blandy

That post is woefully inconsistent. The FFP rules are clear and documented. Villas financial accounts are a matter of public record, available on the Companies house website. That much is fact. Also fact is the reduced parachute money and reduced FFP loss allowance. From these facts it is inevitable that Villa has serious, serious issues with failing to meet FFP this season and this includes being able to afford signings. This is fact. It’s not from some ropy website like HITC. on the other hand, you have “belief” that our owners have a plan around FFP. I really hope they do, because we’re **** by it. We’re so far away from meeting the rules it’s laughable. What is your “belief” based on? Nothing more than some sort of vague notion that you hope they know what they’re doing, I’d wager, because that’s exactly my straw to clutch at. Sadly, the odds aren’t good in this area.

Turkey, yes. The US though...why?

It’s just....odd. The whole thing. There are many nations where journalists are murdered for opposing, or printing criticism of, or corruption of leaders etc. It mostly, sadly, goes little remarked upon. China, Russia, N.Korea, Iran, KSA, Syria, Turkey, Bulgaria, Mexico, India, Pakistan and more. Yet this time KSA does it and it’s covered in more detail, though perhaps more as a “mystery interest” thing than a murder of a critic. And as the Twitter says, KSA does other, worse, things and the media and the world sort of shrugs.

Are you thinking of a Mogwai video?

There was a limited edition clear vinyl, retailing for £3.85, available from good record shops - somewhere like the old Probe records in Liverpool would have been a good place for you to get a copy. ? must be be worth a good few quid now.

The state of our politics is dire. Surely US politics is even more screwed than the U.K.?

I know, I'm the same. When I was going through the heaps of programmes, I had to resist the temptation to just stop there and browse for a good while. Luckily they're sort of a bit organised so it didn't take long to get to what I was after. 'cus they're in in order and home and away are separate, the next one was a pre-season friendly sheet for Sparta Prague, then Sunderland in the league with Pics of the team doing the Lord Mayor thing in front of the town hall on the cover, holding the Cup. A lifetime ago, and a different world.

@John You win. It must have really hurt, missing that beer.

I shall seek out the programme from the cupboard in the spare room and return with evidence one way or t'other.

There' two different things. I don't think we'll get promoted this season. That's absolutely NOT the same as me saying or thinking "it's unreasonable to try or want to". It's my personal expectation (view) that we'll not make it. It is also my expectation (demand) that we damn well try. Bruce has neither fixed nor ruined us. In his first few weeks he sorted out a porous defence, got us steady. Then he got other coaches in, got players in by the load in the first January. Not much improved. Last season we started badly, got better - loads of team spirit and character, and then inexplicable capitulations and then just missing out through defensive football and a dodgy ref at Wembley. This season he screwed up royally with recruitment and departures, harmed team spirit and morale, and while trying to implement a new style of play got caught between two stools and also didn't know his best team - plot fully lost, really. So we're now a mid table team, with some real weaknesses and some major strengths, but IMO a team that lets in so many goals as we do will not get anywhere near going up. We have no decent goalkeeper, no decent left back, one centre half and a promising loanee. That just isn't promotion material. By all means aim to win the league, but realistically I don't remotely expect promotion, or being in the play off final.

What do you mean by that KHV? (genuinely curious) - 'cus Leeds and Man City have headed in different directions completely.

I think George Ramsey has now been dead for long enough that it's OK to say it, TRO

We're each different, but the way I look at things is different again. Now he's here, he deserves at least 2 seasons to work his magic and get the club promoted. Bruce, I said the same for (though I had zero faith or belief he'd succeed and I never wanted him here to start with). But basically any manager needs some time to implement their plans etc. DS is here, he deserves support and respect. I'd be surprised if we make the play-offs, really. I'm expecting the mix of a massively unbalanced squad and FFP realities (perhaps player sales in January) to put promotion out of reach this season. I think we're looking at 3 years, now for promotion - next season or the one after. Short term "get us up this season" stuff is dead, now, IMO. Its time has passed as a remotely viable way to proceed. Now it's got to be done properly and not be built on sand

Ah, Cliff's brother. That would make sense.

