brummie

Incredible that we're actually shrinking the squad. Unless we've two CBs about to sign. Distin maybe one, the other? Where's Bassong today?

http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/javaImages/9d/4c/0,,10265~6769821,00.jpg http://www.astonvilladirect.com/product_images/maxzoom/prd_maxzoom_villa-55648.jpg Traditional simple. Very like last year's.

I saw him play against us last season, and he did absolutely fuck all.

Wasn't he in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and Press Gang?

They must have been won over by looking at the effect joining Spurs has had on other promising full backs.

Course they won't, they are all money grabbing bastards; none of them would do the right thing. They should though since they are not even worth 10% of their wages. That's mental though. If you or I went into work with a hangover and got nothing done we wouldn't offer to give up some of your money. Just because they're not worth what they're paid doesn't give them any obligation to return the money. If you went for a hangover for a year (which is what they've done) you'd be sacked And any properly run business would have clauses in your contract which enabled them to get rid of you if you rolled in with a year-long hangover.

Nothing about this down here. Thank fuck

He's got a broken foot, he's not snapped his achilles or something.

Peterborough 0 - Villa 3. Storming 50 yard run involving a few 1-2s, then a cool finish from the ever lethal, errm, Curtis Davies. Nice goal, mind.

Football is not as simple as "buy loads of good players, finish high up the league", it takes time. I think City are going about it the wrong way. RSC, Tevez, Adebayor, Robinho plus the strikers they already have. They're not even in Europe, how are they going to keep those players happy? And, players who quite clearly are only there for the money. In many ways they're a Middlesbrough on a larger scale - buying players who're there purely for the cash. If they carry on like that over time, it is bound to pay off with something, but what they're doing at the moment will not bring instant results, and is incredibly vulgar to watch. I always thought I'd be genuinely happy for any team to break the top four with any permananence, but now I know that isn't the case.

Anyone can look quality in Scotland. Its the new Holland. Or is Holland the new Scotland?

I've got vague memories of being lectured by a Villa fan when I said something about Villa playing in claret and blue, said something like "We do NOT play in claret and blue, that's West Ham. We play in (insert some very similar sounding colours)" But that could have been another team, it could have been the other way round (West Ham don't play in claret and blue, that's us) or I could have dreamt it. Actually, it could have been a team I referred to as just playing in sky blue I was corrected on. I don't think there is a Villa fan alive who would not refer to our primary colour as claret. The use of the term 'sky blue' is something almost every Villa fan would pull you up on, though. It brings to the mind thoughts of that team down the A45 who play in said colour and loathe us (which is reciprocated by utter disinterest).

Man City are a joke. RSC, Tevez, Robinho and Adebayor vying to play up front, and they're not even in Europe. What the fuck are those players going to do with their time? They're like a Middlesbrough on a grander scale, attracting players to sign for them purely and entirely because of the money. They're the poster boy for the absolute fucking mess that English football is becoming. It is easy to say "I wish that were us", but really, if they won the league next year, it'd be great for their fans, but it would be tainted by the fact that they - unlike anyone else, because whatever anyone says, even Chelsea started slowly - had bought it as if they were picking up a 200 pack of tabs in an airport Duty Free store. When i see Mark Hughes doing press conferences and talking about their transfer policy, even he looks embarassed. As if he's been appointed accountant to a lottery winning sex offender.

Knight is off to Bolton. Distin is signing today apparently, to replace Laursen, and I suspect someone like Onuoha won't want to be nominal fourth choice CB, he'll go somewhere he'll get more games. Onouha is arguably better than any of Distin/Davies/Cuellar imo. He was easily one of City's best players when he got a run of games at centre half in the second half of the season. Impressive, no nonsense-style centre half. The type I could see doing well alongside Curtis Davies actually. No doubt he will get lost amongst the big money buys at City though before going elsewhere and doing great. It isn't so much that we need a better player than Davies or Cuellar, we just need a more experienced one to brin gout the best in them, which is why I'd rather spend 2m on Distin than get another youngster in

Couldn't agree more. The whole "package" of an away day at Fulham is just perfect If you get a match there in the spring, and the sun is out, it is pretty much the perfect PL football day.

He wanted more first team football, apparently. The crowd loved him, there was "One Gary Cahill" ringing out after we played Bolton at home last season, and the lad apparently had a tear in his eye as he came off. Crowd were always going to have a bond with him after he scored that amazing goal at home against the knuckledraggers in O'Dreary's last season.

Knight is off to Bolton. Distin is signing today apparently, to replace Laursen, and I suspect someone like Onuoha won't want to be nominal fourth choice CB, he'll go somewhere he'll get more games. Wonder if that means Cahill is off somewhere? (You shouldn't have let him go btw) Pretty much every single Villa fan you ask will agree with you on Cahill. If we gave them 10m for him tomorrow, I'd be delighted.

Knight is off to Bolton. Distin is signing today apparently, to replace Laursen, and I suspect someone like Onuoha won't want to be nominal fourth choice CB, he'll go somewhere he'll get more games.

Both SJP and the SOL (what a cringemakingly bad name that is, btw) are good stadia. The SOL's advantage is that being a new ground, the whole thing was done at once, so perhaps there is a better "continuity" to its facilities, I don't know. However, it isn't just about the stadium itself, it is about transport links, quality and number of hotel rooms, experience in the tourism / business travel sector etc etc, and on all of those factors, Sunderland falls well, well short. There is only possibility I could see it not being Newcastle out of the two (and there's no chance they're going to use two grounds in the north east, precisely because Newcastle would serve as the "base" for both grounds, and I doubt it would have the infrastructure to handle that, plus the FA want to spread it to "non traditional" football areas like Bristol and MK).... I know for a fact that the WC bid inspection team were at Villa Park at the end of last week doing their inspection stuff. With the current lack of leadership at NUFC, it wouldn't surprise me if Ashley forgot to arrange for someone to show them around

I agreed with your first point and disagreed with the second a month ago and realistically still think the same now. However, I think Spurs are in with as good a chance as any club right now and certainly more than a month ago. I'm not ruling the idea out just yet. MON is very keen to get Bentley though I cant fathom out why. Word down here is that MON doesn't want Bentley. And do Spurs have as much chance of signing him as, say, the four teams who can offer him CL football or Man City who can offer him absurd wages?

That'll never float!

That West Ham shirt is fecking awful. THAT, you eel-bothering cockney WANKAHS is divine retribution for copying our colours, you kitstealing scrotes.

Id like us to look abroad a little more often, but i quite like Downing. He was superb against us at our place this season, is two footed, and provides ammunition: Daily Telegraph - Chances Created Last Season 1 Frank Lampard Chelsea 124 2 Steven Gerrard Liverpool 80 3 Stewart Downing Middlesbrough 72 4 Luis Antonio Valencia Wigan Athletic 70 5 Wayne Rooney Manchester United 67 6 Francesc Fabregas Arsenal 63 7 Mikel Arteta Everton 63 8 Dirk Kuyt Liverpool 63 9 Mark Noble West Ham United 63 10 Nicolas Anelka Chelsea 62

That's what I think he will do. Also, Young and Milner can also play both left and right wing. Have you seen how many matches the Europa League involves this season? I'm just glad we're getting decent standard players in to build up the strength this time around.