Aston Villa Banter 2

16 Mar 2026 15:42:46
The Premier League looking after the big clubs again, naughty Chelsea have been at it again. Secret payments and other fiddling going on, do the league hit them hard, the way they have with others, not likely. On social media, it’s been called an embarrassing agreement, between the two. With the league doing this, they worry that it will open the door for Man City to push through a soft deal of their own.

Been reported that Chelsea did secret deals over so many yrs totalling £47m, so how come they only get fined £10m. After the way so called smaller clubs have been treated, it’s diabolical what’s gone on here, the fans sing about the FA being corrupt, if only we knew half of it. UTV

16 Mar 2026 17:45:43
Hi Dave, The thing that annoys me is that a lot of the payments allegedly were to attract top young players who can then be sold on as pure profit. This is really like winning twice or 3 times if you loan them out and then sell them.
If the Premier League knows the amount was £47 million, why isn't the fine at least that figure?

16 Mar 2026 19:05:16
Pluffy, the whole thing stinks. Chelsea, for years, have been involved in one thing after another. As you say, this mainly involves young players, who they have snatched up and palmed out worldwide. What they should be looking at is not the £47m spent, but what amounts have, or could be, made off them. City are the same; look at the number of Premier League players that come through their academy.

They haven't yet disclosed what they have on City, but it makes you wonder what watered-down deal they will make for them. You can imagine the difference if it was Villa, or one of, in their opinion, lower sides. The Sky 6 live on UTV.

16 Mar 2026 15:08:01
Anyone seen that Chelsea have had a transfer ban imposed on them for 12 months suspended and an £11 million fine. All of this for 7 years of illegal agents fees and irregular undisclosed payments.

This punishment is a joke. At least slap a 12 month Tfr ban without it being suspended. They must be laughing their heads off and City must be thinking that they will have next to nothing done to them.

16 Mar 2026 15:52:36
The league is so corrupt, it just caters for the big 5 and they wonder why people are going off football.

15 Mar 2026 18:47:17
Once again, except for our own, the results have gone for us, if only we had got a bit of form back. Looking at our next six games, at one time we would count them all winnable. Watching Liverpool earlier, even they look nowhere near their best. Get West Ham out the way next Sunday, then we have the break and hopefully Tielemans back.

With Sancho unable to face his parent club, Emery was a bit restricted, thought it would have been ideal for Alyson to have a run on the right, but he must be injured still. We're getting more and more sloppy with keeping the ball; once again goals came from us giving them the ball. UTV

15 Mar 2026 18:26:41
Worst Premier League I’ve ever seen.
We’re 4th and we are absolute s****!!
Liverpool, Chelsea and Man Utd are all as bad.

15 Mar 2026 20:05:48
Agree. How are we 4th? It's a joke. I know 1 thing, there's no chance Unai goes to Real, or United, not a chance, even Chelsea. I hope our owners have somebody else lined up, cos Unai's time's nearly up. Players need a new voice, in my opinion, and we need an attacking manager. Hurtzler, Iraola, Knudson from Bodo Glimt, or Mattius Jissape, or Xavi.

15 Mar 2026 20:21:09
You really have a short memory, VJ. You need to give your head a wobble, and reflect on our performance in the decade before our current manager took up post. Unai may go. If he does, though, it will be of his own volition, not because we sack him.

And don't be so sure he won't end up at Madrid; he is apparently second favourite after Klopp. One of the things which may make him stay is the freedom he has been given on all footballing matters, which he would be unlikely to get at other clubs.

15 Mar 2026 20:40:32
Who cares. Its now that matters, not bothered where we were 10 yrs ago. Its a results business, Im afraid, and theres no chance Unai gets Real Madrid job. Unai is a bottler, hasnt won jck all for ages. Villa hasnt played well since xmas, and our style of play is shocking, and Unai has wasted millions on crap, Onana, Torres, Tammy, Barrencha, Guessand.


Barkley, Allyson, Maduro, Maatsen aswell, Sanco, Elliot, Dobbing, Illing Jnr.
Only Rodgers and Tielemans, and Duran have been good signings, I for 1 wont be sad if Unai leaves.

15 Mar 2026 20:56:21
Villa are 4th in the league and in a good position in Europe. And people are calling for Emery's head? Am I understanding this correctly?

It'll be an extremely sad and detrimental day when Emery leaves Aston Villa, and I'll take no pleasure in dropping a massive "I told you so" when we are languishing in 14th.

