blandy

Was I right or was I wrong?? You were broadly right - run of injury/off form players and we'd struggle. Guess what - Gabby, JPA, Hughes, Petrov!!..etc - off form. Laursen, Moore, Delaney - long term injuries...etc. Again, right - somewhere between top 4 and bottom 3 - mid table. We're 13th (not 14th). Mid table I said you may or may not want to see it, because to my mind we're where you said we'd be. So I kind of thought you'd like to see you were broadly right, but might not like to see that your expectations were somewhat lower than you appear to remember. Ok what's wrong with that its all true isn't it, and what I believed, in fact I still do, so why would I not want to look at it? Because you again seemed to be saying that >10th place for a couple of years would be a "revelation". i.e. don't expect too much too soon, despite MO'N and his 2 chums being a "proven act", but you seem now to be lambasting them for all kinds of "failue to meet expectations. That's the way it reads to me, anyway. I might be a little worried as we lie 14th and on the way downwards after having gained a new board, new manager, and having spent nigh on 20 million. 6-10 I wish and still have a little hope We're now 13th - pretty close to the 14th with a new manager, 12th with a new board, too, that I said, No?. MO'N sadly didn't get time to spend in the summer - OK Petrov was rushed through, but Milner went the other way (out). Check the comments on the Jan window in that thread. fetish? Are you sure?. You mentioned expectations people had, I thought I'd actually try and find out what they were. The threads are there for all to see, almost no-one expected more than mid table. So we're not falling way below expectations from the start of the season. Course they can. It's good to do so on the basis of evidence or argument. I quite like it when people say they've changed their minds, too. It happens rarely. It might be my engineering background, but I also like to check the "evidence" and logic, rather than go by emotional aspect, which change hugely after a win or two, or defeat or two. - Best ever/worst ever..etc. Anyway, I think our discussion may be sidetracking the thread. Sorry.

That's my point - no proof things will get worse, none they will get better. People reach a view on how they interpret the whole goings on at the club, on and off the pitch. That would depend on people's expectations. Our position now (13th) is pretty much in line with my pre-season prediction (apart from I thought we'd do better in one of the cups, though in my defence the draws were both as hard as you can get). So for me they are not worse than expected. A quick search of the archives reveals this thread and also this one. You may or may not wish to look at your own expectations from pre-season. From the same source that said he was off back up to Celtic? Genuine question - unattributed rumours are not always reliable. That's my view. They are not independent, but nowhere have I even hinted that I am unable to "diverge" the two. Fair enough. I don't agree. I don't think we have shown much progress, but I do nevertheless think we have made some progress, basically because the squad needed and still needs a good deal of surgery. We have just the foundations, really. I see them as having been shored up, but not yet really built upon. Fair enough, again.

Hard to say Al - I mean (in my perception) none are performing consistently badly. people may or may not have expected more from some or all of them, I don't know, but Petrov was taken out of the side when injured/struggling, and since coming back in he's been decent. Maloney isn't an automatic selection, Carew justifies his place easily, and Ashley Young has been mixed good and bad. Dropping him after what 4 or 5 games is it? some good some bad seems harsh. I can't really see how people conclude that he won't drop "his" signings, other than guesswork. I feel that MO'N is more inclined to give a player a run of games to show what he can do, rather than just one game, but that's not the same thing. Earlier in the season I'd have liked to see Steven Davis play in his proper position, when Petrov was playing with an injury. Currently I'd like to see Luke get a bit more time on the pitch, and Gabby a bit less, but having different views on who to play/not play in the team still doesn't constitute evidence of MO'N not dropping "his" players. Does it?

Different people will no doubt have different views as to how to implement it. Personally I like the idea a lot, as the re-arranged games can affect me quite badly. Again personally, I'd be happy to be "credited" with the "credit" going to the next season's season ticket purchase. I'm not rich, but having paid the money out at the start of a season, I consider it "gone" and for me, knowing that a re-arranged game at least means I will get my 25 quid (or whatever amount) back in the form of a discount off next season's season ticket (or perhaps just as credit to be used anywhere within the club - shop, travel, whatever) would be equally acceptable as a straight refund. There are obvious advantages in this for the club, too. It is really pleasing that the club is both listening and acting in this way. Thank you.

