orkneyvilla

Ha - just looked on wikipedia - already listed as a villa player. Seems to pick up cautions quite readily according to the stats there and he's tall.

that's a bit naughty !

Is there any reason we cant get 3-4 years out of this guy ? At 5m the resale value perhaps isn't as much of an issue.

General - if we do appoint AM as manager can I make a suggesion for a PR exercise. Organise a public 'meet the fans' exercise between AM and the dissenters where the fans can voice their concerns over various things - particularly with respect to his playing style. I think if he can convince us that we are to continue in the vein that G.Houlier began it may at least give him some breathing space. (I am not sure what size of arena you will need though). I think if anything it may bring across some of the determination to succeed and integrity which I think he has. Good Luck.

Still cant believe its gonna be Mcleish. What does it say for what else is at the table by the mere act of considering him ? It really does seem like we're scraping the barrel here. I'd like to know what Hughes is up to at the moment. I cant believe he's chucked the towel in without any assurances from another club.

Sounds like theres no reason why you should't get close with the training you're doing. To finish is an accomplishment regardless of the time anyway. Having said that its nice to aim for something on the day.

What sort of time would you aim for for the marathon ?

"And whilst I am here, currently keep getting pains in the back of my calves, just an ache so again not been for a run today. Having a warm bath really helps, as does an ibuprofen gel, was hoping to be out running again tomorrow but this is bugging me. Any ideas?" The calf problem sounds annoying. I have a similar problem myself since I changed my running pattern to hit the ground more towards the front of the foot rather than the heel. I think this pattern is much more demanding on calf muscles which haven't really worked much for the last 20 years. The good thing is I dont get as much knee pain. On the subject of the calf muscles I think their job is two fold during running. Firstly to decelerate progression of the tibia as it moves over your grounded foot. Secondly to provide propulsion during the toe off or push off phase. This second stage might be the key as I believe they tend to act in unison with the glutes and hamstrings which pull the hip backwards at the same time. If these muscles become weakened over the years it tends to overstrain the calf simply because it acts alone in the propulsive phase without any help. In other words as you get to the toe-off phase with your back leg, try to get a sense of pulling back with the hip aswell. One problem however may be that your glutes might not do too much at all i.e. they are just incapable. Try lying on your back and doing a one leg bridge. You should be able to maintain good allignment, without hamstring cramp or back pain for a minimum of 20 seconds. Its a reasonable test of glutes power. On the other hand your calf muscles might just be weak. Could you manage a minimum of of 15 one leg toe raises ? Hope this helps anyway.

Oh - just read that you tended to overpronate. If the insoles dont do the trick then try some gluteus medius strengthening. Just google it or look on you tube. I think that one factor is the whole lower limb probably tends to excessively medially rotate on heel strike - which results in more pronation at the foot and hence more plantar pain. Gluteus medius tends to decelerate this rotation when you hit the ground - if you see what I mean.

The tennis ball massage under your foot is a good idea. You may find similar areas in your calf quite tender with this condition which might also be worthy of the same massage. Sometimes the calf muscle can get quite tight so regular calf stretches could also be good. Foot posture can be a big contributor hence hopefully the insoles will help. If you are still getting problems with all this then you could also check what the foot does when it hits the ground. Is the foot slightly toed out (because of calf tension) or pointing ahead. Do you hit the ground hard with your heel? There's quite a bit on you tube running advice i.e. trying to land with quiet feet so that the heel doesn't generate too much shock. There seems to be lots of contributing factors anyway. Hope you manage to sort it out soon.

The missus reckons I was dreamin I was in Lord of the Rings last night - says I was tolkien-ing in my sleep. Ho.

You make some interesting points Joey 55. I think its a bit harsh comparing our teams level of creativity so far this season with Sunderland. Perhaps you can take into account that we will create more in the second half of the season given the fact that the team is more settled and probably coming out of transition. If you can tell me were less creative overall than Sunderland last season - which might be a more reflective statistic (although Milner's gone) - then fair play to you. You also make the point that there may have been cheaper talent around that could of done the same job as Bent - please tell me who. Proven goalscorer, premiership experience ? willing to come to Villa in our current situation ? The whole thing is a bit of a gamble yes but it always was going to be expensive at this time of year.

