jackbauer24

MASSIVE. I don't even care who played well or badly. I just care about the three points that should go a long way to keeping us up. On saying that, missing Sanchez for a bit isn't exactly a bad thing either!

Half Time ratings: Guzan - 7 - Solid, one good save, some poor distribution Vlaar - 7 - Solid Bacuna - 7 - leaving a lot of space in defence but a threat going forward Clark - 5- Unfortunate injury (or conspiracy theory, saving himself from card?!) Baker - 6 - bit behind play but done ok Richardson - 4 - much better than Tuesday but still awful, been caught out a lot and easily beaten Delph - 5 - not got much of a hold on the game, few key passes and struggling to go past players Sanchez - 4 - Haven't seen him do anything other than be turned by players and tackle very late! Cleverley - 7 - Holding midfield together Grealish - 6 - some good play but very little impact on game Gabby - 7 - Very unlucky not to score but limited impact otherwise Benteke - 7 - been winning every header but being caught when on the ball frequently. Great goal though. We won't keep a clean sheet so we need more goals.

Richardson<ANYONE Vlaar<Okore And where is Gil still?! Exactly same team and subs as Tuesday I believe. That struggled to DRAW with QPR. At home. Stupidity...

Really not good enough. If we hope to survive in the Premier League, then we need three points against the likes of QPR at home. We're in big trouble. Very odd selection tonight too. I know we're ravaged with injury but why Richardson gets in ahead of ANYONE is beyond me. I'd rather play Given in that position than him! Why Okore was dropped I'm not sure either, Vlaar was hardly holding defence together. Grealish starting when Sherwood says we are too lightweight seems odd too. Sanchez is far too slow and gets caught on the ball constantly but I know our injuries might force his selection. Guzan - didn't distribute quickly or well enough. Bad communication early on too. Solid otherwise - 6 Vlaar - solid, but should win more headers and not as strong as he can be - 6 Clark - won every header going, not great when being taken on though - 7 Bacuna - good going forward, lazy getting back. Always a gamble what you'll get from him - 6 Richardson - I see no reason for him...existing. If I give him 1 it's being nice. Sanchez - slow, not committed to winning a ball and lazy, scuffed passes. Not good - 4 Delph - the only midfielder who pushes us forward, tackles hard, passes well and moves forward - 8 Cleverley - surprisingly relieved he was back! Swept up well, but still passes poorly - 7 Grealish - clever feet, little end product but potential. Not sure starting was great idea though - 6 Agbonlahor - held up play well, good vision but little impact on goal - 7 Benteke - winning headers, getting involved. That's all we ask! Three well taken goals - 10 Sherwood - really odd first XI, Richardson should have been hauled off at half time at latest and didn't respond to QPRs change of formation that meant our midfield disappeared for half an hour - 6. We're in big trouble.

Prices 'frozen' for next season; http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~4621276,00.html? Although fairly sure you got 5% Villa Cash automatically last year and 10% if you paid in full before x date, whereas this year it's gone for all but people who pay in full and that's reduced to 5% So actually a 5% increase which is cleverly hidden in marketing. Won't stop me buying a new one though, I just can't walk away! Edit; just read more, actually payment plan buyers will get 3% Villa Cash instead of 5% (2% rise in amount you pay) and in full buyers will get 5% VC instead of 10% as stated above.

I was looking to read fans views on this surprising story but couldn't find Bent thread... Why so premature to put him in former players group? He's still a Villa player, or are Tonev, Bennett, Luna, Gardner and all the other players on loan in the 'other football' forum too? Odd.

I speak from my own point of view, but I too could be considered as suffering from severe depression on multiple occasions. I have seen doctors and taken medication. However, not once have I ever thought of killing other people - even if I've been less than concerned for my own life at points. People need to be very careful pigeon holeing mental health issues and restricting what they can and can't do based on a label. Clearly this man should not have been able to fly, screening should be in place to ensure (as best as is possible) that such circumstances can not happen again. But take away a whole host of job opportunities just because one man clearly had multiple mental health issues will result in thousands of people being at more risk from themselves as another shred of light is taken away. I think the issue with this event should be about safeguarding opportunities that place anyone in a position to do this much damage to families. It should not be about adding a stigma or risk to anyone with mental health problems - most people will suffer from them at some point in their life, whether they live with it daily or experience it after horrible periods in their life.

