Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: AlexAlexCropley on March 05, 2016, 05:19:49 PM
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Well I believe him.
He's doing very well at Burnley.
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It's probably got far worse since he left too
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When I read of cliques at Villa, why do I think of Gabby Agbonlahor?
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When I hear 'cakes' I always think of Gabby Agbonlahour.
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When I read of cliques at Villa, why do I think of Gabby Agbonlahor?
Because 1+1 = 2
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Watched the whole game and he did very well today.
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Oh fuck off, Lowton.
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Trading places. Him and his missus won the Twitter wars it seems.
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Oh fuck off, Lowton.
Please explain
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Oh fuck off, Lowton.
Please explain
No. He just isn't even worth fretting over. A fuckin nobody who wasn't fit to wear a Villa shirt.
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Oh fuck off, Lowton.
Please explain
No. He just isn't even worth fretting over. A fuckin nobody who wasn't fit to wear a Villa shirt.
Still as fit as the majority who wear one now.
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So you cant back it up...you are not worth me getting a bollocking for from the mods, which is a great shame
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Oh fuck off, Lowton.
Please explain
No. He just isn't even worth fretting over. A fuckin nobody who wasn't fit to wear a Villa shirt.
Still as fit as the majority who wear one now.
True. Very true. It's the signing of garbage like Lowton and co that has spiralled Villa into decline.
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When I read of cliques at Villa, why do I think of Gabby Agbonlahor?
I do too.
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When I read of cliques at Villa, why do I think of Gabby Agbonlahor?
I do too.
Might get me flayed by the missus, but his name is always in the background somewhere.
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Remember his goal at Stoke away. Great match that. Seems a lifetime ago
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I didn't mind Lowton, he had a bit more about him than many of the "left backs" we've employed recently like Bennett and Richards.
Was a neat and tidy football but lacked that pace once players got past him for the top level, see the Falcao goal last season.
Still a good move for him and he'll be back in the premier league for another go next season.
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When I read of cliques at Villa, why do I think of Gabby Agbonlahor?
I do too.
Same here.
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I genuinely wondered who Matt Lowton was for a while... A sports writer maybe? And seriously, when considering cliques at VP... who would really want to be mates with Gabby..?
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maybe if he'd made to effort to move to Birmingham he would have fitted in with the others more
Im sure he was right back. Nice crossing but awful defending.
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Was a bit weak and could be a liability at the back but a pleasant footballer to watch. Remember his interception and pass to Weimann in the Sunderland 6-1 and obviously the Stoke goal well.
The lack of real authority at the club has been pretty obvious since O'Neil left IMO. These comments are no surprise.
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Wow, Matt Lowton telling us something that we all already knew because it happens at every club. It's called choosing your friends. And yet, we start having a go at each other over it?
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Never a Premier League player. Like most of our squad since O'Neill left.
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Never a Premier League player. Like most of our squad since O'Neill left.
That's missing the point though, in my opinion. The 'news' here is that the environment at villa was not good and where he is now is more conducive to becoming a better footballer.
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Never a Premier League player. Like most of our squad since O'Neill left.
That's missing the point though, in my opinion. The 'news' here is that the environment at villa was not good and where he is now is more conducive to becoming a better footballer.
In the Champoinship...
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Never a Premier League player. Like most of our squad since O'Neill left.
That's missing the point though, in my opinion. The 'news' here is that the environment at villa was not good and where he is now is more conducive to becoming a better footballer.
In the Champoinship...
It does't matter what league a club is in, it should be a priority to optimise the ability of every player regardless of their potential ceiling. Reading between the lines, the cliques Lowton described, where clearly not helping his development.
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Will most likely be a Premier League squad player next season unlike most of ours....
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For whatever reason, cliques were allowed to fester, and one of a myriad of reasons for our current annus horribilis
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When I read of cliques at Villa, why do I think of Gabby Agbonlahor?
I do too.
Yes there is a common factor since O'Neil left. Managers and fans in awe of him - the lazy, underperforming areshole fucking cretin on 50k+ a week. Makes David Bentley look like a model pro.
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When I read of cliques at Villa, why do I think of Gabby Agbonlahor?
I do too.
Yes there is a common factor since O'Neil left. Managers and fans in awe of him - the lazy, underperforming areshole fucking cretin on 50k+ a week. Makes David Bentley look like a model pro.
Interesting that Shearer identified him as one of the many who didn't give a fuck when we were a goal or two down.
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Never a Premier League player. Like most of our squad since O'Neill left.
That's missing the point though, in my opinion. The 'news' here is that the environment at villa was not good and where he is now is more conducive to becoming a better footballer.
In the Champoinship...
It does't matter what league a club is in, it should be a priority to optimise the ability of every player regardless of their potential ceiling. Reading between the lines, the cliques Lowton described, where clearly not helping his development.
Exactly right. A team that contains ex French and English lower division players and limited defenders is currently topping the league. That is because they are being massively optimised by there current manager.
