The younger daughter texted me today, asking if I fancied going to the kit launch on Sunday.
The truth is, I don’t particularly, as I’m a boring old fart these days who likes to sit on his bum doing as little as possible, so I can recuperate from the efforts of the working week.
But then again, I thought it’s another chance to meet up with the grandsons, whose youthful enthusiasm for the Villa knows no bounds. That can’t be a bad thing can it?
It very much reminds me of my youth and we all know we love to harp back to that.
So off I go to read the official site’s description of what’s going to happen.
It actually sounds quite good, in that there are groups playing the sort of music I might quite like.
Except I then go on to read this;
Entrance to the event will be free of charge.
However, children’s activities and stadium tours will require either a wristband – which gives you unlimited access to all the activities (£5) – or tickets (£1 each) which give you a single go on each activity.
Like in previous years, you will receive a wristband free-of-charge for every home shirt that is purchased.
WTF?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m fortunate enough in that I can afford to pay a fiver for each of the people who will be going, so it doesn’t really affect me much.
And the tour, yes, you don’t want to be giving that away. It’s not something you’d do repeatedly, is it?
But charging for kid’s activities? At a quid a time, if they can’t afford the fiver for the wristband?
I can’t see the reasoning behind this. Times are hard for some and there’s no way many I know could afford this.
Some of you might not believe it, but my week’s pocket money as the eldest of five kids, equated to the equivalent of a packet of crisps and these sort of events were massive highlights in my younger life. Anyone else remember the Army putting a demo day on at the Norton in Pype Hayes every year, for example?
Ok, I never joined the Army, but the feeling I got from sitting in a tank, as an eight year old…. well, you get the idea, I’m sure and it’s something I’ve never forgotten.
The point is, it was all free and the thought of being asked for money never came into it.
They were after your custom, regardless of whether the tactic worked or not.
In other words, you were doing them a favour, as they were after something, as opposed to the other way round.
So why are we charging our future audience for an event where they actually want you to buy a massively over-priced shirt?
The cost to the club for this event will be minimal in the scheme of things and this is just penny-pinching in my opinion.
I’m actually quite minded to go out of my way to not buy a shirt.
As for the current bunch of shite they dont deserve to wear a replica of the 1982 shirt ,what where macron thinking?
You have to be like most of us one that can roll back the years Badger123, this now is the erea of let’s make money , like you where is the help from the club in grooming in young one for the future, they won’t get them with being the best will they, its gone tits up mate and only grandad like us that can keep the family loyal to our once great footballing club, its now give me give me like the TV donates charity’s.
Just received my new tops through the post very nice indeed,unfortunately they don’t seem to cater for the beer drinkers.the chest fits perfect but when you work your way down things seem to tighten up.it don’t bother me all paid for but I would go a size bigger if you want the baggy look. 😀
cant believe youve been sucked in to buying villa merchandise giddy thought you were a man not a mouse 🙂
Hey Oohah definitely a man ,big guy our Giddy ain’t a ganger without mussels arms like legs, I wouldn’t mess with him mate. You got my permission Giddy have what you want. 🙂
In that case giddy I humbly apologise 🙂
Wish I was a mouse ooha maybe the New top would be looser.
He’s done a runner Giddy,:-)
Oh dear
Well Giddy my big day next week make a nice 75th for someone 🙂 I do have to agree looks nice think family might chip in for mine.
I’m sure they will MATE if not I will. 😉
wow its a slow day/week/month … on the plus side i just got a free copy of fifa14 on ps4 .. so .. ya .. any fifa players on this site?
I am officially back in this timezone again ( moved from Canada to Ireland) now since april too so if anyone played online from time to time .. per chance ..
Im a fifa player but unfortunately i haven’t quite saved up enough money for the PS4 yet, once i do I’ll give u a game for sure.
well my PSN id is the same as this one here, as it is on every site and forum! sometimes i worry that i make myself an easy target for the NSA! .. not sure about the free game thing – I actually got fifa 14 and battel field 4 for free! … a friend of mine works for EA and gets a certain allocation for free each year! .. resultado!!! .. anyways .. feel free to add me whoeover…
Why is w cup opening ceremony on Itv ffs. I don’t want to see 2 hrs of ads before kick off ffs. They will have a right wank fest over Brazil later
LOL
I forgot to mention no sign of any wrist bands in my package for the event I was robbed TUT TUT.
Colonius8 – I have a PS4, is Fifa14 the free game they are giving away on PS Plus this month?
Back on topic, I have been contacted by villa 4 times this week to renew season tickets. Not going to though. I’ve had enough of being miserable and watching shite. The new shirts are nice, esp the away one, but I am loath to spend any more money on villa merchandise until things change. Hmm, I might be waiting a long time! UTV
Good on ya! Make that stand. It’s the only way the club will listen. Playing PS4 is much more fun, and cheaper, than following the Villa atm…
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/city-diary-cruise-ship-tycoon-070015945.html
Villa Gossip on yahoo finance!
