Aston Villa: Brilliant on the pitch, improvement needed off it...

[@paulmcallister4546]

As a villa fan who is getting a bit long in the tooth admittedly, I am for the first time in many years having to seriously consider if I can justify attending games. Dans comments regarding the good faith of many fans ring true for me, but having looked at ticket prices for the upcoming Villa v Wolves last night I feel £70 + for nearly any seat in the ground is just too much. "In 2023, the median annual earnings for full-time employees in the UK were £34,963" according to a quick search on the net. If you break that down for the average individual who was likely for example to afford to attend many games in the championship, when attendances were often not above 35,000 on a cold, wet day in mid January, or perhaps could afford the odd game last season watching the European games, probably cant even begin to consider attending this year. As good as the recent performances have been, if you factor in the concourse issues, over priced crap beer in plastic, poor food, horrid toilets, the inconsiderate fan vaping next to you, the transport issues......the club needs to be careful. Its not anywhere near as attractive an experience as it should be and peoples funds are stretched. That's the polite version.

[@VillanFGer86]

Purslow (rightly) concluded that our oldest stand, the North is unfit for purpose in the 2020s and needed to be replaced by an epic structure to get us to 50,000 spectators and the 21st century. One of Chris Heck's first decisions (apart from sacking off the crest WE voted for) was to say no, let us keep that ancient stand and pack additional seats into it and let's stand still on capacity! This was a major, major red flag that was largely ignored last season because the football was good.

[@VillanFGer86]

And why are so many, apart from Dan Bardell, so afraid to call Chria Heck out? Revenue is up? Exposure is up? Might that be related to qualifying for Europe too seasons in succession? Just a thought!

[@ClaretBluePod]

Football being good is doing a lot of heavy lifting isn’t it

[@carlthomas7354]

​@@ClaretBluePod is it on the edge of illegal? Surely as a venue hosting 42k people and having these issues in terms of queues and urinals must be genuinely illegal? It's a shocking way to treat your fans

[@shawklan27]

​@@ClaretBluePod pretty much yeah

[@JRP.1989]

Off the pitch, I think there are a lot of improvements to be made, no longer a season ticket holder due to other commitments I went to the online general sale bang on time and there were no tickets outside of very expensive corporate. So my only option is pay for membership or buy the corporate tickets to allow me to watch a very expensive match. The football shirts are way too expensive as are general tickets and there has been a massive shift to expensive corporate experiences versus catering to the everyday fan. I understand that a successful club bring higher popularity, demand and prices however I think its unfair on the everyday fan. The crest situation was ridiculous, spent forever to get fans involved, partly committed to use the badge and dropped it after one season to pretty much go back to the previous badge with no fan involvement. I feel the success on the pitch is masking serious problems off it and they are getting away with a lot. If performances were to turn I can guarantee the pricey corporate areas would be empty and ultimately abandoned.

[@VillanFGer86]

Hear hear

[@mga830]

Well said, couldn't agree with every point more

[@Shane-O-Mac-vl2ek]

The main issue with getting into the stadium was a big delay in opening the turnstiles. Stewards at the Holte end had no idea what was going on. Even when the upper Holte opened, the lower stewards were shouting up asking what's happening. The digital tickets were probably a small part of the problem as the ques were already huge before they started allowing entry.

[@MarcCross-k8b]

The off pitch problems need sorting. I travelled from Cardiff on Saturday and was very disappointed arriving two hours early queues for everything and not satisfactory.

[@ClaretBluePod]

Yeah this is proper crap mate

[@savasveli4814]

Morgan Rodgers was like RAMBO in ballerina shoes

[@AnthonyVaughan-w5y]

I travelled up from Somerset on Saturday. Expected it to be busy, and thought there would be some waiting around, it's the first home game of the season after all. We played well overall, few missed chances and the season is a marathon not a sprint. But the real issue for me is off field. I used to be a Season Ticket holder before moving away. Spent £70+ on my ticket is hefty but what really bugs me is being over charged for a soft drink, bar of chocolate and a tea at half time. The toilets in the Lower Holt are shocking too. Yet, every email I get from Villa promotes the hospitality available. Screw the hospitality, look after the average fan who is spending hard earnt money to come and support. I wouldn't spend £800+ on a season ticket with the way the real fans are being treated!

[@tonycashion5213]

I meant do a youtube demonstrating the app options 1) qr code option - what u need to do 2) contactless - which way 3) bar code - what yu do etc. Try working with Villa through John maybe

[@rickymoule5989]

Shambles turn styles went down, waited nearly a hour before we could enter stadium. Two guys in front of me got turned away because it was saying there season ticket was invalid, lots of improvements needed off the pitch.

