[4evaabaggie]

Maybe premature but ........ laughing at Villa on Saturday, I checked my phone app, the text commentator stated that "no premier league league team has ever stayed up having just five points after thirteen games". So how about five points from fourteen games ....... haha.

Gotta laugh but on the other hand, no local Midland derbies for years to come.

Pride of the Midlands ....... we know what we are.

[silverbaggie]

Watching MOTD the other night and they can't defend for toffee.

Lescott having got his wish to play for the Vile is now so bad he doesn't even get picked.

There's also no sign that their new Manager is even beginning to turn things around!

Serves that BIG club right they, shouldn't have hired 'Nice but dim Tim'

They've spent a lot of money on players that just don't seem to be able to hack it in the Prem.

Can't wait for a family get together with some of my seal loving relatives.

AND to really make my day the 'Wally with the brolly' is also ( once again) out of his depth.

I reckon that already there's only one relegation spot to play for and sadly I think that Bournemouth may well fill that.

Oh well you can't have everything I suppose.


COYB

[RainbowTurnedEastStand]

For the first time in a long time they actually looked like scoring so if Reni garde can sort that back 4 out I can see Villa staying
up, Hutton and Richardson need dropping with Richards and Lescott moving to the full back positions ie
RICHARDS, OKORE, CLARK, LESCOTT.

[tidy]

As long Villa, or any team, are still within a couple of wins from 17th, regardless of points total, then anything is possible.

Look at Lesta last year. So nailed on for relegation with 10 games to go that bookies stopped taking bets.

[BaggieMan]

Gotta laugh but on the other hand, no local Midland derbies for years to come.

Pride of the Midlands ....... we know what we are.

If Villa are relegated, I suppose the nearest Premiership 'local derby'  will be Stoke, 40 miles up the M6.

[tidy]

Gotta laugh but on the other hand, no local Midland derbies for years to come.

Pride of the Midlands ....... we know what we are.

If Villa are relegated, I suppose the nearest Premiership 'local derby'  will be Stoke, 40 miles up the M6.

This is assuming that we survive...

[4evaabaggie]

Gotta laugh but on the other hand, no local Midland derbies for years to come.

Pride of the Midlands ....... we know what we are.

If Villa are relegated, I suppose the nearest Premiership 'local derby'  will be Stoke, 40 miles up the M6.

This is assuming that we survive...

Pulis has never been relegated .........

[meandbrenarebaggies]

Right…this stuff celebrating the demise of Villa. Just stop and get over your chronic dislike
for a moment and consider why it would be a good thing if they stayed up. It’s very easy to
travel to their ground and therefore less tiring a fixture than say Newcastle or Norwich. It’s
easy for us to acclimatize to local weather conditions because they are the same as ours. It’s a good thing to have as large a pool of local teams as possible concentrated in a small geographic area as it makes transfers, derby rivalry, local heroes, a bigger slice of the national media coverage, a buzzing vibrant feel about the area all possible. It gives the area
an identity on a par with the London – North West areas. 6 easy points per season…we could cancel the pre-match warm up and stroll down the road to theirs..stuff them…and be
back in time for a traditional fish supper EVERY season…and if we had Dingles, Blues, Coventry, Walsall (?) as well we could get 18 points every season without breaking sweat.
bottom line is The Albion are a West Midlands club and the more teams we have in the local
area the better it is for us in countless ways…..O.K.?

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Not sure to what extent that post was tongue-in-cheek, but sadly we'll never have a profile to match the London/Northwest axis simply because we don't have big money club(s) routinely gunning for trophies around here. Villa staying up wouldn't make a blind bit of difference to how the media look at West Midlands football. The coverage of our derbies against them is rock-solid proof of that; the TV companies and papers just don't bother with them at all.

On the other hand, them going down (and staying down) would give us a fair chance at asserting regional dominance, increasing our fanbase locally and also marketing ourselves as the only historic West Midlands football club in the Prem. Not exactly earth-shaking stuff, but it would be a small victory.

[silverbaggie]

On the other hand, them going down (and staying down) would give us a fair chance at asserting regional dominance, increasing our fanbase locally and also marketing ourselves as the only historic West Midlands football club in the Prem.  Not exactly earth-shaking stuff, but it would be a small victory.

I too would like to see us as the Midlands club with the biggest fanbase but, that doesn't help the Club's finances unless there are extra seats available for these hoped for additional fans.
In recent years the ground capacity has got ever smaller; in part because of Premiership requirement that stadiums be all seater.
The ground capacity is what 27,000 now and how many season ticket holders are there?
Not too many seats available for all these hoped for new fans.

Some years ago admittedly but I can remember being in crowds of 40,000 and our highest ever gate was , I believe, in excess of 60,000.

Perhaps unsustainable now with unemployment being a serious factor in the area but, on the other hand, you are much more likely to get a full house for games against other local clubs.

I think that we have just got to accept that the Nationwide interest in Midlands football is regarded as just so much small change.
Unless JP can find a rich 'sugar daddy' from somewhere we will just have to settle for playing 'a bit part' as far as the EPL goes.