Raver50032

OTPWTS?

Crunch talks with Bournemouth? No disrespect, well, actually, yes, lots of disrespect. But what on earth can Bournemouth offer Mings? We're the biggest club he's played for... and at the moment, it seems, we're the biggest club bidding for him. Time for Bournemouth to invoke a bit of 'Disney realism...' "Let him go... let him go... He's the hero of Villa Park... Let him go, let him go... The Cherries offer nothing, anyway."

He's playing for the biggest club already in comparison with Less-toh and Wet Spam. He ain't going to either of them.

Ooooooooh, I could crush a grape. I'm actually smiling... on a rainy day... woot-woot.

Seems so far away into the future this game, but not actually that far away. Will be an interesting curtain raiser - hope we don't get spanked too hard. But then, 'To Dare Is To Do...' Dare we go there and get a result? Here's hoping...

Would be a Super Mare if it didn't happen

He's gone to Weymouth?

Any signings today to make us do the Congo?

Yeah, I'm fooked really, but hey ho. Other priorities got in the way this season. I gave up my ST this season due to time demands of other interests I have. Found I was missing too many games as a ST holder in the regular season and couldn't be arsed with the faff of trying to re-sell tickets. Gave my spare ST to mates/family etc. Only managed one game this season, so I have the mad house carousel to join on Tuesday afternoon. My own fault... it's the result that matters more though. UTV... and peace be with you all.

Dressing up as Batman and climbing onto the roof in some sort of 'Fathers For Justice' dirty protest has a slight chance of working... Might help #DevonVillan... Me, I'm going for an invisibility cloak from Hogwarts.

Yes - 92 against Blackburn... 93 against Swindon (a cracking game that actually), and then they won in 94 against Derby.

Where's that Kenneth Williams meme??

Well, hooray for us... That was hard work wasn't it? Here's my take on the evening... Would never have gone away to this, even if I could get a ticket and Tuesday night is when I have my daughter come down to mine for dinner. Nicely arranged with my ex-wife for my daughter to go home just before 8pm so I could get to the local pub and watch the game. Walked my daughter home, and walked up to my local pub (10 min walk). Ordered a Guinness... paid my £4.25 and took the pint in hand. I asked the bar man when the footy was coming on (they had BBC1 on at the time - wtf?) and he asked me if the football was on BT or Sky... It appears that this pub only has BT. Words removed... Hasty drink up of my pint... 10 minute walk to my residence... drive into town in search of a pub showing the game. £3.60 later in parking charges and four pubs later - none of which are showing the football (despite 'watch sport here' hoardings outside). How far we have fallen... Sheesh. So... radio on... not even Radio 5 is giving constant commentary... it was all about who Liverpool and Spuds might buy in the summer... FFS, let's get into the summer first before you worry about all that! Oh... then a quick update from Connah McNamara who informed me that it was 1-0 to Baggies, Dawson the scorer and some incident involving McGinn. Made it back home for half time... put Radio WM on... and it's Bomber Brown saying how amazing West Brom are doing. Laying on the bed of my spare room, no lights... radio on... cuddling my daughter's soft toy Chewbacca... commentary resumes on FM with Villa oriented pundits... Albion on DAB. Albion were in the ascendancy at the start of the second half... but Villa came back into it... Time was marching on... looking like extra time... A red card for Brunt... and after that... all the way through extra time, I hardly heard a WBA player name mentioned except for saves and deflections from Johnstone and occasionally reminding us that Brunt had been dismissed. It was all Villa... we did have a go... but it proved too much at the time for us to break them down. Penalties... what a lottery that is... So much better to be watching them/listening to them as a neutral. Anything could have happened. Steer... not one... but two saves... Magical... Jedi scoring his... the power of the beard... then Adomah missed. But Colonel Abrahams scored... rejoice... punch the air... even text my mother with the word 'sex.' What a rebel... Watched the quick Sky interviews with Steer and Abrahams on my phone and a replay of Tammy's penalty. Brushed my teeth... climbed into my own bed and told Alexa to turn my lights out. Slept well... On to the final then folks. Up the Villa.

Don't fall into that trap. For us, tonight is about attitude, and continuing to set the tempo and mind-set of the tie. Let them worry about us as we do what we do best. The thing with the Champions League games last week was, Barcelona were on the beach thinking that the job was done. They never really looked like scoring again and somehow, their cavalier attitude to the game at Anfield cost them - attitude. I think Ajax, after having a peaky blinder in the first leg at Spurs may have fallen into the same crack - they didn't perform nearly as well at home in the second leg. Again, I put that down to attitude. For us... we didn't start great this time, but now we know what we're up against, and have the added bonus of being a goal up. Keep our feet on their throat, and we will prevail. It's ours to lose now. We have the aptitude, in spades. We just need the attitude to dictate the pace of the game, and ultimately the tie. It won't be easy... but we're not coming into this 3-0 down against Barcelona, Leeds or Sheffield United.

Nope - not having that Gayle was harshly sent off. I thought a couple of the yellow cards Albion were given were harsh, but Gayle, yellow carded for actual time wasting, and getting a second yellow for actually sliding into the keeper despite there being no way whilst I have a hole in my arse that he would ever have gotten to first. That, despite a challenge/block/throw of Grealish that could have easily merited a yellow card all of it's own. Not having any of this nonsense that Gayle has been harshly treated. Baggies had more of the better chances in the first half, having set their stall out to play on the counter and it worked for them. Second half, we made a better fist of it and on balance, I felt we were more than worthy of turning the game round, which we did. Honourable mention to Steer for that save onto the bar. I do believe that it would have been offside had the Baggies player to Steer's left gone for the rebound tap in. I think the linesman did actually flag as though that was going to happen.

Tempo... that's what I hope for. I hope we set the tempo for the match, and ultimately for the tie. We're at home, and it's a chance to set the stall out and make the most of the 41k crowd. I don't mean go gung-ho... but I expect us to be on the front foot. Let them worry about us. Not felt this nervy about Villa since the teams walked out onto the pitch at Wembley for the 1994 League Cup Final. It's going to be a bumpy ride this folks... let's please keep our positivity and faith in the team, even if they go a goal up. This won't be the time to barrack... Let's show our class on and off the pitch. UTV...

Referencing back to traumas of the recent past posted by myself and Stevo... I see the Oral B advert has now the dropped the crucially excruciating 'I didn't even know Oral B made a toothpaste' moment from their advert. That mad, hyperactive clearing in the woods bint is still mouthing off about bums and hips and shite, but much less grinding of the mental gears now follows. I'm less pissed off about Oral B than I was before, and I feel I can move on with my life

Nothing else to add to what has already been cycled through the post match mixer... However, I've brought a large packet of sweet popcorn to savour as I spend most of this morning looking through the Match Thread for this game! Really looking forward to some fine entertainment. Mings MOTM

"I didn't even know Oral-B made a toothpaste..." XXXX OFF

Someone earlier mentioned that this is the best they felt as a Villa fan since 1998... For me, this is the best I've felt as a Villa fan since we were 9 points clear of 4th placed Arsenal in 2009 (and we went on to finish XXXX 6th - WTAF). The best I've felt since that incredible League Cup Semi-Final against Blackburn... the best I've felt since that 2015 FA Cup Semi-Final performance and result. We've been made to pay for a good length of time after all of those highs. Let's be honest folks, winning 10 on the spin like we have is about as good as it's going to get. Cherish it... Make the most of it... you never know when your next 'high' is going to come from, especially with Villa. It's taken a century and more to win 10 on the bounce... We're not likely to ever see that again. We could just as easily see ten losses on the spin. In Dean I trust... a remarkable feat... I just hope that our highs for this season are not quite over just yet. Up the Villa... UP THE XXXXXXG VILLA!!!!

The bit in bold and underlined, absolutely agree with. The issue as you allude to is where things seem to be 'forced' onto you and shoe-horned in... poorly written or planned. As soon as Kathleen Kennedy put that t-shirt on with 'The Force Is Female' on it, she kind of poked a hornets nest of her own that didn't need to be. It's probably misquoted, but her whole dealings with TLJ in particular seem to focus on calling people 'man-babies' and 'Star Wars doesn't need white male fans...' I'm sure, deep down, it's all click bait misquotation, but with social media, poop spreads and sticks. What I'd really like to see, and we haven't seen it in 40 years of Star Wars live action movies, is an actual, bad ass threat FEMALE baddie. Phasma has been a golden opportunity, and yet totally misdirected and wasted by both Abrams and Johnson. And instead... we've had the technically white, toxic Snoke, and greedy boy Ren... and a very white, Nazi-esque shouter in the form of Hux. Because Kennedy was so desperate to have a positive, female lead and role model for little girls (one of her first interviews when Disney took over and they were plotting TFA), they created Rey... a perfect specimen, can do no wrong, multi-tasker, intellectually savvy, uber-capable engineer, pilot... mind reader... the list goes on. Nothing was really earned in TFA or TLJ. Not in anything we've seen, and that's where, as others have said, her journey is too quick, un-earned, and ultimately, unless corrected in 9, will be a fruitless legacy for females in this story. It doesn't suit Disney's agenda at this stage to have a flawed female lead. They need an easy win for her to put perceived wrongs of the past to bed. Quick and easy (path to the dark side of losing fans maybe). This isn't just a 'male Villa Fan' attitude either... If you watch Collider Jedi Council on YouTube, or other Star Wars fan channels that include female input, there's a lot of angst about Rey and how she and her journey have been handled. I'm the father of a wonderful daughter and I enjoy watching Star Wars with her - I want good role models for her that are well written, well acted... and actually show some trials and tribulations... not quick, easy wins to tick a box. On the point about Holdo, some of my writing is maybe harsh. I just found her character to be overly smug, confrontational and un-necessary. She would have been quite at home on the bridge of Snoke's ship instead of Adrian 'They're tooling with you sir' Edmondson... For me anyway, it felt like they were making a point with Poe that seemed to come from nowhere. I love Star Wars, and I want it to be inclusive, diverse and above all else, exciting. I thought Disney would be the safe pair of hands to take over after Mr Lucas decided to call it a day. It was either Disney, or Spielberg. What they seem to have lacked, is an actual cohesive, long term plan for the trilogy. I mentioned a few posts ago about Marvel, their plan has been over a decade in the making. Disney has used Star Wars to cash in on the captive audience who will turn out, come what may... Solo being a protest blip in my opinion, and partially timing. It should have come out in December 18 instead. And Chindie - some parts of the prequels are okay. They're not all bad. Some of the music especially is amongst the best in the saga. It's all subjective and opinions, and that's good.

I liked Poe... But I didn't like what they did with him in TLJ by suddenly making him appear to be all contemporary toxic male who was perceived to have an issue with female authority. That was never how Poe's character was set up in TFA. It gave nonsense purple haired Ms Gender Studies Holdo a vehicle with which to make a societal point where it didn't need to be. Holdo then went on to steal the scene that should have been Ackbar's final moment of glory... instead he went out of the front window with barely any whimper or mention. Having not heard of Holdo before TLJ, I was actually convinced that she was a traitor. Her attitude was the one that stank. Absolutely horrid portrayal of a character that apparently featured in a comic on the build up to TLJ to introduce her as a really good friend and confidante of Leia. For me, she wasn't even needed in TLJ, and yet Disney went with the gender agenda. It all worked out in the end I guess. I like the potential of Finn, but he was badly handled in TLJ - kind of though he was still wavering as to what side to be on. He'd made his choice in TFA, and didn't need to have that questioned in TLJ, or at least not in that way. The weakest part of the Ep9 trailer was Finn's trousers... that blue really doesn't go with the beige jacket. Other than that, I'm looking forward to seeing what both Poe and Finn are going to do. The premise of the Leia Poppins moment was okay... it was the way it was shot that was poor. The foreshadowing of the 'Holdo Manoeuvre' as Leia flew through the hologram of Snoke's ship notwithstanding.

Yeah, don't get me wrong, I've got the Clone Wars stuff on DVD... it's just way down my Star Wars pecking order when I'm looking for a fix!!

I'm looking forward to 9, just not buying into the hype for a third time with the main saga... I couldn't wait for Rogue 1, and I wasn't disappointed there really. In general, I am with you for wanting more Star Wars... I can't get enough of it either! I don't believe I could ever get bored exploring the prosaic potential of the Galaxy it is set in. There are billions of stories... not all Force users. The possibilities are endless. I'm looking forward to more films, the two currently being produced TV serials (though I will probably wait for DVD as explained in my post) - most of all, well written characters rather than some of the filler we have been given. I'm less enthused by the Fallen Order game, which seems like an updated version of The Force Unleashed. And I struggle (as a 44 year old guy) to get invested in the Clone Wars/Rebels animations. May the Force be with you dAVe80 (just realised what you did with your screen name!! Cool!)

