FLVillan

Wow, my mates goat was back after 4 weeks. Goat farmer physios need to be questioned here...

Yeah I know. I was trying to be funny..... should have put a smiley emoji in there...

100 million IS value for money for SJM. Or they can have Dougie for 180 million...

Detroit has a posh suburb?

These forums are my best connection to the club, to the normal fans. People ask me all the time if I miss living in England and my response is "only family and going down the Villa." I don't have much involvement on social media, too much nonsense and drama for me, but with a few exceptions these forums are just normal fans giving opinions and having some banter. Sort of reminds me of the walk back to the car after a match, listening to all the other fans around me as we made our way up the grassy hill past Aston Hall. And you're so engrossed in your conversation/rant/celebration that you slip on the wet grass and fall in to a pile of dog sh*t.

Whenever I get blank looks from Americans about the City of Birmingham, I ask them two questions: 1. Have you heard of the industrial revolution? 2. Which city in Europe has the most miles of canal?

I went to St Peter's catholic school in Solihull (I was the best footballer until bleedin' Grealish came along.... ) I always joked that there were 800 kids at the school and 799 were Irish or of Irish descent. I was the outlier....(my great-grandad escaped Lithuania before the Ruskies took hold). That 1994 World Cup Irish squad was brilliant for Villa fans....

And there was I thinking I was the only one who finds this bloke insufferably annoying. I actually think Dixon is quite a good co-commentator and do like the banter when he does games as part of a tandem with LeSaux. But Drury is a clown who spoils the match. He's getting worse as he gets older. One can only think it's because he thinks of himself as the show, not the game itself....

See your point, definitely not up there as an elite level player, but 302 goals and 58 assists in 760 career games isn't bad to be fair. And most of that for middling teams like Spuds, Wet Spam and Sunderland. Scored 140 for Spuds. Scored 20 in 57 for England. I think his biggest achievement was his longevity. Most strikers have a shelf life of 6-10 years whereas he kept his levels up well into his thirties.

Pros: Compressing the game means no opponent ever gets comfortable in possession in our half, and we never have long periods where we're chasing side to side and having our goal peppered from all angles. This means we finish games as strongly as we start them. When opponents do get in behind us they have to commit players from midfield to break the line, hence we can exploit the gaps they leave behind to devastating effect on the counter. Cons: It means we have to listen to numpties on the telly saying it's flawed whenever we concede. Ex-pros don't like it because they know it requires a high level of discipline.

Grew up in Solihull (surrounded by noses). Season ticket holder from 1972 to 1991 when I moved to the states. Have lived in Rhode Island, New York, Arizona and now Florida. Get to an average of one match a year at Villa Park, plus have been to every state-side match since we started coming over (New York to play Fiorentina). Favourite trip was a road trip to Montreal then Columbus, Ohio about 15 years ago. Got to meet most of the squad at a reception in Columbus. All family still in UK. Mom & Dad still living in the house I grew up in. Mom was born in Nechells - her family weren't really into football. Dad was born in Yardley, and his Dad was hardcore Villa. My grandad never talked about blues as a rival - it was Wolves and West Brom in his mind as blues were never at the same level...

At the start of the day, the four teams I mentioned were 1 or 2 points behind blouse. A win took them above them. Three of them did, taking the sty dwellers from 15th to 18th....

Similar survey for them would also be five choices: Yardley, Sheldon, Small Heath, Hay Mills or Acocks Green. Their international fans are in Chelmsley Wood, Marston Green and Stirchley. To be fair, more fans have participated in this survey that they get at the Sty each week...

Right then, just need wins for Watford, Norwich, Millwall and Plymouth to make it a beautiful start to the weekend...

I would have thought that the ball traveling 30 yards wide to Bailey with all of their team between him and the goal would surely be considered a new phase of play, as it cleared anyone in a direct goalscoring position and the defence had ample time to react/get behind the ball. If he had headed straight out to a Villa player who had popped it straight in to the goal, then same phase of play for sure, but 30 yards away and wide? AZ literally had 11 men between Bailey and the goal. Also, the moment the ball leaves Watkin's head the goalkeeper is falling back with one arm stretched out behind him (he can play the ball with that arm unlike an outfield player) so both he and the player on the line were technically keeping Bailey onside.... OK, I'll shut up now...

Just saw the highlights on YouTube (I was flying home from Alaska during match). How on God's Green Earth was that Lenglet goal disallowed? Bailey has the ball headed directly to him by the AZ player on the line. Not only was it "deliberately" played by the defender (he prevented a goal being scored), but said defender was on the flipping goal line. So not offside for two very clear and easy to see reasons. The mind boggles. An early goal for us would have completely changed the game. Of course, all the mainstream media idiots focus on is that our corner for the second goal shouldn't have been awarded. I hate the media. If that had been Citeh or the Dippers the match report would have been headlined "Justice Served on Night of VAR Drama."

If ever there was an indicator of why Unai bought Moreno it was this game. Moreno would have got the same amount of space, but would have drawn a defender out and picked a pass. Digne is a great crosser of the ball from deep/wide, but his final ball when going in behind a defence is not at the quality needed.

Nah, Cloughie would’ve driven Doug off a cliff and installed Steve Stride as Chairman…

Every single coach at every single level should be showing this picture to their team. Talk about discipline!

Rebuild the Witton Lane stand NOW if we can rename it.....

I think he will probably be seen as our best ever eventually, but winning a major trophy will be an essential component of that. Rimmer, in an age when English keepers were indisputably the best in the world, was absolutely magnificent for us and helped us win it all. It was only Shilton and Clemence that kept him out of the England team. The narrative around the European Cup final and Nigel getting all the attention forgets the fact that Jimmy Rimmer was absolutely magnificent throughout that season and the season before when we won the league, including the double-penalty-save away in the earlier rounds that got us to the final....

Not lost on me that one! Had a chat with my old man on the phone yesterday and he doesn't do well nowadays with his memory, but he had a good laugh about the Rimmer/Emi coincidence. To be fair to Arsenal they had replaced Jimmy with Pat Jennings, so you could see the reason, but I'm not putting Leno, Ramsdale or Raya in the same category as Jennings....

Cutler was a part of the process once they'd narrowed it down, but I think the interview with him (Cutler) made it look too much like he was the reason we signed him. From what I gathered they had a shortlist that included Emi, Butland and a couple more..... Cutler was definitely key to his development when he joined us, but Emi's distribution and tactical nous has improved ten-fold since Unai brought in his own GK coach. To think he was preceded by the likes of Nyland, Kalinic and zimmer-frame wielding Reina....

Ah yes, but to be fair, there was a lot more debate around Westwood. Everything from he's our version of Pirlo to he ain't fit to lace Gavin McCann's boots... Emi on the other hand has the thread united in the knowledge that he is really really good, just creates debate about just HOW really really good he is.... Rimmer still ranks as best-ever in my lifetime.... But Emi has overtaken all the others at this point for me, and he's in good company - Spink, Bosnich, Friedel....

Growing up I always wanted to wear number 3 when I played, no matter what position I was playing. It was because of Charlie Aitken. His name is and was synonymous with pure class and Aston Villa. May he Rest In Peace. The ultimate Holte Ender in the Sky.