bickster

like you could murder half a pig ? :roll:

Neither am I, but then we don't have a need to put a differing view do we ? As to the best manager they could have ever appointed, I don't think so, he may become a great with us, but I would have found 3 at least, with better records and available too, so I'm sure Lerner's advisers would have . But would they a) have come to Villa at this present moment? and do they have a good knowledge of the English game? Knowledge of the English game is far more important than European football at our current position I'd argue. Before we start talking about Europe, lets qualify for the tournaments first and be doing it on a regular basis before we start thinking about MON's semi-apparent lack of European managerial experience

That and Bendall withdrew the offer of the rolling contract which Saunders had been after. But the rolling contract was probably withdrawn at the behest of Ellis anyway in a clearing the decks for the new owner kind of way (and if that doesnt ring any bells with events of the summer...................)

As someone who has NEVER done work in the morning, I do find myself hamkering after teh odd 8-4 or 6-2 shift at work but I think I still prefer the evenings. Nights are beging to fuckme off completely though

I did. Am I missing something?? :? Since when did Stafford have a University? What next, the University of Uttoxeter? It was bad enough when Keele was called a University (highest suicide rate apparently) but Stafford - jeez and education hasnt been dumbed down, nah not a hope its all about accesibility - bollox its about dropping standards [/ranty ranty ranty] :evil:

To say he's never experienced European Football on the big scale is a wee bit erroneous to my mind. He's only won the thing twice as a player. He also got to the final of the UEFA Cup with Celtic as a manager. I know where you are coming from but to say he's got limited experience in Europe just isn't true imo.

Arts degrees were always available from the cubicles in the toilets

Went to Uni many moons ago in the early eighties when a degree was worth something

Thats a good question Bob as that was my understanding too BUT I think the General stated quite early on that he can't talk about the specifics of any planning proposal in this or any other similar thread, so I doubt its possible for him to answer in a satisfactory manner right now (its to do with the rules about planning apps I think - he's not avoiding the issue) But he may not have been aware of those council imposed restrictions so its good to bring it to his attention all the same

You want a live band set up, then play, then packed away inside the 15 mins of half time that allows the mere mortals amogst us to queue to have a leak and a quick ciggie / balti pie before the secondhalf starts? Why do people need entertaining at half time? try having a conversation with the complete stranger sat next to you or something if you don't need to use the bogs takes me all my time to queue for the toilet have a ciggie and find out the half time scores.

I think some people appear to be taking Malcolms words at face value, when he says he "hates" MON he's being a tad ironic, its what others accuse him of as opposed to him actually disliking MON per se. He has his criticisms of MON and his concerns but as far as I'm aware he's never actually said he dislikes him (and actually meant it) I aslo think people are guilty of reading the first sentence and making the rest up, imo the article makes some interesting points worthy of discussion but you need to understand that he doesnt hate MON

by avfcinwales Malcolm asks a question about the current squad First off, while I hate O'Neill and think he's totally useless as a manager (after all if Strachan can achieve with Celtic something he never did he can't be much use can he), I do appreciate his ability to knit together players to suit a decent mid table Premiership side. He's already increased the security of the defence, helped greatly by a more consistent Sorensen and Laursen’s brief return, to say little of a greatly improved Ridgewell, and from this basis allied to odd bits of luck we don't normally associate with the Villa since Taylor's first term, he's achieved a sound foundation. He's brought in 3 players, none have set the world alight, but certainly an improving Sutton and a quality Petrov have improved options all round. He is limited by the squad size, something I criticised O'Leary for when he spent most of his funds on Baros, and with the short time O'Neill had under Ellis restrictions, in the last transfer window, although I think he could have done better, he didn't do too bad in Petrov. But with the future in mind, next summer, no further, I'm beginning to speculate on how many of our existing players will fit his expected formation. This has to be speculative, like most of the posts often are primarily because we don't know the full depth of his and his team’s tactical knowledge. OK as JG showed, when in doubt, pick a defensive system and before you know where you are you top the league, sustaining it by improving the squad is where it can go wrong, probably less so under Lerner than Ellis, because I don't see restrictions being placed, not the sort to worry O'Neill anyway, but its not going to be easy. Firstly the squad is small and only the youth coming through has bailed him and O'Leary to some degree out, but for us to push on he needs experienced quality by the bucketful and quickly. Which then begs the question, will he rebuild as he has in the past, with a tight defence, a strong flair free midfield and a target man supplied by one or two direct wingers. Will he buy 'cheap and cheerful' or go for the higher quality target, be they young potential or proven stars or compromise. Not got a clue, although I'd speculate again, he'll for now build to achieve a sound base on which to build around. If so he needs a sound backbone Sorensen, no problem, there are few better in the Premiership He needs 1 ideally two talented centre backs, Laursen clones without the knee problems. He has in Barry, McCann and Petrov a decent basis, I'm very concerned about Davis as I was about Whittingham last year, he's not got much better, I hope Davis will or he won't survive beyond the summer, very sadly. Up front he needs a target man and 2 wide players. Here he and I diverge, but no matter. We have in Moore and Gabby two highly talented young strikers who brought through carefully will make decent, even top quality strikers, but both have a long, long way to go before they become Premiership permanents, especially in their present roles. As such I can't see again, sadly, much chance for either Angel or Baros to be long term considerations. Neither really fit the O'Neill tactical scene, neither really offer options that would fit either, square pegs without doubt. I'm not going to speculate on who he will buy, that is a game for threads on the message board, and its pointless, one thing we supporters can't know is the many workings and dealings that go on behind the scenes, we can't. I will suggest his priorities are a commanding centre back, a target man striker and at least 1 wide provider, ideally right footed, in January. In the summer starts the real work, and the real big test of O'Neill's talents. Then he has to prove whether he is capable of building a table topping European beating side By then the honeymoon period will be over, here's hoping it finishes with European qualification.

