Malachite

I am sure you mean Thatcher. But lets be honest as a country our manufacturing industry has/had been **** for most of the 20Th century. You can blame a lot of people and events for that; wars, and the utter stupidity of all political parties. There is a lot of reason why manufacturing failed in the UK none more so than a lack of investment and modernization, the ability for owners of small manufacturing to raise capital through banks, banks and government that never put in place the kind of advantages that our European neighbours have enjoyed for generations, being able to borrow to advance there business, Gordon Brown spoke of Regional development loans/grants to be made available to business, they have been about for the last 30 years or so, anybody on here tried to get one, because if they have they will know just how austere and how expensive they are. Compare that with our counterparts in France and Germany, I have friends in business who refuse to deal with British banks, they deal with Dutch and German banks because they understand the nature of lending to business, as for the Chinese its laughable, I know an engineer up in B'ham who is permanently employed by asset strippers dismantling heavy capital equipment and machinery, that's been bolted to the floor for the last 40years up in places like cheapside, from perfectly good business that went under for all kinds of reasons, mainly because of lack of funding and cash flow, now been crated and shipped out to China, he then goes out there to meet it at the other end under strict instruction to reassemble on new factory floors in exactly the same manufacturing process and layout as it was 2 months earlier in the UK......They then start making again ( in this case Taps and fittings) and sell the stuff to the UK for half the price because its o heavily government funded by the Chinese government. point I'm making is we can back our banks but we can never back the true wealth creators of the UK.

drat01: I completely agree, Thatcher destroyed ruthlessly what is the spine of the UK economy, it ability to make things, the point is it needed to be said, it needs to be looked at and it needs to be addressed, regardless of how much spin Cameron puts on it and how genuine Cameron is about that point the statement he made is bang on. Fact is untill we start making things again in the UK i just can't see how we will ever get straight.

Having watched last night I'm still undecided although for the first time Cameron made comments that i know a huge amount of business people will latch onto and be aware of, in his opener he commented on the fact that the UK has to start making things again, being a nation of shopkeepers and office workers is not going to do it ( I'm amazed its taken this long for someone to realise this) and we need to break this dependency on China, that's because we are importing vast amounts of crap that we can no longer afford and its effecting everything we do. A lot of business people in this country will tell you unless we start manufacturing, making things particularly area's like Bham, then selling those products abroad and converting to hard currency for the benefit for the UK we will sink lower and lower, being a nation of call centres and retailers, retailers who don't even support there UK based manufacturers within there buying remit, (BHS, M&S and many others) i just can't see how we will get this debt paid back. So when he made that kind of remark, that very slightly swayed me towards him and i know a lot of people in manufacturing that would be fully switched on by that remark and see that remark as good common sense. he made an excellent point for business. Still undecided, and have to say as with other elections losing interest some what.

I tell you whats beginning to bother me, not the coming election and who will you etc, its the noises that are coming out with great regularity about the mess we are in and the impending doom that's apparently going to overtake the country once this election is over, the fact that this is common knowledge to people like the governor of the bank of England and yet there is no mention of this in anybodies manifesto, quite honestly if we are facing a rough time of cut backs and general hardship then i would prefer they just come out and say it.........Now, not later when there will be obvious accusations of lies and misleading the country.IMO.

Will be tough, i think we have to win the midfield battle. Thinking back to the win we had over them last season (Gabby hat trick), although that was a very different Man City side we still had to win the midfield and went 4-5-1 to do it i believe.

8) Take 3 aspirin and go and lay down in a darkened room until kick of, dream the dream of heroes and fantastic goals from Gabby Agbonlahor and watching Villa play the likes of Barca next season :winkold: in the Champions League.

Europa League is already confirmed. Another notch on the bed post then

Well this is it, we build up to one of the biggest games since we played the Noses at Villa park, this is huge, sorry i got distracted there, this is a massive game and i really do feel if we go about this the right way we can at least confirm our place in the Europa League, enough of that though because the CL is still within our sights, we can do this. The lads must be prepared.

Demitri_C. Well said.

Kurtismonw: Agree, I'm sure there are photo's on here showing the tackle, the defender, Johnson, his effort was that poor his legs are like scissors, North and South we used to call it when i played, all around Gabby, Gabby was going nowhere after that, so absolutely a penalty.

Thought the press interview with sky by Johnson was a complete and utter disgrace, i don't ever ever recall hearing a player so outwardly sarcastic about a Premiership manager, what a complete and total clearing in the woods of a gobsh*te, i really mean that, claiming MON should know the rules, MON should apologies or Gabby should apologies,!!!!!!!!for what, it was a penalty that's it, how many decisions have Villa had ruled out this season, did we see Gabby Agbonlahor going in front of cameras after the final and saying Fergie should know the rules and Man Utd should apologies, of course not Gabby has a far superior mind set and knows his job which is why he shat all over that prat, fact is because he's a crap defender pure desperation led him to do a sliding tackle in the penalty box against a player like Gabby you will come unstuck, ask Vidic, Gallas and many others. Guys a disgrace and he should come back out in front of the sky cameras and apologies for his flabby mouth. Furthermore I really think sky sports news desk need to get there house in order, the amount of negativity spewing from them since the game regarding Villa, particularly the one fella, looks a right mummies boy, don't know his name but one of the motley crew, and the strange thing is there was just a contentious penalty and throw-in in the Everton game with nothing like the b*ll*x going on. Great win, good performance from Friedal Gabby and Milner.