I pretty much agree with your assessment JC, though I thought the game was spoilt, too, by the wind. We were well organised, they were well organised, the game never got going. Barry, Gav, Bouma and Carew were all very good, Cahill good, too. Tommy's save at the end was superb reflexes. I think the ref was Mike Dean, and I thought he was pretty good, tbh. Maybe got the odd thing wrong, but that's just how it goes.

Equally, there's no proof that things won't be fine tomorrow. Why are people who think things might improve "fence sitting"? Surely some people are hopeful, based on what they see and some fearful based on how they see things. Neither is right or wrong, it's just a "feeling" each person will have. Some people's hope for improvement comes through in their style of posting, and some people's concern that things might not get better comes through in their style of writing. Both are entirely fair. I have as much trouble with "everything will be brilliant, we'll win the league next year, just, er, because we will and MO'N is brilliant" as I do with "everything is going wrong, MO'N is making a complete mess of it" Neither view stands up to scrutiny whatsoever. We all would. We all always will. We're all Villa fans. Frankly I have no idea whether we will do great, or carry on struggling. But I do know that now the whole club, including the vast, vast majority of the fans are for once united in trying to bring about improvement. Positivity has replaced the frustration and despair of the previous regime. It's a long time since that was the case. And as Pete Bosworth said, it's great. WE have a much better chance of improvement because everybody not only genuinely wants it, but because they are genuinely acting upon that aim. Whether it be fans supporting at matches, the baord providing money and facilities or players and manager doing the best they can. In some games it hasn't been enough, and that'll be the case for a good while, but lessons are being given, experience gained and if they are taken on board, I'd guess we'll be fine. Big changes are always disruptive and unsettling, it's when the dust has died down, that you can then get on with rebuilding. Once the rebuilding is done, then you can say "That's better" or "Oh, damn". work still in progress, methinks.

sums it up nicely, Pete.

A very welcome brief return from Pete Bosworth with a heartwarming tale of a conversion on the road to Bristol. The Holte End, Wednesday 14th March 2007. This is where I discovered the fundamental truth about today’s Aston Villa - the pride is back. No-one who was there could have failed to have been really moved by the Holte back into its glory, back into the way it was when I first fell in love with the Villa. The Holte was proud of its team, proud of the magnificent effort and commitment that was put in against a vastly superior team. The Holte didn’t give two figs for statistics, for League position, for the semantics of team selection. No, instead the Holte roared, sucking the ball towards the goalmouth in front of that mighty historic stand in a way that I haven’t witnessed in many a long and dire year as the young lads who wore the claret and blue fought for every ball, covered every blade of grass and gave everything they had and more for the cause. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up in sheer awe of that magnificent spectacle. There is nothing on this earth as beautiful as the Holte End like this, like 20,000 caged tigers, fierce, proud, unbelievably noisy. It was, quite literally, awesome. 20,000 fanatical Aston Villa supporters, supporting their team in the way their fathers and grandfathers did before them. I bet you could hear it at St Andrews. I can feel the fear from there already. They know what is coming for them next season. I had forgotten that this is what being a football supporter is all about. Roaring on MY team, on OUR home patch (yes, Villa Park actually felt like home for the first time since the ground was vandalized seven years ago) and feeling the pride, the sense of belonging, that sense of the Holte being one mighty organism, the love of the game, the love of the claret and blue. God I have missed that so badly. What a feeling to have it back again! My ten-year-old son had come along for a treat, to watch Arsenal. I wondered as he dozed in the car on the way home what he had made of that. Last night I found out. I went into his room, and he said “Look Dad”. There on the wall, replacing the posters of Ronaldinho and Totti, were posters of Gareth Barry, John Carew and Olof Mellberg. So my friends, before I leave you again, I will share this thought with you. You can take your grim statistics, your moaning and your grumbling and you can shove it where the sun doesn’t shine. THIS is football, this is what its all about - the passion, the belief, the faith, one little boy changing the posters in his bedroom 120 miles away from his new Mecca. You ask what Martin, the General and Randy have done for Aston Villa? This is what they have done. They have made Aston Villa into a football club again. Proud, loud and very much back. For that, I thank them from the bottom of my heart, a heart still filled with pride, with the hairs on my neck still standing on end when I think of Wednesday night, and my eyes still welling up a little at the thought of my little lad feeling it too. Thank You gentlemen, you have my 100% support, and as we say in our house: “Up the Villa!” Have fun, enjoy your football, and see you all again soon perhaps

