norton65ca

The pitch condition was First Division standard back when i was watching as a child in the late sixties. We're spoiled..Bodymore is great but maybe Villa should have a crappy Conference type of pitch to practice on from time to time...

yup. The McLeish hatefest is morphing into a distasteful spectacle of Villa fans almost wishing defeat and misery for the sake of proving themselves right about the manager. I'm not happy about the quality of play myself, but for heaven's sake get behind the team or go support someone else. strewth. 100% agree, the majority of the fans on here today are an embarrassment to the club Perhaps the two of you could band together and get a 'positive forum' where nothing negative is ever said? I'm sure constant discussion of how great Villa and how well we are playing won't get tiresome at all. Yes, that's exactly what we were planning

yup. The McLeish hatefest is morphing into a distasteful spectacle of Villa fans almost wishing defeat and misery for the sake of proving themselves right about the manager. I'm not happy about the quality of play myself, but for heaven's sake get behind the team or go support someone else. strewth.

FFS, enough of the McLeish hate brigade propaganda, I traveled 7000 miles to watch my first ever Villa game two months ago (Norwich) all the way from Vancouver Island, loved every nanosecond and I cannot believe how down on our team some of the fans are. Let's get behind the boys and UP THE VILLA!!!!!! It's the FA Cup and we are the VILLA! PLEASE just let the manager do his job for the next 90 mins and be done with it.

No, no no a thousand times no. and this from a resident of N America. Please no. Football is under such massive threats from all sides, what with 39th games, European Super Leagues and suggestions to trim the PL from Barcelona etc. The league structure mustn't change to that degree, leave it alone FFS.

I stand corrected, at least from the point of view of horses in cavalry reg'ts galloping. I do think that hollywood may have stretched the bounds of credibility though over this one.

The scenes in the trailer that showed a horse GALLOPING across what appeared to be No-Man's_Land stretched my credibility so far that there is absolutely no way I would bother with this movie, even if I am somewhat of an amateur Great War buff. I mean, come on, barbed wire, artillery such as the world has never seen since, trenches and especially General Mud. C'mon, d'you think I'm a moron? That gee gee wouldn't likely last twenty minutes in that environment, and galloping? I'm thinking NOT.

If it was all simply a matter of opinion, in a similar way to "I prefer to drive a Ford, he likes Mazda" then it would be so easy, there really wouldn't be any debate, but unfortunately there is often a moral or ethical element to this debate similar to "I prefer to drive a Ford but he despises me because he thinks my Ford is destroying the earth..." I can accept some of the nutritional and health benefits of vegetarianism (to a limited extent only though, my own belief is more in line with balanced moderation which includes meat in the diet) Most carnivores do not accept the existence of the ethical problem that the veggie has with their bacon sarnies. I am of this mind, personally. My death row meal is a full English fried breakfast. I feel to make a moral issue out of meat eating is utopian and not really about food at all but about the imposition of a philosophical worldview and basically none of anyone's business (a concept I might add which is seriously absent from most issues these days). I will continue to enjoy fried bacon and sausage sandwiches thank you very much, and anyone giving me a hard time about it for moral or ethical reasons (especially while enjoying them ;-) should have a damn good reason for interrupting my brekkie! But seriously though, It's about choosing battles. Everyone has their issues, but I'd really like it if people would cease and desist trying to impose their belief systems on anyone else, and mark my words, vegetarianism is as much a belief system as any religion. One can say to anyone else something like " Based on scientific research and evidence collected in studies, that bacon and sausage sandwich is destroying the ability of your blood vessels to carry their load effectively, and consumed in excess will increase your likelihood of heart disease and other cardiovascular issues". On the other hand, it becomes a religion when the advocates of vegetarianism say things like "The consumption of meat and meat products is morally wrong because it violates the rights of an animal to live a life free of pain and suffering" or "Your meat eating is shortening the lives of innocent animals and you're for all intents and purposes a murderer." The reason it is a religious belief is because it presupposes a few rather controversial philosophical ideas to be facts. One is that animals have "rights", a term we usually reserve for having relevance to humanity historically speaking. The other is the simple idea that it is somehow morally wrong to terminate the lives of other sentient beings for food, a concept that is an absolute aberration when one examines the history of the human race as a whole. In short, although from a health and nutritional point of view, vegetarians have some some interesting points to make, and although it is certainly a good thing to avoid unnecessary suffering to our cohabitants on this earth, at the end of the day, I abhor the idea that my use of animals as food is somehow a moral lapse and something to feel guilt or shame about. I do agree that animal husbandry has for a long time now been taken over by large corporations which raise animals in industrial settings, with the heavy use of chemicals as previously mentioned... and I strive to purchase things like free range eggs, locally raised meat etc, but at the end of the day, I do believe that if one wants to avoid the consumption of meat products for health or nutritional reasons, I encourage you to do so. However if one decides to climb up on the high horse and declare my steak dinner sinful then expect to be treated with the same venom I would reserve for the proselyte who disturbs my early Saturdays with unwelcome visits.

Ireland comes good. Feckin fantastic!

