brommy

If they stated how excited they were and what their hopes for future success were, there would be 1001 reponses along the lines of "don't talk about it, show us". So why bother? The press conference will be the opportunity to present our new man. I expect he'll be guarded against predicting future success knowing it will be twisted to promises set in stone and a stick to be beaten with given the first sign of falling short. Many Villa fans have a reputation to maintain. :winkold:

I'm not sure what a bit of razzmatazz would add. The OS also has a report on Hitzfeld's compliments on PL. The OS statement is a concise and professional contrast to the flapping budgies. There may be a press conference (Wednesday?) but I wouldn't expect anything insightful. I believe Lambo is an existing nickname of PL. If it proves popular you may need to accept and/or relax about it.

I assume the Zebra Finance issue is a recent glitch because on Wednesday I added my 3 STs to a new finance agreement without a problem. £178.58 x 7 months = £1250.06 for £1250 worth of tickets. 6 pence of interest so mustn't grumble!

I prefer the statistic that as we both play with 11 men, Villa are the same size as Barcelona. :winkold: He played for pov. In terms of the Villa, it doesn't get much more bitter than that.

Renewed by using the OS. £1250 at £178.58 for 7 months, interest free. Whole process was simple and only took a couple of minutes.

Besides the irrelevance, I don't see how many could pick a 41 year old Friedel over Given who is 36. Many spuds fans have commented about Brad's diminishing abilities late in their last season and moving forward as he ages towards his mid-40's. 5 years ago, Brad may or may not have been as good as Given is now. Other than trivia, I'm unsure of the importance of that issue. Of more importance is that whilst they are both very good keepers, we should appreciate that not only is our keeper roughly as good (I think slightly better in a vital save sense), he is 5 years younger. 8)

Friedel wanted a 2 year contract, we only were willing to offer a 1 year contract, sensible from the club really. How was it sensible? If Brad (who is a better keeper than Given in my opinion) plays 40 games for Spurs next year, will it still be sensible? That's a big if and as I rate a 36 year old Given as slightly better than a 36 year old Friedel, I certainly think a 36 year old Given is better than a 41 year old Friedel. In the next couple of years this will be more and more apparent. Knowing their ages, what's the best keeper deal for us? It's a Given! :winkold:

Whether Friedel was as good 5 years as Given is now is definitely debatable as they were/are great keepers with slightly different weaknesses. As Friedel also had issues commanding his area, I still prefer Given's outstanding save ability over Friedel's 'steady eddy' ability. That Given will be a better keeper than Friedel over the next 2 to 4 years is less debatable but is more relavant to us. In 2 years time I think most spuds fans would prefer a 38 year old Given to a 43 year old Friedel. Whilst I think that this issue is clouded by many Villa fans 'grass is always greener eleswhere' attitude, I'm happy that Given is between the sticks for us.

I disagree. I also think that many of our fans are guilty of believing the grass is greener elsewhere. If we still had Friedel and Given was playing elsewhere the answer would be the other way around! Also, Given is 5 years younger and is likely to be a his greatest for longer.

It's not 'like for like' though, is it? Shay is 5 years younger than Friedel. When mentioning the money spent of Given please remember that continuing to employ 41 year old Friedel wouldn't exactly be free! Part of Friedel's ability is his consistency, but then again Given is hardly inconsistent. Where I think Given out classes Friedel is on outstanding saves; the kind of saves that last season prevented a draw becoming a loss. With a better manager and some player investment/improvements it would be great to see Given's vital saves giving wins instead of draw.

It's difficult to actually prove that, but I suspect you are correct. Given is definitely better than the 'average' Premier League keeper and looking at some of the vital saves he made last season, I don't think most keepers would have made all of them. Given's save from Warnock's own-goal effort, for example.

Both still good keepers. From 10, I'd mark Given as a 9 and Friedel as an 8.5. If we're comparing the two keepers at this time and perhaps wonder why we passed on keeping Friedel, it's important to remember that Shay is 5 years younger than Brad. In 3 years time it's likely that Given will still be playing well. The same can't be said of Friedel.

OGS and his wife have flown on Rokke's jet (smaller than Randy's :winkold: ) to Oslo. Most VTers have assumed it's to agree to stay on at Molde with a bigger contract. A few VTers think it may be a farewell/thank you/tidy loose ends dinner. The truth is currently unknown. :?

:notworthy:

I'll believe it when I see it. Whilst no keeper is perfect, Given is one of the few players in our squad that I'd rate in the top 6 to 10 for their position so it makes no sense to sell him. Besides, name me another keeper so ready and able to keep out Warnock's efforts on our goal!

Self diagnosis is risky, but if you're sure... :winkold: Have no fear The Gent has been self-prescribing donepezil for a few years now! I hope OGS has more sense!

Self diagnosis is risky, but if you're sure... :winkold:

OGS has spent enough time in English football to know that we are a big club; not a very big club like redscouse or massive club like manure, but never the less a big club. If OGS had thoughts of coming back to England then the second he heard about Villa's interest he would have been weighing things up: Decent size club? Well yes, way bigger than half the Premier League and as big a club as he could currently hope to manage. Controversially, are Villa a big enough club that if he does really, really well with he'd be considered for his top job? Yes; something that can't be said about the likes of Wigan, Swansea, the boggies and Reading. Is it reasonable travelling distance from the training ground to his established roots in Cheshire? Yes, just an hour on most days. Other than Villa and Everton, I'm not sure who else ticks his boxes. Whether it ends badly, he performs miracles and leaves in 3 or 4 years or does well and stays for a decade; I'd still like us to give him a go. It would be a gamble but I'd rather play strip-poker than bet on the time it takes for paint to dry.

I'll cope.

That's put a smile on my face! For some reason I pictured OSG as a quietly spoken bloke who might struggle to get his point across. Obviously not - "You're 18 yards away from goal and you keep **** passing it! SHOOT!"

Please be Alan Hutton. Please be Alan Hutton. Please be Alan Hutton. Let's hope so. Perhaps Randy is playing a trans-europe version of the chicken, fox and grain riddle?

I believe I've read several times that many betting sites remove their odds overnight. I haven't a clue why but it's certainly nothing to do with closing betting due to a dead cert. Its in case on of 100-1 shots is seen going into VP with a contract in his hand. Why would that only apply overnight? Is it because the bookies have no human interface to react and adjust the odds overnight?

I believe I've read several times that many betting sites remove their odds overnight. I haven't a clue why but it's certainly nothing to do with closing betting due to a dead cert.

I'll wait to see if this transfer is on before commenting; it may save unnecessary exasperation.

3 weeks in Central Florida - in a 'villa' of course! Chill-out days by the pool and Gulf Coast beaches interspersed with action days at various theme parks, go-karting, air-boating and mini golf. Looking forward to it - a lot! I managed to get a relatively good deal flying in BA Club Class so I'm hoping to avoid some of the shitty jet lag, especially being able to sleep flat on the overnight return.