jackbauer24

First and foremost I want Villa safe obviously. I think it's likely a matter of time now, we and everyone else could lose on Saturday and we'd still be safe. Then it becomes interesting rather than scary! If we were safe by the time three o'clock kick offs start, I'll be supporting Hull 100%! In fact I'm happy as long as we match Hull's result. Ideally I'd like to see the back of Newcastle, then Sunderland, then Leicester and finally Hull. Unfortunately the odds are completely opposite to that!

The way they are sold has been disgusting. I'm not sure why they release blocks slowly and don't give you a greater choice. Whether this is Villa's fault or the FAs fault I'm not sure. All other big sporting events they would give you a map (online) and you just click the ones you want to buy - as long as you're not leaving odd spaces they should be fine. So all blocks should have been opened up on the first day of sale, those at the top of the queue should have been able to buy where they wanted until they were all sold out in that section. By the time it got to 'some booking history' there would have been less choice, and rightly so. A lot of people have booked a block, but you could be very front of that block or very back, you may have been wise leaving it to be at the front of the next block that was released instead of at the back of the one currently available. Frankly the lack of information and transparency selling these tickets has been disgraceful. Ultimately I'm happy knowing I'm going, but I've never before been waiting to see where my seats are until they've arrived. I may have decided to get £120 ones if they'd been in a good position but they could have been a seat difference from £70 and that is not a 'risk' I'm willing to take.

A consortium does not automatically equal a bad thing/lack of money. If they pay for the club outright then they may well be loaded (not that it particularly matters anymore) and are just hedging the risk - a bit like Dragon's Den when two go in together, they could afford it individually but decide to split the cost and risk. The problem arises if a consortium, or individual, uses loans to buy the club that are held against thus club itself. This should be banned as part of the 'fit and proper' test.

Easily our most underrated player. I'd be more worried about losing him than a lot of other players. He cost less than £1m, I think we'd struggle to replace him for seven times that or even 15 times that if British! I think he took a lot of flack for the system, for the defensive element he was asked to do but now his true worth is really showing. I can't think of many times he's been seen to lack effort or even play a bad/lazy pass. He's quick and neat with the ball and does all the simple things well. He's not going to skip past players or hit 60 yard passes but that's not his job - he breaks up play and plays the quick, simple, short passes that makes space for others. We look a lot better with him than without him. He's currently far superior to Sanchez, has been more consistent than the recently reborn Cleverley and rivals Delph for effort. I'm glad he's being talked about for England, even if that is unlikely. Better still is Sherwood recognises it and those worrying stories about him being sold this summer are being denied.

Would put him in ahead of Richardson in a heartbeat. Mind you, I'd say that if he was blind and had broken both legs... In all seriousness, Lowton is a good attacking player who lacks a little defensively. He's a very able back up for a team that hovers in the middle to lower table. I'd put him in the same bracket as Bacuna in that regard. And that goal against Stoke will mean I probably give him far more praise than he deserves for the rest of his career!

According to quick Google search, the Dafabet deal was a two year one that started in 2013. So hopefully new sponsors, with more cash obviously but the most significant thing I've found with betting company sponsors is that kids feel they don't get the replica shirt their heroes play in! Might not be big in the scale of things but kids notice these things!

They only look like training tops because there isn't a sponsor on them. I really like first one, yellow however is never a good choice...unless you're Sweden which someone mentioned!

I think the £70 tickets in the lower tier behind the goal will be right down at the front in the first few rows which is why they are cheaper than the rest of the lower tier. I booked ours in the upper 543 for £70 - no idea how far forward or back that will be though, or whether the whole block is £70 as that was the only choice I had. I would have thought seats towards the back will be £50. I find it odd there's no clear map for pricing anywhere. I'd guesstimated these £70 seats were either at the front (gfs far) or right at the back (furthest away) but don't overly care - view will be good enough and if we win I'm sure all be finding a video of it for the 'best' view!

