NurembergVillan

The problem is that a triple heart bypass operation and prostate cancer have failed to curb Ellis' enthusiasm for a 70-hour week.

I presume that's how long he's awake as opposed to how long he's at work :evil:

Anyone saw the front of the Mail? im amazed. they've took there tongue out of blose arsse long enough to wirte about us.

But what have they wirtten?

There are no missing 1000's - I have got to know lots of Villa Fans over my lifetime - whilst some moan about the footy like they always do, I have yet to meet ANYONE that has stated that the reason they don't go is down purely to Doug Ellis. (Present company accepted). I hope there are 1000's that will come back, but as we are a "fickle lot" according to some, I would say that they pick and chose anyway.

Guys, great discussion here, and I'm pleased to see it hasn't got personal. That's why I come to VT.

Anyway, my point of contention on the "missing thousands" is that maybe people don't directly say "it's because of Ellis", but ultimately it is. I remember the last 4 or 5 games of the 92/3 season (that long ago!) under Ron and there was hardly room to breathe, and this against teams like Oldham and Man City.

Inadvertently it IS because of Ellis. It's because under Ellis there's no hope, and if there's no hope, there's no point. When he goes people WILL return. Because their hope will have returned too.

the stance we choose to take of self sacrifice for the greater good, even if its only a small impact on my individual part, is in the hope that things will change for the better...

if thats damaging short term but makes our long term future better, then thats the cross we have to bare....

How noble the Villa Park martyrs are. How enlightened that they can see what us 'normal' Villa fans cannot.

Did your boycott mean you didn't go to Rotterdam? Did it mean you didn't got to Wembley for the FA Cup final or League Cup finals in the 90's/00? Thought not.

At least we were comparable with our opponents in those days, though, Dave. If we get to this year's Cup Final against Chelsea, who will have as much hope as they did in 2000?

And that's the thing- we're devoid of hope under Ellis and as such there are 4 reasons why I dont go to Villa Park-

1) I live in Germany (so the other 3 are based on when I'm at home)

2) I want to make a stand so Ellis knows, as a fan, I'm not going to put up with this crap and pretend everything's ok.

3) I'm a customer, but I do love the club. As a customer, I'm not going to pay to watch us get over run by Man Ure, as a fan I'm not prepared to turn up for a game we've got no chance of even competing in. Both things hurt.

4) One of my contacts isnt at VP any more so I dont get free prawn sandwiches when I go

You could well question whether I'm a good fan based on the fact that, this Christmas, I didnt go to any of the games whilst I was in the country. I would counter that argument by saying that I listen to every game over the internet and jump for joy and shake my fists as much as if I was in the Holte.

I'm still a fan, I just show it in a different way.

Is this conversation now going off topic? Maybe, but it still relates to the original topic because if Ellis were to go, I'd be back at VP. As such, I'm taking my stand to help get him out, because I miss my football.

And please, stop all the talk of martyrs and normal fans, or whatever. You wont win any points with it.

It's not my business what other people choose to do. But it seems strange to complain about the club's lack of funds for players, while not attending games. The club need the money.

If 5000 don't go for 19 home games, that's around £2.5m lost. As an example.

Last season was one of our best in terms of average attendances and yet we still had/have feck all money to spend on players.

That's the biggest problem with trying to sum up what's wrong at VP- there's no logic behind it.

Costs me around 100 quid a pop. Taking my ex to Port Vale and that's beginning to look an expensive weekend.

Your ex is a rent boy? :shock:

On the other hand it could be said that the club is in good financial shape compared to similar clubs. There is still a huge potential here, and the price for becoming the best of the rest would not be that high. There is at least one, perhaps two, Champions League spots that we could realisticly compete for with an extra £30m or so to spend. And a combined cost of £100m or so for a club with a realistic chance at CL qualification doesn't seem to expensive.

So it's taken him the best part of 40 years to make us a reasonably attractive proposition for a new buyer, who he may or may not choose to sell to.

Not really a solid track record for the Chairman of a £65m company is it?

Even though niether have to issue a statement to the LSE so far would this be allowed at a bigger club ?

I imagine not. The takeover at Manchester United was very quick and passed by without event

Why wouldnt the Comer's claim to be £10m short? You don't become self-made billionaires by throwing an extra £10m at something just to save time.

Ellis, Villa and Investments are three words that just aren't compatible.

Ellis managed to get an investment company to pay money to have their logo on our shirts

Or Bruce Langham did. Anyone remember him?

Where's Trotsky? He'll be grinning on this one!

I'm doing the takeover dance.

Anyone care to join me?

I am doing a takeover wank! Anyone care to join me?

I know it's Christmas, but I'll pass on that one.

Enjoy yourself, though.

so why has dol said there is no money if the takeover is to happen? that would mean the comers will not provide dol any cash in jan? OR doug might want to do one kind act before he leaves.

OR it would be illegal to say "we're about to get bought out and I'm going to be minted in January!". It would certainly have an effect on the share price which would then make any takeover less likely.

Rich, it's Christmas, and this is the most hopeful bit of Villa news since 1996

What happened then?

We smashed Leeds to win the League Cup, were in the semis of the FA Cup and 4th in the League.

That was the last time I thought we had a decent future.

Rich, it's Christmas, and this is the most hopeful bit of Villa news since 1996. I'm happy to get over excited for now and then see what happens in the New Year.

I'm already out of breath, sweating and wearing my tie round my head JC! Pass the party poppers and the helium balloons!

Sky Sports said that Michael Neville has confirmed that the bid is at the "due diligence" stage- in other words the Comer Group are going through Villa's accounts.

Apparently a £64.5m takeover could be completed "within a few days".

So here it is Merry Christmas, everbody's having fun!

Not for the England v Trinidad game, but I've got kits I designed on 11 other teams- Paraguay, Italy, Czech Republic, Poland, Switzerland, Ghana, Togo, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Although that said, I've certainly not been promised tickets for any games yet. It's usually a case of getting a phone call a couple of hours before the game and getting to the stadium ASAP.

Bummer- not only missing the live games, but in a different time zone too! I was in Boston for the last World Cup and set my alarm for about 4am for the first England match, as advertised on TV.

I duly woke up, turned the TV on and it wasn't shown in that area- it was Shrek instead! Although if you see Shrek this time it might still be an England match

Well, I never thought that would happen, but England are playing Trinidad here in Nuremberg!!

For cheap flights, get yourself to www.airberlin.com and you'll get tickets from Stansted from about £52 return. Mexican, Iranian, Japanese, Croatian, Ghanaian or American Villans are also heartily welcome to meet up for a beer and bratwurst while they're over!

Other than the England game, there's a good chance that Portugal will play Holland or Argentina here too. Get in!

See you in June fellow Freunds des Fußballs!

Nuremberg- the spiritual home of , :oink: and

You could change it to "Dont reply to people who tried to help with a letterhead for my son's footy team"

I remember being embarrassed when I took my young nephew to a game, we stood on the left as I normally did, and he hadn't told me he had brought an air horn with him.

All very well, but it was one of those crappy little ones that made a shitty squeak rather than a good loud blast like the proper bigger air horns.

I remember everybody taking the piss and laughing at the noise it made, I really was dying out there, but didn't have the heart to take it off him!

:oops:

And the case for the defence rests there, m'lud.

THE RIGHT SIDE!