Shoody

how can you 'barely' sell out.. you either are forced to stop selling tickets or your not.

Dont forget Makoun misses 3 matches, Unconvinced on Bradley, when he came on in his last match he looked shattered within 15 minutes, very unconvinced. ---------------Friedel Walker---Dunne---Clark---Young -----------------NRC Young---------Bannan------Downing -------------Bent---Fonz Bench: Marshall, Collins, Delph, Gabby, Albrighton, Petrov, Heskey Bannan flitting between AMC and CM. Downing and Young obviously tracking back to help defend, and Fonz dropping off of Bent slightly, effectively leaving Bent on his own with Fonz assisting and Bannan bossing the midfield like in the cup. If thats too attacking for everybody: ---------------Friedel Walker---Dunne---Clark---Young -------------NRC---Delph Young---------Bannan------Downing ----------------Bent

I bloody hope we aren't playing them Saturday!

would be interested to know how many (if any) tickets Arsenal have left

not sure how your ticket system work but id bet if villa sell out the 4000 theyd get another 2000 if they wanted Okay cool, yeah it does say initial 4000 so I guess theres a chance of us getting more. What are home games like at City? do you often sell out of tickets or are there likely to be a few spare being mid-week and just a cup tie after all

When I went to UTD away a few weeks ago there were no trains back after the game (well none that i could be sure I could make in time anyway). But not a no-go, go on the coaches put on by Villa, not always lots of spaces on them (unless they keep getting more coaches i guess) £20 to and from the ground, drop you off at VP after the game.

Any chance these are going to get to PL Away Booking History on Tuesday between 1 and 6? Kind of expected more time to buy them than the day beforehand - but first cup game if i manage to get tickets so not used to it. Great prices compared to UTD away.

they're struggling to get tickets because they haven't bothered going to any other games this year and therefore SHA's very own ticket requirements are putting their fans out of being able to buy tickets. They acknowledge on their site they barely/rarely get 25,000 for home PL games, which is disgusting btw, but funny how the fact their fans need to have been to games previously has left them with 10,000 left to fill a week before the final (is it a week or two weeks? either way atrocious)

Anything other than a loss is acceptable for me. Will be annoyed with a home draw but wouldn't be the end of the world I guess. Unbeaten in 3 isn't terrible, hoping to get home in time to get tickets to the match. Before somebody bitches at me, yes i am worried and yes i would be very angry at full time if we dont have 3 points.. With a more reasonable head on beforehand as long as we don't lose it wont ruin our confidence. Obviously I want a win. And we need one soon.

General, Regarding the planned renovation of The North Stand, are we moving ahead with this in the near future (if not this summer?) If so are there any links to or any plans to release the design/plans for the renovation? Will it be becoming a more closed-in stadium (rather than four separate stands and more of an actual 'stadium'). Can't help but think moving in that direction will greatly help the future atmosphere, when I went to Old Trafford a few weeks back, as quiet as it was, when Utd did score the noise was electric, would definitely be in favour of us moving towards a model similar to this. As a side note, if the leg-room in The North Stand could be increased that'd be great, as a student i'd love to be in the North Stand for the favourable rates (if they are continued) but people I go with, including family, refuse to sit in that area as some of us are too tall to sit down with some form of comfort in that stand, a silly reason - but for more casual fan's one bad experience could put them off going more regularly, they may not realise better seating is available for similarish rates.

Nice to know 3 of the players we want out have made one of our new favourites feel at home... can see it being a bit longer until they all leave. With Pires sticking around in order to integrate all of our new french-speaking players

People aren't excited because they had never seen the guy play before he joined us. They had heard he was a defensive midfielder by somebody on here, Or they looked at him on Football Manager (which says he is very adept at playing DM) and presumed we were getting NRC's replacement as a brute enforcer. People aren't excited because somebody sent them a link to his goal against Real Madrid and now think that he's going to pull that out of the bag every few games and show glimpses of it in every game. People aren't excited because they are yet to watch him play for Villa. Just going off people on here basically saying 'Well I watched the MOTD highlights of him getting sent off and although I missed Wigan, parts of the Fulham game and the entire Man Utd game I can deduce that he is infact shit' So what if he isn't as good in the tackle as NRC, he's a better passer than Petrov, moves the ball forwards more than Petrov. His passing is faster, shorter and better thought out than Petrovs and he doesn't try and slow down the game and always try and draw fouls from the opposition like Petrov. Yes he's Black. Doesn't mean he has to be a replacement for NRC. He's a great passer of the ball in a team where we are notoriously rubbish passers of the ball. We can cross but our passing hasn't always been great (its nice to see it getting there though with some of the attractive football we've been playing) and Makoun will be a part of that. He sits in the middle, moves the ball forwards and once he adapts will be able to put in the odd defensive tackle no doubt. Anybody saying that can't see why hes such a good player - It's his passing, his thought process, his speed of his passing and thought process, the fact he moves the ball forwards and the fact his passing is accurate (On the whole). Just because he isnt playing the Hollywood ball, taking shots like he did vs Real every game and not putting in game-changing tackles does not mean isn't worth it. /rant

very very strange if thats true, should always be with the first team if he's going to be expected to make any difference

Young on the Right Downing on the Left. Okay... but what wing do you expect Gabby to play on?