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Remember his goal at Stoke away. Great match that. Seems a lifetime ago
That, and wasn't there a wonder-pass (well, by our recent standards) in the hammering of Sunderland as well?
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When I read of cliques at Villa, why do I think of Gabby Agbonlahor?
I do too.
Yes there is a common factor since O'Neil left. Managers and fans in awe of him - the lazy, underperforming areshole fucking cretin on 50k+ a week. Makes David Bentley look like a model pro.
Interesting that Shearer identified him as one of the many who didn't give a fuck when we were a goal or two down.
He didn't give a fuck when it was 0-0. Hutton went on a mazy run in the first half and Gabby just watched him go past him, didn't even try to make it look like he was trying to support. Hutton eventually got crowded out by the last man. Pathetic.
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Remember his goal at Stoke away. Great match that. Seems a lifetime ago
That, and wasn't there a wonder-pass (well, by our recent standards) in the hammering of Sunderland as well?
Yes from a great interception he made if I recall.
Happy day that.
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Awful positional sense, director in the air, no pace to speak of. That he's doing well at the side top of the Championship speaks volumes for how poor that league is.
If we've not won the title by the time I'm being forced to buy easter eggs, then I'll be miffed.
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Awful positional sense, director in the air, no pace to speak of. That he's doing well at the side top of the Championship speaks volumes for how poor that league is.
If we've not won the title by the time I'm being forced to buy easter eggs, then I'll be miffed.
But as his article suggests, his team are together, ours isn't. It's not always the quality of individual players that wins titles (as we may find out soon with Leicester) but their attitude, team spirit, togetherness and will to win. Villa have absolutely none of those qualities, and haven't for years, which is why we won't be winning the Championship any time soon.
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Not without backing the manager to actually purchase a spine for the side no. But I think we will and get things right for the first time in five years, despite Lerner.
Confidence is fine and can be bred, but there's got to be some quality in the first instance amongst a side to do it. I watched Burnley yesterday and they reminded me of Megson's Albion. And they're top. In the top flight they'd have been beaten yesterday, but Blackburn are poor, and its that absence of quality that makes the league more forgiving for chumps like Lowton.
We will brass that league up and nobody will convince me otherwise.
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Of course, I hope you're right, but every single shred of evidence based on the last five to ten years of dysfunction screams that you are wrong.
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The sides who do well when relegated are in general very stable. Burnley and Hull kept their managers and the majority of their players last season. We are not in a position to do so on either count and will likely start pre-season with out 4th manager in 15 months, a turnaround of at least 8 or 9 players, an owner who wants to sell up, fuck knows what in the boardroom and five years of stinking negativity and endless defeats.
At this moment we look much more likely to do a QPR than a Hull or Burnley.
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I disagree. I don't foresee a big turn around of playing staff at all. We don't need to sell, although there will be the inevitable exit of a few; some we will be glad to see gone.
Our big advantage is the quality players we do have in relation to the Championship, our disproportionate size compared to all but Newcastle and an equal disproportionate spending power, that only the Norwich and Newcastle if the shed their wage bill and compete with.
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Our big advantage is the quality players we do have in relation to the Championship
Our what?
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One of the big problems we have is that we're a losing club. Not only has it become ok for players to lose at Villa, they are expected to lose. That mindset won't magically change just because we're in a lower division.
I'd argue that it's easier to stay in the Premier League by being worse than all but three clubs (to be a losing club that just about manages to scrape by), than it is to win the Championship, that is to be a winning club that's better than 23 other clubs.
You need to have the right attitude, confidence and work ethic to succeed, no matter how talented you are, and there's nothing like it at Aston Villa. We're in total disarray. And when every nasty little bunch of ratboys in the Championship is queuing up to have a pop at 'big' Villa, we're going to need every ounce of character and self belief to bat them all away. We just don't have the character.
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One of the big problems we have is that we're a losing club. Not only has it become ok for players to lose at Villa, they are expected to lose. That mindset won't magically change just because we're in a lower division.
I'd argue that it's easier to stay in the Premier League by being worse than all but three clubs (to be a losing club that just about manages to scrape by), than it is to win the Championship, that is to be a winning club that's better than 23 other clubs.
You need to have the right attitude, confidence and work ethic to succeed, no matter how talented you are, and there's nothing like it at Aston Villa. We're in total disarray. And when every nasty little bunch of ratboys in the Championship is queuing up to have a pop at 'big' Villa, we're going to need every ounce of character and self belief to bat them all away. We just don't have the character.
Completely agree. We might well be a league down and playing against a poorer quality of player, but I just can't see us suddenly becoming an all-conquering winning side.
Ads, we are looking like we will go down with about 20 points, the third lowest total in the last 23 years. 57 clubs will have gone down in that period with much fewer problems, and two thirds don't come straight back up. To assume these players are going to have the fortitude or ability to turn themselves into winners in that division is a huge gamble and we certainly can't fall into the trap of thinking that our size will automatically count for anything down there - it could well be a disadvantage.
