brummie

Leffe, it'd have to be a work of unspeakable genius. I'm not sure shedding thousands of season ticket holders is what he was aiming for in the process, mind. I know people think I go on and on about it here, but mere words can't express just how horrifically depressing that season was. The way we played was so, so embarrassing. If i had been a fan of another club, I'd have wanted us to go down for it, it was that bad.

agree of course brummie, i brought these figures up to show the difference between the market spurs (for example) are operating in and our own (and yours, i'd guess). there's nothing to say we cant attack the top 4/5 spots, last season showed that, but if and when it happens it should be recognised for the achievement it is rather than seen as things being put right "finally" in spite of having laurel and hardy running the club It's sad, isn't it, when you look at the degree to which fourth place and above is the new silverware. I understand it all, but it's really so depressing. Look at Wenger's sheer relief at managing to keep Arsenal in the top four. If a club like Arsenal are that way, then really, it's all very sad indeed. I am so, so glad I am lucky enough to be old enough to have seen my team win the title and the EC, because anyone born only a few years after me is never going to have the chance to see Villa do that in their lifetimes, barring some sort of source of vast amounts of free money pouring investment into the club.

Spurs are always going to make more money per head by virtue of the fact they're in London. They're not making it because they sell more food and drink to those 36k punters, they're making it because their tickets are significantly more expensive and so are their corporate packages (which they can sell far easier). I honestly don't think it is possible to compete for the title without an artificial source of huge amounts of money. It doesn't really matter how much you generate yourselves, if someone comes along like the Man City people, then you're just not going to be able to match them. Look at Arsenal, one of the most profitable clubs in the world, and they can't compete at the top level. They've become the Wigan of the CL places. I think a lot of owners have realised it's not worth it now. They can invest tens of millions of pounds of their own money, and for what? to finish 8th instead of 10th? Where is the incentive for anyone (who isnt Man City rich or Abrahmovich rich and Abrahmovich crazy) to invest that sort of extra money in someone like Everton? What are they ultimately trying to do? Get into the Champions League? And then what? How much more money do you need to invest to compete well in the CL and to stay in it? It must be great to be one of the mentally monied clubs these days, but if I were Ashley or Lerner or Coates or whichever club owner, I wouldn't be pouring huge amounts of my own money into a club, either, because however much you put in, it is almost certainly not going to be enough. Money has been hugely important in the English game for years now, that's not new, but I do think that the really, really big changing point was when out of nowhere, the Man City owners appeared and took the spending to a whole new level. That was the point at which having a billionaire owner wasn't enough, you now needed a multi-billionaire.

Many people would consider Wonga to be usurious. All Western banks violate Islam by charging interest, but the excessive interest charged by Wonga may simply be more egregious. Islam doesn't do breaking the rules by degree's, the law is the law. It'd be like an Imam saying hey it's OK having a pint a day but don't get p*ssed and only one bacon butty a week, mind. We all know that religious people pick and choose how to interpret their scripture all the time. Islam is no different to any other religion in that way. This has to be a notable occasion because I agree with you for once..! I was once in Malaysia, a Muslim country in the main, and our guide informed us that a certain road was a bad spot for being stopped by Police for a breathalyser ; needless to say, I queried this by saying I thought Muslims didn't touch alcohol, whereupon he replied ; 'Yes - but we are MODERN Muslims...!' Quite right. It's not just picking the bits they like, it is also about how observant they are in general, and islam is really no different from any other religion in that respect. I've got a Jewish mate who eats as much bacon as I do, and muslim friends who like to go out on the lash as much as I do. The issue with islam in this country is that a relatively tiny number of either ultra-observant muslims, or muslims who twist the religion to suit their own agendas, who get way more media coverage than they deserve - either through actual acts against the state, or, like Anjem Choudary, because they're gobshites the news like to get on at every opportunity. People then assume, mistakenly, that that's just what islam is like, when it isn't, muslims can be every bit as non-observant of their religion as the rest of us.

These signings could easily all flop, and I am still worried that we need more experience, so it could just as well turn into another season of toil. I genuinely think, though, that the McLeish year was like a kick in the arse to us - to remind us just how miserable football can be. I remember the Graham Turner dismantling of the European Cup side, the awful Billy McNeill season, 86-87 where we actually did get relegated, and I can honestly say, the McLeish year was more depressing than either of them. After that, it's much easier to enjoy things.

Im not sure brummie uses a gym mate. The last time I used a gym was about the time of the match he's talking about ;-) Can't really remember if i was there. Stands a chance. That was the year before i went to Newcastle for college, so I was probably at pretty much all the home matches.

A Life Too Short - The Tragedy of Robert Enke is easily the most touching football book I have ever read. It's a beautifully sad book.

All those fucking hooligan books, what a load of cunts, really. I totally understand the role of hooligan culture in English football, i was around and doing away matches in the 80s, you can't do that and not get it, but really, they're just a bunch of people who really, really need to grow up. These hagiographies are pathetic.

