FLVillan

3 hours ago, mottaloo said:

Gonna finally...FINALLY book my manhattan trip for sep 2023 (as my honeymoon) but all of a sudden I've developed amnesia as to best sites to book a hotel - apart from booking.com, Expedia, secretescapes etc....are they for lazy buggers and rip folk off ? Better to book direct with the hotel ?

Also, want to book a show.....2 years ago I booked jersey boys via Newyork.co.uk just before covid struck - said they'd keep my ref and wait for me but now say the credit expired on July 1st this year (I might've missed the small print) so they're a no no.

Again, better to book direct with the theatre ya reckon ? 

I have £900 aer lingus credit voucher to use, so I will be sorted for flights.

All thoughts most welcome 

Scour the internet for hotels (Hotels.com, kayak.com etc.) then once you've found a couple you like, go to the hotel company sites to book.  The agencies like kayak and hotels.com are very often non-refundable, whereas if you book directly through the likes of Marriott, Hilton etc you can cancel up to 36 hours before with no penalty, and they don't usually charge a booking fee. 

Also a lot of the hotels will have a slightly reduced rate for AAA members and veterans/elderly.  I have a AAA membership and in 25 years of booking hotels with the AAA discount I've NEVER been asked to show my membership card yet.  

If you aren't especially picky on what show you want to see you can wait until you arrive and use the Redbox at Times Square where they sell off remaining tickets at vastly reduced prices.  We've seen some great shows on Broadway that way (Mama Mia, Lion King, Phantom etc).  

Use the subways and walking to get around.  Far cheaper than paying for cabs and/or ubers.  Manhattan is a massive grid so it's hard to get lost.  Subway is easy to navigate once you've come to the realization that it's nothing like the Tube.  You can also take a train/subway from JFK or Newark airports into Manhattan.  JFK is Airtrain to Jamaica station then a LIRR train into Grand Central.  Newark is Airtrain to Newark Airport station (don't get it confused with Newark city station) then a NJ Transit train into Penn Station.  Both of these stations are a comfortable walk to Times Square and surrounding areas.  

NY has had some fairly dramatic increases in crime the past couple of years, so keep your wits about you, keep looking forward and down (tourists are easy to spot cause they're all looking up  ).  Practice the phrase "I don't carry cash" and keep walking as you'll likely be approached by homeless and/or criminals for money.  Stay on the main roads and if a side street looks poorly lit then avoid using it as a shortcut.  

On 19/02/2020 at 16:45, sne said:

The public toilets to people ratio is about 1 for every 6 million people from what I've found.

 

On a good day!  I lived in Manhattan before the coffee shops and restaurants relaxed their rules on who could use their restrooms.  The only public facilities between Central Park and Bryant Park/Grand Central are..... nowhere.... 

3 minutes ago, PaulC said:

How does the midfield general fit into these numbers as hes neither box to box or defensive midfield? 

He gets to pick whatever number he wants because he's a General.... 

11 minutes ago, a m ole said:

It’s literally just easier to say 6 8 10 instead of defensive midfielder, box to box midfielder, attacking midfielder.

The generally-accepted abbreviations used in tactical/formation discussions nowadays...

1. Goalkeeper

2. Right Back

3. Left Back

5. Centre Back

6 Defensive Midfielder

8 Box to box midfielder

9 Centre Forward

10 Attacking Midfielder/Withdrawn Striker

12+ Sub... 

4, 7, and 11 are (disgracefully) omitted from tactical discussions 

Mings has handled the situation very well from a PR point of view.  And to be fair to Gerrard, he said from day one that the captaincy was something he would look to address.

On the subject of Mings as a player, I think Gerrard (and Dean Smith towards the end) has seen that he has a couple of glaring weaknesses in his game that have cost us too many goals.  He was just what the doctor ordered in the promotion season.  He is a good organizer and defends very well when the game is in front of him, but he is far away from being a top defender in my mind.  Backing away from his man in and around the box, turning away from the ball, and generally being poor in 1v1 situations (Gerrard referred to it last season as "red zone defending") are fundamental problems for him.  I'm not sure he'll ever iron out those issues as they are instinctive in good defenders.  The other thing that seems to be a problem is that he has these melt-downs when things are going against him and can't seem to get out of his own head.  

48 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

Hopefully, Carlos will be ready to take over in his second season after settling, adapting and establishing himself in his first

Carlos is guaranteed of the job if he puts Ben Mee in Row Z when we play Brentford. 

13 minutes ago, RicRic said:

Would Youri Tielemans be the final piece of the jigsaw , before he came to Leicester i had him on PES he was an absolute monster so when he joined Leicester i was fuming, but without studying him since there too closely im not sure how impactful he is and if he is still that monster, anyone able to give an insight on him 

From a Leicester fan who I speak to regularly, he says he is frustratingly inconsistent.  He said last season that he is living off the FA Cup final goal and the occasional long-range effort.  

