TheDrums

How dare you insult the courageous, loving, ever forgiving, humble Spencer.

But I definitely agree with you. The level of "grief" that went on for weeks afterwards was embarrassing, especially from people who never even met the woman. Even today we are reminded by certain newspapers about her selflessness. We'll probably never hear the end of her, what with that new parasite being compared with her constantly.

He should have kept his trap shut and he owed us more loyalty than he showed. Still, I don't know why some fans insist that Milner and Young should get free passes while Downing is the only one we should be allowed to slag off. They all left for exactly the same mercenary reasons, at times when Villa was clearly on a downward slide. I don't think we should delude ourselves that there is some great difference between loyal, hardworking Young/Milner and lying, treacherous milquetoast Downing. To be fair to him, in the first half of last season he looked like the only player (Young included... maybe Albrighton excepted) who could be bothered to play properly, and but for his effort we might be in the Championship now.

My own stance is that all the players who left because the grass elsewhere was greener are fair game to be booed, since our own grass is now considerably less green as a result of their self-interest. However I recognise the contribution they made and I'm not going to pretend they're some kind of heinous villains. If we can put them off their game in front of their new bosses, though, why not.

young and milner at least showed a modicum of respect towards villa, and they owed us less than downing did, sitting on a pretty new pay package for months while we rehabilitated him and put him in the shop window. both milner and young loved it here, milner puts in more effort than any other player in the league, and young never shirked tackling responsibilities and he was never scared to put his body on the line to win the ball. downing however had one pretty good season but was always susceptible to bottling his defensive duties, and at times when the players really needed to pick their bollocks up and fight for a result. quite talented, but his effort was never for the sake of the villa, something which i saw in young and milner almost every match.

that is why i think people give ash and jim a free pass.

The others get a "free pass" because they didn't leave for big bad Liverpool. Thats the truth of the matter for a large portion of Villa supporters.

Why doe's that never get said?

You talk shit.

The others "get a free pass" because they were respectful and didn't publicly say they were staying because they owed it out of respect, and then the following week hand in a transfer request.

Milner said nothing throughout the saga and Young said he'd discuss it at the end of the season. Which in the footballing world is obvious acknowledgement that they intend on leaving.

And I find your above post absolutely ridiculous considering Liverpool fans still yap on about Torres going to Chelsea.

About 30 people in the Torres topic on RAWK said he left for cash, when in reality he joined a top 4 side in the Champions League. Why does that never get said?

Shit endings to otherwise ok films. I was watching The Lovely Bones there and was hoping the dirty nonce would get a good beating on the way out, which I thought was obviously inevitable.

But no, a bit of ice falls from a tree, hits him on the shoulder and he falls off a cliff.

Lord Tebbit is campaigning to protect children

There's a photoshop opportunity there, surely?

Far too easy with the "campaigning to protect children" caption.

The Soviet Union was a created contradiction, and it was no more Communist than Great Britain today. Capitalism was always going to defeat an ideology that wasn't what it said it was.

With the growing economic crisis, and the plight of millions of Eastern Europeans into wide-spready severe pauparism, combined with the fact the Soviets were nearly bankrupt there is absolutely no way they could afford to keep their stranglehold over Eastern Europe. It was a ticking time bomb. As the belief goes every great empire eventually falls - Roman Empire, Babylon, Ancient Egypt, Napoleon, Nazi Germany and the USSR which was contradictory flawed since its creation.

And in staying on topic The Guardian had an article today 10 facts on the dear one. Apparently the Norths official website once put up a page saying he doesn't urinate or go for a dump.

Capitalism is hardly what it says it is. Perhaps the clearest example is the nonsense about markets, when we see all about us the protection of some kinds of company from both market forces and the consequences of their own mindless decisions - while others, making more useful goods and providing more useful services, go to the wall.

Pauperism in Eastern Europe resulted from the breakdown of a system. We are starting to see similar disruption here, hopefully not to the same degree, and hopefully we have better buffers against it. But it's starting all the same.

Yes, all empires fall. We seem to be observing a phase in the loss of US economic power that started - when? 1971? Or with the wars which preceded that?

On the Great Leader not going for a piss, I think you may have been reading the account of Mr C's negotiating tactics at the recent Euro-summit.

Good post and I certainly agree you. Very good point about the loss of American hegemony over the world economy.

