jackbauer24

Didn't hear this particular incident as missed my first match(es) due to currently being in NYC for the holidays but having been a season ticket holder in C4 right next to the Lambert et al, I can almost guarantee this happened. Culverhouse has sworn at loads of fans, especially last season. Most of the time it's a dirty look but I've heard him swear at fans on a number of occasions, normally on the lines of, "just get behind the f'ing team' whilst patronisingly clapping someone. It happens reguarly when playing crap! Whether its right or wrong is up to everyone else to decide. Personally I dont care!

We've been playing absolute crap for ages. West Brom awful. Southampton awful. Cardiff we were awful for nearly 80 minutes. This was awful too - finally an experienced side has worked out just don't panic against us, or press us too hard, and you'll inevitably beat us. We're easy pickings. Fulham bossed every area, not through greater skill (although they had that too) but simply because they were patient and waited for us to make our own mistake which will always be plentiful. I always fancy our chances against a higher placed team as we have a hope of hitting them on one or two counter attacks (see Southampton!) but up against a team like Fulham or Hull and there is absolutely no Plan B. We can't hit it high and long to Benteke/ Gabby...er what now?! I always had this down as a Banker for Fulham. In fact, I would have fancied us getting more points against United next week, if it hadn't been for Delph suspension. Guzan - ok, flapped a few times but still kept us in this game, could have been embarrassing as well as depressing Clark - reasonable, few last minute tackles. Baker - still looks lost/ panics a lot but no major mistakes - just appalling distribution Bacuna - awful in every respect today, should have either shepherded Sidwell out of play or put a tackle in then played right in to the hands of Fulham by not just standing up for penalty (although soft, there was no reason for it) Herd - always has more of a chance of a red than a good tackle but not his fault he's playing in wrong position El Ahmadi - hardly saw him, can not string a pass together and never looks like he has the ball under control Westwood - what the hell was that? Worst performance in a Villa shirt. Freekick summed that up. Delph - solid enough, got over-ran by having to drag the rest of his midfielders through the game. Weimann - didn't see him, was he playing?! Benteke - could see him never scoring a goal again for Villa, he'll put minimal effort in for next three weeks then be off in January. A passenger. Gabby - Always running, only glanced at the penalty shout but seemed we should have got one. Given little service though Subs: Albrighton/ Lowton not enough time to judge really. Tonev - seriously what the hell is this guy doing, head down, boot it in to row z every time he gets the ball. Has anyone ever seen this guy pass to a teammate, successfully?! Lambert. Actually I'm not going to be too harsh - what can you do with the constraints we have upon us. He's building a team to the best of his ability with a smaller budget than nearly every other team in the Premiership. But money rules, so it's us the fans who have to start being realistic; with our finances our aim should be to stay in the Premiership and that is depressing.

Good advice once more, also great to see people kind of agreeing on the 'musts'. I am 33 but unfortunately I am 'blessed' (cursed, trust me!) with boyish looks and often get asked for ID in this country so I'll make sure I have some on me at all time - guessing passport or driving licence! Think I'm definitely looking forward to seeing New York at night - it's those pictures where it looks at its best.

Afraid Ice Hockey comes bottom of the list as regards American Sports, the 'ball' (yes, I know puck!) is too small so it can't be seen, they are all too padded up and it's just a little bit of an excuse to have a fight on ice! Personal opinion and all that For me it's Baseball, Basketball, American Football then Ice hockey for America 'only' sports.

Cheers, brilliant pieces of advice and ideas. Will make a note of it all and bear in mind. Think we'll do Empire State and Rockefeller, got to do whole Sleepless in Seattle thing apparently! Yeah, saw the football factory place when I did a search for NY Villa fans so will check that out, very close to Empire State as well isn't it? Food neither of us are overly fussed by but happy to pay for quality. The missus is a bit of a picky eater though so imagine sushi is out the question! As for Knicks, its just for experience and Madison Square Gardens - if they were playing I'd prefer Yankees as I prefer baseball of the American Sports. Looking for best NYE place to go now really; lots of choices it seems. I know it won't be cheap but hotel is 0.5miles from Times Square ball drop. Oh and Christmas Day - missus really wants as authentic a Xmas meal as possible! Ok, saw that adverised online - will add it to list!

