brummie

Watching you this season, you remind me of us in 1986-7. There certainly seems to be a similar feeling about your club as we had then.

Three or four weeks ago, Man City were "fucking doomed" because all those players were bought on the never never, they were selling players behind the manager's back to get some cash back in to the club, and the owner had had his assets frozen. Fast forward a few weeks and they're the richest club in the world, and in the January window they're bidding 200m for our Lord Jesus Christ. Football is surreal. Happenings at Newcastle the last few weeks have been surreal. Whatever happens in the next few weeks will probably be even more surreal, but there's no guarantee it will be bad. When nobody gave a flying fuck about the game, let alone was able and willing to invest hundreds of millions, if you were in this situation after a few games, you were fucked, but these days it is all different.

Crikey.

We don't get any free.

Thought your crowd was decent. Let's be honest, it is the early rounds of the CC, nobody gives a flying fuck. I didn't go to ours last night. 20 quid to watch the reserves play QPR? Nein danke. The reason yours is getting mentioned is purely because they get to spin it out as a boycott, whereas it was probably every bit as much people saying "I can't be fucking bothered with it", and who could blame them?

When seeing Gazza's problems, I often wonder whether his great celebrity pals of the 90s, Danny Baker and Chris Evans are around to help him now he really needs it. I don't know the answer, but I suspect not. I hope he's OK. I'll never forget seeing him as a teenager swanning around the centre of the park with his chest stuck out, full of himself, like he owned the fucking pitch. Most of the time, he did.

You know what, I'm going to start supporting the Villa. Don't bother. We lost at home to QPR tonight. Fucking disgrace. Only 21k there, too. Bigger disgrace.

"He's got fuck all to lose" Like previous toon legend KK, you mean? Hmmm.

QPR beating Villa.

Your lot not much better at the minute I know. I saw that one coming, though, that's why I'm sitting here nice and warm rather than at the match.

I might have to go back to the living room and watch the Inspector Lynley Mysteries with the Mrs if this match doesn't perk up soon.

Dont worry. That will get ignored by every form of media tomorrow That's a decent crowd. We're playing QPR at home tomorrow. Things are going well, there's an air of optimism around the club, but I'm not paying 20 quid to watch the reserves play a CC team. Strangely, Villa wanted to pitch it at 10 quid for this match but QPR wouldn't agree to price it so low. Couple that with the stories about them hiking their prices this week (50 quid to watch CC football?) and maybe, just maybe being supposedly ultra rich is a double edged sword.

Who signed Robinho ? Exactly, so Mark Hughes said to the new blokes, on the last day of the window: "Get me Robinho. And Berbatov. And Torres. Fuck it, let's bd for all those goal bothering motherfuckers!"

I'm full of trepidation in getting involved in this thread, but as a neutral (although as one who spent a lot of time watching Newcastle in the late 80s), on the most obvious level the key is to look at the state of the ground in the late 80s and look at it now, look at the crowds back then and look at them now. First time I went to SJP I actually thought I'd gone to the wrong place, that I'd turned up at some kind of dilapidated athletics stadium. I'd never actually seen a ground open at both ends in the top flight. I've enjoyed reading the pyramidtastic threads on here about your old board, but it is interesting that - again, on the most superficial level, and simplifying things - a lot of Villa fans would say that the problem with our esteemed former chairman was that he never, ever showed any ambition whereas yours did. Look at the effect it had when your board showed that ambition, and look at the upturn in our fortunes now our new board in showing some. In a bizarre, twisted way, whilst I understand why feeligns to FFS are as they are, if you look at the way things changed at your club over, what, more than a decade, you got some things right and - this is the bizarre bit - showed an example. Speculate to accumulate. Sorry if that makes no sense, it is quite hard to explain what I'm trying to say. Made harder since a few pints after work

I'd never put too much faith in any claim that potential buyer x has said he will invest y millions in the transfer market. What would be the point in giving out figures at this stage?

Class feeling to have complete faith in a manager, isn't it. It isn't as simple as having complete faith. One of the reasons i think Directors of Football and people other than the manager choosing which players get bought does not work is that you take away the manager's ability to stand or fall by his own choices. With a DoF, if the signings don't work, then the manager can say (with justification) 'not my fault, I didn't sign them'. If the manager has identified them and got them in and they don't perform, then it is his fault. All this DoF nonsense just blurs the boundaries of responsibility. Although I'm clearly preaching to the most converted audience anywhere at the moment on this subject

results do not prove that a 4th choice centre half was the right move. if so we should have been happy with dabizas/o'brien/titus as centre halves cos we finished 3rd with them No, they don't, but Knight did a decent job last year. We actually had our best defensive spell when he was in the team. I was one of the people covering my eyes when we signed him, but he contributed last season, and now he's down the pecking order with much better players in front of him

Obviously, my official stance is that he is a potato-headed loser, but my actual opinion is that he's a more than decent manager.

The thing about MON buying players like Knight and Harewood is that, whilst it is embarassing when it happens, and you want better, you just have to trust the manager to get the right people in. Knight at the time looked a mad signing. That was only a year and a bit ago, and now he's fourth choice behind Laursen, Curtis Davies, and Cuellar. If I'd have thought back then that would be or CB line up, I'd have spaffed in my pants. Sometimes he does some stuff which looks mental, but he can point at the results as evidence that he was right. *shrug*

One human rights abuser shakes hands with another at Man City. Football. All wrong, really.

Nah, plenty of possession and passing but they never really looked like it was going anywhere. Three away games in six days, on of which in Bulgaria, and we've won them all. Can't really ask for much more than that.

Very good match, this.

If you weren't happy when KK said he couldn't compete with the top four, you'd better get used to O'Leary talking you down even more when, after the initial improvement which comes with a new manager, you settle into a rut. Let Hughton do it, FFS, don't appoint this arrogant numpty.

Rubbish performance. We looked tired, and the pitch made us look very heavy legged. Still, 3-1. That'll be enough to get us through to the group stages.

We've been so rubbish.