A'Villan

I understand it''s capitalism. I don't think it's a very good system. Capitalism and democracy are not synonymous. " Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws "

Although I would suggest the wages of professional players in comparison to the general public is of a higher criminal order.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/43369490

When you're looking for any extra edge on your rivals and Kodjia returns to full training.

Can't wait to have this guy back! Great news that he may feature again this season.

I was in two minds whether or not to post this, as I don't want to dampen the view of SB's efforts but I will be nit picky and post anyway as I think it's worth pointing out. Snodgrass averages 6 goals a season in the prem if you take out his season with WHU. Johnstone will command a fee of 6.5million, and I assume you mean 3rd place at Manchester United? Hardly a discredit to SJ's abilities. Adomah played 3 seasons of 40+ games for Boro averaging 8 goals a season and was only unfancied in the PL. Taylor a swap for a decent Ayew. Hourihane had an average of a goal in every 3 games and Lansbury a modest goal in every 5 games over 8 seasons. Both from midfield. We all know Hutton is really a reborn Cafu. And I'll give you Chester (what a gem that turned out to be). Not to mention the purchase of Hogan, McCormack and Kodjia. Then the loan deal for Grabban. It's not as if he was gaining a squad of players that was underperforming in the championship, and SB magically turned their career around. No, he astutely went out and assembled a team worthy of a promotion push. So I would also like to add I am not trying to take away from the nous of SB to make such signings, I simply don't agree with you downplaying the value of each individual mentioned. I was and have been a supporter of Bruce since day 1 this season. I knew the results would come eventually, but I knew this because of the signings he adeptly made and was afforded, not because he was some tactical genius. That's why I backed Bruce despite a draw at Hull, 3-0 loss to Cardiff, loss to Reading and 3 draws that came after the victory against Norwich. Not once have I called for the sack. But it goes deeper than the good job Bruce is doing here for me. Someone was going to get it right eventually, with the backing from Xia, and instead of speculating as to who else might've done what, I'm thankful that we appointed Bruce as it would seem we have found someone capable of getting us out of this league.

Thanks, blandy. I can suffer minute embarrassment a little easier now you've shown me the way. I won't recite what I typed in to google but after seeing your response I'm glad I asked here, 5 minutes on google could of become a head**** quickly. Let's hope my letter has a bit more substance than my ability to find its recipient.

Well I had that one coming. I would of thought some basic googling would help me in my endeavours, after it didn't, I thought I'd post here.

I don't know the back story of this JC incident, but it's obviously not 'becoming' behaviour. To deliberately spit at a young girl over some banter that got the better of you is poor form. If Luis Suarez is still playing football after repeatedly biting others than I think the most JC should incur is a fine payable to the family and a suspension from the media.

He is our first success story in 8 years. Credit to him. I think that Snodgrass interview says as much about Snodgrass' attitude as it does Bruce. We finally have a group of players willing to 'run through walls for a manager', and thankfully it seems Bruce is a decent man as well as manager. I'm torn in a way. I knew the results would come under Bruce, even when it looked poor (the squad we were aquiring was just too good to continue to fail). Now they have come and we are enjoying some success that we really haven't seen in nearly a decade. That said, would I choose Bruce over say a financially backed Carlo Ancelotti (who is out of work)? Probably not. I want us to take that next step as soon as possible, and although Bruce could very well be the man to win us promotion, it's an unknown how far he can take us.

Does anyone know how I would go about getting a letter to Xia or someone from the board at least?

For anyone who missed it, or would like to relive 10 minutes of our win over Wolves.

Would you consider Drogba a huge player? CB is over halfway to similar goal contribution to Drogba and he's still only 27. Drogba did have a 30 goal season which I don't think CB will achieve but as far as averages go they are pretty similar. As I say above, I haven't watched him, but it would seem there's still a very decent PL striker in him.

I have barely seen him play since he left, but this is a very decent return over 6 years. As I said I haven't seen him play, so can't really hold an opinion, but as far as numbers go we could do worse.

If form tables are anything to go by, Wolves are on course to finish 4th. That's if their next 10 results emulate their last 10. I think they've got way too much quality for that to happen though, they'll turn it on enough to remain top 2.

Not that I've seen a lot of him recently, but Bojan was a player I rated some years ago. Still ony 27 and would be a low fee.

Nzonzi is available if we want to fork out 25 million and were able to convince him. Surely we're going to make one statement signing

I don't fear the playoffs. I see it as three extra fixtures that are must win games. The biggest plus that came from the Wolves win was that we know we can beat anyone. The difference between us and the rest, except for Fulham, is the rate of improvement. We'll likely have to face the playoffs, I intend on backing Villa with utmost confidence. Why shouldn't I? The way we are playing is worthy of promotion via whichever route.

The form guide over the last 10 would actually have Fulham and Villa in automatic promotion places come season end. Provided that Villa beat Cardiff. I highly doubt that will happen, but I'm just saying if things continue as they are results wise, that's what will happen.

Sorry, I've probably misunderstood your post. I'm with you I'm not sure Bruce would get the sack if we missed promotion, now that he has shown he can produce a winning team. I'm interested to know if the board are intending to look for potential replacements regardless of outcome, or if they are impressed enough with Bruce.

While I agree after seeing us beat Wolves we're in a strong position as a team, and would be more likely to survive the Premier League than a few months ago. There's no question that we and Xia want the fastest possible return to the top flight and the expectation is that we get there asap. There's a reason we've thrown a lot of money at the divisions best players, and it's not so that we can bide our time until we're ready. Bruce's job was on the line this season, and it's because there's an urgency to get promoted.

Still can't believe he's a Villa player in the championship. You have to wonder how big an influence he is on the dressing room. Bruce has the promotions but Terry has won everything in the game as a captain. That doesn't just command respect but there'd surely be an aura of will and competency that we haven't had in abundance for some time. Would love to see him stay at the club another year, his age is one factor, but his standards and mentality are not to be forgotten. I know this is football, but Michael Jordan averaged something like 18-20ppg right up 'til the age of 40. I know Terry is not the greatest of all time, especially not athletically, but he is someone who has all the winning attributes, which may extend his playing time.

Hopefully Villa will be by next weekend. If Cardiff draw their next two, and we win ours, guess who's back in 2nd? If they are going to drop points, one would guess it will be somewhere in their next 4 games.

Keep winning and promotion will come. Cardiff have two difficult games next, after nearly slipping against Birmingham.

I remember at the beginning of the season when things weren't looking so bright, and Bruce was pointing the finger anywhere but himself. I knew back then the football was going to be good enough under him, believe it or not, even despite results like 0-3 against Cardiff, I knew results were going to start coming our way. What I didn't know was whether or not Bruce was going to rise to the occassion of being a success as Villa manager and take ownership of what was happening now that the club and players were his. Thankfully we have gone from strength to strength and Bruce is a lot more measured and considerate about what he says now. He no longer highlights where the club have been over the years recently, instead he is giving very sensible remarks about our promotion hopes. He's putting forward a very strong case to be our manager next season. As I've said from the start, I hope his best is yet to be seen and wish him every success. If you had to pick a manager, any manager, to lead us through the next 10 games only, who would you pick? For me, Steve Bruce. He'd be as good a shout as any.