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Our big advantage is the quality players we do have in relation to the Championship
Our what?
Haha! I know it seems daft, but referring back to when we played the Noses and all the problems Ayew and Grealish caused them, Gestede's goal and Amavi's cross.
Players like that, with Traore maybe and Sinclair on the bench as an option and we have a lot more quality in those positions than anybody else down there. It needs some determination and leadership right through the middle to allow them to flourish, but that's the task of the summer; players with pace and determined character.
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There's no chance Adama will be playing in the Chumps League - not on his wedge
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Well this is all entirely obvious. It's as clear as day. And like most here, my immediate thought is that Gabby Agbonlahor is the most responsible for these divides. He's coasted for too long, strutting around like he owns the place and doing almost fuck all to warrant his enormous wage packet.
As for Lowton, he was never good enough. He was reasonable on the ball for a right back but not good enough to play midfield and he was too lightweight and positionally suspect to be a decent defender at this level. Again, another example of a player who we bought in who was way out of their depth. Perhaps had he got into the right clique he'd still be here, like Westwood.
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If you believe the papers. Even then, I don't see why his contract wouldn't have a relegation clause in it, when you consider he's come from the Spanish 3rd division, it's not like the Championship would be below him.
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If you believe the papers. Even then, I don't see why his contract wouldn't have a relegation clause in it, when you consider he's come from the Spanish 3rd division, it's not like the Championship would be below him.
Agree. We do not need to sell him, so if we did, it should be for a profit. Same goes for Amavi, Ayew and Vertout. I think Ayew + Grealish + Adama linked together by a player like Bamford should have enough attacking verve to walk the league. The crucial bit is whether those players, and the rest, have the appetite for slumming it in a league they probably think is beneath them.
It'd try and secure a few loans too to supplement the numbers as there will be a lot go games.
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The sides who do well when relegated are in general very stable. Burnley and Hull kept their managers and the majority of their players last season. We are not in a position to do so on either count and will likely start pre-season with out 4th manager in 15 months, a turnaround of at least 8 or 9 players, an owner who wants to sell up, fuck knows what in the boardroom and five years of stinking negativity and endless defeats.
At this moment we look much more likely to do a QPR than a Hull or Burnley.
Yes and those teams are really yo yo clubs so they're more accustomed to going down and it not being a huge crisis, Norwich are another club in that category so I'd back them to finish above us if they come with us.
Relegation is going to be a massive culture shock to pretty much everyone at this club. For a start the fanbase, anyone 30 or under has only known top flight football, I think you're in that category Ads.
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I imagine the attitude the fans will have a huge influence on the team and club as a whole. If we think we're too good for the league then we might struggle as a cloud will be over the club. I don't think it will be a problem away from home, the away support will have a great time, but if the home support expects 4-0 wins each week then the team will never match their expectation.
Hopefully we'll be like Man City, their relegation rejuvenated the club in the 90's with the fans stoically and humorously getting behind the team, even in the old 3rd division.
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There's only really been three big clubs relegated in the last 20 years. One created a synonym for catastrophic financial mismanagement, although still made the Play Offs first time of asking, the other have a terrible owner and were as big a circus then as they still are now and walked the league with a lumux up top who scored less than our own big lamppost did the last time he was there. We are the third.
There's nothing mystical about the Championship. It's not harder than the top flight, it's just more frenetic as all the worst elements of English football are exposed by the absence of quality found in the top flight.
If we buy the right four players up the spine of the side; aggressive leaders, hopefully avec pace, then we will do well not to go up automatically.
Dante; the side will be lucky to have the most patient set of fans going watching them. I think those at home will be happy to see us win a few games for a change; the manner of the victory and scoreline likely won't come into it.
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Losing is engrained too deeply into our nature, too many of our players are disgustingly unlikeable money grabbing non-producers, the entire club stinks way too much of decline.
Anyone assuming this set up is bouncing back any time soon is living in cloud cuckoo land, I'm afraid.
Even if you ignore the on-pitch shambles, look at the fucking car crash in the non-football management.
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The side that kicks off at 12:00 on August 6th won't resemble the one we are seeing at the moment though. There will be new players and even a new manager seems likely.
Nobody is advocating a spine of Gabby, Westwood, Richards and Guzan. Hopefully they'll all be gone or consigned to watching us win a game against Preston from the Trinity Road.
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We've needed the right four players, aggressive leaders with pace, up the spine of the side for six years. What makes you think we're suddenly going to find them in the coming close season? Why couldn't we find them to keep us in the Premier League? What will have changed about the club between now and the summer?
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Think back to how abjectly shite the Geordies were when they lost 1-0 to us and went down. Not an ounce of fight in them, it was an abject surrender like we have seen ourselves the last few weeks. They have a berk of an owner, they were a shambles, yet walked the league. Being better than 23 shit sides shouldn't be beyond even the dullest of minds running our club.
