Adam2003

I think Young is better. I think Milner's style of play will see him do more for England than Young ever will.

Both great players who I hope stay at Villa a long time.

Captain's duties in a football team:

ref - Heads or tails?

captain -Heads.

ref - Heads it is. Kick off or chose ends?

captain - We'll attack the North Stand in the first half.

ref - Okay.

The captain who wins the toss can never choose to kick off, contrary to popalr belief.

Whoever wins it chooses ends. Whoever loses it kicks off.

Just FYI from a former captain and former ref - not that it affects your point at all

young will tear you apart sounds great.

for those who've (somehow) never heard the song, it goes:

"Young, Young will tear you apart, again"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0dfd_L4tDk

could be repeated for ages.

Exactly, it can just go on and on and pick up volume.

Get it going at Stoke today lads, keep up the great support as always.

I still think we should just do 'Young will tear you apart'. It would sound fantastic with Villa Park belting that out and I honestly believe all four sides of the ground would join in.

So overall I think we'ree stronger but so are our main competition for 5th - Evernot and Spuds

Am I missing something? I thought Everton had sold a bunch of players and signed no-one, how can they be stronger?

Top post though guys.

Hi General,

I have a little bit of an operational question. As you probably know, certain competitions have deadlines for players to be registered - for example I think for the next round of the UEFA Cup we had to submit a list by August 4th.

Who is in charge of ensuring this happens? I'm guessing the responsibility isn't on the manager. Obviously from a practical point of view he needs to be aware of this, but is there someone whose job it is to wade through the pages of UEFA, FIFA, FA and Premier League rules on all this sort of thing and let him know?

For example, I think one player can be added to our UEFA Cup squad before the match on Thursday - probably either Luke Young or Shorey. Is there someone who makes MON aware that he has this option and DOES NOT have the option of picking both (please note - I'm not suggesting for one second MON isn't completeky aware of the situation!)? Because while MON's an intelligent guy, there are a lot of rules and regulations to take in at a busy time thanks to good old red-tape!

I only ask because every season in one competition or another we see a club playing one too many loan players, or an ineligible player, and being fined or docked points or thrown out of a cup, so I assume all clubs must have someone to check exactly what is going on (I don't recall Villa ever slipping up by the way). Or is it just part of the legal department's role?

Thanks and have a good day.

Up the Villa!

No, offer him to Arse for 14-15 mil!

No point. he wants to go to LIVERPOOL

No he doesn't, he just wants CL football and a pay-rise.

But yes, I'd take £16m and Finnan. £16m is more than fair, with a right back thrown in. Happy days.

5. We are working on pro-evolution.

I'd never thought of this General but can I add my voice that it would be good marketing, especially if it's just a case of us giving permission. A lot of people buy that game all over the world, and I believe they currently see us as 'West Midlands Village'!

2. hobbo: It really gets to me when someone writes that we are about to lose the "good will of the fans" or that we need to be spending the money the fan brings to the Club

It gets to a lot of us too, General.

I know that you see everything with MON-tinted glasses on, but surely you can see a trend developing here...?

I can see a trend - 16th to 11th to 6th.

That's the trend we as fans need to worry about IMO.

General, thanks for your continuing presence here. Please be aware we really appreciate having this contact.

General, I have a quick complaint re Barry (well, not really him, I understand he and MOn and randy have big decisions to make).

But as you know a lot of people are on tenterhooks waiting for news.

That being the case, it gets frustrating seeing stories headlined 'Barry Settled' and 'Barry Vow' on the official site. For the record, the first was about Gareth Barrys England form, the second about Barry Bannan in the reserves.

I know a website is about maximising webhits, and it's a good tecnique for doing so. But the OFFICIAL site shouldn't, IMO, be maximising them by using headlines which they KNOW will be misinterpreted and get people's hopes up.

But why do only 18% agree with you and I flashingqerty? Beacuse people are happy to let our best players go without fighting for them.

Oh, are we? Thanks for letting me know.

LTLOAV, he's also said many times in that same interview he thinks he can get CL football here. We'll just have to see what happens.

I'm sure MON is doing his best to keep him and that's all there is to it. If he goes, Villa are far bigger than one man.

2. "Tapping": In fact, the FA do NOT have to have an official complaint to act.

No they don't HAVE to, General, but I'd be shocked if there was an example of them ever acting without one, especially against a big club like Liverpool.

Still, if the club's decision is not to report them then I respect that.

I'm not sure what you can personally do over this matter, but just wanted to flag up concerns!

