limpid

by ChrisVillan

In a period of seemingly eternal away games, Villa head to Wigan for a Sunday lunchtime fixture looking for their third league win in a row.

FA Barclays Premiership

JJB Stadium

Sunday 19th November 2006

KO 13.30

In an unusual twist of events (well, one has to freshen things up, doesn't one?) I thought I'd begin with the team news for tomorrow's showdown in deepest pie country. Wigan have doubts over two key players with Rollerskates Heskey (calf) and Arjan de Zeeuw (toe). Scouse full-back dynamo Leighton Baines also has a calf worry and David Cotterill has a groin problem.

For Villa, Gareth Barry looks likely to return from his back injury, but Gav McCann misses out through suspension after picking up his fifth booking at Goodison last Saturday. Our delightful local paper, the Evening Mail, is reporting that Stiliyan Petrov has a suspected pulled hamstring. It also seems safe to assume the back four will remain from the Everton game, with Olly Mellberg slotting in at right back to replace the injured Aaron Hughes, and Gary Cahill partnering Liam Ridgewell at centre half.

Despite our stunning start to the season, the odd doubt had begun to creep into Villa fans. It was understandable to an extent. I believe this season is about more than results but it is impossible to suggest that my fellow fans who hold the result as paramount are wrong. And so the longest unbeaten run in the country, from a team nigh-on relegated last time out, was offset by the number of draws, and by the fact that Villa hadn't won away from home. I disagreed, but football is of course about results and scoring more than them and all that. But here we are, one week on from the achievement of that elusive away win, seeking our third win in a row. What may look to the outsider like a nothing game, could well be a big hint that we don't intend our great start to be a fluke.

There was a lot of discussion before and after Villa's defeat at Liverpool, both online and in the pub. Looking ahead to our next three games - Blackburn (H), Everton (A) and Wigan (A) - the big question was what do we expect from that little run against three teams that caused us problems last season. Four points? Six points? NINE!? I certainly wouldn't have turned my nose up at six points if I'm honest, but here we are staring down the barrel of three wins in a row. I think that would be superb.

In fact, in the interests of symmetry, Villa should win. Obscure I know, but despite a large amount of, "Wigan have been found out" rhetoric and their not-so-special start to the season, they go into this game looking for not their third, but their fifth league win on the bounce. Presumably three from one and four from another would be preferable all round. Those wins were Man City (H), Fulham (A), Bolton (A) and Charlton (H). The latter may be a given but I'd argue the previous three are not.

That is no reason for fear however. They've had a great run but Wigan are no great shakes and this certainly isn't one to put down to the inevitable. It is winnable, though I'd take a draw from this one I think. Far be it from me to second guess any manager who isn't in charge of England, or David O'Leary, but I think Paul Jewell will be looking at their run and telling his players, "we've got four in a row and Villa aren't really any better than a couple of those teams". Let's show him we are.

So, once again the travelling army of Villans will play a huge part as they always do (just in case you haven't noticed, I think we have superb away support), and we could be in for another battle on the pitch. It's that kind of battle that I think we are actually ready for these days. Gritty Villa? Love it. Here's predicting a win, and actually believing it. 2-1, goals from Barry and Gabby, and one from Lee McCulloch, seeing as he's decided he's a goal machine all of a sudden.

Come on you Villa boys!

ChrisVillan

I think he's piseed off, but he's not pissed off. It's all everyone else's fault but he doesn't blame them. He's too busy to do it all on his own, but he won't promote anyone.

and vague mentions about TBC preparations being made without telling anyone.

VT Villans anyone?

Bugger, I bet that this gets me too. :-(

However, expect to hear my moan at being denied my Tier 2 helm, because Shack is a moron, next time I catch you online. Even Gaiana agreed with me on this one...

Sharded due to -dkp or something? If so, why? Thats just idiotic.

No, because he couldn't get into the raid o.O

That's crazy talk

My hotel still has the WoW port blocked

Are you serious? Priests can dispell?

If I've got 5 mins spare tomorrow, shall I setup our very own teamspeak server?

They still have 40 mans?

ICBM: 56.3.58.21N, 4.49.0.18W ?

by avfcinwales

There's been much said on the poor support so far this season, although figures are up, and we have yet to take on any of the real big crowd getters, the Blackburn game itself generating support threads, so its with interest to see the away support at Chelsea tonight

I won't be amongst the 90 odd coaches travelling to Chelsea tonight, and I don't expect us to do more than struggle to a glorious slaughter ;-) , especially as the best we can expect is a penalty shoot out rather than a second game at Villa Park, which used to be our way of settling things, but deep down I'm in envy of the 6000 who are going and must admit, if I lived a little nearer to the ground, I'd have me flask packed and me sandwiches ready.

