Ginko

Don`t any of you realise,its the actual fans that go to Villa Park that make

every Villa song, not someone sitting at a keyboard. He hasn`t got a song yet

and i can`t see him ever getting one until he shows the commitment that we

Holte Enders expect from our heroes. Paul Brich (Rest in Peace) didn`t have

great talent, but had the heart of a lion and we still sing his name today.

It will never happen with Downing.

You assume that people on Villa Talk don't go to games? Lots of members are season ticket holders I think you'll find. I'm not but I still go to ten or more games a season, besides back in the days of Paul Birch there was no internet. Every song has to start somewhere and in this absolutely horrific season filled with bad news Downing and Albrighton have been model pros and shining lights. I think he deserves a song.

I pass the time with a heady diet of kung-fu and masturbation.

Ah how strange... I'm all about the Ninjutsu and auto-erotic asphyxiation. You know what I love? Coming on here with my Villa brothers and finding out we have lots more in common than we think.

Likewise I just posted this in the Downing thread. Just a suggestion...

What about a bit of Human League - Don't you want me?

A better lyricist than I could do something with verses.

Maybe something like:

You were playing on the left wing for Middlesbroooooooough...

Before you came here...

We picked you out, we shook you up and turned you arouuuund

Turned you into someone new

or shorten it just before the chorus:

Stew... Stewart Downing,

You know we love it whether you play on the left or riiiiiight

Stew... Stewart Downing,

Running past defenders until you are out of siiiiight.

Now cross it out from wide,

And hold on for the ride,

We're gonna score a goal and make the Holte End go mad...

Oh we love you DOW-ning!

Oh we love you... ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Oh we love you DOW-ning!

Oh we love you... ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!

What about a bit of Human League - Don't you want me?

A better lyricist than I could do something with verses.

Maybe something like:

You were playing on the left wing for Middlesbroooooooough...

Before you came here...

We picked you out, we shook you up and turned you arouuuund

Turned you into someone new

or shorten it just before the chorus:

Stew... Stewart Downing,

You know we love it whether you play on the left or riiiiiight

Stew... Stewart Downing,

Running past defenders until you are out of siiiiight.

Now cross it out from wide,

And hold on for the ride,

We're gonna score a goal and make the Holte End go mad...

Oh we love you DOW-ning!

Oh we love you... ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Oh we love you DOW-ning!

Oh we love you... ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Gareth what do you do all day?

If GH does go - and I think it's probably 90% sure he has (it seems to have gone very quiet, but I may just be closing my ears to it) - the new manager won't come in and get rid of all the players that have been rubbish this year like GH might.

Could there be advantages of GH staying?

For instance - Warnock might get back in the squad, etc.

I'd be happy with that.

Why?

Because he is the best left-back at the club in my opinion and I believe that we are cutting off our nose to spite our face by letting him rot in the reserves.

So it's not because he's English? Naturally none of us know exactly what has gone on with the situation with him, but it must have been pretty bad to relegate him to the reserves.

Despite the things he allegedly said (which if they ARE true, he doesn't deserve to be on our books at all, rotting in the reserves and picking up his paycheck every week is still too good for him IMO), he has been absolutely shockingly shite since the tail-end of last season in my opinion. Yes our defence has been shit all season long, I agree. In m opinion however the inclusion of Stephen Warnock at Leftback is not the missing piece of the puzzle. I never really rated him mind you.

We need to get rid of the all the foreigners, including Randy. We are a British club and need everything British.......

Ein Reich, ein Volk, Ein VILLA!

I'd like to see a German manager. How about a team of Joachim Low and Mathias Sammer? Style, with organisation. I think Low has a contract with German national team until 2014(?), but what an opportunity!

I didn't know that Villa played in the Bundesliga...

I'd like to see a British manager - Hughes, Moyes, McClaren, Lambert, Curbishley or Allardyce.

Interesting take on my suggestion.... :shock:

I see no reason for a British Manager. If you don't like Germans, what about Deschamps...or even Rjikaard?

He wants a British manager and no foreigners. He also wants an English manager and coaching staff for the England national team because he feels if we won anything under Capello, it would be a victory for the Italians, not us, despite it being 11 Englishmen on the pitch.

Pissing me off the amount of Liverpool fans having a go at Villa fans for not wanting Benitez. Acting as if Villa are a nothing club and we should be grateful for having the chance to even talk to him. **** off. Hate Liverpool fans and their over-inflated idea of 'their' club, when most of them live nowhere near Liverpool or have no connections to the club. They decided to support Liverpool because ITV used to make out they had the best fans in the world on Champions League games and they had orgasms over the Kop when in fact it is just a normal football stand. Nothing special at all, although they think they are.

