Birmingham Mail

Things I found out over in dreary south London.

1. Crystal Palace FC is nowhere near Crystal Palace. It's about two miles away. Which in London means about a one hour drive away. In fact, a 500-yard journey in London normally means negotiating two mini-roundabouts, half-a-dozen speedbumps, one white van driver and a black cab mounting the kerb to avoid the 'Golf Sale' signs. And it takes one hour.

2. Simon Jordan is morphing into Ziggy from Big Brother.

3. Neil Warnock was time wasting in the final minutes. Deliberately ignoring the ball as it rolled past him during throw-ins on several occasions. Shame on you Neil.

4. London is not fit to stage the Olympics. The world's most over-rated city should hand over the torch to Paris immediately and save the British tax payer a lot of expense. It takes hours to get from A to B (see No1), the transport infrastructure was clearly designed and built by drunkards and London is about as aesthetically appealing as an Austin Allegro.

5. People in London do not know how to drive. It's no coincidence that British motor sport heroes Lewis Hamilton, Nigel Mansell, Colin McRae and Richard Burns were not Londoners. James Hunt was from nearby Cheam. And he was called Hunt the Shunt for a reason. The Highway Code might as well be printed in Greek as far as Londoners are concerned.

6. Neil Warnock and I share a birthday with Woody Allen and Bette Midler. I expect plenty of sympathy.

7. Albion fans - who on earth is 'Colin'? Ah...

8. The M40 is one of London's triumphs - especially the bit that says 'M40, North and Midlands'. Salvation in the form of Tarmac and white lines.

9. Never laugh at the Black Country or Birmingham accent again. There are 26 letters in the English alphabet, 25 in London. Once within the M25 boundaries, leave the 'H' behind and remember to pick it back up when you leave.

TODAY this city is gripped by a pay dispute that probably impacts on more families than any that has ever come before.

Birmingham City Council's radical review of salaries will inflate the wage packets of some of its staff and mean losses for others.

PASSIONS are invariably raised when the rights and wrongs of abortion are debated. It is an issue which continues to polarise opinions.

But even those who support the right of women to terminate an unwanted pregnancy should consider carefully the reservations of doctors about plans to make the procedure available in GP surgeries.

THIS area has got a long and distinguished history of producing high-class athletes.

So it is fitting that next year's Olympic trials should be returning to Birmingham after a four year absence.

THERE is solid good sense in Immigration Minister Liam Byrne's call for new arrivals to be introduced to truly British traditions such as the BBC, countryside walks, darts and a good old cuppa.

These are things that help create our country's unique identity, comfortingly recognisable, soothingly enjoyable.

MINISTERS and civil servants should think long and hard before deciding where to site this region's new super-prison.

They must also be open about their plans and consult the residents near whose homes the jail will be sited.

