Reviving sleeping giants (chapter 2): Aston Villa

[Linecoigne1998]

Just caught up! Well done on winning the Premier League.....a fantastic achievement in such a short space of time!! Looking forward to seeing continued success from here!

Cheers mate, have to say I wasn't expecting it so quickly but the board have given me ridiculous amounts of money to spend over the transfer windows I've had so that helped!

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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September 2022: need for a change?

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The Premier League dominates spending in Europe yet again, with the Bayern dominated Bundesliga coming in 2nd. I have to say, I never thought I'd see the day where ASTON VILLA would spend almost as much as Bayern Munich in a transfer window. I know we're the Premier League holders but still!

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Joe has been tremendous since his arrival last season and whilst he didn't play as a centre-back but as a right-back throughout his time here, he's still been very good and definitely deserves a new contract. How we got him last season from Liverpool for just £5 million I'll never know, but considering how they did in the league last year they might think they've made a massive mistake!

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Not the best start to September to be honest. Our curse of not getting good results against the teams that got promoted with us continues though, and it's just frustrating. Thank God Palmer was there to get us an equaliser so late on.

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Our first game in the Champions League went very well. We were playing against the weakest side in the group by quite a margin and we didn't disappoint. Good performances from Alli and Isak certainly gave us a change of pace from our abysmal start to the Premier League.

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I mean I know we played mid-week against Salzburg but come on!!! Another terrible performance, despite our dominance, sees us lose 3 points and drop down to 11th in the league. This is potentially the worst title defence I've ever seen so far...

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What we lack in the league we seem to be giving in cup competitions! The board doesn't care about the Carabao Cup but I do and I fielded a strong side against Bournemouth, who have always been a dangerous side. Fair to say it paid off! Amundsen's replacement, Gonçalo Guedes, has been nothing short of exceptional for (most) of his time here and I hope he will continue this great run of form. Our 4th round tie will see us play at home against West Brom, who we can get revenge against for that defeat in the league.

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Another disappointing result. I never expect much from a trip to Old Trafford to be honest, but I did want something from this game considering our form so far this season. Pogba's goal in the 15th minute proved to be the winner, unfortunately for us, as we lose yet again.

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Despite another dominant performance, our luck in cup competitions just didn't help us this time. Milan scored early on and it was enough for them to finish September as group leaders with 2 wins from 2 games, having won their first match against Marseille 5-0. I'm still confident for the rest of our group games, especially since I can see us getting a good result against Milan in our next game against them.

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Just 6 games in, and we're already down in 13th... Really not the title defence I was hoping for in the league but a few bad performances from the big clubs last season really gave us a chance to win the title last year and I'm beginning to think it might be the only reason we did win the league! As for the Champions League, it's too early to tell what will happen. We're in 2nd in the group but are about to face Marseille next month in what could be a decider for who goes through to the next round!

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Fulham and Arsenal are looking like our toughest games next month (in the Premier League that is). The one against Arsenal is at home though so we might be able to get something out of it. Our game against West Brom is an important one for me as I want to get revenge for that defeat in September and it would get us through to the next round of the Carabao Cup as well. Finally, our game against Marseille in the Champions League, at home, is one we HAVE to win. A good result then could secure our place in the next round of the Champions League for the 3rd season in a row which would be fantastic.

Villan of the Month:
View attachment 45267#8 Gonçalo Guedes
25 years old
Right midfielder/left winger
Portuguese

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After a more than average month for the club, there wasn't that many players to choose from for the award. Guedes has been by far our best player this season and this month was no different. His hat-trick against Bournemouth got us through to the next round, single-handedly, and he now has 5 goals and an assist in 10 games. Nowhere near Amundsen's form for us to be honest, but hopefully he'll get there.

 

[coolmcool]

I hate these kind of seasons! I had it with Truro where i thought i had a much stronger side after a good summer transfer window then struggle more than the season before, sometimes its such a small tweak to a player position or tactic and you it all just comes together, good luck KIU

 

[Linecoigne1998]

I hate these kind of seasons! I had it with Truro where i thought i had a much stronger side after a good summer transfer window then struggle more than the season before, sometimes its such a small tweak to a player position or tactic and you it all just comes together, good luck KIU

Cheers mate, I've had to make a tweak or two in the past before and it worked out perfectly so hopefully I find the right one for this season!

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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October 2022: back on track

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In arguably our toughest match of the month, we needed a good result to get some momentum back and we did just that. A fantastic 3-1 win at home against Arsenal puts us back on the right track to mount a bit of a comeback, thanks to Isak and Guedes who were just outstanding today.

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Guedes is our star man yet again as we claim a 3-0 win away from home against Stoke. It looks like we're finally picking up some form after a tough initial 2 months! Grealish was on the scoresheet, a rare feat for him nowadays since he's now getting benched more often than not and Abouchabaka, who we got on a free a couple of seasons ago, is finally starting to develop and becoming the player I knew he was when we signed him.

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As Marseille are the current Europa League holders, I was expecting a much tougher challenge than that but we smashed them! A very dominant performance sees us win 2-0 against the French side, ahead of the return games. Halfway through the group stage and it looks like we should be making it out to the next round!

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Just as we built up some form, we go and lose again. A very disappointing defeat against, as you can see, yet ANOTHER team that got promoted the same year as us that we go and lose to. This curse is a real thing, I'm telling you!

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A very, VERY late winner from Isak puts us through to the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup! He's not gotten into it yet our Swedish man, but that goal will surely boost his confidence! We've been put in the next round against Chelsea, who last won the competition in 2014/15 and were in the final last in 2017/18, so it's been a while since they've done well in this competition! Guardiola isn't doing the best of jobs at Chelsea right now, sitting in 11th in the league, so I think we definitely have a chance!

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How about that for Premier League drama! Yet another world-class performance from Guedes but also from Abouchabaka sees us win our 3rd game in the league this month, bringing us up to 9th place. It's still nowhere near where we should probably be as Premier League holders but still! A 93rd minute winner was the goal that got us 3 points and I'm ecstatic.

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Drawing against Wolves earlier this season doesn't seem so bad now that I can see they're 3rd in the league! What an incredible season for them. As for ourselves, we're sitting in 9th but will most likely go down to 10th once Tottenham play their game in hand. We're just 10 games in so have a long way to go before the end of the season, and we've gotten some decent results in the last month so hopefully it's a sign that we're turning things around and are going to be able to get back to the top 4, where we belong. As for the Champions League, nothing is confirmed yet. We're looking good with a 2-0 win against Marseille in our last game and a win against the French side in our next one would most likely secure our place in the next round of the Champions League.

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Southampton and Everton have been doing terribly in the league and I'm definitely hoping we'll take advantage of that. As for Liverpool, they're doing a lot better than they were last season and that could prove to be a problem so hopefully we can still get a decent result from the away trip. For the Champions League, 2 wins from our next 2 games would 100% confirm our place in the 1st knockout round but even a win just from the Marseille game should do the trick.