Yep, it is that open! I have a huge list of things I want to do, some obvious like Empire State Building, others more random like take a yellow cab or buy a hot dog from a street vendor NYC style! Just wondered if there are any thing VTers would count as an absolute must? Sport, sights, bars, pubs - whatever. Looking at Knicks tickets, Broadway Show, Ice-Skating, Shopping, Central Park, Helicopter Tour, Movie Tour, Ride the Subway, go to all the great buildings, Times Square for NYE (Hotel 0.5miles away). And obviously got to find a good bar for Premiership football for the two games I miss while I'm away! Without being crass, budget not a major issue for this holiday - within reason! I've done plenty of mega cheap holidays so this is a bit of a blow out!

I'm going to NYC this Xmas and New Year and wondered if anyone had any tips or must do's etc whilst there. I will be doing the tourists traps while I'm there as I've not been before.

Although not my home town, on a trip around Europe I stumbled across the shopping centre in Frankfurt which is very clever, the building has a 'hole' in it that pulls the glass inside the building. Can't put pictures up as tablet is messing around so Google it!

We played our B team too - except our A team only just about passes as a Premier League team so this was always going to be a big loss. It's the young and hungry vs. just not good enough debate and when it gets to our back up players it's not much of a debate! We are not good enough. A whole host of players out there will never be of a high enough quality to ever put fear in to the opposition. Albrighton was ok tonight but let's be honest, even he's crap. Steer will never be a No. 1 at a Premier League Club. Bennett is useless. El Ahmadi is average lower league table quality. Albrighton isn't consistent. Bowery will never be a first choice Premier League striker. Sylla, Tonev, Helenius, Kozak and Bacuna will all need at least some time to settle and the success rate of that happening is likely to be only 50/50. Out there tonight there was only Lowton and Vlaar who would get in the first team on merit and neither of them are exactly having stellar seasons yet. Our strength in depth is appalling but with the way the finances have gone the last few years that doesn't really surprise me. We have put all our eggs in a stronger first team XI and when a big injury hits we can't cope: Okore pushed it, but without Benteke or Gabby we are shocking. Penalty of not we looked dire. Fortunately this has almost no impact on Man City as it'll be mostly a different team. Unfortunately, we'll still get stuffed...

I find this thread funny - it's like brainwashing!! But I fully endorse the practice!! I'm fortunate in that I took my girlfriend to her first game against Blackburn Rovers in the semifinal a few years back - not a bad first game!! She too wasn't really in to football but now is joining me in her second year as a season ticket holder in the Trinity Stand. I asked her if she genuinely likes it (considering cost) and she does. She'd never watch a match on TV but she'll tell me if she's read or heard something Villa related. Only piece of advice i can give you is consider the stand you go for. My girlfriend hated Holte and North because it is grimy and dull, she loves the cleanliness of the Trinity (in comparison) and doesnt miss out on the atmosphere. No way would she have a season ticket in another stand. She also likes being closer to the pitch than up in the gods.

