Ooh-Ah

http://tinyurl.com/caywo6h This kind of thing makes my blood boil. We don't expect to be challenging for European Cups you moron. We expect to have a competitive team that actually tries to win football matches. And anyone who honestly thinks that Aston Villa's current squad isn't good enough to be "higher up the table" is an idiot. As is anyone who suggests that any of the teams below us have a stronger squad than we do. Ergo, Alex McLeish is an idiot. Either that or he's a liar. Please f*** off from our club you insufferable excuse for a manager.

I swear you just post stuff in order to get a reaction.

Heresy! Arrest that man!

It would seem as though the kit is likely to be a similar shade of green to greenz's effort, at least that's according people who have spoken to people who have seen it.

Nonsense! He's clearly gifted. Fair enough he hasn't set the world alight this season but I don't see how a player of his ilk can be expected to prosper in a team managed by Alex McLeish, especially when he's only brought on with ten minutes to go when we're chasing a game. Not to mention the fact that he has generally been played out of position on the right. I honestly think he has the potential to do great things, he just needs to be part of an actual football team (you know, the type that tries to keep possession and forge attacks) and he needs a manager who has faith in him.

Those are both class. Fair play. I hope the crest on the away kit is done the way you have it, I don't think the sky blue will look well against the bright green shirt.

I can only disagree with you ciggiesnbeer, I really don't see how anyone could describe Lambert or Martinez as "overrated crap managers". Not with a straight face anyway. And anyone claiming that we wouldn't be better off with the aforementioned managers (as CI is) must be taking the piss. I refuse to believe that anyone could genuinely believe that.

I agree with you re: Henry but Guthrie and O'Hara are not "hard-working thugs". Guthrie is an extremely tidy footballer, lumping him in with Henry is just wrong. And as for O'Hara, he's a completely different kind of player. Whether or not they're good enough for Villa is another issue. Personally I think they're both miles better than the likes of Delph and considering the season we've just had, I don't think we're in a position to turn our noses up at a player like Guthrie who has been impressive (if not necessarily first choice) for a team currently in 5th. I think (and hope) that by talking about plans for next season McLeish is just trying to keep a brave face. Surely he must feel as though his job is at risk? I mean, I know some people think he's deluded but he simply cannot be that oblivious to the world around him. Although his appointment defied logic in the first place, keeping him on now would take things to a completely different level of insanity.

I'm sorry but I really don't get this Carlos Cuellar love-in. He's recklessly dodgy and technically he's as poor as any player in the squad. And I include Alan Hutton in that. When he strides forward out of defence he looks like a horse trying to keep control of the ball, and he can't pass the bloody thing 20 yards. I'm sure he's a nice guy and I can understand people liking him for that reason, but a great defender he is not. We might not be blessed at CB at the moment but we should be aiming a lot higher than Carlos Cuellar IMO.

At first I found this funny but then I realised I'm an Aston Villa supporter.

It's Lichaj, the keeper who chucks it up in the air and hits it on the half volley went pretty close. Is it siiggestt or something?? I thought the programme on Sunday said it was Herd? Although I could be wrong, I don't have it to hand at the moment Benjamin Siegrist? The programme might have been wrong but it's definitely Lichaj in the onesie.

I have to say I'm glad to see he's leaving, he really has been poor. Having said all that, I hope he gets a decent send-off on Sunday. He seems like a nice guy and its not his fault the club offered him so much money. And it's obviously not as though he tries to play poorly.

I think it's safe to assume Bannan went close but missed, judging by the pics on the OS. Loving Lichaj's onesie!

The only thing sadder than the idea of you compiling these statistics is the fact that I think this is the greatest post in the history of the internet.

Is that how the winner was decided this year? If so people should probably stop criticising the club and calling it a farce.

http://tiny.cc/razmdw Oh.

Sorry, what?

