mr_nice!

I have never rated Downing since Borough, he has always been a whining little shite, never tried to beat anybody and doesn't pass the bloody football forward. He had a good season last year and was player of the year, but it was in a poor team having a poor season. I have a couple of Liverpool fans absolutely gutted that he has turned up for 20M. Saying that I would have still had him in our first 11 if he had stayed as our team is not very strong but the little weasel put in a transfer request. This whole thing has made me realise how professional and respectful Man Utd and Ashley Young were in that transfer and how decent Ashley was all the way through it.

Hi General When the following statement was said about Aston Villa's intent Did you guys actually mean With the way things are going one is more likely than the other

Quote from Fergie in the Independent Maybe Randy has realised he can't afford to make a club which challenges and is going to run us a small surviving cheaper club. Really makes me look forward to the new season whatever

With some of the lumpy manager names being bandied around surely Zola would be a good shout. At least he is cool

Who mentioned mcClown. That's really depressed me

Why does everyone seem to think that this is the case? I'll agree this is an easy logical deduction to make, but the general has already dismissed it several times, stating that the club will do all they can to get the right man for the job, however long this may take. The transfer window is not a factor in this. We were probably never going to buy any players this window, unless we get rid of some of the deadwood, which hasn't happened. I don't think, I think its the case, I said if you were cynical. Semantics is everything

Just to throw it out there The owners of the club said they are going to wait to get the right man. If you were cynical and if as speculated we have no money to spend on players, are they waiting to get the right man when the transfer window is shut?

Pretty much exactly my feeling, I think it would be a good positive season if we got to 7th but think we will be fighting Everton for it.

I suppose what I can't understand is how booing a the team after wolves is going to help, how on earth would we get a manager of the quality of MON if we are doing as well as we have been and the fans still aren't happy and what are the expectations of fans similar to the views expressed here. If we got fourth would we be happy or would we not be happy because we didn't get first, would we be happy if we won the league or would we not be happy because we didn't do well in the champions league. We have a lovely stable respected family club with a good history and fan base. For the most part we play an attractive game with a team that the manager of England regularly watches and we have a number of players that are internationals or on the fringes. I hope this doesn't come across as aggressive, controversial or like I am playing devils advocate, but if the current situation doesn't make the fans happy then I am not sure anything will I don't care whether the General reads the thread or not, the fans were here a long time before he was, and they still will be a long time after he's gone. And your last point is simply "if you don't agree with my point of view, bog off and support someone else" which is a little bit pathetic.

I hope the general doesn't look at these posts. We have a team that is playing on average far better than the decade before. We are having decent cup runs (although apparently that doesn't mean much) and we are up there. I love the fact that Villa are properly a top 8 side now but I was also proud when we were rubbish, our fans had dignity and our club had history and was respected. If you want to support a team that is a top four side, I have heard that Arsenal, Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool have all the credentials.

Excellent thread The whole thing of glory supporter is interesting because as a boy of 8 I first got into Villa (and footy to be fair) when we won the European Cup, my dad said I watched the game although I can't remember it but i do remember the next day when everyone played Villa vs Villa in the playground (no one wanted to be Bayern). Reason why I mention this is that I am actually from Wolverhampton and from a hardcore Wolves family and I am still called a glory supporter after twenty odd years by my family!!!! I live in Oxford and spend most of my day in a lab and only get to a couple of games a season (I watch and listen to nearly every game possible though), I think the definition of a fan is anyone who becomes emotinally irrational based upon 11 dudes in a claret and blue top kicking a ball around on a pitch, anyone who is generally level headed but has cried, sworn, smashed, hugged, skipped and kissed based on upon outcomes of people they don't know, should be allowed in with the rest of us nutters.