Villan of the Month:
View attachment 45083#8 Gonçalo Guedes
25 years old
Right midfielder/left winger
Portuguese

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It was very close between Elias Abouchabaka and Gonçalo to be honest, but I just had to give it to the latter considering his overall form throughout this season so far. He's really had a great season and his 3 goals and 3 assists in the 6 games he played in are a testament of that. Let's hope for some more great form from him in the future!

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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November 2022: bring on the new year, quick!

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This is not good news at all to be honest. Marseille have done really well to come back from their 5-0 thrashing against Milan and their defeat to us in the last matchday to win tonight. We needed a good result against the French side to secure a place in the next round but losing against them has given them a big chance to make it out of the group in 2nd.

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We desperately need 2023 to come around now. Like really desperately. Another defeat in the league, this time against Southampton, has really put the nail in the coffin for me. I just don't know what to do to get these players to perform again and selling Amundsen seems like the worst decision I've ever made now. We completely dominated this game but just couldn't get anywhere near close enough to score a goal.

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My request for improved youth facilities was accepted last season and after a year of expansion work, we finally have state of the art facilities! The club already had great ones when I arrived but I really do want to bring in players from the academy into the first team to do a good job and with Max Morris and Sebastian Ross being two of them who are playing every now and then this season, these state of the art facilities should allow us to bring in some incredible talent.

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An incredible performance from the lads, especially Grealish and Isak who made 2 assists and scored 2 goals respectively. It's not been a very easy season for us so far and it feels great to get wins against the top sides. I do wish we'd get these results against teams like West Brom and Southampton as well though...

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After an incredible 12-game run without scoring, our backup striker Laurent Giles has finally scored his first goal for the club! Grealish was one of the scorers in the game, as well as Abouchabaka who scored a brace. It was a great game overall but nothing less than expected as we smashed Salzburg 4-0. The bad news however is that Marseille won against Milan, meaning our last group stage match against the current group leaders Milan will decide if we finished in 2nd or 3rd in the group. No pressure!

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This is just sad. We get one amazing result, then we get a terrible one. This is obviously a terrible one and despite Giles' first Premier League goal just 3 minutes in, we couldn't hold on to the lead and it's just disappointing. Let's hope that we turn it around in December now as Guedes is back from injury as well...

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Our Premier League title defence goes from bad to worse as we sit in 11th. We desperately need a good month in December otherwise we could very well be saying goodbye to another Premier League title, and maybe even goodbye to Champions League football for next season! Speaking of the Champions League, only a win in our next game against Milan would put us through to the next round. Salzburg are Marseille's opponents and let's be real, Marseille will win the game. We have a better goal difference which is the only reason we're ahead right now so let's hope the players wake up for this game.

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We have a couple of games where we can easily get 3 points. There's 2 games specifically that I'm not feeling very confident about and that's the ones against Newcastle, Bournemouth and Manchester City. On top of that, we also have to worry about 2 very difficult away games against Milan in the Champions League and then Chelsea in the Carabao Cup. This could be either a fantastic month, or a horrendous one.

Villan of the Month:
View attachment 45018#10 Jack Grealish
27 years old
Left winger/right midfielder
English

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It's been a while since we've seen Jack get the Villan of the Month award but in Guedes' absence, he's been fantastic. I didn't play him against Southampton and despite 2 less than average performances against Marseille and Everton, he was fantastic in the other 2 games he played in which is why he wins the award. I don't know how much he'll play now that Guedes is back from his injury but hopefully he keeps giving his all for the club.

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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December 2022: way below expectations

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Our first game of the month saw us play against Brighton at home and another late goal from Abouchabaka brought us victory. To be fair, his goal didn't mean much as we would've won the game anyway but it really put it to bed to give us the 3 points. Let's keep this going now!

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For once we get fortunate with a draw! Our FA Cup 3rd round game will see us go up against Boreham Wood, who are definitely a side that we should be destroying so expect a lot of rotation in the side in that game. We're expected to get to the final of the FA Cup this season and with us performing way below expectations in all our other games, we desperately need good performances in the FA Cup.

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I would've thought that Milan would've done us a solid by giving us a win and allowing us to go through to the next round, but our bad season will go from bad to worse as we draw 0-0 with them and Marseille win 1-0 against Salzburg, putting us down in the Europa League for the future. A terrible campaign comes to a close despite such a promising start and the board will definitely not be happy about that. ****, I'M not happy about this at all. The other teams joining us from the Champions League down to the Europa League will be Dynamo Kyiv, Galatasaray, Manchester City, Palermo, Ajax, Real Sociedad, Manchester City and Anderlecht. I can only see one of these teams challenging us for the Europa League title to be honest, on top of the competition favourites like Arsenal, Leipzig, Tottenham, Napoli and Liverpool. A lot of English teams in there for sure.

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Our game against West Ham will be my 300th in charge of Villa. How time flies! It's been a **** of a journey so far and can become even better with the team we have here, the lads just need to find a way to play together well and when that happens, I'm sure we'll be back up in the top 2 challenging for the Premier League title again.

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Well, for once the occasion of a milestone for me didn't ruin the game! We get a deserved 2-1 win away at the London Stadium with a 1st minute goal from Isak and a 2nd half strike from Guedes as well. Keinan Davis was meeting us for the first time since his move to West Ham but didn't do anything against us, unfortunately for him but fortunately for us!

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Well, well, well. We get a Champions League opponent in our First Knockout round tie for the Europa League, but it's definitely one of the weaker ones and that's great news for us. The last time we were in the Europa League was in 2019/2020, following a 7th place finish in the 2018/19 Premier League season which put us in the competition's group stages. We had to face Krasnodar in the first knockout round and we beat them. The rest of course, was history. Literally, history. We won the whole thing. Let's hope we can turn this bad season around in 2022/23 with a Europa League win now shall we?

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We might not be doing well in the Premier League or not have done well in the Champions League, but at least we're smashing it in the Carabao Cup! A 3-0 win away at Stamford Bridge puts us through to the semi-final where we'll play Tottenham. Spurs aren't having the best of seasons themselves and this could be a huge opportunity at a trophy this season.

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Allstair Ferris is a really promising right-midfielder from Scotland who my scout found when looking around the UK for great youngsters. He played for Livingston up until now and some huge clubs were in for him but he chose Villa. Whilst I hate to admit it, Shaqiri isn't getting better with age and Grealish is just earning way too much for the amount that he plays as well, so both of them should be leaving the club soon and we need a replacement. This 18 year old is looking really good and the fact that so many big clubs wanted him makes me think that my scout was right in telling me to pick him up! He'll join on a free at the end of the season.

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Our form is really starting to get better in the league now. Our Champions League exit probably motivated the lads to start playing a bit better if we want to be in the competition next season to be honest, and Hughes made sure of that today. It was a tight game but we came out on top and hopefully we can carry on like this until the new year now.

