'Bout time. Hehe.

:clap:

I thought Wolves were going to be a certain casualty to go down as well, but with two wins in a row now, could make a good fight of it. Portsmouth under Grant, again he`s a talismanic figure and despite his criticism when he was at Chelsea, certainly had a great time there. Took them to the Champions League final and only lost on pens, put them back into the championship race and nearly pipped Man.Utd for the title, all that from a manager that took over in the second half of the season! I think Portsmouth will stay up and get the home points they need and pick a lot of good draws on away games as yesterdays game showed.

Looks like City's Top 4 ambitions are over.Sodding Spurs,sodding Harry Redknapp,sodding inconsistency.
All anger aside,I just think we really havn't got it right.Hughes has been very smart with the money and made some great signings(in particular Craig Bellamy) and some awful decisions(selling Richard Dunne),but the side just hasn't gelled and people arn't trying hard enough(Robinho in particular).

I think you're being a bit hard on City. Expecting to break into the top 4 at the first attempt with what is basically a new team is asking an awful lot.
Look on the bright side...youse got a game in hand and only 6 points off 4th spot, with a long way to go and everything to play for.

Personally...I hope you get relegated! :)

I will say that this years Premiership is one of the best so far with lot's of twists and turns. The top 6 is a lot more open than ever for a change.

Chelsea's name is all over this seasons title.
United 2nd and it's anyone's guess for 3rd and especially 4th.

Chelsea are far from convincing and although they have been good in parts they also look very vulnerable too. I have this odd feeling that the scum will shine through and pip it again and for once it would be deserved. Not one single team this season can take any result for granted.

Chelsea are playing badly and winning. When they hit form they look unbeatable.
That's championship material.

As for the scum winning it...Villa have no chance!

I hope Brucey pulls his finger out in January and gets us a new left back. Our defence is shakey to say the least and George McCartney has to be the first to go. Same old shite again against Villa and in the last few weeks in general. Looking rocky at the back to the point a one goal lead (if we even get that, of course) will never be enough and putting rubbish, rushed crosses or long balls into the box at every opportunity going forward.

Bruce looked as though he had us playing differently, with more confidence. Attacking full backs, trying to play through the middle and open defences up but the last few games it's been back to route 1 stuff. Hopefully he can get it turned around again soon.

You would`ve thought that with an Italian manager and an ex AC Milan one at that, that the Chelsea defence would be resonably solid. Maybe the players just don`t understand the way he talks.

Thinking back, I don't think Sunderland have played particularly well (Arsenal being the excepetion) since Cattermole got injured. Without him in your 11, the defense is a little exposed and with that they have become shakey. I'm not sure when he's back but for your (and Brucie's) sake I hope it's sooner rather than later because he'll clean up in the middle of the park and take some of the pressure off the defence.

Hasn't Kenwyne been out suspended too? I don't think it's quite all doom and gloom just yet.

Cattermole came on as a sub late on against Villa and has been back training so im hoping he's back to start at the weekend. I'm not sure if hes quite there yet though. Cana got sent off against Villa so we could use him back or he's probably gonna be starting Richardson and either Henderson or Malbranque in the middle which isnt gonna give us any cover at all.

Jones was out suspended but hes been back for a while now. He just hasnt been doing anything. He's always been accused of being lazy but he had a good start to the season and i thought he was anything but. He was working hard, he was chasing things down, he was holding the ball up well, he grabbed a couple of goals in the air which is what we need him for and he was putting in some great performances. Sadly that hasnt been the case as of late and Bent may as well be up front on his own.

The thing is we have a few more options in defence this season when compared to last, and some good ones i think but its just potential at the minute. Turner is the only definite start for me and even he has made a few mistakes. Everyone else we can alternate every week and get no consistency. It's not all doom and gloom but were slipping back into the mediocrity we were showing last season where we barely managed to stay up. Im just hoping Bruce can put a stop to it and get everyone motivated.

Aston Villa need to beat Stoke, then get at least a result against Arsenal :)

On Match of the Day his English doesn`t sound too good....but seriously, I was referring more to the tactics and his ability to get those tactics across to the players. I think its more of a problem, that the English game is faster than the Italian game and Ancelotti may have to address his defensive tactics accordingly.

As for Cech, I don`t think he`ll ever quite get that confidence back that he had before the injury a couple of seasons ago.

