Kelly AVFC Frail

This is about the football food chain @Carra23 spoke about. It's very real and, regrettably, it has made upward mobility almost impossible (except by rule-breaking on an industrial scale, of course). Even for a club of Aston Villa's size and historic pedigree, with a brilliant coach, to talk of challenging that mega-rich elite — protected by rules reinforcing the huge financial divides that have opened up over the past two decades — causes a welcome jolt. "What, you're actually going to try to challenge for the biggest prizes? You're actually going to try to break into that group over the long term?" #AVFC should be applauded for trying to do that. It's important to spell out what they're up against. Even in these glory days under Emery, they haven't come within 20 points of winning the Premier League. It's incredibly hard to get for anyone outside that mega-rich elite to compete — particularly when those clubs keep coming for your best players. A new deal for Emery will send out a powerful "Hands off" message to #MUFC and anyone else. But the food chain is real, as are the obstacles that Villa and any other would-be challengers face nytimes.com/athletic/7760012…

HUGE congratulations to Ian Maatsen on his first call up to the Dutch senior squad 🇳🇱 #avfc

#AVFC to extend Unai Emery's contract beyond 2029. Led by Nassef Sawiris, the plan is to also renew the contracts of Emery's key football executives, Roberto Olabe and Damian Vidagany. Villa had informed Emery of their intentions to renew his contract some time ago, with the 55yo happy at the club. Story @TheAthleticFC nytimes.com/athletic/7716913…

Ok, so yesterday we were all told “there’s no narrative against Villa” “All clubs get the same” Ok, I’ve just watched the Villa Fulham game on @SkySportsPL and after the game jamie redknapp and @leehendrie77 spent a good 10 minutes, not talking about the game, not talking about how well Fulham did. No They spent 10 minutes talking about the managerial position at man utd and asking “Why wouldn’t Emery take the UTD job” Yeah, there’s definitely no narrative is there! Man U shouldn’t even be a subject when analysing a villa Fulham game! According to you lot nobody gives a fuck about watching those games so why would Utd fans be turning on to listen to it? #avfc

Nassef isn’t suing Carragher because he thinks a High Court judge is going to slap a damages order on a podcast rant. He’s doing it because the entire media class has spent years treating Villa (#avfc) as a convenient stepping stone and a permanent second tier. Carragher didn’t just give an opinion. He told the fans to "shut the fuck up" and declared the club can never reach the level of the traditional powers, right as the ownership has poured hundreds of millions in, won the Europa League, and got the team competing in Europe properly. That isn’t banter to the people who actually own and run the club. It’s a direct fucking insult to these owners who've done a terrific job rejuvenating the club and running it better than at least 3 of the media six, it's an attempt to set the ceiling in public and keep the hierarchy story alive. Sawiris has form for pushing back when he thinks the system or the narrative is stacked against the project. This is the same instinct. Put the statement out, make the pundits and the wider media think twice about casually writing Villa off as forever below United, and show the fanbase that the ownership won’t sit quiet while the club’s rise gets dismissed. Whether it ever reaches a courtroom is almost beside the point. The message is the point. If you want the current hierarchy left unchallenged, fine. Call it tinpot. The people who rebuilt the club from the brink of HMRC winding them up clearly see it differently.