Can't wait to see Harry Redknapp this weekend. It will be cheaper than the £20 I paid to watch Frank Skinner at the NIA.
Just a pity the Pompey boss ducked out of his pre-match press conference down on the south coast because his post-arrest press conference was up there with Jimmy Carr or Peter Kay.
"They searched the house and took a computer away that I bought my wife two years ago - I think she learnt to turn it on four weeks ago", he began.
"I held a meeting with my players. I told them about the agent and that allegedly he had paid some of his fee to the player. All of them wanted his phone number because they had never heard of an agent who wanted to give a player any money!"- now into his groove.
"I have received texts from many players who I have worked with - and top managers - and I have really appreciated them. Of course, I couldn't get e-mails because now I haven't got a computer." Wild hilarity.
Did someone mention Panorama?
The answer is yes they did, incredibly, and Redknapp not surprisingly walked out.
I've never see a Villa manager storm anywhere. Unless you are David O'Leary onto the pitch at St Andrew's.
But quite a bit has happened in the world of Villa and slightly beyond since I last tapped on these withered keyboard letters.
Martin O'Neill unhappy with Sven Goran Eriksson? Not really. Not when I spoke to him a fortnight ago and revealed to him that the Italian press were quoting Sven as pushing Olof Mellberg in Juventus' direction. "I'll have to do the same to all his players to Barcelona", came his witty reply.
O'Neill knows the game. This is just paper-talk.
Mellberg may or may not stay, and it's in the balance alright, but it won't be down to Eriksson as to whether the Italians make their move.
Speaking of O'Neill. I still fear that call from the FA.
Jose Mourinho has been bluffing all along about his interest in taking over as England coach.
That ridiculous TV interview over his green garden gate, tagged "exclusive- Mourinho opens his heart on the England job"- just laughable.
Back to Villa...another win at Middlesbrough- Villa were poor for 45 minutes and George Boateng was running the show until the lads in claret and blue rolled up their socks and suddenly realised they were playing at The Riverside and not the San Siro.
Always a good day out that one. The 380 miles just fly by, particularly for the coach-load of Villans who just happen to drop off in the quaint village of Osmotherly en-route to the stadium for four hours beforehand.
That publican's 'Christmas' is already over. He is now retired and living on a yacht off the south of France off the profits of that Villa party.
The night at Blackburn was even more remarkable. No, not just because I managed to catch Roy Aitken on his mobile phone to wish him all the best as I arrived for my pre-match pint, but the game wasn't half-bad, was it?
Poor for just the opening half an hour and lucky not to be a goal down, Villa got the lead and the crucial sending off decision went their way. It ws nevertheless a magnificent win.
Then the defeat to Arsenal. Outplayed for 45 minutes, then blood and guts and thunder for the second 45 minutes only to just fall short as Villa always do to them.
What is it? 13 losses and 5 draws in nine years?
Then there was that Cup draw. Sammy Nelson's infamous 24 or 25 ball shuffle. Just a trick of the light, methinks.
I've seen the video and I still can't tell. The FA aren't bothered so I am amazed it even became a story.
Not like up north of the border where the semi-finals of the CIS Cup were read out wrongly so that Dundee United weren't in fact set to play Hearts, as was read aloud, but were told four hours later they were playing Aberdeen. Hilarious stuff.
Can Villa turn the tide on United after all these years? No.
Villa always beat Boro away, Villa invariably beat Blackburn away, Villa always lose to Arsenal, Villa always beat Portsmouth at home... Villa always lose to United. Such things are enshrined in Villa's recent history.
And by January Wayne Rooney will be back firing on all cylinders waiting to scare the heebie-jeebies out of Zat Knight again.
Villa should see off Pompey tomorrow, even taking into consideration Niko Krancjar lining up for Pompey against Scott Carson which could make that first free-kick a nervy one.
I happen to be one of the very few people who never saw England crash that night. Carson has already bounced back. Not a foot wrong this season.
So why was Seamus McDonagh watching Stephen Hennessy on Tuesday I hear you ask?
Villa have to cover all bases and all eventualities. And can anyone seriously see Thomas Sorensen staying beyond the opening week of January, or Stuart Taylor staying beyond June?
Speaking of Tuesday, I just happened to take in the local 'derby', of sorts, at The Hawthorns where I saw Coventry gain revenge in some style for a hammering three weeks earlier.
Attacking play there was plenty... defending there was very little, of substance anyway.
The gap between the two divisions was- on that occasion- startling. Compare it to the Villa- Arsenal game of 72 hours earlier and it was chalk and cheese, not only with the players on view but also the officiating.
We saw a player red carded for kicking the ball away and then fouling a player; We saw a goal disallowed and another goal given when it was deemed to have crossed the line; We saw a goal given when an initial ball through looked to be to a player in an offside position; We saw a goalkeeper given a yellow card for handball and not a red card after a quick free-kick was taken when the ball was still rolling...
I could go on. Mark Clattenburg would never have gotten away with it in the Premier League, and my point is: under the glare of publicity in the top division referees escape nothing. And away from all the cameras and the hype in the Championship they can get away with murder.
Anyway, must dash.
Good luck to Ricky Hatton.
Anyone know any good pubs near Sunderland?
Until next time......

