Troglodyte

Thursday morning as far as I can tell.

2am I think?

Went to the game as it was fairly local for me. Wasn't impressed at all with Tonev; Lowton opened up a lot of space for him but he often wasted it. Was guilty at least once of having his typical blast at goal when the pass was a better option too. Carruthers also looked poor, unfortunately. Okore was good, and I thought Bacuna did pretty well. Cole good too, such a shame he doesn't have that little burst of pace to push into the space he can open up in front of him. Hopefully he'll forge a decent understanding with Delph after a few more games. Second half Bent did what he does best and hopefully we'll see more of that against sterner defences come August. El Ahmadi generally used the ball well and I thought Herd looked tidy. Hutton, to my horror, was impressive and N'Zogbia showed he has something about him - some lovely quick close control but also got his head down and ran into a few too many bodies once or twice. Baker didn't seem convincing, for me. Steer composed, Weimann energetic, Gardner and Westwood fairly solid. Main thing I came out of it thinking was that Hutton, Zog and Bent should all improve the squad - although I still shudder at the thought of Hutton's performances during his last season in a Villa shirt.

So you say. IMO.

Willy Caballero's a great goalkeeper but can't seem to get into the side.

Yes, you clearly need to take a Time Out. Y'know, have a little Breakaway. Become a Drifter. Maybe when you get back the thread will be more on Topic, and the Ripples of dissent will have faded. At the end of the day, though, we all just want a Boost.

Ah sorry. I thought you meant 'you' as in me. I'm prone to the occasional misreading of posts No worries, on reflection it wasn't actually clear, my bad You're doing VillaTalk wrong. Continue bickering, please.

True dat.

As others have said, 2010 was actually really good. The Euro 2012 one was absolutely abysmal, though.

I still think German football is great, largely because of the fans and the culture of the game over there, but Bayern's financial dominance does spoil it. I'm gutted that the Lewandowski move has been confirmed, but I think Klopp is the best man to sort out a replacement, or alter the way the side plays slightly and use the players he already has at his disposal. If he does decide to bring in a new striker, I wouldn't be surprised to see them move for Benteke. Regarding Götze, he was a Bayern fan when he was young, but joined Dortmund at 8 years old.

Feel free to PM me if you do know!

Caffeine? It's very difficult to draw the line if you go down that road and it wouldn't solve the problem with class A drugs anyway, which are the problem (well, some of them - mushrooms and E being the same class as heroin and crack says it all about our current system).

They're going to play football matches, with standing crowds, at Portcullis House? Awesome.

I'd hug Jürgen Klopp. It'd be a dream come true, and I know he gives awesome hugs. If that makes me ghey then I am totally and utterly Sven Benderrific.

Was your mate's kit electronic? Does she know what you plan to get her? Yeah, I think it's only a basic one that he bought off someone else on the cheap, but she's been banging on about saving up to buy one since - and from my point of view it'd give her something to do when I'm watching the footy I could just go cheap but I'd rather spend a bit more on something that'd last and work well. I don't think she's looked into models etc. as it'd be something she'd get next year, but if I can get hold of one for Christmas then I'd be in for some expensive sex free time over the holidays brownie points.

Yeah, 'tis a surprise so unfortunately can't really test them out. I don't think she's all that fussed about quality to be honest as it'd be much more for fun than recording etc., but at the same time I'd like something that still has plenty of functionality and would work well and responsively as a relatively decent piece of kit - I don't think it'd just be a fad or anything like that so am looking beyond basic starter kits without spending crazy money. Reliability is important too, and the ability to upgrade if she chooses to (as with the Yamaha set) would be a good.

Yeah I've read lots of good stuff about Roland but they're out of my range. I've shopped around to find good deals on particular kits such as those above - just not sure which to opt for!

Hi guys, I'm looking for an electronic drum kit for the missus to take her rage out upon - she used to play when she was younger but hasn't for a while, but after having a session on a friend's kit (ooh-er) she's really keen on getting into it again. An acoustic kit isn't an option because of the neighbours. I don't know the first thing about instruments so am finding it fairly difficult. Ideally I'd be looking at around the £300 mark but would go a little higher if it was worth it. There are kits like the Alesis DM Lite for under a couple of hundred but I think she'd like something that's got a little more to offer than a simple 'starter' kit. I noticed this deal on the Alesis DM6, which comes delivered with a stool, sticks and headphones for £309, but I've read a few unfavourable reviews about its reliability (although there are plenty of positive ones, too). There's also the Yamaha DTXplorer range, with options such as the DTX400 for £359. It seems Yamaha have a slightly better reputation than Alesis? Or would it be worth paying the extra for something like the Alesis DM8, which is apparently more sturdy and seems to have a lot more going for it, at £419? That's pretty much right at the top end of what I'd be willing to pay, though, and I'm not sure whether it'd be worth stretching the budget so much. Any insight from people with more knowledge/experience, including alternative suggestions, would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!

Ireland is gone He's out of contract in the summer, so he won't be back There's also absolutely no chance we could bring in those 3, you'd be looking at £30m plus about £150k a week in wages. Not gonna happen Are Stoke picking up all of Ireland's wages? And yup, I can't see us signing any of those three players. Zaha will probably leave on loan, but I don't think we'd be interested in that.

I want that Ghana kit. Puma largely seem to pull off really good kits for the African sides.

Great interview with Klopp in the Guardian yesterday. (Asterisks added by VT in quote below)

Come on. Ferguson brought through, brought in and shipped out the players, always maintaining success over a lengthy period of time and making it clear that no player was bigger than the club. Love him or hate him, he was an absolutely brilliant manager.

Being captain means he'll lift the Champions League trophy next season, so it's a big deal.

What exactly did he say about Villa in his autobiography?

1-1 draw. Though hopefully we're able to build on our last result this time and come away with the three points, and gain a bit of momentum.