On 14/06/2022 at 13:37, useless said:

No it wasn't below par, that's just plain wrong, I think a lot of our fans bizzarely underrate him and think that unless he's scoring goals he isn't playing well, just because he wasn't going on amazing runs and constantly having shots at goal or whatever it doesn't mean to say he's having a bad game, he's a box-to-box midfielder, there's a lot more to his role than just the attacking side of things, although as it happens he did come close to scoring on several occassions and did go on a few driving runs so it's not even if that part of his game was lacking.

He had two chances and missed both, but I bet if he'd have scored one of them no one would be saying his performance was below par.

Our fans are dreadful at judging midfielders in general, which is why so many of ours get so much unfair criticism, again many seem to think that if a midfielder isn't constantly making blockbuster tackles, or scoring, going on mazy runs or whatever that they're somehow not playing well, or are 'nothing players' can gaurantee whichever midfielders we sign they will get unfair criticism, unless they look like the next coming of Kante or De Bruyne, it's already started with Kamara.

I think it's fans in general to be fair, spoon-fed by the media.  Even defenders are suddenly lauded as world beaters if they score from a set piece once every 6/7 games.  For whatever reason, if a player scores a goal or two in quick succession they suddenly get elevated to a status undeserving of their overall play.  I remember when we signed George Boateng from Coventry the media kept on replaying a couple of goals he'd scored.  He was a (very good) defensive midfielder yet based on the highlights when he signed, you'd have thought he was the next David Platt.....  The boy Firmino at Liverpool gets flack for not scoring enough, yet there he is making everything tick in one of the highest scoring teams in the league.  

There have been countless players down the years that get international call-ups and big-money transfers because of a media/fan-driven clamour based on having scored a few goals, when their job in the team has very little to do with getting on the scoresheet. 

7 hours ago, david-avfc said:

 

I never really got the “prepared” thing, seemed a bit too boy-scout for my liking, and why wouldn’t a professional team be prepared anyway? It never seemed that unique or inspiring or anything to me, although I get that it’s use goes back a long time in our history 

Yeah for me it's always been associated with the club historically - the old Trinity Road stand mosaics had it incorporated into the badge and that was built in the 1920's.... The fact that the stand was demolished didn't upset me as it was in need of an upgrade, but the fact that Ellis made no attempt to preserve the mosaic/facade just smacked of cheapness, in keeping with everything else that Ellis did.... 

For me, the primary objective of any new design should be the fact that our colours are Claret & Blue.  Not Blue and Yellow with a hint of Claret. I always found it ironic that as we went away from the round badge, Chelski produced their new "modern" design that is a virtual replica of our old round badge. It would be nice to see the full name rather than AVFC and also to see PREPARED re-introduced.  Although I imagine that would make it too "busy" so I'll leave it up to the computer design geeks...

1 hour ago, Newry_Villan said:

We could have another Gary Cahill on our hands here.  

I don't see the comparison to Cahill.  Cahill wasn't yet good enough to be a starting centre-back in place of Mellberg/Laursen.  He didn't want to stay and wait to get his opportunities when either got injured/suspended.  He CHOSE to go to a lower half club to be a regular starter instead of as backup at a (then) top-six club.  It took him three seasons as a starter at Bolton before he was ready to play at a top-six level.  Cahill was 22 years old when he left us.  O'Neill actually tried him at right-back on the Toronto/Columbus tour in pre-season (presumably trying to get him in the team to keep him happy) and he was awful, even against weak MLS opposition.  And Chukwuemeka at isn't even close to the same age or level yet. 

A lot of people get hung up on the Cahill departure, but the bottom line is he wanted to leave.  His choice. I'm happy for him that he carved out a good career.  

On 12/06/2022 at 03:25, Dodgyknees said:

He can, it’s “all of them”

Bonkers isn't it.  Then Southgate bemoans the fact that the team isn't creative enough.  Perhaps it's because he has three right backs on the bench every match while sticking two defensive midfielders in the team, with Mason Mount in front of them..... 

1 hour ago, maqroll said:

He might regret not fighting for an England call up.

No chance he would have got a look-in with Arnold, Trippier, Walker and James all in the pool.  Pity England don't have the same level of squad depth at any other position.... Funny thing is he could go on to get more international caps than all four of them as Southgate can't make up his mind who his first choice is.... 

12 hours ago, S-Platt said:

Isn't that Didier Six in the front row at the right hand end?  Our first French signing I believe.... The Bosko Balaban of the 1980's.....

5 minutes ago, HongKongVillan said:

From having mark bunn as backup, Nyland as starter, to Olsen as backup to Emi,  not bad hey

Probably the best 1/2 combination we've had at the position since Bosnich/Spink in 93.... 