An irksome Bell will fall silent at the end of this week in Birmingham - or at least that's what paranoid councillors will be hoping. Here his editor Steve Dyson pays tribute. David Bell, the Birmingham Mail's no nonsense municipal editor, is to retire after more than 35 years with the newspaper. During those years Bell - known as 'Ding Dong' - has been the constant bane of councillors of all parties, using his voluminous local government knowledge and remarkable list of contacts to uncover the darkest of their secrets. He smokes like a chimney and drinks like a fish and is recognised as one of a kind - a final remnant of journalists of yore. And to the envy of his colleagues, he operated from two offices. During the first part of the morning, he worked in the Mail offices in Weaman Street.

THERE are often moans about BBC losing some of its bluechip sports.
Grumbles about their coverage of those sports they have left.
But surely there can be no complaints about the continuingly excellent Sports Review of the Year as was screened last night.
As a paying punter at the NEC, I was one of the 8,000 treated to two hours of slick, action-packed, informative and, in the case of Sir Bobby Robson, seriously moving entertainment which just proves when it comes to events like this Auntie Beeb has no equals.
Difficult to believe Gary Lineker was initially derided as he tried to fill the unfillable boots of Des Lynam in presenting British sport.
Now as polished an operator as they come, aided and abetted by Sue Barker and resident Brummie Adrian Chiles, the production was flawless.
A few highlights?
The outside broadcast from Las Vegas with Ricky Hatton and Joe Calzaghe.
Surrounded by three or four rows of corner men and mates – including a certain Richie Woodall – there seemed almost the air of a load of blokes turning up for a drive-in movie.
The pair’s constant banter, and the unshakeable face of Lennox Lewis, was a real picture, while Hatton’s “I slipped� reference stole the show.
But in Calzaghe, a worthy winner of the competition, quite probably 12 months after he should have done.
The arrival on stage, on his machine of world superbike champion James Toseland.
Before then launching into a spectacular blues rendition on the old Joanna.
Can a bloke do any more to win?!!
The presence of a sprinkling of stars from the Midlands.
Alex McLeish, amusingly told by Chiles his reward for nearly taking Scotland to the European Championships was a new life in Birmingham, both Mick McCarthy and Tony Mowbray in attendance, and Steve Bull on stage as part of the tribute to Robson.
Which brings us neatly on to the highlight of the night.
Presumably there was barely a dry eye in the house as Sir Bobby shuffled on stage to receive his Lifetime Achievement award to be met by a rousing two-minute standing ovation.
The body may be frail amid a seemingly endless battle against cancer and most recently a brain tumor but the mind is still sharp as a tack.
And noble too of Sir Alex Ferguson to put aside his long-standing dispute with the BBC to actually present the award.
Of course there will be one or two complaints about what was and wasn’t shown.
The lack of even a mention for the county cricket season perhaps, the choice of England’s rugby team as “Team of the Year� amid far more consistency from more minor sports elsewhere, and maybe Tim Henman deserved just a little more air-time given the way he has carried the sport of tennis for over a decade.
But overall what a fantastic night, for audience and viewers alike.
And amid rumours Birmingham might not be granted a third year in the hotseat 12 months from now, organisers would be well advised to consider one of sport’s golden rules: “Never change a winning formula.�

I can only assume that Harry Redknapp never drinks in a Portsmouth boozer.
He'd be appalled by some of the language.
Some of the locals, as I understand,... wait for it... use four letter words from time to time.
And I don't mean 'pint' or 'mild'.
You see, I'm not a great believer that Redknapp should have played the 'abused' card at the weekend.
There's no excuse for the mindless minority who sit and rage at opposition benches every Saturday.
I dare say it happens up and down the country to varying degrees.
But Redkapp reacted with a three (or possily two at first) fingered salute to those morons. The situation was ever more inflamed and he was left claiming 'filth' to the press.
But in my view, if you can't stand the heat.....go and sit in the directors box. Or the press box as Martin O'Neill did against Fulham recently.
One, I've never understood whay managers and coaches have to stand on the touchline anyway. Haven't they done all their homework through the week? What can they possibly do to change a game once it has kicked off?
And two, football fans are asked to pay criminally high charges for tickets, replica kits and everything else. They then have to turn up at 12.45pm, 5.15pm, 7.45pm, 8pm, or even worse at 12 noon or 1pm on a Sunday because of mainly TV, or police.
Away from home they are treated like cattle. At home they get little change out of a fiver for a programme and a paper cup of bovril.
As O'Neill has often said, once they buy their ticket they should be allowed to shout what they want.
And if a 5 year-old kid just happens to be sitting next to them, then just pray that the lad is from Wolverhampton. He'll have been brought up on such.

