapdoor into the Sky Bet Championship, Just five points separated Swansea in sixteenth with bottom of the table Aston Villa with Crystal Palace, Sunderland and Bournemouth also battling for their survival. Villa's chances looked like a long shot at best as they required several other results to go their way as well as winning their crunch tie with Bournemouth, however the two beleaguered sides only managed a 1-1 draw, sending them both down.
In South Wales Swansea were able to keep Sunderland at bay in another 1-1 draw to preserve their own Premier League status at the Black Cat's expense.
It is our understanding that following relegation both Sam Allerdyce and Remi Garde have been removed form their positions as managers of Sunderland and Aston Villa respectively.
WAFC Red
Welcome Back To Olof Mellberg!
Aston Villa is today delighted to welcome back one of it's favourite sons, former captain Olof Mellberg who will take over the post of head coach at the club following last months dismissal of Remi Garde. The 38 year who spent seven years at Villa park between 2001 and 2007 will be charged with overseeing the club's first campaign outside the top flight of English football since 1987/88 after our relegation from the Premier League.
A firm fan favourite thanks to his passionate, full blooded defending, the Swede, who amassed 117 appearances for his country has promised to whip the squad into shape and accept no less than 100% dedication to the cause. Some have moved to criticise the appointment, pointing out the former Juventus, Olympiakos and FC Cophenhagen man's lack of credentials off the field, however Mellberg is quick to point out he has completed all necessary qualifications and has worked under managers such as Sven Goren Eriksson, Claudio Ranieri and Martin O'Neill, from whom he learnt much and feels prepared to make the big step up to the dugout.
In his first press conference, an empassioned Mellberg gave a rousing call to arms to his new charges; 'I stand here a proud man, to have the chance to come back to Aston Villa, a club that is a part of my soul now is an amazing feeling, I love this club and it's fans who made me feel such a part of things here when I was wearing the claret and blue shit, they deserve better than what they have endured in the last decade, the horrific slump. I am making it my personal mission to revive this amazing club and make it so those fans can once again take pride in telling their friends and colleagues they are Aston Villa supporters. I will accept no less than complete and utter dedication on the pitch, those who have shown they are here just for their pay cheques over the last few years are not welcome here any longer!'
WAFC Red
Is surprisingly exactly the same as last season, at least is as of day one. dispite their horricfic form Remie Garde didn't sign, or sell a single player during 2015/16;
Several of our bigger names want to leave in order to return to the top flight, if they aren't prepared to fight tooth and nail to get the club back to where it should be, so be it. I will use the money from their sales to build a new squad that is hungry and determined to bring back the good times in B6.
Gravyb0y
Dan
itchycoo
I'm not sure Mellberg has ever played for Sven-Göran Eriksson, though.
WAFC Red
Haha thanks mate, not a dirty Birmingham fan are you?
Thank you, I hope so!
I know, that was what made me think of having him as my avatar, that and he was one of my favourite players.
Hmm, I thought Mellberg was at Degefors at the same time as Sven, however after double checking the dates, Olof would only have been a year old at the time, so I stand corrected!
On the eve of the 2016/17 season my first team squad looks very different to how it did on day one, no fewer than thirteen senior players have departed for a combined income of over £32M which is a huge boost for us financially both in terms of the revenue received and the wages slashed from our outgoings as we brace ourselves for a lower income in the Championship, as well as beginning to repay loans of over £120M to owner Randy Lerner.
Most of the deals are also with substantial future fees, so we will benefit in the future from these sales.
I will be utilising the clubs much celebrated youth system extensively as I begin to build for the future, however with so many players leaving I needed to plug some gaps in the meantime so I have scoured the release lists of the Premiership as well as the loan market;
Adrian Mariappa [Free] - My new captain following Micah Richards's departure to Premier League new boys Cardiff. A very solid centreback snapped up following his release from Crystal Palace.
Ben Watson [Free] - Hard working box-to-box midfielder who is best know for his last gasp winner for Wigan in the 2013 FA cup final against Manchester City. It took a while to convince Ben to drop down a division following his release from Watford this summer but I'm glad I managed to get him and I'm glad I did as he's exactly the sort of industrious battler I want in my new look Villa.
Mike Williamson [Free] - Mike, who was let go by Newcastle, should form a mean Championship defensive partnership with Mariappa. Another big, strong and hard working player.
Michael Hector [Loan] - Chelsea youngster who will be looking to gain experience here at Villa park, he will rotate with Williamson and Mariappa. He spend last season on loan at Reading where he made 41 appearances. I have the option to buy for £2M.