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We went into this game against Bournemouth with our opponents sitting in 3rd. I'll take a 0-0 draw in that regard, even though it's definitely not the best result to get and not the one we deserved.

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As a Tottenham fan, I was very honoured to hear the news that Spurs were looking to me for their new manager. As flattering as it was however, it became heartbreaking since I had to turn down any rumours since the purpose of this story is to make Villa the best club in England again!

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Terrible news as Pickford is out injured for a over a month. He'll not only miss the rest of the month but also the start of next month, which isn't great news. Thankfully, we have Früchtl who needs plenty of game time to improve and reach his potential. As for Pau López, I've decided to sell him in the winter transfer window. It's definitely a shame to have to sell him, but he earns too much for his playing time and we can get a decent fee for him.

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Another great performance from the lads, especially Isak who finally decided to wake up! Let's keep this up now!

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We end 2022 with a 2-1 win over Newcastle. Our 91st minute goal from Guedes turned out to be a HUGE goal as Ayoub scored in the 93rd minute to make it 2-1 and we would've lost 2 points if it wasn't for our Portuguese winger.

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With a game in hand over Bournemouth and Fulham, it's looking very good. We've climbed up the table massively and a win in that game in hand would potentially put us in 6th, maybe higher up if the teams above us lose points as well. We're well and truly back in the race for European football next season and I hope that our amazing form throughout December now carries over and gets us back in the top 4 before it's too late!

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A tough month ahead with some big games against Chelsea and Manchester United. We have some easier games and some potential for revenge as well with a game against West Brom and Wolves. On top of that, we'll have to deal with our Carabao Cup semi-final tie against Tottenham and an FA Cup game against Boreham Wood. Overall, we should be able to do well but with our inconsistent form this season, you never know.

Villan of the Month:
View attachment 44939#19 Will Hughes
27 years old
Defensive midfielder
English

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Will technically played in 7 games and managed to score 3 goals, with two of them coming against City in a huge game for us. It's been a while since he won a Villan of the Month award and to be honest it's about time! I remember signing Will for £22 million 4 years ago and thinking "that's way too much money for a player like him right now to be honest" but I also thought that if he was a success, I'd look like the biggest genius in the Premier League. Well, there we are and he's one of the best midfielders in the league and has been for 124 games for us now. I have to say, if he continues like this, he might very well stay here for another 5 or 6 years or until he retires!

 

[danjames101]

Tough start to the season, gutting about the UCL too. You're turning it around though and after the start you've had i can def see you finishing top 3/4. Keep it up mate

 

[coolmcool]

Getting better results in the league after the Champions league knockout, not much between you and about 5 teams around the top their, i always think getting Champions League football and money is key beyond that whether your 4th or 1st you are only going to make the club better KIU

 

[Linecoigne1998]

Tough start to the season, gutting about the UCL too. You're turning it around though and after the start you've had i can def see you finishing top 3/4. Keep it up mate

Cheers mate, I was really annoyed about the CL especially because we made it out of groups with Inter and Atléti and Real Madrid and PSG before! Nevertheless, I'm pretty sure we're one of the favourites to win the Europa League now so if we do that'll be pretty good!

Getting better results in the league after the Champions league knockout, not much between you and about 5 teams around the top their, i always think getting Champions League football and money is key beyond that whether your 4th or 1st you are only going to make the club better KIU

Cheers mate, definitely want CL money as I always seem to be in the red for FFP in terms of wages lol. The club revenue clearly isn't big enough yet to match the huge wages I'm having to give players so they stay with us. The one negative about growing a little too fast I guess!

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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January 2023: still below expectations

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After a very decent month in December, I get the manager of the month and Hughes gets the player of the month. I think both those awards are definitely deserved and hopefully we can get more awards at the end of January!

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I decided to offload a lot of deadwood over the winter transfer window due to our high wage bill and overall just useless reserve players. Grealish was a great player for this club but he's just not good enough anymore, so I sent him off to Everton for £11 million. A very decent fee to get for him considering he's 27 and at his prime. He's just not good enough for the level we're playing at to be honest. After 227 games for Villa, we say goodbye to our best academy player for some time.

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Our first game of the month and 2023 was against Chelsea and boy is this one we'll want to forget. After a great run in December, I was feeling confident for this game against the Blues but it turned out to be a terrible game. They countered us perfectly and fair play to Guardiola, he got his tactics spot on.

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Kasey hasn't played much this season or the last, since Dele's arrival to be honest, but he gets a new contract as his was expiring at the end of the season. He's a good backup player to have and he has a lot of quality so it's good to be able to keep him here for another 3 years.

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I rotated most of the team for this game and despite a very dominant performance, it was very close. They did score in the 92nd minute but I was worried there for the last few seconds of the game for sure. We'll be facing Chelsea in the next round, which isn't good news considering they just smashed us 4-0 in the league...

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Trippier is leaving for sunny Spain after his whole career was spent in England and the last 2 and a half years with us. He was great for the club, but ultimately was getting too old for the team and for his wage as well. As for Pau López, he just came back from his 3 month injury and overall just never performed for us so with Früchtl now our backup keeper, I decided to sell him to make the most amount back and we managed to get back £10.5 million, exactly what we paid for him. It's a shame to see these two lads go but I just need to get rid of the deadwood at the club.

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A huge result for us in the first leg of this semi-final. Früchtl was outstanding and saved a penalty in the 3rd minute to allow us to keep our 1-0 lead and we eventually won the game 3-0, putting us in a great position for the second leg later this month. We've also broken a Carabao Cup record by staying unbeaten for 13 games in a row now, which is fantastic!

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We repeat our 3-1 success from August 2022 against Swansea to continue climbing up the table. Barella has been superb so far this month and I'm certainly hoping he'll keep delivering good performances now.

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We lost 2-1 to West Brom at their own ground back in September. Now in January, we finally got some momentum and smashed them 6-2. I'm disappointed in terms of our defending since we allowed them to have 8 opportunities and score 2 goals but if we can outscore opponents like we did today, then maybe it's not such a big deal after all! After a slow start to the season, Isak is finally starting to score more regularly now.

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Perhaps 2 very controversial departures. I'm heartbroken by Maresic's departure for sure, but it was the right decision. Both Dario and Ben wanted to leave since they weren't getting game time anymore, and we got two good offers for them that I couldn't turn down. I wish Dario the best at Liverpool and after 205 games at the club, he will definitely be forever remembered as one of the pillars of this new-look Villa side. As for Davies, he was a great player who took us to the next level but Tierney and youth prospect Max Morris have both performed really well lately and deserve their place ahead of him. One of the main reasons for these departures were of course the wages as well. Maresic was getting paid £100,000 a week here, which is frankly ridiculous. He wasn't playing much anymore and to show you how ridiculous that wage is, how about the fact that he's now at Liverpool and getting paid £88,000 a week?! He's in a club with much better financial resources yet getting paid less. All these departures do give us a nice £60 million budget to bring a player in this window if we want to!

