Risso

Both were better in my view. Alongside McGrath, Platt and Yorke would both easily be classed as amongst our greatest ever modern day players. On their day they were both world class, hence their trophy filled careers. The fact that Platt is now a Villa-hating, bulbous-eyed salad dodger and that Yorke turned into a badge-kissing Judas doesn't alter the fact that they were both amazing players for Villa. Barry has been a great servant for 10 years, but is in no way as good a player as either of those, not by a huge distance.

I think Petrov is a great player. He's the one midfielder we have who rarely gives the ball away.

I agree, much as I like Barry, and think what a great player he has been for the last 10 years, I think it's time for him to move on. Both he and Petrov are great players, but they don't form a great partnership, and I think most of the "fault" (such as it is) rests with Barry. For England he is content to sit and let Gerrard and/or Lampard do their thing, whereas for Villa he neither attacks or defends enough. I think the midfield revolving around him has gone a bit stale, and needs new life breathing into it this summer. A skilful, attacking midfielder would mean we'd be less reliant on the wings, which would mean we were less predictable and easy to close down.

I think this sums up how I feel at the moment. Great player, and one of the best at Villa, but things have gone a bit stale, and a move would probably be best for both parties.

I'm really getting into this running lark now. Went out every day over the weekend, and am feeling a bit more confident about this race at the end of June. My plan is to be hopefully be able to run 4 or 5 miles comfortably by the end of May, then try and extend that by a mile a week during June, so that by the end of June I'll be ready to do 9 miles. I didn't think I'd have a chance, but I've gone from not being able to run for a bus, to feeling completely wrecked after a mile, to being okish after two miles now, so hopefully the improvement will continue.

As kids we all used to tape our favourite songs from the radio, trying to cut out the DJ's chat over the intro. I suppose it was the illegal downloading of its day.

When I was growing up in the 70s and 80s, the charts were a HUGE deal. Top of the Pops was probably the most watched programme on TV, and I can remember that most weeks we had the Top 40 on, on the radio. Buying records was also much more fun, if less convenient than it is now. I'm sorry, but clicking an icon on a computer screen and waiing a few seconds for your chosen song to download in no way compares to mooching through the 7" singles in Our Price, hoping that you'll come across a picture disc or such like. Then coming home, and reading the sleevenotes while you wait for the record player to start playing. This post has been brought to you by "Old Buggers Incorporated", a subsidiary of "It Was All Fields Around Here When I Were A Lad".

I actually felt great this morning so amazed myself and my wife for going out for a run before work. Did just over a mile I think, then came home and walked the mile to work. Legs feel a bit stiff but not too bad.

Shiiiiiiiiit! I thought I needed something to aim for to keep me motivated, so I've signed up for a relay race around the island at the end of June. It's 90 miles, split between teams of 10, so about 9-10 miles each on average. I bought myself some decentish trainers, and did my first run last night. I managed about a mile and a half of a slow jog without stopping before my legs ached, I was out of breath and had to walk home. This morning I felt like my legs had been encased in concrete. I'm starting to think this was a bad idea. How many times a week is a slightly overweight, extremely unfit 37 year old going to have to run before it starts to hurt less. PS any tips on stretching warming up greatly appreciated.

You get the odd dk and pally tank, but they're nearly all dps still. I actually find dk's a bit easier to kill now than I did, especially if I catch them unawares.

I liked Pulp Fiction and Resevoir Dogs at the time, but they haven't stood the test of time in my opinion. I thought Kill Bill was one of the most overrated films of all time. NO plot, and just a Tarantino vanity piece when he shoehorned in as many references to comics and other stuff as he could. Rubbish.

I've given up raiding as my time runs out soon. I quite like the new Argent Tournament content, as the jousting is good fun, but other than that I can't be arsed with Ulduar.

Hmmm, tricky one. I think Elbow are more consistently excellent, but Lost Souls is better than anything Elbow have recorded, so I'm going to pick Doves. Both are ace though.

So our current run is worse than the awful one I highlighted three years under O'Dearyme. How then is that supposed to restore perspective?

If O'Neill was leave for whatever reason, I'd trust Randy to get a suitable replacement. You obviously need a balanced partnership between owner and manager. At the moment I'd say Lerner has performed in excess of what I hoped for from him, with O'Neill meeting expectations, no more and no less, and showing disturbing signs of being on a severe downhill slope.

Last chance to sort the squad out this summer O'Neill. The defence you put together is an absolute shambles. Sort it out, or move aside.

Gentlemen please, a little bit of decorum if you'd be so kind. We are 5th after all!

As soon as we get back to playing well, I'll be back to saying how well we played. However, while our defence is currently giving away over two goals a game, I'll say our defence is shite and that O'Neill is to blame as he created that defence.

People have been coming up with reasons that Arsenal will tail off for weeks now, and why we'd pick up due to having lots of nice breaks between games. Hasn't happened. Even if Arsenal lost all their remaining games, I still don't think we'd catch them.

If another team had conceded 18 goals in their last 6 games, and still thought they'd catch Arsenal, I'd link to that and laugh at it. Don't you think there's a difference between a thread questioning our so called long term manager after what he's done and a temporary complacent moan from fans for not being fourth? If we get fourth now I would love it. Not just because we got champions league, because it would prove you and majority of the other depressing pessimists on this site wrong. Let's see how quick you are to reply then if that happens. How many people on this thread have actually said that they want the manager to leave? By the way, I'd also love it if we finished 4th, and I'd be the first to admit I was wrong. It isn't going to happen though.

If another team had conceded 18 goals in their last 6 games, and still thought they'd catch Arsenal, I'd link to that and laugh at it.

Are we 5th then?

Before winning the title, Ferguson finished second in the league twice, won the FA Cup, League Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup.

It's easier to overlook Ferguson's mistakes given the number of trophies he's won.

Get a pair of Asics Gel running shoes. They're the best in my opinion. I tend to run along canals or Sutton Park. Tend to avoid roads because of dodging pedestrians, etc. Also the fumes from traffic stinks. When I first started running I ran very slowly indeed, then as you got better you naturally pick up the pace. Measure out a run via www.geodistance.com , couple of miles to start with, then add to it. I couldn't run to the end of my road this time last year, then within 6 months I ran the Brum half marathon in 1hr 42 mins. Cheers for the advice mate. I'm lucky in that there are lots of really nice places to run around here, like the 3 mile long promenade next to the beach. I tried a bit of a jog the other night, and got about 800 yards before being hopelessly out of breath and aching everywhere. What's the best way to stretch, and how long should you spend stretching before you start?