TheSufferingVilla

In general it's down to the agents, say you had a week to sell your car and a lot of people interested, would you sell it on the first day? Or would you wait the week out for the best offer, hoping that the potential customers get tangled in a bidding war and netting you the most cash? That's why the window is a load of crap and inflates prices as opposed to the old system when player can move year round.

My pre-window prediction was 4 with the first coming in around today, granted I also predicted Fat Sam would still be at barcodes and that Benitez would be gone by now.

Damnit, if numbers 1 and 2 could get together and choose the same side we could beat this number 3 conspiracy for the RedScouse style flag.

and back in the day...

Are you telling me the Liverbird flag they have is Shit? Would you prefer a giant Villa shirt or just the badge... show a bit creativity. not sure which Liverbird flag you are referring to, I'm simply talking about all the flags they have that show their haul of silverware, I think it's quite a low class thing to do akin to waering cheap gold jewelery, we are Aston Villa the **** founding fathers of football we should never feel the need to remind others of our successes they should feel privilaged to share the same air as us. cheap Liverpool flags:

Number 1 simple and effective, 2 looks cheap, 4 looks shit and 3 is a bit wank, the type of crap liverpool would unfurl. We are Aston Villa and as such 1 is most suitable.

Just to warn you, Morrowind goes on forever, it is much, much bigger than Oblivion and in many ways a little too big. Also some of the gameplay will feel dated after playing Oblivion still Morrowind is definetly worth 13$.

New York to Villa Park 2008 Review General you will no doubt remember my trip over to Villa Park last Christmas and the lengthy review I compiled afterwards to refresh the memory it's here, well this year I was back for the Spurs game and as an added treat I brought my American wife for her first Villa park experience. We met up with a fellow US Villan and his first time wife who were in the area visiting family, here's the full rundown: Club Shop To start last year review I had a little rant about the club shop in the city centre, General the new shop blew me away, what an improvement. Reading about it on here I made an assumption to its location, I was wrong, the actual location is better than I could have imagined. Nobody, of that I'm sure, could visit Brum and not see the store. Get off the train and take the logical walk up the main street, seeing all the usual stores Primark, BHS and... what is that classy looking joint right there? is it an Apple store? no, is it Gucci? no, could it be Chanel? doubtful, Prada? surely not, it's Aston Villa. The shop oozes class from the outside. Last year I was a little disappointed by a lack of branding/presence in the city, this simply surpassed all my expectations. Inside the shop is equally as tasteful albeit a little lightly stocked (though that could have been due to the time post Christmas), was surprised by the empty space near the front upstairs, I assume this is set aside for a future ticket office or something. The staff were friendly and the product presentation top notch, in all highly impressed. I also visited both club shops by the ground, the mini one beneath the Holte Hotel is very cool. The main shop looks a lot better than last year, new signage and a facelift? Couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Two minor gripes with the inside - no mirrors, I simply cannot bring myself to splashing 50 pounds on a jacket without seeing it in a mirror. No American Express accepted, granted this is the norm in England but surely it can't be too difficult for the club to handle. Around the ground Huge improvements General, the signage is excellent. I was delighted to see the new signs on the train platforms, bravo. Although I'm sure many people (first timers) get off at Aston not knowing Witton is closer, not sure how you could convey via station sign that the next stop is less of a walk. I'll jump back to my suggestion last year that on match days the club should pay 1 or 2 people to stand around New Street station giving instructions on getting to the ground and back, it would be a nice touch for visiting fans. The North Stand really deserved that cleanup, another job well done it really dragged down the overall appearance of the ground, amazing what a bit of sand blasting can do. Love the new signage on the stands and it's glorious when lit up. The giant TV's are a great addition and one I'm sure that will be appreciated for years. Tickets were Lower Holte this year, the concourse like the Trinity looks bleak and dreary, could do with a little updating. I noticed a big improvement in the food stalls, service was very efficient and the product well priced, the bathrooms were also quite good and I for one saw no evidence of smoking. Holte hotel Love it, it's a real jewel in the crown of Aston Villa. Not sure really how to put it into words but the club finally has a club house where the fans can go and feel like they belong. It is a pity that space is limited on match day to invite only, but what can you do? It's not like the place could accommodate 20,000. I was surprised by how many staff were on hand, seemed a little excessive. The atmosphere is a little odd and I am struggling to understand it, I suppose it's like going to your bosses house for dinner, you appreciate the hospitality still it's hard to relax and put your feet up. In time I expect as people become more accustomed to it 5 or 6 invites down the line they may let their hair down a bit and raise their voices to more than a whisper. Pre match aside it is a glorious addition to the club and a place all Villa fans can be proud to have year round. other notes and suggestions This year we escaped the ground by car and got to experience the horrific traffic. It's astonishing how quickly people attempt to disperse Villa Park and it's not hard to imagine that if even a small percentage hung around for a bit then everyone would get home easier. Not sure how many attractions the club could provide to keep a couple of thousand people around after the game. Perhaps the club could arrange some action on the pitch after the big game ends, such as a youth game or reserve training session, perhaps it's a hair brained idea, but I'd happily stick around if there was something worth doing. The City Center shop was closed on New years day, normally I can understand a shop closed on a bank holiday but this was also a match day and I saw more than a few disappointed fans going up to the closed doors, considering the time of year they may well have been home from overseas and taking a trip to their Villa. Still see nothing Villa related at the Airport. Is there any way to have the post match interviews broadcast on the screens inside the ground? On my way out I noticed one of the TV cameramen was watching them on a little screen, it couldn't be too hard to pipe it through the PA and would result in less of a scrum exiting especially if they delay the broadcast for 5 or so minutes. The ticket office as always were a great help in accommodating visiting US Villans. Throughout the year we have people jetting over to see games and in most cases it's the class 'A' games that are chosen, as you can imagine it's better to make a 6,000 mile round trip to see Villa play the likes of Arsenal rather than Scunthorpe. With games like this being class 'A' we can't get tickets through the normal channels since they are only made available to those with a purchasing history. Granted all we have to do is call Nicky or anyone at the ticket office and they will sort us out but this is surely a strain on their time that could be better spent elsewhere. Perhaps the club could establish a channel for overseas fans to get their tickets via their nearest supporters club by maybe giving the clubs special accounts on the online box office. Anyway something to think about down the line. We received an offer for a guided tour from Dan Meredith before the match, Katrina Adamson had emailed us but unfortunately we failed to check our email and weren't able to take up the offer a big thank you to both of them and Alan Perrins, they are doing a cracking job. In conclusion General, off the pitch the Randy and his A-team are doing a fantastic job rebuilding our great club and I honestly believe we could not be in better hands, since we started our little supporters club in New York last year interest is growing in leaps and bounds, we are now in contact with fans across the US with more appearing each and every week. Many are old Villans who lost their way but never their love and were awoken by Randy's new dawn. More importantly others are new fans picking a club for the first time and identifying Villa over the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal. Why do they pick Villa? is it the history, is it the players? or the poetic name? No it's the whole package. Later this year we hope to bring a good number of US based Villans over for a game, some will be returning for the first time in many a year some will be experiencing Villa Park for the first time regardless I have no doubt that all will be impressed. As I was browsing the club shop prior to kick off, I noticed two young lads maybe 16 or 17, could have been brothers, judging by their physique and matching tracksuit tops they were young footballers possibly South American. My instant guess that the two lads were over on trial or considering joining our academy, they picked up a scarf each after reviewing all the options and I saw them in the car park a few minutes later scarves on taking in their surroundings and full of excitement. Now who knows the identity of the two young lads or what they were doing at VP, my assumptions could be way off but if either of them was the next Ronaldo then how impressed he must have been when he left our fine stadium 2 hours later. Aston Villa are back, the jobs not finished but I can't help but feel it will be a masterpiece upon completion. Now for a picture or two Just what was needed. Sinage is brilliant all round the ground. Hotel is simply stunning. North Stand cleans up very well indeed. Texas sized TV's, a great addition. A bunch of happy visitors, myself and wife on right.