+1. Technology and increased revenus streams will be huge in the future, If we can get in on this early it will be fantastic for the club. General I would strongly insist on NFC payments. By this time next year everybodies phone will have it in and every shop in the country will be scrambling to add it in. Getting it into Villa Park will increase revenue. Similar to people with debit cards and in putting a pin number - people don't see the money so don't realise they've spent it. With a swipe of a phone across a machine it is noticed even less so. Heck, most stadiums don't have ATM's inside (was very surprised Old Trafford doesnt!). A £1 fee for using an NFC enabled phone for payment (it will be cutting-edge technology and people will use it to look cool) will not only pay for the implementation for it. but if just half of the normal attendance uses NFC payment (lets say 16,000) by next year (new Google and iPhones will have it). would = £304k revenue More things from American Sport can make the trip across the pond. Activities at Half Time on the field. with a 'lucky fan'. Cross Bar Challenge with a few fans. Penalties vs Siegrist. Anything like that can create an atmosphere, a sense of a real event inside the stadium... And if you raffle off the spots to do it (take a penalty infront of 36,000 people) at 50p a go, your on to a winner.. some might say its a bit cheesy but if 6,000 people a week were giving it a go by the start of next season we'd be looking at £3k a week in revenue throughout a season. (estimated Revenue only calculated for the 19 Home Games in a PL season. Get us into Europe and do well in the cups - more games - more revenue - bigger crowds - more revenue )

Agree he needs to be alongside an enforcer. Or for harder games get rid of the AMC and play a DM behind the Midfield 2. Bloody hope GH works wonders in the summer and gets us Moussa Sissoko. Easier Games -------Makoun---Sissoko ------------Bannan Albrighton------------Young --------------Bent Harder Games ------------Sissoko -------Makoun---Delph Albrigton---------------Young --------------Bent Yes, Delph and Makoun are similar but I fully expect him to be Starting 11 next season and towards the end of this season. Makoun on the right and Delph on the Left (Right and Left footed respectively). Will be very effective passing the game forward and each of them can have the odd decent punt on goal. With an enforcer like Sissoko behind them it would be fantastic.

NYJets

Having Chequered claret and blue down the sides doesnt give you much in the way of changing a design though. I like our kits this year, wouldnt mind going back to a light blue away kit... but like our current black one... Wish our sponsor didnt have such an ugly logo though. FxPro looks seriously shit.

Did you shag, Did you shag Did you shag steve Bruces Daughter? Did you shag steve bruces Daughter?

Can you offer Martin Laurssen a job as Defensive Coach.

haven't seen the game at all. was at work. Disgusted by the scoreline and that we gave away yet another 2 points after going ahead TWICE.

If a little worrying that Watford train harder than us Whats even more interesting is that our senior players were bitching about being over trained physically and they still arent training as hard as Watford. Although Weimann might just be confused because he's been injured that he forgot what proper training with us is like lol

Are you feeling allright?

For me: Man U Arsenal Chelsea Man City/Tottenham. Losing to us/ drawing to Blues is bad for Man City hopefully a spell of a bad form for them. I'd rather see Spurs in top 4 than City. But anyway. This has nothing to do with Makoun. Back OT. He's a great signing, very excited to see who his 1st choice partner is next season. With NRC and Petrov on their way out or becoming Bit-Part Players it could lead to a very interesting Summer window.

How many can you see developing into first teamers though. Look at Bannan, 21 i think. Bit of a breakthrough season for him and then we go and sign two more central midfielders in the January transfer window. He also competing against Delph coming back from injury. Hes shown signs of promise but cant really hold his own in a central midfield spot. Id figure that he'd be wanting to play regular first team football by the age of 23. If we dont lose Petrov in the summer im not sure i can see that happening. He could also be competing with Gary Gardener for game time. Personally i can see him doing a Cahill/Gardener. Got to say I completely disagree. I think by the time he is 24/25 we will be fighting bids away for him. But only if he can overcome his physical stature. Really think he can run games for us and with a shot like that fantastic ACM. I see Clark making it as a utility player possibly not our fulltime CD, possibly but can't see it myself. Will be a great backup/starter for some games though so definitely in the squad. Albrighton has already made it in my eyes. Delph will make it if he can overcome his injuries, one of the most promising footballers in the country until his injury, he will make it. Fonz I think still has something to proove if he isnt going to be given a run of games next season he needs to go on loan to proove he can do it, but I think he can make it from what I've seen. Hes one of the youngest of the bunch dont forget. Gardner admittedly, i havent seen, but from what Ive heard hes very promisiing and a hand in 4 goals vs Arsenal Reserves bodes well for me. People clamouring for him to be brought through next season - when that happened with Super Marc i was very impressed. Back to Bannan. I think he can make it if he can accommodate his height and strength.