bickster

Those are great Macro's cat, everyting is spot on in them. You should try and get them published in a magazine (which isnt as hard as people think - I've done it a few times) The bottom two are the better ones to my eye, the third being my particular favourite

I don't really think price paid for players is that relevant under Mr Lerner, under Doug it was obviously but those were the days of stupidly small transfer budgets Petrov is definately improving and Young has played a handful of games, don't see how you can make a valued judgement on either player being as both are in their first season I'll let you know if they've been failures or not at the end of NEXT season

Point out MON's actual failures in the transfer market so far. Where's our squad that so full of his spectacular failures? Either you can justify the spectacular failure line or you are guilty of PFE

you'd be better off seeing if you can get a proper filter holder (not expensive) for a compact camera like this one at amazon for a tenner Only reason I'd buy a holder is ease of use and any specs of dust on the filter will move all over the place if you are hand holding, you'll be needind a tripod of sorts anyway due to the length of exposure required

By OutByEaster? Reserves vs Arsenal A convincing 3-0 victory for Villa on a freezing night at Bescot and a good performance from a young yet experienced Villa side that saw Arsenals youth brushed aside. The manager might also note the performance of a young man who seems to have got the message. Arriving at the Bescot, I found a pitch white with hailstones, the lines had been cleared, but the hail showed no signs of melting away. Foreboding dark clouds gathered above us and a Siberian wind blew through the eerie winter twilight. (!) I half expected to see Dracula step out from the tunnel, instead I saw Nathan Delfounesa, only 16 and ready for a first appearance at this level. I haven’t seen him before; he’s big for a 16 year old, almost as big as his partner Luke Moore, and he seems a very confident young man. With Stieber out left and Albrighton on the right in a 4-4-2, Villa looked very balanced. The surprise was that Gardner started at right back in a back four that had Lowry and Samuel in the centre and O’Halloran at left back. Eric Lund got the nod to partner Osbourne in the middle. The game started brightly and at a rare old pace, Albrighton opening particularly well making a number if excellent runs down the right side and tormenting the Arsenal left back; Armand Traore. A straightforward back pass from Traore left the Arsenal keeper with a simple clearance, but he underestimated Luke Moore’s pace and took a touch. Luke did very well to get a challenge in before reacting first to the loose ball and prodding it into an empty net. Villa hit the post on the quarter hour, O’Halloran (I think) unlucky not to score from Stiebers cross. Stieber himself had the ball in the net on 25 minutes with a lovely lob over the Arsenal keeper after Villa had broken their defence apart. Sadly the linesman flagged for offside having missed a defender trying to get back. No matter, a minute later the ball dropped to Luke on the edge of the box and he feinted to shoot before dragging it past a hapless defender who brought him down for a clear penalty. Gardner dispatched it with a thump and the minimum of fuss. After that, Villa relaxed and Arsenal put some good pressure on. They pass the ball well, move like you’d expect Arsenal to and also have the Arsenal failing of trying to be too clever for their own good. Clear opportunities were spurned in favour of one more pass. They hit the post from a free kick, but failed to break a determined Villa back line. As if to emphasize the cold, it snowed throughout half time. Sadly, just three minutes into the second half Delfounesa had to come off with a knock. A decent enough effort from him though, I think we’ll see a lot more of him. He was replaced by Jonathon “Boss” Hogg who went out to the right hand side with Albrighton joining Moore up front. Lund returned to his natural full back position and Gardner returned to the centre of midfield. Hogg made himself busy on the right, and was involved in our third goal, playing a lovely ball inside to Albrighton whose poor touch turned into a good ball for Luke Moore to convincingly put past the Arsenal keeper. He almost completed his hat-trick shortly after when he ran on to a long ball, and