You'll have to be VERY quick off the mark to get them. There's very few and they release them in batches. Almost impossible by phone, luck by internet. But they're a few blocks next to the half way line on either side of the pitch - about 6 blocks in total I think. When it turns into a corner it drops to £70/90.

I think most tickets are Category 2 (£90), a few up in the gods behind the goal are Category 4 (£50) and then there's a weird subsection of Category 3 (£70) in some areas like the block I chose - 132; you could select £90 seats or £70 seats and for the sake of what, in a worse case scenario, could be one row difference I just went for £70 ones. I think I'd be a bit peed off if I found out the guy sitting one seat beside/below me had spent £20 less per ticket.

I was holding out for Category 1 tickets thinking once in a lifetime etc but when they became available today, I just thought they're so close the the corner do I really care about sitting one block further over? I just want to be there, the view is almost secondary! Made sure I would see any presentation if we are that lucky/good so all booked. And saved myself £100. Content.

Does anyone know how tickets are sold in relation to blocks? There doesn't seem to be any information anywhere as to how many category one tickets there are or which blocks are for sale when or whether you can chose seats at the front of a block etc. It just seems to be a case of buying blindly and being grateful! For example, does anyone have a definite guide to which blocks are category 1, 2, 3 or 4 as there a multiple maps for Wembley depending on event. It seems odd in this day and age that the choice is so limited - I can't think of any event from Villa to concerts to comedy to the cinema that you don't get a seating plan BEFORE you book.

I need a mathematician! I'd like to know the magic number for survival considering fixtures. I THINK it's 40pts. Burnley can get a maximum of 35pts but Hull could only then reach 40pts. QPR can get max of 36pts but then Newcastle could only get 41pts, and Leicester 40pts. Sunderland's max is 45pts but Leicester then limited to 40 again. Leicester's max is 43pts but this limits Sunderland to 42pts and QPR to 33pts. Hull's max is 46pts, this limits Burnley to 33pts. Newcastle's max is 44pts but this limits QPR to 33pts. Therefore assuming worst case scenario and every opposition team wins games we don't want them to, Burney go down (gifting Hull 3pts) QPR go down (giving NFC and LCFC 3pts) leaving it between Leicester and Sunderland for highest possible total of 42pts for Sunderland (assuming Leicester win) or 40pts for Leicester (assuming Sunderland win). So although highly unlikely that every team will win every game, the magic number still looks like being 40 for mathematical safety. A draw in the Sunderland/Leicester game intrestingly makes the magic number slightly higher I believe at 41! But I am no mathematician so someone please check my workings!

Just for the record, it ISN'T in our hands anymore. Should Sunderland and Leicester win their games in hand, we could win all our games and still get relegated I believe. I know some teams play each other but I think that still doesn't give us a helping hand. Largely still up to us, but not entirely and Everton feels like the most crucial game now. Lose that and we're down I think.

Doubt anything else is worth the hassle, make life easy for a few extra quid and as a percentage of your holiday cost it's tiny. Check out holidayextras and you'd probably find hotel night before your flight, with parking for whilst your away and transfers for less than you think. I've often found it's cheaper than parking alone... Well almost! It's a holiday, you don't want stress of public transport or loadsa changes for sake of a few quid per person.

Once again I know I'll get a ticket as a ST Holder (plus 3or4 FA Cup) but two things strike me; If you've been a season ticket holder for 50 years but haven't been to an FA Cup game you're pushed to the last day of Season Ticket holders - that seems really unfair! Loyalty doesn't count for much, spending £10 on a cheap early round does. And the other thing I'd like Villa to explain is how they allocate the blocks, it was really weird how they released them for the semi final, especially online. Aren't they all available immediately - I'd like option of seats, not just to be in the gods because it's easier for them that day.

