jackbauer24

I'm not sure this is the right place - Android Auto? I've just bought a brand new car, so I've set up Android Auto (has to be via a cable it seems but one step at a time!) and I can now see a handful of compatible apps. The app I'm most interested in is Amazon Music. Now it kinda works but I can't see my playlists, I can't scroll through my music and it has loads of recommended stuff rather than 'my' music. Any general tips or hints? Anyone use Amazon music on Android Auto?

The most annoying thing is if this percentage thing is true then Blose attendance would go UP

I spend most of my time reading Off Topic and don't really feel the need to respond but this is fundamentally flawed. Even assuming your maths is correct, currently the 'best' LTV mortgage available is 90%. Furthermore, some lenders want proof you saved the deposit yourself (think it's Nationwide) and it's not a gift. So, 10% deposit is £16,000. You now need to save that from wages AFTER current rent and BASIC living costs. At best, after rent, utilities, transportation etc you're probably looking at £500 per month. That saves £6000 per year. But wait, house prices continue to rise by approximately 2.5% a year, on the house you mentioned that's £4000 more you now need. And with a 'smaller' deposit you are offered much worse rates. Then add in location (very little house sized you can buy for £160k in South Birmingham) and the chances of a low income couple getting on the ladder is practically zero. Add in furlough or a kid or two and it's impossible. Me and my partner are both quite successful teachers in S Birmingham and we don't find the process/cost easy so I can't imagine how those on lower than a £40/50k joint wage would even start. The average age of a first time buyer was 23 in the 60s, it hit 33 this year and some reports say it could be 40 within the next decade. Without a massive windfall, a very cheap area, an extremely succesful career or a crash, housing will become increasingly difficult for more and more people. And remember, it's not just affordability too - that £160k might buy you a starter home (just!) now but it'll be a one bed studio in most places and housing continues to rise quicker than wages. The housing market is broken so it will need to readjust or we need to make peace with most people renting all their lives while the rich are the only ones that own property.

I miss the days when transfer windows consisted of me working out if a player was good by a) knowing their name b) having seen them play c) my mates telling me they were good or, more recently, d) watching a dodgy biased highlight reel. Nowadays it seems you need a first in degree level Mathematics, advanced Economics and some basic understanding of brain surgery. Is it just me who glazes over all these charts?! When did football get so... Boring?! Has he got a good haircut, does he wear flashy boots and what does his girlfriend look like?! That's what we really want to know. I'll also be back tomorrow night to complain about current music, the cost of petrol and how there's nothing good on TV anymore...

You want to spend £55m on just over 25% of a Brentford team that didn't get promoted? I don't prescribe to the idea you need Premier League experience necessarily, but taking THREE players from a failed team from the division below is statistically unlikely to be what we need to move 5-10 places further up the league table. Either that or the rest of the Brentford team were absolutely horrific!

I don't quite get the 'saves' against Watford. He makes a mess of the initial shot, palming it in to the middle then throws himself at the follow up (the only genuine 'save' part) and then lets the bounce drop about 50cm in front of him and he has to claw that away with a flap that the defender then clears. I saw that live and didn't think 'good save' I thought 'you're lucky you got away with that!'. It wasn't confident keeping, it was desperate. But that's a side point in the grand scheme. I still don't want him back for next season though, more negatives than positives for me. We need to move away from keeping players on because they're good for moral and get actually decent players we can rely on.

I don't think it's the be all and end all by any means, but the number of truly good players coming from the Championship isn't great. Players are largely developed (loaned) by Premier League clubs or come from abroad. If we base our transfer strategy on getting the cream of the crop from the Championship then we'll more than likely struggle. I scanned the PFA team of the season for the Championship for the past 5-10 years and so very few made the step up to the Premier League. Most are squad players or back in the Championship. If we got Buendi (who I rate based purely on one YTvid!) Watkins, Eze, Benrahma and all the others from this level we've been interested in then, statistically speaking, we're likely to have more misses than hits. I'm not saying the solution is to buy loads of washed up Premier League players but I do think we need a few 'safer' bets and would suggest someone like Buendi who HAS performed at Premier League level is a far safer bet than Benrahma. Same applies to a striker, getting a shorter term Giroud (for example) is way less of a risk than Watkins. Not EVERY signing can be one to develop - we tried that before and got largely good players (Traore, Gueye, Veretout etc) too early in their careers and Aston Villa were the losers because of it. We need some safer bets for NOW mixed in with potential.

True to a point. But pretty much all clubs will just bid the £18m and then offer different terms to the player. I highly doubt anyone will be paying over the release clause regardless of the number of bidders.

I'm no scientist but won't the colour of the smoke prior to the blast, and the massive blast itself, give an indication of the likely contents of the warehouse/silo or whatever it was? The videos all show a fairly dark reddish/orange smoke.

See, this is a prime example of YouTube videos - peel it back just a little and you have to question what you're seeing. A majority of the cuts in the video are at really odd points, either before he's released the ball (so probably lost possession) or before he's taken a shot (so he probably missed). If this is a highlights reel, I'm kind of thinking we should be seeing 4-5 minutes of absolutely amazing skill/passes/goals. Even that could cover up the fact he plays awfully for the rest of the time. But this video is all a bit 'meh', a bit 'nearly'. Compare that with Buendi video where there is an end product with nearly every clip. Not saying either play is represented accurately but one looks clearly much much better than the other based on this!

