bickster

Right I thought I'd make an attempt at remembering them all Lancs Blandy Limpid JC Chrisvillan Ahamaad Villain Mike Mckenna Drat Out By Easter? Sit Down Potato Head Rantin Richard Jon The Rev Ian Robathon Cheif (now banned) Trinity Tom - (Thats a question mark as I think he turned up on the back of the Holte with Chris once) Hev AJ The Fear (he has posted here) Pablo The General I've seen Designer1 from about ten yards when he was feeling a litttle shy and didnt want to stop Definately been in the same room as sm but still don't know who he is! And theres a few more to that I may have forgotten (apologies to them). So thats me in the 16+ category

D70s? Is that second hand? Why not a D80? And have a look at grey imports from the US as the dollar just hit $2 to the £

Why get a 350D when you can get a 400D? and anyway enogh of this canon shit...............................Here's one from today Llyn Du'r Arddu

Its getting to be quite a few now after adding SDPH and Drat at Blackburn t'other week and OBE at Arsenal (and twice subsequently) I think I'm losing count now

Me do like, welcome to the thread

ManU vs Chelsea with a small thermonuclear explosion in the pre match entertainment should do nicely What sort of a competition draws the semi final before the quarters have been played? Joke competition

By OutByEaster A disappointing end to the reserve’s season with a two-one defeat against a talented Tottenham side tonight’s result. With Davis the forgotten man putting in a timely performance, and Juan Pablo Angel perhaps saying goodbye to Villa Park for the last time. A warm evening at Villa Park, and a surprise start for Barry Bannan behind Juan Pablo Angel in a 4-1-4-1 formation featuring a back line of Hughes, O’Halloran, Ridgewell and Lowry; Lund playing as a holding midfielder and a midfield also featuring Herd, Davis and Stieber Tottenham started well, with O’Hara feeling confident enough to try an audacious 60-yard lob in the opening minute. It passed safely wide. I missed the next few minutes as I was momentarily distracted by thirty odd blokes in green tracksuits and a selection of comedy wigs filing into the Trinity Roads central tier. Answers on a post card please. It was clear that Spurs were the better of the two sides early on, muscular, organised, willing and with no small amount of talent, it initially looked like we might be overwhelmed. Up front, they had the dangerous Lee Barnard who is as much like Marcus Allback as you can be without getting capped for Sweden. Quick, full of energy and intent, he’s as good a forward as we’ve faced this season. Villa did get into the game however, led by Bannan’s energy. The angry ant pestered Tottenham throughout the first half and showed his undoubted grit. Davis started to drive through the middle and Stieber got a couple of opportunities to show his pace. Chances were hard to come by for both sides, but when one did fall it fell to Tottenham. Herd got caught on the ball by Barnard and it dropped to the spiky O’Hara. He hit a hard low shot just to the right of Henderson who couldn’t keep it out. Immediately afterward Villa carved out their best chance of the half Herd and Stieber linking up well to force a good stop from the Spurs keeper. Spurs were soon back on the front foot however, and Barnard finished off a good move with a well-placed low drive past Henderson from outside the box for their second. The second half was more of the same, with lots of fast, crisp passing football but not a great deal in the way of chances. Villa switched to a 3-5-2 with Hughes, Ridgewell and O’Halloran at the back and Lowry and Lund the wing backs. No matter, we still struggled. With O’Hara and Murphy running the game, and Charlie Lee marshalling the Spurs defence well. Angel missed a very decent chance on 61 minutes as they tired and the game opened up. Lowry then found himself free in the box, but his control let him down and the chance was squandered. From an hour onwards, Davis dominated the game, picking the ball up deep and driving at the heart of Tottenham. His refusal to give up paid dividends when Ciaran Clark, on as a substitute scored for Villa in the 88th minute following a scramble in the box caused by an excellent Stieber corner. Davis and Ridgewell tried to drive the team on to an unlikely draw but it wasn’t to be. Some Ratings; Henderson: (5) Still a young man, but he has a lot of improving to do based on tonight’s performance. Should have done better with the first goal and looked jittery all evening. Hughes: (6) Solid and dependable, but didn’t dominate in the way that you’d hope a player of his experience would. Nothing wrong with his performance, but I’d hope for more. Lowry: (6) Struggled at times and looked a little off the pace, but his levels of commitment are beyond reproach and he’s always willing to go again. Ridgewell: (7) Leader of men. Marshalled our back line well and made life hard for anyone who dared to cross his path. In the second half he often looked our most likely scorer and never gave up the fight. O’Halloran: (6) Professional Ridge-O-Like who gets a bit more like Liam in every game. Needs to work a bit more on his ball skills to get there, but he’s got the attitude. Lund: (5) Found the first half very difficult. Tottenham allowed him no time on the ball and he struggled to retain possession. Looked a little more comfortable as a wingback, but didn’t have a good night. Herd: (7) Another good performance from Herd who continues to prove me wrong. I’m still not sure about him, but his performance tonight and last time out might see me eating my words. Looked very comfortable on the ball. Davis: (9) A fantastic performance from Davis, which the watching Martin O’Neill can’t help but have noticed. He put in a really decent shift, working his socks off and leaving the field with his shirt wet through. Passed it well and carried the ball from midfield into attacking positions on countless occasions. You know all the stuff that Davis does well? Well he did all that. Angel: (4) As I watched him trudge off at the end, I was genuinely saddened to think that this might be his final performance at any level in a Villa shirt. It seems like only yesterday that the wild-eyed woolly headed Columbian grabbed his first goal against Coventry. His lazy, languid 90 minutes tonight showed none of his better qualities. This was a performance to forget from a striker who carried no threat. Bannan: (6) His energy lifted us first half, but he faded towards the end of it and was substituted on 55 minutes. He gets knocked off the ball, but always seems to be back at it a second later. The thing I really noticed tonight though was his passing; Barry can stroke the ball around very nicely and see a through ball. Here’s hoping for a growth spurt. Stieber: (7) I didn’t realise how quick he was until tonight. He’s sharpish. Continues to take good corners and free kicks and puts in some decent balls. The strength of the talent coming through at Villa is down the flanks. Stieber has a chance. Clancy: (6) Keen, but struggled to make an impact. Clark: (7) Made an impact with the goal. He’s an England U18 international and looks a good prospect. Unusually for a Villa youth prospect he looks a decent size. I’m not sure how quick he is, but I look forward to seeing a lot more of him next season. And that’s it for our home programme, good luck to the boys at Chelsea. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this seasons reserve team football and seen some terrific games. You’ll need to wait until next season now to see how good it is. By then Barry Bannan could be five foot six; Look out world!

