Marka Ragnos

I literally blink and our dreams are crushed. TF!

Just now, allani said:

BBC describing Ollie's goal as "a scruffy, scruffy goal".  Looked to me like a great and very accurate cross and a pretty decent header into the corner of the goal.

Don’t forget. We’re “having a wobble” after an “incredible” season as we prepare to genuflect and Spurs pass us by. 

Just need to keep chopping away at the bus then set it afire and watch it burn.  

3 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

The irony from the " resting " is that it almost seems like they aren't as sharp or used to playing with each other lol

Same if I take a few days off exercising. Hard to get going again. 

2 hours ago, Ceemo said:

Yeah Palace would be a very good comparison in that certainly under Hogdson they didn't seem to be very much a big risk-taking side. David is a better striker than what Palace have at the moment though and Lille are better defensively for sure, although it hard to compare the two leagues. The French League certainly this season has been very, very defensive on the whole and so Lille are not only ones in that aspect.

You look at Lille in Ligue 1, and they have scored just 39 goals from 27 games but only conceded 24. They have had a couple of 3-0's and a 4-0, but generally their games have been tight. In Europe, in what was a easy group, they scored 10 from their 6 games but only conceded twice. They beat Sturm Graz comfortably in the knockout stage and so haven't really had a challenge in Europe. I'd expect them to come to Villa Park next week and sit back with a low block and soak up the pressure and counter with the front 3. Paulo Fonseca is a serious coach and Emery will have his work cut out for him.

This is incredible stuff. Thank you, seriously. It's fascinating. Sounds like we're up against a dangerous and very implacable opponent. (But I am also trying to work out how someone could know so much about French football, live in Ireland, be Villa, and ... have a Cleveland Browns avatar? )

4 hours ago, Seat68 said:

It's difficult to explain, I guess a lot of it is over exposure and his boogie woogie piano farting over a lot of appearances on Later. 

Is there something about boogie woogie piano that grates with intelligent football supporters from the Midlands?

On 03/04/2024 at 16:38, Seat68 said:

A bit of balance to the Squeeze chat. I love labelled with love, they probably have 5 other songs that I would say the same about. But Jools Holland spoils everything. 

 

Disclaimer. I acknowledge that my music taste is at best a bit shit. 

What is about Jools Holland that rubs so many of you the wrong way? It's funny to me. Can't imagine giving a shit either way, but it's interesting to me -- some aspect of music culture I just totally don't get. Was he sort of overexposed in the UK?

Old close friends of mine ... They started the band as a kind of joke "goth" sort of Love & Rockets act, tbh, but have turned out to enjoy themselves.

1 hour ago, Mantis said:

Oh yeah I forgot about our progress in the Conference League. The fact that we've been able to successfully juggle that as well is again, ridiculous.

16 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I'd rather be pessimistic/ cautious than to deal with heartbreak.

I hear you. I understand. It's football. But I'm going to let my heart be free and breakable. How many times have we been able to embrace such incredible possibilities as Villa supporters? I don't want to look back and feel like I let a glum outlook seal me off what the excitement of others, even at the risk of looking a fool (which I do anyway everyday). It's only football. 

13 hours ago, Ceemo said:

Very good side. Press very well and play very controlled football. They aren't particularly an exciting side and aren't going to hammer you as well as unlikely to get hammered.

Any Championship or PL clubs whose style or recent form reminds you of Lille? Crystal Palace?

20 hours ago, Leeroy said:

Look, I’ll get criticism for reproaching Emery, of course I will.

I enjoy reading oppositional perspectives on VT. Not saying I agree, but you and the @Delphinho123 etc of VT keep it interesting. I thought Emery was taking a pretty radical approach to the lineup that did make sense to me. It was an awful situation. I don't think Martinez was malingering, I really don't. I don't think he's like that.

6 hours ago, tinker said:

I don't think it's about protecting them from the emotional stress of defeat it's about minimising the chances of injuries being aggravated and physical exhaustion. City rested their best players and won, we haven't got that depth because we play by the rules. ...

Seems such a reasonable point, esp. when looking at the whole Villa context 360°.

Too, as I've said elsewhere, giving some of the younger players prime time in a big game probably increases their market value, too. My guess is that goal by Jhon last night will give him about £3m-£4m in increased market value, a factor we can't afford to ignore. 

57 minutes ago, TheAuthority said:

Oasis Wonderwall

Ugh. Not a fan of them, but ironic given Zaniolo's un-wonder wall performance.