It would be interesting indeed if the blue Glaswegian scum and also the green n white Glaswegian scum were banned from football for an entire season (or relegated to the lower divisions) for sectarian violations of public order regulations. It would break the insane two team monopoly that has for all intents and purposes destroyed Scottish football, at least for one season. Make the game up there a wee bit more interesting. St. Mirren for the title? lol

I'm not sure why, and it's probably completely irrational, but my disdain for this bucktoothed wonder from Uruguay is beginning to rival the scorn I have for Carlos Tevez. I'm not quite at that point yet, (I really hope I never see CT kick another football again to be honest, at least nowhere in Europe) but getting there... ...and as for his club, well, where do I start...

not a particularly auspicious start to the day. I hang up the phone after a lovely call from my family in England only to find Ginger (The world's worst cat) has vomited all over my office floor, crapped mightily (and stinkily) all over my Turkish prayer rug that I've had for over twenty years... and shredded (yes, shredded) my Aston Villa FC bar towel that I brought back from the UK. The evil little bugger supports Birmingham City apparently. He will be spending Christmas Day in the laundry room. Good grief. Merry Christmas everyone...

Villa playing well? Well I never.... Go you Lionssss!!!!

byebye kean

Reo-Coker???? WTF??? Amazing. lol...

I'm with Nazvfc. I am posting from Canada, the home tie vs Norwich was my first ever Villa game, and I had the time of my life. If I lived in the Birmingham area, I would try to get to every game I could. I can sympathize with those who believe a boycott might help, but I have my doubts. I think sometimes familiarity breeds contempt, and I can't imagine having the VILLA in my back yard and not going. I think we're up against the old debate fan vs customer again. A fan is one who supports his side through thick and thin, grim times and grand, the customer only goes when he feels he's getting his money's worth. As a BC Villan, I simply cannot get over how many in Brum take this great side for granted. I cannot grasp it. For me, that first climb up the Holte steps was like a pilgrimage to Mecca. I couldn't have been more excited.

PL survival is this season's theme, if we are to be honest with ourselves. Who would have thought it would have come to this so soon after top six three years running. I miss MON, the little bastard. Sad days indeed.

Dear Randy: If you insist on running (rather than ruining) OUR club, then get a football man in to help you with decisions. Paul Faulkner MUST GO immediately. Yes, I said IMMEDIATELY. He has done a piss poor job. Alex McLeish MUST GO as soon as is practically possible. MCLEISH OUT!!!!! that is all.

Brilliant analogies. I agree wholeheartedly. I'd have the Irish clearing in the woods back in a heartbeat.

I would go for a cheese, corned beef and marmite sarnie though, given half a chance... ...off to the fridge.

2 fried eggs 2 Cumberland sausages 3-4 slices Ayrshire side bacon 1 slice fried bread 1/2 can Heinz baked beans 350 grammes fried fresh mushrooms 2-3 fried cherry tomatoes 3-400 grammes fried hashed brown potatoes 1 crusty roll with butter, with: blackcurrant jam or strawberry I cup sweet hot milky tea 1 glass orange juice HP brown sauce Lean and Perrins Worcester sauce Done. My death row meal.

travelled 7,000 miles to see the Villa perform and they didn't disappoint me. Great game, great win, UTV!!!

Hi Wedge, No that's not me but it's good to see another Canadian voice as well!!!! Going to be looking into the local fan club here on the west coast. cheers, G

what an absolutely fantastic day out for me!! i got to VP around 1 pm after spending the morning in central Birmingham taking in some sights such as the Art Gallery etc, then headed up to Witton Stn after realising my initial plan to walk to VP from New Street was categorically insane...lol. (Birmingham is a wee bit bigger than I thought...) The ground was awe inspiring as I approached after having three at the Aston Hotel. A fellow named Ken showed me around after I met him on the train. I spent some money at the Villa shop and wandered around until the ticket kiosk opened, then armed with my ticket and programme I climbed the steps of the Holte for the first time. Fantastic. The game was gripping until the end, I smashed my shin on the seat in front of me when Bent scored the second goal and am sporting a massive bruise, burnt my tongue badly on the super heated Pukka Pie I bought at half time (Chicken balti of course, bloody delicious I thought), but the entire experience was magnificent. I was on the edge of my seat for the last ten or fifteen minutes I think, hoping and crossing all fingers and toes. End to end action, goal chances and great spirited play from the boys till the final whistle. Off back to the Aston for more after the game, some here may have met me out back on the patio, I had a plaid flat cap on with a black leather jacket. Thanks to the guys seated around me for making my first match a good time by being so friendly and welcoming. I loved it, and hope one day to come back for more. cheers and UP THE VILLA!!!! Gary from Victoria BC Canada

yabadabadooooooooo I'm flying out of mossy, wild wet west coast Vancouver Island tomorrow morning first thing for ENGLAND. you lot have absolutely NO IDEA how feckin' STOKED I am right now. I've got a whoppin' big bottle of Crooked Coast Amber Ale and I'm following that with a smaller but no less interesting bottle of Duvel Belgian to give me a nice sleep.... Seattle, Minneapolis then LONDON!! off to spend some time with the family in Southampton and Bournemouth then it's Brum, the National Motorcycle Museum, the Norton works on Bracebridge St then to the pubs and Villa Park!!!!!!!!!! If you missed my point, I'm somewhat slightly excited. Up the ever lovin' Villa!!!!!!!