jamesbuchanan

And when you've guessed that one, have a go at this one: http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6148/5925800427_f907d120c9_o.jpg Blue = something Orange = something White = Blue and Orange combined Edit: linked for size!

FFS Sometimes I think people read what they want to read, rather than what is actually there. He said that the meltdown that would ensue online etc would be similar to that when Bent was announced, in that it came totally out of leftfield and surprised everybody. This has nothing to do with Bent being unhappy! (Sorry, it's not just you that's said that today, there are several others)

Cheers. No idea who Matt Turvey is either?!

I've been away from the internet all day. Can somebody link me to the ITK posts on here or Twitter that started all the excitement today?

Tbh, I've seen plenty of Makoun since Christmas, and I'm fairly confident he has a major role to play over the next season or so. Couldn't say the same about Bradley (and to a lesser extent, Delph). Would much rather see them play a part today. Also, it could be the sort of game where we need some spare midfield battlers on the bench, rather than Makoun, who isn't quite that sort of CM.

So the Man City v Notts County game is on Sunday 20th Feb. If the City v Fulham game on Mon 28th Feb can't be moved, and City get to the last 16 of the Europa League (pretty likely, given their draw) then the earliest date for our fifth round game is quarter final weekend (12-13 March). Should the fifth round tie then require a replay, the earliest that could happen (due to Europa League (if City reach the quarter finals) and England games) is the weekend of the FA Cup semi-finals. I haven't gone any further down the fixture list than that, but it's already looking pretty messy....

The date......

No Torres?

Welcome back Rob Edwards

Bannan and Clark CM

Confirmed on OS Edit: Well there's a massive picture of his face and a headline saying "confirmed", but the story is blank!

Why Houllier is right for Aston Villa

I would suggest that had we appointed any of the other currently unemployed managers, or most if not all of the employed managers we have been linked with (perhaps not Moyes or Jol), the reaction would have been the same.

Over time I have found myself disagreeing with more and more of your posts, Richard. However, I don't think anyone can argue a great deal with that summary. I might suggest that it is actually "In the large majority of cases" but it doesn't really matter a great deal. IMO Houllier is a good appointment (assuming he will be confirmed as manager in the next 48hrs). We haven't signed the new Mourinho, but equally we haven't signed the new (or, thank god, current) Phil Brown. We will not be relegated this season, nor will we win the league. There's a fairly good chance that Houllier will be able to maintain MON's league record over the last 3 years. There's also a reasonably good chance he'll be able to maintain or improve on MON's cup record. We appear to have spent some time considering our options, and given all the factors at play (principally the timing), I am fairly happy with how the board have dealt with this issue. There are some lessons to be learnt (more football knowledge on the board being a standout lesson), but I have seen nothing over the last 4 years to suggest that Randy et al will not take these lessons on board. The sooner that posters accept that Richard's post is an accurate reflection of the situation we found ourselves in, and the decision we have made, the sooner this thread will be vaguely readable again. At the moment, ~90% of the posts in this thread are hysterical over-reactions, adding nothing to the debate.

Was 10-1 about half an hour ago when I placed my bet at Ladbrokes. It's 8-1 now though.

Koeman is keen On the one hand, his record is average in recent times. On the other hand, he says some decent things about us there. Dunno. I suppose we should be grateful that anyone is saying positive things about Villa after this last week

Could that not be 4-2-3-1? Carlos - Collins - Davies - Beye -------Petrov - Reo Gabby - Ireland - Young ----------Heskey-----------

Wow. I thought I had seen some utterly ridiculous things written here since MON left, but we've just reached a new low.

What about taking three weeks to employ someone who could have been appointed at any point, but spending the aforementioned three weeks performing an exhaustive yet fruitless* search for a new manager who has more experience / better pedigree / "insert alternative desirable characteristic here"? *because of lack of availability, contract wrangles etc.

Not a ramble by any stretch of the imagination. An excellent read in fact. Probably worth everyone having a read and then taking a moment to think about what you've said, whatever their stance on the various Villa related issues we are all arguing about currently...

Link

I've not long got back from a trip to New Orleans and California. Took hundreds of pictures of which a few are now on flickr if anyone is interested.. Here's a couple of them:

Why was the thread just below this one closed? Genuine question actually, what did I do wrong?

Milner in for Delph apparently.