I'm sure whatever the result, it will be a great night for everyone, another great away cup moment and there has been plenty as the older ones amongst us will, I'm sure have there own special memory of. Excluding the finals I've been too, the European away matches, which in there own have some remarkable memories, Spurs at Wembley, the Everton League cup replays, Rotterdam, travelling away, especially in League cup matches was always an enjoyable event, especially in the 60's, 70's and early 80's.

Tonight's event is a remarkable precedent and one I've seen very little mention of so far in the media, if Abramovich had done it we'd no doubt have been hearing about it for the last 3 weeks, non-stop. Nevertheless the move by Lerner is a wonderful gesture and one that can't be applauded enough, its an innovative move for all sorts of reasons, and its interesting to see when some are playing down the level of support we do give, that a few simple moves have ensured a remarkable 6000 fans will be travelling midweek, in winter to see Villa play against the present Premiership Title holders on their own pitch.

Had there been more tickets I wonder how many more would have travelled? Should the impossible happen and we win, the euphoria will build and fans who don't normally travel away may surely think again.

There is a downside of course, 6000 travelling fans won't be sitting quietly, having been to two away matches this season, its amazing how vociferous even at Liverpool, many fewer Villa fans can be, imagine the pressure 6000 screaming fans puts on the players, both sets

Give O'Neill his due, he's mischievously talking it up, and lowering expectations, and for me already, along with his comments on refs, beating El Maestro at his own game. Those who are going, have the time of your life and don't underestimate the message you are sending to the rest of football Worldwide.

A team who has some of its own fans, bemoaning the support its getting, will be taking 6000 fanatical fans to an impossible to win away game. It's a huge gesture of faith, a huge acceptance of belief and when (sorry getting carried away) we win, a remarkable night for all and a huge message to all other clubs and of course the media.

Show the bastards.

Juju, you n00b, post in here.

Carlsberg is the cheapest beer if you are buying in pub quantities. There's a reason it's called cooking lager.

I don't really care what it is as long as I can get some.

Any idea why I got 3 dkp for Friday's raid when I was in the pub?

But I don't get into BWL, so there's no point showing up.

The only way to really get around this is to have fixed requirements for each raid. ie. You need certain gear levels for certain raids. That way just dinged 60s don't beat Sam out of BWL. Minimum FR (or other resist) should be a minimum, not a guideline. I upped my FR from ~50 to ~170 in 8 days - it's not that hard.

Class leaders should dictate what consumables must be carried for a raid. DKP penalties must be applied for being late/unprepared. DKP bonuses for people on time/prepared even if you don't get into the raid.

DKP penalties must be used on slackers. If you aren't commited to the raid, don't join. You can walk your dogs afterwards.

None of this is hardcore stuff, it's largely just good manners. If I screw up, I'll admit it and if there's a penalty, so be it. As long as the same rules apply to everyone.

Of course, I'd rather restart the VT Villans ready for the TBC launch. We have enough mates that we can fill the new smaller instances with people who like each other and have a grasp of the game. (What about 'Dashed' as a guild name...) Enlightened self interest ftw - whoever is most in need gets the drop, with a bank to save up unwanted stuff for sale.

I'm guessing that with the focus on smaller group instances in TBC that BWL, MC and AQ40 will be nerfed down to max 20 man anyway, if they are even available to TBC players.

Do they have petrol in the colonies now? :wink:

I'll always remember the day when a friend visiting from the states commented "Oh, you have BP gas stations here too".

(1) In DOLs first season almost everyone agreed that we had over-achieved and finished in a higher position than we should have done. Also some of our 'rivals' had nightmare seasons and got far fewer points than they should have done.

"everyone agreed"? Well that would be a first.

Well, that will be my last raid with the dashers for the foreseeable future.

Only 4/5 alts, so not down to that directly, but no focus and apparently no interest.

Some muppet took the Tuesday night raid into ZG, even though there was a scheduled run in there last night (?). They downed three bosses. We managed to do a whole two bosses more. Absolute shite. I'm definitely with Risso about a certain 'tank' - more like a Reliant Robin last night.

Sakri (playing his mage) spent the evening repairing another PC while he played. He was dead good at marking his targets. Well, he was dead anyway.

Due to the fact that I can't be bothered to show up for alpha raids any more, I'll be playing my alt until TBC. If you guys need me for 5mans, etc, just ask - I do want to play the mage, just not in raids.

You have 2 months (ish) to level another class then...

by avfcinwales

For so long Villa fans, most, anyway, longed for the day when there would be a new owner, allied to a new and half decent manager. Well you may have noticed it came to pass but amongst the fog of euphoria, many have advocated a wait and be patient philosophy, the Prozac dream.

It goes like this: "We can't expect things to change overnight, we need to be patient, sit back, support the club without question, be glad its all gone through, be glad its happened in your life time, all is wonderful. It will take time, but we have the best manager in the Premiership, the best owner, full of promises to make us great, we just have to be patient".

As a result articles such as this get stopped, criticisms of the manager makes you a pariah, criticism of the new owners something worse.

