SSN: "Downing won't commit to Villa"

[Holte L2]

I've got to admit to being delighted with the Downing deal.  Had a stop start year and a half, and if we sell for 20million, that's a cracking bit of business by Randy.

Never rated him.  Not even through his purple patch last season.

[RespectVilla]

"Because Ramsay's success finished forty years before Shankly's started is no excuse to not remember"

The excuse we have for not remembering is, er, none of us can remember that far back.

[JUAN PABLO]

I don't give a shit about the 'Liverpool-bigger-than-Villa thing, what pisses me off is the fact that he (Downing) arrived on one leg, took 6 months money out of the club as we showed faith in him, he was average at best for the rest of the season. One decent season and he fucks off at the first opportunity after completely changes his mind.
No doubt the gutless, spineless piece of shit will be injured on his return to Villa Park. If he shirks a tackle, he'll certainly shirk faces the Villa fans at Villa Park. Tosser

My thoughts too..

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

I don't give a shit about the 'Liverpool-bigger-than-Villa thing, what pisses me off is the fact that he (Downing) arrived on one leg, took 6 months money out of the club as we showed faith in him, he was average at best for the rest of the season. One decent season and he fucks off at the first opportunity after completely changes his mind.
No doubt the gutless, spineless piece of shit will be injured on his return to Villa Park. If he shirks a tackle, he'll certainly shirk faces the Villa fans at Villa Park. Tosser

My thoughts too..

Hear hear!
And strangely enough the most common word I have used for the last 2 seasons in relation to Downing is "TOSSER"!

[ozzjim]

With due respect, I can't take your arguments seriously if you insist that your club was solely responsible for forming the league. Has it not occurred to you that you needed other teams to play against?

If it was your guy who first said, "hey, lets have a league with points and stuff", is that what you're most proud of? I'll stick with Shankly's vision "My idea is to build a  bastion of invincability... so they have to send a team from Mars to beat us" and all that.

If you want to come and argue about that piece of history, at least have the respect to look it up and know what you are talking about before dismissing it, especially on a Villa site fella.

[andyh]

I don't give a shit about the 'Liverpool-bigger-than-Villa thing, what pisses me off is the fact that he (Downing) arrived on one leg, took 6 months money out of the club as we showed faith in him, he was average at best for the rest of the season. One decent season and he fucks off at the first opportunity after completely changes his mind.
No doubt the gutless, spineless piece of shit will be injured on his return to Villa Park. If he shirks a tackle, he'll certainly shirk faces the Villa fans at Villa Park. Tosser

My thoughts too..

Hear hear!
And strangely enough the most common word I have used for the last 2 seasons in relation to Downing is "TOSSER"!

I thought it was 'fuckin poofter'



No offence like.

[Hopadop]

"Because Ramsay's success finished forty years before Shankly's started is no excuse to not remember"

The excuse we have for not remembering is, er, none of us can remember that far back.

I don't remember Shankly.

I do remember Kevin Keegan and Emlyn Hughes planting big wet smackers on Margaret Thatcher.

[Redman]

Historically, we are to Liverpool (or any other plastic media club) what they are to Chelsea. Ergo, we are now, have been and always will be, number one.

"Big" is a horrible, vulgar term that reflects the awful direction football has been headed since, possibly, the 1950's/1960's.  It's values have steadily been eroding, the whole game becoming more shallow and tabloid-esque as the years have flowed by.  It's no surprise that the clubs you mention Eastie - Man Utd and Liverpool - have prospered in such an era because both of these clubs have played the media/money game better than anyone.  Where on earth were these two clubs before TV came on the scene?  They were nobodies.

Comparing these Johnny-Come-Lately clubs to the likes of Aston Villa is like comparing Tesco's to Harrod's.  Tesco's can keep expanding and making money but it won't make them, in my judgement, better or more historic than Harrod's.  Try explaining that to the average footballer, though.  I don't think the average player has the means to think things through for himself.  Like Redman (only joking, Redman) and many others, they will swallow the media version of the history of football and think Liverpool are a greater club than they actually are.

It's interesting.  I've read a similar thread to this on a Liverpool forum, the difference being that their equivalent to Eastie (in terms of the debate) is arguing that Man City are a bigger and more attractive club than Liverpool.

You'll never get anywhere with claims about which club has the greater history because any number of clubs could make a case just as arbitrary as yours.

It amazes me to see the media argument peddled. Plenty of Liverpool supporters make the same claim against other clubs and I've seen Manc and Chelsea supporters also do the same. It's just playing the victim and adds nothing to the debate.

If you're really interested in which club is bigger/has the greater history or whatever, my advice would be don't trust the judgment of any Liverpool or Villa supporter. Including yourself.

[The Man With A Stick]

If it was your guy who first said, "hey, lets have a league with points and stuff", is that what you're most proud of? I'll stick with Shankly's vision "My idea is to build a  bastion of invincability... so they have to send a team from Mars to beat us" and all that

Was going 20-odd years without a league title part of his vision as well?

[IRISHPHIL]

think downing will go only when we have his replaement ready to sign for the club

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

I don't give a shit about the 'Liverpool-bigger-than-Villa thing, what pisses me off is the fact that he (Downing) arrived on one leg, took 6 months money out of the club as we showed faith in him, he was average at best for the rest of the season. One decent season and he fucks off at the first opportunity after completely changes his mind.
No doubt the gutless, spineless piece of shit will be injured on his return to Villa Park. If he shirks a tackle, he'll certainly shirk faces the Villa fans at Villa Park. Tosser

My thoughts too..

Hear hear!
And strangely enough the most common word I have used for the last 2 seasons in relation to Downing is "TOSSER"!

I thought it was 'fuckin poofter'



No offence like.

Wouldn't dream of using such inelegant terminology andy!
It might upset poor delicate, sensitive Stewart's self-esteem and then he'd have to leave the game early to have a good sulk before the c**t went home to count his money! A true TOSSER!

[ozzjim]

I think it is somewhat of a false argument too, as today the biggest club is the one with the biggest backing. 12 months ago Liverpool and Villa were about on a par apart from you having Gerard. Now you are streets ahead, better squad and united behind the manager, however much I think he will fail, the fact is that Liverpool are showing to be a bigger club than Villa. Man City were, 4 years ago, much smaller and had ambitions of staying in the league, now they want to win the champions league. We can argue over who has the greater history, and it is not widely noted that we are the club that founded the league in the press as much as it should be, but recent history would again say that Liverpool have perhaps a history only bettered by Man United. Truth is though, in 3 years Doncaster could be the 3rd biggest club in England, all it takes is a madly rich family with laudering needs to take them over and boom, all others will be brushed aside, while the players will have their Ipods on, furiously texting their agents saying, I need dollar, dollar, dollar is what I need, and off they will scurry. There are few players with the loyalty to become true club greats, and as money makes the game tick, it dictates who the big and not so big clubs are.

[Redman]

I think it is somewhat of a false argument too, as today the biggest club is the one with the biggest backing. 12 months ago Liverpool and Villa were about on a par apart from you having Gerard. Now you are streets ahead, better squad and united behind the manager, however much I think he will fail, the fact is that Liverpool are showing to be a bigger club than Villa. Man City were, 4 years ago, much smaller and had ambitions of staying in the league, now they want to win the champions league. We can argue over who has the greater history, and it is not widely noted that we are the club that founded the league in the press as much as it should be, but recent history would again say that Liverpool have perhaps a history only bettered by Man United. Truth is though, in 3 years Doncaster could be the 3rd biggest club in England, all it takes is a madly rich family with laudering needs to take them over and boom, all others will be brushed aside, while the players will have their Ipods on, furiously texting their agents saying, I need dollar, dollar, dollar is what I need, and off they will scurry. There are few players with the loyalty to become true club greats, and as money makes the game tick, it dictates who the big and not so big clubs are.

It's fair argument. I don't personally agree that the size of club can be determined over such a short-term period but I can't say your interpretation is wrong.

[Billy Walker]

With due respect, I can't take your arguments seriously if you insist that your club was solely responsible for forming the league. Has it not occurred to you that you needed other teams to play against?

If it was your guy who first said, "hey, lets have a league with points and stuff", is that what you're most proud of? I'll stick with Shankly's vision "My idea is to build a  bastion of invincability... so they have to send a team from Mars to beat us" and all that.

I much prefer:

  “For brilliance and, at the same time, for consistency of achievement, for activity in philanthropic enterprise, for astuteness of management and for general alertness, the superiors of Aston Villa cannot be found.”

Our man William McGregor said that - long before old Shanks even thought of such things.  It's great to be the originals.

What I love about what McGregor says here is that The Aston Villa Football Club was not merely a sporting institution, it was also a philanthropic enterprise - a club deep-rooted in community and the welfare of others.  Everything you laud about Liverpool is superb, but give credit to the club that did it first, the club that fathered this great game.  Doing things first, being the originators is what makes Villa peerless.

We're all looking forward to the big kick-off in August.  When the big day comes and we start the weekly battle once more, tip your hat to McGregor and Villa.  We gave the world this unrivalled competition.

[Fin Feds Dad]

The sooner the shithouse puts in a transfer request and buggers off the better.

Chances of him putting in a transfer request - zero.