chrissmith921

General; Are there any plans in the pipeline to bring the Browns over here for a preseason/in-season game in a similar style to the recent Jets/Giants clash? Would this be the decision of yourselves or the NFL commissioner etc? I'm guessing Villa Park would be your venue of choice for such a fixture if its in your hands? On the reverse side of that coin, listening to Magnusson (West Ham chairman) saying he can see the Premier League copying this by playing games outside of the UK for purposes of a bigger audience, are you considering the possibility of doing this or do you feel that would alienate and upset the hardcore contingent of fans here? Sorry if its been asked before, but there are 300+ pages of questions here and I'm really not able to sit and read them all!

We're on the up as well, we've drawn in Germany, home to Czech Republic, stuck 5 past Slovakia, we're going forward because Toshack is blooding youngsters and is getting rid of those who dont really want to play for us, but turn up to 'experience international football' - eg Savage, Thatcher, etc. Premiership players maybe, but if they aint got the heart to turn out when we play in Azerbaijan on a Wednesday in November then they shouldnt play when we have the big games. One thing Toshack has developed with Wales is a very strong team ethic and a high workrate. Slovakia aside, where they hit the target all of 5 times, scoring all 5, we've not been stuffed by anyone under Toshack. Hughes did a good job with us but left us with a very old side who could only play one way. Toshack has us playing passing, possession football and they do from our first team right down to our u16 side. We are moving in the right direction and nobody expected results from Toshack in the first 3 years or so. Our U21 the other night have shown the talent we've known we've had coming through for a while (that age group have been highlighted since the U14/U15 age range) and our first team containing a lot of players still eligable for U21 means we're going to have a bigger player pool than ever in 2-3 years time and we're going to move forward. We might not be setting the world alight but we're moving forward...

Cardiffs Soul Crew no longer exist, in reality, its the Newport County and Merthyr supporters you've got to watch, because these are the actual hooligans (not 15 year olds in burberry caps) who no longer attend Cardiff City games for one reason or another... Thats another story though. Wales - England was full of trouble - I saw a guy getting kicked down about 40 stairs as he jumped up when England scored. I got spoken to by anyone and everyone around me checking my accent. Unfortunately a lot of people have a inferiority complex with England (and that is a lot of Scottish and Welsh fans), but England have a lot of mindless thugs who havent been able to travel for years due to passport control but you don't need one to get to Wales or Scotland... Therefore, its a disaster waiting to happen. That is why I think England arent involved.

ROI wont be involved, its the home nations, it would be like inviting the French.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/21/hmarc_ebay_auction/

Mourinho was very negative tactically at Chelsea - I couldnt imagine him suddenly bringing attacking, flair filled football to England?

Just in case those who are currently posting questions hadnt read this.

Should have put a tenner on then. He would have won £1000!

Hughes hasnt managed at this level? Did he not turn Wales from a bunch of jokers to the most improved side (FIFA rankings wise) in the World?

Yes please. As long as the fans can behave themselves, it would be nice to get the old England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Irish tournament going again. Highly competitive and even though we'd finish bottom, it would be a guarantee sell out for every home game for each team. Its just if the behaviour of the fans can be trusted.

England could do far, far worse than appointing Capello. He wants the job, hes a huge name, and would get them working hard. But my feelings are its an impossible job, as I've pointed out in other posts.

Germany. Best international side I've ever seen live.

Methinks you don't quite understand Carson Yeung doesn't have the money to buy any decent club, thats how foolish and ready to sell the current owners are the current owners are amongst the richest people in the country, yet to them its always been a business and with the current TV deal have seen this season as the perfect time to recoup their investment The Golds and Sullivan have wanted out for a while (Sullivan for sure, there's quotes on that one) but the three of them have an agreement that when they sell they all agree and they all sell at once They've just lost the best manager they've had in the last twenty years, no seriously he is, the rest of them have been FAR worse. (I'm not saying he's good either, just the best they've had) The club is in more than freefall, its not like Bruce hasn't wanted to leave for a while, other clubs have tried to tempt him but the board have refused their advances, this time they found someone to pay absolutely stupid money (in managerial terms) so they've agreed but no-one in their right mind would take the club over in their current predicament, this situation is called MELTDOWN Imagine a large glacier made of bacon fat, its just halved in size and the juices are running through Small Heath Maybe hard to believe but it's all true and is as funny as ****. The current board have no buyer, no manager, their preferred option wants to join their ex-manager and the whole shebang is turning to dust in their mouths. They were so desperate they went for the quick sale option thinking they were going to get to cash in big-style. Big TV bucks, "quality" manager, no debt and not much spent on transfers in the summer to ensure the cash balance was good. Ho ho. Here comes the sucker, lets sell to him at an inflated price and ride our dildoes off in to the sunset. Well, here's the bad news, filth. he ain't got no cash and you ain't got no manager, prospective buyers or prospects. Enjoy your distribution of the parachute payment and please have nothing like good luck in replacing fistface. Give it a week and you can appoint McClaren you worthless losers. I just had to leave the office for 10 min for laughing at that non stop brilliant

Graham Souness!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!

