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Yes, they do (though the youngest [Liverpool] doesn't particularly care for football). No, it's close to impossible to convert once the passion is embedded. If you try, it just doesn't feel natural. I just choose to focus on work, alcohol & love life instead. It's all I've got left.

That's why villa beat them.. because our atmosphere overwhelmed them. I agree.. it is there.. we just need it to be more consistent, even against lesser teams. If it's a league match, it matters.. regardless of the opponent.

Legally, you should be entitled to either a partial refund or the same seat for the number of games you missed for next season (and therefore a proportionately reduced price season ticket for next season). I remember you fondly from the DO'L era, OBE. I'm surprised you're still here, and impressed. Hope you're keeping well mate. UTV

Tbf we own "on the piss, my lord". I like that that chimes with our mutual love of drinking. Who else has that?

Sorry, I was thinking of quickbooks.. I never bought the shirts.

It's very different growing up in a small town (Scarborough) that has no big club for miles around. You pick, at primary school, based on sticker books, match of the day, etc. I'm the eldest of 5 lads. In birth order, we chose Villa, Newcastle, Man Utd, Leeds & Liverpool. I actually tried to convert to Scarborough, when I lived there. But to give an example, when the away keeper takes a goal kick, the fans shout "ohhh.. aaah, you s**t b*****d!". It wasn't like the thrill of a permier league game.

They're probably afraid of a 5 team drop, given how long they've been stuck down there.

Haha, this club has been the bane of my life, tbh. I started supporting in about 1994, when I was 7. I've been to many home games (though not in the last few years) and even had away season tickets. I stuck with them through loyalty, as once you choose you're not allowed to switch tribe. Also, when you've passionately supported a team for your entire youth, it's really hard to not care, or crave the thrill of victory. However, I'm not a brummie and have recently resigned from being a Villa fan, but I still want my old club to be the best they can be, for sentimental reasons.

The ugliness of that kit also contributed to our relegation.

Yes, the nike acorns kit with sky blue shorts is a good image. The quickbooks kit isn't.

I'll submit to some of your points. I suppose I was thinking of the general image of Villa over the last 10-15 years, rather than the last couple of seasons. What disappoints me about our badge is that, when Randy took over, people were merely expressing a desire to return to the round badge that we had before Doug. Instead he put it to a vote of shapes, colours, etc. and came out with a mish-mash joke that many on here could've designed better. He could've at least had an artist design it to certain specs, or (my preference) simply return to the round badge.

I actually hadn't, my apologies. In which case, the options seem to be demolishion and replacement (my preference), or expressing even greater support for safe standing. The seats are rather narrow in the North, like the away section at the the KC, so it seems logical to gut them at the very least, when safe standing gets the green light.

Sorry, I just wish Villa would get their image right. Kit, badge, North Stand, players (obviously Jack is great and exemplary of what I'm getting at), fans' attitude, etc.

As an outsider looking in, which of these 2 aesthetics do you think your average Brit would rather follow? Their atmospheres are electric. Half the times I go to Villa Park it's like a library infused with groans and verbal abuse towards our own players. I know haters are bad: "S***ing on the city as we gooo". How sad.

I think the North Stand should be demolished and replaced with a curved "echo wall" that would allow sound to reverberate around the stadium. It would need to be designed by an acoustic engineer, connecting the Trinity Road and DE stands. It would be stylish and unique.. perhaps made from red brick, steel, glass and/or plastic.

Clubs like Leicester & Newcastle have a certain aesthetic identity that, when the time comes, can instil enough supporter passion to enable them to win the league. Villa currently don't, even if we had a super-wealthy Saudi owner. Our fans are too nostalgic and seem to think a scrappy Peter Withe goal makes us better than the likes of Newcastle. Their future is now idyllic. As the second largest city in Britain, Villa should be the Celtic of England. But we just can't hack it. It's about character/identity, not traditions.

Could you perhaps elaborate or be more specific?

Playing behind closed doors ignores the purpose of football. That tribalistic atmospheric passion & emotion affects every player intrinsically. It's more than "a twelfth man". It's the whole meaning of football. Why did Ranieri win the League with Leicester? The fans made it happen, through atmospheric passion. Villa fans just don't get that. I wish I was a geordie.

Perhaps we should run a competition like this for our club's badge.. I don't like the Randy one. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-52368010

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-52368010

We should be a club of 2 colours.. claret & sky blue. White shorts are an embarrassment.. like West Ham. I'm only talking about our home kit. Away kit can be anything that looks good and doesn't clash.

The point is simply to slow the spread, so that hospitals can cope with vulnerable people and not (touch wood) exceed capacity. The only way we can overcome this bat virus is through herd immunity. A vaccine will take 12-18 months, unfortunately.

I agree. What I'd like to know is how much does TV money add to the price of a pint? I don't just mean when a match is on, I mean in any pub that's bought TV rights. Funny how a pint of Bud Light is only £1.99 in wetherspoon's, whereas it can be upwards of £4 in some pubs. All going to players and agents more than anything else, as others have pointed out. Maybe there should be some sort of independent body that players could use to negotiate contracts, instead of them using agents, it's ridiculous in this day and age. Clubs just let agents con them out of millions, it's weird. And surely a salary cap for players is long overdue? At least for European clubs, I mean.

*Signs* Maybe if some people on here weren't constantly checking to see if we've signed anyone yet and just forget about it 'til we actually do then they wouldn't be so impatient. MO'N's obviously not stupid, he's very aware of the situation and he's doing his best to sort it. Just let them get on with things for **** sake.