My oh my how things change. Villa scraping for a home draw against Sunderland? It must be March. Conclusions: knackered team, stubborn tactics (Cueller isn't a right-back) and no one who can come off the bench to change a game. Bruce played this one pretty well, Sunderland were miles better than the dross they served the last time we met (not one shot from 38 yards into row z!) and if they were a bit higher on the hog at the moment, they'd have probably won it.

Had this one written off as a defeat beforehand, so I'm thrilled with the point. Villa are a very difficult side to defend against with the pace and trickery of Young, Downing and Milner in wide positions, but I thought we held our own quite well despite relying on Gordon to save our skins on a few occasions. Finally, he's starting to look like the goalkeeper we were expecting from day one. Injuries have started to clear up and the defence is gradually getting stronger, leading to confidence elsewhere. Always the classic way to stop the rot.

Looking forward to having you all in my country in June! X

some pics of the Cape Town stadium from http://www.capetown.travel/2010/gallery/C17/

Had this one written off as a defeat beforehand, so I'm thrilled with the point. Villa are a very difficult side to defend against with the pace and trickery of Young, Downing and Milner in wide positions, but I thought we held our own quite well despite relying on Gordon to save our skins on a few occasions. Finally, he's starting to look like the goalkeeper we were expecting from day one. Injuries have started to clear up and the defence is gradually getting stronger, leading to confidence elsewhere. Always the classic way to stop the rot.

Milner pretty much carried us to victory last Tuesday against Wigan but he's clearly feeling the affects of a season at full speed. Young, who Villa fans were right to get on the back of towards the beginning of the season, is playing his heart out but if his final ball isn't quite working on the day, there isn't anyone else who can step up and deliver instead. I like Downing but literally all his crosses are either utterly woeful, or lead to the odd goal. There's no in between!

Defensively we're not as assured as we have been. Sunderland carved us open quite a bit last night, and since the Carling Cup final Dunne and Collins have had a fair few shaky moments. Also, have I mentioned Cueller isn't a right-back? Poor Luke Young.

Still, delighted City lost to Everton. In fact all we have to do is go to Chelsea and City and win and we're right back in the hunt!

TONY MOWBRAY? MORE LIKE TONY MOWNT-BE-MANAGING-CELTIC-ANYMORE-BRAY! tehehehehe

I see Rafa's comedic genius is rubbing off on your Freddy.

Didn't see that 7-1 coming either :shock:

Yesterday was the worst. I may as well have walked into the roughest pub I could find, provoked the biggest guy in there and had the bejesus kicked out of me. Then, while the paramedics carry my bloody and battered body away, all the girls I've ever fancied in my life form a queue and tell me what a stupid, ugly fool I am. And just when the worst seems to be over, as I sit uncomfortably in my hospital bed, an endless loop of Again and Again and Again by Wings plays on the radio, until I beg for death.

Thank goodness we're playing them again in two weeks! Revenge of the fallen? I'd settle for a 5-0 defeat, but with a humiliating Lampard groin injury.

^All in all, it's just a good job Chelsea are such an eminently likeable team - full of good sports and role models for the kids. (Y)

BAAAAAARDSLEEEEEYYYYY!!!

Injuries have started to clear up.

:persuazn:

the defence is gradually getting stronger

leading to confidence elsewhere.

OH GOD MY LIFE CAN'T GET WORSE

Sorry to see that result over the weekend Fred.

I think whoever (Man U or Chelsea) wins next week wins the league (I know, not exactly saying anything remotely controversial with that).

Great night of football (and I haven't even checked the results in the Championship yet!) Lyon-Bordeaux was wonderful, really expansive attacking stuff mixed in with some nervous and at times quite rubbish defending from the away side (you'd think a Laurent Blanc team would have that stuff taken care of!). Definitely hard done by for the penalty, what's the sliding defender supposed to do when it hits their arm from one yard away? Absolute joke. Second leg should be a cracker, as someone on Sky Sports News might blankly suggest!

Bayern won. I KNEW IT. Listen to me, I know these things. Hilarious that they didn't even mark Rooney in the second minute of the game but no matter! Olic is a little tank, the boy gave everything! Young Thomas seemed overawed by the occasion, needed Gomez or Klose on earlier. Franck was so-so but he's a magician with a trick and sometimes that's all you need.

Hope Arsenal lose 10-0 tomorrow night and CSKA beat Inter!

Not the end of the world for United, but Bayern were certainly good value for that win and had they not looked incapable of hitting a barn door for the first hour, would have won by a lot more. Fancy thinking Neville would be able to deal with Ribery for 90-odd minutes. Time you called it a day, Gary (you too, Scholesy).

Bayern were pretty poor in the first half. Story of all their bad games this season, loads of huff and puff but not enough execution. United could have been out of sight by half time, defensively the Munch are nothing special at all (ask Stuttgart and Freiburg supporters). Franck was rubbish until the last twenty minutes, but yeah, no idea why Ferguson didn't drag on a fresh full-back. Unless the only other fit one they had was that little South American munchkin kid. He makes a 53 year-old Gary Neville look good!

I'd still bet my house that Manyoo will go through <_<

Nice to see even the holy fathers at Barcelona can completely unnecessarily take their foot of the gas and throw away would have been a very likely impassible lead.

Ed, I'll take your bet. Hmm, this is win-win for me. If Bayern win, I'm right and I get a house in Oz. If Bayern lose, good riddance!

Very enjoyable game, though Arsenal can count themselves lucky not to have been 4-0 down by half time. Favourite moment of the night though, was Jens Lehmann praising Almunia's first half performance through gritted teeth.

Almunia was pretty good, I must say. I watched the game on mute, I couldn't face the thought of enduring the usual ITV mixture of a gush festivus and utter, utter banality. Was Townsend on? I like Andy, met him as a kid, I've told this boring story before, haven't I? No don't go, please, I beg you, it's really-zzzzzzz...

BAAAAAARDSLEEEEEYYYYY!!!

I won't lie, I guffawed.

PHIL!!!

Almunia was pretty good, I must say. I watched the game on mute, I couldn't face the thought of enduring the usual ITV mixture of a gush festivus and utter, utter banality. Was Townsend on? I like Andy, met him as a kid, I've told this boring story before, haven't I? No don't go, please, I beg you, it's really-zzzzzzz...

Townsend and Edgar Davids were in the studio and Lehmann was briefly interviewed at half time. I'm still not sure I've forgiven Townsend for the Tactics Truck all those years ago, but apart from that one simple-minded grudge, I never really minded him. As far as the match commentary goes - bring back David Pleat, I say. I miss hearing his 'expert' analysis on the Spurs duo Bervatob and Shimbomba, Barca's midfield general Ziavi and Milan's goal machine, Shevyshenko.

The Tactics Truck was a LOLfest that I hope is preserved through YouTube notoriety. As a Villa fan, the sight of Andy analysing Ugo Ehiogu's Middlesboro debut in a very, very confide space was absolutely hysterical, not least because they lost 0-4. Oh ITV's The Premiership, you and your failed gimmicks, terrible ratings and lack of actual coverage of games, how I mourn thee!

Completely agree about David "we had [insert rubbish player here] at Tottenham for a brief while, lovely boy, good manners, from Malta, where the musician Shakespeare was born" Pleat. So much more appealing than Robbie Earle, with his polite thickness, unsettling smugness and vile jumpers.