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Good day to one and all. It is rather strange how, when I am searching for relevant or interesting topics for each Match Day, I come across coincidences. They might be rather irrelevant but they add a bit of interest, at least that is what i think and what is a thread if not of interest to all of us or, at the very least, most of us. So if I make the remark that the Burger Bar Boys are coming today to 'receive' a beating from the Johnson Crew would it mean anything? To those who tend to watch and follow gang culture they might. They are both, or were, rather notorious gangs from Aston and the former were involved in some murders that hit the national news in 2003 when 2 girls died when they got hit in cross fire as the Johnson Crew were targeted. I am merely using a simile that connects Aston to Bristol City via the Johnson Crew. So hopefully we can give Aston Villa a metaphorical beating today. And our 'on this very day' event this week is Krakatoa which really requires little introduction to anyone but it is a fascinating piece of history. To this day Krakatoa remains the most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history. A small, uninhabited, volcanic island located west of Sumatra in Indonesia the explosion of which was heard 3,000 miles away and threw five cubic miles of earth 50 miles into the air, created 120-foot tsunamis and killed 36,000 people. Krakatoa exhibited its first stirrings in more than 200 years on May 20, 1883. A German warship passing by reported a seven-mile high cloud of ash and dust over Krakatoa. For the next two months, similar explosions would be witnessed by commercial liners and natives on nearby Java and Sumatra. With little to no idea of the impending catastrophe, the local inhabitants greeted the volcanic activity with festive excitement. On August 26 and August 27, excitement turned to horror as Krakatoa literally blew itself apart, setting off a chain of natural disasters that would be felt around the world for years to come. An enormous blast on the afternoon of August 26 destroyed the northern two-thirds of the island; as it plunged into the Sunda Strait. Talking of eruptions... This rather square shaped affair is a volcanic island named after our venerable city and has, since May of this year, blown its top in anger. The core heat source of course being red and everything around it being a rather icy blue seen from satellite. Bristol Island is one of the more southerly of the South Sandwich Islands in the South Atlantic. Something is stirring in Bristol. There is a Villa island located north of Trondheim, Norway, its a bit tiny and insignificant at less than half a square mile unlike Bristol Island, at 18 square miles, which remains the least researched island of the arcing South Sandwich chain due to its largely ice capped terrain and inaccessibility. The fact it is stirring for the first time since 1956, just after City's last title winning season before our recent League 1 triumph suggests there is renewed fire in the belly. I shall be watching the continued activity of Bristol Island with interest. Talking of insignificant things Aston only has a population of 32,000. Being incorporated, as Aston Manor, into the city of Birmingham only in 1909. Aston, although famous for Aston Hall designed by John Thorpe for Sir Thomas Holte and later leased by James Watt Jr, the son of Industrial pioneer James Watt, there are not that many great buildings of note in the borough. In fact it was the most deprived area of Birmingham for many years with 20% of homes up to the 1950's not 'fit for human habitation' according to a health service report of the day. Large scale refurbishments of terraced housing were not carried out until the 1980's. The juxtaposition of Aston Hall, a classic Jacobean style building that was the first to enter municipal ownership in the mid 19th century, with such depravity is stark. But Aston does have Aston Villa. Clearly the most successful club in Birmingham with a glorious history and until its disastrous last campaign in the Premier League was the 6th longest consecutively serving club in the top flight, since 1988/9 season, and second only to Everton in total number of seasons, 97. As a youngster I cannot forget the six seasons, one after the other, that English clubs won the European Cup culminating in Villa in 1982; Liverpool 3, Nottingham Forest 2 and Villa 1. We were the kings of Europe and at that time I thought it was going to carry on forever! That Villa team under Tony Barton played some beautiful football. Just remember these players:- Jimmy Rimmer, Kenny Swain, Gary Williams, Allan Evans, Ken McNaught, Dennis Mortimer (c), Des Bremner, Gary Shaw, Peter Withe, Gordon Cowans and Tony Morley. Paul Breitner, Dieter Hoeneß and Karl Heinz Rummenigge played for Bayern. Peter Withe, who was man of the match that night at De Kuip in Rotterdam, was eulogised in these famous words by the best football commentator I have ever had the pleasure to listen to, Brian Moore:- "Shaw, Williams, prepared to venture down the left. There's a good ball in for Tony Morley. Oh, it must be and it is! It's Peter Withe" . They beat the mighty Bayern Munich 1-0. That sign adorns the North Stand at Villa Park, I believe, to this day. One of the most memorable incidents of the final occurred after 10 minutes when veteran goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer suffered a repeat of a recurring shoulder injury. His replacement, Nigel Spink, subsequently made only his second first team appearance for the club. His performance in helping prevent Bayern from scoring throughout the match was subsequently highly praised, and is seen by many as the making of a player who would be Villa's first choice goalkeeper for the following 10 seasons. Villa now have to rebuild and like all of the West Midlands clubs under Chinese ownership; what a bizarre sequence of events that led all three famous clubs to relinquish control to the rather disliked Asian nation. I hope it goes well for the sake of the fans but crikey oh reilly are we all lucky we have not only a British owner but a Bristolian one at that. I would not trade places with Villa in a million years. So, to todays clash of the crest fallen and the rising reds. Surely we can turn decent displays over Norwich and, particularly, Newcastle into a win? I really do hope City can secure the services of a proven goal grabber before the window shuts in spite of the words of Lee Johnson telling the press he is happy with all he has done in the window even if no striker does come in. That said we do have the talent to open up Villa and I think we will. Tight affair, as all Championship matches are likely to be, but i think we will just edge it 2-1. Abraham and Flint; no need for a Christmas tree, just get on and do the job. UTC. Enjoy the match. 23,800 ?

