JoshVilla

Not really mate, the guy left us while we were on the up, set us back in our progression, asked for a release clause while telling everyone how much he bought into the project, and also admitted he nearly left on several occasions. I'm not even arsed either way, I just said it was quietly satisfying But good work on your assumption there, didn't know that you knew me so well...

Must admit, I was quietly satisfied when the booing started...

I think the one I've enjoyed the most would be Every Time I Die - Radical. Whole album is relentless from start to finish and somehow they just keep getting better. Others to add to the list: Between the Buried and Me - Colors II Mastodon - Hushed and Grim Prince - Welcome 2 America Silk Sonic - An Evening with Silk Sonic Gojira - Fortitude Steven Wilson - The Future Bites There's still a few releases from months ago that I've not gotten round to yet.

Closer we get to the City game, the more pro-Villa stuff we're seeing out of the Grealish camp. Likely trying to get the fans back on side so he doesn't get booed upon returning to the ground he loves. I'm not fussed either way, as he's not a Villa player anymore and I frankly couldn't care less about his career now, but I must admit it will be quite the sight if the whole stadium boos him if/when he comes on. The way he went about his business has rubbed a lot of people up the wrong way.

Just to bring a bit of balance since the media in general has been up to their usual scare tactics: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/south-african-doctor-raised-alarm-omicron-variant-says-symptoms/ Nothing to suggest, at the minute, that this is more deadly. Obviously the worry is that it could evade current vaccines and affect the vulnerable. Still, the way that this is being reported would make you think that if you contract this, it's game over.

I think this is sort of it for me. I fully support the vaccine rollout, and think that annual boosters for the elderly and vulnerable are absolutely required. However, like I'd said a couple of pages ago, the mention of things like vaccine passports 12 months or so ago would usually be met with a response like "that's paranoid, conspiracy theorist nonsense. It'll never happen". Rightly or wrongly, here we are, and we've slowly been conditioned to accept it as being completely necessary. I worry where this could be heading. Is it any wonder that people are scared that they will never be given their freedoms back when we're currently experiencing potentially the worst, most corrupt government in decades?

If you're ever in the market for a bass again, I can't recommend Sire basses enough. Ridiculously good value for money. I own a £1200 Warwick Corvette, a £299 Sire V3 and a £400 odd Sire V7 and I've decided to gig with the Sire basses on several occasions. The tone & playability that you get for the price is top notch.

Was listening to this album all last week, some great 70s throwback soul/R&B. This version of this song is great. I'm a big Anderson Paak fan, and I've always had a lot of respect for Bruno in that he's a genuinely brilliant live singer and can write a bloody good hook. The backing band is super tight too.

Can't really ask for much more. A manager is never going to be able to imprint his philosophy on a new team in a week, so digging deep and stopping the slide was crucial. 2 goals and a clean sheet is a big bonus. Both halves pretty much went the same way, I think. We started both sharply, but faded away as Brighton controlled the possession (which, to be fair, is pretty much what they do to teams - control the possession and frustrate you). A win gives us a great platform and relieves a huge amount of pressure. It's nice to not be pissed off on a Saturday evening for once!

Off The Wall takes the number one MJ album spot for me. Rock With You is a perfect pop song.

To be honest, I can fully see what's happening in Austria happening over here. Flash back to a year or so ago - mentioning the idea that we'd end up needing vaccine passports and things of that nature was generally dismissed as conspiracy theory tittle tattle, but rightly or wrongly, here we are. I can see this going the same way.

Very much this. This is where it breaks down. If you get pinged on the app for being in contact with someone with covid, if you're not vaccinated you have to isolate for 10 days and test every day. Even if you get to day 9 and you're still negative, it doesn't matter. If vaccinated, you do a test on the day you get pinged and if it's negative, you can go and do what you like. For all you know, you could become infectious the next day and not have symptoms, but it doesn't matter, you have more right to go out than someone who's done 9 tests in a row that are all negative. That is absolute madness.

Yes you're right, my bad!

The number I quoted was the worldwide figures (255,848,790 cases and 5,141,709 deaths approx)

I don’t know, the idea of trading constant boosters for relative freedom, regardless of your age or general health, makes me uneasy. I always think that if you look at it from a purely numbers point of view, the virus kills 0.02% of people it infects (obviously you can dig deeper into age group and health, as you can with Flu). We should absolutely keep giving boosters to the old vulnerable, but other than that I just see it as a very slippery slope.

The politicisation has come from both sides, I think (this coming from me who is a liberal). A lot of it is down to social media and the very short fuses/attention spans of the people on it. If you take a look at any debate on twitter, it'll usually go something like: "If you have the jab you are a sheep" "If you don't have the jab you are a right-wing anti-vax moron" We're in an "I need everything now" society. On social media, there is no room for conversation and empathy. It's all anger and labelling. This isn't just applicable to Covid either.

Giving the Silk Sonic album a spin. Rather enjoying it.

Online players forcing you to watch their replays of tap-ins on FIFA. Getting battered by a random 10 year old on FIFA because I don't have all day every day to play it because I'm a grown man with a job and a kid. When FIFA decides that you're going to lose a game in career mode and makes all your shots hit the woodwork and your keeper score an OG. In fact, just FIFA in general. I think I'm done with it now.

Jack jumped ship as things were looking up for us. Smith was sacked because we were trending down under his leadership. That's why the "loyalty should work both ways" argument is invalid.

Brilliant card. Gaethje v Chandler was a FOTY contender. Top end of the Lightweight division is unreal. Rose did just about enough, but could have gone either way. Ground control at the end probably swung it. Usman is just so sharp, he looks unbeatable at the moment. If Edwards beats Masvidal (Edwards is the better fighter, but Masvidal is awkward) then he should be next in line, though sadly I don't see him beating him.

Longest serving manager since MON, just over 3 years. It's kind of sad that we're on the managerial merry go round again. How I'd love for us to finally have a long term manager of 5+ years with sustained progress & success.

Moronic posts from Gabby and Jack. Football is a results business. It'd be stupid of any club to keep a manager in a job when they're losing games for the sake of blind loyalty. Relegation costs money and jobs. If things aren't working out for the good of the club, it's the board's responsibility to make big decisions to fix it. That is in no way the same as a player jumping ship to from his boyhood club for guaranteed success and more money, and thus contributing to this whole situation in the first place. Idiots.

Absolutely loved the bloke during his time here. For the first time in a long time, it felt like the board, manager, coaches, players and fans were all singing from the same hymn sheet. He brought the feel good factor back to the club and gave us some fantastic memories. However, I do think that it was the right decision from the board. It seemed that something wasn't quite right, and the spark had gone. Some of the decisions regarding selections/formations reflected those of a manager who is panicking and losing control. It's going go be a gamble, sure, but someone has to make these big decisions, and the last thing we'd want to do is wait until it's too late.

Finished Dread today. Overall, I thought it was excellent. Harder than I thought it was going go be, and some moments seemed to give a glimpse of what Prime 4 could potentially be like.

Great card coming up tonight. Usman v Colby 2 is bound to be fireworks. Surely Leon Edwards will be fighting the winner if he gets the job done against Masvidal next month. There's no one else left that deserves it more in the top 5. Would be amazing to see a WW UFC champ out of Brum.