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I've been a little struck sometimes at how fluently some people on VT sometimes refer to what seem to me fairly far-fetched beliefs about "shady dealings" in football. I don't want to sound judgy or harsh because it genuinely surprises me. I've seen people post about refs taking payments or certain clubs getting favoured status as glibly as if talking about tomorrow's weather. Maybe sometimes people are joking, but clearly, sometimes, they're not. They believe this stuff. And who am I to judge? Another is the idea that match officials have formed a wide, Premier League-wide conspiracy to favour certain clubs. I absolutely don't believe that, personally, and it truly surprises me that anyone would, but again, wow. This is remarkable. I also think people develop these conspiracy theories based on some grains of truth -- and at the very least, there is mistrust about the game and its integrity. I thought it would be nice to have a place to talk about and debate and wonder at and poke around the edge of current conspiracy theories specific to football in a safe, non-judgmental forum. Perhaps such discussion would help shed light on the facts, or separate fact from fiction, enumerate current conspiracy theories, and lay out the history of such thinking.
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Every time I watch Villa these days we seem to get kicked off the park by the opposition who don’t seem to pick up any cards and then we seem to get carded for our first offence. Several Wolves players escaped cards on Saturday for cynical fouls. We had 3 cards from 11 fouls and they had 4 cards from 19 fouls. Yesterday, Arsenal conceded 20 fouls and only picked up 2 yellow cards. City didn’t get any from 9 fouls. Odegaard should have been booked about 3 times but didn’t get carded. Cards can really impact the flow of a game but we always seem to get fairly harshly treated compared to other teams. Am I being paranoid here or do other people think we are being harshly treated? Are there any stats which would bring some context to this? It would be great to know the average fouls per card for every premier league team. I know that this doesn’t tell the whole story but it would be interesting to see.
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Is this becoming a bit of a concern again? We don't seem to play anything like the same team away from home a lot of the time. Burnley was decent but it's questionable opposition and no offence to Hibs but not really sure we can read too much into that one. Recent away results: Legia Warsaw - L Liverpool - L Burnley - W Hibernian - W Newcastle - L Liverpool - D Wolves - L Man Utd - L Brentford - D Just before that we did beat Leicester and Chelsea to be fair and the matches we've lost and drawn haven't been the easiest by any means but maybe something to keep an eye on.
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Saw a thread on Twitter of another club’s long range goals. A bit of a dying art these days with Guardiola ruining football. What are the best you’ve seen from Villa players over the years? Share YouTube clips if you can find them
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We have a Hobbies thread for stuff we are into now, but what about things you used to like/love and can't be bothered with now? Main ones for me: Driving - I still love cars, and watch a lot of automotive YouTube content, but the actual task of driving I have completely gone off. I used to love it. I'd take my car out for no other reason to have a drive, it used to be my thinking time, my 'safe space' so to speak. I'd go to supermarkets 20 miles away, so I could spend some time in the car. Not know. Its purely used as an appliance to get from A to B, or A to Z. Combination of appalling drivers and roads that are a disgrace with teeth rattling potholes and endless roadworks and temporary traffic lights. Feels like a chore now. Maybe If I lived somewhere more rural, I would get my mojo back. Films/Cinema - Not fussed anymore. From going to the cinema circa 50 times a year in my twenties, to not going at all in the last 10 years. People's behaviour just got more shitty and entitled. I still watch the odd film on TV, but have no idea on what is coming out. Whereas I used to get all the magazines like Empire, Total Film and Premiere delivered.
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To save the discussion getting caught up elsewhere... Trans causes are becoming more known about and more relevant with it. Of course it's brought with it a pushback - infamously from JK Rowling setting her legacy on fire to add like this ...which has lead to a few other voices being raised in dissent. Like this And of course Graham Linehan has basically ruined his life in the 'debate'.
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I couldn’t find a suitable thread, but I thought we could have one for daft moments from the game. Not quite “the game’s gone” stuff, more like terrible misses, unusual moments of play, maybe some stupid quotes from managers, whatever. Think clips that would appear on a 90’s Nick Hancock football video or Fantasy Football League. I expect Ronnie’s miss at Villa Park will make an appearance shortly. Kicking it off with this miss that I have never seen before today. And, stealing one that I first saw in a Nick Hancock video, Mr Devine’s infamous penalty.
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I can`t figure out why drugs like coke and heroine are so popular and getting more and more popular ? I mean they are very addactive and once hooked that is your life as you know it flushed down the toilet.So what I can`t get my head around is that when a person is first offered horoine or coke, why don`t they just say, no thanks I like my life as it is.Why do they even try it knowing that the rest of their life is going to be focused on getting enough money for their next hit and nothing else ?
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We've all been locked in, surely? Any legendary nights out, where you end up waking up getting pissed on by a feral dog in El Salvador? Who was the div in your friend group who got tied to a lamppost? Where did that tattoo of Carlton Palmer come from?! Share your great nights out stories HERE.