I don't think there was any other option to be honest. Given has had a lot to do and although I'm a massive fan of his, I don't think he's done anything to solidify our defence in terms of defending crosses and set-pieces. Giving it to Petrov would have been a nice touch I suppose, although I don't think anyone could claim he deserved it on purely footballing grounds. Ireland had to get the nod. You can say all you want about the amount of games he's played or his stats in terms of goals and assists but he has been our best player. It's as simple as that. I'm sure some people genuinely think he doesn't deserve to be POTY but the real problem here is that a substantial amount of supporters still have a certain set opinion of him, i.e. that he's a troublemaker. I really can't see any evidence supporting this. Yes he's an unusual character but, more importantly, he's a cracking footballer. I wish everyone would just get behind him and be glad that he's doing well for us. Imagine what he could do in a system that doesn't inherently stifle creative players... Hopefully getting Player of the Year will give him even more confidence to push on next season. We're a better team with him than without, that's for sure.

from where i was stood i couldnt see a single one of them join in, after it there was some booing, some chants of rocket polishers directed at them shortly after a baggies fan was stretchered out (not looking good at all - anyone got any idea?) and we clapped him out and they didnt so it started off again with "no respect my lord" thrown in too Thought so. Cheers.

That article is tosh. The way they put 'almost certain' in quotation marks implies someone actually said that he's 'almost certain' to leave, which they didn't (aside from the journalist himself), they suggest that Randy Lerner gave him a vote of confidence, which he didn't (not publicly anyway), and it also claims that McLeish's family were subjected to abuse at the Bolton game, which I'm fairly certain is an absolute fabrication. Sh*t journalism.

What is it with us and ex-players-turned-pundits? Alan McInally seems reasonably sharp. Good work, Alan. Andy Gray was always very slow to talk us up. I never liked him anyway but I got the impression that he was weary of seeming biased, which is fair enough I suppose, but he took it too far IMO. Paul Merson seems like a nice guy and I think he's pretty honest in his appraisals but he isn't exactly clever. Dwight Yorke is an idiot who acts like he only ever played for Manchester United, choosing to completely ignore the fact that Graham Taylor found him on a beach in Trinidad. The guy can barely speak English (his first language) and when he does manage to spit out a vaguely coherent sentence it usually consists of praising United to the hilt, or his favourite refain: "He'll be bitterly disappointed with that." Numpty. Tony Cascarino is an idiot. I really despise the guy and I wish the media would stop going to him for his opinion on Villa issues. Actually, I wish the media would stop going to him for his opinion on anything. It beggars belief that someone so stupid and annoying can forge a career for themselves in broadcast media. Stan Collymore is an idiot. I wouldn't worry about anything he says, I doubt whether he has the will or the requisite intelligence to think anything through. As with Yorke and Cascarino, it's a sad indictment of our media to see someone as blatantly dim as Stan Collymore given a platform to air his "opinions" to the world. And it's even sadder to see people get worked up about his half-baked "theories".

Was I imagining things or was there some sort of hullabaloo over the 19th minute applause today? I was watching it on a poor enough stream but it seemed to me as though the home support didn't really take to it and it sounded like there was some booing after...? Can someone set me straight?

Thought he did very well today in spite of looking a little off the pace at the start. On that form he can make the difference over the next couple of games. Cuellar was solid as well. One more clean sheet and we'll be safe. Scoring goals is for the weak!

I'm a skinny 5'9'' attacking midfielder, chronic in the air and predominantly left-footed, who plays for a poor team in a shitty amateur league. I am 100% certain that I'd do a better job at right back for Villa than Alan Hutton. 100%. That's not me being cocky, I'm nowhere near good enough to be a professional footballer. I could find 15 players within a mile radius of my house who are better at football than Alan Hutton. How in the name of Jesus Christ is this man first choice right back for one of the biggest clubs in England? My head hurts thinking about it.

At least he provides some comedy value, so long as it doesn't result in the opposition getting a goal (which it often does actually). I've actually burst out laughing on watching a couple of his mistakes, even though I know I shouldn't. And he goes down injured IN EVERY SINGLE GAME. When he and Heskey are both on the pitch, my friends and I place bets on which of them is going to fall over and require treatment first.