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A really disappointing draw in a game we should have won for sure. Wolves frustrated us and got their equaliser right after the break which was just annoying and unfortunately, we couldn't make our chances count. It's a point regardless but it is definitely annoying to lose out on 2 points like that.

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Josh came through the Stoke academy when he was just 15 years old back in 2018. He wasn't deemed good enough there and got a contract with Swansea the year after and has since then played a total of 32 professional games with Swansea and Reading on loan as well. He looks like a terrific centre-back for the future and with Maresic now gone, he's the perfect replacement. English, tall and strong, and very promising as well. On top of that, he's only getting paid £22,000 a week right now which is a big bonus. I can see Josh becoming one of the best in his position if he plays regularly and with Maguire getting older every year, that might happen sooner than you think!

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A 1-0 defeat is tough to take at the New White Hart Lane but we go through with a 3-1 aggregate victory, thanks to our incredible performance at Villa Park earlier this month. We'll be facing Manchester City in the final, who were last in the final in 2018/19 and they won the whole thing then. No pressure! The last time we won the Carabao Cup, it was in 2020/2021 and it was for the second year in a row so let's hope we can make that 3 Carabao Cups in the last 4 years!

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As well as things were going in the Carabao Cup, we unfortunately couldn't replicate that success in the FA Cup as we get knocked out by Eden Hazard FC. It was a terrific performance from the Belgian and fair play to him, he's a world-class player who we couldn't do anything against. It's a shame to be out especially because the board expected more from us but we have to keep our heads up now and go again!

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We finish our month off with a 0-0 draw against Manchester United, which isn't a bad result at all considering it puts us in 6th in the league with a game in hand and United are the current Premier League leaders! Pogba was very good as well, but we did well to contain him and the rest of the United players to earn the draw.

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Turns out we were the biggest spenders this transfer window, despite spending the £33.5 million on just one player! Hope is a fantastic prospect so I'm not too worried about the amount we paid for him as I believe it'll be a bargain once he grows to his potential. We also had a lot of outgoing players so it was fine to spend half of the money we made on one player.

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With a game in hand over Chelsea and Fulham, a win in said game in hand would put us in 5th. We would still be just shy of top 4 but after that horrendous start to the season, I'm incredibly happy to be where we are right now. Hopefully we can continue this good run of form now and not get distracted by other competitions and do well in the Premier League which is, of course, the main priority for this club!

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A big month ahead of us in February sees us play Arsenal as our toughest Premier League game of the month, then Tottenham and Stoke who we can definitely get results against. We also will have to worry about our Dynamo Kyiv tie in the Europa League as the board expects us to get to the semi-final of that competition now that we're here. We're starting off away from home and that's always given us luck so hopefully we can keep it that way. We will also have to play City in the Carabao Cup for a chance of a 3rd title in 4 years. It would be fantastic!

Villan of the Month:
View attachment 44718#9 Alexander Isak
23 years old
Striker
Swedish

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With 6 goals in 9 games this month, Isak definitely deserves the Villan of the Month. He had a tough time earlier this season and to be honest, our other striker has scored just 2 goals in over 20 games so we're clearly in need of a top striker or at least some better form up front. Isak now has 18 goals in 36 games in all competitions this season which is still an incredible record, and also has 41 goals in 58 league games since he arrived last season which is a great record as well. Let's hope it continues!

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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February 2023: turning it around?

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Our first game was a big one against Arsenal, who have been really good this season. Considering we went 2-0 down inside 20 minutes and were away from home, I'll absolutely take a 2-2 draw! Origi continues his good season as he just about edges past Isak for the top goalscorer in the Premier League.

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Another amazing victory against Tottenham, this time in the league. Hughes was fantastic and Dele Alli finally scored for the first time in what feels like forever.

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We end our league campaign for the month on a great result against Stoke. Yes they're bottom of the league but they're a dangerous side and we dealt with them perfectly.

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What a first leg! We were huge favourites of course but to win 3-0 away from home for a European tie is a great achievement. Cook was playing ahead of Barella and it turned out to be a great decision as he got the first goal of the game. This was of course an interesting game for us as well since we were facing Frenkie, who we sold about a year and a half ago. He's been really good in Kyiv but just couldn't do anything against us today.

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A 1-0 win at home puts us through to the 2nd knockout round with a 4-0 aggregate scoreline. I can't say Dynamo Kyiv really caused us any problems to be honest and the next tie against Lyon will undoubtedly be harder. I'm excited though, it should be a great challenge and to become the Europa League champions, we'll definitely have to play against some big teams so we might as well start now!

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In an incredible run which saw us beat Tottenham, Chelsea, West Brom and Bournemouth to get to the final, we've just won the club's 8th Carabao Cup and my 3rd at the hands of Manchester City. What an incredible journey this has been and it feels so good to win some silverware after a really average season so far. This also now means I just need to win 2 Carabao Cups to get those ticked off the list of titles to win to bring Villa back to their historic best.

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The Premier League is looking a lot better than it was a couple months ago. With a game in hand and just 2 points behind Liverpool, we could move up to 5th by winning that game in hand. I think we can definitely clinch top 4 if we get some decent results against the big teams in our last 10 games of the season, as Arsenal would just be a point away after winning that game in hand and so would be Chelsea, who have a worse goal difference than us.

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Our Europa League tie against Lyon remains the highlight of next month, whilst we'll also need to travel to Leicester and Southampton for Premier League games against their respective teams. The game I'm worried about is Fulham since we always seem to struggle against them and also they're right behind us in the league! It could really be a tough month now thinking about it.

Villan of the Month:
View attachment 44616#21 Alessio Romagnoli
28 years old
Centre-back
Italian

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Alessio has been an absolute rock at the back alongside Maguire since his arrival. With an average rating of 7.41 from 42 games, he really is looking like a terrific player and to think we got him on a free last summer is unbelievable to me. He had a really good month in February as well, with just one below-par performance against Dynamo Kyiv in our second leg game but other than that, he was terrific and got the man of the match in our Carabao Cup final as well, which grants him his first Villan of the Month award.

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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March 2023: a top 4 finish after all?

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Fulham was the game I was most worried about for this month in the league, but maybe Leicester should've been the game where we tried hard! We went ahead after just 8 minutes but couldn't hold on to our lead and will have to share the points with the former Premier League champions. It really is a shame to lose out on 2 points like that when we're looking for the top 4.

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Finally a win against Fulham! I don't know how we spent so long struggling against them every single year but we finally get a good result against them. Joe scored the opener and what proved to be the winner in the 25th minute in what was a very dominant performance which allows us to stay in 5th, putting pressure on Arsenal and Chelsea.

