Birmingham could be better but so could all other cities. Everywhere has its good and bad parts, just like every country.
In terms of Birmingham itself, overall we are a forward thinking city that would do a whole lot better if central government hadn't cut its funding year upon year since the current Tory party took charge of the country. London has become overcrowded and overpriced and you'll find that over the coming year many more businesses and entertainment centres will pop up around Birmingham as the centre grows bigger and will inevitably expand into the surrounding suburbs. I guess that's where Dr Tony's vision comes in regarding his plans for the Villa's surrounding area. If he makes Villa as big as he says he wants to, you can imagine entertainment and business flourishing all the way from Villa Park through the Lichfield Road and into the city centre where the Universities are located. That's not such a distance if you consider the city centre's expansion.
I work with non-British people who love Birmingham and think its cultural diversity makes for a friendly city to live in. Brummies are by and large easy-going, hard-working folks who like a beer and a curry and who like to laugh and not take life too seriously. Oh, and we love our footie too
To stay on topic, surely Brum has more to offer than Barnsley so what's taking you Messrs Hourihane and Bree?
Agree with others on here that midfield is priority over everywhere else. But, if it can't happen now, at least we know of that we won't be taking Hutton into next season and that in itself will improve the team because the fella cannot cross a ball or beat a man. He kills all our right-sided attacks as soon as he gets involved.
With our recent midfield performances he could have failed his medical, not kicked a ball in a year and, signed 5 minutes before kick-off tomorrow and still got a game!
It's posts like this that sort the men from the boys - older folks laughing but the whippersnappers are thinking "who da f**k is that Marty Feldman that BOF is on about? Is it a man, woman, singer with Wet Wet Wet?"
The goals in that compilation are way out of the league of what our team currently offers. If he has a left foot like that, that physical presence and can captain a side too, get him the f**k in and give him a free licence to shoot from anywhere within 30 yards.
Lions don't roar whilst lying down getting their bellies tickled - they purr!
Lions roar when they go after the kill - something our lions constantly fail to do, sadly.
If we were to sign Bree, Lansbury, Hourihane and Rhodes, together with somehow getting rid of those you mentioned, wow, that would be one amazing transfer window!
Midfield is without doubt the major issue. There's a lack of almost everything in that area - no skill, no ball-winning, no tracking runners, no leadership, no fight, big tackles, no killer passes and, most of all, no goals.
I agree at the moment he has fans on his side but, if we fail to bring players in and Brucey keeps saying that it's his job to improve them, if he doesn't and we finish close to where we currently are in the table, whilst playing poor football, the fans will soon start to turn. I have a feeling that Dr Tony would change his tune about him too, if that happened.