Jenko#4

1 hour ago, VillaChris said:

Think a season long loan to another prem side will make a lot of sense as you'd assume Conte will bring in at least one midfield from Seria A....Naigollan has been heavily rumoured from Roma.

I remember when Chalobah was all the rage a few years back and Josh McEcharan a few years before....both sunk without trace really at the top level.

They've got Lewis Baker as well, who also looked sharp in Toulon. Most teams (especially in the Championship!) would love a midfield three of Loftus-Cheek, Chalobah and Baker, yet Chelsea didn't spend a penny on them so it makes no real odds to them whether they make it or not.

2 hours ago, Denis242 said:

The Barcelona kit is lovely

It's lovely because it doesn't have 'Qatar Airlines' plastered all over the front of it 

Have they gone back to not having a shirt sponsor for next season, or are they going to get a new one?

Dr. Tony Xia

1 hour ago, Seat68 said:

does this extend to motorhomes?

I'm undecided yet! Completely understand people who may use a motorhome to tour the whole of Canada or the US as a once-in-lifetime experience holiday, but if you are going to drive it down to Weston-Super-Mare and park it next to the beach for 5 days, then why bother?? I do think those motorhomes that tow ridiculous little cars behind them look stupid though!!

Caravans and Caravanning.......why?

Where is the fun in driving really, really slowly for hundreds of miles whilst getting overtaken by tractors, to then sit in a white box for the weekend freezing your nips off in the pouring rain? Everyone of the drivers in the estimated 150,000+ that I feel like I have overtaken today looks miserable as sin as well! The worst part of it is that most of them are 'Sunday' drivers out on a Friday, causing chaos. Don't they realize that people have places to go and jobs to do? Just sell the box and go to Benidorm for a week, you'll have more fun!

2 minutes ago, BOF said:

That's true, but there is a 3rd choice which is that I'd rather have a player who wants to play for our club and whose legs have not gone.  "At least he's not Bacuna" is not enough justification to include someone next season IMO.

Completely agree, but at the moment we need to find at least 11 of them.....

I would much rather have a 36 year old who's legs may have gone but WANTS to play for our club, than any of the dross we have at the moment who are just using AVFC as a stepping stone/final pay day/holiday. You can't train pride, heart and character into a player, and that is something we have been missing for a long time now. It may be a long shot for Stan to get back to playing professionally, but he has my backing all day long.

6 hours ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

Agreed with the above, PED's aren't really going to increase your speed, especially give how footballers train versus sprinters. They will however improve strength and in particular recovery, which is probably the angle you'd take with Leicester - a lot of these players look super fit and highly energetic in the latter stages of the season, despite Raneri not really rotating his core pack throughout the season. 

What makes things interesting is that you have a lot of (on paper) un-spectacularly average players who have never really demonstrated these qualities previously in their careers, in their late 20s and even early 30s, i.e. at ages where you really aren't likely to make dramatic improvements/ gains as an athlete. 

Ranieri hasn't really rotated his pack, however they have played 10-15 games less than most of the other teams around them. They went out of the FA Cup in the third round, and the League Cup in the 4th (after playing kids/reserves all the way through). Also, the 3 most substituted off players in the whole of the Premier League this season are Albrighton, Mahrez and Okazaki, so he is quite good at 'resting' his players during games (if that makes sense!?)  Maybe it is just that other teams are struggling fitness and energy wise due to Europe/long cup runs etc.. making Leicester look quicker? In my opinion this has made them an easy target for the doping/PED rumours, and hopefully I'm not proved wrong......

51 minutes ago, One For The Road said:

Nostradamus strikes again.

Seriously though, my excitement over our new attacking breed is massively tempered by the clowns we have at the back. You ain't winning the Euros with Smalling, Stones, Rose and Jagielka......

I think England can get away with it if Woy plays Dier in front to protect the CBs, someone in midfield who is naturally defensively minded. It also allows our full backs (probably Clyne and Rose) to offer a threat further up the field where their defensive weaknesses don't get constantly found out. I think we missed Dier massively tonight....

I'd start the first game with the same team as v Germany, but Hart in for Butland, and maybe Vardy in for Lallana.

4 hours ago, Wainy316 said:

That was our main plan too although we hired a car and drove the golden circle.  The Northern Lights was a bit of a lottery, our tour was cancelled as it was completely over cast (they'll book you on another tour if you can make it) but even the people that went on a clear night said they saw nothing.  On the other hand I saw someone's pics who went last week and they were out in force (even being sighted in Northern England).