99% of names we get linked to I've never heard of, even if they're playing in the Premier League. I live in a micro- Aston Villa world and am largely oblivious to other teams/players. Then someone will put a YouTube video of x player and I'll still be unimpressed or underwhelmed. Then someone put Buendia's YouTube video up. All I now want is him, no other signing is acceptable. Even if we get a goalkeeper and it's not Buendia I won't be happy!

I'm still not convinced Hourihane plays in a role/ way most Villa fans understand and/or appreciate. He's not a defensive midfielder, he's not the dribble and all out attack midfielder but what he is is a vital link with loads of short passes that retain possession and keep us in control. Some of the simplest little layoffs show such a great reading of the game but aren't showy so it doesn't get noticed. He scored the winner against Norwich in December but it's the little awereness of space and clever outside flick that starts that move off. People have a go because he might go backwards or sidewards with his passes but his role is about retention. Then throw in his deadball skills and general attitude and you have a very very solid professional at Premier League level. Another player who got slaughtered by Villa fans was Ashley Westwood. I think Conor is better still. And Westwood has been a mainstay in a Premier League team since we sold him. Neither are world beaters but they are both more than capable at this level. It's an underappreciated role. Hourihane is one of my FAVOURITE players even though I know he isn't one of our BEST players.

Fair point! BUT, having seen goalkeeper kit, this isn't miles off that - could have been a genuine concept.

That 'third kit' looks more like a training kit to me, be surprised if it was our real third kit. But there's no doubt they're both going to be part of our teamwear, we're not big enough to bother faking this stuff at the moment!

There are no league badges on that shirt so it was probably taken before the last game(s) of the season and was the safe option.

I said it in another thread, but Butland is my clear choice here. He's 7 years younger than Heaton, he can be genuine competition for Heaton when he's fit and he still is on the fringes of the England squad. It's just bad situation at Stoke and I suspect he'd return to the player he was. He's still young (especially for a keeper) but with plenty of experience and, with only a year left of his contract, would be relatively cheap. It feels like a no-brainer. He knows he'd be starting til Heaton's fit and would be fightings to keep the shirt. Heaton and Butland would be the first real competition for the position we've had in years. Reina did BRILLIANTLY then HORRIFICALLY in almost equal measure! His main attribute was experience but both Heaton and Butland will provide that with less mistakes. Reina is not building for the future at all. Nyland and Kalinic won't make it. Steer is the new Stuart Taylor I suspect!!

I'm of an age now where transfer windows are all a little confusing. When I was younger I'd have loads of suggestions as to who we should or shouldn't buy from random continental leagues. Now my normal response is "who?" as unless they have played against Villa in the last season or two I have no idea who they are! Practically every suggestion I've never heard of - I only watch Villa! On saying that, and in mitigation both for and against, I do feel we need to sort out our mess of a goalkeeping department. Heaton unfit, Reina returned, Steer unfit, Nyland and Kalinic unlikely to make it here and Sarkic left... I suspect partially because he was so messed around over his loan. I'd be back in for Butland. His value will have dropped but I strongly believe he just needs to leave Stoke as that relationship is toxic now. He could create genuine competition for Heaton (especially during his return to fitness) and could well be a fairly unrisky purchase without using much budget. He only has a year left at Stoke so we are possibly talking well under £10m. He's also seven years younger than Heaton. Keep Steer (or loan when first two are fit) and sell Nyland and Kalinic. Two England fringe players fighting for No.1 at Villa would be great competition.

I'm just hoping, in light of no big reveals being possible, that we just pay Jeremy Renner a fee to reveal the shirt on Zoom or something. Would be hilarious trolling AND get a load of PR!

He's already been 'on loan' in the Championship - with us! Across 17/18 and 18/19 he made 34 appearances and scored 2 goals. Both goals came in games where we thrashed the opposition. I don't know how many minutes in those games but there's still quite a few games there. So as for going on loan to get a few goals then maybe we should be targeting League Two. He might nearly get 5 goals at that level. But even that I'm unsure of. Sorry, Davis is older than Luiz, he's not a kid in football terms and has nothing about him to suggest he's good enough at anywhere near this level. Nothing against the guy but I wouldn't be wasting another minute of playing time or penny of wages on him. No loan. Release (because we're not getting a fee!)

I can't say I'm that bothered to be honest. If we keep him then we'll be showing an ambition to build around him and have convinced him we're seriously going to invest. Sell him and I feel we'll become less of a one man team and can use what will likely be an incredibly sizable fee ON TOP of a healthy transfer budget which also benefits the team. I support Aston Villa, not Grealish's career, and think both scenarios could benefit Villa. We've got to trust that those at the top will make the right decisions based on the information in front of them and that Grealish will not be the be all and end all of our future.

Villa aren't winning today so it looks like it's all about the Bournemouth game. I'd put Bournemouth as favourites at the moment.

I have absolutely no doubt that at some point on Sunday the As It Stands table will see us back in the relegation zone, not saying it will end like that but I'm sure it will happen. We'll let in an early goal or Watford will take shock lead. I just can't see it being an easy afternoon, I think one goal will swing it in the last ten minutes of one of the games. It's going to be horrible.

Whilst I have never believed this 'on the beach' type stuff, they're all largely professional, this game isn't that important for United as it's the last day shoot out with Leicester that is relevant whatever tonight's score.

Not possible as it stands I think - Wigan can get maximum of 11 points clear of them with 12 points deduction incoming...

I would be delighted if we're in a position for people to be putting in appeals etc - means we're safe! They're hardly going to bother if we're relegated!