I went to sheffield, and felt that frankly it's a game, (maybe like Donny, and Burnley and Sheff U in the cup under DO'L) that we might have lost if MO'N hadn't come in. It's an example, I think, of how things have changed. I said Villa were again obdurate in the face of the onslaught. Warms the cockles, after so many seasons of meek surrenders. in the linked report (also posted on VT) and while it may not be a sign of much, I do think it showed that things are improving, to an extent. Maybe only a little in terms of some results, but it's the getting beat easy thing that really got me down. We don't have that so much now. Little steps, maybe, but the ethos and mentality ingrained has to change, and it's signs of that change, even if not fully evident, that allow me to be optimistic, rather than to take the same view as perhaps Malc and yourself have. It's not a convincing argument, but then this isn't a debate about anything other than opinion and perception.

perhaps they can't see what you can?...or.... perhaps you can't see what "we" can? is it a case of "oh look my lad is the only one in step" (as the proud parent watches her army son march past on a parade? - are we all blinded similarly? The stats are well known, the results are poor. So why do people give MO'N "such an easy ride"? Perhaps we don't see MO'N as the weakest link, as you do? Perhaps we see that he's an asset to the club, albeit a human one, and that a team and squad that has struggled for ages and in which too many have an ingrained sense of inferiority, or who in many cases just lack quality or experience, or both, will take more turning round than is possible in a brief restricted week or two in August, and a January window. You said yourself at the start of the season that the squad was relegation zone standard, yet you don't see that as the weakest link? It lacks balance and stability and cohesion and understanding. The manager has to work to resolve these intangibles, and that means changing players round and finding out, all the while whilst paying mostly against settled and talented opposition, of a higher or equal standard. Far, far, too early in my book to be thinking of getting rid of the manager.

that's one point of view. And then the opposite point of view, in the same post. Most confusing. You appear to be calling your own reasonableness pathetic and beyond belief. They say a lot of people are their own harshest critics

I love these OBE reserve reports. Either the games are all exceptional, or OBE's a VT treasure.

