GaztonVilla

How many chairs??!?!?!? :!: :!: :!:

Yes but saving was £312. So when I want a newly-released phone during my contract, the £312 saving can be added to the eBay value of the iPhone 4.

Uber result. Had a rant at O2 yesterday. O2 broadband has been really slow lately, O2 mobile phone direct debit keeps being taken out on the wrong day. Ranted at them saying I wanted to cancel everything. Mobile, broadband, my wife's mobile. Walked away with a 2 month early free upgrade to iPhone 4, 6 months free mobile line rental and 6 months free broadband. Saving: £312

As strong as they get but, as I always say, I'm only hearing one side of the story.

From what I'm told, that's what he wants too.. He doesn't want special treatment, he just wants to be treated equally as a squad member. That includes not being asked to submit a transfer request simply to expedite the manager's desire to ship him out, not being asked to train with the youths without being told why by his manager, not being told that regardless of his performances in training he will never be picked for a matchday squad and not being told to relocate him and his family then subsequently being told that he shouldn't have rented that house because the manager wants to sell him in January.

Afternoon.. Looking for somewhere ridiculously decadent to stay in Birmingham or Manchester. A hotel or apartment with a hot tub etc in the room for pure pimpishness The Penny Black suite at Malmaison has a cinema and steam room in the suite, thats the sort of extravagance I'm thinking of. Anybody got any ideas?

MON met Ireland the day before the Valencia friendly as far as I know.

Really? Unfair? Are you honestly telling me he has given 100% everytime he has played for us? No I'm not, but I don't think he's guilty of being a "lazy prick" (as people have called him) either. His effort is no worse than other players, in my opinion and he has been tainted by the combination of the manager's comments about him and the fact that he is not James Milner.

Serious question and not looking to pick a fight, but what has he done to make you hate him so much? His quotes about birmingham, his general attitude, the soap opera about his grandmas was a joke, slating Ireland (his home country.) But what grinds me the most is that he is a talented player but without an ounce of efforrt. Part from that i think hes mint Ok, let's look at them one by one. 1. Birmingham quotes. They were in a French football magazine and he insists he was misquoted. Not misinterpreted, misquoted. 2. General attitude. This covers a multitude, and I've tried many times to talk about this but people have their own ideas about him and I can only try so much to reason on this point. 3. The grandmas soap opera and the Rep of Ireland debacle. Yes, it was stupid. Very very stupid. However, has no bearing on his Villa career as far as I'm concerned. 4. Lack of effort. I think this is the most unfair criticism levelled at him since he arrived here but people have a preconceived idea about him.

Serious question and not looking to pick a fight, but what has he done to make you hate him so much?

In recent weeks, I'm more and more curious about what went wrong for Sven at his interview. Apparently he got too "animated". I'd love to know what he got animated about..

Is it possible part of the problem is that some people were never prepared to give the manager a chance ? When a player pulls on the Villa shirt he has my full support (even Oyvind Leonhardsen), and it's the same when a manager is appointed. When fans don't get behind a manger on his appointment, perhaps it makes players like Dunne, Warnock etc feel justified when they too don't give him a chance. It's possible but for me it's the very opposite. I was one of GH's most vocal cheerleaders on here when he was appointed. Now I believe he is a cancer and needs to be operated on.

Exactly. I only had three or four drinks yet I was drunker than the three of them put together. Great night

Perhaps the poor defending at set pieces can be explained by the fact that the first team and the reserves operate under different defensive styles at set pieces; confusion is rife. It has been for months but nothing has changed.

I've been unemployed for a long time so I'm skint. However, starting a new job on Monday. Planning to print up a menu of things that I can cook without the threat of poisoning her and asking her to choose her favourite. Then I'll set up the living room like a cinema and we'll watch a legally procured film with popcorn and fizzy drinks.

Aw, just noticed the 50k thread. Gutted. Thought I was being clever

Everybody please join me in welcoming "rugmuncher". Rob, do your worst....

General, Watching coverage of the Superbowl last night, there was a bit during halftime where highlights of the season were shown. I presume this, and other, reels were put together by NFL Films. It brought me back to the NFL Films production of "Proud History Bright Future" from a few years ago. Filmed, if I remember, during a match vs Sheffield Utd. Given that it's been a couple of years and lots has changed at Villa Park, would the club consider commissioning NFL Films again to update things?

Bastard. I came into this thread with the specific purpose of making that joke.

A big VT welcome to "VIAGRASAMPLES" Send some over here please, for purely research purposes of course

I don't think he warrants sympathy for his performances, I have accepted repeatedly that he has been poor. He does not, however, deserve to be castigated and have people say he has been taking "the utter piss". SI is guilty of not being James Milner, IMO.

