Panto_Villan

That said we’ve been helping Europe fill their stores because we’ve got the LNG plants to unload it, then pump it over to Europe. I imagine they’ll send some back if we need.

I dunno, taken out of context talk about double pivots and invented wing backs do kinda sound like someone’s trying to get a bird to do acrobatics or something.

Yeah, and as I and loads of other posters have said, almost all our players have looked shite under Gerrard. Everyone else gets another chance, why not him? But sure, carry on blaming Coutinho for Gerrard’s mistakes.

I reckon Ings has seen enough of Ollie that he doesn’t think his position as the designated clinical finisher is under threat any more It’s good to see the both of them playing well together anyway.

Yeah, that’s fair. Maybe he’ll come good, maybe he won’t. But just give the guy a chance at least!

The whole team looked like 5 a side players until Gerrard went. He’s had 20 mins on the pitch to turn it around since then and now we need to get rid of him because he’s not good enough. Face it, it’s because he had a link to Gerrard. That’s why McGinn needs to be out the club, Purslow needs to get the sack and why Coutinho needs to be sold. Even Danks needed to be fired until last night. Everyone gets a clean slate except people that VT has taken an irrational dislike to.

Delighted Boris isn't standing. The potential for utter chaos was just too high, and that'd be the last thing the country needs after Truss. That said I reckon the only reason he's not standing is because he can't get 100 MPs to back him.

He was probably biding his time, reporting back to Gerrard from the training pitch every week that the midfield looked solid and McGinn had scored another hat-trick.

Three hours ago Bailey was the worst signing we’d ever made with no pace, no skill and a terrible attitude. Maybe we give all the players a chance under the interim manager and whoever takes over?

I’m guessing we’re all in love with Purslow again, because the CEO is responsible for everything at the club and Danks seems to be a good interim manager and our players actually seem capable of kicking a football after all? Or is only the bad stuff his fault?

I don’t think Danks should be in the frame for permanent manager, because that’s how you end up with OGS in charge. He’d be found out over time. But I do hope he gets a nice bonus for his work today, and this result will look great in his CV when he moves on from our club.

Can’t believe we fired Gerrard for this tripe

Nah, a proper Villa fan would just point out there’s still ample time for us to lose this 4-3! You’re too optimistic to be one of us.

Well yeah, that’s the thing. For some people loving their country is just having an attachment to the place they consider home and the people that live there. Some people would say it’s the ideals that the country stands for (e.g. democracy, etc) which people may love enough to be willing to die for it on the battlefield. There are probably plenty of Ukrainians right now who are willing to die for a nationalist idea, and for their friends and family that share it. I don’t see anything wrong with that sort of nationalism, personally, and the fact that less benign versions of nationalism exist doesn’t mean I’m willing to say that nobody should have any love for their country. I’m sure you know this already, but a flag is just a convenient representation of what a country and whatever it means to the owner. When people in the Middle East burn American flags it’s probably not because they dislike the colours.

Yes, nationalism has a bad side when it becomes too strong - almost all of which is better called racism or chauvinism. Which is the point I was making. It’s not pure English nationalism that’s the problem, it’s just racism. There’s nothing inherently wrong with loving your country or loving your flag etc, unless you also think the SNP are flag-shaggers and whatnot for loving theirs. The problem is that there’s a racist element among the English right which seeks to exclude others from our country.

So the Scottish nationalists are bad people pursuing an inherently bad cause, then? Given they’ll happily admit to being nationalists?

It’s weird you automatically equate nationalism to racism. Are the SNP racists then? Is anyone who watches the England football team a racist, because they’re taking pride in their nation? The Venn diagram of extreme nationalists and racists overlaps pretty heavily, but nationalism itself isn’t inherently bad.

Let’s not pretend people in category 1 are any better. If you’re incapable of voting for the party with what you consider the best manifesto (making allowances for how likely that party is to be elected) then you’re part of the problem.

Yes, but I blame that on the manager rather than the CEO. I know half the people on VT want to fire Purslow, change the owners, burn down the stadium and salt the earth because Gerrard played bad football and got mediocre results for about half a season, but some perspective is required. I mean, if our next manager is great then will all the haters be saying Purslow is perfect at his job and has never done anything wrong?

Dean Smith definitely needed to go. I’d be calling for Purslow’s head if he’d let the club continue to go downwards under Smith. Appointing Gerrard was a mistake, but keeping Smith would have been just as bad.

I think Purslow is doing fine. He’s certainly got enough goodwill in the bank to continue after one bad managerial appointment. Hopefully the next one pays off and we’ll be back on the up again.

Bloody right wing BBC always bigging up the Tories…

I don’t think Sunak will work out as the least popular candidate. Others may appear more popular at the moment but I imagine that’ll evaporate in most cases when the public get to see more of them. Sunak’s popularity is likely to be near its floor already. If you want the death of the Tory party at the next election you want someone like Braverman or Badenoch rather than Sunak I think.

McGinn as player-manager anyone?

Don’t have any personal resentment towards Gerrard and was cautiously optimistic about his appointment, but I’m glad he’s gone and a bit annoyed it took this long to happen.