I'm genuinely not trying to take the mick or slate what is probably very advanced maths; but all these updates just seem to mirror our league position whenever it's refreshed. What am I missing?

We are where we are for a reason. People assume we were just going to go on a run but I had my doubts. Worryingly we could struggle to pick up many points for a few games now. NZogbia and Bacuna are prime examples. They've been highlighted as reinvigorated players but I never saw that - I just see very good players 4 times out of every ten matches. They aren't consistent enough and having both increases the chance of them both going AWOL in the same match like yesterday. Benteke looked lazy then got injured. Cleverley should have been replaced by Westwood as Sanchez is really appalling. Sinclair was incredibly selfish as he wanted to impress former employers and Gabby had a quiet game too. Bad day at the office all round. Main problem is we haven't got many days at the office left and people's complacency we're going to be fine worries me. We're three points clear. Three. It's nothing, I'd be worried if we had all rubbish teams left to play whilst our rivals played Champions League teams - these kinds of margins are too small to be so relaxed about it. We're in big trouble and we could be even worse by end April.

Personally I would have preferred a QPR/Everton draw. Simple maths, two points between rivals rather than three. This puts Everton safe basically so is one less team to fight against but QPR don't close gap at all I suppose but still think the better result would have been a draw to keep Everton in it whilst giving QPR very little help.

99.9% sure it's one ticket per reference number. So a season ticket holder can purchase one ticket for themselves but none extra for mates. As it should be really - I hate 'who you know' being advantageous. If everyone in your party qualifies then you can buy tickets for them all in one go up to 6 people.

http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~4575624,00.html He may have never kicked a ball for the club but Jack Watts was a household name at Aston Villa. Jack was one of the most popular figures in B6 because of his dedication to duty, his kind personality and his love of everything claret and blue. When it came to love of the club, there was only one man in the frame and that was Jack. He supported the club for over nine decades - and did almost every job imaginable in his time working with the claret and blues. Jack was first brought to Villa Park by his older brother Ted 92 years ago at the tender age of four and he has been a club stalwart ever since. He was most recently a matchday host for chairman Randy Lerner's guests - and his tales always kept visitors to Villa Park entertained. He was rewarded by a lifetime achievement accolade some years ago and he was still as passionate as ever about his favourite club even in his later years. One of Jack's many jobs during his tenure with the club was working in the Holte End scoreboard after he came out of the army in 1946, at the invitation of his old friend and neighbour Mush Callaghan. He was paid 10s for that and 15s for helping Mush and others sweep up the ground on Sunday mornings. For 34 years - until the installation of new electronic scoreboards in 1981 - working on one of the manual scoreboards was Jack's Saturday afternoon role. Working mostly with Mush's brother Arthur and Sam Messenger - and later with his two sons Peter and Steven - Jack would take down all the scores as they were read to him over the telephone by a woman from the Exchange Telegraph office in town. Jack loved the job - along with his many others - although he hilariously admitted he didn't show his face once during his long stint in the scoreboards. He dropped one of the heavy metal number plates on to the crowd below, where it struck a man in the face! He told us last year: "Can you imagine it? Oh dear, I'm thinking. What's going to happen here? If the fellow sues the club it's going to be for thousands of pounds, so that's the sack for me straight away! "But the biggest coincidence of all was that out of 64,000 in the ground, the fellow it hit happened to be a relation of Mush Callaghan's and one of my old football partners, a chap called Martin Moore. "Afterwards, I said 'Martin, I ain't half glad it was you!" Jack's favourite player was Billy Walker - and he once met the great man in unusual circumstances. He told us last year: "I remember it as vividly as if were yesterday, even though it happened more than 80 years ago. "I was playing football with my mates in Perry Barr Park and the ball sailed over my head and down the path. "Go and get it then," they told me, so off I scampered. "A man and a woman were strolling in the opposite direction, arm in arm, so I shouted: "Hey, mate, kick the ball here!" "He was wearing a suit but he duly obliged - and the classy manner in which he kicked that ball made me look again. "Could he possibly be a professional footballer? He was. The man who passed that ball to me was my idol, Billy Walker - Villa's all-time record scorer. "Well, I was awestruck. I simply didn't know what to say. "I was 11 or 12 at the time and meeting my hero was something I will never forget. "Tom "Pongo" Waring and Eric Houghton - the hardest kicker of a ball I've ever seen - were big stars in their own right. But if they were around today, I'm sure they would tell you they became even better players through playing alongside Billy Walker. "For me, there was no better footballer - and there never will be." Well, when it comes to club stalwarts, there will never be a better one than Jack. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Rest easy!