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As you probably know by now, I love pre-contracts and being able to ****** players up on free transfers that way. With Shaqiri looking older and older and weaker as a result, I really wanted a player who could come in and do a job. We do have Alistair Ferris who's only coming in on a free later this season of course, but he doesn't quite have the quality that Andrei has already. He's been one of their top performers for the last 3 seasons he's played there from the age of 16, and has some incredible stats. On top of that, he was being scouted by the likes of Chelsea, Barcelona and Real Madrid so he's obviously a player to look out for! I just hope this doesn't turn into the Amundsen saga again where we get him on a free, keep him for about a year then have to let him go because he's not happy at the club...

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Our first leg of this European tie was at home for once, which usually doesn't ever help us but we grab a fantastic 4-1 win against Lyon. Just as I'm signing players to replace Shaqiri as well, he decides to turn up and have one of his best performances of the season so far... Conceding that away goal is definitely not a positive to take away from the game but we go into the second leg with a 3-goal advantage.

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Southampton were really decent in this game, so much so that I really thought we wouldn't go on and win it but Guedes made sure of that by scoring in the 64th minute to get us 3 points. We do lose Barella for the next 2-3 weeks though which is a big loss, especially ahead of our Lyon return leg in the Europa League. Thankfully, Sebastian Ross can play backup to Lewis Cook who will take Nicolò's place in the team for the time being.

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We're through! That 4-1 result in the first leg turned out to be crucial as we lost 1-0 in the second leg. Nevertheless, it's enough to put us in the quarter-final of the Europa League, aka a round under where the board wants us to finish in the competition. We'll be facing Leipzig, who we had to face in our Europa League final in 2019/2020, which we of course historically won after extra-time! It'll be a very interesting tie for sure, especially since they've not done very well in the Europa League and Bundesliga in the last few seasons to their standards.

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The top 4 dream might very well be alive still as a couple of decent results this month put us in 4th, 6 points behind Arsenal but level on points with Chelsea! Of course, winning the Europa League would put us in the Champions League for next season so a top 4 finish might not be required then, but the board wants us to get there and we'll work hard to do so.

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April is looking very, very busy. In fact, it's our busiest month since December when we played a total of 8 games, so the same amount as next month! Some big games in the league against Everton, Liverpool and City will be key to a top 4 finish if we are to get one, whilst we'll also have to worry about Leipzig in the Europa League...

Villan of the Month:
View attachment 44565#8 Gonçalo Guedes
26 years old
Left winger/right midfielder
Portuguese

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​

The award this month was between Shaqiri, Guedes and Romagnoli but overall I felt that Gonçalo was more consistent and just more performant than the other two. He scored 2 goals and made an assist so didn't make the most amazing of contributions but when you take into account that this takes his tally to 18 goals and 10 assists in 46 games this season, it really does look more impressive. It's nowhere near what Amundsen was capable of but I'm confident that Gonçalo will reach his level soon enough.

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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April 2023: a 2nd European title in 4 years?

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A fantastic first game in April sees us coast past Everton as we beat them 3-0, thanks to a brace from Isak inside the first 10 minutes. If this an indication of how we're going to perform for the rest of the month, then I'm very pleased!

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Another clean sheet against the other Merseyside team in the league. We had a decent game and dominated most of the match but just couldn't find the back of the net despite that dominance. We'll go again in the next few games as we look for a top 4 spot at the end of the season of course. It was nice to see Dario again, even though he's clearly not had the best time at Liverpool yet. He's started in 13 games since his departure from the club but has only gotten a 6.62 average rating, nowhere near the form he was in for us before he left.

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Another disappointing result right after our Liverpool draw. Against Brighton, I expected a lot better than that to be honest but I guess we just couldn't find the back or the net, AGAIN, and will have to settle for a point. I'm just praying that this doesn't come back to bite us if all we needed for the top 4 at the end of the season was a point...

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Things are looking great in the Europa League so far and this 3-1 win away from home in Leipzig will definitely help make the campaign even better! Guedes scored 2 crucial away goals in the second half as Isak scored the 3rd to give us a huge chance of making it through to the Europa League semi-final.

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Another man of the match performance from Guedes, despite not scoring any goals in this match. We absolutely deserved a win tonight and despite it being a narrow one, it's a win regardless so I'm happy. I'm also really glad to see players like Abouchabaka come off the bench and do well for us.

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We're through!!! After a fantastic defensive performance from us in this second leg, we managed to grab another goal to make it 4-1 on aggregate and go through to the semi-final, where we'll face Borussia Mönchengladbach. I have to say, I certainly wasn't expecting them to be where they are right now, especially considering they were playing against Tottenham in the quarter-final but yet there they are. Another tough German team to beat if we are to make to the Europa League final, where we would face either Ajax or Manchester City. We did receive a big blow though as Joe Gomez got a fractured arm but he should be able to play through his injury which is great news.

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What a result!!! City have been one of the best teams in the league by far this season and we've had to face them multiple times in high pressure situations but we got the better of them yet again! A huge 2-1 win away from home sees us, temporarily, overtake Chelsea to go up to 4th. Losing Isak for the next 2-3 weeks is a huge loss to the team, but it looks like Giles may finally be up to the task of replacing our Swedish striker. He'd scored 2 goals in 34 games until now but looks like he's finally deciding to step up.

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Another smashing performance from the lads as we put 4 past Bournemouth to put more pressure on Chelsea in 4th. A huge performance from Giles to make up for Isak's absence was just what we needed and he scores his first hat-trick for the club; let's hope it's the first of many! This was a great way to end a tough, busy month as we now look ahead to an even tougher month in May!

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With just 2 games left this season, it looks like we'll secure a top 5 finish at least. We're just 4 points away from City in 2nd, and a point away from Arsenal in 3rd and Chelsea in 4th. I said I was hoping that we wouldn't finish in 5th at the end of the season just a point or two away from the top 4 as it would absolutely come down to our numerous draws (specifically the more recent one against Brighton) and it looks like it might come back to bite us.

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Tottenham have had a horrendous season and will look to get as many points as they can from their last 2 games. Watford have done quite well but have a horrible goal difference, which we can absolutely exploit in our game against them. Manchester City face West Ham and Tottenham in their last 2 games, Arsenal face Wolves and Everton and Chelsea face Southampton and Brighton. Overall, I would say Chelsea and us have the best chance of getting maximum points from our next 2 games but it'll be interesting to see how our Europa League semi-final tie affects those potential points in the league.

Villan of the Month:
View attachment 44482#8 Gonçalo Guedes
26 years old
Left winger/right midfielder
Portuguese

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Another great set of performances from Gonçalo see him get the Villan of the Month award for the second month in a row, taking him to God knows how many Villan of the Month awards for the season! He's been by far our best player this season and his 2 goals and 2 assists this month take his tally to 20 goals and 12 assists in 54 games this season. Amundsen, for comparison, has 14 goals and 22 assists in 50 games for Monaco this season so a 36 goal contribution while Guedes is "only" at a 32 goal contribution. He's almost there our next Ronaldo!

