00:00Aston Villa's campaign promised so much and for long spells they looked capable of delivering
00:09something special. Under Unai Emery, the club pushed deep into Europe and held their
00:15own in the top four conversation, but ultimately silverware proved just out of reach.
00:22There were plenty of positives. Villa's style of play matured, the squad depth improved
00:28and key players hit new heights. Emery's influence was clear, building a side with
00:33control, resilience and ambition. But fine margins cost them in cup competitions and perhaps
00:40in the final stretch of the league phase. Now comes the challenge of sustaining this
00:47trajectory with Champions League football still a possibility next season. Can Villa push again,
00:55this time with the strength to turn promise into prizes. We spoke to Charlie Haffenden of
01:01Birmingham World to reflect on Villa's near miss season and what needs to happen for them
01:07to take the next decisive step.
01:12Charlie, let's look at Aston Villa and obviously so much has happened in the last month or so with
01:18their incredible rise to go and beat PSG at home and just fall short in the Champions League.
01:23FA Cup, Wembley trip didn't go quite to plan. Crystal Palace were pretty impeccable
01:28on the day. Let's just reflect on their sort of season domestically, their achievements so far.
01:34I mean, you know, no matter how the end of the season goes, the race for Champions League,
01:39no matter how that goes, how that pans out, they can take so many positives from this season,
01:44from this campaign. And I am raised, you know, words of saying Villa want to compete, Villa want to
01:49be a side back in the Champions League again. I mean, you can't really doubt him with how far
01:55they've come so far in such a, you know, such a short amount of time, really.
02:00It's incredible. When he took over from Steven Gerrard, they were down right in the relegation
02:04battle. He then got them up into top half in tension, got them to the European Conference
02:09League, then the Champions League, then to go to the last eight of the Champions League and very
02:14nearly turn things around against PSG after that 3-1 defeat at the Parc de France. That victory at
02:19Villa Park was just incredible. The noise within the stadium, the belief that they could just go
02:24on to bigger and better things and try and replicate heroics of the early 1980s. Not quite happening in
02:31the end. FA Cup semi-final, disappointment at Wembley. There's so much frustration from fans
02:36because Villa going into the games against Man City as well as a huge six-pointer for the Champions
02:40League race in the Premier League and then the game against Palace at Wembley. They were the best
02:44formed team in the entirety of Europe over the last 10 matches, but they did manage to fall away at the
02:49key moments, unfortunately. So, as you say, so much incredible achievements this season, but they
02:56won't have a trophy to show for it and they might not even have Champions League football to show for it
03:00next season. So, a bit of a strange one with a mixed bag, but I think if you look at it on the whole
03:05and where Villa were a few seasons ago, they've taken another step this year, signing the likes of
03:11Vicentio, Rashford. That wouldn't have been possible at that point in time and probably not even at the
03:16start of this season. The financial side, it's still a bit of a worry with PSR. They need to sort
03:21that out, maybe make a couple of sales this summer. But yeah, the reputation of the football club is
03:25certainly on the rise again.
03:28Yeah, let's just look ahead to the summer plans. Obviously, we've mentioned a number of times the
03:32core in terms of these players who've developed under Unai Emre is so important to keep hold of.
03:39The likes of Morgan Rodgers, they're going to be attracting attention. That's just the way it works.
03:43You have a great season for a club that maybe isn't quite at the very elite level yet, then those
03:49elite teams do come knocking. In terms of the summer, how important is it that they keep players as much as
03:54adding a few more top-class additions if they can, obviously with the financial restrictions?
04:01It is very important. Morgan Rodgers is the man you mentioned. It's been emerging that
04:06Chelsea are interested, but I think Chelsea are interested in most players that perform well
04:10for other Premier League clubs. It just happens every single season, doesn't it? Myself as a Brighton fan,
04:15it's happened with us and Chelsea in the past. It doesn't necessarily mean they're going to go and
04:19sign Morgan Rodgers. And what's to say that Rodgers would want to make that move anyway? He's from the
04:23West Midlands. He's near his family. He grew up around here and he's loving his life at Villa,
04:29being a key player under Unai Emery. It's more of a system player as well, Rodgers. Would he fit into
04:34the Chelsea system? Some sort of rule change needs to happen at some point soon because it's just not
04:38fair. But the reality is that they all need to make sales before they can even think about making new signings.
04:44And we'll be talking about taking the course.
04:45So, let's see who was interested in seeing the 2018 eligible news.
04:46So, we're not the first of all.
04:47We need to get back in the 2018 eligible titles.
04:56So, let's get back to that ...
04:57We need to go into the 2018 eligible titles.
05:00I am currently trying to make sales.
05:02We need to double-check my new회, which is in 2018,
05:03but we need to go into 2018.
05:05And we need to get back for this year.
05:05So, let's go ahead and take us this time and look at the 2018 starting point.
05:07We'll be possible in 2018.
05:07We need to go into 2018.
05:09We're now going into 2018.
05:10And now we're trying to do two registries.
Comments