gilbertoAVFC

The player won't be back until the start of July in any case, so what is the problem if he doesn't join until then?

What defines a 'safe' appointment? Seriously how can people be getting annoyed so much about an appointment of somebody who has a track record of doing very well wherever he has been? He will have better players and more money than he did at both Fulham and Blackburn and has done very well at both of them. He turned Santa Cruz into a world-beater, he made Ireland into a world beater! You'd surely go for a proven British manager who inherits a British-based squad rather than a manager such as Benitez or Jol who are completely unpredictable and will no doubt overhaul the squad with hit-and-miss foreign players. It shows the ambition to rebuild after a tumultuous season instead of gambling even more on eccentric replacement for Houllier. Think Ancellotti would come here when he could hang around in Lake Como until the Juve job becomes available? Seriously get real.

Just in case nobody has mentioned this, didn't Stephen Ireland have that so-often-cited brilliant season at City under Hughes - one of the few people in football that appears to be able to understand that bloke. It'll be like a new signing. Also, Shay Given... I like Hughes, wherever he's gone he has brought stability and steadily built a very capable squad and did not deserve the sack at City other than for not being famous enough. Hey, he's even made Sidwell look good (according to my mate he's been one of their best players in the second half of the season) - that alone should surely get him the job

Dunno if anybody else has mentioned it on here, but 'Die Welle' ('The Wave') is currently on iPlayer and is bloody good, definitely worth it if you get a chance.

Didn't Moyes once say something along the lines of "I'd rather jump in a fire than manage Villa"? Can't find the quote but it was something like that.

And to think ITV still persist on showing it in slow-motion from seventeen different camera angles. Possibly the most embarrassing video in football.

Gary McAllister is beyond words. One change from Albion that was forced?! Same formation, same personnel. Utter joke. I don't think I've ever felt so depressed about Villa as I did yesterday, not even in the DOL days, because at least we knew our squad was shit. Absolutely no life in the game whatsoever and no desire to change that by any of the players or those on the sideline.

Yeah the atmosphere wasn't great for 80 mins, but then again, what was there to shout about with such a load of dross on the pitch? Summed up by those under 10s in the Trinity yes. Having said that, when the whole ground launched into 'Villa 'til I die' it was **** brilliant. What a perfect way to tell GMac that we are the only permanent members of Aston Villa Football Club and arrogant, tactically-woeful staff such as himself are not. Wish I recorded it, the only highlight of an abysmal match.

he can't control the manager's team selection though Yes he can. I think Houllier has more than shown the squad that if they work hard enough and perform in training and when given the chance, they will get a game. I'd like to see Delfouneso in action more next season, but he has to earn that on merit. To say he is better than Vela is quite astounding, considering Vela has thirty-five caps as a full international for a team that did themselves no harm at the last World Cup. Delfouneso on the other hand, has done extremely little for Burnley. I don't want to write him off at all, just please stop exaggerating your opinion so much that it discredits it. To say he is better than Vela is just not the case.

It is lads. Were together two years but going to uni kind of messed things up - just worked through it! And yes, we're taking over.

Broke-up with my girlfriend last October, and am now properly back with her after a five month on-and-off break. Things have been going better than ever since! Not all doom-and-gloom when you get back with somebody - depends on circumstance.

I voted 'Yes', despite how badly the advertisement campaign was handled which has resulted in a falsely drawn-out opposing campaign that appeals to the masses more convincingly being set to win. If the campaign was based on how effectively each side has handled their campaigns, 'No' would win hands down. I think most of the people who went and looked at the facts properly would have voted 'Yes', but of course Joe Bloggs ain't got time for that, which is why Clegg & Co will fail miserably and successfully sabotage the opportunity of a lifetime - even if AV is the best of a bad pair. Has anybody seen this by the way, if you haven't voted yet, watch this first: Million times better than any 'Yes' advert, and all it does is show the facts without being incredibly pretentious about the nation's level of understanding of politics.

If the BNP get a seat, so be it, we are supposed to live in a democracy where all viewpoints are represented. It is highly unlikely that people will be putting the BNP (assuming you are referring to them when describing "unpleasant parties") as their second or third choices if AV was to be brought in, as they are a party that people generally are totally opposed to or totally buy into.