Chris Solly [£1.1M] - The only player who cost me anything in this transfer window, however I feel that £1.1M was a good price for the Charlton man who knows the Championship inside out after ten years with the Addicks and who should make the step up to the Premier League without much of a problem if we achieve our ambitions this season.
Paolo De Ceglie.[Loan] - Something of a coup this one! The Juventus left back is easily good enough to be playing top flight football, in fact he was playing for Marseille in the Champions League last term. Clearly he doesn't have a future with the Turin outfit if they are happy to loan him out to a second tier English club after that, not that I mind in the slightest! As with Hector I have the option to make the move permanent for £2M.
Tom Carroll [Free] - Talented former England under-21 international who found himself without a club following Tottenham's decision not to renew his contract, Tom is another easily capable of fitting into a Premier League squad, in fact we had to fight off competition from Cardiff and QPR for his signature. I consider him a good like for like replacement for Ashley Westwood who moved to the Bundesliga to join Wolfsberg.
Chuba Akpom [Loan] - A strong and pacey forward who has made a handful of appearances for Arsenal, mainly in the cup competitions but has mainly been farmed out on loan, most recently to Hull where he scored twenty times in the Championship last season, that sort of goalscoring prowess at this level is exactly what we need.
So after all that transfer activity, my squad now looks very different;
I'm pleased we managed to keep hold of our most talented flair players, I thought Adama Traore, Jack Grealish and Carles Gil would be big targets for many clubs but no offers materialised for the trio who are on surprisingly low wages considering what the likes of N'Zogbia, Lescott and Hutton were earning.
The results of the pre-season friendly's weren't particularly impressive, however with such a lot of changes going on, it was only to be expected that the performances be a bit disjointed, as long as it's sorted out by the time we head to Burnley on opening day I don't mind.
Dan
Ice Man
Hopefully you can get us back into the Premiership.
WAFC Red
Yeah, it should be useful in preventing trouble with our £120M+ debts.
Laursen doesn't appear to be in the database, at least not amongst the players I have loaded.
I did consider my former Villa and Sweden team mate Marcus Allback, but his attributes aren't particularly brilliant.
August 2016
We are off to a strong start to life in the second tier, sitting pretty at the top of the pile after my first month in charge;
Obviously we're only five games in, but early indications are good regarding our chances of an immediate return to the top flight, we just need to keep doing what we're doing for the next nine months!
Coming from a goal down to defeat Burnley at Turf Moor was a great start, particularly as the Clarets are likely to be one of our chief competitors for automatic promotion, Adama Traore was unplayable in that game, constantly turning the Burnley left-back Stephen Ward inside out as he jinked in from the right wing, netting a sublime hat-trick, which supports my pre-season assertion that he is much too good to be playing in the Championship.
We came from behind again against Millwall in my first game back at Villa park in nine years, both Jordan Ayew and Traore were on target again in that one. Things didn't go as planned during the visit to the Valley however as Spanish forward Jonatan Valle's 50th minute strike condemned us to a deserved defeat, we just never got going in this one, no matter how much I roared at my players from the touch line.
We were back on form for the visit to Huddersfield though, thanks to some strong words and extra training with the players who underperformed at Charlton, we looked in control from first to last whistles in this one, stroking the ball around in a manner becoming of a top half Premier League side rather than a recently relegated one, Adama netted his fifth of the campaign before Gabby Agbonlahor got his first. I think Gabby has found his level in the Championship and should do well, he hasn't been Premiership quality in a long time now but the club has stuck with him as thanks for the loyalty he showed early in his career when bigger teams were interested in him but he opted to remain with Villa.
We rounded off the month with another assured performance in front of the TV cameras as Leeds came knocking, Ayew netted both goals in very similar fashion, working the ball forward with overlapping runs from Traore and Gabby before they pulled the ball back to the Ghana-an forward who had found himself a pocket of space in the area in which to strike.
This form has earned both Adama and I recognition in the monthly awards;
We're also still going in the League cup after my heavily rotated side easily dispatched both Southend and Oxford to set up a third round tie with West Ham at Upton Park next month, a game I'm looking forward to as it will be a good test for the current squad to see if they are good enough to take on Premiership opposition or whether further re-development is required in the next couple of transfer windows. I was very pleased with the youth academy products who started these games, winger Andre Green got a 9.0 rating against Southend after getting three assists whereas Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, who has been a transfer target for Liverpool and Spurs this month, netted his first senior goal late on. 18 year old Easah Sulliman 21 year old Liam Bateman also made their professional bows in defence. These kids have a golden opportunity with the club in it's current situation that they might never have got if we were still in the Premiership.