There was something strange about watching the Sports Review of the Year from the press lounge.
Situated next to the main auditorium, with only a heavy duty curtain and makeshift wall separating us from 8000 guests, it was a bizarre experience watching the event unfold on TV with a handful of other journalists. We could hear you, but we couldn't see you.

It was a fascinating insight and a memorable night.

Sir Bobby Robson, incredibly emotional following his rousing reception and lifetime award, still speaks with passion about football. Those fires which made him England's finest manager since Sir Alf Ramsay still burn fiercely. Ravaged by illness, yet he still maintains a level of dignity and immense pride with his reception. He shouldn't be surprised by the standing ovation - fans of all ages, media, players and managers hold Sir Bobby with the highest esteem. Aside from his England spell, he remains the nation's finest managerial export - coaching at Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven and Porto. He's only just officially retired and already it seems like football is desperately missing him.

Full marks to Sir Alex Ferguson for breaking off his dispute with the Beeb to present Sir Bobby with his award. It was a scene which will live on long beyond any other moment from the night.

Sir Bobby later approached Lewis Hamilton in the press room to wish him all the best for the future. It was a touching moment between two heroes - one who has already made his mark on the sporting world, another who is doing so.

Lewis, for his part, isn't tall. For a man who spends several hours every other weekend, from March to November, throwing several hundred horsepower of machinery around, he doesn't half look composed and calm. It's hard to imagine his frame can cope with the kind of G forces needed to control an F1 car. It's hard to believe he's only in his early 20s and about to start his second year of Formula One (it took Mansell five to win his first Grand Prix, 12 to win the World Championship, while Damon Hill wasn't an F1 rookie until he was 32).

Mind you, if the awards ever return to the NEC then someone ought to think about better signposting. I walked out of the press centre with a radio colleague, about one hour after the show had finished, to find Sir Clive Woodward walking around in a daze, trying to find his way out of the building. Makes winning the rugby World Cup seem like a doddle...

Some things I learned...

1. Gary Lineker, Willie Thorne, Nick Pullen, Showaddywaddy, Engelbert Humper...Humped...Humpit...yes you, where are you all? Your club needs you. There is nothing more soul-destroying than a new stadium, with more empty seats than punters and the rain teaming down with significant force. Even the Foxes' bugle seemed flat. Mind you, bet you they were all regulars during the Premiership years...

2. Which idiot decided to schedule a Championship football match for the same afternoon as Leicester Tigers' clash against Toulouse? (Note to BMW/Mercedes drivers - you do NOT have right-of-way. You just think you have.)

3. Ian Holloway likes to talk. His last press conference lasted a whopping 31 minutes until it was ended by the journalists who, as enthralled as they were by Holloway's ramblings, had rather imminent deadlines to meet. On Saturday he ended his press conference by demanding more questions from the floor and then telling all about his plans for Christmas.

4. Goal hero Craig Beattie once promised me an interview after each time he scored a goal. On Saturday he shied away from myself and other colleagues. Since last scoring for Albion he has suffered with a loss of form, the form of others, injuries, illness and, it now emerges, was even heckled by fans during a recent reserve team game. Disgraceful. No wonder he didn't want to talk. Craig, not everyone is against you. Go and prove them wrong again. And then don't forget to honour that promise...