He needs to teach us how to defend, really, really quickly, I know that much. One thing i will say is that last season was one of the weirdest ever. At times, I could barely watch us without doing so through my fingers. We put together some abysmal statistics. We managed to complete a run of four home wins in almost two years. Loads and loads of things were awful. We looked like a bunch of young players being asked to do too much, and sometimes (most memorably second leg LC QF at home to Bradford), we got things embarassingly tactically wrong. But then again, despite all the bad results and statistics, the fans never, ever lost it with Lambert, which is pretty strange. At various points in the season you could easily say he'd done enough to get sacked, but the crowd stuck with him. In large part because we'd seen what it's like when things go badly and you really don't like what the manager is trying to do, as per last year under McLeish. It sounds utterly mental when you've just finished 15th, but I, and just about every Villa fan I know, really, despite all the shit, massively enjoyed last season. It was totally nuts in parts - summed up by losing 3-0 at home to Wigan, but also thinking about the third goal at Stoke, and seeing five Villa players through with just the keeper to beat. Absolutely mental highs and lows. Not only that, but I am looking forward to next season to a massive degree. I can't wait. I have no idea how it'll go, but I really do believe in the course the manager is taking. More than anything, I know that however badly it does or doesn't go, it absolutely won't be boring. That's the main thing,

Seen at the training ground today, with Lambert, apparently. Not all done or owt yet, but it looks like it may happen. Regardless of whether it does or doesn't, though, I am just taken aback by the evidence that we've looked all over Europe for promise and value, have thought about it before the window opens, and are trying to get them as soon as we can.

Rumours we've agreed a fee for Leandro Bacuna. I am confused. I used to think transfers only took place at the end of August and were only for players at the height of their careers, who played in the UK. Tonev, Okore, Nicklas Helenius ... it's almost as if the manager has had some proper scouting done and is getting his business done as soon as possible. What a refereshing change.

And here are those results, sponsored by Wonga. Yes, Wonga is unethical and his beliefs should be respected 17 (1,128%) Not sure, Wonga aren't the best company but he should just get on with it 17 (967%) No, it's a load of nonsense and he's out of order 17 (1,455%)

He plays in a league sponsored by a bank, plays against teams with betting and gambling sponsors, has a huge drinking culture associated with it, has its kits made in sweat shops by the poor and flogged to the masses for 50-60 quid a pop. You play football in england, take the wage, then you gotta accept it fucking wreaks to high heaven of shit. Out the fucking park. *standing ovation* The Premier League is amongst the least morally decent sporting institutions in the world. It'd be nice if, once in a while, we saw players doing something - anything, even an angry tweet might be a start for some of these fucking self obsessed retards - to show an objection to things like charging 75 quid for a kids replica kit, season tickets costing 800 quid, and the fact that no matter how much money flows into the game, it never, ever seems to end up at the grass roots. Cisse has probably not noticed that he's playing in the Barclays Premier League - Barclays being one of the more stomach churningly offensive, crooked money lenders out there. If he was really arsed, he might have thought about that before coming over to play in it. I am entirely sensitive to people having religious issues with this or that, but I have a really funny feeling that the answer to this is going to lie in money, as in more of it, for him.

Surely the vast majority of people who consume alcohol or gamble do so because it's a hobby, and they manage to have it not become a problem. Wonga and similar pay day loan companies, on the other hand, are services only used by people when they are absolutely desperate, and which frequently result in the borrower getting into way, way more trouble. They are an internet equivalent of local loan sharks of days gone by. The concept of higher interest rates for riskier borrowers (and let's not forget, with credit scoring, it is quite easy to become considered a financial pariah through no real fault of your own these days) isn't what people object to with companies like Wonga, it is the immoral levels of interest they charge. People might say "can't afford it, then don't borrow it" but that totally misses the point - people borrow from them because they have no other option. It's not like people with choice think "I need to borrow some cash, think I'll try Wonga first".

Interesting concept, though, having an away kit which is 50 percent made up of the main colour of your home kit. That'll be why we're keeping this year's away kit (that high vis one) as a third kit, I guess.

I quite like them. The home kit is a nod to the 1982 European Cup kit, and the away kit is different. http://www.avfc.co.uk/javaImages/9/2d/0,,10265~12004617,00.jpg Mind you, I haven't bought one since about 1992, so am easily pleased.

Definitely a cross.

I was living on Osborne Avenue when that match was played, we watched it at home. The minute the game ended, we left the house to go to the local. As I looked up the street, almost every single house was simultaneously disgorging inhabitants as they did precisely the same. Never forget that.

You mean there is more than France in Europe? What magic is this? The MON era only ended three seasons ago. I've only just become accustomed to the idea that they actually play football outside the UK.

Danish media saying we've agreed £4m for Okore. I've no idea if he's any good (same with this Helenius we're signing), but I do like having a manager who looks all round Europe for up and coming players.

As I said the other day, Bent is one of the best players around of his type. If you get the ball to him, he'll score plenty of goals, it's as simple as that. I personally think anyone who gets him now is going to get themselves a bargain, coming off a season where he's not been used much and the price is lower as a result.

Leonardo and his elbow on Ramos, John Aldridge and Jack Charlton's tirade at the officals when they wouldn't let Ireland make a substitution, the match where the goal fell apart, Oleg Salenko hitting 5 past Cameroon.... None of which was anything like as brilliant as the 1990 World Cup. What a tournament that was.

Villa have said we're negotiating with Aalborg for Nicklas Helenius. I've no idea what he's like.

The first of those two seasons under McLeish, we were so negative, the ball never got anywhere near him. This season, Lambert has just preferred Benteke, as he gives much, much more to the team as a whole. Remember all that stick Lambert got in the media over this decision? Looks like he was right. Feel sorry for Bent, though, he's a brilliant finisher and has been really unlucky this season.

We spent 18m on Bent, the 24 figure includes loads of add ons which may or may not be triggered. We bought him in the January window as we couldn't score goals. He then scored lots of goals and kept us up.