I was watching clips earlier of North Koreans crying. Its absolutely insane that there is brain-washing on that scale in 2011. That stuff makes Nazi propaganda look weak. Whether people genuinely feel such emotions on that scale I'm not sure. I would certainly hedge a bet and guess some people have done it to be seen in public, rather than risking the chance of being reported and sent to a labour camp.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/interactive-graphics/graphic-of-the-day/8966153/Graphic-Aston-Villa-the-new-Birmingham-City.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

A damning article against McLeish and his shit management.

Play offs in the Championship or the potential for 8th in the PL?

I know which one I'd prefer, and every forum has a topic dedicated to their rivals. It has more credence if they are actually in the same league though.

Fair?

helped bring about the end of the cold war which resulted in the dismantling of the Soviet empire ...

we may not (all) appreciate it but i suspect there are a lot of Europeans who do

The Soviet Union would have imploded from within with or without Thatcher and anyone else for that matter.

It was essentially a contradictory, beauracratic, overlapping political machine which could only ever end in one way - economic ruin and collapse of the state.

Precisely, the Communist Bloc was a house of cards held together with fear, the people of those countries forced the end of the Cold War allied to the regieme being so short of actual money they had to simply just give up. Whether it be the people of Russia who Gorbachev gave a little sniff of freedom to with Perestroika & Glasnost (and that was kind of forced on the CP by the fact that they knew they couldn't hold the people together much longer), the Polish lead by the Gdansk Shipworkers and Lech Walensa, the Czech's with Vaclav Havel... It was happening everywhere across the Communist Bloc. People power brought an end to the Cold War, I was in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and the USSR at the time, working and mixing with your average Joe, staying in some of their houses and workmens hostels too, which would have been unthinkable only a couple of years earlier, they'd had enough, they were taking every bit of their little gains in freedom and running a mile with them and you just knew if they couldn't run that mile they'd keep pushing until they did. Once one of those countries freed themselves it was only a matter of time and the whole lot came down and it really did have bugger all to do with SALT talks and arms reduction, they weren't there to end the Cold War, they were there to save both sides some cash, in fact if those talks hadn't taken place and the arsenals reduced there is actually an argument that the fall of the Communist Bloc would have been much earlier as the constant arms building would have bankrupted the Bloc much earlier.

I agree. One of the most important theories that thrived throughout the Cold War in the west was the domino theory that if one state came under Communist rule, then it would spread in that region, and I believe it can also be applied correctly to the dismantling of Eastern Europe under the Soviets.

As you said bickster, it was only a matter of time, and once one country broke away the rest would surely rise up and follow.

who knows maybe it would have been 1 year maybe it would have been 5 or maybe not at all but it was precisely the stance that Thatcher (and Reagan)took that showed the soviet bloc that the U.S.S.R's foundations were faulty,they couldn't match the arms race of the west and confronted by its free economies and the reality of its liberties, the Communist state were eventually forced to recognize their own failure.

(but really not the right thread)

The Soviet Union was a created contradiction, and it was no more Communist than Great Britain today. Capitalism was always going to defeat an ideology that wasn't what it said it was.

With the growing economic crisis, and the plight of millions of Eastern Europeans into wide-spready severe pauparism, combined with the fact the Soviets were nearly bankrupt there is absolutely no way they could afford to keep their stranglehold over Eastern Europe. It was a ticking time bomb. As the belief goes every great empire eventually falls - Roman Empire, Babylon, Ancient Egypt, Napoleon, Nazi Germany and the USSR which was contradictory flawed since its creation.

And in staying on topic The Guardian had an article today 10 facts on the dear one. Apparently the Norths official website once put up a page saying he doesn't urinate or go for a dump.

^

I'd say it's more like this personally:

Its sad that in some games we've looked exactly like that during certain times in some games.

You have to laugh at those words removed for posting topics constantly about us. I read about 10 seperate threads created within 24 hours laughing at us.

Premier League football getting beat 2:0 by Liverpool.

Or

Struggling in the fizzy pop league and beaten by the mighty Crystal Palace.

:D

Agree Bicks.

Although it is a store I would miss for DVDs - I stopped shopping there when they stopped selling Vinyl

Still think they should offer an in-store download service, plug in your MP3 player and download tracks etc

Thats actually a great idea and would do a lot to revamping their model.

Stick £1 and download a track of your choice there and now.

Fair?

helped bring about the end of the cold war which resulted in the dismantling of the Soviet empire ...

we may not (all) appreciate it but i suspect there are a lot of Europeans who do

The Soviet Union would have imploded from within with or without Thatcher and anyone else for that matter.