I wasn’t among those fortunate to be at the Scholars Ground on Tuesday night.
But from all the reports and the old imagination it must have roared and crackled like nothing else.
Just when perhaps we all start to get completely fed up with football’s commercialism, brassed off with genuine supporters being priced out of the game and sick and tired of over-paid prima-donnas in it for money rather than love, along comes a story like Chasetown.
A bunch of part-timers from the Southern Midlands league, with a ground boasting only a 140-seat stand and temporary terracing, are into the Third Round of the FA Cup to tackle Welsh giants Cardiff complete with Robbie Fowler and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. (if the pair of them of them fancy it of course!)
Marvellous scenes, historic scenes, with the latest instalment in the Chasetown dream Tuesday’s epic win against Port Vale.
Not only did Vale miss one penalty, they missed two.
And it wasn’t until the 89th minute that Chasetown substitute Danny Smith struck the decisive winning goal.
Steven Spielberg couldn’t have written it any better.
So onto Cardiff, onto Dave Jones, a manager lauded by Chasetown counterpart Charlie Blakemore after taking Wolves into the Premiership four-and-a-half years ago.
And what a talent Blakemore is proving for turning his team of part-timers into a well-oiled and seemingly invincible machine just destined for slaying giants.
His inspirational team-talks, captured on video, are becoming the stuff of legend.
“They look like they’re from Kwik-Fit with their tracksuits,� he said of the “fancy dan� students of Team Bath ahead of the First Round victory.
“They’ve been playing on their PlayStations all day while you’ve done a day’s work,� prior to last night and the professionals of Vale.
With gems like those, perhaps we could forgive the partisan BBC Radio Stoke commentary on the Internet last night which finished with the rather patronising, “Vale ought to be beating teams like these.�
Blakemore is surely destined for bigger and better things, but certainly not until he’s taken Chasetown where he wants them to be.
And how refreshing too to see a manager and group of players clearly welcoming all the press and public attention and yet being able to cut through the distractions to continue doing the business on the pitch.
Those team-talks, television clips, press cuttings, all are being gleefully kept and meticulously stored away for future reference.
And rightly so.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime event – or maybe not given Chasetown’s march to the First Round and replay with Oldham two years ago!
But in the years to come those videos, DVD’s and cuttings will see the memories flooding back of the finest footballing memories Blakemore and company will ever experience.
And who knows? With Cardiff not exactly pulling up trees in the Championship this season, there may yet be more historic footage to come.

TODAY there can be no disguising the depth of disquiet surrounding Birmingham City Council's

Seventy per cent of the workers offered new contracts connected with the pay plans have not signed them.

WE ARE delighted to have brought a little Christmas cheer to classrooms across the West Midlands.

Fourteen schools are sharing a slice of £20,000 from our Top Class Cash promotion.

Mikael Forssell is a journo's dream.
He always has time to speak, his views on the game and life in general are articulate and
thought-provoking.
He's not a bad player either.

Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to wish a very happy Christmas and groovy New Year to everyone who clicked on to and contributed to the cricket blog during 2007. Best wishes and thanks to you all. Hope you all have a great Chrimbo and New Year. Sadly, it's always a difficult time for me because it brings back some painful memories. I came from a poor family, you see. In fact, one year things were so tight that Mum and Dad gave me an empty box for Christmas and told me it was an action man deserter. Talking of spiny mammals, which I wasn't but I'm sure somebody on this big old globe of ours was at that very moment, even though we are heading for late December the hedgehog that traditionally attends my neighbour's garden for dinner every evening has still not hibernated. IN MID-DECEMBER!! The world is tilting on its axis, is it not? Mind you, I have to say that particular creature is rather unusual. One day last summer I looked out into the garden and there, to my great surprise, was my neighbour playing chess against this hedgehog. "Blimey," I said. "That must be an unusually bright animal." "Not really," said me nabe, "I'm beating him 3-2." Hedgehogs not bothering to hibernate does makes you think the world's gone bonkers but no more so than England's football team being managed by a bloke who can't even conduct his introductory press conference in English, although even that seems entirely sane and reasonable compared to the ECB's scandalously crass, greedy and short-sighted decision last year to flog all live international cricket to SKY, a decision which, if it were possible, will attain even more ludicrous proportions than ever before next summer when, with England's footballers absent from Euro 2008 (all no doubt using the spare time to swot up on Italian) centre-stage will be there to be seized by cricket only for live coverage of the national team to be available only to a tiny sprinkling of the potential audience. Once again, a very happy Christmas to all from me, Mary, my neighbour, her hedgehog and all the goldfinches.

IT IS probably too early for families in Kitts Green to pop open the champagne just yet, but there is good reason for them to be hopeful that a controversial probation centre might be moved.

Justice Minister David Hanson met campaigners and head teachers yesterday and was sympathetic to their arguments.