15 hours ago, TheAuthority said:

Do they really play that nasily whiny song at the end of their games?

That place is a shithole. They are bunch of cheating spunk-trumpets and I can't wait until all of their trophies are stripped.

 

What was it?

1 hour ago, chrisp65 said:

Thinking back, maybe I thought they were too clever and had a suspicion they were posh? Not that they were, but it’s a music I ‘should’ like.

This is deeply interesting to me -- almost seems to prefigure the Oasis vs. Blur wars of the 90s. I felt the same about Radiohead, personally. I liked them until I felt like I was supposed to like them, and then I found them not only unlistenable, but almost physically painful to experience. 

5 hours ago, blandy said:

Because I can’t stand the sound, basically. [I’m the same with Queen]. Also because it was played so many times on the radio when it was released. And it’s dreary and sad.

5 hours ago, bickster said:

Feckin awful song and here are just some of the reasons

• Jools Holland's boogie woogie piano
• The video was shot in John Lennon's old house (where the Imagine video was also filmed)
• Michelle Collins in the video
• Cockney bollocks
• Jools Holland's boogie woogie piano (there is only one song it’s acceptable on - re-recorded version of Uncertain Smile)
• more cockney bollocks 

It's so funny to hear this. The way Squeeze was marketed in the USA was just so different and just very minimal, and not a soul -- not even music critics -- would have had recognized any of those objections. Love all this talk. Thank you for sharing. 

On 10/12/2023 at 11:10, Pinebro said:

Enjoyed Pep smacking him in the head

It would have derailed his career, but I honestly thought he was going to clatter Pep yesterday. You could feel it coming on.

Well, I'm glad the Viking Destroyer is all riled up with something to prove. Thanks, Roy Keane. Just what we need -- Angry Erling.  

Quote

 

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has defended striker Erling Haaland following Roy Keane's criticism after Sunday's 0-0 draw with Arsenal. 

The ex-Manchester United captain said Haaland's "general play" is "so poor" and "almost like a League Two player".

"I don't agree with him, absolutely not," said Guardiola when asked about Keane's comments.

Haaland scored 52 goals in all competitions last season and has 29 this term - 18 in the Premier League.

"He's the best striker in the world," added Guardiola of the 23-year-old Norwegian.

"He helped us win last season and the reason why we didn't create many answers from Erling is we need more presence in the final third with more people.

"We played an exceptional game, I reviewed the game against Arsenal but we just missed more people in the final third. The quality and different skillset we have, Haaland is exceptional."

City are three points behind leaders Liverpool after Sunday's match, which saw the home side fail to score in a Premier League game at the Etihad Stadium for the first time since October 2021. 

Speaking as a pundit on Sky Sports after the game, Keane said of Haaland: "The levels of his general play is so poor, and not just today. His general play for such a player, it is so poor, I think he has to improve that, he's almost like a League Two player."

 

On 29/03/2024 at 16:18, blandy said:

I **** hate that song, and indeed just about everything they’ve ever done.  But that one the most.

Do you feel it's a personal thing? Not at all to pry, but it does deal with a painful subject, and of course, we only get the bloke's flippant point of view, and not the view of the mother or daughter.

I remember, as a teenager, parking the car late at night in the country with a few friends, closing the windows, filling the car with the smoke of several select herbal products, and listening to this album again and again in a state of abject and helpless awe. "I understand everything on earth now! I get it all!" Sound of a few beers being opened. "Pass that bong around again."

On 31/03/2024 at 15:09, sharkyvilla said:

 

****-ing AMAZING. I forgot all about them. 

40 minutes ago, HKP90 said:

Never thought I'd ever say this but Come on West Ham!

Was thinking exactly the same. I guess hell really does have the occasional cold day or two. 

24 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

 

 

I love this Unai quote: " ... I want good attitude you are showing now."

Tells you a lot about Zanny. He's a character, for sure, and he's extremely ambitious, and still growing up, too. No good coach is going to use that kind of positive reinforcement if there wasn't an underlying tendency towards an unhelpful attitude, but I think in the end, Zanniolo is going to find his place at Villa. He seems like the kind of player who takes it hard when he doesn't do as well as he'd hoped and gets a dark attitude when that happens. He's got to learn to bounce back. Look at all the other players at Villa who have done just that, sometimes several times? He's obviously a very intelligent player, too, perhaps a bit underrated in that area.

I feel like in this English interview from three months ago after Sheffield you get a clear sense of his canniness and self-awareness: