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LancsVillan

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Everything posted by LancsVillan

  1. General putting it against the background of the European Cup Winners would be excellent and it would not look too much like we have a non-singing crowd too. Cannot wait to see the team together again.
  2. What a brilliant summary, cheers Peter. I've seen all of the Bond films and have them all somewhere upstairs on DVD and Video and I'm looking forward to the next one more than I have done before.
  3. I keep telling everyone Nugent is not the answer, that comes from season ticket holders are Deepdale and a coach I know who works there, He is the next Macken. Yes he looks good at times but those who watch him all the time say he is not that great and is quite inconsistent. We don't need another forward with potential we have three already.
  4. never mix any of them, except Mayo and Ketchup, so it's not the works. As for it being a window on my social status, you will find a make a very good door but poor window or so the saying goes.
  5. Mayo - YES Ketchup - YES Brown Sauce - YES Curry Sauce - YES (if from a chippy) Gravy - YES now why do I have a problem with my weight :roll:
  6. Yeah that struck me at Fulham too. Excellent report, fancy getting the score wrong ;-)
  7. superb stuff nice to see everyone had a day to remember
  8. I needed to pay a visit, so I found a public toilet that had two cubicles. One of the doors was locked. So I went into the other one, closed the door, dropped my trousers and sat down. A voice came from the cubicle next to me: "Hello mate, how are you doing?" Although I thought that it was a bit strange, I didn't want to be rude, so I replied "Not too bad thanks." After a short pause, I heard the voice again "So, what are you up to?" Again I answered, somewhat reluctantly, "Just having a quick poo.. How about yourself?" The next thing I heard him say was ..... "Sorry mate, I'll have to call you back. I've got some idiot in the loo next to me answering to everything I say."
  9. Traditionally a no here too, and to be honest I would play kids in the first couple of rounds and then play first team as it is better for them to play competitively together than in a friendly. We cannot wait until Oct / Nov for any signings to bed in again as we cannot afford to write off another season. So for me it's a chance to bring the team together in competition (and games at VP in summer for £5 again) then I'm for it this time.
  10. Zoltan - does need to fill out a little but his delivery of set pieces and crosses in general is the equal of anyone in the first team. McGurk is a real trier and has the knack of being in the right place at the right time which is always a good thing. Luke could well be the next to disappoint if this 'attitude' transfers itself to being in the first team SQUAD as opposed to first TEAM. The days of simply being the best and that guaranteeing you a place are gone. It's a squad game and if that means you play in the reserves to keep your match fitness and 'edge' then he needs to learn to do it. Was disappointed Bannan never got on....
  11. BOF on your fixtures - we've played Watford away and I'm sure it's Chelsea next. I would check but even though I've paid for VW I cannot get in and the customer service is dire....
  12. Match Report on Arsenal Reserves v Villa Reserves Played on the side of a mountain in Barnet. Firstly for those that haven’t been Underhill is a misnomer it’s a bloody hill. I don’t know what the incline from one end to the other is noticeable to the naked eye it is that bad! Anyway onto the game and the first news was that Crazy Horse Laursen was missing from the team and squad so the line up was: GK: Olejnik Time to watch ‘The Beast’ in action once more RB: Hogg CB: Osbourne! CB: Lowry LB: Lund So that’s midfielders playing both RB and CB with Erik The Viking playing left side as opposed to RB like the last time I saw him. It’s good to have versatility in ones so young. RW: Bellon CM: Gardner CM: Herd LW: Steiber With Herd drafted into the middle in place of Ozzy it was pretty much the same as last time I watched the reserves. FW: Moore FW: McGurk Another chance to see these two and hopefully a more inspired performance from Luke. The game kicked off and it was obvious to why there had been a pitch inspection as the ball splashed through puddles. Then before the game had even settled into any pattern Zoltan Steiber found himself free at the back post and he should have done better but le Arse keeper pushed it wide for a corner. From that up rose ‘Played Shane’ Lowry who knocked it across goal only to find Ozzy who returned it into the middle where Adam McGurk lashed it in triumphantly. Well I’m sure he would say that whereas it was really a sort of halfhit shot that crept passed everyone. 