Has any one booked the Official Travel yet? Ideas of time and cost? My booking window is Weds next week. Trying to work out whether to just do the day or make a weekend of it in London with the girlfriend (also a season ticket holder)

Such was the boredom of the match I'd completely forgotten going to the Blackpool game, so I can now book five days earlier than I originally thought! Small win but I think all STholders will get tickets and it's not like there'll be much choice in tickets anyway. However, I agree that it is far too complicated and, whilst I personally benefit, I think they have prioritised the 'groups' unfairly. I understand the need to spread the sales dates but it should just have been by number of years as season ticket holder with then normal criteria for non season ticket holders with some weighting to FA Cup matches. I think it's probably unfair that I get a jump on people who've had a season ticket for over ten years just because I went to a £15 Blackpool game. Should have just been 10, 9, 8.... Years a season ticket holder as that's the most relevant guide to support (in the case of ticket sales) and then ten matches, nine matches... etc etc

I stayed in Cancun, such amazing beaches, weather and a great country. We plan to go back so decided to just upgrade our room to a private suite overlooking the ocean and saved trips til our next visit. Definitely take dollars, we were prepared with Pesos and, whilst they take them, everything was priced in dollars and they expected you were paying in dollars. It surprised me when they got a calculator out to work out the exchange rate for their own currency! Whilst we made ours a very much beach holiday (the beaches and sea are stunning, whitest sand and clearest blue warm ocean) we looked at some of the activities for next time and I'd strongly recommend an eco park like Xcaret or the cenotes. Have fun!

Relegation run-ins (assuming West Brom on 30 are safe at this stage of the season) Everton (28pts) play teams in 11th, 18th, 6th, 9th, 19th, 4th, 17th, 16th, 10th and 7th in current table. This equates to 117; so the higher the number the better/easier run in you have. Hull (27pts) play teams in 20th, 1st, 9th, 6th, 5th,12th, 3rd, 19th, 7th and 4th = 86 Sunderland (26pts) play 17th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 3rd, 8th, 6th, 14th, 20th and 1st = 102 Aston Villa (25pts) play 16th, 9th, 4th, 7th, 19th, 2nd, 14th, 10th, 6th and 19th = 106 QPR (22pts) play 7th, 12th, 14th, 13th, 1st, 17th, 10th, 5th, 2nd, 11th and 20th = 112 (but one game extra*) Burnley (22pts) play 2nd, 6th, 7th, 3rd, 14th, 20th, 10th, 15th, 8th, 17th = 102 Leicester (18pts) play 5th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 9th, 19th, 1st, 11th, 6th, 16th, 18th = 125 (but one game extra*) So Leicester have the easiest run in but are bottom for a reason - a threat but a small one. Everton have the second easiest run in and already top of this pile - they're safe. QPR, like Leicester but only three points behind us - got to think we need to better all results they have and the key game is inevitably Aston Villa vs. QPR! Villa - mid level run in, not easy not hard. Will need to pick up the points where they are 'expected' Burnley and Sunderland - trickier run in, particularly Burnley's next four games and that could cut them adrift. Sunderland need points in next few games. Hull have awful run in and next game against Leicester will be now be crucial. So I think Leicester doomed, Burnley doomed and then it's between Hull, QPR, Sunderland and ourselves with Sunderland safest and then a scrap between us and Hull with QPR still favourites for the drop.

So we blame MON for spending stupid amounts of money on crap players. We blame Houllier for being ill and buying Bent who saved us from relegation. We blame McLeish for being useless before and after he joined us and being from Blues. We blame Lambert for not getting a crap team higher in the table. We'll blame Sherwood for getting us relegated and not storming the Championship. Not for me. Lerner 100% - he gave MON to much power, he didn't do enough to ensure Houllier could succeed (more luck this one though) he hired a manager a majority would hate with a history of relegation in McLeish and he didn't give Lambert the funds to buy players that were needed to repair the Houllier/McLiesh years. He has now given Sherwood no chance by hiring him after a transfer window. Couple all that with his inability to hire footballing staff to run this club well, and his amazing ability to alienate, ignore and disillusion fans and Lerner stands tall as the ONLY man at fault for all this.

