Doug

Also great to be sitting with God on my Right side, Rambo on the left, & Sid in the middle. Mantis, where were you, we kept 25,000 seats for you?

The lowest gate in a competitive match that I have attended was against Stoke in 1984. Less than 10,000 there that night! Shocking!

I'm only giving one player a rating for this evening. EMILE HESKEY 11 out of 10. I take it all back, you are now my new hero. Now I see exactly what it is that Capello, Houllier, MON, Potato Head etc etc have been banging on about all these years. Never have I been so humbled in all my life. Heskey, absolute legend, absolute ****** legend my son! Get in. :notworthy:

Sorry to rub it in folks, & I can't believe I am saying this but Heskey, yes HESKEY was simply magnificent tonight. He lit up the whole game & got Villa Park rocking. You have all missed one of the greatest Villa substitute performances of all time! "Heskey For England! Heskey For England"

I am a traditionalist too, but I always wished that part of our heritage meant that we played in blue shorts at home & not white as I really think this would further enhance our claret & blue colours. Strangely, not sure why, but we always appear to play in blue shorts whenever we play "The Boggies" at the Hawthorns. Any one know why?

Nice work Stato! 8)

I'm still angry & well pissed off. Hurry up Saturday so we can get this bloody result behind us.

I'm still raging with anger AAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!! Only Villa can do this to ya!

I'm still raging with anger at how we constantly keep losing games with practically the last kick of the ball. Why is it we rarely score a winning goal with the last kick of the match? Just ******* unbelievable! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarghhhhhhh!!!

O'LearyBabySquad has been trolling since I was 12. That's 10 years of trolling. And he's only getting better with age I'm more worried by want he is doing beneath the covers

good point that,maybe Thompson has been told to wait until we have someone else lined up..or like you say he's still in the frame. Maybe the skys the limit.

i was wondering did Thompson and Kev Mac play together in there Liverpool days..all we need now is Staunton as our defensive coach .. You know what? I've been with fran all along, but, when you start looking at the amount of silverware all these guys have between them I'm slowly starting to warm to the idea. Only slowly mind.

Fair play to you Woody, you've always defended him on this site. I may be mistaken but surely your in the minority on this one??!! I think I am, but I standby my point, that No - emile Heskey is not the greatest player in the world............................ But, you don't have a premiership/International career without being half decent. All those managers/players cant be wrong. He must bring something to the table - thats maybe not obvious to the average fan where of course goals speak volumes. And even if people dont agree with me, he certainly doesnt deserve the level and constant and abuse he gets on here. Id half understand it if he was a Joey Barton figure, but hes clearly a nice guy who does his best. Some people say he was at fault for not getting 4th a couple of years back. Its just ludicrous. I can only put such a hatred down to the fact he used to play for City. I cant see why anyone would/could hate a guy so so much simply because he doesnt score as many goals as he should. # Not aimed at you - as im unaware of your opinion of him. The strange thing though Woody, as you correctly point out, professional opinion within the game certainly supports your point of view or should that be point of few. I'm with the majority of fans here in that I don't see what Heskey brings to the table apart from winning lots of set pieces & corners when we are defending. Maybe he would be better as a Central defender. As regards hatred towards him I feel that comment is a little OTT. Obviously I can only give my own personal opinion here but I honestly feel most fans are frustrated by Heskey as opposed to hating him. As you say he is a nice guy & this shows on the pitch. Again, maybe he would be more endearing if he developed a meaner edge to his game? Bottom line though is he is DEFINITELY not one for me. I think a lot of fans are frustrated your right but some just hate him. Frustrated fans don't pick faults with a goal a player has scored like a lot did after Rapid - '' Typical heskey, got in the **** way like the big lump he is '' - Thats not frustration. '' well im pleased for 2 of the villa players that are in the world cup squad, the other I dont give a shit, I want him nowhere near my club never mind the national team '' - Thats not frustration In fairness again though, most fans are grudging in their praise if someone they slag off regularly, suddenly happens to briefly succeed at something during a match & not just Heskey. If it's any help to you though Woodytom, Heskey does get £60 grand a week for all the abuse he gets so I wouldn't shed too many tears for him. Again too, and too his credit he appears to take it all in his stride & he doesn't hide as a lesser character might . I am one of his biggest critics but nothing would give me more pleasure than Emile making me eat my words. Not gonna happen though is it? yep the 60gs is a bonus, and fair play to him. Laughing on his way to the bank AGREED!

One of the most biased pundits i've ever witnessed, not just in favour of liverpool but also against any club he doesn't much like, of which one seems to be Villa so i'd be surprised if he came. A truly insufferable individual and you can just tell from the other pundits on SS that he is very difficult to work with. Of course this is just conjecture, but in my opinion pretty accurate. If Gerard really needs him to work at his best then I will get behind him as hard as that may prove. I got to admit that right now I'm chanting, " Sit down Pinochio," but if Thompson is to be the new assistant I might change it to, Pinochio, Pinochio give us a wave."

Fair play to you Woody, you've always defended him on this site. I may be mistaken but surely your in the minority on this one??!! I think I am, but I standby my point, that No - emile Heskey is not the greatest player in the world............................ But, you don't have a premiership/International career without being half decent. All those managers/players cant be wrong. He must bring something to the table - thats maybe not obvious to the average fan where of course goals speak volumes. And even if people dont agree with me, he certainly doesnt deserve the level and constant and abuse he gets on here. Id half understand it if he was a Joey Barton figure, but hes clearly a nice guy who does his best. Some people say he was at fault for not getting 4th a couple of years back. Its just ludicrous. I can only put such a hatred down to the fact he used to play for City. I cant see why anyone would/could hate a guy so so much simply because he doesnt score as many goals as he should. # Not aimed at you - as im unaware of your opinion of him. The strange thing though Woody, as you correctly point out, professional opinion within the game certainly supports your point of view or should that be point of few. I'm with the majority of fans here in that I don't see what Heskey brings to the table apart from winning lots of set pieces & corners when we are defending. Maybe he would be better as a Central defender. As regards hatred towards him I feel that comment is a little OTT. Obviously I can only give my own personal opinion here but I honestly feel most fans are frustrated by Heskey as opposed to hating him. As you say he is a nice guy & this shows on the pitch. Again, maybe he would be more endearing if he developed a meaner edge to his game? Bottom line though is he is DEFINITELY not one for me. I think a lot of fans are frustrated your right but some just hate him. Frustrated fans don't pick faults with a goal a player has scored like a lot did after Rapid - '' Typical heskey, got in the **** way like the big lump he is '' - Thats not frustration. '' well im pleased for 2 of the villa players that are in the world cup squad, the other I dont give a shit, I want him nowhere near my club never mind the national team '' - Thats not frustration In fairness again though, most fans are grudging in their praise if someone they slag off regularly, suddenly happens to briefly succeed at something during a match & not just Heskey. If it's any help to you though Woodytom, Heskey does get £60 grand a week for all the abuse he gets so I wouldn't shed too many tears for him. Again too, and too his credit he appears to take it all in his stride & he doesn't hide as a lesser character might . I am one of his biggest critics but nothing would give me more pleasure than Emile making me eat my words. Not gonna happen though is it?