1-0 to the boys – nice. A moment of madness from Hoggy in trying to play the ball back up the Eiger, against the tide only to give Simpson a free run through, only for him to suddenly become more like Terry Thomas than Terry Henry and missing the chance. Arsenal then proceeded to show that try to play the same quick passing game to feet at all levels, they looked good until they got into the final third, to my mind we were giving them a little too much space and Chris Herd seemed a little out of his depth as the game whizzed by. On 13 minutes cries of ‘Herdy Herdy, over here’ from Kev McDonald went unheard and the ball moved out to the Arse left before finding Simpson in the middle who hit a hopeful daisy cutter straight at ‘The Beast’ who did a good impression of Monty Panesar at his worst in not getting anything behind the ball and watching in horror as it squirmed passed him into our net. Equalité pour le Arse. Craig Gardner was getting into the game a little more and his battle with ‘little Cesc’ in the middle was somewhat the highlight of the game for me as these two stood out as the class performers up to now. Villa pressed and created some good chances: Craig had two good chances, missing one and one header being deflected wide when it had goal written all over it; Bellon belied a lack of confidence when a mishit clearance fell to him and he snatched at the shot. (Note: The regular reserve watchers in front of me think his brother is the better of the two, but he is having his ankle rebuilt – nice); Zoltan was again causing trouble with some excellent crosses and set piece delivery. The only disappointing thing for me was Luke, who seemed reluctant to break out of a jog, whereas his partner in crime Adam McGurk was chasing down everything. So we got to half-time all square and I was off for a delightful cup of tea. The second half saw me joined once more by the other Beast, puker, John and a couple of others so whilst watching the game I didn’t make as many notes – sorry! Especially as I was in awe as they had met former Villa player – Big Cyrille Regis at half-time. Le Arse kept playing the ball into feet but seemed to be either tiring or bereft of ideas as ‘little Cesc’ was limping through the game (courtesy of a nice tackle from Herdy in the 1st half I forgot to mention). But despite doing something we never tried in the first half and shooting from outside the box, they never really tested Olejnik as we took control. GOAL: Well Luke and Zoltan worked well out left, Luke cut in and fired a low shot in, the keeper parried it and Adam McGurk was on hand to knock the rebound in – hurrah. “What do you mean line-o, you can stick that flag…..”. Luke should really have squared it, but having accused him of doing that when he shouldn’t in the Derby of 05 I’m not complaining. Luke had started to try at last and looked far livelier, indeed even interested. He took the ball off Ozzy and went to shoot only to get tackled by Ozzy for the humorous moment of the night. Ozzy seemingly annoyed to see his 50 yard run end like that. Marc Allbrighton replaced Bellon on the right and showed some good pace to put his opponent under a good deal of pressure, so much so that he in turn was replaced. Then on 77 minutes Luke showed why he is rated so highly by so many with a touch of sheer class. He got a little lucky in that he played a flick to Zoltan that never came off and picked it up himself. Skinned le Arse defender – twice – and curled an unstoppable shot into the top corner. 2-1 Villa and a deserved lead. The game then didn’t exactly fizzle out but apart from a last minute chance saved well by ‘The Beast’ Villa saw out the last quarter of an hour and took the three points. I’ll not do ratings this time as they are very similar to the Fulham game. Everyone played their part in a good win. Of those players I hadn’t seem before ‘Played Shane’ Lowry looked an excellent prospect from the long line of decent centre halves we seem to have. Hogg looked out of position, which he was but he does like to tackle. Herd – well the game seemed to pass him by for 30mins and then he got stuck in well another who likes the rougher aspects of the game. Allbrighton looked all bright on the night (sorry) and ‘The Beast’ needs to use his body better – which should be easy for him! Chelsea away will be my next venture and the game is played in Kingston.
  13. I hadn't realised it was you - misread the quote box :oops: I drop by all the time. it's like watching a game of dungeons n dragons circa 1980 with some humour
  14. Nail on the head there for me Rocafella. The league is the one I want to win, I'm lucky that I've seen us do both and as much as that night was special it is still the winning of the league the year before that I go back to for great memories
  15. OBE - excellent report but it's two games running that Jlloyd has played centre half and both times he seems to have played well
  16. the game is on the 27th it seems not this Tuesday as I first thought. There is not need to get tickets there will not be that many there. I also think that with the Coca-Cola cup game just before and the CL just after that we'll see a lot of Arse's youngsters
  17. LM - he had the same attitude when playing for the youths when he was a reservist and occasional bench visitor for the first team. He needs to look at the way the other first teams applied themselves as they were all excellent. Laursen kept talking to the 'kids' whenever there was a break in play.
  18. hopefully against fulham we can see him upfront with big john playing the target man role. He needs to play alongside someone who will do the physical stuff that is for sure. At times he looked totally disinterested and I hoped it wasn't him being 'billy big boots', he has the talent of that I'm quite sure it's just the application that I wonder about.