Another top reserve offering by the intrepid OBE A young Villa side went down 2-1 to a hard working Watford in a tetchy encounter at the Bescot. After the last few weeks of stellar line-ups featuring players like Laursen, Angel, Moore, Hughes and Berger: tonight saw a reserves team made up of some of our younger players, with Osbourne the only player with any first team experience, and Stieber, Albrighton and O’Halloran leading the next generation. Sadly Adam McGurk was absent for what would have been an opportunity for 90 minutes. An early arrival at Bescot saw a very full car park, I thought for a moment the reserves bug had caught on. Alas, I think it was Bingo night at the social club as a crowd of around three hundred settled down for the evening’s entertainment. Looking around, it’s worrying to notice how many middle-aged men sitting on their own can mouth all the words to Shakira’s “Hips don’t lie” Watford have a decent hard working side whom it was apparent were a little older and physically a little more developed than our boys, and they started very well, so well in fact that I worried we might be overrun. Henderson didn’t do himself any favours by scuffing his first kick straight to a Watford player who hoofed over from thirty yards out. The longer the game wore on though, the better we got, settling down to play some pretty good football, particularly when Marc Albrighton had the ball. Buoyed by his recent England under 18’s call up, he produced a series of excellent crosses, which we might have done better with, and tormented Watford’s left back. The first period remained quiet though other than the occasional shout from Kevin McDonald at Yago Bellon, who looks the kind of youngster that needs a lot more stick than carrot. McDonald kept him on his toes throughout. The game sprang to life however when Lee Williamson, Watford’s combative blue booted midfielder landed a poor tackle on Steiber and picked up a booking. He’d been involved in running arguments with Isaiah Osbourne for most of the evening and it seemed his temper was starting to fray. It was no surprise then when two minutes later in an aerial challenge with Albrighton he thrust a hand into the Villa mans face. More of a surprise was that our referee, Miss Rayner failed to send him off, to be fair she was on the wrong side of the incident and received no help from a linesman who was only a few yards away, but tempers were fraying and it was no bad thing that the half time whistle was the next one blown. The second half was dominated by running skirmishes between Williamson and the Villa midfield, notably in a few scraps with Ozzy who more than held his own. Jonathon “Boss” Hogg was booked after clattering into him from behind, and Williamson should have been sent off after pushing Hogg to the ground towards the end. Unfortunately, whilst Villa’s youngsters were showing admirable pluck against their more developed counterparts, Al Bangura was quietly beginning to run the game, and it was he who opened the scoring from inside the box on 65 minutes after sloppy play from Hogg, Lund and Lowry had allowed Watford to break. A minute later, Isiah Osbourne caught one unlucky lad full in the face with a high boot, the noise could be heard all around the ground, and you won’t have heard a more resounding “Oooooh” outside of the some of the more specialised elements of the Swedish film industry. Thankfully, no damage done, but from the resulting free kick the ball fell again to Bangura whose weak shot seemed to take a bobble or a deflection before nestling into the bottom corner. In all honesty it was no less than he deserved. A toothless Villa were never likely to come back from that. Barry Bannan came on for Bellon with fifteen minutes to go and again showed why he’s a big favourite of mine. He’s four foot two and four foot of it is heart. He can play a bit too; he showed some good touches and brought plenty of energy to our attack. A push in the box allowed him to have his moment in the sun right before the final whistle as he calmly slotted home a spot kick, sending the keeper the wrong way. It was never going to be enough though, and while we gave it our best, we were ultimately beaten by a more experienced hard working Watford side with their fair share of talent in players like Bangura, Doyley and McNamee. There was no shame in this performance from our youngsters though. Some ratings: Henderson (7) – Started a little nervously, scuffing a kick, but didn’t do too much wrong after that. His handling was good; he showed good command of the area and made one very good save. He might be disappointed with the second Watford goal. Christopher Herd (5) – Struggled with the pace of McNamee, and seemed to get turned too easily. Worked hard though, and gave it his all. Eric Lund (6) - Equal parts good and bad, he’s big enough and a reasonable athlete, tackled and tracked men well at times but has a tendency to flap at the occasional ball. I think that’s something he’ll grow out of. Didn’t get forward much tonight. Shane Lowry and Stephen O’Halloran (7) – I thought both did pretty well, they’re tough uncompromising defenders who relished the physical parts of tonight’s encounter. Defended very well but didn’t add much when we had possession. Isiah Osbourne (7) – A Captains performance, after a comparatively quiet first half he got involved in everything and with everybody, driving through the midfield and tackling anything that moved. At times he looked as if he might lose his composure, and he occasionally looked like a man without a plan, but he certainly put in a days work. Marc Albrighton (7) – Started really well, bamboozling the Watford right back throughout the first half and producing some lovely balls into the box. Ran out of steam in the second half. Jonathon Hogg (5) – An unspectacular performance, he struggled to make his mark on Watford midfield two and was guilty of giving away the ball on a couple of occasions. Tobias Mikaelsson (6) – His height gave us a presence up front, but he didn’t threaten the Watford goal often enough. Still can’t figure him out, a bit like Chris Sutton without the aggression. Yago Bellon (5) – Not sure this is really his sort of game, and he never really got going down the left hand side. He’s definitely got ability, he just didn’t seem able to get involved enough to show it. Zoltan Steiber (6) – Perpetual motion from young Zoltan, his good movement and the occasional good cross or set piece meant that he was always involved, but his slight frame meant that he was reasonably easy for the defence to deal with. Ran his heart out for 90 minutes, and if he can keep his work rate and come back bigger next season he could be a cracker. Subs Barry Bannan (7) – Some excellent touches, never stopped running and judging by the reaction of his teammates he’s a popular lad around the club. He has no fear and happily took on Watford’s centre halves in the air and on the ground. He’s too big to be this small. Ciaran Clark (?) – Wasn’t on long enough to get a rating. (Unless he was the player fouled for our penalty, in which case; well done.) So, a defeat but lessons learned and confidence grown in young men with more than a smattering of talent, ability and pride. Your next chance to see them: 19th March 19:00 back at the Bescot.

