SHA v Aston Villa: Pre-Match Thread

[Clampy]

Kill your darlings. Whelan lacks mobility and if anything else I expect their midfield cloggers to run around a tad more than Derby.

That's just it. Thinking its going to be easy like Derby was is a mistake. There is also a case for having Whelan's experience in there as well though.

[Lastfootstamper]

I'd swap him in for Whelan. His passing's not as good, but he's got the pace and mobility to rectify his own mistakes. He offers more higher up the pitch, too. Although whether he could drop a corner on Grealish's foot...

I wouldn't sacrifice a wide man to accommodate him. For all their faults, to play without width would negate so much of what we can do well.

I wouldn't be left open-mouthed to see him come in at left-back, either. I think he'd add a lot to us from that position. He could arguably contribute more than he would if his main role was sitting in front of the centre-halves.

[Clampy]

I think throwing him at left back would be playing him for the sake of it. Not sure about that to be honest although he has got the energy for it.

[john e]

the blues dressing room will be chuffed to bits if they see we’ve put our second best midfielder on the bench
massive own goal before we even start

[brontebilly]

Gents, are certain parts of Birmingham all Villa or all Blues? Or what is the history behind the two tribes, based on religion, industry or other lines?

As an outsider, the level of rivalry seems a little strange given that in my lifetime both clubs have rarely been in the same division.

[Villa Lew]

the blues dressing room will be chuffed to bits if they see we’ve put our second best midfielder on the bench
massive own goal before we even start

Couldn't agree more, you can't possibly compare last Saturday's match with the Blues game. Tomorrow the players, who last week had plenty of time to do what they like on the ball, will find exact opposite tomorrow, plus the intensity tomorrow will be 10 times it was last week. Which is why McGinn must play tomorrow.

[Legion]

McGinn needs to be in.

[andyh]

The inner city is Rags.
All Villa fans live in mansions in the Shires......don’t we.

[Ads]

Gents, are certain parts of Birmingham all Villa or all Blues? Or what is the history behind the two tribes, based on religion, industry or other lines?

As an outsider, the level of rivalry seems a little strange given that in my lifetime both clubs have rarely been in the same division.

Traditionally north Brum is Villa and East Brum is Nose country. But these days, Villa are everywhere.

Noses have some presence in south Brum and in Solihull and Warwickshire, but so do Villa.

There's no undercurrent to the rivalry. The Noses propagate myths about being proper Brummies and Villa being middle class, but it's garbage.

Villa dominate Sutton Coldfield, but the Noses have plenty B90 post code supporters who are of equivalent socio economic level. Plus if you look at PWS map, Villa heartland is Erdington, KS, Castle Vale etc. Working class neighbourhoods.

No religion, no class differences, just the haves and the have nots.

[Chico Hamilton III]

There's also the delicious irony that Small Heath used to be part of the parish of Aston. So they are literally a small town in Aston

[TaxDodger]

Start McGinn. Obviously.

[Walmley_Villa]

You can't be a true working class blue nose unless you were born in the vicinity of the the smell of stale piss running down the gutters from the Garrison pub.

[Stu]

Gents, are certain parts of Birmingham all Villa or all Blues? Or what is the history behind the two tribes, based on religion, industry or other lines?

As an outsider, the level of rivalry seems a little strange given that in my lifetime both clubs have rarely been in the same division.

I think at the Blues's foundation they were in a solidly working class/slum area, whereas Villa definitely had professional people with better connections and skills at The Beginning. Aston was a much more affluent area in the 19th C, I think.

But that has changed drastically. Both fanbases have plenty of middle class and professional people following them. The 'working class team of Birmingham' thing was, as I recall, a clever marketing ploy deployed by Karen Brady when they were promoted in 2002. It doesn't stand up to scrutiny, but emotional soundbites are hard to shift with reasoned logic.

[KevinGage]

Gents, are certain parts of Birmingham all Villa or all Blues? Or what is the history behind the two tribes, based on religion, industry or other lines?

As an outsider, the level of rivalry seems a little strange given that in my lifetime both clubs have rarely been in the same division.

We're global, they're hyperlocal.

[Tayls_7]

Gents, are certain parts of Birmingham all Villa or all Blues? Or what is the history behind the two tribes, based on religion, industry or other lines?

As an outsider, the level of rivalry seems a little strange given that in my lifetime both clubs have rarely been in the same division.

We're global, they're hyperlocal.

I saw a nose in Lincoln once. He looked like he was on the run from the police or overseeing the county lines operation.