Has to be Barry for me

My comment wasn't to be read as an argument to vote for Cahill btw, I was just pointing out that its not as cut and dried as it first seemed to Jez, thats all

er No Cahill has played almost as much as Gabby - 21 apps he's also played more consistantly imo

I think theres a good argument to say that apart from maybe the NEC for Large exhibitions Manc actually has more in terms of facilities

Ah but the other side of that coin is our success in the eighties Jon, how many non-brummy fans did we pick up during that time? Its the same for every team sucess breeds fans. If we break into the top 4 on a regular basi, kids all round the country will start supporting us. I don't see how you can avoid it and any club to be succesful needs that to fund its growth. Criticising people not from manc for supporting manc is to me a bit like admitting we're jealous of their success

I agree entirely with Al. Its a bit disrespectful to the Norwegian fans who came over on Monday for their second visit of the season. Are they any less of a fan than the rest of us because they live further away. In fact if I supported my "local" team I should be supporting West Brom or Walsall (not sure which one is the closest as the crow flies), VP is definately third in the how far the ground is away from my family home league table and I'll wager theres absolutely plenty of other Brum based fans who are closer to either sha or the Baggies

Another top report Scott, interesting read as always, keep up the good work mate

By OutByEaster? Top of the table Reading were tonight’s visitors, to Villa Park. They found a Villa side that were more than a match for them in a decent 3-0 victory. Line-ups first on a very pleasant Villa Park evening. Villa started with Taylor in goal, a back four of Lund, Laursen, O’Halloran and Samuel with a midfield four of Herd, Hogg, Gardner and Stieber and a rather experienced looking front two of Luke Moore and Juan Pablo Angel. No game tonight for Marc Albrighton who looked happy enough to sit this one out. Reading brought an experienced bunch, including Kevin Doyle, John Oster, Andre Bikey and former favourite Ulises De La Cruz. Readings Pro-celebrity line up also included playwright Alan Bennett who played at centre half and Patrick Cox who kept everyone’s boots shiny on the bench. Liam Ridgewell unfortunately pulled out prior to kick off, which meant that Samuel got to play at left back after a few games at centre half. The game started slowly with both teams moving the ball around without much of a threat, but Villa: buoyed by the constant singing of a large group of local schoolchildren soon started to get a grip on things. Gardner tested the keeper from distance forcing an excellent save, before twice forcing him into good stops from close range after picking his way through the Reading defence nicely. Stieber played over an excellent corner and Gardner forced his way past Laursen to plant a firm header home. Shortly afterwards Jlloyd Samuel picked up a petulant booking for refusing to give the ball back for a throw in. It was a difficult night for Jlloyd with Seol tormenting him down our left. Strangely, having played out of position in the middle for a few games, he really struggled in his natural position. Credit Seol though, most of Readings threat came from his crosses. Gardner continued to threaten from distance, with our much vaunted front two showing good touches without producing much in the way of end product. Jlloyd shook off his defensive shackles to break through the Reading midfield and play a ball out to Stieber who once again produced a terrific cross for Herd to volley home from close range. Villa looked comfortable at half time. The second half started well and Villa produced a flurry of chances: Moore almost taking advantage of a mix up in the Reading box but finding that the ball wouldn’t sit for him. Angel was next, shimmying his way to a decent chance that the keeper dealt with well. A good move involving Laursen, Moore, Hogg and Gardner left Stieber with the opportunity to shoot from the edge of the box, but he fired well over. When Angel rose to thump a header against the post a couple of minutes later it seemed that a third goal couldn’t be far away. These things never seem to quite work out that way though, and the game turned towards Reading as Villa switched off. The Royals generated some excellent pressure with a succession of corners that were defended well (First team take note) and a number of well-worked opportunities that were spurned with some poor finishing. Shane Long was particularly wayward, but it was clear that Reading could play, and their league position seemed altogether more plausible than it might sound. Villa seemed limited to occasional breaks by Moore who struggled hard against Bennett and Bikey to no avail. He did manage to win us a corner however, and Stieber completed his hat-trick of assists with another precision corner placed onto the head of O’Halloran who dispatched it with a minimum of fuss. Barry Bannan made his regular cameo appearance as did England under 18 player Ciaran Clark, but neither had long enough to make an impact. Three-Nil the final score, and