Me too Hev. I haven't got my Blackburn ticket, either, yet. And in fact, (not that I mind) they are really breaking consumer law, or at least the spirit of it, in deducting the money from our credit cards and then not sending out the goods at that time. They took the 25 quid off me about 2 weeks ago, for Blackburn, for instance. They should NOT take the money until they send the tickets.

by avfcinwales A long time ago when I was pondering the thought that in 12 months time I would be sitting my GCSE's, having just sat through the mock exams to assess what I should take, I considered how I should branch out in the future. I mention this for two reasons, my youngest is about to sit his first set in June, they do some over two years these days, it seems, and is having similar thoughts. At the time my nan, bless her practical Irish soul, suggested I'd be better off worrying about not having a girlfriend and the lack of a job during the upcoming summer holidays, than how I would go in the future, as it didn't matter what I thought I'd end up doing - that was fated anyway. Its a philosophy I've lived by ever since but as a 15 year old with decent prospects ahead, I took advice from various educators, as to my prospects and options. In amongst those talks was a long, long chat with the Religious Instruction teacher ( that's what we called it back then). Now this guy was a remarkable man, retired military, Naval priest on board and active warship duty during the war as a young man. His view on God was years ahead of the time, and considering our Head Master was also a fire and brimstone man of the cloth, he taught Religion in an amazingly refreshing and I thought stimulating way. In conclusion he suggested that I joined a special teach in held at the Lichfield Diocese, he was a big mate of the Bishop at Lichfield and would be attending. Cutting a very long story short, I learnt much that summer, mainly because they ran a Rugby tournament for trainee priests and older priests and I was soon chosen as their fullback. At the end of the 4 weeks, I'd gained plenty of friends, could now easily hold my own on a Rugby field and had become more independent and questioning than ever I thought I could be. I was also told by the Bishop that I was a superb prospect who could make himself a big future within the Church, but only if I could find my calling. Well here I sit all these years later wondering why I never found it and why even though I did achieve the expected grades I avoided the 'arts' and went into the 'sciences'. Some preamble and if you are still with me, my point is that when Martin O'Neill joined the Villa, many fans as I saw it, received the call. Now as the season reaches its end, many that did are now questioning their faith. Many others have retained their belief, mind. I've always questioned my lack of belief in God, and I've done it time and time again I am a Villa fanatic and have been since before my GCSE studies - there isn't much you could question about my Villa faith apart of course my lack of fervour for some of its ministers. O'Neill for me was and still is a nice intelligent bloke with a good media manner, well liked in footballing circles who hadn't really achieved much other than prove he wasn't a fool as a manager. He'd been out of the game a long time, well out of the cut and thrust that the Premiership had become for 6 years and when he joined he brought with him the same coaching team he'd known and trusted, men who had similarly not been that active football wise for the same amount of time. I still think he can do a decent enough job mind, he's done a decent enough job in the background, probably a better job than many a better coach could have done, but eventually to maintain a Faith you need to see an increase in believers and to achieve that O'Neill needs to get his on the pitch success going. He never was the Messiah, but he is the leader of the Faithfull, the Villa Faithfull, maybe he time will come soon. Personally I'd like to see a sign, we have several games left before the season closes, the chances of a total collapse resulting in a surprise relegation are very slim, so lets see a more progressive attacking game and selection policy. Lets have an indication on the thoughts for next season, lets win a few games.

