brummie

i think its a villa top, wank colour scheme like west ham. Its ok for a villa top, but its still a villa top. Honestly, shurrup.

Is the subtext of the original post actually "Fuck! Look at how little we've spent compared to everyone else! We've got a really rich owner, so why aren't we spending loads more??"? I ask because that is the way Villa fans are talking at the moment. Although we've let a load of players go, too.

4m on Steven Davis is potentially money well spent. I've got a feeling that might come back to haunt us.

Reading about that on Wiki the other day. Weird. Scored a belting goal to win the 1977 LC final on the second replay. Good player, he was. The side Saunders built in 1977 was better than the side which won the league 3 years later, but I digress ... .. although, having apologised for digressing, I'll point out that we won the league using just 14 players. That's another of my favourite football facts. Anyway, sorry, as you were ...

Another surreal event, involving one of my favourite players, although I wasn't there, was Chris Nichol (a defender) scoring all four goals in a 2-2 draw between Villa and Leicester.

Incidentally, our new kit is getting its official launch event on Tuesday at .....Harvey Nicholls'. Now I know football truly has deserted the working classes.

Proper pictures of the one we've all been waiting for. Well, down here, anyway. I like it, nice, simple, colours correct (you're lucky it is impossibly to get black and white wrong), and I like it in long sleeves. Even the execrable badge looks OK. Due to change again next year, as we change sponsor from the shitty 32 Red. Rumour has it the next sponsor will be Cadburys (consider it an act of local pride). I'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere. http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/9107/villaea5.jpg http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/6029/villa2zq5.jpg

We've sold 22,000 compared to 11,000 at the same time last year, apparently. That 19k figure is the figure we squeaked up to with half season ticket offers etc. Going through the prime ST buying months last summer with Ellis, O'Dreary and no money was absolutely crippling to us.

Also that list was made just before he made $2 billion from the floatation of Sports World, which doubled his personal fortune to $4 billion. Which would put him up to number 214 (of course some other billionaires may have increased there fortunes significantly that year as well..). However, we're owned by the Lerner family trust, which manages the wealth of Randy Lerner, his sister and his mother, who all are individually worth pretty much the same amount, so you can triple that figure and ya booh sucks. That means we can fail to sign players who cost at least double the players who can fail to sign. Yay! Oh ....

His assets are 200 BILLION? I think that's somewhat exaggerated. Britain's richest 1000 people together have assets worth 250bn, according to Forbes.

You neglected to mention Villa in your list of recently taken over clubs. We've spent fuck all either, 2.5m net or something I think. Mind you, we're all getting jittery as well.

No he hasn't, the revenue and customs are doing their best to fuck him up. Good.

I may be wrong, but i was under the impression he was pretty average last season, but that he is now seen as some kind of junior Maldini for having hobbled through that U21 match. As I said, I may be wrong. I think he's alright, mind. Although every time i look at him I think of that hilarious "OMG! I'VE JUS BIN SHOT!!!!" thing he did against us.

Just as well Doug Ellis was never particularly litigious. I'd be amazed if any club chairman anywhere, including the fragrant Mr Shepherd, got the kind of comments he got on some of our boards.

I think the big four and spurs will take the top 5 places. I don't hate Spurs like most Newcastle fans seem to (although I do loathe their undeserved media adoration), so can say without any real prejudice that they are a good year *at least* ahead of Newcastle and Villa. But after that, Villa, Newcastle, Everton and possibly Portsmouth are going to be fighting for the following places, and could finish in any order. Of those four, Everton are the best equipped to finish top of the group. I'd throw Citeh in there, but I think they're a bit too fucked to be competing at that level next season. Whatever happens mate the £50 is coming this way. In your dreams! You've only slightly more chance of finishing above us than you have Arsenal. Seriously, a quid a week between now and end of season will almost cover it for you. Get squirelling away

I think the big four and spurs will take the top 5 places. I don't hate Spurs like most Newcastle fans seem to (although I do loathe their undeserved media adoration), so can say without any real prejudice that they are a good year *at least* ahead of Newcastle and Villa. But after that, Villa, Newcastle, Everton and possibly Portsmouth are going to be fighting for the following places, and could finish in any order. Of those four, Everton are the best equipped to finish top of the group. I'd throw Citeh in there, but I think they're a bit too fucked to be competing at that level next season.

Especially unfair if you signed that plank Heinze, yes.

He's playing for 4th at a struggle. If we signed him, Heinze an equally good RB & Deco then i reckon we've got just a good a shout as Arsenal at 4th spot. Nah, they've got a manager who has been in the job for a decade and knows the club inside out. You've got one who has just arrived and has a shit load of work to do before you can think about getting 4th - unfair expectations on SA imho.

We (ie Villa) appear to have struck it lucky. 8 times in the first batch, but most impressively, 5 of our first 6 away games are on live. Could it be better than that (for me, I mean, obviously)?

I forgot to add that if the player in question is currently playing for a London club (or, under some fucked up vision of a Greater Greater London anywhere within an hour's drive, Reading, for example), then he gets linked to Spurs and Spurs fans speak at length of how the player "wants to stay in London", that, of course, being the driving factor in how footballers make these decisions.

I love all this shit. I really can't wait for next season. Allardyce at Newcastle, Sven at Citeh, Villa sweeping all before them, Birmingham City getting relegated before Christmas, can't wait!

I'm not one for this ITK shite, but apparently - and this is from a source who pops up now and then on Villa sites and posts 'ITK' that turns out to be true with an impressive regularity - Villa and West Ham have both agreed terms with Chelsea for SWP, and it is up to him where he goes. The interesting factor is that Villa are apparently offering 45K a week, and West Ham are offering a rather desperate 75k, so it is going to be that kind of decision. Still, it worked with Ashley Young. Obviously, Spurs are also linked with him late on, as it is THE LAW that 95% of players thought to be close to joining Villa, Newcastle or Everton MUST be also linked with Spurs

I can not believe anyone would seriously think that 1. Marquez is crap, and 2. Wouldn't be an excellent signing for any second tranche PL team. He's won pretty much everything going, he looked one of the best players at the last world cup, he'd be brilliant in this league. I know football is all about opinions, but in mine, anyone who thinks he is "crap" is mad.

Shouldn't think so. We've suffered enough long-ball dross already. You're barmy if you think he's going to play the same style at Newcastle as he did at Bolton - you cut your cloth according to your resources. Similar to when Sir Graham Taylor took over at Villa - ooh, he'll have them hoofing it up the park every ten minutes, just like he did at Watford. Except he didn't. I hope he doesn't, as the football Bolton played against last season us was the worst I remember seeing in years. I understand why he had them playing it though. And it worked, as you won. I just don't think he'll need to play that kind of game any more, and won't do so.

Marseille was an escape from the dross served up at the Reebok every week. Please try to keep up. You were dross in Marseille IIRC. Who did they blame for that? *cheeky whistling emoticon* That's the thing, I don't remember many blaming him at the time but having had a quick look at their board they blame him for everything! Very bitter indeed. Yep, that's the nature of football fans, really, we'll be totally rational people in real (non football) life (well, most of us) but when it comes to football we'll argue whatever suits our agenda, whatever the weight of evidence against it. Like West Ham fans who swear they've done nothing wrong in the Tevez saga, or Chelsea fans who reckon they were the biggest club in London pre the mid 90s