from a tight angle produced an exquisite flick with the outside of his right foot that the keeper did well to save. Albrighton came close to stabbing home the rebound. On 75 minutes, Barry Bannan came on to replace Albrighton who had visibly tired, and he set about making himself busy down the left flank. Playing against Barry must be like having a wasp in your car, you never get a moments peace, Arsenal were clearly flustered. Ogogo at right back showed the Arsenal spirit by shoving Zoltan Stieber in the chest after a tackle, and having been booked just prior to the incident must have known he was lucky to stay on. He was substituted soon after. Arsenal briefly had only ten men on the field after some confusion with their substitutes, and Villa almost took advantage from a free kick, O’Halloran heading over. Now, are you sitting down? On 90 minutes, Arsenal who were losing started a fight. No, honestly they did, it’s a shocker I know. Again, one of the Arsenal players had a bit of a kick out at little Zoltan Stieber before standing up and pushing him in the chest. Half the Arsenal team piled in, which was a pity for Armand Traore as I think he might have gotten away with a booking otherwise. He looked mightily unhappy as he wandered very slowly off. I don’t suppose the cheery shout of “Get a move on loser!” helped him much. It cheered me up mind. So, four games in a week and finally I’d seen a win. A good win at that. Some ratings; Taylor (6) – Didn’t have a great deal to do, did okay with everything that was asked of him. O’Halloran (7) – Not much came from Arsenal down his side. Was good in the air and provided some steel behind Stieber. Samuel (7) – Another good display from Jlloyd at centre-back, he’s a very organised player and never looked like getting beaten. I’d like him to stay. Lowry (7) – Another aggressive display, never really got caught out by Arsenals movement and defended well Gardner (.8.) – Looked very comfortable at right back, and might be good enough there to get a look in for the first team. Moved back into midfield in the second half, and in combination with Osbourne controlled everything. Good penalty. Stieber (7) – Bright and lively, involved in a lot of good things, but his final contribution didn’t seem to come off. Pushed up front late on, and he and Luke looked very dangerous on the break. Lund (7) – Looked very good in the middle of the park, his shock of blonde hair seemed to be everywhere and he showed an excellent appetite for a tackle. Faded a little when moved back to the back line. Osbourne (.8.) – Oz-Zilla monstered the Arsenal midfield. (Fact: It is impossible to get a ball around Isaiah Osbourne from a distance of less than four yards.) Tackled anything that moved and drove the ball on from midfield. He allowed the others to play. Albrighton (7) – He made another excellent start, with pace, inventiveness and excellent crossing from the right. Fades away later on in games, but by the time we get to this point next season he could be one with hopes of the first team squad. Delfounesa (7) – Showed some good touches and he looked like he knew what he was doing. It seems we might have a smart footballer on our hands. He held the ball up reasonably well, but looked like what he is: a sixteen year old. Promising though, and I’d like to see more. Moore (9) – The best player on the pitch by a long way, every time the ball went near him he looked dangerous. He’s not a ninety-minute, box-to-box player, but he has a touch of the predator about him. Was unlucky not to score a hat trick, but scored two and made the other. The watching MON can’t fail to have been impressed both with his ability and his attitude. If there’s a criticism, I think he switched off after eighty minutes. The best finisher at the club. Subs Hogg (7) – Looked bright and lively down the right and showed more than he has when I’ve seen him previously. Bannan (7) – Never stops moving, nearly scored a wonder goal when he met a Hogg cross with a first time volley from the left side of the area. Didn’t give the Arsenal right back a second on the ball, nicking it off him on more than one occasion. All in all, a very satisfying evening of football, I’ve almost got the feeling back in my feet, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing this young side continue their development in a couple of weeks time when Reading are the visitors. April 3rd 19:00 at Villa Park (I think!)