But I will do it nonetheless. He is performing absolute miracles with this squad, and anybody who thinks we can get a manager who would have a bigger impact doesn't know football!

15 Mar 2026 21:28:12
I'm certainly not calling for Emery to go.
I stand by the fact we haven't played well this year in many games, probably only 3 or 4.
With the other teams failing to capitalise, it does give us an opportunity, but we must beat West Ham.

Another lacklustre performance, and I can see us dropping out of the top 4.
Win, get to the international break, and start again in mid April. Sounds easy, but it's difficult to see how given our form since January.

15 Mar 2026 22:15:57
We are on a horrible run of form, there is no escaping that. But to ignore the huge volumes of context, and simply blame Emery or team selection, is very short-sighted - Villa are punching well above their weight, and Emery is the primary reason for this! I've said it a few times recently, Villa have an outstanding 11, but once you chip away at that, we don't have a huge amount of depth, and, unlike the "big" clubs, we can't simply throw money at the problem.

We played a team today who can spend 90M on Antony, realise he doesn't fit the system, loan him out for the remainder of his contract, and replace him with 75M Bryan Mbuemo - and you can tell a similar tale for Rasmus Hojlund (80M), Sancho (80M), Pogba (90M), the list goes on.

Villa need to be absolutely perfect, and currently we are far from it, but Emery is operating with one hand tied behind his back, and still has us competing - people will rue the day they called for his sacking; once he goes, Villa will plummet. I've said it a lot in the past when I see bed wetters calling for Emery to be relieved of his duties the moment we hit a bump in the road. We don't deserve good things as a fan base.

16 Mar 2026 09:48:18
Exactly. This is more or less the same team Gerrard had. Only now, we are more controlling and demanding!

16 Mar 2026 12:06:34
Hi Jonny.
You mention crap players bought by Unai, but Villa are buying from Poundland, whilst City, Arsenal, Man U and Liverpool are buying from Harrods. Do you really think a £20m player is going to be as good as a £60 m player?
Villa have spent peanuts, not by choice, but because the system says we have to, and yet we are still above Chelsea and Liverpool, who spent £480 m in the summer.
Do you think City would be in our position if Pep only spent £40m over 3 years?
Unai has performed miracles.

Yes, the football isn't as free flowing as when he first came, but that is to be expected. The team needs rebuilding, the average age yesterday was over 29. But how do we rebuild if we can't spend?
We are not the only team in this situation, but we are still nearer the top than the bottom. Would you prefer to be West Ham, Burnley, Forest, Spurs or Leeds?

16 Mar 2026 12:29:17
There's money being wasted, there's quality players out there for cheap. Our scouts just need to look Championship, l1, Scottish leagues
French league, Africa, South America, Belgium, Denmark. Other clubs do it, but not Villa.
Unai can't even blood and gel our youth players like other managers do. The talent is there as well at our club, it's just Unai doesn't want to blood them.

16 Mar 2026 15:01:02
You're assuming we aren't scouting those leagues, though, VJ - I'm sure we have quite an extensive network of scouts, but if it was that easy, everybody would be doing it, right? Villa have bought young players, and they simply haven't been up to the necessary standards. And yes, I know you will say, "How do we know if we don't play them?" Emery will have seen enough of them to know if they will make an impact or not. Also, Emery, the club & the fans want success now, and blooding young players takes time unless you happen upon the next Wayne Rooney.



We have Allyson, Madja & Cisse, who will be amongst the first team next year, I'm sure, as will Hemmings, as there is absolutely a massive need to reduce the average age of the squad in the summer. I expect us to look completely different come the end of the summer window, let's hope that is with the aid of the Champions League money.

16 Mar 2026 15:54:37
I hope so, bk. We need to take the age down and get pace in the team.

15 Mar 2026 17:41:52.
Donyell Malen, 8 appearances and 6 goals for Roma since his move in January.
Ollie Watkins, 28 appearances and 8 goals for Villa.
The biggest mistake by Emery since he became manager back in October 2022.

15 Mar 2026 21:37:01
Malen didn't fit how Emery plays. He's a very good player in a team that plays to his strengths, which we didn't, unfortunately.

15 Mar 2026 22:25:20
Shocking decision to sell him and Duran as well. Watkins should have been sold instead of Duran, Duran a much better finisher and more deadly.

15 Mar 2026 22:36:12
Duran is a decent player, however, this season he has 6 goals in 25 games, hardly an example of a deadly finisher and definitely not prolific.

