Geeks Anonymous: My name is Damian and I'm a geek! Also a little something on Gareth Barry
Monday, 28 July 08, 07:28 AM · Comments (25)
For years now I've hidden behind a keyboard, rarely venturing further than the my Wi-Fi boundary, but today I'm standing up, with fellow users of the internet and admitting it; my name is Damian and I'm an internet geek.
Why am I doing this? Well, on July 24th our very own muppet, Bill Howell, made a mug out of himself again. Anyone that wants to comment below that this is boring or you're not interested, please go ahead, but I'm charging on because it's wound me up.
On my way to the match on Saturday I met up with someone who mentioned this but I was unaware of it as I'd been away from home for a few days and I honestly don't read much that Bill writes, but after coming back last night I found a few emails on the subject, so I took a look.
Basically, anyone that questions Bill is an "internet geek" and when you add up the number of users of this site, H&V, VillaTalk and VitalVilla, it is quite a few.
The story is that General Krulak has been telling anyone that will listen that season ticket sales are high, but Bill said they were low and that the club were a little reluctant to release figures.
Bill is defending himself against all the people that believe General Krulak and had a pop at him. Personally, I've been having a pop at Bill for a long time, mostly because it's fun.
In defence of Bill though, I will say this; General Krulak is here to spin news, he's the PR man on the internet, or his persona is and you're never going to win against that. You can't fight and beat what you truly don't understand. And Bill, you really shouldn't be calling Aston Villa fans 'internet geeks', it's not going to end well.
Martin O'Neill publicly humiliated Bill not so long ago and it appears that he's on a sort of revenge mission to try and protect his reputation and maybe his job.
I'm not sure what exactly he is trying to do, but in terms of 'internet geekness', he's doing quite well himself, because it is driving traffic to his blog.
Which is also, coincidentally I guess, called the Aston Villa Blog, which is nice, because when you search for the Aston Villa Blog on Google, you come here! Cheers Bill you muppet.
Anyway, moving on. The rumour doing the rounds is that Martin O'Neill is going to offer Barry £70k a week to stay. Not bad for playing football and I actually quite think he'll take it because it appears Liverpool don't value him as highly as Martin O'Neill does.
That's it for me, for now, but I am hoping for a signing or two this week!
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25 Comments · Add yours
Love it. A guy that writes an internet blog calls people on the internet, Geeks!! Other than that, it is a bit boring ;)
A muppet and a mug rolled into one. He truly is a mugget.
Are you going to update the "Transfer Window Watch" box with the signing of Brad Friedel? ;) It would be nice to see another name in the "IN" category.
does anyone know when the new claret and blue magazine is out?
Im an Internet geek 2!! Yeah i'd love a signing or two going into next weekend!!! I think he could sign!!!
If Martin O'Neill's intention was to prove to Gareth Barry that Liverpool never wanted him as much as Aston Villa wanted him to stay and thusly convince Barry that he belonged her, then well done. It will be weird to give him a testimonial after all that has gone on, but so what, it will be good to know our midfield talisman is back for this season.
i will say this though, the general has mastered a breed of lapdogs/moderators on his thread, and anything said that is considered to be contentious or against the grain just gets deleted. And then his lapdogs attack you for asking such difficult questions. I stay away now as I am not wholey convinced of the Generals role - other than being a PR spin doctor.
but i do agree, bill howell is an idiot.
Blimey!
You weren't kidding when you said a LITTLE something on GB!
A friend of mine attended a party with Garteh Barry on saturday, where he said he will sign for liverpool in within a week he's not usually known for bullsh**ting but take it as you want
if it is true MON better get signing some players FAST!!! as sidwell proved on saturday he's not fit to lace up gareth Barry's Boots
bill what a plonka u r .... as well all know.......garath will leave if someone stups up the cash ..but he will never be valued as much as he is at villa
Off point, but gutted that SWP is staying at Chelski. That leaves not too many right wingers to choose from. Milner is great but vastly over priced. Then there's Pennant. Personally would not do any business with Liverpool and the guy is a scum bag. We will have to go abroad, although i'll reiterate my point and accept the flak, Sebastian Larsson would be a very good buy despite having played for the scum.