City sack Mark Hughes as manager!

Ex Inter Milan boss Roberto Mancini to take over.

Unbelievable. Although not surprised it never fails to amaze me at the lack of patience shown with managers from club directors.
It took Ferguson 5 years to develop a winning team. When will they ever learn?

Dunno if sacking Mark Hughes was the right thing to do,it was something of an extreme solution to a deeper problem of team spirit and organisation.I do think Mancini is a good replacement but can't see him being the miracle worker the board want.

He's only lost 2 games. Both to top 4 teams and both away.
Honestly...its a ****ing disgrace.

There goes Citeh's credibility. I hope Mancini fails...

Too many draws, that`s the real problem and at times a woeful defence plus his inability to probably get the best out of a lot of the team`s big name players on a consistent basis.

http://www.musicbanter.com/members/g...redownload.bmp we're taking bookings, christmas party's, selling league titles, call us now, tony & aiden, coming to a club near you, merry christmas one and all..

Scottish football in general

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

that's quite a sore point with celtic, with there peodofile youth team scandal, alch....

Apparantly the board agreed at the start of the season a top 6 finish is acceptible, and looking at the form that spurs and villa have had in the past it's completely possible, especially like you said with only 2 losses. Strengthen the defence in the transfer window and no problems at all, but i suppose with directors they care more about the money than the time.

Villas games over the holiday season:

Arsenal away and Liverpool home. If we do well there then I have found some optimism on a huge scale.

I'll say this: Get Agbonlahor in the England squad for definite NOW. How Heskey gets the nod over him when he's overshadowed in the Villa squad anyway i have no idea.

Villa in the second half of the season? All I will say is I hope we play better than this time last year. If I remember correctly we didn't win a game in 2 months or so from Late Feb onwards.

The best thing that could have happened for City did, but a little too late, certainly for Mark Hughes. (That would be Wayne Bridge not being able to play.)

There seems to be a lot of Villa supporters on this forum, didn`t realize there were so many Brummies on here.

Seems that Toure wants out of city and Lescott is injured for quite some time, they`re going to be more desperate for central defenders in the very near future. Supposedly Upson is a January target and they should`ve never gotten rid of Dunne.

Dunne = Our Gain :):):) City lost out big time there.

So since you did ask for an apology, and I don't like to be ignorant. I'm sorry right-track, I'm sorry for the 100,000 fans (that I was not amounst) trashed Manchester.

I thought I had apologised previously but after a scour of the thread and your profile (no stalking included, I'm out of hours :o:) I never found one, so here :).

And, yeah. Whatever silly bint that does that... deserves it...

Seeing as you apologised...you only get an infraction.

Winner! :D

I think there are two, well that I know of, Jackhammer and I. Not sure who else, reveal yourself, now! :shycouch:

Interesting to see if there are any Birmingham City supporters on here, given how well the team are playing this season.

If there were any, I would have thought that they would be coming out of the woodwork, seeing as they are up in 7th or 8th, can't remember now.

Franscar is

Sadly you missed him by about 3 years.

I don't thing he ever really got over your lot being relegated.

As a Manchester United fan, I feel really pissed off at our defensive situation and that we won't be buying in January. If we win the league come May, the lads have done us proud. But I find it hard to see that happening, I'll just keep the faith until it's mathmatically impossible. On the up side, we have a new exciting player coming in. Hopefully he'll do well, he says he is confident of playing well. We will see.

Are you talking about the Senegalese forward...Diouf?

I am indeed, played for Ollie's former club, scoring for fun over there. Signed up him fairly quietly, no expectations, he'll be available for the City game. Debut against City might be on the cards (coming off the bench.)

People are talking about our attackers lacking something, maybe this could be the fuel injection needed, an exciting young talent wanting to impress etc.

What do you think of Obertan?

Obertan has the potential to be a huge star.
At the moment he's got loads of skill but doesn't know what to do with it, but if United can knock the rough edges off him and he learns fast, like when to dribble and when to do the simple things at the appropriate times, he'll be a major talent. He's still young enough to learn.
He'll either be another Ronaldo, or turn out like Nani.

Diouf has everything. Pace, good with both feet and scores with his head for fun.
If he can make the step up to Premiership level he'll be a prolific scorer.


He reminds me of a young Andy Cole;