On 01/06/2022 at 10:26, romavillan said:

Hmmm, one of his big weaknesses IMO, look at the cross for City's first he should get to that. He really didn't do so well with Roma, I'd hope we could do better with a younger up and coming keeper....

It's the ultimate catch-22 situation with 'keepers though.  A younger keeper won't get the requisite experience unless he's playing regularly, and being a number two won't get him that.  It's why you'll often see experienced guys in their mid-30's as the backup at many clubs.  Heaton at ManUre, Caballero at Citeh then Chelski, Carson at Citeh.  Of the top few clubs, only the Dippers have a young backup in Kelleher and I think he'll be looking to move on or become their first choice within a season or two.  He's young enough now to bide his time but if he keeps doing well he won't be content with a bit-part role. 

It's why Emi was such a great find - he'd been a reserve at arsenal for years, but had gone out on multiple loans and by age 29 was nearing his peak.  Mind boggling that they let him go really and it took them spending big money on Ramsdale to correct their own error.... 

Also, not a coincidence that Jed's best run of form for us was directly on the back of a loan spell away.  He came back from that sharp and ready. 

On 21/05/2022 at 09:15, DaveAV1 said:

The Super Villans BT Sport film sounds wonderful but I don’t have BT Sport. The tragedy is that it wasn’t made 40 years ago. Our tremendous achievements in 1981 and ‘82 were largely ignored by the national broadcaster and the press in general. Shamefully this was made easy for them by our former chairman Doug “Mr Aston Villa” Ellis who tried to write those years out of our history. 
 

You couldn’t even buy a dvd of the final at the club shop or anywhere else until Lerner took over. He, Lerner, even said he was amazed at the lack of reference to us being European Champions at Villa Park. Not a single picture on the walls, nothing. We finally had a European Cup reunion day, which if I recall was before a game against Sheffield Utd. The atmosphere was fantastic and on the back of that we blew them away and won 3-0 I think. 
 

Ellis did good things for us and bad. However of all the criticisms against Ellis and there are many, trying to write off 1981/82 is unforgivable. The fact that we had nothing to celebrate this but had a bloody stand with his name across it is all the more annoying. Any new development to Villa Park should include the renaming of the Witton Lane stand either for corporate advantage or to celebrate someone more deserving. Anything is better than what it is now. Holding us back for decades is bad enough but denying our greatest moments can’t ever be forgiven and in my opinion, cancels out anything he ever did good for us. 

Bang on point in everything you say there.  I don't think there's anyone associated with Aston Villa that would object to the re-naming of the Witton Lane stand (as I've always called it and always will unless it's renamed).  We have four stands at Villa Park and only one is named after a person - and he was universally disliked by 90% of the fanbase.  Horrendous. 

5 hours ago, VillaChris said:

Not sure it's like that....they still have guys like Fernandes, Ronaldo, Sancho etc who can still come up with goals at key parts in games that win them points even if they are poor in those games. The 2-2 at VP would be classic example of that plus many teams will just go to Old Trafford and stick men behind the ball so they'll always win a decent amount of games.

Think they only won six away games all season which was less than us but even in poor seasons they get 9-10 home wins while we haven't achieved that since 2007/08 season.

What hurt us was signing 4-5 league 1 players and starting them all at same time. If we'd signed more Vlaars and Bentekes then relegation wouldn't have been an issue.

Is Greenwood stuff being handled any differently to Mendy? Don't think Greenwood's even been charged with anything yet so press obviously don't want to prejudice stuff. Most cloak and dagger one with no press reporting whatsoever involves Everton and their former number 10....

Yes, but then point I'm making (trying to make lol) is that the management of the club has been relegation-like for years now, and without spending absolute shedloads of money on players they would have been down for certain with that level of management.  Yes, players like Fernandez and Ronaldo can bail them out time and again, yet they can also spend ludicrous amounts on sub-standard players and transfer busts like Pogba, Fred etc.  It's testament that FFP is a joke.  There is zero accountability for poor management and bad recruiting in terms of their position in a league that is supposed to be all about performance.  It's the same with Citeh - they can win the league with a 100 million pound player sitting on his hands.  Why?  Because the rules allow them to keep on spending and paying while those below are told it's against the rules.... All FFP has done is ensure that the rich clubs keep on getting richer and widening the gap between themselves and everyone else.  Put some of the "fringe players" from Citeh into another premier league team and they would be able to push up the table (with good management).  But those clubs are prevented from doing it by FFP rules.  Villa, Leicester and others have wealthier owners yet we cannot even think about buying that same level of player.  The fact that they've managed to stay in the top six with how they've done their business is beyond ridiculous.  

When we went down it followed a very similar period to the one that ManUre are in now.  Our owner stopped spending because he saw the writing on the wall - he knew if he pumped in more money that we'd be in violation of the new rules and it was no guarantee of success.  And we were badly managed (just like Utd). 

