brummie

It is almost as if Lerner thought "what can I do this summer that will damage the club most, alienate the fans as much as possible, and reduce season ticket sales to an all time low? And then he did something even worse. it makes zero sense on any level. What is even more mad is that his choice before McFuck was Martinez - another "bottom feeder", but one who at least tries to play football. So how did he go from Martinez to McFuck?

Yeah, and what's worse is I was hanging around this place that season as your relegation unfolded, and am now trying to convince myself there are no parallels at all.

Not compound your misery mate, but what would the outlook be for Villa if relegation were to happen? Like us, would it perhaps be a blessing in disguise (shifting the shite, rebuilding, etc) or would it have cataclysmic repurcussions? I genuinely don't know. I think the main problem is the manager. Unfortunately, I don't think Lerner would sack him if we went down, he's bought into this McLeish nonsense so thoroughly.

I'm not going, in case we lose. The thought of the vindictive pube-headed prick doing cartwheels if they score makes me want to vomit. I have a good friend who usually sits behind/beside the dugout but is quite ill. I'm not sure if it is a good idea for him to go or not. Honestly, I think you'll be OK if you get something from that match. If you lose (after the next three tough matches), well, shit. We're not going to get relegated. McLeish is a shit manager, but we're not that poor a side, plus there are a number of teams below us who are far shitter than we are. If you look at the league table for this time last year and how many points the bottom four or five had, then look at this season, it's quite noticeable how shit the bottom sides are this year. 36 points will probably be enough this year. The problem in my eyes is that whilst our squad is not a top six squad, it's not a bottom six one, either, and McLeish has made us look like less than the sum of the parts. Incidentally, a friend of mine sits near the dugout, and was telling me that for weeks now, every time McLeish or Peter Grant stand up, there's a cacophony of "sit down you stupid twat, you don't know what you doing" etc It's not a nice atmosphere.

I'm not going, in case we lose. The thought of the vindictive pube-headed prick doing cartwheels if they score makes me want to vomit.

Honestly, I know you think I am exaggerating but I am a 43 year old man (44 next month, fact fans), and the above is a sight that depresses me like nothing else. It actually makes me almost (were i capable of expressing emotions like a normal adult, which Mrs Brummie assures me, I am not, so I can't) cry.

Can you imagine what it's like watching Heskey hobble around pointlessly, and he's playing for YOUR TEAM? Now imagine seeing him played in MIDFIELD. Because your manager thinks he stiffens you up defensively, and he does it every time you play someone in the top third of the table. Despite it NEVER having worked. Literally, not one single time. Honestly, after all this Muamba and Petrov stuff, clubs should be sending their players out to warm up with t shirts saying "Villa Fans. Our thoughts are with you" and on the back, "666" with "Heskey" across the top. I am so deeply, deeply unhappy.

Heskey is on 65k a week. As revealed by the son of an AVFC board member, so an actual decent source.

I don't understand why Quinn has this legendary status? Played 160 times for them, 1 in 3 scoring record or thereabouts. He's no Ivo Stas (google him) but then again, it's hardly a record of great devotion to the club, is it? Are their legends made so cheaply?

Quality. Love the subtle play of words on his real name. Sadly a number of our employees have earned such soubriquets of late. Emile Heskey = usually known as "Emile Fucking Heskey" in the same way Harewood was always shortened to "MFH".

