Deano & Dalian's Umbrella

I will definitely do this but at the moment I'm watching televised games with my dad at his house as he can't attend at the moment due to serious illness, so it might not be for a few games.

I must admit because she both replied and actioned this so quickly, I didn't want to be pedantic and argue the point but given that she admitted that the volume had recently increased, tests at the start of the season saying the volume levels were fine are redundant. But I am grateful they listened and are lowering the volume in the DE stand .

Fair points about the calibration but all I know is that for the last few games the music got a lot louder so I could hardly hear the person next to me even when they were shouting in my ear, so something was definitely up.

That would be really good then thanks.

The Health and Safety Officer got back to me today for a 2nd time which is pretty impressive considering I emailed her sunday evening. She said: I have met with the Media Technology Team today as they have now concluded their investigation into your concern. For some recent games, the noise levels in your area may have been increased which will now be rectified by a reduction of 5dB(A). You may however detect an intentional increase during the 15-minute period ahead of kick-off. I would add however that based on the Noise at Work Regulations and HSE guidance, the noise levels within the Stadium on a matchday are within legal parameters for both AVFC staff and recommendations for audience levels. This has also been confirmed following a noise assessment at the start of the season undertaken by an external consultant. I don't know how much difference 5db will make but if it goes back down to how it was before the last few games and I can hear the person next to me that would be good.

I'm sure you're about to tell me I should have but I just downloaded the app to my iphone and trusted it to work!

According to my app, it was like being next to a motorbike when Freed from Desire was playing (which I usually love!) https://ibb.co/n1ZfHTg

Ok - second rant. The last 2 games, the pre-match music has gone back up to stupid levels. So today I measured it with a decibel reader on my phone - 93 decibels. I've just found this on the health and safety executive website. "The level at which employers must provide hearing protection and hearing protection zones is 85 dB(A) (daily or weekly average exposure) and the level at which employers must assess the risk to workers' health and provide them with information and training is 80 dB(A). There is also an exposure limit value of 87 dB(A), taking account of any reduction in exposure provided by hearing protection, above which workers must not be exposed." Edit: I've just sent a screenshot of the volume reading to the club's health and safety officer.

Ok, so I turned up at my usual door today (one of the door Ps) where I've entered Villa Park for the last 12 years. I open my rucksack, take my flask of tea out and show one of the 2 guys on the door inside my bag. But they have no interest in searching me or my bag. They are interested in my Villa beanie hat. "Are you Villa?" "yes" I said "You can't come in here" the guy said, you need to go up there, pointing to the away end. "Are you joking?" I said "this is Villa Park - the Villa stadium". I look at the other guy in desperation who says I need to speak to a supervisor, pointing halfway up the street. I said "s** this" and went past them and went in anyway. After I'd told the usual guy on the turnstile what had happened - I wasn't allowed in because I was wearing a villa hat - one followed me in apologising. I told a steward when I got inside who rolled their eyes and said it has all been outsourced to an external company.

Unfortunately, I'll never forget the loud bang of Father Christmas hitting the roof directly above me in the Upper Trinity and then the sickening sight of seeing him smack onto the floor directly below me. I know it sounds funny but it wasn't.

I worked as a physio at Villa when John Gregory was manager.

Me! Interestingly your post asking this got more likes than the anecdotes I told!

John Gregory always seemed like a nice guy. When I started at Villa, I didn't know about the accepted protocol of calling the manager "boss" or "gaffer" and so, trying to be polite and respectful, I called him "Mr. Gregory", to which he instantly said "call me John". The next day, I'm in the treatment room with some of the players and Gregory walks in. They all go "morning gaffer" and I go "hi John". Alan Thompson nearly spat his tea out and said "what the f*** are you doing?" I said "what do you mean?" "You are meant to call him boss or gaffer" "He said to call me John" I said "Yeah, but he didn't mean it!" "Well he should have said so!" I said. The funniest Gregory (or more accurately Doug) story I heard was told to be by Gary Megson as told to him by John Gregory. Gregory was having a meeting with Doug, at the end of which Doug decided they needed to book a followup and put the initials of everyone required in his diary. "JG - John GORDON (apparently he kept calling him that), SS - Steve Stride and Me". At the next meeting, Doug says "so let's see if we have everyone - JG, that's you, John Gordon, SS - that's you - Steve Stride but who is ME?" Gregory says "that's me chairman". Doug says "No, NO - you're JG - John Gordon".

Unai also replaced the doctor and physio.

I haven't had this many emails asking me if I want to buy a strap-on since before they invented spam filters.

Thanks. And I see 2 hands pointing to a heart underneath. So he is going to act with his heart over his head (if 2 hands beats one) or his head over his heart (if a photo beats an emoji) or none of the above.

I feel like there are posts missing on this thread - has Duran posted this image of Rodman?

It would also explain where he was chatting to that 90 year old (or was it 100?) woman and when she asked him how he did it, he just said "playing football" rather than "I was tackled". At the time, I was laughing at the response like many others but it might not have been stupid after all.

This suggests to me that it was never an actual acute fracture ("a break") in the first place but a stress fracture (a gradual breakdown of the bone due to overuse). This would fit with the fact that the tackle where we all thought he got injured was nowhere near his metatarsal.

It's like one of those makeover shows. They are showing that if you have a dirty carpet and don't own a carpet cleaner, you can easily cover it up with some tables, people and Ahmed Elmohamady.

I don't know if the overly-loud music was mentioned at this meeting but if it was, thanks so much, because it was much better today.

Lower grounds comes with a ticket in the upper Trinity or Doug Ellis

I sit in the centre of the Doug Ellis Upper. It makes you wonder how long it will take them to decide that my seat is a "hospitality seat" and I should be paying an extra £1200 a year for the privilege.

On Friday, I got an email reminding me to pick up 2 Beanie hats I ordered and telling me: "Matchday Collections, open from 2 ½ hours before kick-off, closing 30 minutes before kick-off." I turned up 30 minutes earlier than I usually would for a game - an hour before kick off and went to join the queue, only to have some steward come over to me and say "sorry we're closed now" which, seeing as they weren't actually closed, meant a queue of 30 people was too much for them to handle. Presumably the exact same thing will happen to me next game so what's the point? I'll just let my points expire next time and won't order anything again. Thanks Villa. (Sorry about all the bold but it won't turn off)

Unless they are going to let him play on a bike against Palace, I'm not sure this is great news.