The transfer fever around Villa Park has calmed down now with just one new addition to the squad, although I had nothing to do with his signing; Jonjoe Kenney - My head of youth development signed Jonjoe for just £135k from Everton, looks a half decent player who still has plenty of time to develop, for now he will be part of the under-21 squad.
seannn
I'm doing the same thing with Crystal Palace, its turning out to be a lot tougher than I expected.
Dan
WAFC Red
Thank you, I hope you turn things around with Palace!
I intend to.
September 2016
Adama Traore
Ten games into the season and we are sitting pretty having extended our lead at the top to five points since last month and still playing some good football throughout.
We kicked off the month with a double header against the two Sheffield teams, flattening United with a storming first half performance which saw us go in leading 3-0 at the break, Mike Williamson heading in his first Villa goal to open the scoring. Arsenal loanee Chuba Akpom also got his first league goal for us in the latter stages, he has however scored twice in our League cup run.
After blunting the blades at Villa Park, we were hoping to pluck the Owls at Hillsborough as we took on Wednesday, however this time we came unstuck as our former manager Paul Lambert got one over on us, Ross Wallace and Steven Fletcher hitting us with both barrels early on as the home side took a two goal lead after fourteen minutes. We had plenty of chances to get ourselves back in the game, Jordan Ayew had a goal disallowed in the second half, however Lambert's new team held on to give him a win he must have enjoyed as Blackburn took advantage to take the Championship top spot.
We got back to winning ways straight away against Ipswich as Adama Traore produced a master class in attacking from wide positions, scoring his second hat-trick of the season;
Adama is the joint leading scorer in the Championship so far, he is on nine goals, along with Derby's Chris Martin.
We were back on the cup trail after that as we headed to Premier League West Ham after having overcome Southend and Oxford in the previous rounds. Unfortunately the third round was as far as we go this season as we went out rather meekly to Slaven Bilic's men, Traroe got a 79th minute goal back to make it 3-1 when the game had looked dead and buried to make the last ten minutes, however we were unable to get back into it as the Hammers went on to the fourth round to face Watford in the next round.
After the frustration of being dumped out of the cup we took on Fulham in what could of being a tricky game, Ayew settled any nerves after quarter of an hour with his sixth goal of the season, Fulham didn't roll over in this one, however our superior quality in midfield and up front ultimately showed through as Scott Sinclair netted our second and his first league goal of the season which sent us back to the top of the pile.
Sunderland and ourselves have had contrasting starts to the life in the Championship following our relegations last season, we were two points clear at the top going into this game, whereas the Black Cats again find themselves languishing in the drop zone, however it was Michael Laudrup's side who started the stronger with Victor Montano giving the Tee-siders lead with a well placed finish after just eight minutes. It took until the hour mark for us to hit back, albeit via an own goal from Sebastian Coates, the momentum then swung in our favour as Nathan Baker prodded home amidst a goalmouth scramble following Carles Gil's corner for what was his first ever Villa goal in his seven years at the club. That result saw us take a five point lead over Blackburn as Sunderland slid to the bottom of the division, could they be heading for back-to-back relegations?
Just like last month, both me and Adama have won awards in September;
Good to see young Callum Robinson in there too, he is on loan at the New Den from us, he is doing his chances of a first team place when he returns no harm at all with his current form.
Pretty easy this management lark isn't it?
itchycoo
WAFC Red
Jordan Ayew has scored four this month
Our performances in October havn't been quite as dominant as in August and September, however we still lead the way in the Sky Bet Championship with a four point cushion over second placed Blackburn.
The month started badly as we went down 3-1 to Middlesbrough, Kike opened the scoring with 39 minutes gone, Gabby Agbonlahor levelled with his second league goal of the season in the 68th minute, however Boro responded well to being pegged back, Kike completing a hat-trick to win the game for the Riversiders.
We then welcomed newly promoted Colchester to Villa Park, The U's are surpassing expectations so far and are comfortably in mid-table, however they weren't able to resist our pacey attack as Jack Grelish curled in a lovely shot from twenty yards, Mike Williamson made sure of the result with a powerful header from a Grealish corner.
Next we took on West Midlands rivals Wolves for the first time since January 2012, that day we ran out 3-2 winners at Molinuex, this time however we were held to a draw, Joran Ayew cancelling out Emiliano Marcondes's 26th minute opener as we shared the points for the first time this season.