[@Duane-d6o]

My feeling for the last year that I hoped would be wrong , is that the general fans are being treated as 3rd rate importance by AVFC , shocking experience Saturday 😢

[@martinemms8174]

Off the pitch was a shambles, getting in was a nightmare, lower Holte atmosphere was weird, loads of people were forced to move, some away from their friends. Also felt like a half finished job on the refurbishment.

[@samplant92]

The ticket issues were exactly the same for the conference league games last season, huge ques to get in, why they decided to roll out the same system for the premier league games this season is crazy. If somethings not broke why try and fix it?

[@addamhewitt]

We go as a group of 7. 4 of us sit in the holte lower and 3 in doug Ellis lower. It's the same crap in both stands. We used to always get beer at half time, but stopped about 4 years ago, due to the ridiculous queues, and the rubbish quality of the beer ( flat as they hand it too you).

[@jared2332]

American fan here, stadium culture is much more intense in England than the US so perhaps I am naive but I was appalled to hear some of the issues being discussed. Do they not have general safety and sanitation inspections for businesses and stadiums there? Some of the issues discussed, especially the toilets and reasonably safe access for individuals with disabilities sound like they shouldn't even be legal and I'm surprised a location is allowed to conduct business in that manner without being fined or suspended.

[@barriepountney3598]

I sit in the lower Doug Ellis stand arrived early at 4 to find the gates not open no staff the police saying it's being worked on ,they open some gates not everyone when I get to gate to be told I have a 23/24 ticket in my wallet which Villa sent only to be told go to the ticket office by the Holt ,they put it wright back to gates and finally get in as players come out ,so no drink no toilet even a dirty one or food so the club lost my money and I had a bad day 😢

[@ClaretBluePod]

Saved money on not supplying physical tickets, probably lost a fortune on food and drink sale with everyone getting in late!

[@alanhealey7885]

My seat was moved in the top North stand, as all the seats in front are corporate. But my old seat is still there and not corporate. As I have a disability ticket it was a good seat with a bar and I could stretch my bad leg, with no seats in front, so I don't have to keep standing up and down when there is action. The new seats are very sharp at the back I won't be wearing shorts again as there were big ridges down my legs from the seat Infront and can't see any of the action 😡

[@ChrisLatimer-dj4gj]

Season Ticket in the wallet - I saw a notification that my pass had been updated come through about 10 pm on match day. I assume that this is related to Dan's on air issue. The ticket in wallet needs to know that it is valid specifically for that match - i.e that you haven't put your ticket on the resale. So it maybe that the pass actually expires after each game and needs to be renewed. What could possibly go wrong.

[@TheToe81]

Dan you need to understand you were one of the lucky ones.I was queuing for 45 minutes before kick off and didn’t get in to stadium until 15 minutes after kick off.If it hadn’t been for the var delay i would have missed even more.Its an absolute disgrace,I couldn’t believe game wasn’t delayed until everyone had got in to the ground.Its a good job we have such a patient understanding fan base or we could have had a serious safety issue on our hands.

[@ClaretBluePod]

Oh yeah by no means suggesting I had it the worst, just offering my experience in contrast to John’s.

[@ombadillo7778]

I am in Doug Ellis upper, the P block turnstiles didn't open until 4.40, you guys don't seem to have covered that here. You've spoken about the delays in terms of fans getting through the turnstiles, but there was an issue with actually opening the turnstiles in time in the first place. Nothing has been said about why that happened.

[@andrewturpin5948]

Arsenal pushed another body forward as well as putting Trossard on which created an overload on the back post. Not really the full back’s fault and no one dropped in to give cover. Just got caught out but also, Rodger’s was unlucky as he deflected the ball into Trossard’s path… positive performance from Villa despite the result.

[@jjfreer]

are you kidding? Aircon noise gone, but replaced with a buzz. Dan i feel for you bud haha. ONE DAY im sure you will get it perfect haha Top video as per usual! - Got myself down to villa park and in the back of the holte... Bloke in front of me said I sound like churchil the nodding dog, after i was going "oh yes, oh yes oh yes" each time rogers beat his man when he went on that run into the arsenal box haha, Top Quality player we have there.

[@ClaretBluePod]

Wait til tomorrow’s video when the audio file is corrupted and I have to use the camera audio! I’m also not even sure the aircon was fully off, shambles!

[@jjfreer]

@@ClaretBluePod Id volunteer sound engineer for you so you didnt have to worry about it if i didnt live in yorkshire! Hard enough to make it to games though! Cant beat a smooth quality audio. You have the set up for it at least. You will get it perfect eventually i believe in you as much as i believe in emery!