Great result, fantastic result, Friedal was massive 2nd half and Gabby, what can you say, again he pulls something out the bag that gives us the 3pts, can't emphasis that enough, Capello watching that, if you can't see enough in Gabbys game to include him in the England squad ( he phucking wins games mate) then i have no respect whatsoever for the man. As for the bleating by the pundits about the penalty, 2 things, 1 he was still going forward, he was still in with a chance of a goal, 2 and a big 2, its about time Gabby did get the rub, ( what a pity Gabby doesn't take penalties, like Rooney and Defoe etc, his goal tally would be way over 20 by now) because he's been denied quite a few crucial ones including the Cheslea semi, including the League Cup final where Vidic should have gone of, so IMO about time. We will need to be a lot better than that v Man City, however you can only respond to the 11 in front of you. Great game we now are joint 4th.................all to play for.

Think we really have to step up a level here, very difficult but try and play above the derby thing where anything can happen, Villa have bigger fish to fry than Birmingham City, I definitely wouldn't say its not possible for Spurs and Man City to slip up from what was on show today, so Villa have to get the 3, and we can't get in any rucks, so a clinical but absolute win will be perfect IMO. Perhaps Gabby is just honing in again on his goals tally, he still has another 4 to get so a couple tomorrow will do fine and he usually does shine v the Noses.

I've seen about 6 polls .. some have a tie with Clegg and Cameron , Some say Clegg won , some say Cameron won ..I know Murdoch has some media influence but I don't believe he controls the whole world just yet I've not looked at the Mirror but I can be assured they will say Cameron came last by a country mile .. should they be investigated as well ?? or is it only papers that showed Cameron winning that must be investigated ?? Tonyh29: I agree the Mirror is just as much a rag but Murdoch is well known to influence party politics here and in Australia, and i find it just a tad treacherous that a very wealthy foreigner influencing British Politics in such a damming way as Murdoch does, but maybe thats just me and it being St Georges day :winkold:

I don't think you will find anyone that hasn't said that recovery from the problems wont be a slow process, but recovery is happening. Its now what cuts you think will have an impact it would seem. If a hung parliament is what we get then so be it and it will be a true test of political aims for the benefit of the country rather than self service power aspirations that will show through. PR is still the fairest way of voting drat01: Really couldn't give a damm what the BBC say and if we are heading back down from 0.4% to 0.2% then the direction is heading back into the direction of recession, (albeit 0.2% is technically not recession, if you believe that) and if you speak to as many people in business across the whole UK as i do then you would know that most people still think the country is well and truly phucked, and that the best measure of anything are people out there trying to create the nations wealth not people crunching figures behind a computer screen. This recovery is scarilly weak, and its possible when they update these figures which they will do twice it could show we are in recession as it could show better growth.

The way i look at it is, if David Cameron won that last night on " Passion", i am so passionate its untrue. However.....Romantic, doesn't that come down to the womans perspective of how she wants to be romanced and how she see's it maybe. :!:

Kidlewis: GDP figures show today that the country is heading back into recession, we are downgraded to 0.2% today from 0.4% on the previous quarter, yes I know what the comments are going to be to that, as all my business contacts have said, "we are still deep in recession", and we all know how adept this country is at massaging figure for gain rather then saying it how it is, so a coalition government as in wartime as in the case of the strongest nation in Europe at this time Germany has, would probably be the best thing, and these blokes will have to learn to get on with it for the good of the country bearing in mind the crap we are in. For me the problem with a hung parliament is that when you look at Cameron and Brown they seem so transfixed on there own ego's that to be compatible with anybody else and make it work seems impossible, on that basis i may be inclined to give Clegg the nudge, but then i live in an area which is and has been for a long time Democrat.