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We've needed the right four players, aggressive leaders with pace, up the spine of the side for six years. What makes you think we're suddenly going to find them in the coming close season? Why couldn't we find them to keep us in the Premier League? What will have changed about the club between now and the summer?
The league we are operating in. The best players down there when looking at moves will want to play for us, because we are the biggest outfit down there, paying the biggest wages and with more money than perhaps everybody bar Norwich and Newcastle. That's a massive difference than trying to cling onto life in the Premier League where even no marks are spending £18 million on midfielders.
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And Wigan were an abject pile of shit when they won the FA Cup against top four opposition. Why didn't we manage that?
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Think back to how abjectly shite the Geordies were when they lost 1-0 to us and went down. Not an ounce of fight in them, it was an abject surrender like we have seen ourselves the last few weeks. They have a berk of an owner, they were a shambles, yet walked the league. Being better than 23 shit sides shouldn't be beyond even the dullest of minds running our club.
They had Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan who absolutely steam rollered the Championship. We don't have anybody in that class.
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Think back to how abjectly shite the Geordies were when they lost 1-0 to us and went down. Not an ounce of fight in them, it was an abject surrender like we have seen ourselves the last few weeks. They have a berk of an owner, they were a shambles, yet walked the league. Being better than 23 shit sides shouldn't be beyond even the dullest of minds running our club.
I agree, it shouldn't, but unfortunately, it probably will be.
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Think back to how abjectly shite the Geordies were when they lost 1-0 to us and went down. Not an ounce of fight in them, it was an abject surrender like we have seen ourselves the last few weeks. They have a berk of an owner, they were a shambles, yet walked the league. Being better than 23 shit sides shouldn't be beyond even the dullest of minds running our club.
They had Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan who absolutely steam rollered the Championship. We don't have anybody in that class.
Yet our own big lump comfortably outscored Carroll in the Championship.
The very fact that Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan can "steamroller" anything does nothing but back up Ads' point.
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Our big advantage is the quality players we do have in relation to the Championship
Our what?
Haha! I know it seems daft, but referring back to when we played the Noses and all the problems Ayew and Grealish caused them, Gestede's goal and Amavi's cross.
A mate messaged me this week saying how much he's enjoying this season. Oddly enough I heard no more when I said this is the worst Villa side I've seen in my 42 years of going to games and it is no comfort to know that even then we had no problem in beating his team in their cup final. Bet you can't guess who he supports!
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Unless we actually improve, or the teams that finish 18th-19th get a lot worse, there will be at least two of the twenty-three teams who are better than us.
I suspect we'll struggle to get close to promotion. Even if we do manage to hold onto our most talented staff, Doris the Tea Lady and Niger the Programme Seller, the teams appears to have nothing in the way of fight.
Mid-table in the Championship is what I expect unless we invest or uncover some budding Messis from the kids.
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Think back to how abjectly shite the Geordies were when they lost 1-0 to us and went down. Not an ounce of fight in them, it was an abject surrender like we have seen ourselves the last few weeks. They have a berk of an owner, they were a shambles, yet walked the league. Being better than 23 shit sides shouldn't be beyond even the dullest of minds running our club.
They had Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan who absolutely steam rollered the Championship. We don't have anybody in that class.
Carroll scored 17 goals. A poor man's Rudy.
Edit: I see Dave has beat me to it.
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Kevin Nolan of 5 years ago would be head and shoulders our best midfielder and club captain. Andy Carroll Is a much better player than Gestede as well.
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There's only really been three big clubs relegated in the last 20 years. We are the third.
More than 2 big clubs have been relegated in the last 20 years. Leeds, Newcastle, Sunderland, Man City, Sheff Wed. We'll be the 6th.
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I forgot Sunderland. I'm not having the other two though.
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Think back to how abjectly shite the Geordies were when they lost 1-0 to us and went down. Not an ounce of fight in them, it was an abject surrender like we have seen ourselves the last few weeks. They have a berk of an owner, they were a shambles, yet walked the league. Being better than 23 shit sides shouldn't be beyond even the dullest of minds running our club.
They had Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan who absolutely steam rollered the Championship. We don't have anybody in that class.
Yet our own big lump comfortably outscored Carroll in the Championship.
The very fact that Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan can "steamroller" anything does nothing but back up Ads' point.
Countering the Andy Carroll argument was all too easy. The fact that Rudy Gestede out jumped and scored against most defences he faced while playing for those powerhouses Balckburn suggests that defences in that league aren't exactly great. Playing against the back four from Bristol City, Ipswich or Charlton will be a little easier I'd imagine than Southampton, Spurs or Arsenal. Our players could do with playing against lesser opponents for a little while just to remember what it is like to win again and simply enjoy some success.
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I forgot Sunderland. I'm not having the other two though.
Why? They've both won more than Leeds and spent more time in the top flight than Leeds. Have far superior histories to Leeds. So not sure what qualification makes Leeds a big club but not Sheff Weds or Man City.
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He's unlikely to be playing against the Charlton defence - they are the us of the Championship so won't be there anymore.