Just like buses, you wait ages for a draw, and then two come along at once as we were lucky to get anything from Brentford who had a man advantage following Leandro Bacuna's straight red card for a lunge on Bee's striker Alan Judge midway through the first half with the score balanced at 1-1. Dean Smith's men twice took the lead but we showed spirit and pegged them back through Ayew and Mariappa to earn a point.
In-discipline was again a problem away to MK Dons as Carlos Sanchez became the second player to be sent off in two games, although hew received two yellows rather than a straight red, however we were still strong enough to see off the Dons with Scott Sinclair bagging both goals. Former Villa trainee Samir Carruthers got an 85th minute goal back but we held firm to return to winning ways.
Finally we took on our fellow relegated side Bournemouth at Villa Park, Again we had to come from behind as Callum Wilson fired in a well placed cross after just eight minutes, it took less than sixty seconds for Jordan Ayew to immediately restore parity though. Eddie Howe's side re-took the lead just before half time through Marcel Ritzmaeir. I made my feelings perfectly clear at half time to my players and they responded well, storming back with three goals in the last fifteen minutes, including a début goal for eighteen year old Rushian Hepburn-Murphey
Those result see us stay top, although Blackburn have closed the gap from five to four points;
Off the field we are subject to a takeover bid;
I wonder if the new owner will clear the clubs debts to Randy Lerner which would allow me to seriously strengthen in the January window as I won't have to save as much, We have a bank balance of over £70M and a transfer budget of £23M available to me, however with repayments of £900k per month towards a £120M debt I think it would be unwise to splash out too much.
WAFC Red
November 2016
Jordan Amavi's red card cost us dearly against Hull
A drop in form has seen us concede pole position in the Championship to Blackburn as we head towards the busy festive period, Is the gruelling slog through the second tier beginning to catch up with us or is this just a blip?
With the exception of the Bristol game, our actual performances haven't been that bad, we have been let down my stupid lapses in concentration such as Jordan Amavi's red card against Hull which saw us go from leading 1-0 to lose 3-1, but that is nothing compared to the last ten minutes against Derby, we were coasting to a comfortable 4-1 victory before utterly self destructing;
Utterly disgraceful. That sort of thing simply cannot happen to a team aiming to win the league!
My face at full time.
Thankfully the damage isn't too bad from this bad run, we are only a point behind Blackburn and still five points clear of Hull in third, so automatic promotion is still on the cards. We just need to recover quickly from this slump.
brabbn
WAFC Red
21st December 2016
Takeover Complete
Aston Villa is today delighted to confirm the successful takeover bid of Saudi billionaire Mansoor Al-Balawi. (pictured) The 52 year old is considered to be one of the richest people in Saudi Arabia, making his money with numerous real estate ventures, he has also previously owned Saudi side Ittihad FC, winning the Saudi Premiership and the Asian Champions Cup twice.
At this stage it remains unclear as to the extend Al-Balawi intends to invest in Villa, however it is understood he is not looking to replace current manager Olof Mellberg as the club looks to return to the Premiership.
WAFC Red
December 2016
Scott Sinclair's goals have helped spark an upturn in form
Christmas has come and gone in the blink of an eye as per usual, however Villa fans will be feeling much more optimistic heading into the new year than they will have done at the beginning of the month;
An injury time Tomer Hemed goal say our unbeaten home record vanish against Brighton before another limp performance away at Forest made it six games without a win, and even more concerning, just two goals in five games, thankfully Blackburn were also faltering as they failed to register a win in five games which set us up nicely for a crunch top of the table clash. Mike Williamson gave us the dream start as the big defender headed in after just five minutes, Jordan Rhodes levelled fifteen minutes later to balance the game, however a red card to Rovers midfielder Danny Holla swung the pendulum back in our favour. We were unable to make the man advantage pay until the final ten minutes of the game as Rovers became tired, Scott Sinclair broke through their defence to jab the ball under the keeper before an Adama Traore brace sealed the result, the scoreline flattered us but I didn't care one bit as our bad run came to an end and we returned to the top of the table.
That result spurred us into life as we beat Burnley 4-3 in a thrilling game before a home win over Charlton to send us into 2017 top of the pile;
As I said earlier, the future looks a lot brighter in 2017 thanks to a sudden change in fortunes on the pitch, coupled with the recent takeover which will allow me to spend some of the £30M+ I received in player sales last summer to strengthen my squad and ensure we return to the top flight where we belong at the first time of asking.
brabbn
Dan
WAFC Red
Yes it was a relief given our bad run of form!
Thank you.