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Not just in reaction to yesterday. We came into 2024 with loads of positivity, probably the most positive we've been since we were last regularly competitive in the mid 90s. Top 3 in the league and with a a manager we believed could end our nearly 30 years wait for a trophy. We had a really positive 2023 where we amongst other things: Reached our first European competition in 13 years Brought in Sevilla's Director of Football who had them winning trophies and getting into Europe every season Had our longest winning home run in God knows how long Outplayed the treble winners like no side has done to them probably ever Were in the top 2 at Christmas for the first time in 25 years The only negatives were going out of cup competitions to lesser teams (Stevenage, Everton), getting pumped 5-1 to Newcastle on opening day, and losing two players to long term injury in Mings and Buendia. But those negatives were one-offs, they didn't start a spiral of negativity, and the positives far outweighed the negatives. 2024 to me has just been a really crap year. Ok, we have managed to retain top 4 so far and beaten teams we should have (Sheffield Utd, Forest, Fulham, Luton, Boro), but even in those wins we looked really ropey for at least one half of the game. And then the negatives: £120m losses with the press saying we'll have to sell key players in summer because we are close to PSR Not strengthening sufficiently in January when we were in our best position in the league for 25 years, only signing one player for our top 4 squad in a Championship player who hadn't stood out at that level (which I called out at the time) and an 18 year old Serbian right back wo we loaned back for the season, then letting our only other experienced holding midfielder in Dendoncker go out on loan despite now having a serious injury in that position Seeing our home form completely destroyed by losing to Newcastle, Chelsea, Man Utd and Spurs all in quick succession, despite being favourites in all those games Putting in an awful performance against Ajax in Europe, where again we just played really defensively like we did against Tottenham Monchi's signings so far really not working out, with the exception of Pau Torres (although even there, we look poor defensively even when he plays). Tielemans has been ok but for the amount of money he is being paid (£150K a week) he isn't doing enough, and Diaby has been hugely disappointing given the expense and can't even get in the side even with injuries to multiple midfielders. The loan signings haven't made a big enough impact. And then the signings in January were just totally baffling in my opinion, when we were in a great position and should have been trying to improve our first team not sign players for the next 5 years. I'm not trying to tempt fate or be pre-emptive, but I don't know if our future is so bright. If our revenues don't improve quickly, given the rules we are up against, we could easily do a Leicester and get relegated in a few years after looking like a marginal top 4 side. Everton were competing with the big sides not so long ago, now look at them. And so were we in fact before we got relegated in 2016. We seem to have gone all in on Emery, putting all his key men in place and the structure to his liking, but if he leaves either by being poached or by mutual consent then where does that leave us? If we continue to sign players from Championship sides or obscure leagues in Europe, or sign players for big money then they can't even get in the side or don't perform, then we will go backwards and then start a spiral of negative outcomes. It has happened before and can happen again. I sincerely hope we know what we are doing and not repeating recent history again.
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You can tell its the off-season, with chat about fizzy pop! Anyway, i'm drinking far too much of it recently. Perhaps because i've tried to lay off the beer, i'm now substituting it with cans of soda. Its all the zero sugar stuff, but I appreciate their ingredients bring other health questions. With the recent warm weather, i'm guzzling 3 or 4 cans of pop a day. Plus i've got large beakers of squash made up chilling in the fridge as well. They all have to be ice cold before I can drink them. There is very little in the refreshment stakes to beat an ice old Sprite on a hot summer day. Must have about 30 cans in the fridge - Coke zero, Sprite zero. 7up free, Irn Bru, Vimto, plus supermarket own cream soda, dandelion and burdock and bitter shandy - all sugar free as well. Anyone else partake in the carbonated beverages a little too much? I think @tonyh29 has a Pespi Max habit?
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What are some of your more vivid memories over the years? I was just remembering how as kids, we used to order butterfly knives and throwing stars from this massive catalogue of cheesy 80's "Ninja" gear. We were obsessed.
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If, as conjectured we need to sell a Crown Jewel in the summer. If we get good bids, relative to the players value. Who do you sell?
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Been thinking about hatricks from our players, wondering what Villa player hatrick is the first to pop into your mind? Put it in a spoiler tag. I want to see which hatricks are most memorable. for me:
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It came up in another thread but probably deserves it's own thread... How safe do you find Birmingham? Is it a nice place? Is it better or worse than it used to be? This isn't tied to the events of the weekend but a general view on the atmosphere, people and how safe you feel. Is it better or worse than other major cities? Personally, in the ten odd years I've lived in the area and the 30 odd years I've been visiting the area I've been impressed with the improvements to the area aesthetically and the variety of restaurants and shops etc. On the flip side, I feel less safe at night than ever before and think the general rate of crime feels higher. I've personally been the victim of crime several times in recent years. How does that compare to other places? I feel much safer in New York for example, but maybe the UK isn't much different city to city? Is Birmingham a place you'd choose to live? I'm beginning to quite strongly dislike it...
