AJ

A frustrating player. His positives and negatives literally cancel each other out. Great at tackling, then passes it straight back to the opposition!

Seriously though, Mike, as someone said before, of those players keep Okore, Clarke and Amavi. The rest are coach killers.

Interested in anyone from the Brad Guzan Goalkeeping Academy?

Backed Germany and Argentina for the WC. For the Euros, backed England, and Turkey as my "dark horse" bet.

Then just cut and paste Villa's games from last season.

Apologies, Giro, didn't see your latest post before jumping in. I fully agree with your take on Japan. Like I said, heading over there again next month. Looking forward to it immensely.

Heading there for the 4th time next month. The thing I love most about Japan is the food. There are a few stalls around selling these things called bakudan, which is just a very large takoyaki with extra ingredients, which comes with a wide choice of toppings. They are amazingly delicious and very cheap ( from 300 to 450 yen each, depending on topping).

Graphics look fantastic, but that means squat if the gameplay is crap. I hate the scripting. Does EA think that FIFA stands for Frustration Is Fun, Assholes?

Really, I don't give a toss about balance, I was just expressing my thoughts, and definitely wasn't trying to sway anyone's way of thinking. If you hate, dislike, or not really like Gabby, that is totally fine. Really, the bottom line is, he cant stay at Villa. He is not a 65k/week player, he is not a 65k per week anything really. It is just such a shame that somebody who showed so much potential those many years ago has shot himself in the foot. As I said, I cant really bring myself to hate him, just to harbour a desire to go back in time and slap him at a critical moment.

I am pissed off with a lot of the players this season, but I find it hard to garner too much animosity towards Gabby. Sure enough, the sun is truly setting on his Villa career, but I really liked him years ago under Martin O' Neil when he was filling in for John Carew. He was quite exciting to watch, he had pace, and he was once described as a "nightmare" to defend against. He has done great work with Acorns, and it is obvious he loves this club. I recall a story that he wanted to bulk up, be stronger,but Houillier advised against it, as he would lose his main strength, his speed. When I see Gabby out there for Villa now, I cant help think it is more tragic than anything else. I wanted him to have a long career, consistently ripping it up for Villa, but there is no room in a football team for a pot bellied striker. He also made me chuckle when he made that One Direction boy cry too. I wish him the best, but there is no room for him at Villa anymore.

Good post, and I cant disagree with you. The first questions that are probably asked by Dr X and RDM is how did Villa turn so bad, and how do we undo the damage? Lerner, who I believe was responsible for a lot of the problems, is now gone. Therefore, hopefully we now have an owner who wants to see the club improve on its standings, rather than settle for making up the numbers in the PL.. From RDM's view, he is probably asking WTF were they doing out there? How we have been playing the last few seasons, no other team in the PL played like us. Keep ball, slow build up, and rely on crosses to try and get goals. Unfortunately, we were really bad at this too. We couldn't keep the ball because we would pass it straight to the opposition, we killed off any chance of counter attack, and the crosses were too wayward and the forwards were too scared of doing anything with it. If certain players are lazy, or they don't want to follow instructions, then ship them off. Some so bad, they shouldn't be allowed anywhere near Villa ever again. We all know who they are, and hopefully RDM agrees too. I do believe we are on the mend. When you get a fresh start and want to improve, you don't get there by repeating the same mistakes that got you in the shit in the first place.

Yes, I have considered our quality of play from last season, like I said, we have been so good at being awful, and we do need to get rid of a lot of crap out of the playing squad, especially the lazy bastards and the disruptive asshats. If we can get a squad that is motivated and actually enjoy playing football, then we have a good shot. I believe we can do it. If I am a fool for being positive, then I will be that fool. It helps me sleep better at night.

Fully agree. I believe the overhaul is in progress. We were so glaringly bad as a club, we really needed an enema to clear out the crap. Some people are a little pessimistic about our chances, due to our recent history of being good at being awful. However, with Lerner gone and a good manager, we can make progress to where Aston Villa belongs. Also looking at the quality of game during the promotion play offs, I believe we should give ourselves more credit than we do, especially if we manage to overhaul the playing squad. I think it is better to stay positive.

Yayyyy!! OK Robby, grab a shovel and off to work you go, because there is alot of shit that needs to be cleaned out of the playing squad. Then...we can be on the road to happiness.

70 to 80 points!

That's what my Grandma said about my Grandad.

Socceroos and Brisbane Roar. Just watched the friendly with England. Proud of their effort, and England played well too.

Good game, I enjoyed it. Good luck in the Euros, England!

After watching Aston Villa all season, it feels strange watching this. There are two teams out there making an effort.

Strongly considering putting 100 on England for the Euros at 9s.

Just putting something crazy out there, but what if we bought Schwarzer? Even though he is in his 40s, he would still be an improvement on Guzan and Bunn, would be cheap, and is a good down to earth bloke. Even though he hasn't played much, he has won in two different premier league teams with Chelsea and Leicester, so he would at least be good luck to have around.

Announcing, Aston Villa's manager for the 2016/17 season.... Hugh D' Fugzat

Maybe Pearson could be brought back into contention through some encouraging words from his son? " Aww, come on, Dad. Chinese girls are hot!"

Charlotte from Geordie Shore? Makeup!