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I forgot Sunderland. I'm not having the other two though.
Why? They've both won more than Leeds and spent more time in the top flight than Leeds. Have far superior histories to Leeds. So not sure what qualification makes Leeds a big club but not Sheff Weds or Man City.
Leeds have history of being a big club more recently than the remilitarisatin of the Rhineland. Blackburn have won more than all of them, but they're still small-time.
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By that logic then Villa aren't a big club either.
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So how do 1 trophy in 80 years Sunderland qualify when being a big club is based on their history but the other 2 don't?
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We've always been a big club. Wednesday have won one trophy since people thought Hitler wasn't such a bad chap.
We have won the title, the FA Cup, five league cups, the European and Super Cups; more than all but maybe 10 clubs out the 92, while spending 70 years in the top flight, playing in Europe without invertation, while having a ground we can actually fill when the mood takes us.
If Wednesday are big then so are the Albion. Nae fucking chance.
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We've always been a big club. Wednesday have won one trophy since people thought Hitler wasn't such a bad chap.
So have Sunderland.
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Genuine question, how many times has Villa Park been a sell out in the last 20 years?
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They've got a richer history, with bigger support and haven't spent the past twenty years bobbing around the 2nd and 3rd division. I quite like Sunderland, but I'm not really interested in making a case for how big they are.
My original point was that few clubs as big as us have dropped lately. I don't think it's relevant to say Wigan haven't come back when they were always a 3rd division outfit masquerading in the top flight. The only recent realistic comparison would be Newcastle for scale and infrastructure, even if they parade new players instead of trophies. They were and still are a basket case, yet without a twenty goal striker, they breezed the league with the same spineless players who laid down in the road and died the season before.
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Genuine question, how many times has Villa Park been a sell out in the last 20 years?
I can't give you an exact figure, but in the days of Little and Gregory we were getting regular gates of 39339 (VPs capacity at the time).
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Either history counts or it doesn't. Sunderland spent 30 years bouncing between 3 divisions and their support was shit. Between 81 and 96 they averaged 20K once.
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They've got a richer history, with bigger support and haven't spent the past twenty years bobbing around the 2nd and 3rd division. I quite like Sunderland, but I'm not really interested in making a case for how big they are.
My original point was that few clubs as big as us have dropped lately. I don't think it's relevant to say Wigan haven't come back when they were always a 3rd division outfit masquerading in the top flight. The only recent realistic comparison would be Newcastle for scale and infrastructure, even if they parade new players instead of trophies. They were and still are a basket case, yet without a twenty goal striker, they breezed the league with the same spineless players who laid down in the road and died the season before.
I think Newcastle were fortunate that year. They'd be lucky to do the same again in these circumstances and they've shat out a huge amount of cash under McClown on players who are a mix of not good enough, or mercenaries. Ashley won't get away with it again. I see them being play offs at best, but probably mid-table as they struggle to stabilise.
Sunderland would cope better but I think they'll survive anyway.
I think of all the clubs going down, Norwich might actually cope the best.
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They weren't lucky, they were miles better than anybody else, including the Bitters who also bounced back automatically with ease. They won things in the past. They're still shit and small though.
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Either history counts or it doesn't. Sunderland spent 30 years bouncing between 3 divisions and their support was shit. Between 81 and 96 they averaged 20K once.
When did I say it didn't count? I implied that there's more to it than trophies, which there is otherwise we'd be including tin pot outfits like Huddersfield in this discussion too.
There's a point to be made that if the Noses have won double what you have in the past 70 years, you're on a sticky wicket. But the size of the crowds you get, the infrastructure and scale of your footprint on the public conscious or the distasteful financial aspect all count. Sadly this is what makes the playthings of oligarch and human rights abusers big in the vulgar sense like Man City and *shudders* Chelsea are now and have been for under a decade.
I don't see any extenuating circumstances to get Wednesday out of the Small Heath trophy equation, as you can with Sunderland.
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They weren't lucky, they were miles better than anybody else, including the Bitters who also bounced back automatically with ease. They won things in the past. They're still shit and small though.
Lucky in as much as the squad didn't get too decimated and despite all the mess somehow pulled together. They also had a couple of players who shone at that level and to some extent a bit of fortune that a then young, virtually unknown Andy Carroll stepped up to the plate and banged in the goals. Gambling on Hughton also paid off. I expect their next appointment to be a disaster in the making.
They were a mess then, but nothing compared to potential cluster fuck they are now. They got away with it once, they won't again. I also think the championship is probably marginally better now than it was back them.
Watch how many rats leave that sinking ship. The fact that Newcastle still rely on Coloccini and Taylor at the back, who helped relegate them last time, tells you everything. They'll probably still be there next season and may not dominate the championship quite like they did before.
Above all though, I will sit and laugh at their failure.
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By just about any criteria you want to use, Sheff Weds and pre money Man City were big clubs when they were relegated. I can understand younger fans dismissing Weds as they've been shite for 15 years now, but they still pull 20K+ every week, so unless Sky tell them they'll be clueless.
