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Oh my days

I 100% disagree with this last line... VillaTalk was in full doom and gloom mode the last week of the transfer window because we didn't sign a midfielder and there was a lot of criticism aimed directly at Smith for "not seeing and addressing something so obvious to most fans". Lots of hot takes on McGinn and Dougie not being good enough for a top half team, the kids not Prem quality or ready yet, and even still Sanson is getting called a flop or "waste of a signing" by some around here when he hasn't kicked a ball in anger this season. Some still are moaning on about the fact that if we had bought a new CM, it would have automatically made us contenders for Europe... Fast forward to 5 games into the season and our central midfielders have arguably been our strongest unit so far. McGinn is back to his old self, Dougie is getting better and better every week (he made the WhoScored team of the weekend yesterday), and young Jacob Ramsey has surpassed all our expectations and is looking like a future star in the making. If it was up to VillaTalk/the fans, McGinn would have been benched, Douglas Luiz would be off to Roma for 20 million, and Ramsey would be at a mid table Championship club on loan while we have an 18 year old midfielder who only played ~20 games of professional football in France starting... The point is, we don't know the full story. Deano does and he hasn't let us down yet. He took us from mid table in the Championship to mid table in the Prem in 3 seasons while playing some of the best football I've ever seen Villa play, but that still doesn't seem to be enough for some fans...

I had my first date with a cis girl since I came out last night All the pictures from the actual date have her in them and I dont want to be putting stuff up on the internet when I've only met her on a couple of occasions but I loved my outfit so y'all get a pre date shot of me looking very nervous

The thing is, you look at players like Harry Kane, or David Beckham, and at his age, they were his age, and they went on to become much older players.

Apologies in advance for the downer: A friend of mine died today. I wrote this actually thinking that I wouldn't post it here. There won't be a funeral and I don't do social media. So you lot have the pleasure of scrolling on past my ramblings. I just miss my friend and wanted to put it somewhere. Robert Hicks, Madman, lunatic and conflicted: yet capable of extreme generosity and warmth. He will always be the person that introduced me to the American West. The place where I am now proud to call home. But really he did it for my father who was dying of cancer. He arranged a trip and (ultimately paid the majority of it) solely to show my ailing father as much as was comfortable for him. My struggling father had a life long ambition (installed whilst growing up in a the shadow of the 2nd WW) to experience the majesty and drama of America’s great frontier. Robert gave him that gift and I will forever be grateful for what he gave me an and my family. I had struck up a friendship with Robert for a number of years as a member of an orchestra that Robert donated money too. I would stay in his house along with other musicians in the “club room” which looked out over the Gulf of Mexico. We talked and argued politics, but enjoyed the nature of the Florida West coast and classical music (which was my career.) We talked of family and in 2009 he visited England! I took him to an English Premier League Game vs Arsenal (Zak Knight scored in the last moment to tie the game.) His generosity to my father and friendship with my father blossomed on his 2009 UK visit. For our trip, Robert rented the largest SUV possible, and rented the nicest cabins. He planned a trip that was unforgettable and drove myself and my parents though Arizona, Utah & New Mexico and making every moment as comfortable as possible. My love and admiration for the what Robert did is that he had nothing to gain form this. He did it purely out of generosity. He just wanted to be a good guy for that period of time. The irony is that the same illness would ravage Robert 10 years later. But anyone who knows cancer knows that the time of death doesn’t tell the whole story. There are months, years and sometimes decades of doctors visits, diagnoses, fear, hope and eventually a sad slide into the inevitable end. The last few years of our friendship existed in a strained silence as he consumed the current Republican Party dogma (I refuse to mention the name of its instigator.) Robert was intelligent, very intelligent and had lived a lot of his life around the academia of the North East. He eventually renounced all of that, with a distain for “intelligent people who didn’t have the good will to salt their driveways for guests that they had over to their homes.” The place he chose was the West coast of Florida. Cape Coral, or Cape Coma as he and his wife called it - when they moved there it was anemic but the last 25-30 years of baby boomers generally grabbing all they can has meant that the service industry and population density of Cape Coral is unrecognizable from when he moved there. Florida allowed him his indulgences. Guns, and a rugged idea of self reliance form the government. It also brought him the realization that alcohol was killing him. As extreme as Robert was, this also meant that he indulged in AA to the point of obsession. But if he was able to save some others from death - and lets not beat around the bush and deny that alcohol causes death - then good for him. AA probably gave him 20 years extra life. Although the penchant he had for helping out other AA folks by bringing over the house to ‘fix’ things probably cost him a lot financially in the long run even if it did feed his soul. He liked to travel. He loved to talk about it even more. I spent hours taking to Robert about places to visit. He advised me on Arches National Park, Africa and more. His South Africa trip to Kreuger was one of his highlights and he loved nothing more than finding a solitary place in California or Utah where he could look at the view, go hiking - but the place always needed a piano so Carol could enjoy herself playing for no-one but Robert. His love of guns was weird to me. It baffled me that someone so intellectual could still be a racist. Why could he not understand systemic racism was the cause end issue of poverty within communities of color. This was his laziness which annoyed me and made me think less of him. Sadly, the last few years of his life gave him a President who allowed his ignorance and laziness to flourish. This was a sad ending to many things, but mostly, the fact that we didn’t talk as often as we once did. What a loss. The madman, the patron, the Robert Hicks. He lived his life his way - running around Manhattan in the 80’s with pop-starts and his dog, Fred. A Saint Bernard. Yes a Saint-Bernard at parties in Manhattan who would swing his head and leave stalactites hangin form the ceiling. Robert knew Fred was going to die when he went out to poop in a Nor-Easter but got stuck. “Man rescues St. Bernard from snow storm.” Generous, ridiculous, curious, infuriating, heavy metal fan and supporter of chamber music and the Symphony. Another cancer victim. Another dead person. Happens to us all in the end. I know this doesn't flow - it's not a eulogy or an obituary - but I just wanted to write something.

