trekka

I think it's showing more guts not spending it to be honest. Agreed. We could have splashed the cash on merceneries ala other 'certain' clubs but would that really have brought us success in the long term? We're clearly building here and it's important not to build a house on sand

So the likes of bringing in Carew, Young, Maloney etc were 'clueless' in a window when traditionally there is literally NOTHING available eh? He often works to the very end of a window and if we don't bring in a further 2 players at least I'll eat my own tongue. Oh, and he's a dickhead too? Don't hold back :shock:

Seriously doubt it was down to the fee Sam, by accounts (including the BBC who don't take things lightly) he was coming down to speak with us tomorrow which surely means Hearts accepted our bid. I'm sticking my neck out a bit here but I'll continue to believe even if we don't sign a further 3 players and I'll judge if my belief was correct at the end of the season (assuming we'll continue to add in January).

I have my doubts as to whether this poll would clearly show the feeling amongst us. Adding a poll when seemingly we've lost out on a player with no news of further signings (yet) would obviously tend to add bias to our feelings. Maybe it would have been better suited if the poll was added at the end of the transfer window? Or maybe add another at the end of the window clearly asking if we believe in MON's ability in the transfer window as to judge the board on everything is a bit unfair judging the huge strides we've made in the past year. Just my opinion of course.

A believer in MON, Randy, The General and the rest of the board and always have been thus far. The progress we've made is staggering in such a short amount of time (on AND off the pitch).

Sigur Ros - Hoppipolla (song the BBC used as the music & ads to Planet Earth and appears in a lot of stuff now). Inspiring Icelandic stuff.

It's all about opinions isn't it? Is MON allowed to have the opinion that Harewood is "top class" needed to improve us or is he simply not allowed to think that because some other people do not? I'd suggest it's the former and if I'm honest I'd rather trust MON's judgement. I'm sure the General will reiterate the players are MON's domain and his domain only and if Martin thinks a player is "top class" then why should the club apologise or explain a statement that they believe is the case and as such have said nothing wrong? Sorry General/all, I'll leave it at that. several posts deleted. This thread remains exactly the same as before. Comments and questions and answers to/from GK, NOT purely between posters. Blandy

Not trying to speak for Richard or the General or anyone else here (and please don't delete as it seems some people have had a chance to have their say on the matter) but who is to say the "top class" signings are the same "top class" signings we'd have imagined at the club? O'Neill is the manager and maybe, just maybe Martin identified Harewood and other players as the "top class" needed to take the club forward. Call me obtuse for believing this if you will but MON being the manager has a say on who is "top class" and if Randy, Martin and the rest of VP believe the signings we've made/making are genuine "top class" where we need to be at this moment in time then how is the Fitzgerald comment wrong when he said "we expect top class signings"? 1 man's version of "top class" might be totally different to another and I'll leave it at that as it's not exactly fair on this thread anyway.

The genius of Tommy Cooper: 1. Two blondes walk into a building....you'd think at least one of them would have seen it. 2. Phone answering machine message - "...If you want to buy marijuana, press the hash key..." 3. A guy walks into the psychiatrist wearing only Clingfilm for shorts. The shrink says, "Well, I can clearly see you're nuts." 4. I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day but I couldn't find any. 5. I went to the butchers the other day and I bet him 50 quid that he couldn't reach the meat off the top shelf. He said, "No, the steaks are too high." 6. My friend drowned in a bowl of muesli. A strong currant pulled him in. 7. A man came round in hospital after a serious accident. He shouted, "Doctor, doctor, I can't feel my legs!" The doctor replied, "I know you can't, I've cut your arms off. 8. I went to a seafood disco last week...and pulled a muscle. 9. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly. They lit a fire in the craft, it sank, proving once and for all that you can't have your kayak and heat it too. 10. Our ice cream man was found lying on the floor of his van covered with hundreds and thousands. Police say that he topped himself. 11. Man goes to the doctor, with a strawberry growing out of his head. Doc says "I'll give you some cream to put on it." 12. 'Doc I can't stop singing The Green, Green Grass of Home' "That sounds like Tom Jones syndrome. 'Is it common?' "It's not unusual." 13. A man takes his Rotteweiller to the vet. "My dog is cross-eyed, is there anything you can do for him?" "Well," said the vet, "let's have a look at him" So he picks the dog up and examines his eyes, then he checks his teeth. Finally, he says, "I'm going to have to put him down." "What? Because he's cross-eyed?" "No, because he's really heavy" 14. Guy goes into the doctor's. "Doc, I've got a cricket ball stuck up my backside." "How's that?" "Don't you start." 15. Two elephants walk off a cliff...boom, boom! 16. What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh. 17. So I was getting into my car, and this bloke says to me "Can you give me a lift?" I said "Sure, you look great, the world's your oyster, go for it.' 18. Apparently, 1 in 5 people in the world are Chinese. There are 5 people in my family, so it must be one of them. It's either my mum or my Dad, or my older Brother Colin, or my younger Brother Ho-Cha-Chu? But I think its Colin. 19. Two fat blokes in a pub, one says to the other "Your round." The other one says "So are you, you fat b*****d!" 20. Police arrested two kids yesterday, one was drinking battery acid, and the other was eating fireworks. They charged one and let the other one off. 21. "You know, somebody actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a little note on the windscreen. It said, 'Parking Fine.' So that was nice." 22. A man walked into the doctors, he said, "I've hurt my arm in several places" The doctor said, "Well don't go there anymore" 23. Ireland 's worst air disaster occurred early this morning when a small two-seater Cessna plane crashed into a cemetery. Irish search and rescue workers have recovered 1826 bodies so far and expect that number to climb As digging continues into the night.

