Ooh-Ah

He said: "We have underachieved for Aston Villa in terms of past history and in terms of the name Aston Villa.

"People expect us higher up the table. This is not the Aston Villa team of 1982 (when they won the European Cup) and people have to realise that.

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.

Yes without question

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

First home game of the season will be like a party atmosphere if McLeish has gone. Just imagine that, us having a go at a team at Villa Park and maybe actually scoring more than one goal for a change. If we're really lucky we might even win!

Heresy! Arrest that man!

i would buy that green

but i think it will be a darker green

Go Werden Bremen green, much nicer!

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.

one of the first players that should leave the club come summer

average to poor. dont see what the hype is about with this guy?

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.

Dayglo is a bit much IMO, shopped one and a home too..

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.

There is no point change for Lambert or Martinez

Talk about out of the frying pan & into the fire

Martinez and Lambert are overrated crap managers. Under normal circumstances I wouldnt want them any where near our club.

However they are both better than McLeish so I would take them.

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.

The fact Mcleish thinks the like of Henry, Guthrie and O'Hara would improve this squad is reason enough to sack him. He loves the term 'dynamic' when describing the type of modfielder him wants. What he really should saying is hard working thug. There's no room at Villa for players like this. We already have Herd and Clark who can do a job of that ilk. What we need is technically superior players to what already here.

If mcleish gets his way, even the players remaining with that will be shipped out.

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.

I think's it's safe to assume that they probably all missed and Alex McLeish called it a great result as it is an 'Elite' challenge.

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

Who is it in the hideous "onesy?" :?

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 can only see bannan hitting the bar, No chance for gabby.. maybe collins and dunne with their rugby kicks.

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

Loving Lichaj's onesie!

Back to the ongoing sock argument. Here's a break down of our sock choices throughout the clubs history.

NOTE some of these season we switch socks half way through in those cases I marked them down for the full season. That's why the years don't add up. Also number indicate year each season started.

Years with claret socks:

1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1969 1970 1995 1996 1997 1999 2000 2002

Total: 53

Years with white socks:

1965 1966 1967 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1986 1987 1993 1994

Total: 12

Years with Blue socks:

1874 1875 1876 1881 1882 1883 1968 1969 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1998 2001 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Total: 35

Years with black socks:

1877 1878 1879 1880 1884 1885 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 2011

Total: 41 years

For the sake of completion year with chocolate socks: 1886

So claret socks have been the most used throughout the history of the club with black socks in second place. The original Claret and Blue kits also featured claret socks although prior to the adoption of those club colours black had been used.

The most successful sock is claret with 6 league wins. Our only other title came in blue along with the European cup.

We last won the FA Cup in black socks 1957. The 6 other wins came in claret socks.

We won two League Cups in claret sock seasons, two in blue seasons and one in a white sock season.

There, all you need to know about Villa socks.

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.

The thing is, Petrov did win Aston Villa's player of the season. Ireland us simply fan's POTS which is awarded to the player who accumulates the most points from MOTM or runners up votes from the fans after matchdays.

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.

Eric Lichaj picked up the award for Best Goal Celebration for his 'chicken noodle soup' dance after scoring in the Carling Cup win over Hereford United.

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.

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?

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.

Shit, another year of sulky arse Warnock and his wandering ways.

Can we pay a transfer fee to someone to take him off our hands, Burscough Town maybe?

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.