24 Aug 2026 19:58:53
Unfortunately I have been confined to barracks today, so Sky Sports has been permanently on. Switching between the TV, Twitter, news outlets. The overwhelming numbers are concerned for us this season, not one mentions the quality we will have available once the players injured are available. Sky stats regarding minutes we will have lost with our top players being sold versus every other Premier Leagues ins and outs we were the worst in the league by a country mile.

This is obviously a worry, but time will tell if the stats turn into reality. I genuinely feel the overwhelming concerns for us could be somewhere near the mark, we have had a good couple of years, unfortunately you get used to success and I can't imagine not fighting for Champions League, Europa League and the Premier League top table. Time will tell and I suppose the mantra in "Emery We Trust' will keep us all hoping his quality will see our success continue.

1.) 24 Aug 2026
24 Aug 2026 21:02:34
Dave, I saw a bit of the transfer showcase, an older bloke on there, didn't catch his name but he was raving about Villa and Emery. He was telling them off in a way, saying you just don't know and realise how good Emery is.

Then he went through the Emery whole CV; if I hadn't been a believer, he would have sold it to me. HaHa. Right, in what you're saying, get these Emery choices in, and injuries sorted, and away we go. UTV

2.) 24 Aug 2026
24 Aug 2026 21:54:23
This season was always going to be transitional. We knew we had to get rid of some of those players on big salaries, but I admit I didn’t envisage it to be as huge as it has turned out to be. Once September is here, and Unai Emery knows the players he has to work with, that will be when we get a clearer picture of where we are as a club. Personally, I think we will struggle to qualify for Europe this campaign, and that’s not because I don’t have faith in the manager, but because it’s unrealistic to throw 6-7 new players into a team in the toughest league in the world and expect them to hit the ground running straight away.

We might go deep in the cups, but I think we should look at this season as integrating the new players, so that in the next few years we can push on again and regularly compete for CL football.