JB

I knew Bannan was small, but Jesus Christ, he is fookin' tiny!

Same here. That was his best performance in quite some time. There was a swagger and class about him today that I haven't seen before. I thought we're were well rid of him and getting a better player in Ireland. Now I'm not so sure. I thought he'd be warming the bench at City but if he plays like that he'll be the first name on the team sheet each week.

Albrighton is the kind of player who could renew my faith in football. He's been that special today.

Only today could I laugh at that attempt at a header from JC!

Fantastic play Albrighton! Dare I say it, his energy reminds me very much of the goalscorer, only a little quicker.

Sharpen up, boys. Lucky escape there.

What a breath of fresh air this has been so far. Players playing without shackles and revelling in it. I'm loving the freedom Ashley has - how he's drifting from the centre, to either wing, creating overlaps past the excellent Albrighton and Downing. McDonald is showing MON a thing or two about taking advantage of players' flexibility here (Petrov getting forward being another example). I can't remember the last time I saw a team look so dominant.

Sums up my thoughts perfectly. As much as I admired many of his traits (and if I had to come down on one side, I was pro-MON), I don't think he was making the best of what he had. His tactics, team selection and transfer policy appeared inflexible and he perhaps wasn't spending money as wisely as he could. There now appears to be no doubt that he had alienated many members of the squad and has surely left with a significantly damaged reputation. Thanks for laying a great foundation, Martin. I'm excited now to see someone build on it, bringing fresh ideas and inspiration to the table.

Hitzfeld please. Failing that, with Moyes out of the running, Jol or Rijkaard. Oh, and our owners to actively seek more significant investment from external sources.

cant see it on there. You should buy up the stock n get shipping Now there's an idea . $140 though. Anyone interested?

Had a bit of shock this afternoon in a sports shop in central Sydney - the new home jersey was already on sale there! What's more, it was WITHOUT the sponsor on the front! As football tops go, I thought it was really, really nice and easily held its own amongst the Utd, Arsenal, Inter etc tops on sale beside it. I have to say, I was very critical of Nike using an old template and I thought it looked, frankly, shit in the pics I'd seen. But up close I thought it was a beauty. I've always liked the basic design (including the checks) but I thought the general fit and laziness of using a two-year old template ruined it. The shirts at the kit launch now look like really crappy-quality prototypes. Instead of the pointy, baggy collar it seemed to have then, it has a smart, fitted one, that looks like the one used on the Holland, Aussie etc tops. It's very strange that they've shipped a load of them down to Australia though, when they won't be released in the club shop until September. I'd have thought that home fans would've been given priority. I'm guessing it might have something to do with putting the sponsor on the front as, as I said, it was sans FxPro on the front. I haven't checked the website to see if it's available on there, but if anyone's interested it's www.rebelsport.com.au.

Eastbound & Down is **** hilarious! "Listen up you beautiful bitch, I'm about to **** you up with some truth." Will Ferrell makes a couple of very funny cameos, too. My favourite comedy since Arrested Development. Watch it.

Wow, I think that just shows that Nike are making it clear that they couldn't give a flying **** about us, and we're not "worthy" of, or prestigious enough for, their latest templates. There surely must have been some thought gone into the decision to dig out a two-year old template when it would've been much easier for them to give us a kit based on the shape of the Holland, Werder Bremen etc. tops. As I said before, **** 'em. Let's get Puma instead.

Quite like the basic design of the home shirt. The chequered pattern is an interesting addition, something a bit different to normal, but the away and keepers are frankly awful. The collars on all of them, and the basic fit of the shirts, look really loose and baggy. I was expecting a template based on the Holland jersey and the keeper template that the Nike sponsored teams had at the World Cup, not that shocker. And with the away, it just looks like they couldn't be arsed. I think Nike are making it pretty clear that we're not a big deal to them, or not successful or glamourous enough to fit in with their brand image, what with these half arsed, ill-fitting designs. I like having Nike as the kit sponsor, but if this is the way it's going to continue, then **** em. That said, I don't really care to be honest!

Watched The Fountain this evening. Wow. I thought it was awesome. Beautiful to look at, moving and thought-provoking. Criminally underrated. Can't recommend it highly enough.

I think that training jersey is a beauty actually! And I don't normally like football jerseys at all.

That was awesome! Still a bit sloppy here and there with some room for improvement but so much better than last time. Looks like we've got quite a player on our hands in Ben Youngs. I guess it needed the big boys to step up and represent the northern hemisphere eh?

Hate to say it, but well done Tottenham. Just shows that if you invest in enough young and proven quality players, and play with verve and desire, it will work eventually.