Anyone else see the irony here? I don't like Liverpool fans but I pretty much think most football fans, no matter who they support, are just as bad as each other. To think Liverpool are a nothing club is absolutely ridiculous. They won the Champion's League only a few years ago and we still go on about our European glories over 20 years ago!

Fran, this doesn't happen often mate, but I am in complete agreement with you

Benitez, despite the way he pissed us about with Barry, was complimentary about Villa on a few occasions - saying how the club was run was how he was trying to convince Liverpool to do.

As a person I don't particularly like him. As a manager - he's fantastically qualified.

Do we want a manager who was sacked TWICE in the same year and do we really want ANOTHER ex Liverpool manager?

It doesn't matter which team a manager was previously in charge of, I just want the best man for the job. I don't necessarily think Benitez is that man but then again I don't really know these managers as people and not much about how they train and manage a team. Most people are not privy to that. I didn't even think the whole Houllier ignoring the Villa fans at Anfield was that big of a deal. Quite a load of much ado about nothing. Did he handle it well? Not particularly but I'm not going to cry about it.

Let's not kid ourselves about Benitez though. He was sacked from Liverpool (and we all know the massive trouble Hicks and Gillett caused there) and Inter Milan, two absolutely huge clubs, unfortunately more successful and bigger than Aston Villa. Taking a manager who has won the Champions League as well as many other honours, who has managed the teams that he has wouldn't be the craziest idea ever as long as he fits with the club well. I personally don't think he would but it isn't as if he isn't incredibly well qualified for the post.

Not that I approve of nicking other club's songs per se, but there's that one tune (I always associate it with pirates, sorry I don't know the name of the piece of music) that some other clubs use. Liverpool, and now Chelsea I think, used it for Fernando Torres. It was like. Da-dum da-dum da-dum da-dum da-duuuuuum for quite a while, then ending with Fer-naaaan-do Torr-es Liverpool'S/Chelsea's number 9!

Sorry that wasn't very well worded, we could do something like that for Stu, Stew-art Down-ing Villa's number 6! Just an idea, I always thought it was quite a catchy chant.

Edit - Here we go, I feel a bit dirty posting a Liverpool chant in a villa forum but here goes

More words than I thought though, sure we could find some new ones for Downing.

Yup me too, besides, I know money talks but Lambert really does come across as the loyal type for some reason to me. I think he'll want to stay at Norwich and try and establish them as a Premier League team. He's a young guy in managerial terms, if he fails I'm sure it won't be the last Premier League job he will ever be linked to.

Lambert is beginning to seem to be the most ballsey and attractive option IMO. I can't see it happening though - Randy - but I'd be really interested to see what he could do with AVFC.

Not that whatever a journalist says is gospel of course, and I doubt he knows the real ins and outs and what the board are thinking but Matt Kendrick tweeted this earlier:

MatKendrick Mat Kendrick

Not sure #avfc would see Paul Lambert as a replacement if GH leaves. PL experience was a pre-requisite last time and could well be again.

MatKendrick Mat Kendrick

Also re Lambert, he might just be too close to MON who is currently waging a compensation war against #avfc so is even less popular at VP

Agreed TRO, I'm in no way saying Randy has been perfect for us or that he hasn't made some mistakes, that is obvious but everyone is entitled to make them, he is only human at the end of the day. Of course I want better for my club but some posters on here are just outright unappreciative and I severely doubt many of them could run a football club let alone a football club, american football franchise and multiple businesses all at the same time.

Don't get me wrong, I know part of being a fan is thinking you know better, I'm no saint myself. When I watch us play and we make what I deem the wrong substitution or change to the wrong formation or anything else, I will have a moan like anybody but it isn't like I seriously think I could run a Premier League team.

Mostly I just get frustrated by people bad mouthing a man who has done so much for us. Yes he hasn't been perfect but I'd take him over the majority of owners in the Premier League.

and if you dare to be patronising again then it's clear you're more of a tourist than a fan who prefers the sights of Villa Park than the results.

What nonsense.

Right, we should all forget Randy's football decisions and be thankful his made our catering better.

He's made lots of things better and invested millions into our club and has let the football men make the footballing decisions which is normally the best way for a chairman to be, unfortunately MON took the piss a little (don't get me wrong I think he was a good manager for us and he got us results).

