GeorgeVilla82

Stick with it B6. I gave up caffeine about 2 months ago (wasn't excessive, but used to drink about 3 or 4 cups of tea a day). Gave it up as a result of running out of tea bags, and I noticed in the 2 days that I went without tea, I had massive headaches. Thought that if that little caffeine and the subsequent withdrawal were giving me that bad headaches, it couldn't be good for me. Now sleep much better (used to regularly wake up in the middle of the night) and feel generally less lethargic. I now drink decaff and rooibos tea instead, and stay away from coke etc. Good luck!

Great post - completely agree.

Anyone just hear Pat Murphy on 5 Live? Was basically saying that SHA won't get out of the Championship because of their financial position and the club has been devalued by half (now worth £40m) and Egg Foo Yeung overpaid massively. Claridge then said that SHA will be the next Portsmouth.......

Sloe gin, tonic and a squeeze of lime - first glass has disappeared a bit too quickly...

Ask him as much as you can. Get the gossip George!! Eavesdropping at the moment (he's chatting to someone else in Villa gear who I don't recognise). He thought NRC should have been MOTM, sounds like Friedel is off at the end of the season (although he doesn't want to go) and Walker keeps asking for tips from LY about how to play it simple but look good at the same time. Nothing about Salifou yet....

Off topic, but Luke Young just got on the train to London at B'ham International and is sitting at the table next to me. Wondering whether I should ask him anything (contract negotiations etc)

Just waiting for a train back home after the game. Absolutely terrible match - gutted Bent hit his 1 on 1 straight at the keeper, but seemed inevitable to be honest. Downing MOTM, Walker good going forward but still has A LOT to learn. Ash not great today. All pretty depressing and I cannot wait for this game to be over. Missed the build up - why wasn't Gabby involved?

There's a train from St Pancras (right next door to Kings Cross) which goes to Stratford International in about 6 minutes, every 12 minutes or so. Go to TfL journey planner which will show you all London Overground (local) trains, tubes and buses, or National Rail to see all trains (but no tubes/ buses). It seems like there's replacement buses running from Stratford bus station (stop D) to Upton Park, or you can get the 104. Good luck - I live in Hertfordshire so not such a mission, but still really annoying.

General, I'd just like to second the above about the church bells. A first I thought it reminded me of a funeral, but on reflection it creates an intimidating atmosphere about the place for the away team, something which has been lacking for a while. The 'victory' bells at the end were good as well.

Just checked the Transport for London website, and there is engineering work on the District and Hammersmith & City tube lines on Saturday 16th, which means that getting to the game by tube is going to be a nightmare for those planning to travel that way. Replacement buses are being put on, but I imagine that they'll be packed. You might want to get a tube/ train to Stratford and walk from there (about 20/30 minutes, I reckon), or get the 104 bus.

This made me laugh, especially how their "parade" disbanded when they got lost - brilliant. Birmingham Mail

Negatives - despite ITV's banal commentary that "the Villa kids are learning a lesson", it's the experienced players in Heskey, Gabby and Petrov who have let us down. Bloody awful. Team selection was odd, to say the least - they've just had two weeks off, so I can't see why the likes of Walker and NRC can't play. Positives - Bannan, Delph. Can't wait to see more of these two (especially with Delph in his natural position). Clark has been very good as well.

After reading here about their attendance last night, I just went onto their website (and now feel like I need to disinfect my computer) - the amusing thing is that Premier League stubs don't count towards Wembley tickets, just STH and Carling Cup attendance. They really are unbelievably stupid. And if you want a laugh, look at the FAQs. Just shows the general level of intelligence of their fans.

Chrisjie - I live in Hertfordshire but have a season ticket so travel up by train for most home games. The Virgin Trains service is pretty good (when it's running...), 1 hr 20mins into Birmingham New Street then jump onto a local train to Aston or Witton. Book well in advance for the Virgin Trains tickets, and as Wainy says, it is often cheaper to buy two singles than a return (if you specify which trains you'll be getting). There's usually a few Villa on the trains up to Birmingham for home games, so wear some colours if you've got them.

I've not had one in the last 4 years. I go to the games with my mum, and she hasn't had one either in the same amount of time.

Hope you have a great time. My first game was in the Holte watching us destroy Wimbledon 7-1 and the Dons fans doing a conga in the lower north. Not sure the result will be as good tomorrow but fingers crossed and hope this is the first of many for you!

Typical Villa luck. Rooney suddenly finds his form against us after 9 months of being shit.

God, 6 mins in and Alan Green on 5 live is already pissing me off.

Quite like the look of that team, but would like to see Gabby given a run against Vidic. Vidic tends to have a nightmare when dealing with Gabby.

Just back from the game. Was bloody freezing, but generally a good performance. I sit in Trinity Upper, and to be fair, it looked like a bad challenge from Baker but I haven't seen it back yet. Felt sorry for him though as he played well, and the ref was probably influenced by being so close to the Blackburn bench and them going ballistic. Thought NRC, Bannan and Cuellar all had great games. Walker has some great moments, but sometimes gives the ball away unnecessarily. No real problem today though as Blackburn were terrible with (I think) their full strength team. Good to see the fans engaging with GH, even if he did need to be told to wave. He'll get there. All in all, pretty pleased. Good that we can still win (against a team doing well at the moment) with rotating the squad. I worry that we won't get that much further without Bent though - he really does make a massive difference from what I've seen so far, both when we're attacking and defending.

Hi General, hope you and the family are well. Quick question - I'm a season ticket holder, but live in Hertfordshire. Time tends to be pretty tight when I come up for the games, so I don't usually have time to go to the Villa Village (the queues are huge!) or go into Birmingham to the Villa shop there. Is there any way that the merchandise range could be expanded on the website as it's quite poor at the moment - I'm a woman, and the women's clothing range is terrible compared to what's available in the store. I know I would definitely spend more if a wider range was available for mail order. As always, thanks for your time.

Hi General, really good to have you back. I was just wondering what the atmosphere at Bodymoor Heath has been like this week, with all the transfer developments? How did the players take it, and has it changed the mood in the camp at all? Really excited to see the team that is being built by Randy and GH, and looking forward to picking up some much-needed points! UTV

Completely agree.