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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May 2023: one last chance

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I have to say, I absolutely underestimated Gladbach going into this game. I knew they were a good side of course, since they're in the Europa League semi-final, but I didn't think they would be as good as they were tonight. Despite their great efforts, we come away 2-1 winners away from home putting us in a really good place for the second leg at Villa Park next week. As for right now, Ajax are leading 1-0 after their 92nd minute winner at home against City.

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A fantastic result which puts us in 4th place after Arsenal drew with Wolves in their 37th Premier League game. Romagnoli was by far the best player on the pitch and I was so glad to see him score yet another goal this season. However, I was really sad to hear about the physios' examination results of Harry after the game. He'll be out until the start of next season which is just a huge shame and I just really hope that when he gets back to training, he'll be just as good as he's been in the last few seasons with us.

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It won't be an all-English final as Ajax manage to lose 2-1 at the Etihad, putting them through to the Europa League final for the first time since 2016/17, when they lost to Manchester United. Can we replicate the Red Devils' success against the Dutch side? Hopefully! An amazing win against Gladbach did the job for us with Dele scoring his 10th and 11th goals of the season. In the Champions League, it'll be an all English final as Manchester United will face Chelsea; the first time two English sides will face each other in the Champions League final since 2007/08!

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A horrendous way to end a great comeback after a bad start to our season. Ultimately, we lost to Watford tonight though and didn't take our chances against teams like Brighton which is going to see us finish in 5th in the Premier League, just behind Arsenal. They won their last game of the season against Everton which means they'll be getting Champions League football. You know what this means now; a win in the Europa League final would help us achieve our objective of qualifying for Champions League football. Only that. Let's now pray we can do it!

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It came down to just 2 points and a couple goals. As of right now, we'd be back in the Europa League next season. This really feels like a defeat and to be honest, it shouldn't! This club is only getting better and better but after winning the Premier League last season and doing so well in the Champions League at the first time of asking getting to a semi-final, it just feels like we're not improving anymore. I can only hope that the lads are motivated for this European final, that we get back in the Champions League and that the board trusts me enough for next season with a big budget to make some big moves and get back to the top 3 maybe even top 2 in the Premier League!

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We've done it!!! Romagnoli gets the man of the match despite Joe Gomez, the apparently injured man, scoring the winner just half an hour into the game! I feel bad for Ajax, they gave everything to win against City in the last round and did so well against us but at the end of the day, we were the better team and we're destined to be in the Champions League so no way were we going to let them take that away from us! Despite a disappointing season in the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, it feels so incredible to win the Europa League for the second time in my career and I'm just so incredibly happy for these lads.

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This just goes to show how well we played this season in the Europa League. Isak, Shaqiri and Romagnoli joined the competition just in the 1st knockout round and still ended up in the Team of the Tournament which is just amazing. Xherdan, despite being 31 years old, wins the Player of the Tournament as well. This isn't making my decision to sell him any easier...

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It's been a somewhat disappointing season for us, absolutely, but winning the Europa League was huge and I'm really glad that it saved our season. Just when the comparisons between Guedes and Amundsen were getting more and more boring by the way, Guedes breaks a record set by Amundsen last season! Gonçalo was fantastic all season to be fair, and I'm glad to see him do well. Isak scoring "just" 26 goals in 58 games is a little disappointing considering he scored 36 in 50 last season but considering our overall bad season, it's still really decent. Shaqiri also ends as the player with most assists at 31 years old which is incredible. Früchtl played an impressive 30 games despite not even being our first choice keeper and managed to keep 10 clean sheets, which isn't too bad for his first season here and actually earned him the signing of the season. To compare, Pickford, who's now 29, also played 30 games and kept 16 clean sheets. Früchtl really isn't far off Jordan's level!

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Our financial overview came in later in May as well and it was really interesting to me to see that Dele's shirt was the most bought by fans! He's been an important player for sure, but I would've through that Xherdan or Alexander would have the most shirt sales. To be fair, they are just after Hughes in that list so are still doing well enough. Our overall revenue is getting better and better now and because of that, the board have given me a huge budget for next season!

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They've given me about £75 million in total to spend over the summer. It's of course nowhere near the £300 or so million that Chelsea can spend for example, but we're obviously not at that level yet. Now that I'm thinking about it, we had about £30 million saved up from the winter transfer window this year in the bank so the board have actually given me just £45 million extra to spend. I can't complain, we really didn't meet their expectations last season and it's only fair enough that I get a little less money as a result since they'll want me to prove myself next season. Speaking of next season, this is the end of season 6 now. Season 7 is the next update with our pre-season, any new signings and of course any potential departures as well!

Challenge	What is it?	Completed?
Brexit (kind of) means Brexit	Can only sign a maximum of 2 players not from the UK per season (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) -UNLESS A NON-UK PLAYER IN THE TEAM IS SOLD, THEN AN ADDITIONAL SPOT FOR A NON-UK PLAYER FREES UP	Yes 2017/18 2018/19 2019/2020 2020/2021 2021/2022 2022/2023
Ah millennials...	At least 5 players from the academy or U-21 must play at least 10 games each every season	Yes 2017/18 2018/19 2019/2020 2020/2021 2021/2022 2022/2023
The good old days	Win every trophy that Aston Villa has won in their history (lower league trophies like the Championship or League 1 can be disregarded once we make it to the Premier League)	No Carabao Cup (2020, 2021, 2023, 2 more to go) FA Cup (2020, 2022, 5 more to go) Premier League (2022, 6 more to go) Europa League (2020, 2023, not needed) Sky Bet Championship (2018, can disregard) UEFA Super Cup (2020, completed!) Community Shield (2020, completed!)

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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2023/24 pre-season, new signings and departures

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As you can see, I got a little excited about our pre-season and completely forgot to screenshot the fixtures before the PSG game! Pre-season this year is the same as always, 4 games throughout July and then any Super Cups we would be a part of. This season, we have 4 games against PSG, Toulouse, Torquay United and Guangzhou. Other than PSG, some pretty easy opposition which shoudl get our confidence going before the big Manchester United game.

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Two of our best players got new contracts at the end of last season. Joe and Lewis have been really impressive since they arrived at the club and to be able to extent their contracts by 5 years and 4 years respectively is great news.

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Our new signing Ferris, who came on a free this summer, is going out on loan to Championship side Huddersfield. I can't see him playing in the first team right now to be honest and playing regularly at Huddersfield should give him some much needed experience at the top level.

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In other news, Hope is looking like a bit of a gem! England went and lost in the U20 World Cup in the final to Germany, but Hope got the best player of the tournament award! Incredible stuff from him, hopefully he can make these kinds of performances with us throughout the upcoming season!

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What a way to start our season! United were really good today but we came out on top and win the UEFA Super Cup for the second time since I arrived at this club and for the second time after winning the Europa League as well! This should really give the players a boost in confidence for the season ahead now.

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The big shock and what really made me sad was transfer deadline day. Following the end of pre-season, it looked like the team who played in it was the team who I was going to take into this new upcoming season but Xherdan felt he wanted a new challenge. After 4 years at the club, 124 games played and 21 goals scored, he leaves for Everton for just £15 million. As a 31-year old, you could say we got a deal but Xherdan was a really important player for us and it's a shame to be saying goodbye. On the bright side, this takes our budget to about £90 million now to find a replacement.

