Trumo

No anagrams. The last away game of the season, and it's on Sky's MNF slot. I think this was pencilled in for the Monday night weeks before our season took a downturn. At the time, we were in the hunt for the title so I can well imagine that there was a great deal of expected interest in this one. As it stands, it has managed to give Villa an extra day to recover from their trip to Greece. We'll know if they've managed to turn around their first-leg flop against Olympiakos in the Conference League semi final. Hard to gauge how up for it the Villa team is likely to be. When they are good they are very good, and, whether Spurs' continued woes mean the top 4 is secured before this game or not, Villa can cement a Champions League spot with a result against us. Last season's fixture was on Boxing Day. We'd been largely dreadful on the road, and Darwin was struggling for consistency despite a raft of chances. It's fair to say that the glimpses that he might have cracked it since then are exactly that. Glimpses. It was in evidence at Villa Park in a game where Villa created a few chances, but we created (and should really have taken) more. Mo got us under way with a brilliant team goal. A Robbo corner on the right was cleared out to Trent by the Villa defence. Trent was about 40 yards out and central, but picked out a peach of a pass with the outside of his foot back to Robbo on the right edge of the penalty area, who had both got back onside and angled his run to lose his marker. He played a first-time ball across the six yard box for Mo to fire home. Villa had a great chance to equalise but Bailey fluffed his lines. They fashioned another decent chance when Watkins lost Big Bird at the far post but could only head into the grateful hands of Ali. A Konsa error from a long clearance had Darwin racing in on goal. He did very well to pick a high dropping ball out of the air with a first-time volley but as is so frequently the case, hit it straight at the keeper. He had a bit more time to bring the ball down and pick his spot. We did make it 2 when Virgil hammered the ball home after Villa didn't clear the ball and it fell to Mo to tee up the Big Dutchman. Into the second half, we allowed Villa too much momentum, which allowed them to pull a goal back through Waktkins with a tidy header. Darwin should have settled the match when he again raced clear, this time from another excellent through-ball, but he failed to hit the target with his left-footed effort. He was a menace to the Villa defence all night though, and it was via another of those bursts that the ball fell at the feet of the newly-introduced Baj. He showed great composure to create the space to first a shot through the defender on the line. It finished 3-1 and we were full value for the points. For Villa, Martinez has missed a couple of games so they've had to put Olsen in goal. It wouldn't surprise me if he's back for this one. No idea who they will be missing, and the European game might take a lot out of them whether they retrieve the situation or not. For us, we should have the same availability as for the last couple of games. Hopefully Diogo is back to full fitness, and hopefully no-one picks up a 'knock' between this write-up and the match. That happens an awful lot and it is incredibly annoying! Do what we did against Spurs for the first 70 minutes. Don't do what we did against Spurs for the last 20 minutes. The title might be gone, but lets target a points total that runs into the 80s. It's short of where we'd liked to have been but it would still be an impressive total. Maximum motivation, concentration, attitude and application from first minute to last. Especially when Jurgen makes that triple change on 70 minutes that he loves to do. The changes need to be effective though. Not disrupt our momentum or make us do anything that gets Villa or their crowd up. Three points please. Get it done!

Real Madrid have an insane amount of spawny luck whenever they reach the final. Bayern would overtake us and join Milan on 7 wins. Hopefully Dortmund go on to win it.

Emma Heesters.

These guys are doing the sort of ridiculous shit I would do.

Maz Green. Not sure she quite flies under the radar, given the she presents a travel vlog that includes flight reviews.

Good first hour, but very sloppy for the last 30 mins or so. For some reason we decided to leave the Pigeon completely free all the time when he came on, and we also lost all attacking impetus out wide with our subs. The players HAVE to realise that anytime they get even a little bit sloppy, we get punished. It's happened all season regardless of the standard of opposition, and regardless of the personnel. The game management needs a LOT of work. There was still a lot in this game that was much much better than we've seen recently. Mo looked far more like Mo than in recent weeks. Harvey was a livewire and scored a great goal. Cody (apart from the last 20 when he seemed gassed) looked strong, sharp and purposeful. Saying all that, we were like Arsenal under Wenger after their Emirates move. Season after season they were talked up as a title contender, made a right hash of things in the spring to put themselves out of the running, then put a few teams to the sword at the tail end of the season to give their final finishing position a false gloss.

The first kit deal FSG organised was the one that brought back the classic badge. I don't think it was Adidas or Reebok's insistence to put the full badge on kits during their contracts, more that the people running the club didn't say or do anything. Full badges on kits were the norm everywhere. I hope Adidas (assuming they are definitely coming back) continue with the classic badge, as for me it is the only club badge. I understand the symbolic elements on the full badge (the top of the Shankly Gates, and the Hillsborough flames) but I don't feel they are needed, and it has always looked far too busy as well as minimising the key element, which is the Liver bird.

Olga Alberti.

If Mo was being wrestled like that and flung his legs back to hit the deck just like Branthwaite did, he still wouldn't get the pen. And the pundits' discourse wold be all about how he wasn't strong enough or how he was looking for it.

With no display screen, how do you tell your pet not to shit on the carpet?

Personally I think he should replace Howard Webb as head of PGMOL, as it's the only way their shit will get sorted out.

That was Treadstone not Blackstone!

Nil Blackstone Nisi Wonga.com.

Schmeichel signed for the Mancs in 1991 (he was the goalkeeper when they lost out to Leeds for the title). James joined us in 1992.