It was essentially a contradictory, beauracratic, overlapping political machine which could only ever end in one way - economic ruin and collapse of the state.

Precisely, the Communist Bloc was a house of cards held together with fear, the people of those countries forced the end of the Cold War allied to the regieme being so short of actual money they had to simply just give up. Whether it be the people of Russia who Gorbachev gave a little sniff of freedom to with Perestroika & Glasnost (and that was kind of forced on the CP by the fact that they knew they couldn't hold the people together much longer), the Polish lead by the Gdansk Shipworkers and Lech Walensa, the Czech's with Vaclav Havel... It was happening everywhere across the Communist Bloc. People power brought an end to the Cold War, I was in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and the USSR at the time, working and mixing with your average Joe, staying in some of their houses and workmens hostels too, which would have been unthinkable only a couple of years earlier, they'd had enough, they were taking every bit of their little gains in freedom and running a mile with them and you just knew if they couldn't run that mile they'd keep pushing until they did. Once one of those countries freed themselves it was only a matter of time and the whole lot came down and it really did have bugger all to do with SALT talks and arms reduction, they weren't there to end the Cold War, they were there to save both sides some cash, in fact if those talks hadn't taken place and the arsenals reduced there is actually an argument that the fall of the Communist Bloc would have been much earlier as the constant arms building would have bankrupted the Bloc much earlier.

I agree. One of the most important theories that thrived throughout the Cold War in the west was the domino theory that if one state came under Communist rule, then it would spread in that region, and I believe it can also be applied correctly to the dismantling of Eastern Europe under the Soviets.

As you said bickster, it was only a matter of time, and once one country broke away the rest would surely rise up and follow.

Benitez (useless)

That useless he won a Champions League with an average squad 3-0 at halftime, brought them to another CL final, and took Fergie to the wire for the Premier League. Throw in an FA Cup and La Liga title with Valencia. Yep, clearly useless.

He is very attack minded, but in his solid year he could put in a decent tackle and was more successful than Milner in his outstanding year.

The Venkys did turn down Qataris last month according to a reliable local paper.

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/blackburn_rovers/news/9362126.print/

How can be privy to such information, yet he cannot spell correctly or type basic English?

They never changed with the times and still had ridiculous prices. Its their own fault.

Fair?

helped bring about the end of the cold war which resulted in the dismantling of the Soviet empire ...

we may not (all) appreciate it but i suspect there are a lot of Europeans who do

The Soviet Union would have imploded from within with or without Thatcher and anyone else for that matter.

It was essentially a contradictory, beauracratic, overlapping political machine which could only ever end in one way - economic ruin and collapse of the state.

He is starved of service. He has to rely on Heskey as the playmaker. The manager is a disgrace to football.

Few Villa Facebook pages are mentioning bringing banners on Wednesday.

Still can't believe that the Lerner dream ended so quickly and still stunned that he's managed to make so many terrible decisions to **** up his investment.

One terrible decision, to give MON shit loads of money in the transfer market and allow him to negotiate player contracts. Everything that has followed is a consequence of that.

And that is Mr Lerner's fault alone.

Absolutely agree on that point as everything else stems from that flawed decision.

I would love to know what rules MON is operating on at Sunderland. If they have any sense at all they will have had a close look at what happened at Villa. But then again....

OT but MON will have a shit load of cash and complete control - he wouldn't have taken the job otherwise.

Which is why every newspaper including The Times and The Guardian stated he was aware of financial restrictions, and MON said over the weekend that if nobody comes in during January he is happy enough to work with what he has, and also why the BBC said he was aware of financial restrictions placed upon transfer activity over the next 2 windows?

He used to never sign written contracts and preferred a one year rolling contract with flexibility, that was until he perhaps realised he wouldn't get a better than Villa so he accepted what he could.

Business in "Trying to maximise revenue shocker...." whatever next?

It looks like you literally have to point out the obvious point with some people here.

These games used to be sell-outs. Now they are ringing about offering discounts to people days before such games to try and fill the stadium.

The club are emailing and ringing about this morning trying to flog tickets for the Arsenal game, and that isn't the first time as they did the same with Liverpool yesterday and United.

Houllier had moments were you actually went away from a game knowing what exactly he was trying to implement, but it was overshadowed by the many bad times that came through implementing such drastic change in a work environment in such a short period of time.

McLeish is just a cancer.

Its sad that such a promising golding korea is over.

>_>