Hmmm in that respect a lot of restaurants and especially pub meals are pre-prepared and heated in busy times and you're picking from a set list (i.e. a menu). Soups etc are normally premade and reheated as necessary so in that case unless you watch your meals being prepared fully then they can all probably be classed as fast food.

and what a sandwich They're not really sandwiches though anyway...i suspect the 800 calories one was a big momma of a footlong! Hmmmm tasty

Subway sandwiches are gross. Made on a production line, deceptively fattening and the sauce they put in them is calorie-ific! You don't have to have sauce A nice lettuce sandwich always does me on the thinnest bread going Seriously though, you get what you ask for in Subway - whether that's just a salad sandwich or a bit of chicken etc with sauce. Not exactly a production line when you're having it made to order and you can see how they're making it right in front of you (I always used to be dubious about the sauce on the McChicken Sandwich in Mac'Ds put it that way!).

Depends really. For a fairly healthy lunch during the week Subway isn't bad as long as you don't go mad with all the crap you can have. The weekend, has to be a curry. Not a fan of Mc D's, Burger King or KFC - it's pretty crap food nowadays and no good for you! When pissed and in need of your own fast food, fishfinger sandwiches are champion!

Amazon which is one of the largest internet shopping sites, shows the price you pay i.e. incl VAT , as does Tesco. No mention of VAT exclusive prices. Retail should be VAT inclusive whereas wholesale to trade should be VAT exclusive, because an individual cannot claim back the VAT as for wholesale customers therefore VAT content is irrelevant. Well not quite as sites (that are VAT registered) shipping only inclusive of UK/EU don't need VAT-exclusive as it's not applicable. Those that ship outside of the EU like the US etc will need it as it's a tax not applicable to them (err I think :winkold: ). Anyway - I'll let the General answer that one! A debate over it belongs to another thread probably but it's what I take from it anyway.

And why are prices shown ex VAT? - surely price you pay (i.e incl VAT) should be shown as is normal in retail. (Or perhaps show both if necessary for any overseas purchasers) It's not just Villa though. All Internet Trading shopping sites (as far as I'm aware) have to show price before VAT and then price with VAT or both at the same time.

General, Regarding the Holte Hotel, I am excited that we've reclaimed a lost part of our history that truly reflects the "Proud History - Bright Future" slogan. To me it wasn't about the "matchday" experience and although it is disappointing that few of our fans can enjoy the experience on matchdays it is more about what it represents. There is nothing better in my eyes that shows that and what an amazing beacon to the fans as they approach Villa Park (and I look forward to the "curry nights"! ). Regarding the signage around Villa Park that is slowly being taken down in line with our brand neutralization, is it possible that the existing signage could be used in auctions or donated to charity organizations that could really benefit? Apologies if you've already mentioned this. Many thanks.

Think the General has said there will be new viewing areas built at Bodymoor.

General, Having seen the new Villa kit and the released pictures of famous Birmingham landmarks, as well as our brand becoming so prominent around the city - please pass on a huge congratulations to Bob Kain and Richard Fitzgerald. This is probably premature to ask this question but is there any way we can have some gauge as to how our pre-orders are progressing for the new kit as opposed to other years? Obviously I don't expect an answer on that straight away but it would be interesting to note in a few weeks for instance. Thanks.

REM - It's the End of the World As We Know It Seeing as I'm about to hit the vodka shots, and I feeeeeel fineeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Dire Straights - Money for Nothing. Fantastic intro.

General, Regarding the comment that "many, many fans are becoming extremely worried" I would take with a very large pinch of salt. It is merely on the transfer dealings front where SOME fans believe we would have more signings by now and it is nothing against the way Randy, yourself and the team at VP are running our club. One drop of water does not make an ocean and all that. We're all extremely grateful for everything you guys have done and extremely proud that our club is roaring again. I think (and others do too!) the season ticket sales are proof of that. There is a sense of optimism around Villa Park and a genuine feeling of excitement and I for one think we've never had it so good in modern times! So, one voice amongst a plethora of fans and I say thank you Sir and we're all keeping the faith. Thanks for keeping the faith with us, even though we get the "unbelieving" few who don't realise patience is a virtue and reaps good things!

Splogenessabounds - Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps. Mainly because I too am bored and it recreates the pub

gollywogs didn't actively portray negative racial stereotypes as far as i can recall. Or have i missed something. It was simply a black teddy bear type thing. There was no overt racism going on. we didn't associate them with anything other than being a black doll. negative sterotyping of black "people" in books/cartoons as spear throwers and crazy natives who cook people and have rings threough their noses etc can have a negative impact on how children might then perceive black people. It's an association thing. IMO. Gollywogs have always been different (to those in the PC frame of mind) as the origination of the term "wog", hence it's obvious racist undertones. That said, it is only those who are actively seeking out the wrong PC-ness of it all, I myself grew up with Gollywogs and never grew up a racist and sometimes I wish people would just take things with a pinch of salt. It's like this "Winterval", "Winterfest" and all that nonsense at Christmas. Heaven forbid we celebrate a religious occasion. World gone mad I tell's ya!

If I'm honest, I do use V+ a lot (same as Sky+) and the only time I've used my DVD-RW/HDD combo was when I was away in the States during the World Cup and for some reason I decided I wanted every match recorded. My poor Mother then had to record every single match onto DVD-R, rushing home to be home in time for the matches etc. I've never watched them and she had a great Summer