Just from my own perspective, some fans are disappointed that the fans don't sing a wider variation of songs. Personally I don't see it as a "club" thing. It's up to us lot. There's some suggestions that the club could print out "lyrics sheets" to songs that some of the fans don't remember or know, for whatever reason. Personally, I'm far from convinced it is a good idea, but that doesn't mean It isn't a good idea, just my opinion. I believe the fans have to be the originators, "teachers" and of course singers. More beer a winning side and it'll happen by itself. just one opinion of many, though, no doubt.

great minds, Bri. Just beat ya too it

This poll is prejudiced against us northern dwelling villans There's no gravy option! Mayo is a bit poncey - perhaps you could remove that from the list and put gravy instead?

Another storming reserve match report by OBE: Aston Villa 2 – West Ham 0 in an evening with much to please the eye for a Villa fan at the Bescot stadium. The reserves eh! That’s where kids get to cut their teeth against the occasional first teamer coming back from injury or the odd player struggling for form? No. 17 of the 22 players that started tonight’s game have started Premiership games this season. Our line up looked like it could have been a first team. Taylor, Hughes, Samuel, Osbourne, Ridgewell, Gardner, Davis, Angel and Moore were joined by the less familiar names of O’Halloran and Stieber. West Ham countered with a line up that featured former Walsall favourite Jimmy Walker back at his old stomping ground and big name signings Lois Boa Morte and Kepa Blanco, plus occasional first teamers Mullins, Pantsil, and Newton. We lined up in a 3-5-2 formation with a back three of Ridgewell on the left, Samuel in the centre and O’Halloran on the right and Zoltan Stieber and Aaron Hughes as wing backs. West Ham played in black, and it didn’t take tonight’s canny referee more than a few minutes to notice. The fourth official delivered a shiny green shirt from the dressing room about five minutes in. The fourth official by the way was a young lady with hooped earrings, a big mop of permed black hair and a very shiny pair of shoes. I think they dragged her from outside the off licence. Villa started very brightly indeed, Angel and Moore linking up very well and the midfield charging forward to join in. An early chance created for Hughes the result of some particularly good work. After the resulting corner the lively Stieber produced a tempting cross, which Hughes planted firmly behind Walker for our first goal. Poor Jimmy looked like it was all coming back to him. Villa continued to create chances, Gardner coming closest with a well-placed twenty-five yard free kick a whisker wide. Half way through the first half though we seemed to run out of steam, and West Ham increasingly came into the game without really creating any decent chances against a solid back line, Ridgewell in particular allowing nothing to pass. There was enough to put a little concern into the crowd of 287 at the half time interval though. Villa began again brightly without ever reaching the same level of dominance as in the early part of the first half, and it was West Hams Kepa who had the best chance, forcing an excellent save from Taylor. The referee who’d been excellent in the first half decided to change his ways in the second half with a series of confusing decisions. Electing to ignore a clear penalty when Moore was fouled in the box being the worst of a series of incidents. Villa got the goal our second half performance deserved following good work from Craig Gardner who squared for Moore, eight yards out. Luke performed a short but hypnotic dance that left young James Tomkins