PIW

I'm not too sure that whather a panzerhas headlights or not was the crucial thrust of the post.

Milner was never replaced because we wasted a transfer window. With all things being equal we should have a chance to spend this summer and who we bring in is crucial. If I had to choose between Downing and N 'Zogbia I'd go for the latter but that's just personal opinion.

I think the team has lacked balance all year and to change that we need a change of personnel. i get the point about selling your best players as possibly having a negative effect but it depends who the manger brings in. It also depends on the shape of the team as to the players the manger wants.

We still aspire to be a top 6 side at the very least and out of the best players from the past 3 years - Barry, Milner, Ash, nd Downing I think the latter is unlikely to be any better than a top-half Prem footballer.

I dont like these reports about Arsenal and Liverpool being interested in Downing.

To lose Ash AND Downing in one transfer would just be too much

Depends on who we replace them with surely?

Wide left but not as a winger. reo-coker, Gardner etc have played wide for us and aren't wingers, as has Barry. You need players who fit naturally into wide positions. that's N'Zogbia. In 80-81 we had bremner playing on the right of midfield but you'd never call him a winger. Just because you play wide doesn't mean you're a winger. Bale has been mentioned earlier but he's not a winger either.

When he plays well he plays very well. But he does go missing too often for me. I'd like us to have 1 winger and focus on playing through the centre of midfield more. if Albrighton does progress as he seems able to do so then I see the argument for selling Downing and Ash and reinvesting elsewhere. This is O'Neill's team and his shape also. Any manager - a new one or otherwise - will want to play to their favoured system and shape and I think Downing/Ash/Albrighton is starting to look slightly anachronistic.

Martin

Are you back?

I remember that first season when we had just Ash and had to play a CM'er (Petrov or Gardner) out wide. Horrible. I hope to never see that again.

4-3-3 is the way forward for me and get the wide players - hopefully DJ and the Zog - to alternate and get in and around Bent. Get the full backs to overlap and use the space created by the wide players cutting in knowing that there are two sitting CM'ers protecting the CB's and covering.

Nothing wrong with 4-3-3, but it doesn't need two wingers. Which other top side plays with two wingers? Or even which side has been successful with two wingers? N'Zogbia would be great for us but he's not a winger. Who's DJ?

NZogbia is not a winger?????????????

No, he's not.

Hughes? What's appealing about Allardyce-lite football?

If we have downing then there's no room for Albrighton to be on the pitch at the same time. Unless we get a huge summer budget from randy we're going to have to generate a lot of cash to buy top quality to change our shape. 4-3-3 does seem the way forward but I don't see that we have the players to do it just yet. Downing and Ash or Van Der Vaert and Modric? Which combination do you think would see us further up the table?

When he plays well he plays very well. But he does go missing too often for me. I'd like us to have 1 winger and focus on playing through the centre of midfield more. if Albrighton does progress as he seems able to do so then I see the argument for selling Downing and Ash and reinvesting elsewhere. This is O'Neill's team and his shape also. Any manager - a new one or otherwise - will want to play to their favoured system and shape and I think Downing/Ash/Albrighton is starting to look slightly anachronistic.

Martin

Are you back?

I remember that first season when we had just Ash and had to play a CM'er (Petrov or Gardner) out wide. Horrible. I hope to never see that again.

4-3-3 is the way forward for me and get the wide players - hopefully DJ and the Zog - to alternate and get in and around Bent. Get the full backs to overlap and use the space created by the wide players cutting in knowing that there are two sitting CM'ers protecting the CB's and covering.

Nothing wrong with 4-3-3, but it doesn't need two wingers. Which other top side plays with two wingers? Or even which side has been successful with two wingers? N'Zogbia would be great for us but he's not a winger. Who's DJ?

Its not that he will take over from Downing but that the focus of the team, the style we play, needs to change. we tried something under O'Neill, it hasn't work and the players are going one by one. Time to start again. The better teams pass their way through the middle of teams more than we do and as that's a position we need to fill with quality then that's where we should spend our money.

