Podster

I lived in Portugal from 1995 to 2010 and it was common to see tourists in the Algarve in a Villa shirt, however what surprised me was I have seen portuguese guys wearing a Villa shirt in Lisbon on several occasions

I see a fair amount of Villa here in Telford, and lots of Wolves but very rare to see a nose, in fact I cant remember last time I did.

My dad and his brother were born in Balsall Heath over 90 years ago. In their early 20's my dad moved to Kingstanding, all his offsprung family became Villa fans, however, my dads brother moved to Chelmsey Wood, all his offsprung family became City fans, it ripped the family in half, it wasnt untill they had both passed away that certain relatives could speak to each other again without the possibility of bloodshead, the stupid thing is neither of them were ever footie fans before they left Balsall Heath. It was the influence of the people in the areas they moved to, not the love of the game that determined who they supported. It was sad that the family got pulled apart over a feckin game. Interesting topic by the way, nice one ender4.

There are comments about how good a number of the current batch of young rising Portuguese players are, yet when the arrive in the UK they often fail to impress. Having lived in Portugal for15 years and watched a lot ofootball there I am very wary about these so called rising stars. Its not that hard to stick out in the Primeira Liga, there are 2 clubs that usually win everything between them and 2 more clubs behind them that have the odd good season and win something now and then. The middle of their primeira liga is on a par with our second tier and the lower teams in their primeira liga are on a par with our 3rd tier. So most weeks the top teams are not even tested, Felix might have stood out when he played in Portugal but has done little to impress elsewhere, everyone was gushing about Pedro Goncalves when he played in Portugal, he went to Valencia then Wolves and flopped, now he is back in Portugal again he is supposed to be amazing. Without a crystal ball of course it's impossible to know who to buy, their have been truly world class stars emerge from Portugal, I just hope we don't end up with a Lemon.

Even if he was not over the hill, NO. Even if he paid the club for the privilege of wearing our glorious shirt, NO. Even if he was not a vile ego maniac, NO.

I would be surprised if it was as low as 90%

the problem is he is basically trying to work miracles with what is not much different from the players Gerrard had, we need some fresh blood in the squad to give him the ability to change tack effectively enough to turn things around on days like today

Wow, thats dedication, where do you fly in from.

Superb team effort and 7 saves from Martinez gives him MoM just ahead of Mc Ginn for me.

Our playing out from the back is like russian roulette

The last time we competed genuinely was before half the fans who go to matches were even born. So the oil nations are not the real issue for us, and although fans suddenly grow morals that wernt there before, and have a go at clubs selling out to oil nations, lets be honest, what percentage of our fans would snap the arm off an oil nation prepared to throw silly money in to the transfer market if they bought our beloved Villa

Simple answer, he is crap

Many, NOT ALL, players, see top clubs playing out from the back amd they think its the right thing to do. Its got to the point that no one seems to want to be the one who plays the long ball, so they end up playing a dangerous ball to players who arn't good enough for tight passing in front of their own goal. For playing out from the back to be worth the risk we need 4 players who can pull off close tight passing, in front of goal, do we have that, no we don't.

Spot on.

I'd say it's in the top 1

This lot couldnt get pissed in a brewery.

You are forcing a dishonest answer by not including zero as an option.

YES, that's realy me, in one of my many Steampunk outfits, and I am so touched that you give me the honor of being in the unhinged bracket of people, after all in a crazy world the crazy survive, however, I think that my mind has become twisted from being a Villa fan for over 60 years

WTF were you waiting for? More than 2 weeks ago I said "What worries me is we are 12 days in to January and we made 1 lowish cost signing. We should have had players signaled out ready to approach before the transfer window opened" People were having a go at me saying we should not rush. WELL THAT WORKED OUT WELL DIDN'T IT.

Sky reporters can hardly tell the difference between a football and a watermelon

I am over the moon with the Moreno signing, I am moaning about the fact that he is the only signing, YES, I know there is over 2 weeks left in the window, and I question why we didnt have more like him lined up to sign when the window opened.

There is a difference between acting quickly and acting hastily, I believe we have acted in haste on many occations, and hence we signed over rated players. We had the whole period that the world cup was on to prepare an approach for the right players. Buying players at the start of the window is not a bad thing to do provided that enough forethought has hone in during the weeks before the window opens. We have new names of potential signings popping up that wasnt mentioned before this week where is the planing in that?

What worries me is we are 12 days in to January and we made 1 lowish cost signing. We should have had players signaled out ready to approach before the transfer window opened. But no, and here we are AGAIN talking about signing players that want a new club because they dont get enough game time at the clubs they play for , we dont need cast offs, we want players who are going to move usup a level.

If he can pass the ball then he is nothing like McGinn, and a yes please from me also