thetrees

Personally I thought that Spurs were very hard done by and, taking the breaks, the Pompey spirit saw them through. I don't know what they started feeding Bale halfway through this season, but he looked brilliant. Even (the godawful) Bentley looked okay while he was on the pitch. And 'arry was magnanimous in defeat once again. I still like him, even if I am the only person in Birmingham who does.......

I'm already there because of Gerrard. The thought of that vile little prick lifting the WC makes me feel sick (and he could be captain at tournament time) More of the FA's double standards for us to try to understand. I don't know how I'll feel nearer the time, but now I just hope for a quick England exit.

I was immensely proud yesterday. Proud of the team and proud to be a Villa fan. I was fortunate enough to be sitting about 10 rows behind the dug out, in the 'neutral' seats. The noise from the Villa faithful was 'awesome', as commented by a number of neutrals around me. Chelsea had a bunch of about 20 blokes trying to get their crowd going, but that didn't work until the 67th minute. The performance of our crowd was immense, and the shiver has only just about left my spine! I thought the team were magnificent, and on another day would have won. My immediate after-match reaction was that 'the difference' between us and the (so-called) top 4 is a top class striker, in yesterday's case Drogba, but in all fairness we have players who can take advantage of a lucky break as well. Once again, it just wasn't our day. This season we have had our Wembley rehearsals, next season we will taste Wembley glory.

Which is why the present government have removed democracy from our society. Scots, Welsh and N.Irish vote for their own government, and then vote for ours as well. Out of curiosity, was that a genuine thought or a little bit of provocation or an alchohol induced over reaction by me ? I think you are confusing England with the UK. I've got no issue at all with England having an Assembly or a Regional Government or whatever if you/they want one. Fill yer boots. What can upset some people is the confusion between Britain and England that sometimes accidentally creeps into our daily lives. It would surely be equally 'fair' for someone to ask why, if they vote for a Welsh Assembly member and an MEP that its the parliament in England that decides how much tax is paid and whether I should be compelled to carry i.d.. Probably a bit of both (I can't comment on the third!) The point is that we are talking about waste and where money has been thrown away and these assemblies are the epitome of the wastefulness that has gone on, with shitloads of money being poured into 'compromise devolution' to appease a few small time politicians. As far as I am concerned Parliament as we know it should be abolished, there should be an English assembly and, a little like Europe is being organised, the 4 states of the Union should have a higher assembly, with seats decided by proportional representation, where senior members of the 4 states manage foreign policy, defence, economy* etc *The Scots should be excluded from economic matters as the past 13 years has shown clearly that they do not have a clue.

I don't. I think our players **** hate them. One of our biggest risks is red cards, IMO. Everyone **** hates Chelsea, we have more reason than most outside of London. It's going to be a battle. I don't hate Chelsea. Manure, Arse and the Redscum, yes, but not Chelsea. If the rationale behind it is the fact that they have bought success with Abramovich's money, then why do fans of all clubs, including ours, spend hours on internet forums complaining that not enough money is spent on players? I will settle for a decent performance today. If we win, then that will be a bonus.

Which is why the present government have removed democracy from our society. Scots, Welsh and N.Irish vote for their own government, and then vote for ours as well.

Agreed. £1.20 a litre? Thats about £6 a gallon. Any other nation would be protesting in the streets and raising hell. When I went to the United States last year they were pissed off about paying less than half that. Any other nation? The fact that most of Europe pays the same if not more sort of dispels that Diesel is generally a fair bit cheaper than petrol on European forecourts. In the UK it's more expensive than unleaded in most places. So either lower rates of duty on that type of fuel in Europe, or the fuel companies are joining in the game of 'let's rip the motorist off'

I clicked all parties, including the ones that I would never consider voting for and got: BNP 69% UKIP 69% Tory 68% Labour 29% Lib Dem 13% Green 11% Considering that I did not think an English Parliament was important and did not support a referendum on EU membership. However, being concerned about the economy and immigration apparently puts you right up there. Perhaps I should do it again and remove the parties that I wouldn't vote for!

I have been meaning to watch Roberto Benigni's 'A Beautiful Life' for years. Did so recently and it's superb.

I have voted 'not going' My intention was not to go, therefore presumably forfeiting my 'right' to a final ticket, should we proceed. I would have renewed my ST by now, but my disagreement with ticketing policy has killed that one. But, after Saturday's result, I think that we will win the F.A.Cup, so I am looking forward to watching the semi (and final) on TV!

At least we can't be accused of parking the bus

Hmmm, they always seem to overtake the Villa from a double figures points deficit. I don't see us going backwards, so they definitely aren't.

