bill

Springsteen.

Perhaps he has been product testing for his bosses? As for him being at the game it was to be expected really, in a way I'm glad he was. He was probably delighted to be back in the Prem until he came back to VP and the memories of his last visit cam flooding back. I think he must have been cowed by the sheer majesty of Villa Park with 40000 fans in it. A chilling realisation that unlike Glasgow where Celtic and Rangers are of roughly equal status, in this city he manages a small time corner shop, while MON manages Harrods.

No to mention that he lives in Oxfordshire. That would be South of Birmingham then. Unless somebody moved it while I wasn't looking . My point is the guy doesn't like us. If he was born in Doncaster then that makes his condescending attitude towards us even worse.

The prick hasn't got a good word to say about our city. Self centred Southern bastard of the highest order.

I'm no economist but from reading up on the current problems it appears that deregulation of the financial markets has led to a bunch of shysters and gamblers dropping the economy in the shit. Question, when did the deregulation occur and which party was in power. Its just that if you put a long term poison into the economy it might not be the poor sap left holding the corpse years later is entirely to blame.Sure theres an argument that he should take some reponsibility. But how many throwing stones from the sidelines also have blood on their hands.Just a thought.

Who cares. Its still wrong. Two wrongs don't make a right as my old mom used to say. Its never too late to stop a robbery, and this shyster is robbing us all.

Of couse not. However running up bad debts which are reputed to be £250,000,0000,000 most certainly is. Don't see why the taxpayer should reward incompetence to such a degree.

Apparently his pension was DOUBLED !! at the last minute in order to make him go. Why not just sack the c***t. How many of us will find our pensions suddenly doubled in order for us to retire at 50.

I would guess that thanks to the internet it is american that is the dominant language, not english - though both really owe plenty to the italians Again the american influence is strongly evident And again institutions that were copied from the romans. . American English is still English.And the English language has dominated a lot longer than the internet has been around.The Anglo Saxon Language has diddly squat to do with Italy, far more influence from France via the Norman conquest.True the American influence in music is strong. I thought we were talking about England though ? The Parliamentary system has far less in common with the Romans than the American system , no Senate here.If you want confirmation of Britains influence on the world in comparison to its size, simply look at the USA . our cousins across the pond may have gone their separate way after that family argument 233 years ago, but when I'm in the States boy do I feel at home.

No country on this earth has influenced the world more than Britain. Our language dominates, our music is played everywhere. our political institutions are copied, Not bad for a small island off the North West coast of Europe.Oh and I'm still proud of my country, no matter what the whingers and pessimists say, we have an inner strenghth as a nation that will see us through any problems.

You're talking about drugs as if they were sweets. Not a good topic for a poll.

Bring it on. This is what playing in Europe is all about. I'd much rather see us play a top team than a bunch of minnows. If we can dump CSKA out , every team will be afraid of us.

It was noticeable that every time one of our wingers got the ball, they would immediately be faced with 3 defenders. Not easy to get through that many. Reckon Ince felt that was the way to counter our threat. Didn't work though

Housing has always been a bit of a roller coaster. Hang on to a house long enough and the price ALWAYS goes up again. Don't panic. Just wait it out.

Nothing stops the Gurkha's, if the Maoists try and get funny either the recruits will enlist from India - we'd just open a recruiting office at the consulate probably - or they will kill the Maoists then come. Interesting point aside though is that the Gurkhas come to serve the Crown, not the State. Supposing the Monarchy could be peacefully retired - a big if - who would the Armed Forces swear their Oath to? It's to the people now through the Crown, the alternative is to a Blair clone. Great plan. No republic gives its oath to an individual. They all give their oath to the nation or the people. The crown does not embody the "people" .Our oath is to the monarch and they as always represent themselves above any considerations for anyone else.