Yesssss - Noel galagher, your boys took a hell of a beating

Interesting to see how this pans out given the last episode of FSW and Barry. Does Downing want to go a la Barry. If so then Liverpool are going to have to stump up a massive wodge of cash to unseat him now in January (unless we need the cash, and the feeling I'm gettin is that we just need to get the wage bill down only). I would only let him go now (if he wants out) for stupid money - like 4 to 5 mil more than we paid. Cant see Dalglish wanting to pay that much. Maybe its all posturing from Liverpool - more like a statement of intent. Doesn't make sense. Letting him go now would also weaken our chances of climbing the table I feel.

I was in the butchers the other day and bet him he couldn't reach me down two slabs of meat from the top most shelf. He replied - sorry son, the Stakes are too high.

The girlfriend was on a golfing holiday trying to improve her technique when on the last day she was attacked by a wasp. The Pro asked how she got on in the clubhouse to which she replied 'i was stung somewhere between the first and second hole' - 'Oh' he replied - 'you were probably standing with your legs too far apart'.

Ok, well, where do you go to find out how heavy a whale is ? At the Whale-weigh-station (I'll get me cloak)

Ah shit sorry - what about this then - 'i told my date i had a cock like a computer. She asked if it was cos it had loads of ram and a big hard drive.... she was more surprised when she found out it was microsoft with a virus'

Ok here's one - jane in the jungle with tarzan (fairly early in their relationship) one day and begins to wonder about his sex drive. She says ' Tarzan, what do you do for sexual excitement without anybody else around ?' He replies ' Tarzan, um king of jungle go and shag hole in tree'. Jane smiles sympathetically and says 'You dont need to do that now I'm here Tarzan', at which point she takes off her clothes and lies nakes on the ground ready for him and says 'You can make love to me if you want'. Tarzan takes an excited look, throws off his loin cloth walks calmly over and kicks her in the fanny. 'What was that for ?' asks Jane confused. He replies 'Tarzan check for bees first'

Just thought of someone who has managed in the champions league, played at international level, is familiar with the Premier League without ever having won much. He's also gnarly and Scottish. Would probably have respect of the players aswell if they can understand what he's saying. Gordon Strachan anyone ? (Sorry if this has been mentioned before). He would probably stay the term aswell if it didnt go tits up of course.

Just dont feel that Brown would command the respect of the players somehow - dont think he would be right at all.

City hold a lot of the cards here. The longer this drags out through the summer the shorter time it gives us to line up a replacement. The question is as time goes on do we get twitchy and settle for a bit less, or do we hold out for all we can get even if it goes down to the wire. Seems strange to be interested in a sport where fan loyalty exceeds player loyalty now. Maybe I need to wise up a bit. Can't we just go back to the 80's. Anyway would it be wise to do a deal for 24 million soon or wait and get closer to the deadline and get say 5 million more. Dunno.

Think this might have been dun but here goes ...... what does an agnostis, dyslexic insomniac do in the evening ... sits around wondering if their really is a dog.

Ok what about this one. Does anyone know where Kung-Fu got its name from. Apparently monks in the high Tibetan plateau use to develop agility by doging spears in the early morning. On one ocassion a session of spear chucking began before the first dodger was ready so that when he turned round to begin the session he was pireced through both cheeks by a spear - to which he uttered 'what 'Kung-Fu' that .

Ok - here's one a true story which happened to me last week, whilst out driving I ran over a hare. I could see in the rear view mirror that it was still moving so I got out to have a look and discovered that both its back legs were broken. I decided that a decent thing to do would be to put it out of its misery quickly by hitting it over the head with a rock. I was about to give the fatal blow when a police car happened on the scene and I was accosted by a PC telling me what I was doing was illegal in my parish as hares were a protected species. He told me to bring the hare to the boot of the police car where upon another officer produced a can of spray and sprayed its back legs. Within seconds the hare gained a new lease of life and ran off seemingly unharmed. When I asked what was in the can the second officer told me it was just hair restorer.