Man Citeh being a big club is a no brainer even before the money.
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Think back to how abjectly shite the Geordies were when they lost 1-0 to us and went down. Not an ounce of fight in them, it was an abject surrender like we have seen ourselves the last few weeks. They have a berk of an owner, they were a shambles, yet walked the league. Being better than 23 shit sides shouldn't be beyond even the dullest of minds running our club.
They had Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan who absolutely steam rollered the Championship. We don't have anybody in that class.
Barton was very good that year aswell.
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Genuine question, how many times has Villa Park been a sell out in the last 20 years?
Burnley game at the end of last season was a complete sell out.
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I think home games next season may still be a shock to the system for us. Teams treating it as one of their 2-3 cup finals, a new away ground for most hence large and noisy away support. When we were last down in 1987-88 it was a similar story and our away form was the key to promotion.
A QPR mate reckons we are worse than they were last season - I think they finished on 30 points so stats will probably back that up come May - and will find the Championship a tough challenge. It will be harder than people think, though at the moment we have no idea who our owner, manager and players will be.
I certainly wouldn't trust the current squad to get us promoted. When Newcastle went down they at least had some players like Barton and Nolan who were ideal for the battle.
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As for keeping the parts of the team that we want to, together, only one problem with that plan, any offer the club receives that they think is half decent, the buyers hand will be snapped off.
Have not got a clue what we will be left with or of what quality it will contain, but no coincidence that already we have heard from Okore, now a release clause for Richards, Adama making noises even thou I've spent more time on the Villa park pitch than him, interest for Gill, Sanchez, Kozak may raise some interest, but funny enough if he stayed injury free I think he would have a major impact there, more so than Gestede. I can see Swansea maybe looking at Ayew or as rumored in January having a sniff around Sinclair.
If the petrol allowance cut as has been stated has happened at BMH, Mr. Hollis the de-facto administrator will look and more than likely take any reasonable offer on the clubs biggest drain, the players.
I think from August to November would have been hard if the club had gone down with any fight, but the lack of fight and the ingrained losers mentality will initially I feel have a major impact on the first quarter of next season and then dependent on whats left, who is in the driving seat as a manager we may start to find a level of acceptable performance.
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Above all though, I will sit and laugh at their failure.
I really don't get this, state we're in I'd say we're in no position to mock anybody. I don't get the obsession with Newcastle.
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Above all though, I will sit and laugh at their failure.
I really don't get this, state we're in I'd say we're in no position to mock anybody. I don't get the obsession with Newcastle.
It's just mirroring back their sudden dislike of us I think?
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Above all though, I will sit and laugh at their failure.
I really don't get this, state we're in I'd say we're in no position to mock anybody. I don't get the obsession with Newcastle.
It's just mirroring back their sudden dislike of us I think?
Don't think they give a stuff about Villa, the Newcastle supporters I know were a bit taken aback at the celebrations when we sent them down but that's about it. I just don't think we're in a position to mock anybody.
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Genuine question, how many times has Villa Park been a sell out in the last 20 years?
On average I'd say 5-6 times per season
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Genuine question, how many times has Villa Park been a sell out in the last 20 years?
On average I'd say 5-6 times per season
Alternatively, give Newcastle three big-ish clubs on their doorstep, let our closest rivals be in a town no-one from Birmingham visits on pain of death with no other club in the same division within 140 miles, and see what our respective gates are like.
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Above all though, I will sit and laugh at their failure.
I really don't get this, state we're in I'd say we're in no position to mock anybody. I don't get the obsession with Newcastle.
It's just mirroring back their sudden dislike of us I think?
Don't think they give a stuff about Villa, the Newcastle supporters I know were a bit taken aback at the celebrations when we sent them down but that's about it. I just don't think we're in a position to mock anybody.
Have you not seen or read anything in the media in the build up to our games against them since that day?
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Newcastle's hatred of us is real, but they still don't get that any club would have taken the piss under those circumstances. We just did it with a bit of style. They will find that out when / if they get relegated this time around. But I hope the football gods decree that it shall be us that sends them down again. It'll be the only scrap of entertainment we've had this season.
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Above all though, I will sit and laugh at their failure.
I really don't get this, state we're in I'd say we're in no position to mock anybody. I don't get the obsession with Newcastle.
It's just mirroring back their sudden dislike of us I think?
Don't think they give a stuff about Villa, the Newcastle supporters I know were a bit taken aback at the celebrations when we sent them down but that's about it. I just don't think we're in a position to mock anybody.
Have you not seen or read anything in the media in the build up to our games against them since that day?
The stuff in the tabloids? No. I'm only going by the many Newcastle supporters I know, none of which are the carTOON characters that hang about outside St James waiting for any passing camera crews or tabloid journos.
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Newcastle's hatred of us is real
It isn't, they hate Sunderland.
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Newcastle's hatred of us is real
It isn't, they hate Sunderland.
