The Three Dads' Football Season Wonderland

 Straight in, hand up - I'm one of those guys who loves reading all the fans posts and threads on various social media platforms without ever really contributing to them too much myself, and recently I've found myself reading even more than usual, especially on various Forest sites & fan pages. It struck me reading through them that never have I seen such a good example of the 'glass half full/glass half empty' divide, and it was actually really amusing. First up the glass half empty brigade: "We can't hold a lead against Luton, struggled to pick up points again newly promoted teams and other teams around us". I can get this, throwing away a 2 goal lead against a team like Luton, who are fighting hard but hardly likely to look much past last day survival as a target, is a bit of a shocker. There are a few similar games this season where we have dropped points we really should have held on to. However compared to last season we are not crumbling badly w...

Last night I watched Unai Emery's pre-match presser before the game with Nottingham Forest tomorrow. It was a 17 minute display of relentless focus and absolute determination. The man is a different breed entirely. He was asked questions along the lines of "It's your birthday today, Happy Birthday, how do you plan to celebrate?" and responded with confirmation that he'd be watching videos, planning tactics, and might consider celebrating after the game, so long as we win. He was asked whether it made him proud that Villa fans are now super enjoying our football, then launched into his response about how the past is irrelevant, because the focus is always upon what comes next. With some managers you get a sense that they have 'a line' that they trot out in these pressers, but with Emery the repetition of his responses  [focus, improvement, practice, always striving for more] comes from within his soul. This man lives and breathes the process. This obsession...

 Well its been quite the whirlwind so far, a breathless start to what promises to be a very interesting season. As we pause to take a break for some meaningless international snooze-fests, it's a chance for us fans to sit back and reflect on what's happened so far. Now, I'm not a huge Arsenal fan but their win against Man City throws things into the mix a little bit. It shows they are beatable, and Haaland can be stopped, which will give hope to teams everywhere who thought this season was going to turn into the Formula 1 non-event of a season. Sheff Utd and Luton look like dead certs for the drop (sorry to all their fans), and there are several other teams who must be already getting those feelings of panic set in (Bournemouth and Burnley for starters). Wolves are also looking a bit shaky. Everton have had a rough start but I think they will be fine come judgement day. The mighty Forest have given me good vibes so far, facing Man City, Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea away and...

Another week in the topsy-turvy season has passed and so much to say! Man City did a defeat, Man Utd are melting down, Luton and Burnley earned points, the VAR apocalypse happened. But of course, the main event for me was seeing Villa hop up to 5th, 3 points off the summit, having absolutely destroyed Brighton 6-1 at the weekend. This, the same Villa that meekly exit-ed the Carabao Cup 3 days prior vs the Everton team that went on to lose to Luton. To the outsider there is no explanation for how this can happen. There are two strong theories though: Theory 1: tight tuning -  from my cousin Tom, who convincingly supposes that Emery has tuned Villa so very tightly that even the smallest disturbance from usual patterns is near fatal. This adds up. Against Everton, we had Olsen in goal (more on that in theory 2), McGinn lined up at left back, our centre midfield had Dendonker and Tielemans, and Bailey and Duran, neither guaranteed starters, featured up front. So whilst arguably there ...

The season is getting into its swing now and Villa are perplexing along the way.  Since I last wrote, the Anfield game panned out as I feared, then we bounced back with a mad comeback against Palace, before losing narrowly to a very impressive Legia Warsaw. Yet even with 3 noteable away defeats (2 in the league) Unai Emery has us gliding along at 2 points per game, pretty much on a par with his record last season, and this despite some big injuries, a team that isn't really in form, and with only 2 of the 6 games played so far being at home. It is tricky to work out what happens from here. For old/normal Villa, this defensive fragility and seeming lack of form would be the prelude to a disastrous run. Results would gradually reflect displays and we'd swirl around the lower reaches of the league.  But with Emery things are different. You get the sense that any setback only serves as useful intel for the next improvement. The clean sheet at Stamford Bridge, though, does not mark...

Well, Gameweek 4 has been and gone, and it already feels like the Prem was never away. What a rollercoaster few weeks and add into that another mad transfer window and it’s just as unpredictable as ever.  So, I hear you ask, what’s your take on the season so far Kev? I’d have to say that Man City look as unstoppable as the second half of last season, already setting a pace for the others to strive for. Elsewhere Man Utd are lucking their way into points, thanks in large parts to debatable referring in both games they have won.  Newcastle have disappointed me so far, albeit with a tricky few opening fixtures so the jury is still a little bit out on them. I’ve been really impressed by Spurs post-Kane, they are an entertaining team to watch and they are playing decent football.  I’m really looking forward to seeing how Brighton continue to progress, especially with the addition of Fati to the ranks. He is a very exciting talent and will hopefully deliver in the worlds greate...

Since I last posted, Villa have notched up wins vs Hibernian (twice) and Burnley away, meaning we've won 4 of the 5 games we've played so far. On the face of it very strong, yet I still fear a beating up at Anfield tomorrow.  I'm hoping this fear is a result of a decade-long conditioning to poor results vs decent teams, rather than something I see in this latest iteration of the Villa team. Certainly Newcastle exposed a weakness, and I fear Liverpool are adequately equipped to do the same. Villa have looked more solid since the capitulation on opening day, but it is hard to judge when the quality of our opposition's attack has been several levels below what we will face at Anfield. Even if it does turn out that we are flat track bullies, its actually a recipe for a good placing in the Premier League, as typically there are 12 'non-elite' teams to dispatch (aka 24 wins and 72 points for the taking). Now that Mings is crocked, we've seen much more of Torres an...