u/Astonishingly-Villa

Those nearly moments under Martin.

Those Proud History, Bright Future lies from Lerner.

Those relegation dogfights.

Those years of struggle.

Those ghastly grins across the faces of Lescott and Richards.

That relegation.

That marquee signing with a dodgy set of gates.

That cabbage.

That fight for promotion.

That togetherness.

That drive from Deano, Grealish, Mings and McGinn.

That fight to stay up.

That battle.

That final day survival.

That hiring of Gerrard.

That firing of Gerrard.

That rise under Unai.

That offside trap.

That tiki-taka.

That play-out-from-the-back beauty.

That Conference League qualification cheer.

That “it’s only the Conference League” sneer.

That shut up, JJ.

That fight for fourth.

Those tears, hearing the Champions League anthem

echo around Villa Park, before beating Bayern Munich once again.

That fight against PSG.

That dismantling of Forest.

That Champions League qualification.

Istanbul, my Lord.

Istanbul.

I can feel it coming in the air tonight.

I’ve been waiting for this moment

for all my life.

Can you feel it coming in the air tonight?

Roll the drums.

Prepared.

Up the fucking Villa.

There was a season or two in the 90s or early 00s before I got to go to a game in person (I wasn't able to get to Villa Park in person until I paid for it myself as a working man, I was an armchair supporting child and teenager) where from the TV audio I used to think the fans were singing "Istanbul M'Lord, Istanbul" because, I assumed, that was where we must have beat Bayern Munich in 1982.

I obviously learned since that the real chant is "It's your round, M'Lord, it's your round", but I find it crazy that we might actually win a European Cup in Istanbul, that we were actually singing "Istanbul, M'Lord, Istanbul" last night.

Just a weird little coincidence for me there that I wanted to share.

Apologies if this isn't the All Vegan Feast Community.

Cheers.

Aston Villa's squad are entering a defining moment under manager Unai Emery.

Trailing 1-0 going into Thursday's Europa League semi-final second leg against Nottingham Forest (20:00 BST), a 30-year trophy drought hangs around the club's neck.

There is a growing sense it is this squad's last chance to end it.

Nine of the current squad started Emery's first game - a 3-1 win over Manchester United in November 2022 - with John McGinn and Boubacar Kamara coming off the bench.

Six of those players started against Forest last week, Villa suffering a first-leg defeat.

Stability has underpinned Villa's success under former Arsenal boss Emery, who took over when the club were 14th and three points above the relegation zone.

But as they stumble just before the biggest game of his reign, has Emery taken this group as far as he can?

Villa's wretched 2-1 home defeat by Tottenham on Sunday - a third consecutive loss - did not give them the ideal platform, even if Emery made seven changes.

"We are improving, including myself, and we will have more challenges to set for the present or future," said Emery, when asked if this is the last chance for this squad to win something.

"I don't think tomorrow is the last opportunity for us or anyone. The players are enjoying the process we are doing and they are aware about how difficult football is, and this is the greatest moment we are having in the last three years.

"It will break nothing about how we are thinking and trying to improve."

Emery has moulded many from Championship players into Champions League contenders from a squad which previously had not finished higher than 11th since returning to the top flight and were floundering under predecessor Steven Gerrard.

But all good things come to an end.

"Squads change every year and players always leave," said England forward Watkins.

"This is the only moment when we will have all of the same players in the dressing room this year. We need to do everything we can to get to the end.

"The team is pretty much the same as when Dean Smith was here, apart from a few good additions.

"We can always count on each other and it is nice to have a core that has been together for numerous years. It is quite rare."

[[Edited from Nick Mashiter, BBC Sport.]]

People seem confused why I and a lot of other fans are angry. Here's the list of what has pissed me off in 2025/26.

The summer window:

-The £30m signing of Guessand, a waste of funds raised by the sale of Ramsey.

-The deadline day panic signing of Sancho.

-The deadline day panic signing of Elliot.

-The deadline day mess around Martinez.

- The absolute embarrassment that has been the entire Elliot situation.

August - December:

-The performances and results at the start of the season.

-The insistence of picking out of form Watkins and Rogers week in week out over in form Malen.

- Playing a full strength side away at Spurs in an early round of the FA Cup and losing Kamara for the season.

The winter window:

- Loaning out Guessand and replacing him with the recalled Leon Bailey.

- Loaning out in form, underutilised Malen and signing Abraham for £22m, who is now underutilised.

- Signing Douglas Luiz on loan who failed to perform at relegation threatened Forest.

January - May:

- The performances and results throughout 2026.

- The insistence of picking out of form Watkins and Rogers over in form January POTM Abraham.

- The insistence of starting Leon Bailey.

- The insistence of starting Lucas Digne.

- The loss at Wolves.

- The loss to Newcastle in the FA cup.

- The loss to Forest in the Europa League first leg.

- Throwing the game against Spurs which would have confirmed Champions League football ahead of two tricky fixtures to end the season, and Burnley away.

- Winning one away game in the league in 2026.

That's my list.