David Kelly

I think the top and bottom of it is Rafa doesn't trust him. Whether it's that he doesn't trust him to not gan radge or whether he doesn't trust him to do the job he wants I don't know. But if he doesn't trust him in this division he's not going to trust him in the premier league so it's a knocking bet he'll be gone in the summer.

I'm taking Aldo to see Hacksaw Ridge tonight.

Split personality. He's the one who doesn't do spoilers.

The best thing that's happened to the club in my lifetime. Don't expect to see anyone have the impact he had ever again.

Agree with all of this. Don't get the shit he's getting at all. And it seems that if you stand up for him at all, you get a load of shit for being a Mitro lover. Clearly he's not a real top class striker and there's no reason at all for anyone to suggest he should play ahead of Gayle, but when he's had a run in the side he's scored goals. He also does a job of getting a hold of the ball up top and bringing others into play. No not the best job but most young players are very good at it at all and he's probably our best at it. It's a pointless argument as we know Rafa doesn't like 2 up front but I really think he could help Gayle score more goals if he got a chance alongside him. I would never really expect Rafa to start a game with the two of them, but I would like him to have it as a plan B if things aren't going well.

Went to see T2 again yesterday and it was much a improved experience without the drunken bints. The scene when Renton and Sickboy go into that bar is brilliant. Watched Moonlight the other night too. I think it's much better than La La Land and Manchester By the Sea and the best of the Oscar nominated films I've seen so far. Aldo watched Internal Affairs and Akira recently, both for the first time, and thought they were both really good.

I enjoyed Stranger Things and will definitely watch the second season, but I do think it was a bit overrated. Another excellent episode of It's Always Sunny last week. Someone else (maybe Alex) said it a while ago but Glen Howerton is one of the best comedy actors out there at the moment.

Of course you can't guarantee funds are there to be made available, but it could be possible that there is a provision that if they are, they are provided as and when requested. Clearly it would be difficult for Rafa to prove what should be available but it might give him a bit more power.

Aye I would think he will have more after he saw what happened to KK. How much cast iron power he has over what funds are available will be the question. I don't doubt he will have final say over transfers, but if he's told there's no money available, has he got something in his contract that can force Ashley's hand.

Aye I expected more from him. Tbf I think if he came in at a different moment, he could have done a lot better but after Pardew and Carver we were in such an awful position it was just too much for him to turn around. I don't think there's many managers who could have done what Rafa has, you can see the struggle Villa have had despite changing manager twice and spunking a load cash. Had we not had someone like Rafa, I don't think promotion would have been a very likely scenario this season.

I do wonder if Rafa has something concrete in his contract that he can fall back on that he knows will allow him to push Ashley much further than others could. I mean, I think we all believe he will stand up for himself much more than his predecessors but I wonder if he can force through more as well. It certainly appears that while there is still more than a little cause for concern, nothing is completely broken yet.

I fancy the crowd to get behind Rafa and the team and we'll get a good performance and result tomorrow.

I'd hope that too. But I'm a million miles away from being confident of it.

I heard people saying at the match on Wednesday and on twitter, maybe on here too. It's fucking ridiculous. 7 points plus a massive goal difference is a huge gap.

Certainly, Hughton, Pardew and McClaren could never have pulled it off. Keegan also tried it though and came up well short. Whether Ashley would be keen on that level of shit storm again is anyone's guess.

I can't believe people were wanting Brighton to win last night so Hudderfield didn't get closer to us. We're only one fucking point behind Brighton after a spell where we've been missing loads of players. We're still more than capable of finishing well clear at the top.

Mass panic on twitter last night when those cunts at the chronicle came out with their big news on Rafa in half an hour tweet. Everyone assumed then he'd gone when all they had was a re hash of the story that was in the nationals which any child could have come up with. Absolutely no story other than what we all knew as soon as the transfer deadline had past. Rafa clearly expected recruitment and didn't get it so he was not going to be happy. Rafa clearly wasn't happy in his interview after match. It shows how useless the press are that it took them as long as they did to come up with this story. Obviously there is something not right in the relationship (something we all expected to happen some time) but as far as I'm concerned last nights news was pretty positive. I wasn't expecting him to be here by the end of this month so if he's going to be here until at least the summer that's a positive. If he's concerned but willing to try and sort it, that's also a positive. I also think that Fish is right to an extent that there's an element of power play from Rafa here. However, I'm far from confident it will work with Ashley.

I didn't know you sat in front of me in the east stand.

I've heard a number of people say Mitro should never play for us again after the Oxford game. Presumably they now think the same about Perez after his misses last night. Murphy should be ok though because he never got near a chance to miss. Some of the fans are ridiculous. Perez was shite last night has been all season but there was people booing him off last night. It was actually nice to hear backing from him from the corner even if his performance didn't warrant it. Yes we can all moan about about players performances but we should also be trying to encourage them at the match.

Mitro's penalties have been good in the past so I would have expected him to take it. And Rafa said he was down to take it. It wasn't a particularly bad pen either. Pretty decent height for the keeper but he made a good save. I've seen better players take much worse ones and not get near the stick he took for missing that one.

I totally agree with you about the substitution but I would have to also say that we played a hell of a lot better after the substitution. We easily should have wrapped the game up after it. Hopefully a lot of Rafa's reaction after the game from the frustration of not getting the win. I doubt it though and can't see him staying for the long haul as long Ashley is there.

Fucking brilliant.

What do we reckon the chances are of Shelvey getting a ban for the incident with Mackie? I couldn't see anything at the match but a couple of the lads at work reckon Sky were all over it and he'll likely get a charge.

Off at the end of the season at the latest I'd say. Not at all happy. They clearly aren't following through with the assurances he was given in the summer.

Been told they won't sell him to a rival apparently. How times have changed.