It comes down to this in essence: Vote 'Yes': for democracy (well at least a greater level of democracy than is currently on offer). Vote 'No': for self-interest, or perhaps just dislike of change. The fact that the 'No' campaign had to resort to playing the "these soldiers won't get these bullet-proof vests if you vote 'Yes'" posters up sums it up really - it's desperation. But of course more people in Britain care about the principle of proportionately minuscule levels of the government's money going on something that would be addressed anyway than democracy. I think the cost of the referendum as well as the potential cost of AV (of course we don't need to worry about that any more) will pale in insignificance when the government of the day realises that the education system has failed after 60% of the population cannot look beyond what they are spoon-fed by the old-elite. Sorry, but I've always maintained some sort of optimism that AV would at least get through, even though there are better voting systems! But now, after the polls clearly show a victory for 'No', I'm just sad and depressed at what a missed opportunity this is and I can't help but rant.

I couldn't see myself racking up that number of posts but I can see how easy it is. VT is refreshing because unlike Facebook you can have actual intelligent discussion and unlike Twitter you don't have to limit your characters. As a student, I can end up spending far too many hours a day on this site. Beats working eh? Besides it's only the taxpayer's money I'm wasting, not mine...

Bombay Bicycle Club - Rinse Me Down

Connotations of booing a substitute is displaying displeasure at the coach's decision - United have booed Fergie's subs before. Has no reflection on the support for the player, even if we all know he's shit. We both know that I'm sure.

Pretty sure I mentioned that our fans are quality in general away, and for the most part today was no exception. There were simply times at 0-0 when neither side were singing. I'm not looking to insult the fans of the team I support, why on earth would I? I'm just providing a balanced view. Please stop getting so uptight about somebody bringing up the gestures just because it may slightly intrude your perfect picture, it is heat-of-the-moment maybe, but it's still a bit embarrassing, even if you don't like Young.

I find myself in 100% agreement with you again, sir. Top post. The atmosphere was great for about sixty minutes... then they equalised so it went quiet... then they had a man sent-off so it got better again... then they scored so it went dead again. Pretty much how I recall it. Villa were loud when they sang, but it was hardly miles better than a typical tight derby IMO. But yes, Villa fans are in general quality away (except for that "We're Aston Villa, we do what we want" chant, which is embarrassing), but when things get sour they really do get sour, as summed up by those morons at the end. No excuse for that.

We didn't deserve to win, but I don't think we deserved to lose either. They got two very lucky breaks (as did we for our goal admittedly) but the amount of times we gave them the ball to clear when we were in very threatening positions on the byline was infuriating.

Also saw Bannan on the way back to the tram station: looked very fed up, how he isn't ahead of Pires in the pecking order not even god knows.

Was in the Albion end today which made it even more painful to watch, as I was unable to shout "WHAT THE F***!" when McAllister brought on Pires for somebody absolutely dominating the midfield. Was pretty horrible at the end when loads of sweaty Yam Yams were going utterly mental including my mate. In terms of the actual game, neither team deserved to win, but we just looked utterly devoid of creation and when we did get into promising positions, the final ball was absolute shocking. How many times did Petrov/Young/Downing/Walker/Gabby get to the byline with a simple pass to pick out and it get intercepted?! How many times did that happen!!!!! At least six. McAllister had no idea at the end what to do as they were just getting men behind the ball and not diving in - easy to hold on when the only tactic being used is hump it up long to Gabby. Taking off Reo-Coker was utterly suicidal. All three goals were incredibly lucky, don't think either side could complain at a 0-0. Those of you who were making rocket polisher gestures in the Villa end to Ashley Young when he applauded should be ashamed - don't abuse your own players that way.

No, it's rubbish Horrible?? It's hilarious! ASS TO ASS, ASS TO ASS, ASS TO ASS Erm... each to their own!

Girlfriend and I are thinking of going on a long weekend over our Xmas breaks (about four weeks that runs mid-way between Dec up til the same time in Jan), but with us both being students we don't have an awful lot in our bank accounts (GET A JOB!). Thought about Copenhagen which looks nice and reasonably priced accomodation and flights but apparently it's about £7 a pint and everything else ain't much cheaper either. Anybody got any decent recommendations that won't involve me having to live off Asda Smart Price meatballs for the remainder of the year? We're not the type to go for the real romantic places, just somewhere maybe with a decent atmosphere around that sort of time that isn't ridiculously expensive to have a few drinks. Cheers.

Facebook. I de-activated my account the other day as it has just become such an unnecessarily compulsory part of my life. All I do is procrastinate rather be productive as a result, when I just get nothing out of it apart from sharing a few amusing links with my mates and seeing some photos from the night before. All in all not worth the hassle. Also, this new fitsort thing is horrible! If you haven't heard of it, it's basically a rating system by people on how 'fit' you and your friends are. It's alright for generally bland and average-looking people like myself, but for the people at the bottom of about 300 people it must be less-than-pleasant and it is bound to cause problems.