Good teams build from Defence , average teams build from Attack but **** knows where Newcastle are building from Erm, well, rats live in the sewers don't they

Top report as usual Pete

Chop orf is 'ead, sent the troops to Sheffield and bring me the head of the traitor

General Here's a thought that came to me tonight at work, don't know if its possible wih the various restrictions on cameras / photography within the ground (and I fully understand the reasons why it might not be possible). Theres a fair few of us on VillaTalk that are keen amateur photographers and if theres a few on here in our small percentage of the fan base there must be plenty more in the whole of the Villa support. An annual Villa photography competition. Now this isnt as daft and self centered as it first may appear. With all the talk of the Museum and honouring the past etc, we must also not forget the present, for the present is tommorrows past after all. It would be a great way of fans having their own way of recording their experiences and the best entries each year being kept each year by the proposed museum as a way of documenting each season from the fans perspective. You could also invite the professional photographers that visit our ground every game to enter their own photo's in a similar parallel competition. This in itself might encourage a bit of a positive outlook from the media as it would give the photographers something extra to focus their attrention on. It can certainly do no harm but might also foster a greater deal of sympathy from certain elements of the media in time. Within the museum concept, an exhibition once a year of the best photo's from both the amateur and professional ranks would create both an annual event / reason to visit the museum whilst also providing a ready supply of documentary history for the museum (as a part of the conditions of entry) Such a competition could only be named after one person in my opinion and that would be Terry Weir, former official photographer of the club whose photography can be seen in the fantastic book that was published posthumously a couple of years ago. Terry was a great photographer, a Villa fan (and loyal servant of the club) plus a great character, he always had time for the fans. Anyway, just a thought for the future but in my opinion a great way of encouraging fan participation, a good source of documentary exhibits for the proposed museum and honouring a man that deserves to be more than a footnote in the history of the club you might not like the idea but I thought I'd run it up the flagpole anyway

I agree Mr Barnes, I don't see how Smith fits into the Villa's patterns of play that MON seems to have been geting us to play when the squad have been fit enough to manage it

