Man City's statement reeks of the sourest of sour grapes and shows a hilarious level of naivety on their part. Another master stroke from the brilliant negotiators of the Kaka deal.

As is always the case with Man City, the fact that they're stupidly minted seems to have removed all common sense from this situation. The Sheikhs could conceivably use the loose change from under their cushions to pay Tevez's wages, so they'll probably think ''who the f*** do you think you are?'' and try to let him rot for the forseeable future. But Carlos is a stubborn sort and judging by the wobblies he throws when substituted, he won't sit quietly in the reserves. Inevitable conclusion - do what they did with Robinho and pay the majority of his wage while he goes out on loan, then tap up some red hot striker from the continent to replace him. <_<

Bloody hell lads, there goes Big Sam! Can't stand the guy but seems like a sucker punch.

Why does anyone bother with this daft sport anyway?

Poor old Big Sam. First he gets sacked by the cowboys, then he gets sacked by the Indians.

This managerial lark is madness. Can I have a go?

^

Great, more pointless articles clogging up the thread. And worst of all, the last one you posted is a day late and a dollar short. Please stop.

^Your calls fall upon deaf ears Frederick. And that Chelsea/Man Utd. game was called off yesterday making all that 'thrilling' preview information somewhat redundant...

Another 3 pts, Michael* It was a good game to watch. Good quality on show

and I see I've been losing in the BZPL. Average is now the leader <_<

Games postponed all over Europe.

Was especially surprised it happening in England! Aren't all your pitches warmed?

Get on with it

Your calls fall upon deaf ears Frederick. And that Chelsea/Man Utd. game was called off yesterday making all that 'thrilling' preview information somewhat redundant...

Nine articles. Nine. Now I know me lamenting a lack of quality control might seem a bit rich but come on now, SS, get this joker out of this thread.

Thread cleaned up. A bit.

Madristar, please only post links to relevant articles instead of copying and pasting the entire text in this thread.

Oh sorry ;cry; i didnt know this was a discussion thread sorry..

Another 3 pts, Michael* It was a good game to watch. Good quality on show

Though we're by no means the finished article yet, Bruce has done magnificently to assemble this team in such a short space of time. That nagging feeling that we'll come unstuck at some point refuses to shift altogether, but I've been thrilled with what we've seen so far (apart from that game) and couldn't have asked for much more. Pushing the boat out for an effective set piece taker in January could cement a top eight finish, but as someone who still gets a kick out of avoiding relegation dogfights, I'd be well chuffed just to scrape into the top half.

and I see I've been losing in the BZPL. Average is now the leader <_<

The less said about my FPL team's recent form the better. If not for the lucky break of captaining Tim Cahill last week I'd have been well and truly up the creek. <_<

Get on with it

Was I the only one secretly hoping Ipswich/Leicester would be abandoned at 3-0, just to see Roy's reaction?

Anyone know if Sandra Redknapp is available in the January window?

Curse your fantasy team Michael* :persuazn: That's two straight defeats against your team

In other news, my manager said "Liverpool should win against Wolves". Little does he know...

Sorry about your Reds Ed.

Do you want Roy to go?

I've had almost no words to describe how bad we've been this season, I mean why even attempt to articulate the sorrow you feel after a ludicrous 6-0 defeat against Newcastle? Selling Milner? Well we knew that was coming. Ireland? Load of old brown. Houllier? Give him time. Then suddenly we got really bad, so bad in fact that even when we occasionally won it still felt like we probably lost. Over Christmas we looked feeble, bored, annoyed with the world...

Today we were fabulous with extra mustard. That must have been Petrov's best game for us, the lad looked born again, fighting like Mayweather, passing with authority; even Little Nigel was on song. Heskey, Heskey, Heskey; good grief, what can you say? Literally handcuff Young to keep him if need be. Friedel, not bad for a 72 year-old Hell's Angel! And just when you think Albrighton's gone and ruined the whole darn picnic, he produces a cross that Jason Wilcox himself would have been proud of.

Bonus satisfaction: the highly mawkish, bouncy hugs that Chelsea partook in after they "won" the game.

at Ray Wilkins trying to keep a straight face after the game.

Dear Steven Taylor,

If your chest hurts every time something hits your arm, may I suggest seeing a doctor.

You'd think we'd have come into today's game with our tails up but nah, not this bunch. To name but a few grievances: Gabby out on the wing, Ashley in the middle and then the sheer indignity of subbing our admittedly woeful captain (and he was so good on Sunday!) for a 5ft6 nipper who ended up inexplicably playing in central defence while Dunne brainlessly huffed and puffed up front. All while our sole summer signing presumably sits warmly on the fur sofa in his pink mansion. The Chelsea performance, only hours ago one of the few sources of pride from this woeful season, now infuriates me as it was nothing more than a cruel ruse. They play one game at full tilt and then the next like lost souls. Why?

I'm the least "blame the manager for everything" guy on earth but Houllier walks like a hopeless case, enforces tactics that suggest a hopeless case and talks absolute nonsense like a hopeless case. Would I sack him? I don't know, then what? I blame the players for a lot of this, even ones that I have vehemently defended in the past (Cuellar) have been royally pissing me off. Meanwhile Robert Pires looks like he's the caretaker waiting to lock up the ground, every time I see him yawning on the bench I hang my head in shame. There is a nucleus in this squad that can get us of this shameful position but they're being played out of position, left on the bench or simply not delivering. We're in no way too good to go down and I urge you all to report any Villa fans you hear voicing such claims to your local policeman immediately. So dire is the situation that I'm actually relieved our impending FA Cup 3rd round defeat is a one off game that doesn't affect our already apocalyptic goal difference.

If Klopp ends up Liverpool manager I'm taking up darts and leaving all of this behind me.

After the birds falling from the sky in the States, flooding of biblical proportions in Oz and earthquakes in Yorkshire comes the clearest sign yet that the world is ending - Phil "Mc"Bardsley scores a goal. Run for the hills!

Unfortunate though, Fred. Between your boys' battling draw on Sunday, our traditional role as the last refuge of anyone desperate for an upturn in fortunes, and this season's continuation of our poor, albeit slightly improved away form (the Chelsea game remains our only other victory on the road), I actually had this one down as a Villa win.

A curious feeling of fear seems to be building up within me that if I actually start to believe, there'll be a massive kick in the teeth for us in the near future. But so far so very good, and if we're able to finish this season in an upper mid-table position - bloody marvellous. However, if we're currently the sixth best team in the country then quite frankly, it doesn't say much for the rest. Bruce has put many of the raw materials in place but there's still plenty of room for improvement. We're young, naive, occasionally superb, but also pretty ordinary at times.

P.S. Get well David Meyler.