It is up to Villa to report the matter to the FA if we so wish, they don't take action on their own.

We should IMO, but that's just my opinion.

What is also my opinion is that this has been a fantastic year and another big step in the right direction. Thanks for your efforts, General!

General, just a quick question - why oh why do the club continue to give Bill Howell access? (Actually you'd probably be better off not answering as he'll read this, the parasite, and turn it into a story if you do). But he constantly puts Villa down, and it gets annoying.

Here's what he said about Nicky Keye with regards to the Trinity move.

She ''seemed as jumpy as a box of frogs. Desperate for the handful of press around the table to report the news positively."

Just disrespectful, and that's just a normal example of his sneering. If it was me I wouldn't have him near the club.

Just a little stat, but nice to see we've scored twice as many goals at Villa Park this year.

Odd, I've never heard United sing that for Giggs...

Mind I suppose in 16 years they could well have done at some point.

Still, it gets my vote. Young sounds much better with it than Giggs. Giggs sounds awful.

To the tune of Joy Division - Love will tear us apart -

Young.....

Young will tear you apart........

again.....

Repeat.

Simple easy to remember and catchy!

This! This this this! I'm starting it against Wigan, you lot better join in. In fact get it going at Everton.

its very catchy... very easy to remember... and 100% what he will do to his opponents

I think it's fantastic.

To the tune of Joy Division - Love will tear us apart -

Young.....

Young will tear you apart........

again.....

Repeat.

Simple easy to remember and catchy!

This! This this this! I'm starting it against Wigan, you lot better join in. In fact get it going at Everton.

Surely something to the tune of When You Were Young would work?

I suggested that on another thread and got laughed at a lot!

Burning down the Villa touchline like the

back of a hurricane

that started turning

with Ashley Young...

It's the way forwards

Hi General,

Two real Villa heroes, winners of the FA Cup in 1957, have passed away in the last couple of weeks. I know Randy and all you guys at the club helped commemmorate Jimmy Dugdale's funeral with flowers and everything, and that was a lovely touch.

Just wanted to check if there would be an appropriate commemmoration before the Boro game on Wednesday? Either a minute's silence or a minute's applause. I know many fans would welcome the chance to say goodbye at Villa Park to two Holte Enders in the sky.

Thanks very much.

General,

Sorry to come back to the games abroad/39th match thing.

But you've told us the club has agreed to investigate the idea, look at it etc etc, but no decisions have been made.

So why is the league chief executive Richard Scudamore saying things like this (from The Guardian, on the radio and various other news sources):

"This is a solidarity move where all 20 clubs want to do it."

He was talking there about playing the game abroad, not looking at the possibility of it.

If as you've said we haven't agreed to do it necessarily, perhaps it's worth asking him to stop saying things in our name?

Thanks again.

2. Not much more that I can say about the current issue that I haven't said before. Randy has definitely heard your passion and concerns and will do what is right. For those who would want Randy to jump up and shout "NO" from the rafters, it will not happen. First off, that is NOT Randy's style and secondly, it would be totally unprofession for a serious business man like Randy to spout off about something that has not even been proposed. He would appear like a "headline grabber" vice the professional that he is. Don't expect or ask that he do something that would go against who he is and how he thinks. Randy has heard you...he will do what is right

Can't ask for more of you than that General. Many thanks, as you can see it's something many feel strongly about.

I hope we Villa fans never take for granted that we have this unique link to the boardroom. It means a lot.

General, even playing games abroad is ok by me.

But Randy and yourself have shown yourselves to be proud of Villa's traditions.

Well, here's a letter William McGregor, a man who gave decades of his life to Aston Villa, wrote 120 years ago:

I beg to tender the following suggestion as a means of getting over the difficulty: that ten or twelve of the most prominent clubs in England combine to arrange home-and-away fixtures each season

And so the league was founded.

That's it. That's all we ask. Change whatever else, but that's how our league works. Two games against each side. No seedings. A level playing field.

One hundred and twenty years of tradition, General. One hundred and twenty years. My grandad is 95 and watched Aston Villa in the 1920s. He told me tonight he's done with football now.

More than any other club, Aston Villa should be the one to challenge this, to stop it in its tracks.

We say 'Proud History', General. Let Aston Villa make us proud again, even if it does cost a few bucks.

If this went through 19 clubs to 1, and Villa were that one, I'd be as proud as the day we won the European Cup.

Unless you are confusing our goal difference column of +11 to be our position relative to last season

Please note the five word disclaimer at the start of my last post.