16 Mar 2026 07:04:41
Lost his since he got bag of cash from Saudi. He's still baller though, miles better than Watkins or Tammy, in fact better than all our strikers.

16 Mar 2026 14:46:48
Serie A is a trash league. Keenan Davis has 9 goals for Udinese this season, and is 4th highest scorer in the league. He is scoring 1 in 2.

15 Mar 2026 16:24:30
Just read the match report and it says "Emery was apoplectic with rage at Bailey for losing the ball that lead to the goal." Emery deserves everything he gets for picking Bailey and yet he continues to do it. Emery is fast losing respect for his team selections and it is getting worse.

15 Mar 2026 16:47:08
I'm as frustrated with Bailey (and a few others) as anyone, but who would you have brought on from our bench in an attempt to win the game?

I don't quite understand the point of having Elliot on the bench if we can't/won't use him, but apart from that option, we basically have nothing. Frustrating, but we have to deal with it.


Neville summed it up perfectly - Villa look great in their own third and midfield, but as soon as it goes forward it just fizzles out.
It's not a tactical problem, it's a performance problem, and other than Rogers (less so in recent weeks, but still decent), nobody looks a threat.
Utd away won't define our season, but the next 6 games will.

15 Mar 2026 16:18:53
You can have all the good approach play in the world, but if there’s not threat up front, it doesn’t matter. You can’t afford to carry, all the passengers we are. Ollie is bereft of any confidence at all, his first touch is absolutely terrible. Rogers is becoming non existent, nothing at all today again. Don’t know if that bandage on his hand is throwing him off balance.

Don’t care what anyone else thinks, Mings showed why he’s our best defender today. 2-1 down. 3-1 same again, no urgency, way to slow in our passing. Goals soft, gifted by the ball being lost, because we’re not strong enough in 50-50s. The cock up at the end summed us up, empty net with two players running in. UTV

15 Mar 2026 16:33:34
Dave, we are not strong enough in every department, let alone the 50 50's. I'm getting really fed up with Emery's tactics and team selections. Bailey, Buendia, and Watkins are the worst examples. How long does it have to go on before anything changes? It's been two months of abject failure.

15 Mar 2026 16:02:28
How can anyone defend Watkins?
The guy is completely and utterly done. Can’t finish a sentence.
Looks like he’s never played football in his life.
All that talk about him carrying an injury, don’t buy it.
He has been poor all season. His performances must affect the rest of the team.

15 Mar 2026 15:57:53
Simple question, how many more defeats and poor, clueless performances before something changes, as good as Tielemans is, he isn't going to turn this around. How long do we here the mantra in Emery we trust, because for the last two months I don't.

Any top class coach who picks Watkins, Bailey, Buendia and Rogers in his current form needs to be questioned if he knows what he is doing.

15 Mar 2026 18:01:29
Who's better in our squad than them? It's all well and good saying don't pick them, but who's better?

15 Mar 2026 15:47:01
So let's see the positives from anyone, because I can't and haven't seen any in the league since Christmas, we will be lucky to make the Conference League.

15 Mar 2026 16:06:50
Only won 3 from last 12 league games.
Absolutely shocking.
I can't see us beating Spurs at the moment.
We haven't played well for a majority of the season. Won games we didn't deserve to.
This has been coming for a long time.
Lille at home on Thursday. I really don't fancy us.
Emery has to change it. It's gone very stale.

15 Mar 2026 16:15:17
Trinity, take a look at our goal difference. It sums the season up for me, and it was exactly the same compared to all the teams around us last season. What needs to happen, in your opinion, to turn things around? Emery hasn't got a clue.

15 Mar 2026 16:24:33
The only positive I see is that today makes us another game closer to Tielemans coming back from injury. Who knows if he can make the difference, but he's our only hope at this point, cause Emery won't give Abraham a chance to save our season.

15 Mar 2026 17:38:21
Scot, I have been banging on about our poor defensive record for 2 years now, and have been pilloried by one or two on here for doing so.
It's basic. We concede far too many goals for far too long.

We are boring to watch. Too slow with the ball.

Not enough pace, and as for Watkins, I believe his days are numbered. Unfortunately, Malen was moved on because he wasn't being played in his preferred position.
That particular deal is looking more and more like an absolute disaster.

15 Mar 2026 15:43:39
No more than we deserve, can't play for 60 mins with 10 men. Watkins only ever in the way.

15 Mar 2026 15:42:54
This commentary doing my head in.

15 Mar 2026 15:40:19
I think we need to face facts were not good enough 6th at best and try and win Europa League.