The Blue Lagoon is amazing but if you get chance also check out one of the smaller thermal baths around Reykjavik, they're how a lot of Icelanders socialise.

Not sure if it's your bag but I'd fully recommend horse riding.  We went with Ishestar, the Icelandic horses are special (apparently) and some of the scenery you ride through is stunning.  This was an activity for the missus but I'm very glad I did it.

If you have some free time in Reykjavik we found the free 2 hour walking tour informative and the guide was very good. http://citywalk.is/  Book on the tour you want in advance as they sometimes get full.

Most the eating and drinking is all centred around one straight street called Laugavegur.  You'll know when you're on it, carry on all the way down to Austurstraeti too for more pubs.  Food and drink is expensive, but shop around and you'll find plenty of happy hours across various pubs between 4-11 where you can get 2 for 1 beer.  Also we were told on our whale watching tour (where we saw no whales) that eating whale is not an Icelandic thing to do and most locals are against it.  They told us to go to restaurants with 'whale friendly' stickers on the door, but I won't preach about that.

Finally, the famous Hotdog:

This place is world famous and people such as Bill Clinton and James Hetfield swear by it.  It's also regularly described as the best hotdog in the world.  I'll be honest, it's not, but it's worth getting one anyway just due to how iconic it is and the fact it is relatively cheap too.

 

Thanks Wainy, definitely going to look into the walking tour later. We've booked the Northern Lights for the first night so we have a chance to go again if the weather is bad. I love seafood, but whale (and puffin) are taking it a bit too far for me! 

On 2/28/2016 at 19:33, Wainy316 said:

Just got back.

Everybody go to Iceland. It's ace!

I'm off there 2 weeks today for 5 days. Northern Lights, Golden Circle and Blue Lagoon already booked. Any recommendations for food, drinks, other sites to see.....? cheers!

The Honey Badger.......

Vera Lynn

Ringo Starr

Dick Van Dyke

Rolf Harris

Des O'Connor

1 hour ago, Demitri_C said:

Just ordered online for £12...then realised it was FM 2015 FFS!! 

If you want to be Villa then it doesn't really matter.... we are s**t and have no money on both versions!

He is probably the only true box-to-box midfielder in the squad at the start, and I always use one in the formation I play. He hasn't got injured (yet!)

On 12/18/2015 at 20:14, Cliffy Biro said:

@Villaphan04 I'd highly recommend using veretout regularly, develops into a brillliant player eventually.

I've got a midfield 3 of Veretout, Bacuna and Gardner running the show in my first season. 4th after 15 games but struggling for goals. I've had 8 1-0 wins....

The only other half-decent one I can think of was Schmeichel, most of them have been horrific transfers

People who use their mobile phone in the quiet zone on the train, despite their being signs on every window and door, and announcements from the driver. They always seem to have the worlds loudest, crappiest ringtones as well........knob jockeys.

Thought Carlos played really well tonight, he put himself about and broke up play a fair few times. If the new manager can get it into his head that once he has won the ball he needs to pass it  to a player no further than 10 yards away wearing the same coloured shirt as him, then he could become very important over the next few months.

I went there on a stag do earlier this year, and I'd recommend a Union Berlin game. For a second division team, the atmosphere was brilliant and the fans are crazy. It is nearly all terraced, and the stadium is built in the middle of a forest. They have pop-up pubs/barbecues on the roads around the ground that you can go to beforehand. The Olympic stadium where Hertha play is good, however to me it was just the German Emirates/Etihad and is quite sterile. Drinks wise, I can't remember too many of the place names, but I didn't have a bad beer whilst I was there......

You pay for what you take surely? be that 1p, 5p, or 10p over. If you haven't got the man skills required to control a petrol pump to the penny, then you deserve to have to be searching the dark recesses of your glovebox for any loose change 

Champions

League,

Here 

We

Come!

Gil and Grealish are both different players.

 

Both really need to push on this season in my opinion as i'm sure with the signings we have made the club will certainly look to push forward.

I agree, I think he needs to start delivering an end product as soon as he is back in the first team. I think the kid is an absolute talent and love him as a player, but if he doesn't deliver straight away then there are now multiple options waiting to replace him who will, whereas there wasn't really that option at the back end of last season. He runs the risk of having his development being stifled (similar to Januzaj) if he doesn't deliver.

WHERE ARE WE GOING TO PLAY THEM ALL?????!!!!!!!.........