Your stream is rubbish.

Probably going for a drink when he gets back

Afternoon! Here's me on the ole "Claret and Blue Podcast" talking about my career, but mostly about Villa kits down the years. If you like Villa and you like football kits, you'll probably like this...

Most of the time I like to be humble but **** Man U, **** Mike Dean, **** Bruno Fernandez We are going to win the league.

Did you call Martin Laursen pathetic when he played 10 games for Villa i his 1st 3 seasons or your namesake Fabian who was injured his first 3 seasons as well

I would already be in a Burka stoning my wife

Solskjaer saying the goal was offside and bitching about Villa players hassling the Manure players before the penalty Cry me a river Gollum.

I made you all this...

Once again I call for a petition to add a Mike Dean option below the lowest rating for Refereeing Performance

Alright Alex

My worry is that this loan has really put him back, and he’s going to come back younger than when he first went out on loan.

Dad out of hospital after having a cancerous growth cut out of his ear with no complications

I reckon it'd be a couple of dozen pages shorter if people would stop coming in just to post how much they aren't interested.

When asked what this win will do for team confidence, Hause said that’s all down to the gaffer. He tells them they’re just as good as anybody in the league and they believe in what he says. Think that summarises how good Deano is tbf.

Just back from the game, absolutely buzzing. Today we outplayed and out sung them. Parked at The Lowry, as we walked back to the car there was a ball in the quays, Utd fans werent’t happy when I mentioned it was put there by Fernandes. They really are self entitled pricks.

Smith keeps smashing through the imaginary ability ceiling people think he has.

Finally getting up the courage to ask a girl out for a date that I have known for awhile and she saying yes. Also she asked what took me so long lol.

Got the keys to our new house today! Exciting/scary times.