It serves no purpose now but the blame lies with Lerner 99%, maybe 1% could be attributed to the new FFP but that's more likely to be blame in any future we have. MON has no blame; he gave us some successes and bought both well and badly. He was a manager, if Lerner was giving him too much power then that's his fault not MONs. McLeish, Houllier and Lambert accepted a job and tried their best. I agree with their appointments to differing amounts as any fan does but I don't BLAME any of them, even if I didn't like aspects of their appointments. I think we've had some bad luck, but probably no more than any other team if we are honest about it and don't just feel sorry for ourselves. It is Lerner who has strangled this club. It is Lerner who has mismanaged the finances. It is Lerner who has either employed managers he shouldn't have, or let them go on too long. It is Lerner who has abandoned us. It is Lerner who ignores the fans and treats them with contempt. It is Lerner who has not stuck to a plan and needed multiple CEOs. It is Lerner who has brought this club to its knees. I fail to see how the blame can be attributed anywhere else. I feel for Sherwood as he will be given some blame when we get relegated, or he'll be blamed if we fail to move on next season should we be lucky enough to survive. He doesn't stand a chance and the circle will continue; Despair - new manager - optimism in face of continued poor form - patience dwindles - despair... Only Lerner moving on will change this circle; nothing will change until he's gone. I really don't want to say 'I told you so' as I hate seeing my club like this (and I know it's early) but Sherwood will have no bigger impact on our position in football than the three managers before him, the only real change has been when Lerner gave up.

Conspiracy theory based on absolutely nothing - but is it arguably beneficial for Benteke to see us relegated as it means he will find himself at another team a lot quicker? He's the only player I think this applies to but his lack of effort/fight and his desire to play at a higher level makes me think he's had enough of carrying this team and would like to be picked up cheap by the likes of Spurs or Liverpool who would come in from him regardless of his form this year as we'd be in the midst of a fire sale... He knows if he turns off there are no other scorers!

Actually my initial reaction until I saw where Everton are - they're not quite out of this battle either and still have the distraction of Europe. They're on 27 points, five less than Newcastle. Leicester remain bottom regardless and if we can't finish above Leicester we're going down whatever other permutations there are!

I think we're doomed. Today had everything pointing to a home win; new manager bounce, KMac back, home game, buoyant crowd, middle table team with horrific injury list. We blew it. If we can't even get a point in this type of game we're screwed. Hardly as if it was refs fault or anything - just simply too many average players playing poorly and the team as a whole having no fight or focus. Last minute goals in both halves is alarming. It's too late now, we're done for. I can't see what any manager can do to turn this around in 12 games; bar perhaps Richardson that was practically the team we'd all be calling for and despite a pacey first half we actually threaten rarely, I can't remember a save their keeper had to make. We've been walking the tight rope for too long but Lerner has pushed it too much this season with his lack of investment in the summer, the ridiculous indecision over Lambert and complete apathy towards the club. He deserves Villa being relegated, we don't. I just hope we end up being a big fish in a small pond and don't disappear like many other teams have before us.

I think this is why we also look very vulnerable at corners - how can you practice defending them when you've got no-one who can whip a set piece in?! I always imagine team standing in the area during training waiting for a ball to be crossed, with loads of 'cut scenes' of balls flying over their heads, hitting players ankles, balls struggling to roll to the box...

Is this a points deduction development? 10pts off lands them slap bang back in relegation zone... But I guess this is different to administration?

Why is Pulis even being mentioned? Practically zero chance of this happening; He's just joined WBA - hardly look professional leaving now! He's got them above us and moving away from relegation zone already He has more money for transfers and wages when it come to Summer (we wouldn't afford Fletcher) Being so new in to his job, the compensation would be very high - Lerner doesn't like expenditure! WBA would refuse to allow him to speak to us for all above, plus relegation and local rival issues There is zero reasons why this might happen! Nearly as fanciful as Mourinho! If we have three candidates I fully believe likes of Sherwood and Hoddle but no way is Pulis involved in a realistic way.

They are doing free coach travel - that's why I chose to go as Brum to Hull and a match ticket for under £25 is pretty great deal to be fair. Just need to email them to make sure they leave the car park gates open late as don't want my car locked in there when we get back in the early hours!