bewildered and on his backside and Jimmy Walker hypnotised and rooted to the spot before poking home into a gaping net. From then on in, Villa looked a bit more comfortable, the excellent Ridgewell hit the bar on one of his pirate raids after some great interplay with Gardner. Young Luca Ridgewell sitting behind me looked suitably impressed and didn’t cry once. A shocking high two footed lunge from sixty grand a week Portuguese megastar Luis Boa Morte on Hughes looked worthy of a red but only resulted in yellow. Moore and Angel were replaced with about ten minutes left and despite some good stuff from Steiber (now playing up front) West Ham relaxed and created a number of late chances but Taylor remained staunch. And that was it, to be honest it wasn’t the greatest spectacle, but Villa played some good stuff and thoroughly deserved our victory. Some ratings; Taylor (8 ) – A couple of very good saves, and a commanding performance, never looked anything less than composed and in control. Shouting was excellent as ever, and one particularly loud cry of “keep the f***ing ball” will have had concerned parents closing windows and turning up the telly for miles around. Hughes (7) – Started very well, looked dangerous going forward and scored a good goal. As the game went on he became more withdrawn, I think his lack of games started to tell. Samuel (7) – Defended well and seems an effective enough centre back without ever really dominating. A better organiser than I had him down as. Ridgewell (9) – My man of the match, looked solid at the back, put in some great tackles, and had the beating of Kepa in the air. Showed his pace at times and got forward well, making a couple of great rampaging runs through the midfield, the second of which resulted in his hitting the bar. Osbourne (6) – High energy and good effort from Ozzy but he gave the ball away a bit too much for my liking tonight. He tended to go and get it back again, but that’s not really the point. Lacked a killer pass. Stephen O’Halloran (7) – At times it was like having a Ridgewell either side of Samuel tonight, he looked solid and his distribution was better than in other games I’ve seen him in. As good a game as I’ve seen him have. Craig Gardner (8 ) – For me the best of our three young midfielders on the night, was involved in everything good we did, was a threat from dead balls and when joining the attack, and proved that he’s not about to back out of any tackle. Steven Davis (6) – Worked hard but nothing really seemed to come off for him, he looks like his lack of matches has thrown his timing a bit and I think another couple of reserve outings will do him good. Juan Pablo Angel (7) – Looked sharper and his work rate was excellent. His link play was exemplary, just a shame he couldn’t get onto the end of anything. A thoroughly decent display overall. Luke Moore (7) – A decent performance, with occasional flashes of brilliance. Comes alive with the ball and should have had a penalty. His shimmy, shuffle and slide for his goal was a class above most anything else on the pitch. Zoltan Steiber (7) – A lively performance from young Zoltan, he was full of energy but didn’t seem to be able to dominate his area of the pitch. He has excellent feet, a good football brain and his delivery from open play was excellent. His set pieces were poor though and there’s work still to be done. Could be pushing for a go in the first team this time next year if his development continues. None of the subs were really on long enough for a rating. And that was that. A comfortable 2-0 win for our strong reserve side over their strong reserve side. It can’t be easy being a West Ham fan. Next up Watford at Bescot again on the 12th March.

