briny_ear

We're now bottom of the mid-table pack.

Crikey, 5-1 is harsh by any standard. Dingles crap but not THAT crap!

Fantastic save from Foster.

If it stays this way the Boggies are going to win the West Midland "mini league" of local derbies hands down.

Comedy goal for the Boggies!

Surely you wouldn't deny people some of the comfort that you are clearly gaining from Sunderland 'sweeping' past the Villa? I can assure you it gives me no comfort whatsoever. It is the bitterest of experiences which makes the rubbish we have had to put up with this season and last all the more hard to take.

It will be interesting to see if people go on posting these comparative statistics as the season goes on. After the Newcastle game, Villa's results for the rest of the 2006-7 season were WLDLDDWDWDWWD. 21 points from 13 games. I'd like to think McLeish could do the same or better for us this season but the signs don't look great at present. I suspect as soon as the comparison with MON's first season gets less and less favourable for McLeish, we will see fewer of these posts reminding us of the relative performances. :winkold:

Dingles figfht back to 1-1!

First blood to the Boggies.

Don't know why any attempt to put a counter view based on the actual facts is always interpreted as "defending" a person or point of view, or worse, being in a particular group or camp. The facts are that, since joining Sunderland MON has managed 16 games and made 36 substitutions - an average of about 2.5 per game. Half of those substitutions have been made between 46 and 79 minutes and a third have been 80 minutes plus (that includes the extra time substitutions made in the Middlesbrough replay that helped win the match). That raises questions about the view that MON doesn't make many substitutions and, when he does so, only very late in the game. If it comforts people to repeat these myths about MON, and post about how they are glad he left Villa, as he sweeps Sunderland past us up the table, fine, take what comfort you can.

I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that they played 120 minutes of testing football three days ago? Ahh but that is a limitation of a manager not being able to make use of his squad. In the cup game he made 3 substutions, all late in the second half of extra time. He then used pretty much the same team and again made no substitutions till late. If the players are knackered, the manager should be making better use of his squad, a squad which is one of the largest in numbers in the league. Large numbers doesn't necessarily equal good quality. I doubt whether he has that many options tbf. Don't forget they were playing Arsenal. What did you expect, draft in the Academy?

Oh well, not long to go now to see exactly what this "protest" amounts to and exactly how embarrassing it will be to be a Villa fan at 6pm tomorrow.

Yes. Anyone taking the trouble to come to a thread titled "Martin O'Neill", just at a rough guess.

This sounds to me like McLeish trying to put pressure on Lerner to spend more. It doesn't bode well.

Suarez is such a prat. The only thing that mitigates things a bit is that it seems he has consistently been led by his manager, team mates, club and the entire body of Liverpool supporters to believe that he is the innocent victim in the Evra row. I suspect he is a bit dim, so it is maybe understandable that he has swallowed such nonsense.

I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that they played 120 minutes of testing football three days ago?

The alien species who abducted MON and forced him ro resign from Villa at very short notice have just sent me a telepathic message confirming this was indeed NOT the most bizarre post on Villatalk ever.

That would suit me fine just at the moment!

But probably only Fozzie Bear could misunderstand, misrepresent and distort footballing statistics in quite such an extreme fashion.

Let's just hope, if a few misguided souls do try to mount some sort of "protest" during the match, that the rest of the Villa crowd turn on them and drown them out with cheering for our team*. *(Who, it should be pointed out, will be trying to deal with the tricky little task of beating the most expensive team in the league (which includes two deserters from Villa), currently top and in fantastic form - a great occasion for our fans to start booing their own side, I don't think.)

That has to rank as one of the most pointless and meaningless statistical tables in the history of football staistics. Sad really that someone bothered to take the time to compile it!

Redknapp for me. The deftness of touch he showed in sidestepping those tax evasion charges will make him the ideal man for a job in which, for some reason, previously competent and confident coaches are usually reduced to a state of bumbling haplessness. Surely that won't happen to our 'Arry?! :wink:

Can't think of anything more pointless, pathetic or futile than these fan "protests". They invariably end up looking embarrassing.

And thay had 30 of those points by this time last year, from 25 games. They only got 9 points from their last 13 games so if anyone thinks we are shadowing what SHA did last season, we will need to engineer a spectacular collapse from now on to match them. Wouldn't put it past McTool. He has the capability. He is already working on achieving this - alienating our two main creative forces and continuing to play the back 4 that lets in goals. Even if we only we ended up with 39 points it would still need the teams in trouble to do really well - to get to 40 points and so get past us, it would need QPR and Wolves each to get 19 points from 14 games, Bolton to get 20 points or, even more improbably, 22 points for Blackburn or 24 for Wigan. Can't really see all this happening.

And thay had 30 of those points by this time last year, from 25 games. They only got 9 points from their last 13 games so if anyone thinks we are shadowing what SHA did last season, we will need to engineer a spectacular collapse from now on to match them.