I went to that. Pretty sure it was a Saturday, though. Dennis Mortimer scored a screamer down the far end (North Stand). We strolled it.

Yeah, though I suppose there's hope that a new manager will allow him to regain confidence, concentration and competence. He was OK (no more) till he broke poor Osman's leg so badly, playing for Wales against Scotland. Been bobbins ever since.

There's always Americ....er, there's always Austral....Canada... cold though...um... New Zealand! Perfect...oh, you can't buy property to live in?...cripes, the numpties are really screwing you guys up. I guess you'll cope, Enda.

Ah, so we were violently agreeing And, er, I agree with the quote. I feel that getting better on the pitch will involve, likely, some iffy performances and results at some point, but that people will initially give DS time, particularly if they can see something taking shape. He's gonna struggle at times because of the saboltaged defence he's been left with - there's no instant fix for that, even with JT helping. I think people on here know that and understand and while no one likes losing, with decent backing of people at the club and supporters there is at last a potential longer term evolution possible, rather than short termism dominating.

Your man there, on the link He's a lifelong Oil industry bod. His opinion piece generalises and omits. He calls it "fact checking" but it doesn't do that. Nevertheless, in terms of the point made earlier - even if his biased opinion were true, it's still >80% of scientists in the field, yet in the general population it's much less.

He lived a long and privileged life. For those who have lost a father, husband, friend, mentor or someone they admired from a distance - condolences on your loss. He was innovative in one way - the first chairman to pay himself for running a club and one positive of him for me was that through opposition to the way he ran the club, I've made some enduring friendships, IRL and online, through the campaigns to encourage him to depart the club, so there's that.

or NASA https://climate.nasa.gov/causes/

No, That's not so. It's another example. It's nowhere near 20% disagreeing. Obviously different studies will throw up slightly different stats, but it's close to 97 or 98% https://www.skepticalscience.com/global-warming-scientific-consensus-advanced.htm Much more on link. Detailed methodology, explanations, all sorts.

I don't know what your point is here. Maybe you're just airing general observations, but you quoted me, so I'll try and address what you're saying in the context of what I wrote So again, progress wouldn't be relegation. Progress isn't = games won. Progress, as the club has needed for a long time is to develop an identity, a pattern of play that the players understand and buy into, that involves consistent training methods, set up for the modern game. It requires effective, clear tactics that the players buy in to. It's OK for mistakes to be made, if they're learnt from. Everyone makes mistakes. It's OK not to win every game. Progress is seeing young players come through and fit into and improve the team, rather than being sidelined. Progress is seeing signings actually suit the pattern of play and slot in to the system easily. Progress isn't buying or loaning loads of expensive midfielders or forwards and then having them sit out games because you've gone and got "want that one" from somewhere else, like a spoilt kid. Progress is finding signings that turn out to be bargains - like Bruce did with McGuinn. Not like he did with Lansbury or Hogan etc. Or like Timmy did with Micah. Surely you can see that we've got to end this ludicrous short-termism of wasting tons of money on "name signings" or "he played well against us". We have an U-23 side that plays one way and a first team that played a different way. Where's the sense in that. Having them all play the same way, that's progress because it allows players to move up and settle much better, already knowing where to be, what to do, where others will be. So to start with, for a period, winning won't be the be all and end all. Repairing the damage, sorting out the unbalanced squad and establishing some sort of progressive style of play, as opposed to "give it to Jack" would be a nice start. But I suspect you know all that, really.

Why do you even ask? did you not see the bit you quoted in bold - "if people see progress". Obviously, relegation would not be progress, it would be further regress. The point I'm making is for all the modern impatience that you rightly identify, I don't think that overall supporters are so binary that if they can see something taking shape, genuine steps in the right direction, they will give a degree of leeway to a manager. Of course they'll want to see the progress turn into results and it's not limitless, but managers get honeymoon periods, and ones that communicate, show they know where they're trying to go tend to be given longer ones than others who do the opposite. I can't believe that anyone sees it differently.

I know it's tongue in cheek, but this is the type of (on the face of it) false "confusion" that leads to people being so misinformed. The scientific community and responsible reporting does give the true picture, but it's easy to twist that and partially report and use it in a way to falsely discredit wind power.