il_serpente

Was at a Thai restaurant last night and had to try Chang beer after having seen it on Everton's shirt the past few years. Give me Singha any day...

Is that the Maine variety of oafishness? I always thought it had more to do with being taciturn (taciturnity? taciturnness?) My favorite (and only) Mainer joke: A rich Texan is driving down the highway in Maine and sees an old guy sitting on the porch of a small house. He asks him, "Is this your place?" "Yup." "How big is your property?" "'Bout 10 acres." The Texan says, "On my ranch back home I can get in my car in the morning and drive all day and I still won't be at the other end of my property." The Mainer says, "Yah, I had a car like that once."

Loudon Wainwright III wrote a great song about it, Cobwebs. Kinda spoiled part of what's cool about the song by telling you that, because he just sings about the word but never actually mentions it, so you have to figure out what it's about.

Would like the right back to also have some sort of end product when he's set free on the overlap. Even if Hutton were the best defender among the world's right backs I don't think I would have been able to bear watching him time after time picking up the ball on the run with acres of space and knowing it was going to result in f*** all in the end. I would also like the/a striker to be able to make good runs so he can receive the ball in a position from which he can demonstrate his ability to score. I suppose that would also require at least one midfielder who can win the ball and move it forward, either by carrying it or passing forward, without losing it. Come to think of it, I think we need a new team....

Actually, it will happen within 20 years and I can understand your concern for your kids, but they'll be working for me and I'll take good care of them. So don't worry. Can't make any promises about your grandkids, though...

Ginger pear martini. 2 parts Absolut Pears vodka, 1 part fresh lime juice, 1 part simple syrup. Press in a bunch of fresh ginger. Shake over ice. Sounds like a bit of a girly drink, I know, but it's incredibly refreshing. Goes down like lemonade, so have to be careful not to drink too much too fast.

A year or so ago he showed up on the sidewalk of our little downtown because there's a shop that sell old typewriters. He came upon some girl scouts selling cookies and bought a bunch and chatted and posed for pictures. By all accounts came across as a genuinely nice guy. I don't believe he was wearing any Villa gear, though.

That was equally Richards fault. He jogged back while Tadic ran right past him. The pass should never have been on for Long if Richards gave a shit.

Has anyone seen anything credible that the price is $75M? It seems to me that once the club's statement came out about Bernstein and King's resignation and mentioned Hollis being heavily involved in sales negotiations that some paper immediately speculated on a a price of $75M and everyone suddenly started repeating it as gospel. For that matter, we don't know if he was ever really asking $200M to begin with and lowered it to $150M. I think a lot of theories and scenarios are being laid out based on asking price being dropped from $150M to $75M and it's all speculation.

Wait, I'm confused. Is this the takeover thread or the takeaway thread?

Craig Gardner

Steven Wright did a joke about this years ago. Said he had a summer job teaching all the baby fish to turn at the same time.

My thoughts, too. Seems much more in keeping with what we've observed than the story about Garde pushing him back too soon. Why would he rush back someone he'd just dropped and make an example of.

Kind of like driving a new car off the lot and seeing it depreciate instantly. Once he became a Villa player as opposed to a hot prospect from Barca his value dropped and he needed to put in some pretty impressive performances in order for us just to be able to recoup what we spent for him. Unfortunately, we won't get back what we spent if we sell him because he hasn't done enough to make others see him as a collector's edition rather than a nearly new car with low miles.

That's why I chose the other one. That one just didn't sound like something the Bard would write.

There were just a few I couldn't get:

I used to play with/be taught by Chet Baker's girlfriend, Diane Vavra ~20 years ago. Her hearing was starting to fail and she had no health insurance or money to do anything about it. Quite sad.

Mods...link needs fixing. I clicked on "And in Today's News..." and ended up here in the Rogues Gallery....

Bacuna a is pants. Bring on Lyden. Let's see what he's got.

Gana's pass completion % must be around 20%

Only from reasonably literate, articulate people, which I think was the point of the comment.