  19. by me you need to get down to watch the reserves screamed Scott - OutByEaster so given that work commitments found me in the capital on Tuesday I duly accepted the invitation. Setting off from work to somewhere called Motspur Park on a somewhat fresh evening all seemed ideal. However, in between the tube and the overland train it started to rain and then never stopped until, well I don't know as I was tucked up in my hotel room by then. Enough of this drivel and onto the game. Villa lined up with a weaker side than last week but it was noticeable that with Jlloyd, Crazy Horse Martin, Gardner, Izzy and Luke through the middle that there was a good deal of the first team squad in place. Villa: Taylor; Lund, O'Halloran, Laursen, Samuel; Osbourne, Y Bellon, Gardner, Stieber; Moore, McGurk. Fulham's only recognisable player being some big fat geezer in midfield who I was sure I'd seen before but having been on the phone when their team was read out I missed his name. The first half flew by with Villa having four or five good chances and two excellent ones for Luke, all spurned. It seemed only a matter of time before we took the lead and the most likely threat seemed to be an O'Halloran header from excellent corners from Zoltan Steiber, being as he'd had three goes and had forced one good save. He did also put one effort out for a throw for a level of context though. We played some good football and dues to a master class in central defending from Crazy Horse we were hardly troubled at the back. Indeed such was the dominance of CH and Jlloyd I forgot that Jlloyd is a left back.. yes he played very assured in this new position. Half time we all went inside for a beer to be informed there was no bar and that only tha academy players could have toast. Explained pleasantries with Jack Woodward and asked him if he was actually commenting on the game this week. The sound of this remark going straight over (through!) his head was noticeable. Then a brief glimpse of Martin O'Neill - yes a chance to say hello, shake hands - but he was through the lounge quicker than I could even type those words. Not a glance or a word to the assembled Villa masses; that is mass by weight not numbers as there were about 10 of us all told. The second half started and I relocated from my Billy no mates position to one near some othe Villans, but more of that later. We started off brightly, Sam Williams replaced Adam McGurk who had picked up a knock in the first half and the game opened up somewhat. We still never looked like conceding when we did. The afore mentioned fat geezer found himself free 20 yards out, hard to imagine a hole big enough to give him that space, but it was there and then a sublime, I say sublime, I mean of those scuffs from one foot that catches the other and loops up over a helpless Stuart Taylor into our net. Even the Fulhamites were amazed. Not as amazed as we were when off did run, trot, the scorer to celebrate in fabulous style at the back of the burger van. Why wasn't I surprised he knew where that was! The scorer was one Ian Pearce... thought he'd retired and then I found out he's only 32! This spurred our lads on as we assumed a position of dominance with both Zoltan and Yago Bellion hitting in some excellent crosses. we tested the keeper with some long range efforts, we tested the linesman with some light hearted abuse from the sidelines. Further good work from Gardner and Izzy fed the ball to Bellion who just as I implored him to pass it back for Eric Lund, whipped in another cross, finding Luke in the middle for a very nice finish. 1-1. Then another in the long line of strange subs this season. We brought off the hard working and creative Bellion for Jon Hogg. This changed our midfield somewhat and took us another few minutes to get it back together. As time was running out we were the only side looking likely to score when Sam Williams was felled by an awful tackle from some Fulham thug. We looked at one another, the players looked at one another, the crack from the collision was THAT loud. That must be a broken leg - luckily it wasn't and even more bizarrely Sam got up brushed himself down an played on. The thug was duly off and in the tub before he recovered though and rightfully so. The game heated up for a little while and injury time saw us pressing without any real chances. The last being a long range effort but straight at the keeper from Craig Gardner. Some ratings and notes: Taylor 7 : Based on catching both corners and having very little else to actually do. Eric Lund : 6 Dependable and did what he had to, the similarity in looks and even style with Laursen are spooky. Crazy Horse Laursen - 8 MotM Class oozed from everything he did. When he mistimed a header in the 85th minute even the Fulham academy players behind me were amazed. Jlloyd - 7 better in the air than you think it seems, still stroked the ball about like he doesn't have a care in the world but at this level looked like a first teamer should. Stephen O'Halloran - 7 better than last week as he kept possession well and linked very well with Steiber on the left. Yago Bellion - 6 a rather anonymous first half, but that could be because it was dark on that side and we couldn't necessarily see what he was doing! Second half he saw more of the ball and his crossing was very good. Gardner 7 looked like player with first team experience; good tackling, quick feet, accurate passing. Osbourne 7 as with Craig he looked a level up, especially from the Fulham players. His work rate is truly excellent. Zoltan Steiber 7 On the smallish side I thought but makes up for that with his work rate. Up and down his wing and delivery of crosses (one in particular in the 1st half) and corners was excellent. Adam McGurk 6 only on for the first half, looked a little lost after picking up a knock after 25mins. Before that he was lively and provided the link between the forwards and midfield. Luke 6 For those who believe he could lead the line in the Prem, then you are mistaken as he couldn't do it at this level in the first half and he didn't look ar purvey an interest level I expected of someone looking to play soon. Second half he was far better when Sam Williams played the target role. Subs: Sam Williams 6 Played through the middle and is far more accepting of that physical requirement. Was very lucky to not break his leg. Jon Hogg hard to mark but 6. Good battling when the game got heated never shirked a thing. To be honest it was a game we dominated and really should have won. When I asked one of the coaches from Fulham they reckoned the difference was no Marc Allbrigton /JPA. Credit to Luke too at the end. He was soaked and still answered the high pitched wailing from 'Puker' asking for a picture. And never let on that he surprised this request was actually from a 20something bloke and his brother! We then retired to the pub where I found out that the chaps I was talking to were -Puker, Beast, Rich and Pritch, two of whom are lurkers on here. Beast is currently two thirds of the way through completing a season of attending every game - every credit and see you all in Barnet for the game next week versus some team called Arsenal Al
  20. We've only won the league once in 97 and that's still more than sha have won either in 132 ;-) Excellent piece John and a good read thanks
  21. can we take the smoking debate into another thread please. Also there are threads aplenty on the kits can we use those too
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