January 2017
Welcome to Danny Ings
With the recent takeover I allowed myself to break open the piggy bank I filled in the summer with £30M+ due to my heavy re-development of the squad, I think you will agree that with the new additions we now have a squad that should definitely be back in the Premier League next season;
Danny Ings - With Jordan Ayew gone off the boil having not scored since the 4-4 draw with Derby on the first of November I needed a forward who can constantly find the net. Danny is certainly that having scored 20 times the last time he played at this level for Burnley. His move to Liverpool didn't work out for him, making just nine appearances in his two seasons with the Anfield club and scoring just once. Danny has the potential to be a great acquisition for us even though he set us back a not to be sniffed at £7M.
Asmir Begovic - Jed Steer has been ok for us in the first half of the season, however I do not believe he is of a sufficient standard to be a first choice Premier League keeper, and of course building a side capable of winning games in the top flight is what I am trying to do here. Asmir is definitely a top quality keeper as he proved with Stoke. Like Danny Ings his step up to a top four side didn't go well for him as he made just a sole league appearance for Chelsea and will be looking to rebuild his career with us as we splashed out another £7M.
Zach Clough - I had been looking for a player who could rotate with Carles Gil in the advanced play-maker role, admittedly Zach was not my first choice, I initially moved for Derby's Will Hughes but was unable to agree a reasonable price with the Rams who were asking a frankly ridiculous £20M. This shouldn't suggest I'm not happy with my £6M acquisition of Zach from Bolton who I believe has a bright future in the game.
Andre Wisdom - Liverpool youngster who has made a handful of appearances for the Reds first team but has never managed to establish himself. Andre spent last season on loan at Norwich, making 33 appearances for the Canaries but hasn't played at all in the league since his return to Anfield. At just £2M I though Andre was a worth a punt as he can play as either fullback or centre-back with gives me some flexibility among the back line. I terminated the loan of Michael Hector after this signing which proved to be a bad decision as Andre almost immediately got injured for several months with a hernia.
I rejected an offer from Roma for left-back Jordan Amavi, Jordan wasn't happy about this and requested a transfer after trying to rally the dressing room to his side, I was able to contain a possibly troublesome situation by agreeing to let him go if Roma came back with an improved offer, however they failed to do so.
Target man Libor Kozak has gone to Sunderland for a cut price £165K, the Czech hasn't played a single minute in any competition for us this season, it made sense to let him go, even if it wasn't for his full value.
So after all that, here is what I consider my strongest first eleven at the moment;
Jose Angel Crespo / Chris Solly - Nathan Baker / Andre Wisdom - Mike Williamson / Adrian Mariappa - Paolo De Ceglie / Jordan Amavi
Tom Carroll / Jordan Vertout - Ben Watson / Carlos Sanchez
Adama Traore / Jack Grealish - Carles Gil / Zach Clough - Scott Sinclair / Gabby Agbonlahor
Danny Ings / Jordan Ayew
Others who have played this season : Mark Bunn (GK), Leandro Bacuna (RB &/or CM), Andre Green (RW), Chuba Akpom (ST), Rushian Hepburn-Murphey (ST)
So, has the £23M spent been worth it?
It would seem so! An unbeaten January has seen us move seven points clear in the automatic promotion places, although Blackburn have stolen a march on us and gone top of the table, we do have a game in hand over Paul Lambert's side and can reclaim the top spot in February.
We are also still going strong in the FA cup after overcoming Brentford 4-0, we will play League Two Cambridge United in the fifth round if we can overcome Middlesbrough at the Riverside in a replay following our 0-0 draw at Villa Park. Cambridge knocked out our Championship counterparts Burnley to reach this stage, but I still fancy our chances of getting past the U's and into the quarter finals, if we can get a favourable draw in the last eight then we could well be off to Wembley for the semis, and then who knows, maybe the final itself! What an amazing first season that would be. Still, one step at a time, we still have to overcome Boro first.
Seven points from a possible nine has earned me a fourth manager of the month award;
WAFC Red
February 2017
Nathan Baker has been in fine form in defence
Not long left now, and we look almost home and dry as far as automatic promotion is concerned after another unbeaten month, elven points clear of Middlesbrough in third. In our current form it seems a matter of if not when we secure our place in next seasons Premier League.
Maximum points from our five league games is an excellent return, we are in fact unbeaten in sixteen games now.
The real excitement now is the FA cup, although we should have dispatched of League Two Cambridge sooner after having to go all the way to extra time in a replay, still we have made it through to the last eight where we head to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace. Palace will be tough but we certainly have a decent chance of reaching the semi finals at Wembley.
You can feel the electricity in the air around Villa Park at the moment with a seemingly impending promotion and possibly a trip to the national stadium in the cup. Could we buck the odds and do a double?
brabbn