And I'm not being patronising, I don't know how anything in my statement could have been interpreted that way, sorry if it was but there you go again throwing around your opinion as if it was fact when you don't know a single thing about the details, other posters have brought it up so it isn't just me. You have no idea how long I've supported Villa (since birth considering my entire family are Villa fans and my grandad is a shareholder thanks), and me being "patronising" has nothing to do with how good of a fan I am, I just appreciate when people do good things.

Am I happy with results this year? How could any fan be? But I look at the bigger picture and see that since Randy has come here he has invested millions in the team and the facilities and he has stayed out of the spotlight and doesn't take the credit he deserves. We could do a lot worse and some fans seem to be blinded by this season and how bad it's been so you don't remember the three top sixth finishes we've had in the last few years. I suppose that had nothing to do with Randy though did it? I mean it wasn't like it was his money they were spending...

Grow up and don't talk about others being patronising. Pot, kettle, black.

[The fact is, no-one knows, you included, so don't talk like you know how Randy goes about his business. The fact is, he is a multi-millionaire, and we are not.

What the **** does that have to do with anything? You do realise Randy inherited his millions don't you?

I'm well aware that he inherited money and his businesses off his dad yes but he has been dead a while now and Randy is still in charge and his businesses do well. You could even argue that since his dad was so successful that Randy had the perfect mentor to learn off and had the best education available to him. He is still a success, he hasn't run his dad's life work into the ground.

The **** it has to do with anything, is that people talk on here like they know how he goes about his business and that they think they could do better when they don't have the first clue what it is to be a highly successful businessman or running the club. Just because he inherited his money doesn't mean that he isn't good at what he does and I certainly trust him with my club than a few moany fans on an internet message board.

unlikely, but if true i would drive them both there myself. ash and downing for 27 mil plus milner! no brainer

and apart from an unproven Albrighton, who would we play on the wings ?

its always better to have players than cash in the bank

I personally don't like player swap deals, our last one didn't work out too well.

However, assuming you were talking about buying replacements BEFORE shipping off players, well sometimes it doesn't work like that. If we're only able to use money for transfer funds that we got off of selling other players then you have to sell first.

I agree it wouldn't be ideal doing it this way and it concerns all of us that we wouldn't be able to get adequate replacements in in time, but you surely have to think that if we were even considering selling Downing and Ash then we would be in constant contact with transfer targets who would be their replacements? If Houllier has done one good thing since he's been here, it's being competent at getting transfers done relatively quickly. January is notorious for being incredibly difficult to work in as a transfer window and look at the business we did.

It's that crazy time of year. We'll be arguing the toss over ITK rumours for the next 3/4 months.

I heard today that Moyes is a shoe in for the managers job for example.

If Downing asks to leave, after we signed him injured and on the back of one great season. He'll feel my wrath like no other. I don't believe he will mind, and he seems a level headed bloke.

I'd love Milner back, BUT he's a Judas, another who was here 5 minutes and decided he was too good for us. Which has been shown to be complete bollocks of course. I have more of a cob on with Milner than I ever could with Barry for example. At least Barry gave us some proper years of service before buggering off. I like to see him doing well whereas I just love seeing Milner sitting on his arse getting splinters

Milner isn't a Villa fan, I don't understand why people still expect loyalty in today's game. If you were playing for, let's say a club of similar stature to Villa but not Villa since you're biased... like Everton... and Manchester City came a knockin and offered you ridiculous wages and the opportunity to challenge for European honours on a regular basis, would you seriously turn it down? The only thing I have against Milner deciding to join Man City is did he really expect to play every week? But then again to counter that, he's a hard working chap and probably full of confidence in himself so no doubt he thought that he would take the opportunity to prove how good he was and tie down a regular spot, and you can't really blame him for that.

It's a job to these people, just like how you would no doubt leave your job if another bigger company came calling and offered you a 50 percent wage rise, you'd be mad to turn it down if all of the other circumstances were fine too. That said, I'm not upset at Barry either, especially since he gave us a lot of years of good service, but if he had received an offer as good as Man City offered him and he'd only been here a season, I'm sure he would have been off too. That's just my opinion though.

4.He is out of work - and this fits with Randy's no poaching policy.

That is not true, complete myth.

Evidence ?

The general said after MON left - that they wanted someone loyal - as such anyone who had to be 'prized' from another club wasn't the type of guy they were after.