An Everton Match report by Blandy Just back from a proper late winter's game at Goodison, I thought I'd jot down a few match related musings You'll know by now, no doubt, that Villa won today. 1-0 courtesy of Chris (not a bluenose anymore) Sutton's neat glancing header from Ozzy's cross, but what you won't perhaps know, unless you were there was the nature of the performance, and what, to me at least it showed. The day started with the short trek from Lytham to Liverpool on the local train, and a convivial meet up in the pub with fellow north west Villans Bicks, Jon and Jim, Jon's brother. Drinks were taken and chat ensued. We knew that Gary Cahill would be starting, thanks to another friend, Drat from this board, and felt that Olly would be at right back, but were unsure as to how the rest of the team would line up. After a Taxi ride to the ground, just in time for kick off we saw that Olly had indeed moved to right back, Gary C and Ridge were in the centre with Freddie Bouma at left back, With Gareth Barry out as well, Stan petrov was on the left, Ozzy and Gav in the centre and Gabby out right. The front two were JPA and Chris Sutton. With the wind working up a fair old bluster, rain sweeping in and the Evertonians and Villans huddling in the old ground, I thought two things - 1. it would likely not be a classic match, and 2. Jon really shouldn't have left his coat in the pub. The first 20 minutes or so were fairly even and involved much "competing", with both sides seeking to get the upper hand, but not much actually happening. It was absorbing, though. It was Villa, kicking into the wind (when it wasn't swirling) who wrestled control. Much of this was due to the midfield 3 of Gav, Ozzy and Petrov, but it was also clear that Olly, and Gaz and Ridge were on top of their opponents. Some long range shooting from Stan Petrov and a few efforts from Everton didn't really trouble either keeper, but Villa were on top and were creating chances of making chances, without quite getting there. Other factors at play were an inconsistent ref, and an unfortunate collision between 2 Everton players, which led to a 5 minute hold up while Tim Cahill was gingerly stretchered off. Hope he recovers soon, he's a good player. Beattie came on in his stead. Shortly before half time Mellberg, I think, knocked a ball for Gabby to chase, against Lescott. He won the race (natch) laid it back to Isaiah Osbourne, and Ozzy's cross was nicely glanced in by Sutton. No power, but the placement was perfect. 1-0. We had a couple of other chances, but couldn't get the second we might have deserved. Second half saw more Everton pressure than the first, but Tommy in goal had little to do, such was the excellence of the defence, ably assisted by all of the midfield and forwards. The rain increased in ferocity, Evertonians roused themselves to egg their side on and the away section sang away for our boys. Despite some further dubious refereeing decisions we held out pretty well, with one spell of play deep into stoppage time seeing 3 Villa players hurl themselves to block a shot. The whistle went and we'd won. In a way the match won't make great TV viewing, or and game of the season lists, but it was hugely, hugely, pleasing. Why? - well on several levels. With players out injured we shuffled the small squad and the manager coaxed a real team performance out of every one of the players. Because Isiah Osbourne looked so much more at home than he had at Anfield. Because the tactics were spot on. Because we won at a place where we've not done too well in recent years. Because Everton had not lost at home in the league. Because we "bounced back" after a thumping at Chelsea in midweek, but because most of all, in the corresponding game last year we were dreadful, but this year the same squad, pretty much, raised their game and the fans and players were united in our aims. We stood up for ourselves and came out on top. Some marks. Tommy - 7 - not busy, but a lesser mark would be harsh. Olly- 7.5 - the best right back at the club Gary Cahill - Splendid performance - 7.5 Ridge - Ditto - 7.5. It's heartening to see two young centre halves in total control of their job at an away game. Freddie Bouma - decent 6.5 Gabby - 6. Didn't hold up the ball so well, but still a threat, and kept going, not letting his head drop. Good attitude Gav - 7.5. Good stuff from Gav. Booked harshly, I thought. Ozzy - 7.5. Now that's the stuff. A really good performance. Stan Petrov 7.5 - Did extremely well out left JPA - 6 - a real team performance, without threatening to score, but he put the shift in. Chris Sutton - 7.5. Not that mobile, but those who saw the Blackburn game last week will know what he does. He did it again, and ran himself into the ground, as they all did. Sub Steve Davis (Sutton) - only on for 5 minutes. Sub Didier Agathe (JPA) - some good work - 6 Sometimes I feel people make too much of the cult of the manager, but Nartin O'Neill deserves a huge does of thanks for getting that level of performance from a tired and limited squad. We got soaked on the walk back into town, but it was worth it. Thanks Villa.

Thats the idea Bicks. The guy from Sigur Ros isn't actually singing in Icelandic, he's just using made up words - for the effect you just described. Incorrect, the made up language was only for Sven-g-englar period Sigur Ros. Last album was pure icelandic (Takk on the whole was too) - you can't out Sigur Ros me (blandy might be able to though ) In fact the last album was a traditional style Icelandic story set to music :roll:

not as simple as the question suggests, like Patrick says depends on the song, some songs are lyric driven some melody / harmony For example - Elvis Costello, Billy Bragg etc etc definately Lyrically driven Sigur Ros on the other hand - its the tune and nothing but the tune because I cant understand a word of Icelandic, the voice becomes part of the melody / harmony in much the same way as Elizabeth Frazer's voice did with the Cocteau Twins There also plenty of other artists where both the words and the melody / harmony are important in equal amounts, The Stone Roses, REM would be good examples here (though early REM wouldnt be as Michael Stipe was far more interested back then with the voice as an instrument rather than the lurics actually meaning somethnig) Not voting as a consequence

I do have a good PS action for increasing the dynamic range - but the shots need to be shot RAW to begin with

That report should be on the front page, most excellent Mr Barnes (If I get the chance in a bit I'll post on the front page)

Isnt it a bit impractical with respect to public transport to have reserve / womens / any other public admitance games at Bodymoor Heath as the public transport system doesn't exactly serve it that well - be a right pain for a lot of people that want to go to get there I'd have thought. Attending a game shouldn't have to be like an episode of a Japanese game show

Its probably because planning permission for such projects usually have to be subject to official public scrutiny and consultation processes. To start talking prematurely and outside the official channels about such proposals could be deemed to be unnacceptable by the council and other relevant authorities EDIT: and I know this because we've just had some success with a builder at the rear of our property who tried to circumvent the official channels in approaching us residents in a way prejudicial to any planning application

I'm so paranoid about the idea that I've never even tried apart from the sha game last season but I took my daughters cheap samsung handbag camera, so if anything happened I could easily replace it