THE fleet-footed have long complained that while places such as London and Newcastle have high-profile runs, Birmingham has nothing.

But, just like buses, you wait for ages then two turn up together.

HEALTH Secretary Alan Johnson shoulders a huge weight now that he has made a decision vehemently opposed by many medics and patients.

He has approved hugely controversial proposals to move emergency surgery services from Birmingham's City Hospital to Sandwell despite warnings by one campaigner that it will cost lives.

Allow me to jog your memory.

These are the exact words of a match report I penned for the Birmingham Mail sometime ago.

"MAKE a note of the name: Nigel Miller of County Durham ... and beware, because he could be coming to ruin a football match near you very soon.
"...Miller is in his first season of Football League officiating and hopefully it will be his last.
"He was absolutely appalling. Everything he could get wrong, he got wrong.
"He was oblivious to mistimed challenges and offthe-ball incidents, while booking players for no apparent reason and blowing his whistle every 30 seconds.
"More than 2,500 Albion fans made the long journey and all of them deserve reimbursing from Miller's own pocket for being subjected to a pathetic, attention-seeking performance that simply beggared belief."

The reference to 2,500 Albion fans making a long journey should be a give-away - I wasn't on about Nigel Miller's display against Sheffield Wednesday at The Hawthorns last month.

These were my reflections on Miller's abject display when Albion travelled to Burnley for a League fixture on January 17, 2004.

Miller refused to answer questions following his poor performance at Burnley. So it's perhaps no surprise that he refused to be held accountable to the press, and subsequently the paying public, following his shambolic handling of Albion's draw against Sheffield Wednesday, when he not only played six minutes of time added on - three were held up by the fourth official - but failed to blow for a foul in the build up to the Owls' injury-time equaliser.

Everyone saw the foul - even Brian Laws acknowledged it. Not Miller.

As a result, Tony Mowbray expressed his disgust by walking onto the pitch and using a few choice strong words. After the game, while Mowbray explained himself, Miller merely made a hasty exit to his car, surrounded by stewards. He wasn't man enough to explain his decisions. The sign of a coward.

Mowbray, whose exemplary track record on the touchline was taken into account by the FA, was handed a suspended three-match touchline ban and £3,000 fine.

Yet Miller is no stranger to this. Ian McParland, the Notts County manager, is facing an improper conduct charge after being sent off by Miller a fortnight ago after protesting about a penalty awarded to Shrewsbury.

Miller also has history with Dennis Wise at Leeds, having dismissed the Elland Road boss earlier in the campaign.

It seems he makes enemies everywhere yet is too important (in his own eyes obviously) to be held accountable. Supporters suffer. They pay good money to see football matches, yet their support is in vain when referees like Miller take over a game.

Managers, meanwhile, get hit in the pockets.

By the way, I'm told the assessors didn't think much of his performance against Wednesday either - so why wasn't this made public?

Mowbray, McParland, Wise and Gary Megson have all been on the receiving end of Miller.

Little did I know, almost four years ago, just how bad Miller would become and how many games he would ruin. And those are just the matches we know about.

His punishment is to go on being unpunished. No doubt Miller will one day be handed a Cup Final and a book deal as a reward for his notoriety.

Meanwhile, everyone else suffers in the process...

Like I said back in January 2004, make a note of the name Nigel Miller. One day he'll be ruining a football game near you.

