Papillon

I think you should have gone to specsavers mate. There's some amazingly clear footage of it, from a way better angle than the linesman had. Certainly not when I watched the game live on TV, and certainly not on the highlights from MotD. Which is why the pundits/commentators are not making any conclusions at all. So it would be great if you brought froward these amazingly clear pictures to this thread.

I think this blind faith in Herd is quite idiotic. None of you can actually see what happened on those replays, quite frankly because they are of poor quality, out of focus and with obstacles in the way. If he stamped out on him, even without hitting at all, it is a red card and the linesman was in order when waving his flag. Saying it is the most stupid decision ever, when you have not seen the incident at all like the linesman supposedly did, well that just remind me of Liverpool fans who cannot see the truth for what it is. After viewing it several times, it can look like Herd kicks back at Olsson but does not strike him. That is probably why he does not make a meal out of it the Swede, since the ball is in action and coming back their way. The red card is of course in order, if that was the scenario, but the penalty is a mystery to me. Isn't this the sort of thing that should be given a red for unsportsmanlike conduct and then a drop in the middle of the pitch?

What an absolute idiot.. should have been sent off, and that early in the game, absolute tool. Then he goes on and tackles him poorly again, straight after the incident, of course he is getting a yellow card. Intelligence level very, very low for this one.

Gabby isn't better than Beckford? You are joking right? This is why you're so notorious on here. i think beckford is better than him, in MY opinion I'm sorry but that's wrong. why is it? It's wrong in the way certain people think that 9/11 was an act from within the US government and that aliens made the pyramids. Hell, it's like saying Sean Connery sucked as James Bond and that Fiat Uno is a better car than an Aston Martin DB9. One thing is saying it, another thing is actually meaning it. Delusional as ****!

He's no Jermaine Beckford, that's for sure. beckford is a quality pl striker, i wish we got him on a free Indeed. Miles better than Gabby. Quality superb player. i take it that this is sarcasm, based on last season's performance for everton, he would walk into our team You're kidding right? based on his performance in his first season at everton i meant, he was wonderful In no way or another is he any good. 8 goals in 32 games for a good team is the definition of mediocre. Waybe Rooney had 8 goals after 4 games or so this term! I know and hope you are joking around, acting retarded with this shit, but if you are not you must be the biggest tool in the world. And that is not an insult, that is the truth.

What on earth did you just say there? One of the most ignorant points ever.. That is like saying you would be faster if you had the physique of Usain Bolt.... except you do not, and Emile does not have the skills to get all those shots away. Because he touches the ball once every game, usually a header on the left side of the pitch.

It is very interesting that people brag about the "original" Ronaldo of Inter, Barca and Real Madrid. You know, the greatest pure striker of all time and all that. And even funnier, people dare to say that Cristiano is not even fit to lace hit boots. I beg to differ: Luiz Nazario da Lima Ronaldo: 127 games - 83 goals (for Real Madrid) Cristiano Ronaldo: 70 games - 73 goals (for Real Madrid) Within 80-85 games, Cristiano has most likely topped the "ultimate" goalscorer by a mile, what does that make him exactly?

When you buy players like Ashley Young, i.e investments in the "likely to double his value in 1-2 years", you can sustain the spending we did. It was not City or Chelsea spending. And another thing, why did Randy Lerner invest like that if he was suddenly going to stop it? Very strange. Sure he could not anticipate the Financial Crisis which probably hit him very hard, and he could not really see City coming on like that, but I highly doubt our spending would have been like that anyway. We need an explanation, and we deserve it.

We finished 6th three seasons in a row, which means we were able to lead games and score goals, hey, even win games. It also means creating chances, one way or another. A club like Villa cannot expect to dominate games every week and score beautiful goals, but what we can do is simply score goals and simply compete. That is exciting in itself, very much so indeed. We went to the big grounds and even won a few, like away to United and Arsenal. Even one of the seasons I think we finished 3rd in the scoring charts. Now we are extremely boring to watch, totally uninspiring and always knowing that McLeish looks happy with 1 point. The mentality right now seems to be that 1 points is always decent, because we are too good to go down and we will always win a few with this approach as well. Zzzzz

And who the hell cares? Seriously, your argument is lame and your point is extremely ignorant. Supporting a football club is not like defending your country in a war, it is not last man standing. You, like everyone else, support Villa from a mere coincidence. Either you are born in Birmingham, your father supports the Villa or you watched them on TV when you were little. It could have been any other team, so do not pretend like it is some calling from God that you are supporting the Villa. What we fans deserve is the mutual respect from the club and we are not getting it, and people are fleeding from the ground. We have a big stadium, but we have attendances like any other club that find itself in the lower tier or even the Championship. The pattern is alarming, and like I said in an earlier post, what matters now is getting those "plastics" back to the ground by investing or otherwise enhancing the club. What they are doing now is giving up. Appointing that manager, selling those players, not showing up at the games, not signaling any intent, not giving away any information... just not caring, all in all, making Villa much more harder to support. Are you a better fan? Certainly not, who are you kidding really, you are simply more committed and too afraid of confrontations as a person. A bit like that guy who decides to stick with his wife even though she is caught banging the entire neighborhood.