Here’s hoping there’s something in it.
Apparently that’s been going around for nealy a week now, I must admit I hadn’t seen that, I hope its true but thinking about it was he the owner of the concordior the ship that sank?, I do hope this is settled soon I like the shirts.
Well it would be fitting if he joined us as were a sinking ship!!
I had that same thought when posting my last post, I was going to say didn’t that ship go tits up. Oohah think you’re of the same mind in some way, Villa are playing its fans for fools, its going to bite them one day, they don’t realise Villa fans are written in history of being true to the club as fans loyal to the name of Aston Villa.
Looks to Goodie to be true. That Tycoon is Bill Oddie
IncogAVFC tweeted Arison is one of the registered interested parties and he was told that they’re confident a deal will be done by August 1st.
Hey that Vlaar is rite shite, bet Senderos is pants too – good job they play for different countries……..
Yep ask yourself why he can’t play like that for us. Hopefully utd will sign the useless lump. International football is completely different to prem. Look at John barnes and wayne Rooney world class for ther clubs but shite for their country
I think it helps when he is not having to cover 2 positions as playing along side Clark or Baker must be a nightmare as they are both total shite.
He had 2 youngsters playing alongside him tonight. Maybe he is more suited to slow international football. He just can’t keep pace for long enough period in the prem and takes a 2 month sabbatical when it gets cold around Xmas
Yes but then he also had a much better midfield in front of him with someone who is at least defensive minded who can actually defend unlike the typical 3 incredibly average players. He not only has to cover his CB partner, the average RB who shouldn’t even be played as a RB, the crap LB who shouldn’t have even been loaned in and the 3 below average midfielders, Now tell me, who would you rather have, Janmaat, Blind, Martins Indi, Vrij or however you spell his name, De Jong De Guzman or who we have? Every one of their players were incredible tonight bar De Guzman.
I’m sure you remember praising him during his fine spell when the midfield other than just KEA learned how to hassle the attackers coming at Villa.
Maybe he just gets swallowed up in the negativity around the club and this site in particular.
Senderos has already been written off as too slow, Cole too injury prone. If we sign Messi some on here would slag him off for being too small.
And we know who’d be first in line…!!!
But sen-dross is slow and cole has been injury prone these are facts. As if Ron vlaar reads this site anyway and if he did he would probably laugh
he does read this site Ooo ahh and he is very upset .. you should be ashamed of yourself ..
Ha ha yeah Ron just phoned me in tears feel sorry for him now lol
Andrew I’m sure in certain cases its comment being made because they was wrong, Vlaar was as they have said concrete Ron, I like the man and yes correct he has played with shite defenders, some people don’t see that, how many player from Villa park are at other clubs making names for themselves, they move because the club does not. Ron Vlaar will move because Villa makes money and don’t give a shite about fans needs.
Personally don’t see Vlaar leaving still. Van Gaal and United are linked to the entire Dutch team, and he’d probably go for younger than Vlaar in Blind, De Vrij, Martins Indi before Vlaar. Only other club I could possibly see him at is Tottenham but I doubt it. Maybe someone like Atletico or to Germany, but again, I doubt it. He’ll be here for the new season, partnering Okore/Senderos with hopefully a better midfield in front of him.
Vlaar will be a decent squad player for them hes done fuvk all for us hope he does go no loss. Funny how he’s trying to play himself into shop window
Vlaar would walk into United’s defense with Vlaar and Ferdinand gone. Dunno about Spurs as they have decent CB’s but most likely. Miranda looks likely to leave due to Atletico not being able to offer him the huge wages he wants so Vlaar would start their too. Again, get him a DM like De Jong and good fullbacks and you’ll see a much calmer, better Vlaar. But when you’re killing yourself for 80% of the game keeping balls left and right out of the box… You’re right, he can’t keep up. But I don’t know of a defender who could under Lambert’s tactics.
vlaar would not be a regular with utd feerdinand had pace could bring the ball out. Vlaar is a donkey and hoofs it
Ferdinand… Had pace? Ferdinand was as slow as a bloody sloth.
No he wasn’t rio was pacy but granted he slowed towards the end
Take no notice Andrew, Oohah been on the bottle again, what we needed was Rocket Ron.my take on the game lastnight was Bains out of possison to far forward, Johnson who makes me wonder why he gets games, he’s always going in the wrong direction when defending, and OK nice ball from Rooney but ball watching again, England won’t get into the next round. It looks good with some nice inter play but 3 glory hunters and not laying off the final balls, WHAT DO I KNOW. 🙂
I thought we played well but playing the 6 attackers like Liverpool is not going to work on a street smart team like Italy. Having said that we could easily have got a point with better finishing. Rooney missed a sitter and just picked on reputation nowadays. I still think we will beat Uruguay there is no way Suarez will be anywhere near fit enough even if he does play so going for 3.0 England win
This is England… 3-0? Really? They’ll be fortunate to win let alone 3-0.