For **** sake the players couldn't stand O'Leary they didn't like the man nor his style. Most of our good players would have walked had O'Leary stuck around. O'Neill had a hell of a job convincing them to stay.

Yep General you got my question spot on.

General have you encountered anyone else in the game that holds a position similar to your own? Are are you a rare gem?

Yes universe is vast life is tough. Though the closest ET's to Earth probably look more like a sponge than Spock and have a brain capacity equal to the average Bluenose.

General what is your take on George Mitchell's report on steroid abuse in baseball? Senator Mitchell has been a hero of mine for sometime due to his incredible work in Northern Ireland and when I saw he was assigned the task of investigating Baseball I thought to myself - what a waste. Man was I wrong he just gave the sport the most fantastic ass kick in the right direction by having the guts to name and shame, do you think this could be the start of more investigations into perhaps Basketball and American Football? Or will the buck stop here giving everyone else a get of of jail free card?

Not touching it until the get rid of the bloody DRM.

Blues fans criticise club over difficulty finding correct seats at St Andrews Old Fart strongly denies dandruff speculation 3PO prepares early for Mardi Gras Rob considers switching his workout regeime to the other hand pablopicasso's new look is a hit but not with the ladies

Where's Nick? I have to ask the burning question - Villa have a former Celtic manager, Blues have a former Rangers manager. As a Rangers fan how does that feel?

Interesting point above by MM, I thought we did these types of things with Golf days followed by dinners. In any case slightly related do we host Office Christmas parties in any of our venues? they are usually pretty big money makers this time of year.

General, today is the one day of the year depite the current hysteria you should be taking a break from your Villa duties. Firstly I hope you avoided the temptation to indulge in the yearly back yard game of throwning around the pigskin at the Krulak residence you wouldn't want some over eager relative sacking you and putting your back into a worse state than it already is Have a great Thanksgiving General, enjoy the Turkey, enjoy the trimmings and try to leave room for dessert. Finally wherever you are spending it I hope you have similar weather then me it's 68 degrees and sunny here on the outskirts of Philadelphia where I am watching my brother slaving in the kitchen as I sit comfortably on the couch with his kids.

We used to have home international tournaments. I think they should be brought back but not as suggested. Instead I believe there should be a league and instead of the pointless friendly games international teams play they should instead play those fixtures against home nations teams with each team playing home and away aginst another over a two year period. Would be great.

And the new Blues manager is...........

6 and a half years?? Let me just clarify that is what you mean before I correct you. All Premiership games are televised somewhere in the world No duck to break.

General should that doctor of your be kind enough to let you get on a train, you are more than welcome to join the New York Villans on Sunday morning at Nevada Smith's Regarding issues shipping Villa gear to the US, would John Greenfield and the others behind the store consider getting someone in the US to Drop ship merchandise, there are lots of small football stores over here who would be more than capable of doing it, I know of one that's actually owned by a Villa fan. I myself had a very bad experience just prior to the Randy era when I tried to order a number of items for delivery to the US and with the dollar continuing to weaken it's going to continue to get more and more expensive shipping individual items to the US.

IanRobo1 finally agrees with Egg Chasing while enjoying exile

I was wondering why the ovens they sold at IKEA were so bloody huge. Now I know.

General regarding your back, I hope the physios at the club have been working on you, setting up a regeme in the motion pool at Bodymoor etc because as an integral part of the Villa setup we need you back on your feet and raring to go. What's an army of fans without it's leader?