Now I know no matter how many times I or those like me say it, we won't be believed, but we are all overjoyed that O'Neill took the club on, of all those available he was the best. He's not by far, the best in the Premiership though and far from a name in European terms.

Same with the new owner. Its brilliant Lerner got the club when you consider some of those in the bidding, and compared to the previous owner he's a golden goose. As his board have already shown their PR is on a different level to what we have come to expect. Already the signs look promising, the training ground go ahead alone, worth the entrance fee, but there's a long way to go but I don't see why we have to wait for major things to happen, if the intentions are as they say.

For all their combined problems O'leary and Ellis left behind a club in a better state than many in the Premiership. Despite their end of season position, as my mate Lerwill was always reminding me our Premiership finishes hadn't been that bad compared to most, apart from the big lads. As Lerwill and Ellis' PR kept reminding us the club wasn't in debt, well not in comparison to Everton, Man City and so on. By Premiership terms we weren't that poorly off in reality. Now our owner is a billionaire, has loads of dosh, not as much as an Abramovich sure or possibly not as keen to spend as him, but hey he and his mates are all proven World Class businessmen, you mean to tell me they can't finance a major spend if the return is there. Of course they can, its bullshit to suggest they can't, they aren't corner shop owners these guys, behind the PR, behind the dream they weave, are some seriously heavy financial movers, and they own and run Aston Villa.

So why should there be this settling in period, why do we have to wait and see, take our time. Neville lost the race, Lerner won it. We didn't get Southgate as manager we got the dream ticket I'm told, the main man, so we have it all, so why should we have to wait, why should there be this need to lower expectation, to accept one or two seasons of mediocrity, until all the long term bad is slowly eroded away and replaced with the new dream.

Is Sutton, Agathe even Petrov, your idea of a club looking to take on Europe and bring success to the club asap. Is buying a 40 year old who rarely gets into a side propping up the Premiership, your dream purchase? If it is, it shouldn't be, not with the dream team we have now in charge. If Neville had made it maybe, but you got your dream team, so why settle for the Prozac option, why sucker yourself into accepting second best. We've done that when we didn't have a, it seems, management able to do it differently, now we do.

Look at the state of our club, financially and even player wise, we aren't that bad off, in comparison to some who are likely to gain European qualification, we are in superb condition. We have a wealthy and highly competent owner and board with stacks of money, excluding Chelsea and Manchester United who else has, Portsmouth, maybe? No one else has even Spurs, Arsenal, certainly not Everton, Bolton, West Ham, and co.

Who else has such a good youth setup as ours, seems to be already. OK other clubs are far better at getting the best potential kids but hopefully the new dream ticket will even help that hugely.

Who else has the potential support base we have. Everyone forgotten we are the only Midlands club in the Premiership. For miles around no Premiership football lads yet we can't pack them in even with such a surprisingly good start.

Which belatedly leads me on to the manager and the existing squad. Its the same squad many on here tipped for Europe two seasons back, plus Petrov minus DLC, Phillips, and Milner. As early results have shown it hasn't done too bad, surprising many including O'Neill be he believed. So whilst I appreciate we are in the transfer window, and its always hard to get the right people in January because of contract restraints, I thought we were no longer the 'Olivers' of the Premiership. No longer does the manager have to justify his expenditure with the sale of his best players, no longer does he have to spread 11 million over two seasons, no longer are we the poor buys of the Big boys.

At least I'd thought not.

I expect my team to succeed.

I expect the new management to keep their promises, not over a long term of several years but now. Now is when they own the club, now is when I want results. I want the manager to be looking to bring in the best, players with long term potential, better still with proven ability.

I want him to bring in players in January to compliment the undoubted talent we have and ensure we qualify for Europe next season.

Then in the summer I want them to bring in even better players to ensure we not only do well in Europe but we maintain the growth of the club in the Premiership. I don't want ex drunks, over the top stop gaps 40 year old past geniuses with little to offer, unknown unproven cheapo from lower divisions, that's the Ellis way. That's the way past managers worked, its not the way the dream ticket should work, not for me anyway. You know what I'd bet my bank balance that the management know it too, I just wonder how much under all the excellent PR, they mean to achieve.

I won't be there to help.

That's coz someone posted an enormous picture...

That's why I'll stick to levelling my alt :-)

I remember the opposite of that.

Did we wipe? We wiped before we got through the entrance hall. Later we wiped because someone took the shortcut to Ossi instean of running via Moam and aggroed a group of bugs which then killed everyone in the instance. We spent half of Buru waiting for people to run in again when they died jumping of the cliff. I died on Buru once when kiting - I mean what else is there for healers to do in phase one of that encounter? Unbelievable.

11g+ repairs for AQ20 and we killed two Anubishan (or whatever) guards. Not even a sniff of Ossi.

Sakri nuking early on his mage because he "knows what he can do". Half the time he was on the wrong target ffs. But he wasn't the worst, just the one I noticed most.