Watched last night and it looked like a re-run of last week, there was no way Clegg would have the impact he did last week so he was always going to find it difficult in that respect coming of such a high. Brown looked to me like the olld war horse, portraying this forget what i look like forget what you think of me judge me on my performance thus far, which i thought was a major gamble, is opener being " if your looking for style of substance count me out" leaving me to say " **** of then". Cameron i find in all honesty laughable, everytime i look at him i see this plump face kid, school cap, blazer with braiding and short trousers of to private school, saying "mummy i want". As for Clegg, bearing in mind the whole notion of this live debate is about 3 men presenting themselves in front of camera and convincing an audience of millions that i am the one, i am the strong one that can save you, you can trust me, you can believe me, its always was going to be about presentation over substance because its visual, Clegg wins this by a million miles, his persona, when he snaps on a particular point as he did last night at both Brown and Cameron the pair disappeared up there own dust hole, if i where voting purely on the man and not on the party there would be no competition, Clegg looks mighty in comparison to the aged Brown and the weasley Cameron, who frankly when hes making a point always looks like he's pleading to me. How Murdoch gets away with spouting the utter crap he does is beyond me, i have seen the front of the Sun, would never buy the rubbish, but to claim Cameron won it is hilarious, i'd love someone to investigate that. Overall i thought Clegg won, not by as much as last week but we are all over the shock factor that we have a politician that actually seems like a leader and is forceful and strongish, thought Brown was a lot better than last week, but brown will never win this kind of thing, if for nothing else then because he is the current Prime Minister and the one thing coming over in all of this is the fact people want change. Cameron, i feel a tad sorry for the guy, he comes on the back of ex party leaders like Hague and Ian Dunken Smith etc, all highly forgettable and very limp wristed, i just can't see why anybody would vote Cameron as a leader of a nation although i understand why people would vote Tory if that's what they vote. Clegg by some way, not as much as last week though. IMO.

It makes me think we could bring in another quick short striker to play alongside him rather than playing him alongside a target man, when he can do that role himself. Spot on, I've been banging on about Gabby since his debut v Everton much to the annoyance of my Villa mates who only recently started to rate him. For me when you look at Gabby you have to throw the Manuel out the window, he's a different kind of player altogether, a team has to be able to afford him and it can be expensive, by afford i mean you have to take on board the fact that there are times when he will play a ball that you know a kid in the street aged 5 would do with more skill and accuracy, then out the blue comes something incredible, the goal last night, how many times this season have we seen Gabby move at speed into that precise position and bang it straight at the keeper, twice to my knowledge, last night his balance in moving the ball and turning on the ball in one movement, then looking up seeing 2 Hull defenders on the line plus a keeper, sweeps the ball up and over and into the far corner of the net with great accuracy, absolute class IMO a goal that even Messi would be proud of. Said this before we have some great players in Milner, Ash Young and co at Villa, for me Gabby Agbonlahor is the man, when he's up for it the whole team are on fire, you can tangibly see the differance when Gabby is on a downer, IMO if Young and Milner are worth the kind of money being touted then Gabby is worth a lot more, wonderful player and at his age and rate he will be a Villa legend on a huge scale. There is no question he should be up alongside Rooney and Defoe For England, but we all know he won't be.

Kiddybloke: Unlike me i would have to go with the media Awful...............don't get that, we controlled a game at a difficult ground where the opposition have a good record, they where playing for there Premeirship survival, and yes they had a chance but that happens in every game, fact is we where dominant and composed and we didn't fade which we have become known for. Another point is Villa are coming back from sh*tty disappointments, crap Refs that have cost us a final and a semi to a degree, but the lads look as though they are bouncing back. Can see what the media are on about IMO.

youve said it all - coupled with good cup runs shows we are progressing and becoming a force once again. just need to ensure the team is competitive next season. i wd love to finish above man city spurs and liverpool though this year! well weve put ourselves back in the mix. Yep we are just on the cusp, kept my thoughts to myself but thought if we had have lost that game tonight, that's it, we didn't, we got 3 extremely valuable and defining 3pts tonight, so much so that if we did get 4th place i would say this game was the real defining moment in what was a very controlled game for Villa, highly professional in doing enough to get 2 goals and setting us up for Blues. IF, Spurs and Man City lose and IMO that's likely, If we beat B'ham and we have everything to fight for to do that, the Man City game will become the biggest Villa game in recent history a real epoch of a game, what an end to a season.

Excellent result against a team that don't roll over at home, so 3 points short of Spurs I think, if they and Man City lose at the weekend and we beat B'ham. A couple of players lacking but overall and for this time in the season thought we grinded that out really well and it was brilliant to see the lads no fade towards the end, we where still hunting the goal right into injury time, so we may just be have a late burst just at the right time. Great result.

im only listening to it as im at work and they dont allow video's but we sounded awful for 25mins, fagan and mcshane need to cool it, they always are too hot headed for my liking and always look like getting sent off. couldnt believe we missed the chances in front of goal. need to go 4-4-2 to try and get something Bang on mate, Fagan's a loose cannon in this mood and he's not doing his fellow players any favours whatsoever, he needs to focus and we need to give him a good rap across the ankles, yes please Mr Dunne.

Ref needs to get hold of this game, lots of afters, think as the game goes on the tackles could become even more reckless, the sooner we get another and kill them of the better. Downing absent again. Carew needs to put more effort in. IMO, we are doing OK against a side that have decided that the physical side of the game is preferential to trying to play football. Gabby with a very sweet goal, he needs another tonight, that will do nicely.

Fonz and Gabby to start, rip em to shreds, bin em, blast em, send them to the Championship. ............but we must win.