[@pedrogringo8265]

Wow. You have made my week. Great pod as always but reading out my comment from last week at the end nearly made my choke on my baguette. 😂 The fact I have taught JT to be careful around rice is awesome. He needs to be especially careful with takeaway rice as this has already been reheated once in a lot of cases so a second reheat is the killer. In villa news, that right back looks urgent, still got money to spend so make it a good one. UTV

[@western-oud1898]

All the off the pitch stuff...thisbis why we need a new stadium or a total rebuild of villa park..we're in 2024 and a premier and now a champions league football club..we have to move with the times ...all across Europe clubs have lovely stadiums even the so called smaller clubs have great state of the art stadiums we need to do something and even if that means moving then so be it..I feel villa park and this has already been stated by experts on a video i watched last year is going to be to difficult for a total rebuild

[@BlackCountryVillan]

Agree with you 100%. A much bigger stadium with better facilities, surrounded by a much better infrastructure/ transport network / parking. We will fall further behind off the pitch sooner or later.

[@alanwest3856]

GREAT show as always 👍⚽️🦁

[@kevinjeenes]

If you watch it back, its dignes fault, not quick enough to stop the saka cross for trossards goal, thats why im surprised maatson didn't start

[@VillanFGer86]

Great listen, excellent tonight

[@ClaretBluePod]

Thank you very much

[@Samboy666]

We got our pants pulled down in that deal but we had to balance the books I suppose and in hindsight if Duran goes Luiz stays I’m sure which is another reason why the deal took so long. IMO it was terrible business from us.

[@deejay5224]

I think we need to switch to a front 4 in certain games with Ramsey left. I'm happy to alternate with a double.pivot with mcginn and onana, tmans etc

[@gahealy]

Villa haven't had a clean sheet since the Arsenal game in April. What do Villa need to do to tighten up at the back?

[@Stevie-V]

1) I think reheated rice is only dangerous if it contains egg! 2) Is Aston Villa the only club to suffer these off-pitch misfortunes? 3) I also think that we will equal or better last season by either, finishing higher than 4th or win a trophy. FA Cup would be nice as I was only 18 months old and I am now pushing 69!! UTV

[@Samboy666]

Trippier would be fantastic. We need a free kick taker and dead ball specialist since luiz has gone and he has lots of experience

[@brontekoskinen301]

sounds like AVFC need a dedicated good e-commerce section to refine the tickets and entry

[@paddycollinsB14]

Bit of a Mains hum on the audio, gents. UTV

[@ClaretBluePod]

Yeah it didn't show up before we started so didn't realise til I got home

[@Tom.Jackson.]

Well I am bricking it for the Everton game, was used to paper tickets and understand why digital but I aint a young person, was forced to download a google wallet then I had to put the tickets in that, if no one in Trinity to assist I will just end up in a panic attack, stressful for old ppl

[@mypuppydogtizzy1058]

if you have to have a smart phone to get in how do you lend your season ticket too a mate or relative if your on holiday

[@rickbarley3263]

You don't

[@globalpilot1858]

You can transfer it to someone else with a Villa website ID

[@theplumpchicken2233]

No one on hand to help with tickets not working has a dark side to it aswell.. Saw a fair few people scanning one ticket and getting 2 through the turnstiles, if thousands start doing that you risk a major incident in an overcrowded stadium 😐

[@jsteelester]

What blockbuster movie did Villa, and in particular, Julian Joachim feature in?

[@garyrobinson116]

Sorry to say this but the only way I can see to fix the off the field improvements re the stadium is a brand new stadium designed and built for purpose

[@keithwhiting6569]

The ticket system wasn't broken with the season card swipe type thing last year, this new system is only as good as the phone lots weren't even reading the phones ! Progress it is not !!!! The ticket office is unobtainable most of the time very poor !!!

[@uk-critz579]

Why are they only opening the gates 90 minutes before kick off should be at least 150 minutes. Put on events pre game and dont you think people may spend more money in the ground if good food and drink are supplied and other things improved.

[@jasonw7992]

Lack of staff in the right places didn't help on Saturday. Zero communication, PA system works ok inside so could've easily been used to announce issues. 500 reward points is a shitty prize btw.

[@Shadow-zz2ry]

In all honesty in my opinion not every one will agree we need to leave villa park and build a new stadium near by. Ideally right by star city with easer access for transport for all home and away fans. 60k capacity and turn villa park into a Aston Villa museum.

[@carlthomas7354]

I never thought I'd be open to this suggestion but given the facilities I am inclined to agree...

[@maxwall654]

Where would you park though? No room there for the amount of people you talk about.

[@paulbutler4580]

Forget Bellingham, he looks like Maradona, im not even joking (Rogers) 😮

[@samplant92]

Honestly just being able to buy a coffee at half time and it not being a 40min ordeal. Being sold out of beer before kick off is even more of a joke!