General racial profiling when it comes to potential takeover individuals/parties: British - Know's the game, isn't rich and can't invest well enough. American - Has no idea about 'soccer' and surrounds themselves with yes men. Puts club in debt. Russian - Loaded, probably has dodgy connections but invests plenty. Egyptian/ Arabian (or anyone who wears a thawb for simplicity) - rich, probably royalty, likes to use club to promote own wealth/standing. Indian/Chinese (anyone Asian falls under this category for those lacking geography skills) - dodgy trading, will change the colours of your team and alienate the fans. European - trying to use us a feeder club for their other club. Mixed nationality consortium - just in it for the money and are heartless money men who will sponsor everything. Right, are we all clear? Let's move on.... (please sense sarcastic tone before being offended!)

I think a few are getting carried away by the euphoria of yesterday. Watch it back if you can, Richardson was pretty bad truth be told, both defensively and attacking. He was beaten easily, his crossing was atrocious and his passing sloppy. It's not hate for hates sake, I just say what I saw. Delph was amazing yesterday but that doesn't mean that I missed the fact he was equally (if not more) culpable for Liverpool's goal as Okore was. He was still MOTM though. Everyone makes mistakes but Richardson was poorest player for Villa by a mile. Okore was slow when he came on and got beaten a few times but was much better as the game wore on. As for Richardson's clearance, I'm ecstatic he made it but let's not get carried away that it was particularly difficult! And I'd say that if it was any player! I'd be much happier with Lowton there. Nothing against him personally, just think he's not very good! And especially in that position.

You've really got to feel for Brad Guzan if Given is selected. When he's understudy the manager drops him for the final. When he's No.1. the manager keeps faith with the understudy throughout. Harsh.

If you tried, and failed, to get tickets for the semi-final then you'll have zero chance of tickets for this one. I believe our season tickets numbers are around the 20k mark, few thousand under or over. So they'll get the vast majority and what ever is left will go to people who have a strong booking history this season with some weighting to FA cup games at a guess.

If you're Sherwood you say "clean slate, if you want to play in the final then you need to earn it over the remaining matches" - anyone not playing to their full potential is told there place isn't safe - from Vlaar to Benteke. (Even if he's bluffing!)

I don't think is a hard decision at all. On current form Westwood is light years ahead of Sanchez. Whether there is potential for Sanchez to take that position is a different question but Westwood didn't put a foot wrong recently and rarely does. He's a 7/8 of ten pretty much every game. Sanchez is 10 out of ten one game then 2,3 and 1 the next! I think Westwood is very under-rated on here and he didn't look out of place alongside Delph or Cleverley yesterday - the weakest midfielder we had was N'Zogbia. If it'd have been Westwood that had failed to clear for their opener (instead of Delph) he would have been slaughtered, yet I can't remember a single thing he did wrong yesterday and in many matches. He plays 100%, keeps things tidy and is calm. He might not be the most attacking midfielder we've got but if we put on 11 forward minded players we'll just end up getting relegated having scored the most goals ever!

I'm afraid to say zilch unless you know someone who can't go, can get in with a corporate group or if you're loaded and can buy one from 'select sources'... I'd be prepared to sell mine... A 10% deposit on a new house MIGHT persuade me!

Very interesting site, but having looked at it closely it'd actually work out more than the plane so, unless you're really enjoying the views or can break up your journey, it's just not worth it. Ah well, always look for something new!

I'd posted this in the 'YouTube hilarity' thread but was advised to put it elsewhere - so if this is the wrong place please move it. I made this video by re-editing the 140th Celebrations video with David Bradley. It was a little too sombre for me, so I cut David, remixed video, added more and shoved on a song that just seemed so fitting for Villa! Tried tying the video to the lyrics as much as possible too. I made it about a month back but just got round to uploading it. I have rarely edited videos before but this was just crying out to be made! Fight Like Lions! We're Aston Villa, and we'll go down in history... Not looking for praise, just think it pumps Villa fans up ready for Sunday.