DCJonah

£20 million for 8 players get you the poor quality we now have.

Holman was free and Bowery was apparently £500k (so it's really only 6 players that we've spent £20m on).

Dont agree with that. 20 million gets you nothing these days and we all knew we had to rebuild our squad.Our high wage bill has nothing to do with Lambert it's the previous managers and our admin who allowed it.People are whingeing about 2 fullbacks and El Ahmadi.Do people realise maybe they were the only players Lambert could afford.

I think he's had enough money to steer us away from relegation. £20m to spend on players is something that a lot of teams above (and the majority of our relegation rivals) would love to be able to do.

That's why I think it's such a waste of money. We obviously needed quite a few recruits and he chose 2 positions where we already had a starter and cover. The £6m spent on Bennett and Lowton could've got us another CB and CM.

There is no plan...lets take Warnock

Under Houllier he was bombed out

Mcliesh game in and was supposed to smooth things over with the players Houllier pissed off Warnock back in team

Lambert comes in and its back to Warnock being bombed out

I'm not saying he should be in the team now just seems they change mind with every bloody manager !!

I'm not saying Warnock is good (because I don't think he is), but we've kept hold of Warnock (so probably still paying him £40k a week) and signed another LB in Bennett for £3m who I think is a worse player.

Randy has given Lambert £20m to spend, which is over 20% of our annual turnover. Thats in just one transfer window, we have yet to see if there is anymore in Jan.

but £20mill is definitely backing the manager.

As shown a few posts above, we were the 6th highest net spender in the summer.

Agreed. Unfortunately Lambert wasted money on 2 fullbacks that weren't needed, and El Ahmadi.

I agree that Lambert probably hasn't got the ability to offer wages of £45k-£60k+ for new players. I would've thought teams such as West Brom, Swansea, Stoke and Norwich have a similar structure, and they're all comfortably above us. Yeah, they'll have some players that break the structure (like we do with Dunne, Bent, Ireland, possibly Given and N'Zogbia) but they won't be paying huge money for the majority of their players. It's just a case that these clubs have bought their players more wisely.

Comfortably the worst team I've ever seen (I'm 26).

At half-time today, my patience finally ran out. I want Lambert to be sacked. I've been hoping for quite a while that we'll eventually turn a corner, but I've now reached the point that I've given up and have accepted the inevitable fate of relegation. Some of the decisions made this season have been truly baffling:

• Selling 2 experienced CB's in the summer and only signing 1.
  
• Going into the season with 3 fit CB's (2 of them very much untested in the Premier League). It was obvious that Dunne was going to be out for a long time as well.
  
• Wasting £6m on signing 2 fullbacks when neither of them were a priority position (we already had 4).
  
• Completely bombing out both Hutton and Warnock even though we're paying their wages. We definitely could've done with taking some of our younger players out of the firing line and maybe playing one of these. They honestly can't have done any worse.
  
• Not noticing that we needed a ball winning midfielder, and at least 1 winger.
  
• El Ahmadi.
  
• His stubborn persistence playing formations that aren't working (diamond earlier in the season and 3 at the back).
  
• Making Bent captain and then removing it 3 weeks later.
  
• Finding a way to stop Darren Bent scoring goals.
  
• The embarrassing Xmas period.
  

I agree with people complaining about Lerner and the way he has run this football club over the last few years. I still think, however, that Lambert was given enough resources in the summer to keep this team away from relegation (around 11th-15th). It quite clearly isn't working. I honestly don't know why the fans are being so patient with him. I can only assume it's because he followed McLeish.

Literally nothing.

Lowton > Hutton

Clark > Collins

Baker > Cuellar

And Stevens and Warnock are equally shit.

I'd say Hutton/Lowton is the only one that could be debated. I think Collins, Cuellar, and Warnock are all better than their replacements.

I use mine all the time. If other people think I am weird for talking into a phone, I politely remind them that it's a **** phone.

Maybe it's just me then!

I get that it's a phone, I just think it seems a bit wierd talking into your phone while looking at it. I don't think I've ever seen a random person using Siri/Google Search in public before though.

What do you mainly use it for? For things like weather, I'd prefer to just open the weather app, for sports updates, I'd prefer to open my Sky Sports App, etc.

Just as an exercise in science, how many of you guys use Siri regularly? I ask because it seems much more hyped than the Google Voice search app even though almost everybody says the Google Voice search app is massively superior, even on iOS (reviews on iTunes will testify to this). Is this just an example of how effective marketing can be at times? As an iPhone user can try both, how many of you actually do?

Google Search App (iTunes)

List of voice commands(for Google Now, on Android, but I have no reason to suspect they will be any different on iOS)

Anyone want to share their findings?

I don't use either to be honest. I always thought Siri would fail when it was originally announced. It's just a novelty that wears off after you realise it's just easier to enter your question, message, etc. manually. I don't think people are comfortable talking to their phones, asking it questions, etc. in public. It's ok to use in your house messing about, but I can't see it being used properly until it improves a lot.