[@globalpilot1858]

Can someone mention to John about where he puts his mobile phone in every video…😢

[@realvilla]

WOAH rice chat? i got this! reheating rice isn't the problem, its the bacteria that grows on it once its cooked, which aren't killed by reheating. for this reason you should keep cooked rice refrigerated and eat within 48 hrs. washing rice before cooking also helps. utv! utr!

[@KevanBaugh]

Totally agree they don’t want season ticket holders at this club anymore all they want is corporate areas total disgrace see what happens if it all goes tits up .

[@karengriffiths7800]

2 games in no worries ollie will get going Rodgers brilliant team come good mings and kamara are due back emi fit gonna be all good

[@nicole-1]

International fan here - 😖 I stay away from the food at VP. It’s way too expensive - plus the beer is crap and you can’t even drink at your seat! I really hate this corporatization that Heck is bringing in. It’s destroyed a lot of North American sports teams - people can’t afford to go anymore and seats are sold but empty because the corporate season ticket holders didn’t find anyone to take the tickets.

[@savasveli4814]

How many games can we afford to lose to be in the top 4?

[@ClaretBluePod]

Well we lost 10 last season

[@jjfreer]

hopefully we can replace this loss, with a win over newcastle or man u later in the season :)

[@garethjones731]

We've lost 2 major players and are rebuilding, Arsenal are chuffed and see it as defining! We have to replace Diaby, Rogers is a good player but its his first season at this level. Villa need more!

[@tommcdermott1989]

Surprised Townley made it to the game with all that rice to boil.

[@Davies2710]

It’s funny from the Arsenal fans view they deserved that win and stopped us tactically apparently

[@AndyHiley1]

I brought x2 tickets for the Arsenal match weeks ago on release, x1 came woth a QR code the other didnt. After a load of hassle on the phone i cancelled them got refunded, yet ½ hour before the game i got a reminder with a QR coded ticket saying match starts in ½ hour. Im pretty sure if i went it would of worked, thats the shambles this digital ticketing system is causing. You shouldnt need to have a google/iphone wallet to get a ticket, i use to always print my tickets off via a pdf file, the club dont even send them out now with the email. Dont get me started on price increase....x1 adult x1 child for £100 for 90 mins....absolute joke! I would love to know how many of these £200+ tickets were left come match day

[@paulhanson5164]

Technology is great, if its working correctly and everybody knows how to use it properly...when it goes wrong ( and it always will ) you're up a certain creek without a paddle. We're so "advanced" now that we can't get people into a stadium and supply them with food and drink.

[@craigjfrancis]

This might be a cynical take but in absence of any evidence against it... It wouldn't surprise me if the big wigs are leaving the stadium to run down enough to build a case for a new stadium. To announce a move out of nowhere would hit too hard but if they really sell state of the art facilities in a new, spaceship stadium, fans will find it hard to resist. Can they actually edit the existing stands enough to deliver whats needed given the capacity?

[@paulbutler4580]

If we take our chances, arsenal are in big big trouble, the crowd would of erupted, momentum and all that, go too leicester and win please, the haters are already on our back 😮

[@michaelmeagher6627]

If ifs and ands was pots and pans...

[@DebbieFoster-p9l]

Plenty of Empty corporate seats in north stand. Too expensive. Average working man getting shafted by heck. Heck is alienating a lot of fans. UTV

[@marchogan8305]

£13 for chicken and chips😮😮😮😮

[@Nomad55]

we have depth but not quality Barkley found his level at luton

[@tonycashion5213]

Dan do a ticket tutorial - it will get thousands of hits

[@ClaretBluePod]

I wouldn’t be allowed to film it on the Villa Park property

[@giant-mistakemadebysatan1194]

Can you be more up beat please

[@ClaretBluePod]

What? Said we're as good as Arsenal and could be 3rd best team in the league, what more do you want?

[@Paul-vl2wg]

Obviously looking for top spot Dan🤣🤣

[@brettriverboat9920]

Rodgers will be a £100 million player after the season finishes..100%

[@mattydeeming493]

How about ollies misses not being in our own highlights that we pay for 😂 Own it ffs the 1st miss will go down as one of the misses of the season the 2nd was a result of the 1st. No hiding how bad he's looked, horrific touches, not getting his shots away, stop protecting him when there's a reason for it. He'll get worse the more that's made of it now 😂

[@PhilipPreston-k9m]

Cash is going to be out for 4 weeks at the lesser By that time time The Feyenoord player that could come in will have an extended contract being offered and excepted Spend some money they will get him for £20 mil How come there are loads of clubs still transferring loads Spent far to long hanging round Felix what a waste of time Again

[@michaelmeagher6627]

Build a a new north stand! Get the Heck out!! He doesn't understand the Midlands and the people.