An unfit Suarez can still own any England midfielder/defender. Then you add in Cavani and Forlan who are both incredible players who work really well with him.
Lol true but players like sterling will destroy their defence. Even if not 3.0 we should win. Hate to say it but Germany look good ouch
Yes the young legs of England can outpace their defense, but that still remains to be if England’s midfield/defense can keep out Forlan, Cavani and Suarez.
Forlan is rubbish don’t know much about cavani
Forlan’s rubbish? Lol, that’s a good one. 😉 But no, seriously. Forlan’s a very good player.
Cavani’s a world class player, can easily take on and beat any English defender.
They didn’t look world class v Costa Rica. Honestly I can’t see us losing to them whether Suarez plays or not at the very worst a draw but still fancy a comfortable 2-3.0 win
Personally think you’re dreaming for England to ever have a comfortable win at the World Cup, even against a Country like Costa Rica, but especially a wounded Uruguay who have no choice but to win.
We will see but if we play like we did v Italy we will win
Hardly. Created very few genuine chances, and Baines was eaten alive because Rooney’s too slow/not interested in defense and not a single midfielder felt like helping. Uruguay are far better up front than Italy and with Suarez claiming he’s 100% fit, Uruguay can definitely beat England, even if they play the same way.
It’s just like Rooney to turn it on for 5 mins and be hailed a national hero by the utd brown nosing media!!
Too much emphasis on Suarez he is nowhere near 100% fit or he would of come on v Costa Rica. Even if he was he has rarely ever performed for his country and never does it when it matters even in club football. Remember their game at home to Chelsea he went missing
Well that’s aways been our problem midfield, not saying Vlaar is off soon but like others will have itchy feet with no honours coming in and will start thinking its time to move, looking at him lastnight it was not all to do with the Dutch forwards, Vlaar was close to being Motm to me, he was that defence.
I would say the WC is by far the best shop window to be in, if vlaar continues to impress clubs will come knocking.what the fuck can the VILLA offer????
We can offer him a guaranteed start with a 3 month winter sabbatical thrown in
Wow….I’m done….. Vlaar has a decent game and he’s, according to OOHAH, a useless lump. Madness. Is there any happiness in your life? And saying why can’t he do that for us…… Weren’t long ago you had both his balls in your gob praising him and apologising for writing him off……You mate, are mental
Oohah is fine, unless he’s commenting on football.
lmao 🙂
interesting convo again Oohahahaha is having a laugh, but seriously VLaar is easily our best defender at present, if any decent offers come in for the guy, hes gonna be gone for sure, that would be disastrous for our survival hopes
i think its far easier to play in a better team and look good, than a poor side and stand out
IncoAVFC
There has been movement in the bank of America regarding the sale of Aston Villa FC , they have asked both interested parties to produce paperwork and documents regarding investment in AVFC the 2 parties are Mikey Arison and a unnamed Saudi tycoon.
Seems one of the two middle eastern investors has shown true interest. Big news of if true.
Incog*
Fingers crossed Andrew.
Who is this IncogAVFC?
He’s a person on twitter, got Cole and Senderos right before the press came out with it.. he says Keane has agreed to become Lambert’s assistant for weeks, and they are gonna confirm it soon enough. So we’ll see how spot on he is.
I’d take no notice of rumours if someone keeps saying things enough time law of averages they will get one right. Until takeover is announced on OS it means nothing.
You mean like your constant Benteke is leaving statement?
I always said he would leave bar injury. If he was fit he would be sold. Plus window has another 2 months to go
Wasn’t injured last summer, you said he’d go, wasn’t injured in January, you said he’d go. Making up this “he’d go if he wasn’t injured” is complete and utter garbage.
I am not so sure ooo ahh .. you have managed to thwart that statistical normality with some of your claims! .. 😛
The one in the know that seems to actually know. Don’t mind Oohah, I mean Cole and Senderos are clearly two players Villa usually go for so he made them up and got fortunate. 😉
believe it when I see it andrew
Never mind Oohah it will give you something new to moan at. I have visions of you being a grumpy old sod, I wonder why.?
Okay then… But will you be upset Arison’s only worth 6 billion? Despite that being 6 times Lerner’s worth?
More importantly saints have got Ronald koaman as manager while we have Ronald McDonald
Indeed… Now it just remains can he replace everyone that’s leaving correctly? I think he can, he’s a great manager. Of course I’d have loved him at Villa, but nothing we can do now.
Crazy someone like that with some money would be great for us. We are fucked can’t believe we will still have lamberk and Lerner here at start of season it’s past a joke
Uhm… What? It’s bloody June 16th. We’re not even close to the start of the season. My god where do you come up with said garbage?
Having a little chuckle at the Albion’s managerial appointment. 🙂
It would have been even funnier had they appointed Paul Lambert.
Happy fathers day to all you daddies out there. 😀
Thanks son!!