The abuse he was getting last night was embarrassing, as embarrassing as Villa's performance!

So true! I was 5 rows from the front and people were shouting at him calling him a word removed, shit, etc. Yeah, he was having a bad game (as was the majority of the team), but he's 22 years and doesn't deserve to be abused by his own fans.

joe bennett ‏@joebennett27

Still hard to take last night! Dont mind bit of stick defo wasnt at it last night.. #apologies

I looked at some of the replies he was getting to that tweet. It was just more Villa fans abusing one of their own players.

If they fail to get promoted this season, which is highly likely although still not certain then things will really start to get interesting.

The current parachute payments following relegation are as follows;

Year 1 - £16m

Year 2 - £16m

Year 3 - £8m

Year 4 - £8m

In the first year following relegation clubs aren't under too much financial pressure because of this first payment, the relegated clubs have the financial muscle over most of the teams in their league. They also have the finance to support some of the wage bill they have taken down with them enabling them to stabilise or to try and push on for immediate promotion.

Now if they fail to stabilise or fail to get promotion they have some tough decisions to make because they only have one more year with a full parachute payment. At that point it is stick or twist and most clubs at that point start to trim costs and put their wage bill at a level they can manage should they fail again and their parachute payments drop to £8m.

This is why so many teams relegated from the PL who fail to bounce back end up falling further, because they either twist again and fail or they are more conservative and cut costs leading to different problems.

Any club in Birmingham's position in the league at this stage of their first season back in the Championship would now or should now be asking themselves serious questions about the consequences of not going up and what action will need to be taken in the summer. I believe Birmingham have 13 players with contracts set to expire this summer for a start!

Birmingham though are in a far worse state than most clubs that go down thanks to their missing accounts and their chairmans legal issues. Anyone seriously considering a takeover would need to be very mindful of this, so the longer the season progresses and the further they are from promotion the less likely Carson is to get his asking price.

I suspect that player sales in January are likely and beyond that, if their current form continues, well things could really start to get interesting.

I rather suspect I just made Rob's day.

Isn't this their 2nd season in the Championship?

I can't see them being anywhere near the play-offs come the end of the season. I think they've got enough to stay up though.

The Walking Dead for me as well. I don't think another game has even come close this year. I do still have Dishonored and Far Cry 3 to play though.

Strange thing to say. Why would you need to try and recoup as much as possible? They can't make enough at the moment and are selling on eBay for more than brand new when available. You make it sound like nobody wants them when actually they're massively in demand.

I agree that they're in demand at the moment. I was simply saying that I may as well sell it now (while it's new and the value is high) instead of having it sitting in a corner gathering dust and gradually becoming less valuable. Hopefully mine will go for more than brand new! I can't see why any one would do that though, I ordered mine and it was delivered within 2 working days!

Again, a bit of a far out opinion from the norm. Firstly, in general you don't have 2 separate apps for phone or tablet on Android. Apps are designed to scale to whatever screen size is running them. I'm trying to think of any of the 100 or so apps I have on the 7 which don't look perfectly fine scaled up, but I can't.

They are definitely useable. I just think it's a waste. What's the point of owning a device with a bigger screen when it's not utilised? The ebay app for iPad is a great example of how much superior an app can be when it's built specifically for tablets.

That way you don't have to pay for different versions like in iWorld

I don't think that's true. I purchased the TuneIn Radio app on my iPhone and have downloaded the same app on my iPad without having to pay. It's also an app that's been designed for a tablet.

I get along with Chrome fine but I'm a portraiter. If you don't like it why not just install Firefox, Dolphin etc instead? Surely Chrome on iPad mini will work exactly the same?

Surely one of the advantages of using Chrome is the fact that I can sync my bookmarks and carry on where I left off? If I have to install another browser to solve some of my issues, it's taking away one of the advantages of owning the device.

I haven't actually tried with chrome on the mini. I know I didn't have problems using Chrome on my iPad 3rd Gen though. Maybe it's to do with the screensize?

My mate was round my house yesterday. He's got an iPhone and iPad and was thinking of the getting the mini. He played with my 7 for an hour and texted me today to say he's just bought a 7 because he was trying them both out together at PC World and the mini felt awful. It's what everyone else says too, they're awkward to hold and difficult to pick up. There is nowhere to hold your thumb as the screen goes too close to the edge.

That's obviously down to personal opnion. I didn't have any issues when holding the mini (although that might be because I like having it landscape).

Apple developers have to test with all combinations of various iOS with iPods, iPhone 2, 3,, 3GS, 4, 4S, 5, iPad 1, 2, 3, iPad Mini. That's a good 30 combinations even allowing for lack of support for old versions of iOS. How is that any easier than testing with the most popular Android devices and later OS revisions?

Android is on 75% market share vs 14.9% for iOS, and Android developers are in massive demand:

Obviously some of that is your opinion, no problem, but you're quite far wrong with some of it.

As some of your points are.

I acknowledge that Android is definitely becoming more and more popular but I would like to see a comparison of the amounts of apps that have been downloaded between each OS. I would've thought the App Store would be out in front. If people are spending more money in the App Store, then developers will naturally prioritise for iOS. Obviously I could be completely wrong and it's the Android users that are spending more money!

After owning a Nexus 7 for the last week, I've decided to sell it on eBay and try and recoup as much as possible. After reading all the positive reviews, I was pretty excited to break free of the Apple shackles and get my first try of Android. Unfortunately, If I've taken anything away from the experience, it's made me want to stick with Apple products even more. My main problems with the device were:

• Play Store - This is my biggest frustration. 99% of the apps aren't made to utilise the tablet screen, they are just extended phone apps. It may come off as an Apple fanboy comment but it's no where near as enjoyable using an App like Flipboard on the Nexus compared to the iPad. Obviously the selection isn't as good as the App Store either.
  

• Chrome - I love using Chrome on my PC but I think the Android version needs a few tweeks. The URL/Tab bar takes up far too much of the screen (makes a big impact on the small 7" Nexus screen). I like to hold the tablet in landscapre so it takes a lot of scrolling to get to the bottom of a page. The bar should simply disapear as you scroll down the page (giving you more contect). There was also quite a lot of times e.g. BBC website where the mobile version of the site would load. Obviously I can select the option to request the desktop version, but why can't I have a setting that does that automatically everytime?
  

Maybe I should've done a bit more researtch pre purchase, or possibly my expectations were far too high for a device that only costs £159.99. Either way, I'm pretty disappointed. I've been into the Apple store since purchasing the Nexus to see how the new mini stacks up. I know it's obviously £100 more but I think the screensize is perfect (although not as high a resolution as the Nexus). I think once my Nexus has sold, I'll spend the extra money and purchase one.

I think I may have succummed to Apple and their ways. They have the standard devices for the majority of app developers so will naturally get the best (although this may change as Android gets more and more popular). I've simply invested too much money in my apps and the prospect of redoing that with another OS doesn't interest me.

I've decided to sell my iPad as I rarely ever use it. I also think at 10" it's quite large and I may as well just use my laptop. I still like the idea of owning a tablet so I'm looking at purchasing a smaller/cheaper option. I think it's time for me to make the move over to Android so I'm obviously looking at the Nexus 7. Am I right in thinking that this is probably the best tablet (bang for your buck) on the market?

I'm pretty much already sold so I'd also like to know of any must have apps on Android if you wouldn't mind!

^^^^^^ so 10th then ^^^^^^^^^

:oops:

from 11th to 9th!

He is a nice guy and a man of integrity I can't see how people can deny that.

I guess we'll see whether that is true at the end of the season. He should walk no matter whether we stay up or get relegated. I personally think he'll dig his heels in and force us to sack so he gets his pay out.

I personally think he's deluded and a liar!

I dont want the bloke to stay but this seems like a ridiculous comment to make. If hes wants to stay, it will be surely because he believes he can turn us around. What has he done to be labelled a liar.

I think he's deluded because:

- He thinks he can turn it around. Even if he won the next three games, 99% of Villa fans would still want him out (rightly). This season has been a complete disaster.

- He thinks it's a myth that he plays negative football.

- He doesn't think many other managers could do a better job.

- He still believes playing Alan Hutton at RW against Tottenham was the correct decision.

I'm sure I could keep going. I think he's a liar because:

- He reguarly claims we've played well or deserved more when we haven't.

- He claims he doesn't holde a grudge and then drops Ireland and N'Zogbia conveniently after having a bust up.

- He blames injuries for our recent form even though we were terrible when we had a full squad.

I don't expect us to be challenging for Europe, I do however believe that if we had a manager with some ability, we'd be comfortably between 11th-9th.

He is a nice guy and a man of integrity I can't see how people can deny that.

I guess we'll see whether that is true at the end of the season. He should walk no matter whether we stay up or get relegated. I personally think he'll dig his heels in and force us to sack so he gets his pay out.

I personally think he's deluded and a liar!

Maybe it was the right thing to let him go.

But remember this: 52 goals in 105 starts in all competitions!

According to the ever reliable wikipedia, he got 48 goals in 132 appearances.

Surely if you're focusing on starts and therefore ignoring his sub appearances, you also need to ignore the goals scored when he came on as a sub?

From soccerbase.

Aston Villa 89 (24) 37 8 (2) 11 3 (2) 0 5 (0) 4

Here he started 105 matches. Scored 52.

He was on the pitch 133 matches.

I know, but you're making it sound like he's basically a 1 in 2 striker.

Maybe it was the right thing to let him go.

But remember this: 52 goals in 105 starts in all competitions!

According to the ever reliable wikipedia, he got 48 goals in 132 appearances.

Surely if you're focusing on starts and therefore ignoring his sub appearances, you also need to ignore the goals scored when he came on as a sub?