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I'm curious how many things we could list that we could confidently say everyone on this forum has in common? Could we list 5, 10, 20, or more? I was thinking it through, and even the would be obvious ones had to be thrown out. Not everyone on here is a Villa fan as we get visiting fans. I suspect that not everyone loves football anymore as some might have been bored by how it's developed over the years. Surely there has to be some women on the site, even if not openly. Surely there are some things that unite us all? We're all human and do the basic things a human must to live (eat, sleep, breath etc)? Is that it?
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This is an anonymous poll. It's just one of my sociological/anthropological sorts of polls as we await the next Villa match. Here are some possibly helpful definitions from Collins: An atheist is a person who believes that there is no God. An agnostic believes that it is not possible to know whether God exists or not. A believer is someone who is sure that God exists or that their religion is true. The afterlife is a life that some people believe begins when you die, for example, a life in heaven or as another person or animal. Here's some relatively recent polling from YouGov. If you want to dig deeper, here is some high-quality American polling on belief/non-belief from Pew.
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The opposite of the traditional bucket list. What thing do you plan to never ever do again before you die? Mine would be drunkenly deciding to climb a lamppost whilst out on Saturday night. Two days later and I'm still in pain.
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It's been evident for a while that kicking at the Holte in the first half has been beneficial for us with a number of very fast starts out the blocks. I've noticed it since the 4-0 win over Brentford under Danks and into Emery's reign from the very first game (against Man Utd). Despite this, fans boo whenever the toss winner has us facing the Holte first half. This happened on Saturday before another flying start against Forest. Traditionally an opposition captain would have us shooting this way first half but any manager that's done their homework would see this is not a wise move so do we reckon that its McGinn that's having us face this way? This article in the Brum Mail has some of the numbers. Aston Villa's Holte End theory debunked as disadvantage exposed - John Townley - Birmingham Live (birminghammail.co.uk)
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Been a while since we had a weekend thread... so I thought I would start one! So, what's everyone got planned? I'm relaxing tonight, might be in Manchester tomorrow and chilling on Sunday. Want to watch Stranger Things on Netflix as well. Not exactly a rock n roll weekend but it'll do for me as I feel shattered.
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In kilometres, please. Here's one way to work it out, but there are others: https://www.freemaptools.com/how-far-is-it-between.htm
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With compliments to @maqroll's The History Thread on VT, this thread is for anyone who likes to wonder and argue about what ifs in notable or not-so-notable past events. It need not be kings and emperors -- alternate social and scientific history talk is welcome here, too. What if the tsetse fly never existed? What if William had failed in Hastings? What if Napoleon had trounced Wellington? What if the Spanish flu of 1918 had been less lethal? What if women's suffrage had occurred one hundred years earlier in Britain? That sort of thing. Please feel free, too, to share links to cool alternate history books, films, TV shows, etc. This isn't meant to be only a place for talking about the Alternate History genre of sci-fi, but more strictly speaking, counterfactual history.
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I listen to a lot of Radio. If I'm working from home, It'll be on for about 12 hours a day. I find it comforting. First of all, let me answer the two standard responses I would receive to this thread: 1) Yes, people still listen to the radio. In the millions. 2) No, I don't want to listen to Spotify / Youtube / Audible / Podcasts all day. I do like the background noise of it. I'm on the phone a lot with my job so I dip in and out of the radio but I find it relaxing and takes away the sharp edge of silence. The adverts don't even bother me that much. Current station of choice is Greatest Hits Radio. The afternoon combo of Simon Mayo followed by Jackie Brambles is very listenable. Mark Goodier on earlier in the day, although he will be moving to weekends and replaced by Ken Bruce from Monday. Just need Steve Wright to join now! Growing up, our household was definitely a Radio One house. Brookes, Mayo, Bates, Davies, Wright, Kershaw, Brambles, Goodier, Campbell, etc. I remember Steve Wright and his posse in the afternoon when my Mom used to pick me up from school in her old rattly Ford Fiesta. On Saturdays when I was 'helping' my Dad wash his Ford Granada (a typical Dad car from the 80s), I remember DLT always being on, and that quiz he used to do. As I got older, into my teens, have fond memories of Chris Evans on the Radio One breakfast show. He seemed like a tour de force at the time before disappearing up his own anus. I never liked Chris Moyles. As I started to drive, i used to listen to BRMB a lot. That was a fun listen with very good local DJs and it was miles ahead of what it has become now (Free Radio Birmingham). A lot of the local stations/DJs now have been phased out and replaced with national content, which is a shame, but I guess thats what the bean counters want. So this is just a general radio thread to discuss it and perhaps post some memories/thoughts etc.
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A thread for things that don't warrant their own thread. - What is with players and that stupid celebration most do, when they they do a jump slide on their knees. I always wince, as my knees constantly ache! - I can't be the only one who hates South American commentators reactions when they announce a goal - "Gooooooooaaaaaaaaallllll" **** off pal.
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I was asked to take part in this Villa Confessions podcast with Claret n Blue and it made me wonder what the confessions of the VT congregation might be. What are your hot takes, niche opinions and otherwise shameful moments as a Villa fan?