Jermaine Jenas figures Adebayor will be a great signing for someone because he likes to go to the gym. But if the manager doesn't let him go to the gym he will be a terrible signing. Is there a good gym at Bodymoor Heath? Does Remi like watching buff men work out? Could Ade be the man to lift Villa out of the cellar? Linky Jermaine Jenas Exclusive: Adebayor could be one of the signings of the season Yahoo UK's global football ambassador Jermaine Jenas says former teammate Emmanuel Adebayor could be one of the signings of the season - if he gets the right manager Emmanuel Adebayor is being linked with several Premier League clubs this month, having been a free agent since his release by Tottenham in the summer. Although we barely played together at Spurs, mainly because I was injured, myself and Ade spent a season or so in the same squad at White Hart Lane so I got to him know him pretty well. The first thing I remember is being almost shocked by his work ethic - and not in the way some people might expect. I was recovering from a ruptured Achilles at the time. Most mornings I'd walk into the gym at about 9am and Ade would already be in there, going at it hard. He loved to spend time doing the power work that made him such a beast up front when he was on top of his game. And during that period, he was. The goals were flowing, the team was playing well and you wouldn't see a more happy, smiley player in your life. He'd turn up every day grinning from ear to ear, he'd have a laugh with the lads and he was a good trainer. That might like a surprising description to people now, because Adebayor's reputation has taken something of a battering in the years since - on and off the pitch. There's no denying he has his own particular issues, but there are two sides to every story. And in Adebayor's case, I feel the way his managers have handled him has always been a huge factor. During that time at Spurs, Harry Redknapp knew how to deal with Ade and the team reaped the benefits. But things changed when Andre Villas Boas came in. The club had built a state-of-the-art new training facility and AVB's attitude was that we should be using it. That meant his fitness team didn't want anyone in the gym - ever. It seemed a weird rule, but it was particularly unpalatable to Ade because he loved his gym work and AVB was essentially taking that away from him. It may seem like a relatively small thing, but for Adebayor these are the kinds of things that can completely change his outlook - and therefore his prospects - at a club. While some players would just do as their manager said, with Ade you could tell he was extremely annoyed about it. And that's when we started to see the other side of Ade. Personally, I had sympathy for him because every player knows how to get the best from themselves. Sometimes he would go against AVB's instructions and just go to the gym regardless, but that's when their relationship started to slide downhill more rapidly. The moment Adebayor is not playing, he has an issue with the person responsible. It's an ego thing. That then puts pressure on a manager to show his authority. And once Adebayor falls out with the manager, it's game over. There is no reconciling that situation. Despite this, Ade never caused problems in the changing room. He's not that type of person. But he would be very honest with the manager and the club if he wasn't happy, and that would start to show in his performances. At Tottenham he ended up being injured a lot of the time. Maybe it was legitimate, or maybe he was just downing tools. Either way, he's not a player who sees himself as someone who comes off the bench. He demands to be the top striker. You come across a lot of complex characters in the changing room with different requirements. Ade is the kind of player who needs his ego to be fed, and any manager who has done that has been rewarded with top performances. That's why, if I were a Premier League manager in need of goals this month, I would break the bank to get Adebayor for the next six months. And there are a lot of clubs that fall into that category: Crystal Palace, Man Utd, Norwich, Newcastle. These kinds of clubs could do a lot worse than signing Adebayor on a short-term deal. And for those near the bottom, he will almost guarantee you safety. There were reports in the summer that Aston Villa wanted Ade to take a pay cut to play for them, or that Spurs wanted him to write off some of the money on his contract. We don't know the full details, but you can't ever really expect a player to accept less money when they're entitled to more. Whatever your job is, you know your self-worth. And if you look at the situation Villa are in now, they would probably have been better off paying Adebayor whatever he wanted. However much it was, it will be chicken feed compared to the cost of relegation. Refusing to take a pay cut doesn't mean you don't love the game. Ade knows, when he's on his game, that he's one of the best strikers around and he feel he should be paid accordingly. Admittedly, Adebayor might want longer than a six-month contract, but those are the kind of deals that seem to get the best out of him. That and having a manager that understand him. When Tim Sherwood replaced AVB at Spurs he told Ade he was his number one striker and got him back playing well again. You almost just have to let Ade do what's best for him, and it takes a certain type of manager to do that. Mauricio Pochettino couldn't get Ade firing but I think by the end of his time at Tottenham, his confidence had taken a lot of knocks. His effort was there, but once the crowd started to turn on him, and with all the financial stories about him, it became more difficult. That's aside from other issues he had with his family. It was a tough time in his life - not just his career - and it all added up to poor performances. I can't completely defend Ade because you can't ignore that he has had problems wherever he has played, but I can only judge people as I see them. And while we were at Spurs, Ade was always a top guy. I think being away from the glare of the Premier League for the last six months will have reinvigorated him. Maybe it's even given him some space to reflect on the mistakes he's made, although we don't know what his exact mindset is. That's why it would be a gamble for a side to take him for longer than six months - but on a short-term deal, it's a no-brainer.

Talisker will cure almost anything (except drunkenness).

Even though Garde said he brought on Gestede at Newcastle mainly because the conditions suited direct play over keeping it on the floor, I think he may start here, if only because of the need for an aerial presence defending corners vs Carroll and Collins. Plus, we did seem to have some success with players getting on the end of his flick-ones.