Aye having seen it on the tellybox this time I have to change my mind and say it was definately a penalty but from my position behind the goal it definately looked like he made a meal of it in the split second that it happened. As it happens I had a brief chat with an ex-league ref tonight who had just come back from a referees association meeting and that decisiaon and the handball against Arsenal were hot topics of discussion and the conclusion was both were nailed on penalties. So its quite clear in my mind that referee's have cost us 3 points against top4 sides this week alone

Its mentioned in this article Iain

I know you missed the game on Wednesday JC but we lined up exactly the same against the Arse too On the main point of the article I agree, they set out to do a job and achieved a result Sure there were gripes with this and that but the result at the end of the day was a good one for a team in our position - which was exactly what the bloke next to me said at the end of the game even though he'd spent all 90 minutes moaning about MON and his negative tactics (and Gabby and Petrov and McCann and.......and.......) - if you can work the logic of that out then you're a better man than me. Oh and I don't think it as a penalty, if there was any contact it was minimal and Petrov was trying to make up for the fact he should have been alert enough to have pout the ball in the net in the first place (much like Gabby who also failed to stick a foot out at the correct time about ten minutes earlier) But at the end of the day a very useful point and all the top 4 are out of the way now.

How does he do that without appearing in the shot himself..? He's not lit and because he moves about over a long exposure the camera doesn't record him as being there

I was corrct it was commisioned by the club for the trinity road stand acording to the website, its a nice model to look at too

Que? Camera set to bulb and using a torch you paint your subject (at night obviously) nice examples here

Isnt that the model that used to reside in the club reception?

Not really, an international side really doesn't have the same emotional attatchment for me as the Villa. Answer this questiion What would you rather, Villa win the Champions League or England win the World Cup? (you can't answer both, you have to choose one or the other). Which of those would you personally rather happen, for me its Villa, not even with any hesitation. For me International football is nothing but a sideshow. Villa is the real deal, its week in week out, to me International football is like playing I'm a Celebrity Football Manager get Me Out of Here

But seriously I couldnt care less, really I mean that, that in itself is a damning verdict We could qualify and I wouldn't care, I've given up on supporting England. The FA are clowns and its their fault I don't care, McCalren is just one of their comical international decisions that have lead me to this ambivalence - I'm seriously past caring

Wassat B23? reminds me of the Reduced Shakespear Company or something

Totally agree PB, I felt the same myself on Wednesday, 1-0 down for large parts of the game against a top 4 side Did the team stop playing - no they tried harfder and harder, the effort & commitment was there for all to see Did the Crowd stop singing? Nope - the second half had much less quiet moments compared to the singing ones, the crowd were behind the team None of this would have happened last year Top Post PB

No of course he wasn't Malc, not restricted at all by the transfer window slamming shut almost as soon as Lerner took the helm. New boss or not you can't buy players out of the window, if thats not a restriction I don't know what is.

Anyway going back to the incident in question, Boatengs head is known to be made of steel (wasn't it Gazza that broke his arm trying to elbow him in the face) so he doesnt need to protect his face from a poorly delivered corner, he could just have headed the ball it wasnt whacked straight at him, it wasnt fast, he had enough time he just lost the plot Handball & Penalty

I believe intent and ball to hand are actually the two most relevant factors for refs to consider according to the rules, so not too sure i agree with that Bicks. Having said that, it was a penalty in my book, arms raised in an unnatural position and contact with the ball. Having just read the Laws of the game, the buggers have changed the Law, Its now only a pen if its "deliberate handball" so Grant - you are correct and I'm wrong Bloody FIFA messing with the game again

Not one of those reasons is valid for denying the penalty even if they are all true

it hit his hand and he gained advantage, intent or ball to hand is an irrelevance Penalty

Perhaps a 25th Anniversary scarf sent out to season ticket holders old and new? Not sure I agree with that tbh, sure it rewards loyalty, sure it targets those that may have fallen by the wayside in recent years but surely we also need to be trying to build a new support also and using our heritage would be a great way of doing that Rewarding the loyal and attempting to bring back the once faithful is fine but I think its a missed opportunity to waste our 25th aniv celebrations on such a narrow band of people Not against the scarf idea per se mind you

Ta Si, my creative juices appear to be back after some absence

Ambleside Jetty I seem to be hogging the thread today, thanks for the comments Grant & Cat This ones from sometime last year, only got round to doing anything with it today, it might benefit from a little cropping to the left I thought but that unbalances it in the centre, its just an imperfect shot, proof that sometimes even an inch or two off centre can make a huge difference to the success of a photo

Apertures perfect on that shot Cat, sharp from front to back nice technique