robby b

Thanks for reminding me of my worst Aston Villa day ever. Boo.

Just watched his new interview on the OS. Good man. Comes across really well imo, intelligent, clearly confident but humble at the same time, good attitude. Spoke in good English in the few small parts that he spoke in English, says his English lessons are going well, which is good to hear. Vive le Frédéric.

To think that Alan Partridge is a Villa fan! (And Tom Hanks too. And Prince William. This club is great!)

YES!!!!!!! Mobile battery ran out at work in 6th minute, just got home from work, just saw the result, fantastic! Get in Villa! So happy!

1-3 at home to Everton, that brings back a bad memory, I was at Paul Lambert's first home game (horrible day, 0-3 down at half-time, boo). Really hope we don't lose to them this time! :s

As Guilbert was really good in pre-season, maybe Elmo was selected last Saturday because of having some premier league experience already.

Also at the risk of going off topic... Zig and Zag ! Dem girls dem girls they all love Zig and Zag.

Ah, I see, so it's the whole of January then. Well anyway, I'm not saying Kodjia can't or won't be able to get back to his 2016/17 standard if his ankle has healed very well, maybe he will, fingers crossed. And maybe Wesley will do well and score enough goals, and not get injured, fingers crossed!

If Wesley gets injured or doesn't meet requirements, how easy or difficult will it be for us to get a top striker in the January transfer window? I can't remember how long that window's open for. The Sky reporter who has reviewed our transfer window today has said our weakness is up front and I guess they're right. It's now our main risk and our big question mark.

Ooh, this cat's strong! It's not like that ginger one with very poor balance, the one that falls down at the slightest touch (in a Patrick Bamford way).

All this work permit hoo-ha must have been stressful for him, half his hair has turned white !

Thanks very much for the info. : ) Oh well, I'll call the Villa ticket office again as soon as I see the tickets are on sale (maybe next week) just in case anyway. It's a pity I have very little chance because I'm not going to buy a ticket from the Palace ticket office to sit with the home fans! For a start that would feel a bit weird and uncomfortable. (I was in the middle of Wimbledon fans twice when Villa played at Plough Lane and I remember feeling a need to 'keep a low profile'). I might let a sudden loud cheer slip out if we score. :s Oops. And I want to live! Sounds like I'll probably just have to go up to Villa Park instead asap. Exciting! Actually my friend's son is confident, boisterous and quite laddish... maybe he wouldn't feel scared, and as you say, character-building! That's a good point. My first ever football match was when my Arsenal fan dad took me to Highbury when I was seven and it was against... Aston Villa! (I'd told him I liked Villa, he can't have been too pleased!) I remember feeling quite scared of a few very angry men in the crowd who were shouting things very angrily. And I was intrigued by a few strange and interesting new words that I'd not heard before!

This is the nearest thread I could find that relates to my query... I'm going to try to get a few tickets for the game at Selhurst Park next month... One of my mates is interested in joining me with his 11-year-old son, they're both very new to going to football matches. The last three Villa games I've been to were all at Villa Park, I haven't been to a Villa away game since I was 13 (at Plough Lane, twice). Please could someone tell me what a typical Villa away crowd is like these days? I mean, can it get very aggressive (towards the ref, opposition players and home fans) and very sweary? Or is it generally more or less family friendly and ok for an 11-year-old? I feel uneasy about being responsible for my friend's young child feeling scared or hearing the most x-rated language being shouted out around him. If anyone can answer my questions I'll be really grateful.

I wonder if we still have that player liaison officer who was giving our foreign players one to one English tuition. I can't remember her name now. I think she's a qualified and experienced EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher. If she's still with the club I hope she's a really good EFL teacher!

I agree, well said ! "If she was a president she'd be Baberaham Lincoln".

There's a great Minnesota diary entry from Callum O'Hare today on the OS, wise beyond his years. Sounds like a really good lad with a great attitude. Fingers crossed for the next few years of his promising Villa journey.

" I drove all niiii-i-i-ight... to get Luiz's signing confirmation. I drove all night, to see the permit through. I drove all niiii-iiii-iiii-iiii-ight... I drove all niiiigh... etc... " Cyndi Lauper, 1987.

That's a good point, Purslow seems like a supremely confident kind of person, very much like James Bond, only in a different field.

The trouble with that is we'd then have less of McGinn's great attacking.

Yes he does look strong, reminds me of how McGinn plays. Still nothing on the OS. Fingers crossed !

Hope he's a DM.

I just read that he was born and raised in North-East London and is a Spurs fan. Well he might make his debut against them! I imagine it feels a bit weird for a player when they play against the team they support as a fan.

Yikes! :s Sounds like a bit of a lottery. Selhurst Park's certainly a small stadium for the PL, I used to live just 100m from it, I could see it from my flat. I'll call the ticket office today anyway for some info.

We're playing at Selhurst Park on 31st August. Roughly how soon will tickets go on sale for that game?

I guess this might be our team at the moment if it features a DM, but we still need to sign one (or two maybe): Steer Guilbert Mings Hause Targett ? :s Jota/Green McGinn Grealish El Ghazi Wesley