All In the generals thread last August\september

They need to realise that this approach may get them nowhere. Once the season is over, if they haven't sone so already, they should approach a number of clubs to ask permission to talk to their Managers. I'd expect at least Everton, Norwich City and Fulham to receive calls. Villa's loyalty is all well and good but Houllier will take us down and needs to be ditched.

I don't actually think it is an approach. More like an excuse so Randy doesn't have to get involved in any nasty wrangling.

Just because we employed an out of work manager doesn't mean we didn't even consider or even contact managers who were already in a job. The fact is, no-one knows, you included, so don't talk like you know how Randy goes about his business. The fact is, he is a multi-millionaire, and we are not.

4.He is out of work - and this fits with Randy's no poaching policy.

That is not true, complete myth.

Evidence ?

The general said after MON left - that they wanted someone loyal - as such anyone who had to be 'prized' from another club wasn't the type of guy they were after.

All In the generals thread last August\september

You're right the General did say something along those lines yes.

However, I like to think that either the board or at least Randy has learned from this and might decide to be a little more ruthless during the next appointment, whether that's now or years down the line. I'm assuming the board know (I'm certain the General must do from many posts I've seen in his thread) that a lot of fans would like to see a more ruthless streak.

I'm not going to trawl through the General's Thread, but I am sure at some point I have seen him say something along the lines of how we are "too nice" and we need to be more ruthless. I think he was talking about us on the pitch but I would hope maybe this mentality might be adopted upstairs with the big decisions too.

I was always told that it's much easier to get a job if you already have a job. I'd like to think that at least some important person involved with the club upstairs is aware of this as well. I always thought people are more employable if they are already employed.

I'd do the Ash deal no problem, Downing for 17 million isn't bad, although I wouldn't be ecstatic to see him go since he's been our best player this season, doubt we'd want to sell him.

Considering the amount Man City paid for Milner and the fact Ash has one year left on his contract I can't see us getting more than 15 million for him which implies Milner is worth 5 million which is just absolute garbage, I'd personally say Milner was worth more cash then Young.

You know what they say... if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

If Villa DO change the Manager, we need to get the appointment right. The fans are turning and beginning to lose faith. This is a very important decision. If they stick with Houllier, it'll be exceptionally brave of them. I'd hate this season to be the precursor to us getting relegated next season. Without the experience of NRC, Friedel, Luke Young and the probable sale of Ashley Young, there might be a hell of a lot of work to do and decisions to be made. Do the board trust the current management team to make them? I don't.

I don't trust the board to be honest.

Randy Lerner's track record at appointments in the Browns is meant to be terrible according to the fans over there and they want him out. I don't want him out, but I'm gonna be pissed off with him if he brings on another failure. His had perfect oppertunities to make the right choice and he could still bring on someone with football knowledge over someone like Paul Faulkner who seems to be clueless as hell.

Randy has done a lot for this club and deserves our gratitude. Who gives a **** what Brown's fans think? It's a different sport for one and they actually get really pissed because he spends so much time on us.

He appointed Houllier because he met the criteria and it was a good decision on paper. Hindsight is wonderful but no-one could have predicted things would end up this way, besides it wasn't all Randy's fault.

If there is one thing we need less of, it's unappreciative, spoilt fans. We have one of the best Chairmen in the league, show some respect.

Oh and as for Paul Faulkner, I doubt anyone ever sees him when he's working and I doubt even less that you of all people know anything about the job he does at the club, so have some hard evidence when you go around calling people clueless.

Erm Shoody, I'm sorry but you missed out the killer managerial partnership of Salifou with Osbourne as his number 2. That should be at the top of any Villa fan's list.

I agree Ranieri wouldn't be a bad choice but I feel a lot of people wouldn't accept him because he's not British.

I wouldn't accept him because I don't think that he's a good manager.

I wasn't referring to anyone in particular.

One name sprung to my mind... but anyways...

I wouldn't be too happy with Ranieri but I'm not particularly excited by any of the names being banded about either.

First choice Moyes, second (painfully) Rafa or Jol, although I'm hoping there are options out there that we aren't yet aware of. This really is quite uninspiring though and it might just be paper talk but Houllier and GMac seem to think they're both going to be around next season.

Hah man, each to their own, I think it looks cheap as hell.

Agree with that Lyon kit, this is why I'd love us to go with Adidas but I suppose Nike haven't been too bad for us, some of the best kits we've ever had. I hope we don't have to wait too long to see our kit, wish we'd sort out a bloody sponsor soon.