Another way of wording this thread would be to say "Do you think the British people should be entitled to choose their head of state." To say no to that would make me feel very uncomfortable indeed.Hereditary placement of any head of state is by its nature undemocratic and well past its sell by date. If we have an unpopular elected head of state, it is within the power of the electorate to vote them out. How would we remove a future monarch who turned out to be a drug using adulterer who doesn't give a toss about us. Quite a few of our previous monarchs fit this profile and worse. I prefer to be given a choice.

Yes they have, you really ignore posts you don't want to read, don't you! Pot and kettle comes to mind. Justify imposed heads of state please. Should the people have the right to choose the nations figurehead, a simple yes or no will suffice. I say in a truly free country the answer is yes. Other than money from tourism , not a very altruistic reason, and one which has already been debunked, I cannot recall another sensible justification. Unless simply liking Kings & Queens is a reason.

Making that lot hereditary would not be a wise move, though would it. Certainly not. Wasn't the point of my post. The point was about 'electing' people rather than those most suitable for the job doing it. I know this is going slightly off topic but I would hate the idea of someone who is supposed to be a specialist in a particular profession having to 'be popular' and pander to populism. If I want to know about the law/medicine/education/astrophysics, &c. then I'll ask an expert and not the audience. :winkold: Another person used this argument about "elected politicians"....Adolph Hitler. :shock:

For those saying"the queen has no real power" I would ask them to remember the removal of Prime minister Gough Whitlam from the Australian Govt. The governor John Kerr used what are called reserve powers in the name of the head of state."the Queen" to remove an elected official.It was a disgraceful act. She has the same powers here. Personally its the simple principal of the people choosing their head of state that I find unarguably just.Meritocracy over aristocracy .Democracy over plutocratic monarchy. No amount of sycophantic royalist drivel will ever convince me otherwise.

No head of state should be decided on birth. Every child born in a country should be able to aspire to the role. Anything else is tantamount to saying that their children are better than ours. In the 21st century a medieval system like this is an anachronism. As for the ridiculous argument about tourism...France has more tourists than Britain, and where are their royals :shock: Just for a moment imagine that all history was forgotten and we were deciding how to appoint our head of state. Someone jumps up and states" I think my child should be head of state, and my family should hold the position forever. Your children can call us highnesses and we'll call you our subjects" Hmmmm...no thanks. Anyway as role models , this disfunctional, cold and rather odd German Greek family leave a lot to be desired. A referendum on the question could be held perhaps every 10 years. I'd be prepared to abide by the result. At least it would give them some legitimacy. But the British people, unlike our Antipodean cousins, have never been afforded the right to decide on the matter. I would like that right.

53 in June. In that time I've followed Villa from the lows of the third division to the highs of Europe. It's been quite a ride.I've loved every minute of it

I dont think we are, it doesn't fit with our midfield plans imo especially if we sign NRC. If we could get Sneijder I would be over the bloody moon. I was in Amsterdam this weekend gone. Spoke to a few Ajax fans. They are used to watching the best in Holland, and rate him very highly.Trust me this guy is class.

hahahah ok, being serious now............ playmakers, noone really stands out apart from the obvious players that wont ever be attracted to villa.......... so youd have to say realistically look at players like Koumas or even abroad for some lesser known players Why wont they. If you take that attitude we might as well not bother. We have top people in charge now, we have a big name manager, we have a great stadium and large crowds. Why are so many Villa fans so timid when it comes to signings. I'm one of the "older generation " of Villa fans, but even in our darkest days I don't recall such negative thinking amongst the fans about transfer targets. We should compete for the best if we want to become the best, simple as.

McCanns greatest weakness is his total lack of passing ability :shock:

No, I would hate that :cry: . If JPA has to go, I don't want him to go to another prem team - or even another English Team - Spain or back to River Plate - rather he stayed though and maybe started taking his coaching badge or maybe start doing media work - he could be really good at that. Jesus. Some Villa fans have been deprived of true quality plyers for too long. Let the waste of space go.