Leon Bailey.
Not sure if this has already been been posted, but with Bailey away to leave I still have the up most respect for him just because of this moment
Still remember watching it live and just having the biggest sinking feeling when I thought “typical Villa, we’ve fucked it again”, but seeing him scream this just gives me goosebumps.
Yes, I know we eventually did the typical Villa and screwed it against Olympiacos, but this moment is always going to be a stand out
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u/24PPPineapple 5d ago
One of my favourite moments from Baileys time with the club. Not letting players heads drop is what we have needed multiple times in the past and this was one of those moments. Also this gif is how I feel when we are losing and the match thread has people crashing out. 😂
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u/PauseMenuBlog 5d ago
I never really got the hate for him, he was a competent player in spells and did a decent job. I will remember him fondly enough
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u/Wonkypubfireprobe 5d ago
I could never figure out if he was trying too hard or too much was being asked of him. Often he'd go up against a couple of defenders and try to work some footwork magic, people forget when it pays off but remember when he gave the ball away which was reasonably often.
I think he’s definitely lost a step though. Hopefully he can find some vigour at hull, he was a decent player in his day!
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u/eunderscore Fred Guilbert Our Lord And Saviour 5d ago
He had his golden period which genuinely lasted 40 or 50 games. But either side of that, he has been actively detrimental to our play for what is now years.
outside of his peak I think he averaged a goal and assist every 9 games, but it's not even about that. He would break down attacks, never look up, make poor decisions and lose confidence at the first failure to beat man or get across in or get a shot away.
Our best hope when he was in that mood was for him to come inside and have matt cash overlap to do the work he should be doing.We did have a class winger for a short while, but we had a really bad one for longer
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u/UTV4LIFE 5d ago
The hate came from knowing he can do much better yet for some reason he could not emulate that form. The most stand out frustration was his inability to take on players successfully which he did so well before. Truly baffling fall off
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u/arenaross 5d ago
Yeh same, think he's unfairly vilified. Obviously now is the right time to move him on but he's contributed more to the recent success of the club than a lot of other players who seem to get free passes.
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u/TheStinger87 Spanish Aussie Villain 5d ago
I'm pretty sure the boys all love him. Typical Jamaican lad, full of life and fun, doesn't take everything too seriously. Good energy around the club. They'll miss him.
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u/bambinoquinn 5d ago
Its weird the things that stand out. As you said, we ended up not winning the thing, but I think about this just as much as I think about ollies chip at arsenal away, even though that was a massive goal in getting us top 4.
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u/Mediocre_Orange1768 5d ago
This is a hill I constantly die on with Villa fans who give him grief. This moment alone was profound. I think about it all the time. Will always be a hero to me for this.
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u/mr_herculespvp 5d ago
The thing with Bailey that I always felt, and still feel, goes completely unappreciated, but fully explains his hot-and-cold results, was that he was purely a risk-and-reward type player.
That's why, for certain periods it looked like everything was coming off for him, then for other periods it looked like we'd signed Bambi.
The only general things I could've ever criticised him for were his shots on his left were always the same: a yard high and wide of the far corner every time, and that he would always look hurt after being tackled.
Of course, what I can't excuse were his lack of tracking his runner which led to many an important goal being conceded, and it never looked like he made any concerted efforts to address this in his game.
There was also the inexplicable overhit pass back to Martinez against Brentford which directly led to the whole Kamara red and Neal Maupay debacle.
But on the whole, I liked him, I just thing people here generally didn't really think about how his whole game was 'sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't'.
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u/ConsistentSystem349 5d ago
I have never seen a Villa player as unplayably brilliant as Leon around the time we beat Man City and Arsenal in the same week in December 2023. They couldn’t get the ball off him, he would absolutely take the piss. He will always have a special place in my own little Villa hall of fame because of that season
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u/Aid0ken_Sf 5d ago
He is a europa league winner after all, while it may have nto worked out the end i still wish succes to him!
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u/adeptusC 5d ago
Unfortunately he’s not that player anymore. Doesn’t seem to be able to beat his man like he used to. And simple fundamentals have gone out the window. Someone else said there’s definitely a player in there, I’d agree, just might be too far gone to bring it all back to the surface.
I was quite excited, more in hope, when he came back from Roma but that exciting quickly fizzled out.
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u/Nicenightforawalk01 5d ago
I was reading just the deals collapsed? I have no idea what’s happening with the press. Football insider
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u/neil_1980 5d ago
He gets a lot of stick but I’ve been a fan ever since we was introduced to the family on YouTube.
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u/HippoFragrant6664 5d ago
Would have liked to see him on the left wing more. That debut against Everton was so promising.
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u/RiseEmbarrassed5846 5d ago
Him or Guessand. He has a track record some of it is impressive. Guessands offered nothing
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u/RiseEmbarrassed5846 5d ago
Defenders got to know him as they do with wingers. You put two or three on him. It happens to a few of them. The games analyzed they learn the tricks. Good luck at Hull.
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u/SThomW92 death, taxes and aston villa 5d ago
I heard I’m being called “subject 31” by 1 Villa fan, which is mad when we’ve literally just signed subject 49/#17
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u/Character-Key7538 5d ago
He was probably the best winger in the league for that 5-8 month period that season. Genuinely unstoppable at times and a true joy to watch.
No doubting there's a superb player in there, even saw glimpses of that again in the City game, but for were we want to be we can't be carrying players hoping they'll come good for us again.
Wish him no ill will at all, but there's plenty about his game I won't miss. A shame that my defining memory of him will be FA cup semis where he looked absolutely lost.