Anybody who came out the away end at their place the past two seasons would be able to confirm that Newcastle hate us.
The last time we had home fans waiting outside trying to kick off was January 2011.
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The two Geordie fans I know over here hate Villa with a vengeance. Obviously not in the same league as their distaste for the Mackems, but it's still there.
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I just don't think mocking Newcastle this season is particularly clever as we are in a far bigger mess than they are. If they go down I can see Ashley giving whoever is the manager the money to get them back up, I can't see Lerner doing similar for Villa.
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The two Geordie fans I know over here hate Villa with a vengeance. Obviously not in the same league as their distaste for the Mackems, but it's still there.
I can only assume the many Geordies I know are the very few who have no feelings whatsoever towards Villa, slightly baffled and miffed at the unpleasantness and mocking they were subjected to at Villa Park but save their hatred for Ashley and Sunderland.
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Don't think of it as mocking Newcastle, think of it as deflecting their mockery of us, because they've been relishing our plight with gusto all season. They've been waiting to take the piss royally at the penultimate game at Villa Park, but the boot might be on both feet, so to speak. Surely anyone can see the schadenfreude in that?
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The banners are VP when they went down were funny.
We have to accept they didn't like it, and may well get the chance to rub it in when we play them.
If we're going to dish it out, we have to take it, too.
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Don't think of it as mocking Newcastle, think of it as deflecting their mockery of us, because they've been relishing our plight with gusto all season. They've been waiting to take the piss royally at the penultimate game at Villa Park, but the boot might be on both feet, so to speak. Surely anyone can see the schadenfreude in that?
Not to mention the near £30m they spent in January to probably still go down.
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The banners are VP when they went down were funny.
We have to accept they didn't like it, and may well get the chance to rub it in when we play them.
If we're going to dish it out, we have to take it, too.
Quite. Whoever sends us down will enjoy the occasion immensely, because from my experience Villa are not a popular club. I think a lot of other fans think we've stunk out the Premier League for too long, and for the most part prior to our putrefaction, we were a byword for nothingness. Just a bland club floating around with far too much arrogance than is justified. As somebody once put it: "A half-arsed club that used to be famous." I can understand all that.
But, it would be nice to have someone to laugh at this season. And all the better if it's Newcastle. It'll be like someone coming swinging at you in the street and then slipping over in a puddle.
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The banners are VP when they went down were funny.
We have to accept they didn't like it, and may well get the chance to rub it in when we play them.
If we're going to dish it out, we have to take it, too.
Totally agree.
The Ant and Dec banner was funny though.
IIRC on the day in 2009 most of their fans were resigned to their fate but 'we; rubbed it in. One of their nutters who was ticket less offered me £150 for mine.
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The banners are VP when they went down were funny.
We have to accept they didn't like it, and may well get the chance to rub it in when we play them.
If we're going to dish it out, we have to take it, too.
Quite. Whoever sends us down will enjoy the occasion immensely, because from my experience Villa are not a popular club. I think a lot of other fans think we've stunk out the Premier League for too long, and for the most part prior to our putrefaction, we were a byword for nothingness. Just a bland club floating around with far too much arrogance than is justified. As somebody once put it: "A half-arsed club that used to be famous." I can understand all that.
But, it would be nice to have someone to laugh at this season. And all the better if it's Newcastle. It'll be like someone coming swinging at you in the street and then slipping over in a puddle.
More like some old croak swinging at you as you lay on death's door in Emergency Ward 10
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The banners are VP when they went down were funny.
We have to accept they didn't like it, and may well get the chance to rub it in when we play them.
If we're going to dish it out, we have to take it, too.
Quite. Whoever sends us down will enjoy the occasion immensely, because from my experience Villa are not a popular club. I think a lot of other fans think we've stunk out the Premier League for too long, and for the most part prior to our putrefaction, we were a byword for nothingness. Just a bland club floating around with far too much arrogance than is justified. As somebody once put it: "A half-arsed club that used to be famous." I can understand all that.
But, it would be nice to have someone to laugh at this season. And all the better if it's Newcastle. It'll be like someone coming swinging at you in the street and then slipping over in a puddle.
More like some old croak swinging at you as you lay on death's door in Emergency Ward 10
and then falling over
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The banners are VP when they went down were funny.
We have to accept they didn't like it, and may well get the chance to rub it in when we play them.
If we're going to dish it out, we have to take it, too.
Quite. Whoever sends us down will enjoy the occasion immensely, because from my experience Villa are not a popular club. I think a lot of other fans think we've stunk out the Premier League for too long, and for the most part prior to our putrefaction, we were a byword for nothingness. Just a bland club floating around with far too much arrogance than is justified. As somebody once put it: "A half-arsed club that used to be famous." I can understand all that.
But, it would be nice to have someone to laugh at this season. And all the better if it's Newcastle. It'll be like someone coming swinging at you in the street and then slipping over in a puddle.
More like some old croak swinging at you as you lay on death's door in Emergency Ward 10
... and slipping over in a puddle.