Just another thing.... Isn't it kind of cool that we have our "Man in Manila" @havanatopia doing the match day thread each week? Thousands of miles away on the far side of the earth , in a different time zone , committed City fan and definitely original. No offence to others but it's become part of the match day ritual for me and he's made the position his own!

I have not read all the previous posts so don't know if I duplicate any previous comments. What an amazing transition in the second half from a group of players who may not be the best in the world, but keep on fighting for the whole match. Also an honourable mention to LJ/JP who clearly tweaked the tactics at half time and probably did not slag anyone but managed to gee them up after a first half playing second fiddle to Villa. I would not presume to mention anyone as MOM but I do believe that Mark Little deserves a special mention. He, like many others did not make the best start to the match but what a good pro he is. He never gives in and had a superb second half. Can we now stop the "hate" campaign and openly support all of our players.

Good morning. The rain is fallin here in Bristol. Yes. Im here for the game. My Friends still sleeping. Think we can win today 2-0 would be nice. Always believe, COYR!!!

I can't believe you're boycotting the Football League trophy so soon after returning from non-league. You should be grateful you're even in it.

Off at a tangent, Tweet of the day:- QPR News ‏@QPR_GetWest 2h2 hours ago Will Grigg's offside, No defence is terrified #WAFC 0 #QPR 0

Well that was a magical poo! Might go for another

Baking hot here in Jamaica. 11am and a free bar, this may not end well. Damn you Bristol City and your mega hangovers.

Didn't try a pie, but the taste of success after a win there was good,how was it for you .?

I'm too old Danny why don't you try match.com ?

Mark Little. Really seemed to struggle 1st half and made some bad positioning decisions. However, whilst seemingly alot of people's whipping boy for this season he did markedly improve in that 2nd half along with the rest of the team. Easy to single him out as a weakness in the team at the moment but it is a team out there that deserves encouragement and support. While he is there and currently our main option he gets my support as much as the person smashing it in the back of the net.

Yes. Tammy with the equaliser.

Thanks for welcoming me. We are getting breakfeast son and then we go to the shop. Was there yesterday and met Scott Murray, talked with him. Nice man. Thinking of Gerry Gow meet him and his son a couple of years ago.Know he is ill. When you think off illness everything else is less important.

What a great day, City beat one of the championships hardest clubs in a Ashton Gate capacity of over 20,000. Meanwhile, our bottom feeding friends head off to Swindon, unable to sell out their allocation, start a few scuffles, get rained on all day then realise they went through all that trouble to then see the game abandoned.

I see on Sky Sports website that "Villa squandered the lead". Not that City put three past them in an inspired second half performance. Reminds me of every time Serena Williams is beaten. The headline is always about her losing rather than her opponent winning. It's just this 'big club/superstar' mentality.

Worst first half I've seen for a while, fantastic final half from the goal onwards although up til that point it was hard to see where it was coming from. Tammy was excellent leading the line and a goal and assist on his own up there against Villa is something to be proud of. That kid seems to have it all. Tomlin ran the game in the second half and Joe Bryan came into it more and more. The confidence from the goal flowed and it got better and better with a special free kick from Tomlin for which Hodor should get an assist for a really smart bit of deception. The starting shape lacked width and was weak defensively on the right side early on (Reid covering for Freeman in front of Little isn't a combination I am keen to see in future) but as movement improved and passing began it improved. Very enjoyable all in all despite the best efforts of the match officials and I think we'll have a solid season. A special word for Villa, 45 minutes of complacency followed by 45 minutes of spineless surrender make it easy to see how they were relegated and they won't be in the mix this season for me, I think they are in for a long stay here. Well done City, credit to the players, manager and all the people at the club involved in a very successful transfer window that has definitely improved our first team immeasurably.

After Newcastle Norwich and villa,who would of thought it

Getting pissed on your own breastmilk?

