MakemineVanilla

I think he lost confidence in his body after he tore a muscle, which took a while to heal. It always seems that when players are at their absolute peak of fitness, they are vulnerable to muscle tears.

He has looked like he has recovered his mojo in recent games and his touch for his assist yesterday was sublime. Pity he got robbed of the ball, which led to the equaliser though.

Totally Modrić!

Aha, me hearties - The impervious horrors of a leeward shore!

Against Newcastle tThere seemed to be a lack of leadership in defence, at set-pieces, and so with the main men still missing, I expect a nail-biter. There was also a lack of connection between the midfield and the strikers, and so it's important Bailey starts, and Tielemans gets his touch and vision back. On present form, a draw would seem like a decent result.

When siblings fall out over who gets the mantlepiece clock, you know it has more to do with who Mom and Dad liked the best, rather than a clock which never gets wound.

I can remember being highly delighted by The Testament by John Grisham, where some guy arranges his will so his relatives think they are going to inherit millions but would get nothing, and to make sure they all fell out. Knowing what people are like when it comes to sorting out wills, the latter would be the easiest part to arrange.

Born in Halesowen and so possibly still a Baggies fan but at least he can be home at nights for his tea.

The fact that the lad was at Man City suggests he was a bit of a prodigy but didn't quite fulfil expectations. It looks like Unai can see the ability and thinks he can coach him to his full potential. Here's hoping!

January is the wrong time of year to make life-changing decisions. It's not the time of year to be in the best of moods, due to the cold weather and lack of light. Your present discontent will be mostly endocrinal. It's only eight weeks until the clocks go forward, when you'll start to feel the warm sap rising up your legs.

Hugely disappointing but not really surprising. Villa's second goal, chalked off by VAR due to Watkins having failed to trim his toenails, would have been a more reasonable representation of how things went. Diaby seems to have lost his mojo and Cash's error gifted the Toon with the clincher. A full-strength Villa will have better days but last night's performance certainly invited some serious doubts.

You'll be telling us next that all whisky tastes the same. I think "crushed nuts" is what you get if you knock over a bottle of Macallan Genesis.

There is one big worry though, surely?

Reading becomes a lot more enjoyable when you can share the pleasure with someone who is also reading the same book(s), and who you can share your favourite bits with, as well as your criticisms. Reading the classics is especially useful for chatting up posh girls, as long as you can bear the sound of their laughter, when you pronounce Guy de Maupassant in a brummie accent.

No one should get snooty about James Ellroy, he's a master at what he does. I love pulp and it is lamentable that so little Dan Turner is available at a reasonable price.

I really enjoyed The Rings of Saturn, and for those who might not be familiar with it, it is about a German guy's fascination with the landscape of the East Anglian coast, which he finds has sort of mystic qualities. Having stayed at my aunt's cottage as a child, I have to agree that the landscape seems hauntingly mysterious, with its strange network of Dykes. It has the sort of spooky strangeness which David Lean attempted to capture in his film of Great Expectations, or even Jonathan Miller's production of Whistle and I'll Come to You.

His age is a big factor there too, and as proven by Chukwuemeka, young players can confuse potential with actuality. He's only played 17 games for Chelsea since 2022. Jhon has a lot to learn and I hope he realises it.

I keep forgetting that he's only 20 because he's a big lad and actually looks older. He's obviously got a lot to learn, and I keep having to remind myself that at the same age Watkins was playing for Weston-super-Mare. At that age club legend Peter Withe was playing for Southport and Barrow. Didier Drogba was 28 before he hit his stride.

I can't see how it would be possible to organise a balanced QT audience which was representitive of the UK population. Even if we take a typical sample of those who are on VT most days, the proportion of those who comment on the political threads is very much a minority - in short, those who are not interested in politics, or prefer to be without the aggro, are in the majority. On any particular issue, the majority would tick the "don't know" box. Those of us who are interested in politics are actually not in the habit of changing our minds, but we think other people might be, so we demand that only our own views are expressed, and anything else is political bias. Can anyone think of an example where something they learned off the BBC, actually changed their opinion?

And, there was me thinking you lived in the same road as Gavin & Stacey!

Indeed we do, but with the populace irredeemably divided left and right, gammon or woke - impartiality for one side would be seen as partiality by the other.

The BBC enjoyed an income of £5.73bn in 2023 and only £3.74bn (65%) was contributed by the licence fee. In the end you have to decide whether you prefer your news and propaganda, to be chosen by the establishment or advertisers and commercial interests. Neither can be considered entirely benign.

I hadn't either but after I'd made sure my expectations were set low, I found I quite liked it. These dark and chilly winter months need something not too challenging, and I'd temporarily run out of noir.