The 'noses are definitely a Premiership team, paying Premiership salaries. I walked into the car park tonight to find my humble motor surrounded by their first team squad motors, Bentleys, various foreign 4WD, a very expensive looking souped up Merc that is probably the must have car of successful pimps and drug dealers, and of course a couple of examples of the ultimate chavmobile, Range Rover Sport. Needless to say Lee Bowyer drives one of these. When the boggies park there most of their motors are a bit more humble.

My problem is Cameron, as he smacks too much of Blair Mk2. But my fear is that incompetent idiots who have flushed our country down the drain will get more time to destroy what is left. A vote for Lib Dem is a vote for Labour, as the LDs are just itching to get some power, and they know that the only chance is by climbing into bed with Gordo's mob. So I am left with the dilemma, can I afford to make a protest vote?

I have only ever read one at a time but I now use an e-reader, so that's for travelling and the backlog of 'real' books I have are for home (where I previously didn't really read). So 'real' I have just finished Ozzy Osbournes biography. I'm a bit of a Sabbath fan and I always feel comfortable with books containing Birmingham references. Next up is Andrew Marr's 'History of Modern Britain' On the e-reader I have a James Patterson on the go, which will be finished on tomorrow evening's flight, so I am off to download some others. On the 'Fatherland' discussion Len Deighton wrote SS-GB several years ago, which was a hypothetical 'if the Germans had invaded' Lots of Birmingham references in that one as well.

5th is progress 6th is stability anything below is backwards

If only they could buy at that today. Commercial rate is EUR1.10, which probably puts the tourist rate perilously close to 1 for 1

Now that the dust has settled. Yesterday was typical of our season. MON needs to select his best back 4. If that means 'upsetting' Collins (my choice for the drop) or Cuellar, so be it. Cuellar is not a right back. For all of his industry Petrov is a very one dimensional player. I do not recall him playing the ball forward once yesterday, instead relying on the limited passing talents of our central defenders to do the midfields job for them. Ashley Young isn't doing it and hasn't been doing it, and should be dropped or at least substituted. MON had Delph on the bench, someone who was worth a second half punt in order to try to unlock Manure and get some penetration. As it was in the second half we did nothing (not for the first time this season) Phil Dowd wasn't the reason that we lost yesterday, our general lack of creativity and tactical ability was.

I think that Paddy asked for the origin of the description. The origin certainly was a description of a load that had parted early from a truck, generally causing an obstruction. In modern day parlance it has been adopted to describe a large amount of something. It is an example of words or phrases that are used without an understanding of what they mean, with subsequent common (mis)use resulting in them meaning something different.

I find it hard to see any merit in Ashley's performance. I thought that he was poor yesterday, as he has been at various times this season. Our complete inability to score from open play against anything that approaches reasonable quality opposition is in part because the excellent service that Ashley was providing has ceased.

I have to agree with that sentiment. A soulless place that should never have been built.

I'm afraid that MON screwed us by inexplicably leaving Luke Young out. He should have got the nod ahead of Collins, allowing us to field our strongest back four. As it was the back four that we played were all caught in the headlights at one time or another. Milner was excellent, Downing okay, but I thought that Heskey and Agbonlahor were superb. Vidic has never been able to play Gabby, and it was even more apparent today. My MOTM was big Emile, who showed all the reasons why he will be on the plane to South Africa. It just wasn't our day, but there will be more opportunities sooner rather than later.

General, This one got lost between your thread part 2 and part 3. A couple of observations/requests regarding final tickets and future allocations. 1. I was pretty amazed and disturbed to read that a youth team player had been allocated 5 tickets for the LC final. I think that it is only fair that players likely to take part in the Wembley showpiece should be allowed say 10 tickets, and I agree that every employee of Aston Villa should receive tickets, but surely two each is enough, one for the employee and one for a companion? 2. On the subject of employee allocations a number of the stewards at Villa Park are supporters of our local rivals, where they are also stewards. Could they not be asked to do the decent thing and relinquish their ticket rights? 3. The allocation and distribution of the tickets for this final has been fraught, with many people feeling short changed (including myself). In the event that we reach a second Wembley final (not the semi) can I ask that the following be considered as a plan? i. The tickets are pre-allocated to season ticket holders on the basis that those who received poor tickets for the LC final are prioritised for the better tickets for the FA Cup final and vice versa. ii. Accepting that some may prefer cheaper tickets, all ST holders are given the option to trade up or trade down. iii. Once the options are in tickets are reallocated accordingly. iv. The 'sale' days are then allocated just for the formality of ST holders taking up their option. I feel certain that this would be a fairer and more fluid way for final allocations to be handled.

A good covering this morning, but it appears to be thawing. A drop of rain would help to wash it away. My money's on the game being on.

Not Kyle Naughton, the former Sheff Utd player? Presumably this is the son of Ken McNaughton, who the Villa commercial department mistakenly thought was a member of our title winning team of 81? Or maybe you are the Villa commercial department? :winkold: