Intercourse_The_Penguin

Hard to argue with most of those, but I just couldn't bring myself to put King in... just for that penalty against Inter! I'd put DLC at CB (didn't he play there once or twice to cover injuries?) And got to be a shout for Byfield upfront in place of De Bilde. Also Franz Carr on the wing (apart from the goal in the cup vs Forest, he was surely not any better than EricX2)? I would put Boulding in, but don't think he played a PL game for us, did he?

Ugh. Had a really vivid dream last night that Wigan beat Spurs 3-0 and we lost 2-0 to the mackems. I felt the true depths of despair in this dream of knowing we were done for after that. Woke up in a cold sweat. Surely the universe couldn't be cruel enough to inflict that psychological torture on me twice, once asleep and once awake. Ergo Spurs will hammer the latics, we'll get something from Monday and we'll be okay. Just thought you'd all appreciate this newsworthy update...

What's this? last few minutes of a game and I'm feeling... relaxed? Happy? I don't know, these feelings are so unfamiliar I can barely remember their names...

Having never had any ink myself, I'm not sure of this, but when thinking of Randy I sometimes wonder if tattoo removal is painful. And I hope it is. Very painful indeed. I like to think I'm not the sort of person to wish ill on people, even in trying circumstances. But seriously, **** this guy.

Argh. This game is making my heart pound something rotten. And my left arm feel numb. Also I taste copper.

Can someone, anyone, have a touch that doesn't go straight to a blue shirt... just once or twice. Please?

QPR are going to get four points for beating Narrich? How can we get some of that action? That kind of shenanigans might just save our season!

I really don't need to be talked into believing we can stay up, that we've got a chance. I've been thinking we're doomed to relegation for some time now and I think I just need to learn to make my peace with that. Yes, it's negative, but in the words of John Cleese (in arguably his career low-point film role): "It's not the despair... I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand."

As bad as we are/will be, we'll be nowhere near the lowly level of the dogshit and the dogheads, so we should be able to look forward to some happy derby days. (Will have to avoid the Baggies fans I know for at least a season, though, but then I'm trying to avoid them anyway at the minute so no real change there...)

Isn't "custodian" a new-fangled jazzed up title for a janitor (i.e. someone who cleans toilets) in America? Is this what Randy meant? Maybe being flushed down the shitter is exactly what he was cryptically promising all along. At least he can say we were forewarned...

Well, I'd get quite a lot more work done if we did

the French Salifou, surely?

The most important phrase for translation for team talks... "nous allons encore"

Easiest. Decision. Ever!

So pretty much every wonderkid from Football Manager? Hey, don't knock those recommendations. A fair collection of those players won my Schalke side the European Cup on Football Ma... oh, right...

I haven't read anything about phases. Is this an ITK? What are phases 3 and 4 and where did you find this information? Isn't Phase 4 where the ants take over? Not sure I'm looking forward to that one... (On topic - would also welcome this. As much as I respect Shay, there seems to be a growing sense he could be on a fairly steep decline)

Rubbish weather? It's a mild 15C and slightly cloudy here in Kings Heath. Is there a cold weather front somewhere between here and Aston? Hard to imagine this putting anyone off. "Oh, no. I was going to to VP to greet PL, but it's slightly cloudy so I'd best stay in..."

Quite! Will people PLEASE stop mentioning this guy as though he's an acceptable choice! I can't think of anything more that would disrespect the memory of the people of Birmingham who died fighting fascism or the history of our club and the proud actions of our squad who toured Germany in 1938. More than anyone else, this would lead to me dissociating myself from the club. I mean, I hated TSM being here, but he was just a terrible manager. PDC is a bonafide fascist ffs!

Urge to kill rising.... rising...

No, no, he'd be an absolute disaster. God knows how it actually worked out the first time - largely because JG bleeds claret and blue and transmitted that to the players and brought fun to the club. It was somehow the right time then. It isn't now.

I'm clinging to the hope offered by one of the earlier posts (was it MM?) suggesting OGS was never the only one in the frame, but that at least one of the others wasn't currently figuring in the betting. Did anyone ever crack that cryptic reference? My thinking is that OGS himself was a left-field prospect that nobody really saw coming until the initial meeting was rumbled, so there's no reason not to hypothesise that another less-expected name might be being sounded out as we wait. Seems we're falling back to discussing the same names from the list of expected candidates - which does get a bit gloomy once you allow for PL possibly staying put - but I'm going to go through the day hoping the club has another interesting surprise in store. (Mostly because if I go through it expecting SG or similar I might just start sobbing quietly at my desk instead of working...)

Argh. Left my PC an hour or so ago to watch Mad Men with the wife. "Where've you been?" she said "Just checking for new of the Villa manager" I replied "What's the point, won't you just end up with someone **** anyway?" I just smiled knowingly (I thought) and said "oh, we'll see" And I come back to THIS?! FFS! Now I'm gutted AND my wife was right! ;(

Ahh, I loved Gregory's reign. He was nuts and he bought some overpriced old rot (Watson? Stone?), but it was so much fun! And we never looked like we feared anyone in those days. I remember him taking over when we right down in it. I think it was the 4-1 away win at Everton that suddenly made me realise something interesting was going on. What was that, our third win on the bounce as we went from around the drop zone to a storming finish. It seems he's been rather awful in all of his other managerial appointments, and he'd almost certainly be a disaster now, but somehow it clicked at that time at the Villa to produce one hell of an interesting four years or so. "Some people seem a bit put out that we're top of the league. Well, I'm sorry about that."

So, you'd say my plan to constantly keep refreshing VT, H&V and #avfc on Twitter until about 1am is likely to be somewhat pointless?

Same here except for the last bit. In these situations I prefer to let my head have the casting vote. Voted Lambert for that reason. I want OGS to be our manager with the sort of giddy excitement of a lovestruck teenager. But then again I was a lovestruck teenager many years ago, and I remember how that worked out.