First one I can remember was the Bosnich-penalty-save one in the League Cup. the first one I went to was the 2-2 or the 1-2 (where Sorensen let Morrison's shot slip through his grasp) at home - cant remember which one was first. Also went to the 0-2 at their place when again we should have battered them. Keeping myself well away this time, I'm a jinx!

Why would Mourinho want the England job by the way? That job is a poisoned chalice.

Thats a fair point and in terms of not closing him down, if it had been a first time hit, I would agree you cant close people down in that time, but maybe my memory is playing tricks here but didnt he have time to control it, look up, hit it? On the edge of the box?? The reason why so many goals are scored with a first time shot etc is because usually if you take the second touch you've got someone closing you down meaning the keeper's job is a lot easier. I agree that shot should have been turned away and he's done poorly in that view, but unfortunately there are two other options England could have had - James, who is a great keeper, but if you're looking for solid, reliable 90 minutes in a big game, look elsewhere! Carson, who has no experience, never played behind that back 4 and although he's a Villa player this year, he has his flaws too Given that Lescott was making his full debut, Richards only has a handful of caps and Campbell/Rio isnt a tried and tested pairing in the middle, going for a keeper who has played 90% of the recent internationals seems the logical thing to do.

Jon, as nobody closed the shot down, the lad had the whole goal to aim at. The fact Robinson got a save to it was good, yes he SHOULD have turned the ball away, however the 1st part of the blame surely has to fall on whoever's responsibility it was to close the shot (I believe Gerrard was nearest man, but I can't say that for sure) - he should have been alert and on review of the goal will have questions to answer to the management. 2nd incident that went towards the goal was Robinsons save - yes ideally he should have turned it away from the goal, but that is a bonus to saving the shot. First and foremost he had to save the shot, no chance would he have held onto it, powerful, free shot from 18 yards out, diving full stretch - no way should he have held it. Finally, Rio Ferdinand strolling and Lescott expecting Rio to deal with it left a striker very much on a high having just scored, the chance to put it away, that is probably the most costly error of the lot. Perhaps its easier to blame the keeper, but there were 3 errors that created that goal.

And if Carson had been picked and had howlers, you'd be saying hes lost them for not sticking with the first choice. Robinson has experience of those games, he didnt do much wrong tonight in all fairness, there was no pressure on the inital shot he palmed out therefore to get any kind of save to it was good, given the player had the whole goal to aim at. It would have been worse for him to have dropped Robinson imo - simply because of the understanding Robinson has with his back 4.

Its not his fault he's not the right man for the job though is it? I dont think he should resign at all, England will still make it to Euro2008 and surely you're not all arrogant enough to think England should win every game hands down etc? Russia and Croatia are two of the toughest places to go - the more times you've got to travel to Eastern Europe, the tougher the group is. Those places are hard to go and get anything from. Only the Macedonia game was a let down but hes not the first England manager to have a poor result in qualifying is he?

Can I also point out it is ILLEGAL to offer the players extra money for victories that are not already part of their contracts (as suggested above...) Thats why there was a huge problem with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's autobiogrophy 'revelation' (proved untrue) that Chelsea players had received £200k bonuses for beating Arsenal in the CL rather than the 100k that their contacts offered. (Not sure on figures, but the emphasis is that it would get us in trouble)

Unfortunately, Birmingham City FC are still based in Birmingham. When they become Oswestry Town Ladies FC, Birmingham will be so much better off

Kinda destroys the 100 years and you've won **** all chant doesnt it

General; Is there a way that I could contact the Academy regarding a player in my local area? Very naturally talented player and I would like to let Villa have 'first pick' on him, for obvious reasons!!

General; Thank you for your reply, I (and the other groups) appreciate greatly the efforts that Villa do - our representitive at the recent SCG should have raised that. My question really would be is there potential, or scope - to raise knowledge of the Supporters Club (as a whole, rather than particular branches) amongst supporters - maybe a small video on the screen at half time or something similar, most of our members say to me when they join 'oh we've been going to Villa for years, we never realised there was a supporters group...' Dont take it as a criticism, as I'm grateful for whats been done, its just something that could give excellent results for supporter clubs up and down the country (and indeed, the world!) Thanks - feel free to email me if you need to regarding this