Dean Smith has overseen: - A ten in a row win streak - Playoff final victory and subsequent promotion - League Cup final - Survival and consolidation in the league - Won the FA Youth cup and has been the manager when we: - beat Liverpool 7-2 - beat Arsenal twice in one season - beat Chelsea and Spurs within a couple of weeks of eachother - Beat Man Utd at Old Trafford I’d say, from the shitshow that we were before he arrived, that Dean Smith has done fantastically and has proven his ability as a legit Premier League manager

I triple captained Ronaldo, thinking it might spur us on to beat the buggers. I take full credit for this.

Your wife wants her penis reduced?

Personally it makes me a little disgusted seeing some Newcastle fans cheer on this takeover. My wife has family that have lived in and fled Saudi Arabia (she's of Eritrean decent). I spoke to one of her cousins who lived there who had witnessed many public executions as a child/teen and he's scarred from the experiences. Had this been Aston Villa I would feel awful and be very conflicted about supporting the club under such a regime. Football is so capitalistic and gross in general these days that it's becoming harder and harder to enjoy it as the years go by. This is just another event in football that has left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

They’ll beheading to the Champions League!

OAPs at Tenby. Seven Go Mad on Sanatogen.

There's a second aspect to this, too. Something I thought about when I watched that Paul McGrath interview clip posted the other day. God was talking about how much Graham Taylor helped him personally, with his problems, and the underlying lesson was that God wanted to do well for him because of that. And this applies to Dean Smith too - whether it's allowing players to go play for their national sides (when other managers blocked it), or the welcome for Bailey, or the talking to Tyrone about BLM and countless other examples - the serenading Douggie and Emi after their wins in the summer comps - doing all that stuff makes players want to play for the manager and club. And it also means when the manager makes the players feel valued, those players value their team mates and the whole thing is a virtuous circle. Getting players in with the right character and then looking after them as people and helping them get better as players is huge.

Hey Villans! New poster here... and as my display name indicates.... huge fan of this man right here and cannot wait until he is fit. Agreed that we are more than a one man squad now, but he's an extraordinarily important piece of the puzzle that we need fit and on the pitch. His performance against Everton was insane.... very much hoping my display name ages well and in 20 years we talk about the legend of Leon Bailey! Excited to chat with you all about AVFC... being an American I don't get to interact with many fellow fans so very excited to be a part of the crew here.

I love him. A gentleman off the pitch and a mad bastard on it. How many gks in the world would start taunting potentially the greatest plsyer of all time before a last min pen, then celebrate the miss by thrusting the goalpost in front of the opposition fans. Statue of him required. Love the man

Will be same as last season at Juventus imo. He'll score 25 goals and possibly be prem top scorer but they'll finish 3rd or 4th. To me they should've just put Greenwood as CF (I assume that was the plan with them signing Sancho) as he didn't have his best game today but he's a very talented young player and good finisher. Instead his development will probably stall a bit now. Ronaldo really wasn't needed as their central midfield options aren't good at all for the level they play. Will probably watch this 100 times before midnight tonight aswell!

Liked seeing MacPhee telling players in no uncertain terms what they needed to do. Get the impression they are a bit scared of him, but that's good and Deano would seem to be perfect man manager to offset McPhee’s slightly psycho vibe. i wonder if Macphee has been talking to players about how they react/question decisions that go against us. Was pleased to see a whole load of villa in the ref’s face at penalty. Feels like Emi M and MacPhee have helped add a bit of anger that we lacked in the past. Always thought we were too nice and accepting, that seems to be changing and its good.

These boys were outstanding today.

At some point, we will stop talking as if it’s some kind of revelation when he is one of the best players on the pitch. I’ve never had any doubts about his defensive ability. His use of the ball this season has improved though, a lot. He’s not really doing anything spectacular, but it’s just that half a yard quicker, sharper. It makes a massive difference when in transition.

Put this in here too as wasn't active when I first posted.