Damian, i will be honest and say that anything to do with Bill Howell is boring. The guy is about as pathetic as our transfer dealings. Something i find equally as pathetic and ridiculous are MONs latest words in regards to Barry and this bumper contract offer. Apparently he wants Barry to stay and "see if we accomplish some of the things we have discussed" (presumably the next step in this 5 year plan). Ok, that may sound fair enough, but as part of this contract is a "get out clause" which can be enforced as early as next summer, and get this, for a reduced fee (reportedly 9mil if you believe one of the papers). I hope i have read this report wrong, otherwise it clearly indicates that MON has no clue what so ever. Why on earth would we reward a player who has stated that he no longer finds are club up to his standards, with more money, then allow him to potentially leave in the summer for a reduced fee. Absolute madness. As i have said before, why cant we hire someone else to do our transfer dealings and just call MON back from holiday when they are done? Great manager, clown like in transfer dealings........LINK
Leroy
I've read something similar and it reads like what the club are doing is asking Barry to stay for one more season on more money then letting him go if we don't achieve what we want this time out
It's admirable, but if the clause is around the £9mn. mark - I'd rather take the £13mn. that Liverpool have offered now.
Damain - Dont know if i agree with that, i think barry showed us all on saturday why it would be great if he did stay for one more season at least. I think mon has dealt with the whole thing brilliantly considering the circumstances, and now i think we are in a good position to make him stay. I dont think we need the money to be honest, im sure the moneys there for us but unfortunately mon doesnt like spending it as much as we would have hoped. I think if we sell him now for 18mil it would be much better to sell him next year for 9mil and look at it from the perspective that he was a 9mil signing for us for the forthcoming season. If that makes any sense. hes a bit of undoubted quality that along with a good few additions to the squad could definately help us push for fourth, if not then at least a good run in europe, and we've all seen how good barry is on the international stage. and hey if it all goes pear shaped then we let him go for 9mil and see what happens.
Damian, I understand exactly what you are saying. The unfortunate thing is it seems that MON has no replacement for Barry (please dont tell me Sidwell is a replacement)and/or probably never had any intention of selling Barry. Why do we not cash in on a player who has reached his prime and is worth more than he ever will. 18mil? Please........i like you Damian would take 12mil plus laughing all the way. I guess what im trying to say, is that Boumas injury should be the final piece of evidence to suggest that we are in big trouble as things stand right now. Are you not worried at all Damian? You seem like you are containing yourself better than i am. Was it your weekend away?!
i put something on bills site and this is it
bill
i hate you i hate you ihate you i hate you
i hate you i hate you ihate you i hate you
i hate you i hate you ihate you i hate you
i hate you i hate you ihate you i hate you
i hate you i hate you ihate you i hate you
i hate you i hate you ihate you i hate you
i hate you i hate you ihate you i hate you
i hate you i hate you ihate you i hate you
UTV ;D
I don't think Bill Howell is very well developed 'down below'. Can't be sure, it could just be an internet rumour - one I've just started.
right on joey the ak!
UTV ;D
p.s. it was about time you updated the transfer window watch box, damian. >:(
Stig I have been banned from Vital for trying to get an answer out of the General
wheres the message i left earlier???
thom, i dunno mine do disappear but its more technical probably than a conspiracy! :D
70k a week for Barry? Well compared to other quality players that sounds reasonable to me.
oh it turned up! lol that only took 9 hours to appear.
ah well i guess i should get a life and follow rugby or the twenty20
Thom..after you have posted a message do the following. press the Ctrl button while clicking the 'refresh' icon at the top of the screen. After a couple of seconds all the new messages will appear. You have to do this with this site every time you come back to an article. It may say there's 50 replies on the home page, but if you last visited the page with only say 20 replies it will only show them, so you have to keep doing the blasted Ctrl/refresh thing all the time. Thought this would have been sorted by now. At the least the Villa websites refresh works automatically. I suppose it must have 'one' thing going for it!
I'll go and refresh now so I can see my reply shall I! ;)
Heres the content of the post i just left on Bill Howell's blog. However, i've done it twice now and it still doesn't appear on there...wonder why ?
Here is the text, i think the stick is warranted, don't you?
"I'm in support of a particular website proprietor who has a dislike of your reporting abilities regarding Aston Villa.
Mr Howell, your response above proves that you have no respect for us...the Villa fans and hopefully now, after your outburst, the Evening Mail will see the error of their ways and change your job position within the company.
I'm not doubting your journalism skills in general, although monitoring sport internet and news sites and interpreting what you find into text isn't really that hard and I for one would love a job like yours.
I personally think that the Evening Mail's Villa representative should be somebody who loves the club through and through, maybe an ex-player who has stayed loyal and turned media or maybe one of the guys who tirelessly run one of the fan blogs that you so effortlessly condemn as "internet geeks". If your Editor sees the replies to your comments, i'm sure he will be very impressed.
Please do not class this as "character assassination"...i have nothing against you but I would just like to see the reports concerning my beloved club delivered from someone who cares."
Any good Villa Fans ?
UP THE VILLA ;)