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Beat me to it, Rob.
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Genuine question, how many times has Villa Park been a sell out in the last 20 years?
On average I'd say 5-6 times per season
Alternatively, give Newcastle three big-ish clubs on their doorstep, let our closest rivals be in a town no-one from Birmingham visits on pain of death with no other club in the same division within 140 miles, and see what our respective gates are like.
In fairness to them though, their crowds don't fluctuate depending on what kind of season they are having/who they are playing, like ours do. We have 32k one week, 40k the next. Theirs never drop much below 50k.
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that's because they live in an isolated cultural wasteland with nothing to recommend it other than drinking yourself into oblivion to try and forget you live in an isolated cultural wasteland.
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that's because they live in an isolated cultural wasteland with nothing to recommend it other than drinking yourself into oblivion to try and forget you live in an isolated cultural wasteland.
I must have missed Birmingham being this exciting, vibrant city then during the 25 years I lived there.
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that's because they live in an isolated cultural wasteland with nothing to recommend it other than drinking yourself into oblivion to try and forget you live in an isolated cultural wasteland.
Each to their own and all that but have you been up to Newcastle recently?
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that's because they live in an isolated cultural wasteland with nothing to recommend it other than drinking yourself into oblivion to try and forget you live in an isolated cultural wasteland.
Each to their own and all that but have you been up to Newcastle recently?
I suppose it's a bit like singing that all scousers are work shy doleites. Isn't unemployment higher in the West Midlands.
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The banners are VP when they went down were funny.
We have to accept they didn't like it, and may well get the chance to rub it in when we play them.
If we're going to dish it out, we have to take it, too.
Quite. Whoever sends us down will enjoy the occasion immensely, because from my experience Villa are not a popular club. I think a lot of other fans think we've stunk out the Premier League for too long, and for the most part prior to our putrefaction, we were a byword for nothingness. Just a bland club floating around with far too much arrogance than is justified. As somebody once put it: "A half-arsed club that used to be famous." I can understand all that.
But, it would be nice to have someone to laugh at this season. And all the better if it's Newcastle. It'll be like someone coming swinging at you in the street and then slipping over in a puddle.
i think we'll officially go down at old trafford. and the majority of that lot won't really give a shit.
taking newcastle down with us, would be immensely funny though. they genuinely despise us.
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What about Forest - aren't they a big club that went down in the last 20 years?
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Anyway, about Matt Lowton....
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Anyway, about Matt Lowton....
Yep, thank god he's gone.
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The last line of that snippet is the telling one. You can actually imagine some of the usual suspects boasting about what they have to so called lesser lights. I really do detest some of this current crop.
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that's because they live in an isolated cultural wasteland with nothing to recommend it other than drinking yourself into oblivion to try and forget you live in an isolated cultural wasteland.
I must have missed Birmingham being this exciting, vibrant city then during the 25 years I lived there.
*awaits Percy's arrival*
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Thanks for a couple of great goals Matt, and being part of super team goal against Sunderland. Other than that you were a complete liability as a defender at PL level.
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I don't think this is about how good or bad Lowton was for us as a player. He has no reason to make false allegations, it's further proof that there are big problems at the club in the culture and atmosphere.
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I was being ironic about Newcastle but didn't Garde say he turned them down because they didn't have a decent art gallery?
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That's rubbish, there is modern art decorating the pavements every Friday and Saturday.
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I don't think this is about how good or bad Lowton was for us as a player. He has no reason to make false allegations, it's further proof that there are big problems at the club in the culture and atmosphere.
Maybe so but coming from a player whose departure was based in no small measure on his reluctance to relocate closer to his place of work, it comes across to me a little more like "I could have been a contender" griping than a further evidence of the malaise at Villa Park. There's enough to be unhappy at the moment about without giving too much credence to the musings of someone who lost their place to Leandro Bacuna, playing out of position to boot. Nice goal at Stoke though. I'll always remember that with much fondness.
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I don't think this is about how good or bad Lowton was for us as a player. He has no reason to make false allegations, it's further proof that there are big problems at the club in the culture and atmosphere.
Absolutely
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I don't think this is about how good or bad Lowton was for us as a player. He has no reason to make false allegations, it's further proof that there are big problems at the club in the culture and atmosphere.
Absolutely
All he's said is that players got on with some players and not so well with others. That's life, big deal.
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that's because they live in an isolated cultural wasteland with nothing to recommend it other than drinking yourself into oblivion to try and forget you live in an isolated cultural wasteland.
I must have missed Birmingham being this exciting, vibrant city then during the 25 years I lived there.
*awaits Percy's arrival*
He'll be along soon. Held up by a lack of public transport options in the city.
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I don't think this is about how good or bad Lowton was for us as a player. He has no reason to make false allegations, it's further proof that there are big problems at the club in the culture and atmosphere.
Absolutely
All he's said is that players got on with some players and not so well with others. That's life, big deal.
What is your problem?
Try not to hide behind any bullshit with your answer