I'm expecting a slightly different approach from Villa this weekend.
Manchester City's away form is poor, and they'll be more than a little downbeat after their League Cup exit to ten man Spurs at their home 'fortress' in midweek, so I can't see them coming out all guns blazing by any means.
But two successive home defeats to Arsenal and Portsmouth had Martin O'Neill hinting at a change of tact.
What can he have meant? Changing his team?
No, I don't think so. There can't be too long before Curtis Davies gets a call-up.
Zat Knight has not done too much wrong in recent weeks. It was Wilfred Bouma and Nigel Reo-Coker's mistakes that cost Villa dear against Pompey at a time when they were in total control of the game.
And I can see Stiliyan Petrov coming back in for Craig Gardner if he passes a late test on his hamstring.
But I think O'Neill is perhaps looking at his forward options.
There can be no way back for Luke Moore. He's a popular lad with the supporters alright, and perhaps is the best finisher at the club.
But his heart can no longer be in it, not when his agent can publicly reveal that he wants a move.
Fair play to O'Neill for not allowing that one to fester by revealing to the local media at the Mail that Moore had turned down a contract offer.
I think where we might see a change is with Gabby Agbonlahor, easily one of Villa's brightest lights this season- and last for that mattrer- playing in a wide role.
His partnership with John Carew just doesn't appear to work. Both are looking to do similar jobs and didn't Gabby have his best games when Carew was out of the team recently?
With Gabby out wide, Petrov, Reo-Coker and Gareth Barry can play as a central midfield with Ashley Young given more of a license to thrill in what could become a 4-3-3 formation.
Will that be good enough to see off City?
Well, I was wrong against Portsmouth. I just couldn't see a defeat.
But I can't see lightning striking twice, or should that be 'three' times with the Arsenal result?City's record at Villa Park is as good as their city neighbours but even with Darius Vassell back in the team and sure to get at least one goal, I back Villa to get their season back on track.

When is a takeover not a takeover? When it's a Birmingham City takeover.
Let's face it, it's been a farce hasn't it?
One wonders what Ken Wheldon would have made of it all.

Yes, you read that correctly. Some thoughts...

1. Tony Pulis. Used Albion's wealth as an excuse last season and again this season. Call me Bill Murray but haven't we been here before. Mr Pulis, the reason Albion have the parachute payments is that they earned the right to be in the Premiership over the course of three seasons. Unlike, say, Stoke. Groundhog Day indeed.

2. Why does the press room at the Britannia Stadium not have a door handle? Members of the media have to knock on the door to enter the press room. Presumably this is ritual endured by all clubs...but why? Are we not living in the 21st century. Surely a door handle is available from a Wickes store or B&Q somewhere within Staffs. Are handymen in short supply? What's going on?

3. To the neanderthal sat directly in front of BBC Radio WM's reporter on Saturday... he isn't an Albion fan. Turning round to him, abusing him, swearing at him and pointing at him was all very well but we all found you, at best, slightly amusing and, at worst, a bit of a fool.

4. To those from the Potteries wishing to condone violence following my Birmingham Mail report - firstly, show yourselves, I don't reply to pseudonyms or abusive emails. Secondly, be honest... are you really proud of how your team play football? Do you go home satisfied after another turgid, caveman-style victory? Are 25 years of superiority over Albion the end product of your ambition?

My report was based on watching 24 Championship football clubs plus many more games in different leagues throughout the season and beyond. Stoke are potentially impressive and possess decent players. You have an excellent midfield, a sturdy defence and a fantastic striker. They are footballers - they should be used as such.

My opinion is no better or worse than your's. When you go up - which I think you will - you'll be getting a lot worse from Hansen, Lawrenson and co.

5. Apologies to John Prescott. With hindsight you didn't deserve the slur.

Merry Christmas to all, especially my friends in Stoke-on-Trent.

VISION and courage were qualities that made Benazir Bhutto a major and charismatic figure on the world's political stage.

And they were, of course, the very qualities that made her a target for forces of hatred and intolerance intent on destabilising Pakistan.

How we've moved on.
As recently as ten years ago, journalists would still be fighting for a phone line to report breaking news from the scene of an event.
This morning, at 8am, the Birmingham Mail's Faraz Yousufzai used a mixture of email and phone text to file his 674 words of gripping copy from Karachi.
Faraz had been in Pakistan to attend his cousin's wedding, his first trip there for 15 years. Little did he know it wuld coincide with what could be his ancestors' homeland's worst period of civil unrest.

What can you do with Mums eh?
In the run-up to Christmas, Mary and I each told our mums: "Look, please, don't get us a Christmas cake this year. We're on a health drive. No sweet stuff. No cake. We always appreciate the cake and it is always delicious but, this year, please, we'll give it a miss. No cake. Ta."
Both maters appeared to take this message on board. But, just in case, we reinforced it a couple of times as Chrimbo approached. "Please...no cake...health drive...no cake...that is...cake not...no cake. "Righty-ho," they both said.

Both gave us a Christmas cake. What can you do?