Downing, yeah, he's had a good season but Albrighton may be able to do us a job. I'm not saying he's at the Downing level just yet - but neither is he a million miles away. do you actually know what embarrassed means? Why are you embarrassed at the thought of selling Downing?

When he plays well he plays very well. But he does go missing too often for me. I'd like us to have 1 winger and focus on playing through the centre of midfield more. if Albrighton does progress as he seems able to do so then I see the argument for selling Downing and Ash and reinvesting elsewhere. This is O'Neill's team and his shape also. Any manager - a new one or otherwise - will want to play to their favoured system and shape and I think Downing/Ash/Albrighton is starting to look slightly anachronistic.

When I start to sober up I'll try and work out exactly how great today is. Celebrating their relegation small time? Nah **** it. brilliant.

Today |'ve been speaking to Mo Farah's brother and Noel Fielding's mom.

Could have been 24 so it's something. Will just have to win the game now.

This problem in Ireland? did Gordon Brown and Labour cause that as well?

This bloke sitting next to me eating a **** banana like a **** 1 year-old leper in a washing machine fighting a tiger.

So there I was standing at a bar with my mate and Kevin Pieterson. My mate turns to Kevin Pieterson and says in his Norf Landen 'I'm a geeza gawd lav a dack' type accent, " I don't know anyfin' abaht cricket mate, I just like football and vagina". KP was texting at the time and said, "That's what I'm trying to sort out now". Maybe he meant a game of football.

Andy Townsend bought me a beer (after accidentally knocking mine over) in what was "Rosie's" up Sutton once. He was in there with Steve Staunton and someone who I assume was Stan's brother as he was nearly identical to him . I've had a chat with Paul Merson in there on more than one occasion and I've played a game of pool against Nobby Solano in The Cup , also in Sutton.

Des Bremner bought me a pint. I bought John Peel a pint (different occasions).

I pretty sure both of these are already in the thread, way, way back, but whatever.

I once trained withg Des Bremner (football training).

I dislike non eurozone people like you English championing the possible demise of the euro. You are not in the single currency, so to be perfectly honest it's not your problem nor your business. Bailouts of your european partners is in your interest, otherwise you wouldn't do it. Britain is a euro sceptic country you need to get it into your heads that the rest of us don't think like you. Irish people know our prosperity was thanks to europe.

Really? So championing the Celtic tiger was about how great Europe was rather than pushing the strengths of the Irish economy?

You can't make a policy based on estimates and expect it to work. 'EU Official' can mean anyone. Could be the tea lady who has an opinion. Means absolutely nothing.

Although no-one wants to see us throwing good money after bad it should be recognised that a weakened Eurozone economy will have dire consequences for us also. I'm not saying here that we should bail out every country every time, but just shrugging our shoulders and saying its not our problem is as naive as it is stupid.

It was in our own interests to help out in Ireland and the same with Greece. If they fail then not only will one of our most important trading partners potentially collapse in a domino effect, but it will strengthen even further Germany's economy which is now growing strongly. We cannot compete with such a huge market on our doorstep as they will be competing directly with us. The Eurozone does not compete with us but works with us which is why its survival is of paramount importance.

Whilst at school my mom went out with a certain John Osborne.

Dermot Gallagher once told me that he was a Villa fan. One of his linesmen was chatting to me and said that Rob Halsey (who was also there) was a clearing in the woods.

A clearing in the woods? Good God no he said he was a t w a ...you get the rest.

A few years ago I was on a tiny plane that was having its departure delayed by Shaoib Akhtar. As he got on my mother-in-law was waving to him and telling him off for delaying us. He said, "Sorry aunty".

The source is the person they are quoting not who has printed it. Plus, there is no empirical evidence as to the actual numbers being dispersed. There are those coming over, yes, but why do you not think the quote hasn't been attributed to anyone?

When I was 8 I told Ron Saunders that I wanted to play for Villa. He told me to come back and see him when I was 12. Although clearly meant as a brush-off to a kid I counted down the days. 6 months or so before my 12th birthday he resigned. I've been gutted ever since.