If you ever need an example of why FFP is a complete and utter joke and corruption of the highest order, then look no further than ManUre.  A non Sky-6 club that had been mismanaged to the extent that Utd have over the past 7 years would be in league one by now.  Instead, somehow they are still in the top six of the premier league.  Poorly managed (the last two managers have been utterly farcical), horrendous transfer business (Pogba, Fred, Van Der Beek, Sancho, Maguire etc etc.), off-field controversies (why isn't the media laser-focussed on the Greenwood situation in the way they would be if it were any other club's player?) and their "best players" are 35, 36, 37 years old.... 

Randy Lerner won't be remembered fondly by many of our fans, but I will say one thing - at least he had the foresight and balls to vote against FFP.  One of only a couple of owners who voted against it.  He knew what it would bring and he was 100% correct.   

On 26/05/2022 at 17:44, MaVilla said:

putting Costa & Mings side by side is interesting, also added Tarkowski, Konsa & Chambers for fyi's:

Looking at that, if we're judging defensive stats only the Tarkowski and Chambers are head and shoulders above the other three.....

33 minutes ago, MakemineVanilla said:

Villa are the perfect middling club who pay well, and where quality players are guaranteed to play and show their chops.

Villa are known as a feeder club and have sold every decent player they've had since the war, who have gone on to do great things at the top clubs.

Do well at Villa and the big clubs always come a knocking.

From Danny Blanchflower to Jack Grealish, the Villa have cashed in and the stars moved on to greater things.

 

And how ironic is it that our greatest-ever team barely had "star" among them.  We had three genuine world class players in the Ron Saunders era.  Two were sold (Gray and Gidman) and the best of the lot (Sir Brian) had a career-ending injury before we won the league and European cup. 

The best Villa teams and most-revered players have always been a reflection of the city and fanbase.  We love our Des Bremners and Ian Taylors far more than the Ginolas and Collymores....

You're right that many of our sold players go on and do well elsewhere, but that's not always been the case.  We've had some genuine top-class players over the years who had their best years while at the Villa.  McGrath, Laursen, Townsend, Saunders, Merson, Mellberg, Carew to name a few.... 

Managers on the other hand rarely, if ever, go on to anything better when they leave us.  Even Sir Graham (RIP) who got the England job was never the same.    

9 hours ago, MrBlack said:

Didn't even recall those,  but do recall him falling apart when fans returned to stadiums, he lost the protection Jack Grealish offered, and scarpered the second someone supposedly better than him came to the club. 

Call it no bottle, call it Targett being a massive confidence player and having none left. Either way,  it's a bit weak willed and not something Gerrard has said he wants around the club. 

I was saying at the time of the WuFlu (to anyone who would listen and that isn't many to be fair ) that Targett's best form happening with empty stadiums wasn't a coincidence.  I like the bloke and he seems like a nice person, but I honestly think he's badly affected by the pressure of a negative crowd or even comment from a crowd.  He did well at Newcastle as he was loved there because he was a massive upgrade on what they had.  But I also remember his pre-covid season with us how many times he went off injured only to miraculously recover for the next match.  And in each case, we were losing and/or playing poorly when he went off.  Watford away this past season, the first match back with full crowds, he was absolutely woeful.... 

5 hours ago, kayarcee said:

I disagree with that; Clough was never quite the same after he fell out with Peter Taylor. Wenger never reached the same heights after Pat Rice left. Other side of the coin, yes, Ferguson was able to reshuffle with multiple assistants, as has been Mourinho. 

I think a coaching staff is similar to a team in that the combination has to be right.  Mourinho and Ferguson were/are adaptable and have that philosophy of change being good, whereas the Clough/Taylor thing was always about the balance - I think Taylor kept Clough grounded to a certain extent and you're right, he was never as good without Taylor.  Wenger replaced Rice with Bould because Arsenal couldn't defend and to be fair, Bould didn't make a whole lot of difference..... 

Gerrard strikes me as having a similar mindset to Mourinho in that he is the dominant character, while steering his staff where he wants them.  The difference, as Gerrard has correctly pointed out, is that, unlike a player who has played well into their mid 30's, Mourinho was ahead of the curve compared to other coaches of the same age due to not having much of a playing career.  

44 minutes ago, Lerner's Driver said:

He's being spoken about because he just said he would be happy to be a number 2 at a club like Villa or Arsenal because he could still mentor the younger number 1 at those clubs.

Agree re: Olsen, personally it irks me when a keeper doesn't dive and just watches a goal go in, even if it is true that he had no chance of reaching or stopping it. 

Ah, gotcha.  I didn't know that.  No-brainer to bring him in then if he wants to come.... This scenario made me think about Tom Heaton.  Did he play any minutes for ManUre this past season?