The bits I remember more clearly: 1) Marque signings are not something Villa are going to do - that's unrealistic 2) PL says that there is an argument for youth vs experience but the way he approaches it is to use young hungry players (suggesting he won't go for experienced/older players "they struggled the year before") 3) Believes Petrov 19th minute thing has had it's time and could even be a distraction BUT that it has to come from Petrov himself 4) Lowest point was Chelsea 8-0 5) Biggest regret was 'something' in the Bradford game - would have been interesting to be pushed 6) He hasn't heard of the 'bomb squad' but tries to treat everyone fairly so is just going with the squad he feels he will be working with all season (Given is a model pro - yet still not training with 1st team) 7) He may look to buying more players but who knows "never say never" 8) Kiyotake was looked at but no offer made - inquired only 9) He has not set a target for next year 10) When the time comes he'll look at his own contract with Paul and Randy 11) He considers last year a bit of a failure but not completely - they didn't do as well as he expected. 12) From February onwards he was happy with how the team progressed 13) He has a rough idea of the starting XI for Arsenal 14) The team against Malaga will not necessarily be the starting XI for Arsenal 15) If players want to leave for bigger clubs then you kind of can't get in their way 16) Grealish isn't ready for the first team and needs to go out on loan if that's possible 17) Won't give squad numbers to kids as it risks making them think they've arrived 18) Kids have it too easy anyway More as it comes to me...

I wear this watch, although it's not in same league as some others on this thread in terms of name or cost, I do get a number of positive comments regarding its style/unusualness;

80 euros each face value but would take some loss to get it sorted - just can't afford to throwaway 160euros completely.

Anyone know of good sites I can SELL GP tickets? Bought some for Hungarian GP but theyve turned up and theyre only Sunday General Admission and I wanted Weekend ones as I booked hol holiday there! Cant return or upgrade so it seems only solution is sell and re-buy. Need to sort this. Gutted.

CryptoN, your video was outstanding. Your shirts are truly hideous!!

For fear of turning this into a Pro/Anti Apple thread I too must jump on the bandwagon of Hate! Other than their business practice (probably not that much worse than many other businesses) I hate hype. Apple have cornered the market selling white plastic crap at inflated prices to people who like to be told what to do. Compare an ipad with an Android tablet and the gulf in personalisation is huge. Android is open to all, Apple tells you what you want and charges for it. Worse still is the fanboys who queue for exactly the same phone except it now has a 5 after its name! There was an American comedian who went round showing the old version saying it was the new one and everyone was gushing over it! Hilarious brainwashing! People who tell me their iPhone is the be all and end all I try and compare with my Android phone... Mine always does everything theirs does and more and for a fraction of the cost. The look on their faces as the curtain covering the wizard is torn away is priceless - although Apple would probably try to patent it! Fortunately I think the public is slowly becoming wise to it. Back on thread, I also avoid Fiat, Kwikfit, HP and Barclays for a mixture of them being useless. Oh, and Dunelm purely because its the most boring shop in the world!!

Current players is quite easy; Cahill, Young and Milner. Would say Walker but he was only on loan. Of past players (ive seen) it'd be Laursen, Merson and Taylor. On a separate note I always think Alpay gets a rough deal on these boards, quite a prick but one of the better defenders we had in the Premiership.

I'm beginning to **** hate Chelsea. Their pure goal this season seems to be to put us in the crap whatever the cost. We are just not getting any luck, every hard fought victory on a Saturday is followed by an outrageous result on the Sunday. We are going to struggle to pull clear.

The season ticket prices are due this week according to the advertising around Villa Park on Sunday. I think it said info 5th April and on sale 8th April. There is no way there will be a decrease in prices but it'll be interesting to see how they are priced and if there are any perks for renewing whilst still unsure of the division we're playing in next year.

I think a good 60% of Season Ticket holders would renew regardless, but what about the cost? Does quantity of matches in the Championship off-set the higher quality in the Premier League? Would it gall you to pay more next year having been relegated this year?

I saw on the advertising boards at Villa Park that Season Ticket info will be revealed this week and that they go on sale soon too. It's a difficult one to sell at the moment, not knowing what division we'll be in and the obvious affect that will have on the management set up and the squad. How can you price it; quality/quantity of matches? Who will renew automatically? Who will wait to see what happens this year first? What will your response be to a price rise? Any other thoughts? Seems a strange time to start selling these considering our current situation - maybe they'll have a price freeze til the end of April for those willing to gamble on Premier League safety? Me, personally I'm renewing immediately. Not because of the players, the future or anything like that. I just like my seats and I'm not giving them up whatever division we're in!!