As ever, the teaser trailer looks cinematically wonderful. They did this with TFA and TLJ though as well. Problem was, TFA was a nice welcome back to the franchise offering, with a pretty much millennial updated safe space version of Episode 4 and TLJ upset a lot of people for various reasons. That's what you get when in successive films, you vandalise and kill off two generally beloved gammon white male heroes. Both of whom, seem to have become 'toxic' (modern buzzword in gender politics) in their older age. Neither of them represented what we saw and felt at the end of ROTJ. In terms of eye candy and musical score, TFA and TLJ are more than decent. The general vandalism of the story structure, and the heroine's journey in the latter though are specious. Anyway, back to the new trailer. It's visually crisp and promising. It wasted too much time on a heavy breathing lead female character in a desert setting. For me, having been fooled by the first two sequel trilogy film trailers (even further distant, the Episode 1 trailer looked fab), I can't get excited by this one, other than the sharp uprising musical ejaculation into Leia's theme. What is almost certainly the ruins of the second death star seen in that shot near the end looks really nice and I have no idea what to expect from their adventure to that location - Endor system? Not necessarily the forest moon of Endor. But... unless it's a flash back, that Palpatine laughter... good grief... another slap in the face of the original trilogy fans if Palps survived that. Totally poops all over Anakin's legacy from ROTJ... another person dying in vain and no real victory for the Rebellion ensemble. They have to be careful with where they are going if indeed, Palpatine really is back in play. At least we know that Kylo Ren cannot be the main bad guy... Rey's already beaten him twice. Okay, he was a little injured in TFA, and in the second, he's left unconscious after their duel in TLJ, where Rey pops up moments later in the Falcon giggling that she's just shot down 3 (three) Tie-Fighters with one shot. Rey's Force Leap into the air to seemingly jump over the Tie-Fighter was neat cinematography. Some time has passed since TLJ, so I can buy into the fact that Rey is actually now capable of doing things. However, in both TFA and TLJ she was a Mary Sue, and unless this is properly explained in Episode 9, her iconographic legacy for little girls around the world will be a little hollow. I have no problem with female leads... just poorly written characters, and both JJ and Ruin Johnson need to take a share of the blame for the 'meh' value of Rey's character. Her journey has felt far too quick and un-earned, with no real peril or danger. I get that they want to promote women, and rightly so, but you can't just give out such an easy, un-earned victory every time at no personal cost. It diminishes the value of what you are trying to promote. It seems a little late in a trilogy of trilogies to have a title of 'The Rise Of Skywalker...' It's all open to interpretation I guess... Is 'Skywalker' the new name for the cult of light side Force users going forward? Is Luke coming back from the dead? Is Rey now ret-conned to be a Skywalker all along? Is Kylo Ren (semi-Skywalker) to be redeemed? Personally, I think Ren is too far gone, thought after killing children in the Jedi Temple, even Anakin was ultimately saved, despite it costing him his life. Stormtroopers with jet packs look promising... it isn't Kylo Ren fixing that helmet... that crashing/on fire A-wing seems to be flying around a Clone Wars era Star Destroyer (look at the red trim if you watch it back in slow-mo), I believe that the individual with whom Kylo Ren is tussling with in the forest is potentially one of the Knights Of Ren... and where the **** is R2? That new mini-unicycle droid 'D-0' is the new 'porg' and 'must have' toy... and it's good to see the Millennium Falcon with a circular Sky dish on the roof again - just in time for a new bit of merch flogging. Lando returning is nostalgic fan service, which is okay I guess but it didn't grab me like it seems to have with others... I bear Lando no malice, but... dude... where have you been?? Yeah, as much as I like Star Wars... I'm not buying into the hype just yet, or engaging in a Disney circle-jerk. We've been here before. Hopefully, 9 is more Rogue One than TLJ. It's criminal that the original cast didn't get one last scene together before the break up and vandalistic killings began. Not even a holo-call. And there I was, thinking that if Lucas sold to anyone, that Disney would be a proper, safe pair of hands. They're paying for the lack of planning and continuity, unlike the success we're seeing with Marvel and it's grandstand planning over more than a decade. It's stinks, because Star Wars deserves more than the cash cow it has been used as. -- I'd prefer to see films, instead of shelling out for another subscription just to see The Mandalorian TV show. I'll wait for that to come on DVD thanks. I'm not paying for BT, Now TV (for the F1 is quoted as best part of 200 notes for the season!!), Netflix, Amazon Music and Disney. Sorry... I just am not. At Star Wars Celebration over the weekend, they actually cut off the live stream service on YouTube for us paupers who didn't go to Chicago for it when they showed the 'sneak peek' at footage from the new series. Words Removed. Yeah, treat me like that, I'll wait for the DVD thanks.