1) So he should turn up for training and train with who he is told to. 2) You make it sound like he actually played well at some point when he didnt 3) Boo bloody hoo, i'm sure his wife eased her nervousness when she had to continue to concentrate on breathing and blinking. I was excited when he signed and I do think he is a good player so this Newcastle loan will hopefully be a win win for Villa, whether its a player coming back in good form or in the guise of a transfer fee. But he needs to sort his head out because like I said before the only person who has personal problems is Stephen Ireland with Stephen Ireland. My reference to him turning up for training etc was not an attempt to get him sympathy. I was merely trying to pinpoint what exactly he has done to get the reputation for having taken the piss out of the club? He started 7 games for us, and came on as sub in 5. 3 of those sub appearances were for less than 10 minutes. He has completed 90 mins for us twice, his debut vs Newcastle and the defeat to Liverpool. Having watched him closely, I accept unreservedly that he has been poor. I don't believe that he was playing in his best position, and I believe that he and his colleagues were on different wavelengths. He played 85 mins vs Chelsea, in a team performance widely agreed to have been disciplined and efficient. Was he awful that day? I think he was effective. Clearly not at his best, but he must have done something right if he was part of such a good team performance. However, I think by the time of the Liverpool game there had been an improvement. He no longer had to drop as deep to receive the ball, his passing was crisp and creative and the players around him were making runs which allowed him to show his passing skills. He was one of our better players vs Liverpool, in a game which was a watershed (IMO) for the relationship between management and playing staff. My point remains that he has done NOTHING, in my opinion, which can be seen as taking the piss out of the club. People who expect him to tear about the pitch in a Rooneyesque fashion will be waiting a long time for that to happen. Accusations that he was disinterested or refused to track back are, again in my opinion, very very wrong. I remember one example (vs Arsenal I think) where he sprinted back, beating Ciaran Clark along the way, to attempt to retrieve the ball after Clark lost it. Clark was jogging, Ireland was sprinting. Does that mean Clark was taking the piss? I think it's a very small-minded view to say that simply because a player is earning 60k a week that he should be, at all times, hugely motivated and happy and always running themselves into the ground for the entire time they're on the pitch. Any person, in any job on any salary, can feel undervalued and demotivated. It's down to management to discuss this with the player, attempt to pinpoint the issues and make an effort to resolve them. A manager who refuses to do that is wasting a potentially valuable resource. Washing your hands of a player without making the effort to understand them, particuarly a player valued at £8m on the balance sheet, is very poor management.

'doing nothing' is strong, in my opinion. I agree, he was poor. However, I'd challenge anyone to point out a player who was playing well during that period. The common consensus on here was that he was one of our better players vs Liverpool. Since then he hasn't played.

Lmao Gotta say this guy has taken the mick out of us as a club He wasn't wanted where he was but didn't have the bottle to say no to being a make weight in another deal so we end up holding the baby, literally. I respect him even less than Unsworth I'm astounded by this.. What has he done that's "taken the mick out of us as a club"? He hasn't once badmouthed the club, the manager or his colleagues in the press. He has turned up for training when asked to, he has trained with the reserves and youth team when asked to. He signed for a club in crisis, with a caretaker manager and was nothing but complimentary about the club when he signed. He WANTED to come here. It was a culture shock to him, leaving the club he had been at since the age of 15 but he WANTED to sign for us. He refused to sign for Sunderland and Everton and signed for Villa. The only thing that he is guilty of is poor performance in the few games he has played for us. There are mitigating factors but people on here have decided that, since he's not James Milner, he's shite and a waste of money. When he signed, everyone knew he was of fragile character. Everyone knew he was a confidence player. So, why was it so surprising that his performances dipped when his manager castigated him to the media? When his manager told him, to his face, that he was not wanted at the club his performances suffered. Why is that a surprise? He refused to request a transfer, because he wants to stay here and earn his place in the team. He was told 2 weeks ago the club did not want him to go on loan, that there was a clean slate awaiting him when his knee injury cleared up. After hearing that news, he was elated. Overjoyed. Chuffed to f**k. Finally, he was able to start the ball rolling on moving permanently to the midlands. His missus, who has been waiting nervously for confirmation of where they would be living for the next 3 years, started making plans to move to the midlands. Now, that's all scrapped and they have to move up here to Newcastle until May. 60k a week is all well and good, but when you're being dicked around and lied to no amount of money makes you feel better about it. However, in spite of all of this, he has told AVFC that he wants to come back to the club in the summer and try to change his manager's mind about him. Now, tell me PLEASE, what has he done to take the mick out of AVFC??

I feel bad for the fella. He'll be providing service to Leon Best and Shola Hokeycokey.