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Well how about that for a replacement! As sad as all the fans were when Xherdan left, they were also incredibly happy to see us announce Marco at the club. He was on the transfer-list at PSG after some interest from his former club Real Madrid, but for some reason accepted to take a £100,000 a week pay-cut to join us instead! Maybe it's because we just won a European title, I guess I'll never know but I'm so happy to have him at the club for the next 4 years at least.

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5 games in our pre-season, 5 wins and just 3 goals conceded with 14 goals scored. I think we had a great time during pre-season and I'm now hoping that the addition of Asensio to the side will bring the team up even more! Let's make this a Premier League to remember as well and try to win the league again shall we?

Villan of the pre-season:
View attachment 44332#10 Andrei Dumitriu
20 years old
Left winger
Romanian

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Dumitriu was outstanding for his first few games for us. In his very first official game for Villa, he went and scored the winner against Manchester United in the 117th minute which is just incredible. He also did well in the friendlies he played in considering he played about an hour in each so well done to him, let's hope he's not too affected by Asensio's arrival now!

Challenge	What is it?	Completed?
Brexit (kind of) means Brexit	Can only sign a maximum of 2 players not from the UK per season (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) -UNLESS A NON-UK PLAYER IN THE TEAM IS SOLD, THEN AN ADDITIONAL SPOT FOR A NON-UK PLAYER FREES UP	Yes 2017/18 2018/19 2019/2020 2020/2021 2021/2022 2022/2023
Ah millennials...	At least 5 players from the academy or U-21 must play at least 10 games each every season	Yes 2017/18 2018/19 2019/2020 2020/2021 2021/2022 2022/2023
The good old days	Win every trophy that Aston Villa has won in their history (lower league trophies like the Championship or League 1 can be disregarded once we make it to the Premier League)	No Carabao Cup (2020, 2021, 2023, 2 more to go) FA Cup (2020, 2022, 5 more to go) Premier League (2022, 6 more to go) Europa League (2020*, 2023*) Sky Bet Championship (2018*) UEFA Super Cup (2020, 2023*, completed!) Community Shield (2020, completed!) * = not needed

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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August 2023: bringing back old memories

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Our deadline day signing of Asensio for £70 million isn't much compared to the £916 million spent in the Premier League this season but it's something anyway. Chelsea are still the top spenders after splashing £100 million on de Ligt of Bayern, making him the most expensive Dutch player of all time. Some big money moves from Manchester United as well aren't making our goal of winning the Premier League any easier! Yes because that's something I didn't show you, but in the contract negotiations for Asensio he wanted some assurances and one of those was that we would win the Premier League. It is for next season but I'm still really worried that without a budget like United's or Chelsea's of £200 or so million every summer, we might never rival with those teams again for the title like we did 2 years ago.

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After a group stage exit in the Champions League last season, the board now wants me to reach the quarter-final of the competition. No pressure... We have to finish in the top 4 in the league again, which should be achievable if we get a good start to our league campaign. The Carabao Cup is, like always, not considering important while they want us to reach the semi-final of the FA Cup. I definitely think we could reach all these expectations with this side but our £14 million leftover from the window should come in handy should I make some additions to the team in January 2024.

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Our first Premier League game of the season proved to be a little more difficult than we anticipated but we got the job done. A 4-2 win over newly-promoted Reading sees us get off to a great start, with Guedes and Isak both playing incredibly well in this first game. Let it be a sign of things to come!

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Now THAT'S how you assert yourself as a title contender! A fantastic 2-0 win at Old Trafford sees us temporarily go top of the league ahead of Liverpool's game against Reading later today. We've already lost 3 of our best players in the space of a week and with the Arsenal game coming up in less than a week, we're going to need to play really well against the Gunners to get anything out of the game. Positive so far is that Isak is performing incredibly well!

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Our first domestic cup matchup will be against West Ham, who have had a pretty decent start to their season! The Carabao Cup is technically not important to the board, but I want to still do well in it since I want to win another 2 times to have won in my time at the club as many Carabao Cups as the club has in its history. West Ham will be a tough opponent, especially at the London Stadium.

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Well would you look at that! It's a group made up of opponents we've all faced in European competitions before! Real Madrid were in our group back in 2020/2021 of course, Marseille knocked us out of the Champions League last season and we faced Dynamo Kyiv in the Europa League last season as well. This should be a really, really interesting group to be honest and I can't wait for it to start.

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Our good form in August wins me the Premier League manager of the month after some big wins against Reading and Manchester United, the latter being the most impressive of course.

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The win against Reading doesn't seem so impressive now that I see them at the bottom of the table but we still played really well then. It's just 2 games in so this table means nothing but to see Arsenal and United so far down makes me think that just like 2 years ago, if we have 2 big teams messing up their season we could definitely go and win the title if we work hard!

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Our next game is against Arsenal in just a couple of days and we'll then get the international break. Our first game in the Champions League will be against Real Madrid at Villa Park so it'll be a huge opportunity to get some points off the bat. All our Premier League games this month look like tough ones and I just hope we can get as many points as possible to continue this good start to the season.

Villan of the Month:
View attachment 44296#9 Alexander Isak
23 years old
Striker
Swedish

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With 2 goals and 2 assists in 2 games (3G and 3A in 3 games if you count UEFA Super Cup), Isak absolutely deserves the Villan of the Month award for August. It's great to see him back at his best and I'm hoping he'll keep this up now to get back to the level he had in his first season in the Premier League for us. A big month coming up, let's definitely hope he'll score some crucial goals then!

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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September 2023: my second Premier League title?

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After an incredible result against United in our last league game, we just showed once again against Arsenal why we should definitely be taken seriously for the title this season. It's been a great start to the season as a club and Isak has individually been incredible as well.

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Bournemouth have always been tough to beat and today was no different. We beat them on the same scoreline as Arsenal but it was a lot closer than the Arsenal match so congratulations to them, despite the result. We lose two big players in Isak and Alli for the next 2 weeks which means we'll be without them for our Champions League opener against Real Madrid, which is a huge shame.

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Barella continues his amazing form this month with a stellar performance against one of the best teams in Europe. Two goals from him and two goals from Giles, who's replacing Isak for the next 2 weeks, get us a 4-2 win to put us top of our group after a game. A great way to start our Champions League campaign.

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Dumitriu was starting his Premier League game of the season and how about that for a first start! 2 goals and a clean sheet get us a 3-0 win against Leicester to continue our good form so far this season. I'm hoping we can keep this up now and maybe win our second Premier League title under my management come the end of the season.

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Giles is definitely starting to impose himself as a top striker now with these performances! It might only be 5 goals in 2 games but 3 are against West Ham and 2 against Real Madrid so clearly not bad opponents. It feels good to get through to the next round now and I hope we can go even further in this competition to win it again.