Check out the Swiss Ramble, Baba: http://swissramble.blogspot.com/2012/03/aston-villa-prophets-and-losses.html A few issues, but essentially their wages went crazy under MON and the transfer fees weren't much better for players who were often mediocre. He would then treat them idiosyncratically. Apparently Lerner questioned why MON had all this money sitting on the bench or in the stand, and suggested that if he wanted more he could offload some of his junk to pay for it. MON threw his toys out of the pram. They have a great youth set-up and scouts (poached a couple of foreigners and players from clubs like Watford) but with a couple of big injuries (Bent, Petrov, Dunne, Cuellar) they have been forced to play more kids than they'd like. The last match was instructive - kids like Weimann, Bannan, Lichaj, Herd, Gardner, Baker are all good but are still at the stage when they should be introduced two or three at a time max. You could see it in their play; some nice football but still learning the ropes and unable to step up the gears. They were getting muscled-out. If they come through this they'll have some good experience, but if they have to play three or four more matches together then Villa will be very, very nervous. The financial issue is that under MON the wage bill spiralled out of control. Heskey is on 65k a week until he's 35. Something has to be done about that. People forget, though, it's only just over a year since we broke our record and spent 20 odd million on a striker. The irony of the kids is that the reserves (who seem to win the league most years) play really nice football. What happens when they encounter the genius of McFuck and his acolytes is a mystery. You can't really read too much into last week's game, though - we were playing an experienced Champions League side, after all. The only reason they got that fourth was because we were pouring forward to try for the equaliser. Yes, though, the reason we're starting with so many of them now is due to injuries. McFuck should have been more ambitious (well, less gut wrenchingly soul destroyingly negative) earlier in the season when we had no injuries, and we wouldn't be scrabbling around for points like we are now. He is now rapidly approaching O'Leary levels of hatred amongst our fans, and that's including those of us who weren't really bothered about his former employer (well, not beyond the fact he got them relegated twice). Lerner was right to handle MON the way he did, and Houllier wasn't a crazy appointment, but it's hard to see how he could have made a more damaging appointment than this one. Season ticket sales next year will be atrocious. It's the only way people feel they can hit out. I won't be renewing, and I've got 35 plus years of support (most with a season ticket) behind me. The reason I won't be renewing is because it's so gloomy and unambitious. I've been actually ashamed of the side several times this season, and that is totally unacceptable.

I seem to remember SId Cowans taking a penalty, your keeper saving it, Cowans netting the rebound, and the keeper kicking Cowans' legs from under him! If you did that these days, you'd get a 10 match ban. I don't think he even got booked. Happy days.

I know how you feel. I get exactly like that at a lot of our games. The only time in my lifetime that we played Aston Villa you bummed us. I know. I was there. You were dirty feckers, too. To balance it up, 77-8 was in my lifetime as well, and you snuck past us that time.

Got West Ham at the weekend I think too. EDIT: Monday evening. Yep, as if this season weren't already sufficiently joyous, that just makes it even better.

I know how you feel. I get exactly like that at a lot of our games.

Christ. They're even worse than us.

I fucking love the bloke, even now.

They're easily the best away support year in, year out, and I say that as one who fucking hates Man United. Compare their excellent following with Liverpool's utterly pathetic clueless day tripping scandinavians and lost cockneys.

We are quite possibly in big trouble. Effectively relying on the shitness of those below us, and currently forced to throw loads of kids in.

Horrible news. He's a popular bloke, and was having his best season so far with us this year.

Did anyone see that goal Bret Holman scored for AZ tonight? Lovely goal. Someone should give him a go in the PL. or possibly the championship

Our lot fawn over them, too. Having said that, our trip to play them was possibly the most fun I have ever had before, during and after a football match. Great people.

he'd have got less time for ABH or 100 burglaries. In which case, the problem is that sentences for burglaries or ABH are too soft, not that what this little scrote got is too harsh.

Ah, the Blatter Defence. *nods*

The thing for Sunderland fans to be worried about is that he needs to buy strikers, and he's fucking disastrous at spotting them. When we were needing goals to push on and try to break the top four, his idea of striker purchases was Marlon Fucking Harewood, and then Emile Fucking Heskey. The only reason he got Carew in (who did well) was because Lyon rang up and offered him for Baros. I absolutely guarantee you, he'll sign some really shite UK based striker (doesn't shop abroad - bought about 30 players at Villa, 2 of whom were playing outside the UK, one of those was a rookie keeper, and the other was Carew), and the Sunderland fans will start back tracking along the lines of "well, Harewood has been shit everywhere else, but I only really care what he does in a Sunderland shirt". I also flag up now the availability of Emile Shitting Heskey on a free transfer this summer. If I were a Sunderland fan, I wouldn't be excited about the transfer window, I'd be shitting my pants.