I flit between depression and optimism regarding our relegation prospects. On the one hand, results seem to always go against us and whatever we do we seem to get pulled back in to the relegation zone. Our form is improving but only against the two worst teams in the division and we're only ever one early bounce of the ball from getting a kicking by any team that fancies it. On the other, even with a loss tomorrow there are SEVEN teams separated by four points. That's close by anyone's standards. Our goal difference is the worst in the division but no longer hugely worse than anyone else. A win or draw tomorrow puts us in an ok position. Realistically it's Reading, QPR, Us, Wigan, Sunderland and Norwich that will be candidates for the last three places. You have to feel Newcastle and Southampton will have enough to pull way enough. As I see it, it's between us and Sunderland which makes that game in a month HUGE. A QPR loss/draw tomorrow would hopefully put to bed any fear we still have of an epic comeback from them and Reading look doomed already. Can't see a win tomorrow, would be ecstatic with a draw and it keeps us in the fight.

Epic game. Tension, mistakes, goals; shattered!! Guzan 9 - Truly world-class saves in first half. Has been a real positive this season. Baker 5 - Funny hearing Lambert shouting at him just to carry the f*ck on!! Culverhouse was not exactly sympathetic either!! Vlaar 7 - Rock. Works hard but with minimal fuss. Clark 6 - Some lazy clearances (anywhere will do) but made few mistakes Lowton 6 - Looks composed, stronger on the front foot than defending Westwood 7 - A young Ian Taylor? Keeps game ticking over, simple passes and often ignored come full-time. Just needs to be a Villa fan... Bannan 4 - Not good enough. Might as well give them a goal kick when he takes a corner of free-kick. Useless. Sylla 6 - A poor man's Reo-Coker. Going to get more red cards than goals for Villa!! Gabby 8 - Crucial goal, always full of running but lacked final pass Benteke 7 - Yes he's scored a ton of goals but I don't think we'll miss him THAT much - slightly over-rated even?! Weimann 10 - Individual performance of the season. Chased everything, great finish, great assist, good defending. Epic. Subs: Bennett 3 - Not good enough, even for the Championship. Not just because of the goal - he looks weak, lost and lacks basic skill. Nzogbia 8 - Swung the momentum in our favour, looks threatening going forward and forms a good partnership with Lowton/Weimann Bowery 5 - odd substitution, but didn't do much right or wrong!

Anyone ever done any foreign races? Been to Silverstone a couple of time (3 day camping/general admission) and they were epic weekends but beginning to think it's getting too expensive (well more than normal!) and am looking at a race abroad. Over the years my Uni mates have all drifted away and had families etc so am thinking of introducing the girlfriend to the experience that is an F1 weekend. The noise is incredible. Hungary is the strongest possibility due to my availability through work and general admission there is less than half the cost it is in this country. I haven't looked at camping/ hotels yet but, having been to Budapest before, I know that it's not an overly expensive country in the main. Whilst the overall cost may be more I am wondering whether it'd be better value for money.

Relegation run-in: Although not as easy as 'on paper the result will be' to predict, it is useful to now what the run in is for each team to the remainder of the season. As it stands: Aston Villa will play teams that average 11th in the league (2 of top 6) QPR will play teams that average 12th in the league (2 of top 6) Wigan will play teams that average 11th in the league (2 of top 6) (ignoring Man City game in hand and being optimistic and saying they'll lose it) Reading will play teams that average 10th in the league (3 of top 6) Southampton will play teams that average 10th in the league (2 of top 6) So you could argue there is not much in it. QPR have the nicest run in and, with the cash they have spent and Harry in charge, I fancy them to survive. Reading look in big trouble. Southampton have got a very good chance of being pulled into it. Which leaves us and Wigan fighting for the final relegation spot. Final day decider anyone?! Unfortunately, I still think we're going to fall just short.