we made it look very straightforward indeed against the best side in the division. Some ratings: Taylor: (7) Some good stops and commanded his area well. We’re lucky to have a number two with his ability and authority. Lund: (7) A capable performance from Eric. He looks comfortable at this level and dealt well with everything that was thrown at him. O’Halloran: (7) defended well and played one or two decent long balls forward. Didn’t manage to get forward as much as he has in other games, but did very well against a dangerous Reading attack. Laursen: (9) Came striding forward to win balls or carry the fight to Reading on countless occasions. When the pressure was on in the second half, every Reading attack seemed to wither on Laursen. He’s got this coming back from injury thing down to a tee. Samuel: (5) Struggled with Seol all night. His booking was just silly and he didn’t make enough impact going forwards, often working his way into decent positions before failing to get a ball in. The watching scouts won’t be reaching for their clubs chequebooks tonight. Hogg: (8) A performance packed full of industry, energy and endeavour. He simply outworked the Reading midfield. It’s the best game I’ve seen him have, and if he can add a bit of quality on the ball then he’s one for next season. Herd: (7) Like Hogg, this might be the best game I’ve seen him have for the reserves. He tired toward the end but battled well down the right hand side, provided a few decent crosses and took his goal very well. Gardner: (9) Dominated the middle of the park, tackled hard as ever and really impressed with the runs he made from midfield. Had a number of efforts from distance and got into the box well. He might consider himself unlucky to only have scored one. With Gavin McCann suspended, I think Craig Gardner should find himself in the sixteen against Blackburn. Angel: (7) Some nice touches, and added a bit of guile to our attacks, headed against a post whilst offside and had two or three shots, but never really looked like he was going to score. Moore: (7) Ran hard, and badgered the Reading defence from start to finish. Had a couple of half chances, but occasionally dwelt too long on the ball in front of goal. A strange performance from Luke, “worked hard but no goals” isn’t a line that seasoned reserves watchers are familiar with. Stieber: (8) A hat-trick of assists and superb delivery from set pieces all night. It was a shame that he couldn’t add much from open play where he was too often knocked off the ball. Needs a bit more time in the gym so that his physique can support his talent. None of the subs were on long enough for a rating. (Even though I find it very hard not to mention Barry Bannan.) Enjoyable fayre, and there will be more available next Tuesday at Villa Park, a 19:00 kick off with Tottenham the visitors. Should be a cracker.

First & third for me, the horizon isn't level in the fourth but generally they are excellent And I'm extremely jealour of the location, whee was it?

Was reading a review of the sigma 10-20 only t'other day. When I get round to buying my DX2s and a few lenses, thats going to be my Ultra Wide lens choice I take it thats the 10mm end by the vertical distortion Nice Shot btw B23, I also concur with Simon that the Canal shot is good too

He's yet to convince me tbh, his passing isnt that strong nowhere near as strong as his ability to run backwards with his arm in the air I'm sure you can get much better players for the bench than that for 1.5mil

General, this isn't a complaint more of a suggestion, its something I thought of after contacting the ticket office on Monday Sometimes I buy my tickets on the internet, sometimes in person and this week for the first time in years I did it over the phone. Every time I've recived good service and have no complaints about the staff. But here it is as I've used all three methods of ticket purchase you have a lot of my details. Even though I bought my tickets over the phone this time, it would have been nice if I could also have recieved an email of confirmation as you do have these details on your database anyway, can't see the harm or extra cost involved and it would benefit myself to know the order had been processed correctly and to allow me to correct the mistake at an earlier date (ok I'm being paranoid as the staff are excellent anyway but......) It might even be of use for personal callers to, just in case they do accidentally lose their tickets etc Ah well just an idea

Used to be pn cable - it was shit, their accounts dept was a mess and the service was awful so I changed to Sky Sky+ is fantastic imo I do however hate Murdoch and everything Sky has done to the KO times

I'm in work, I won't even have the teletext on

I wish I could get the ants under my patio to do the same trick

YUP, its about the only thing the press have writtten about Reading all season, shame the NOWT obviously don't read the other papers

Oh well, worth a try

In fact cat here is the perfect opportunity to get that third one published A competition in DigitalSLR User Magazine - click link for entry details 2 4GB Compact Flash Cards (fast expensive profesional ones) and two card readers as a prize!