Ahhh do us all a favour and don't watch then. Yes because you are the real fan and he is not, bla bla. Hey buddy, look at the **** numbers at the gates this season. People like you always come to the ground, but for Villa that is maybe 15.000 in total. We need those sitting on the fence to be even remotely close to competing. If we get 30K at the games every week we will be a Championship club within a few years.

You thought wrong buddy, he was well onside. The only thing worth mentioning with that goal was the atrocious defending by Warnock. Horrendous!

The chances of City playing in the CL within 2-3 seasons were near 100%. The chances of Villa doing the same were near 0%. What is your point exactly?

I think it is safe to say, at least for the ones among us that are no delusional, the need to leave Villa for City was warranted. Barry to Milner, goal. How depressing. Barry almost scored as well. At least we have Darren Bent, for now. Expect him to sit comfortably on someone elses bench come January. Liverpool?

DOL was good in his 1st season at Villa Cant live on something 7 years ago Yes let's play that pikey from Liverpool and Defoe then. Great combo, will make Torres and Villa shake in fear.

The question is of course not even worth discussing. Of course he is going along! Capello knows this already, it is just that the media love this kind of headline and it seems the Brits do as well. Rooney is by far the best offensive player England has in its books, both as a leader, goalscorer and the gets the players/fans going. What else is there? The group stage is one tough game and two games where you are hard favourites. Easy as that. Getting through the first three games is easy for you, at least on paper. Then you will get a tough team in the first knock out round, and then he will be back. Who on earth is better than Wayne Rooney, even with 2-3 games in their legs? Andy Carroll? Yeah right! Hapless without a better player up there, and he cannot even hack it at Liverpool with Suarez. A new Crouch basically. Darren Bent? Can play a role, but only with the right player next to him and that is Wayne Rooney. Jermain Defoe? Energy and some tricky shots, but the same as Bent - i.e a player that is good at scoring goals but not a very good footballer. Gabby? Let's not start the debate about him just yet, after playing games against poor opposition. He is on fire, and long may it continue. Zamora? Sturridge? Welbeck? Crouch? Heskey? LOL, and I never say LOL. So my question is; who on earth is going to warrant a position in the team when Rooney is standing there ready to play? If he is not getting on that plane, it is going to be a direct punishment for his red card and nothing else, and that is too stupid for me to even understand. That is shooting oneself in the foot, on purpose. On a positive note, the media have already got what they needed in terms of new headlines in the summer. Either you go out because he DID play, or you went out because it was stupid to not play him. That is how the luxuries of the media is exposed, no matter what happens in terms of decisionmaking. That is of course, until you win it all and then the frenzy is complete

And when Randy came it was said we had an owner to enable us to change with it. Seeems we didn't The Financial Crisis and Man City happened. You do not see how that changed things? Obviously not, since you always write your pessimistic drivel on here.

Imagine his motivation to play for us, and you will understand why he might look a bit off sometimes. I feel really sorry for the guy.

What you think, and using that as hard material for a discussion, is so far out of value it's crazy. Like a nazi officer explaining why he did what he did and how it came to that. The simple scenario is that if Busquets was suddenly playing for Villa in January he would make us look pretty sexy - and if Clark started to play for Barcelona they would be throwing pigs' heads at Guardiola before half time.

Look at Javier Hernandez at United, getting in front of Dimitar Berbatov (who is a much better footballer, but not necessarily player) and all the others. Why? Because he has that instinct and gene that footballers seldom have. Berbatov can do everything much better than Hernandez, but he does not know how to be at that exact place at the precise moment. Darren Bent also has this in him, and that is why he played for England the other day.

Of course, but their youth are excellent and ours are mediocre. That is the only difference, as ours aren't really good enough.

i think he is a donkey who looks completely out of place in the barcelona team, the likes of xavi and iniesta make him look good, not to mention the fact that he is a nasty piece of work You are of course completely wrong. It is like saying something is red when it is in fact blue. You can say it, everybody would wonder why you are saying such a thing, but in the end everyone would know that it was just for attention. Tool of the highest order.

You should have a website where you can put all your failed one-liners dude! Epic fail, once again!

Gary Neville as well. Not world class compared to other players, but at his best, were there really many RB's better than him? Not a lot, therefore world class (at right back!) Haha

Jones is the new John Terry, only a bigger talent and he does seem very down to earth as well. Terry as we all know, is a complete douche.