I'm surprised that a Premier League club of our stature should have to resort to sending out speculative emails to secure shirt sponsorship!

I don't think so. Whilst he did have a touch of class, Barry offered very little in terms of goalscoring threat from the middle and never took the game by the scruff of the neck and drove us on. Jimmy is a vast improvement. With a centre mid of Barry and Petrov, I think we would have gone backwards, but I wouldn't have minded seeing Barry and Jimmy together. I think Barry is best playing alongside someone better than him, rather than being the focal point of the team.

Well while you were listening to the game some of us drove for several hours each way to be at the game and support the team and support the team we did from the 1st minute to the 90th. What you heard was the City fans not Villa fans so you can take you post above and... actually no I won't go there. I hope your sofa was nice and comfortable this afternoon and didn't muffle your voice too much while you were talking out your arse. Jesus christ, I can't believe some of the shit I'm getting for this! I said that I might've misheard, and I did. Which I'm really, really glad about. I'm sorry. I only thought it would've been a small minority anyway. I've got nothing but respect for the fans who've supported us so well away from home, of which I've been one. Considering that's what I thought I heard (and I wasn't the only person on the match thread who thought they heard it), I don't think I said anything out of order. And there's no need for the whole "I'm a better fan than you" thing. I understand that we're all emotional after the game, but it's unfair and uncalled for. It's pretty difficult to make it to games from Australia. Perhaps you should have tried to clarify or check before making such comments. As for 'better fan' thing, read your post back you will see it was full of it when you thought the fans had been on the back of the team not to mention what would have been quite abussive comments so don't play the victim. give JB a **** rest will you? it's a simple mistake, and i think most people would of mentioned it. To be honest it wouldn't suprise me if some of our end broke in to that judging by how many fickle idiots there are. Most people? He is the only one I've seen mention it and he was wrong and needed to be corrected and when he was played the victim card. I don't need you to tell me what I can and can't post thanks. Can you also pleas refrain from calling supporters idiots. Yeah well done, most people as in, in his situation. And when did i tell you what you could and couldn't post? at the end of the day he's misheard something which was worth raising an issue. I'm sure we all would of done the same if we thought are fans were singing 'we are shit my lord' Thanks mate. I was watching the game with my girlfriend and we were both sure that that's what we heard, plus someone else mentioned it in the match thread. As it happens, I made a mistake, which was rather aggressively pointed out, but I didn't "play the victim card", I simply explained and defended myself. It's not worth (and I'm not interested in) getting into an argument about this, so I'll leave it there . Apologies for the misunderstanding.

Well while you were listening to the game some of us drove for several hours each way to be at the game and support the team and support the team we did from the 1st minute to the 90th. What you heard was the City fans not Villa fans so you can take you post above and... actually no I won't go there. I hope your sofa was nice and comfortable this afternoon and didn't muffle your voice too much while you were talking out your arse. Jesus christ, I can't believe some of the shit I'm getting for this! I said that I might've misheard, and I did. Which I'm really, really glad about. I'm sorry. I only thought it would've been a small minority anyway. I've got nothing but respect for the fans who've supported us so well away from home, of which I've been one. Considering that's what I thought I heard (and I wasn't the only person on the match thread who thought they heard it), I don't think I said anything out of order. And there's no need for the whole "I'm a better fan than you" thing. I understand that we're all emotional after the game, but it's unfair and uncalled for. It's pretty difficult to make it to games from Australia.

I've just got back from the match and it was the Citeh fans next to us singing "You are shit my Lord", but thanks for your insightful comment nonetheless. Ok, there's no need to be such a dick about it. I said I could've misheard. Jesus. I'm glad I did.

Well, I thought we were in total control until Warnock’s moment of madness. It’s sad to say, but it’s ALWAYS too good to be true when you’re an Aston Villa supporter. I feel sick. Cuellar was immense, whilst the big players failed to step up, namely Gabby, Milner and Ash. Downing, aside from the fantastic pass for the goal was shit. City didn’t really offer anything and were there for the taking but we failed to play with any desire, passion or verve. We didn’t look like we wanted it and got what we deserved in the end. Oh and special mention to the fans who decided to start singing “We are shit my lord” at around the 60th(?!) minute. Unless I've missed some elaborate joke (or misheard), you are **** brainless idiots. We don’t deserve, and will never achieve, success with fuckwits like you demotivating the team at such a crucial time.

Bet uou have never been to VP. **** off. I'm a former season ticket holder actually and have watched pretty much every game this season. It's called having an opinion.