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We couldn't win our last game of the month but it was against Chelsea who are a great side. A point is still really decent at Stamford Bridge and we won that point thanks to Dele who equalised soon after their opener but also because of our great defensive performance, particularly Romagnoli. I still can't believe we got him on a free last summer!

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We're 6 games in and things are looking great in the league so far. United and Arsenal have gotten back into it a little bit and are now a lot higher up the table so we'll need to keep our form to put ourselves in a good position for the title or a top 4 finish at least. As for the Champions League, we're only one game in and we're top of the group. Kyiv won against Marseille as well so arguably the two best teams in the group have had the worst start so far which is great for us.

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Liverpool and Everton should be interesting matches. Fulham at home should be a win but every season I say that and we end up drawing or losing! If we do win, then this year might really look like our year. For the Champions League, two good results against Marseille and Kyiv will definitely make us favourites to win the group or at least qualify out of it.

Villan of the Month:
View attachment 43958#11 Nicolò Barella
26 years old
Defensive midfielder
Italian

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It's been a while since Nicolò has been mentioned for a Villan of the Month award but he deserved it this month. He missed out on the Arsenal game and came back for the Bournemouth one by scoring the winner in the 94th minute. He also played really well against Real to really make himself the favourite for the award. He's now played 178 league games for the club since his arrival in the 2018/19 season. What a player he's been since!

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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October 2023: a good year in the Champions League?

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Dumitriu played ahead of Alli for 2 games this month as the latter was injured and did really well. It's always nice to see new signings doing well and Andrei is no different. He's got a big future ahead of him and while he might not start every game yet due to the competition in the team, he'll do that soon enough I'm sure!

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Barella and Isak scored two wonder goals this month which was great to see. I can't remember the last time we won a goal of the month award so to see Nicolò get it after so long since his last Villan of the Month award as well is great.

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We definitely can't get complacent but this is a huge result for us. A 3rd minute goal put us on our way to a 3-1 win away from home in France against the side who knocked us out of the Champions League last season. A win against Kyiv in our next group stage game could very much put us through to the next round since we'll have won against all 3 of our opponents!

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What a result again! Isak was the star man once again as he scored 2 to take his tally to 10 goals in 10 games this season in all competitions. Asensio also scored his first goal in a Villa shirt and what a time to score it! A great 4-1 win away at Anfield leaves us in 1st place after almost 10 games in the league. Great stuff! It is a huge shame to lose Barella and Isak to injury for at least a month each though...

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We couldn't beat one of the Merseyside teams unfortunately. Everton have always played well against us and today was no different despite Giles' early goal. I'll definitely take a point from a difficult away game though as we now have to focus on the Champions League.

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Kyiv's days of beating Marseille are long behind them now as they lost 8-0 to Real Madrid in their last game and now lose 2-0 to us. With 3 wins from our first 3 games, we're looking great for topping the group but yet another injury will make that a little more difficult. Hughes scored his 2nd goal of the season while Giles, playing instead of Isak who's injured, scored his 7th goal in 7 games this season. He's had a great start to the season (thanks to Isak's injuries to be honest) and I hope he'll keep this form up all year!

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A great win in our much-dreaded match against Fulham. It was a really close one once again (not statistically though) and only a goal from Joe from the right-back position was enough to give us 3 points and stay top of the Premier League.

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With 9 games gone in the league, we're looking great. We're only 3 points clear of Manchester United but it's still a lead and I'm really happy with our performances so far this season. As for the Champions League, 3 wins from our first 3 games makes us favourite to finish top of the group but Real Madrid are catching on and will definitely want to finish top of the group by beating us at the Bernabeu later in the campaign.

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Swansea, Crystal Palace and Burnley in the league should be 9 points taken from those games. Our next two Champions League games will be crucial ones as a win against Kyiv would put us through to the next round and a win or a draw against Real Madrid would make us top the group for sure ahead of our last group game against Marseille. As for Brentford, we won't be complacent but we've faced them 4 times since I arrived at the club and we've not lost one, so let's hope we can keep that streak going.

Villan of the Month:
View attachment 43909#8 Gonçalo Guedes
26 years old
Right midfielder
Portguese

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Gonçalo had 2 pretty average games out of 5 played this month, but the other 3 were really good performances from him which is why he gets the Villan of the Month award. His 3 assists against Liverpool were key to a huge victory and I'm really happy to see him perform this well even after Asensio's arrival, which took a bit of the spotlight away from Guedes.

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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November 2023: clean sheets and disappointment

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This was a huge surprise to me to be honest. Credit to Brentford, they played really well but we just should've done better in the end. The Carabao Cup isn't that important so it's not such a big deal but I'm just not very happy with our performance. Let's hope we make up for it in the Champions League and Premier League...

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Palmer was playing today due to the many injuries in the squad and he didn't disappoint! A great 2-0 away at home against Swansea means we continue our good run of form and stay in 1st place in the league!

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A great away win and a great performance from Dumitriu means we're out of the group! After last year's Champions League disappointment, it really feels great to say that.

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Another clean sheet and another victory to add to our schedule for this season! Steven's injury for the next 2 weeks is a bit annoying as he wanted more playing time and I was more than happy to give it to him so it's a shame to be losing him. Isak might be feeling a little worried in the reserves due to his injury right now with Giles performing so well!

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Another decent win for us, despite this one being a lot closer than the Swansea and Palace games. Isak's first minute goal is clearly a direct response to my claims in the last game about how he was worried! A great result for us.

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A very undeserved draw to say the least but it should be enough to see us win the group! Our win at home against Real Madrid in our first game against them gives us that head to head advantage but even without that, we're 3 points clear and face Marseille in our last group game which we should be able to win!

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Everything is still going well in the league after 12 games, as we sit 4 points clear of Manchester City. It's been a really good campaign so far and being unbeaten to this point obviously helps. There are some of the big teams that we're yet to face though so it should be interesting when we do play against them. In the Champions League, we're top of the group with a 3 point lead over Real Madrid. We have the same goal difference but the head to head advantage so we should be able to win the group.

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Our last Champions League group game at home should go well. We've done a great job so far and despite Marseille having to win to make sure that they go to the Europa League, we should see this game out easily. Our league games for the month aren't too tough, with the toughest two being Tottenham away and West Ham at home. Watford always seem to surprise us though, same can be said for Wolves so it'll be interesting to see how we do against them.

Villan of the Month:
View attachment 43848#19 Will Hughes
28 years old
Defensive midfielder
English

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I can't remember the last time Will won this award to be honest, but it's about time. He's consistently been one of the best midfielders in England since his arrival in 2019/2020 and he's played over 150 league games for us since, scoring 22 goals. He's also made over 40 appearances with the English national team so it really is a testament so how he's been playing for us. This month, he was much better than any other player in the team and that's why he gets the Villan of the Month with 2 goals and an assist from the defensive midfielder position.