We'd invite you down the gate but there's no tickets left....

Why did you boycott the football league?

You're right, this thread is the reason that City are not in the Premier League.

This massive thread laughing at you. Rovers are currently 18th in League One (or 62nd in the Premier League, as you will no doubt tell people), yet you have the audacity to come on here and try to take the piss out of City fans. Just for the record, I have always said that UWE will 100% happen for Rovers, based on my own personal relationship with them. But having seen the plans UWE have not-so-secretly floated out for a large part of the plot of land that the stadium was going in in recent weeks, unless Rovers' plan is to play their games in the corridors of a student block or new business learning base, you can kiss that pipe dream goodbye once and for all. Chew on that

Haha, what a game! Some of those Villa fans were psychotic after the second, ta ta!!!

So happy with that. Well done City!

I'll take the 3-1 win and the embarrassment of being completely wrong in my prediction

Brilliant What it is to have a quality Head Coach Well done Lee

Joey Bryan 2-1!!!!!!!!

Get back in there and don't come out!

Try a cheeky offer for Tammy with the Kodjia money. If they say no so be It.

Playoffs League Table P W D L F A +/- Pts 1 Huddersfield Town1-0 5 4 1 0 8 4 +4 13 2 Queens Park Rangers1-0 5 3 0 2 8 5 +3 9 3 Barnsley2-0 5 3 0 2 10 8 +2 9 4 Fulham0-0 5 2 3 0 6 4 +2 9 5 Brentford1-0 5 3 0 2 5 3 +2 9 6 Bristol City2-1 5 3 0 2 6 5 +1 9 7 Nottingham Forest1-0 5 3 0 2 9 10 -1 9 8 Brighton & Hove Albion 4 2 2 0 8 2 +6 8 9 Wolverhampton Wanderers0-1 5 2 2 1 7 4 +3 8 10 Norwich City0-1 5 2 2 1 6 3 +3 8 11 Ipswich Town1-0 5 2 2 1 6 5 +1 8 12 Birmingham City1-0 5 2 2 1 5 5 0 8 13 Burton Albion 5 2 1 2 10 9 +1 7 14 Newcastle United 4 2 0 2 6 4 +2 6 15 Cardiff City0-0 5 1 3 1 4 5 -1 6 16 Aston Villa1-2 5 1 2 2 5 4 +1 5 17 Derby County 5 1 2 2 1 3 -2 5 18 Reading0-0 5 1 2 2 4 8 -4 5 19 Wigan Athletic0-1 5 1 1 3 8 8 0 4 20 Leeds United0-1 5 1 1 3 4 7 -3 4 21 Sheffield Wednesday0-1 5 1 1 3 2 6 -4 4 22 Rotherham United0-2 5 1 1 3 3 10 -7 4 23 Preston North End0-1 5 1 0 4 3 5 -2 3 24 Blackburn Rovers0-0 5 0 2 3 4 11 -7 2

So you have been in the dressing room?

C'mon city! 14 million and 3 points would be unbelievable

WTF? Is it possible to pause player? I think I might have...

I just ******* ejaculated

He's still firmly attached to the vets overalls . Not often you see a grown man cry .

Hoping we can hold on until half time. Expecting a very different performance second half.

Hold on. That can't be . There's some empty seats. Where's the other 50000 fans?

Only a little bit rain here in Yatton, I couldn't think of a better 2 teams for it too hammer down on

Missed it here in Mexico to....

Ask the Gas at Swindon!

Sorry but I don't think we're "too good" to lose three games against Norwich, Newcastle and Villa. Equally if we were to lose today I wouldn't be worried about losing three in a row - those teams are hardly representative of the division as a whole. I'd say our results so far suggest a mid table finish and regardless of today's result I think that's where we're likely to end up.

Huddersfield supporting mate who went to their game at Villa Park said Villa were excellent for about an hour, then ran out of steam- to the extent that one of their players was bent double on the pitch retching after tracking back. Get into em, 2-0 city. Tammy and Flint

Went out last night with daughter and her new boyfriend.Had a meal then discovered he's a gashead!Didn't realise I was sat with a subform of life till I paid the bill. Deluded **** praised Rovers new owner and all the cash being spent on UWE..Then this idiot said local derbies in championship next year ffs What a moron.

Amidst NeilS's world of smut and innuendo occasionally comes a moment of comedy genius. This, Major, is excellent work.

Herd of wildebeest sweeping across the plain??

Aston is rough. I would want more than 12 people watching my car there. Cheapskate.

I'm not there today, so every reason to be optimistic!

I got locked in a debate with one on facebook. He still believes that this Jordanian guy is a billionaire. Absolute gold. When I asked him to explain why the new ground wasnt being built if he had all that money, his reply was "to much change in such a small amount of time would be detrimental" Im still laughing now