Spot on, Al. Nice one Michelsen.

It's perhaps not the fashionable thing to say, but I'm going to say it nonetheless. London - Brilliant! A couple of days spent down in and around our capital village included a trip to Craven Cottage, yesterday, to see the Villa play. The game was "unremarkable" but the weekend was excellent, here's why: - Because I was working near London on Friday, I decided to stop down on Friday, rather than return to my Northern Eyrie and then travel back down on Saturday at daft o'clock. It turned out to be a good decision, not just because I got a lie in and a leisurely breakfast, but because it allowed me to be impressed by our capital city and the people who live there. The train in to the centre gave me views, through the friday rain, of various landmarks and points of interest - Battersea Power station, still missing it's large inflatable pig, the millenium wheel, that Gerkin shaped building in the distance and so on - a sense of the size of the place was transferred to my weekend-ready brain. Stopping at Putney Bridge for the night meant only a shortish walk to the ground and plenty of pubs and life to explore on the friday evening. So I did. It was dark, wet and cold, but the pubs were welcoming and warm, and the beer, mostly Fullers London Pride, was excellent, if a tad costly. The 8 Bells, the Golden Lion, the Old Spotted horse and a couple of others were part of my route. The locals were friendly and the weather forecast for saturday promised an end to the rain. Saturday morning and a walk to a cafe for a sausage butty and mug of tea, or to be more accurate a sausage and plum tomato baguette and pot of tea. Very nice, but 6 quid!. The french staff were a surprise, but like the asian staff in the hotel and the polish shopkeeper in the newsagent they were enthusiastic and friendly, rather than sullen. Walking off the calories and beer in the morning sun, I wandered around by the river. Joggers with their earphones and sweatbands plodded past, rowing eights with their coaches megaphoning instructions from motorboats flottila'd at regular intervals up and down the Thames. All that exercise made me thirsty, so I wandered on up to the pub, the Old Spotted Horse, again. A couple of very amenable hours were spent chatting away to Paulo, Nigel and a small horde of london based Villans, plus people down from Brum. There was a match on the box, but no one paid much notice. The Bombadier Ale was most excellent. Another walk, back across the river, down the towpath and Craven Cottage was reached, nestled up against the river and amongst the posh houses and flats. It's a little treasure of a ground, with a cottage in the corner next to the neutral and away fans and the old stand on our right. Lovely. There's a few executive boxes tagged on to the edges of the home "end" and a bit of structural tarting up has been done to the seating arrangements, but it's still like a "proper" old English football ground. Long may it remain so. Readers may have detected a lot of waffle and not a word about the game itself. Well now's the moment for that word. "Mediocre". It let the weekend down a bit, did the game. And it down let the fans, crammed into every seat as we were. There were plenty of Villans there, too. Villa attacking us lot scored first, to much delight, John Carew just prodding home Gareth Barry's neat pass. Fulham had previously hit the post down the far end, and took only a minute or so to equalise. A free kick crossed in, Bocanegra (the announcer said) unmarked, ran in to head easily into the goal. One of Petrov, Mellberg or Bardsley was presumably meant to be marking him, but, well, they weren't. Fulham had the best of the rest of the game, perhaps, but not markedly so. The ref was inconsistent, like the game. The pitch looked bumpy and uneven, and only Gareth Barry stood out, for me. Easily our best player, again, though Carew did well, too. Mellberg defended solidly, though Radzinski caused him some trouble. Laursen did his knee and went off to be replaced by Gary Cahill. The poor bloke just has no luck, does he? The last 5 minutes, plus 4 minutes of stoppage time, saw Villa have a good spell of attacking pressure, but a win for either side would have been unjust. We looked, I thought, not cohesive and a bit unbalanced as a team. We seemd more weighted to the left side, until late changes in the second half. Definitely a "work in progress". Writing this on Sunday morning, after eventually getting back home about midnight, my abiding impression is of how much I liked London and the people who live there. I even saw a drive by shouting on Putney high street - 2 red-bus drivers, going in opposite directions have a ding-dong, with gestures and everything, out of their cab windows. Wow. London rocks! Marks: Tommy - 6. One horrible miskick aside, he was solid. Bardsley - 5. Did his job. Bouma - 6. Looked the business. Olly - 7. Led the defence well. Martin "crazy horse" Laursen -5 and a knee injury (sub Gary Cahill 6). Stan Petrov - had a decent game, happily, 6 Gav - did the Gav thing - 6 Gareth Barry - MoTM 8. Quality play from the skipper. Shaun Maloney - 6.5 - lively, I thought. (Sub Gabby - 5) Ashley Young - 4. Started wide, moved to the middle when Gabby came on, largely invisible. John Carew - 7. Big, strong, quick-ish. Scored, made the defenders work hard. Well played. It was always going to be a draw. Craven Cottage is a good draw.

Yes TRL (er, ...if I get my way)

Quality Those keys you were looking for earlier - the CCTV pics show them to be under the Jan '07 "New Statesman", next to yesterday's Guardian, by your Computer, Gringo.

Exactly right on both counts. It might not be a prominent "feature" of how football or life is reported or percieved generally, but integrity cannot be bought, it's priceless. Honourable behaviour can't be purchased, or set against the balance sheet. Integrity is an intrinsic virtue and is invaluable. It's an advantage, too should "we" have it and others not. You can only lose it once, too. So look after it. 6 months into a long and fruitful (hopefully) journey, is not the time or the place to throw it away, if there ever is a place...

Another excellent OBE article. I've only been in the stand a few times, but it's worth mentioning that while the view is good from the upper part, the legroom is poor, the internal facilities and concourse are very cramped. There's also little sense of atmosphere up there, partly becuase when you are sat up there, you feel disconnected from the rest of the ground. Inside the stand, it's reasonable well appointed, but definitely dated in places, perhaps like an elderly person's home - clean, tidy, looked after, but not somewhere you'd really recommend. The lift is ancient and slow, the conference rooms a bit cheap and nasty - wooden surrounds bolted round 1980s Black Korean TVs just don't look right.