Arrived in Moscow - T-shirts and shorts

ZICO called Villa predictable?! Crazy fool!!

Martin O'Neill sent the curve ball of all curve balls with the squad announcement.

No one saw that coming.

Had Nostradamus been a sports reporter in the 21st century rather than a 16th century seer......

Had he concentrated on football rather than predicting the reign of Napoleon, the atom bomb, the moon landing, the rise of Hitler and the assassination of John F Kennedy....

Then even he would have out it in black and white that Martin O'Neill would send his big guns over to Moscow.

"The player who shall be known one day as Bareth Garry (he could never get his names right could Nostradamus - possibly a typing difficulty with the early parchments) will walk on the surface that is neither grass nor soil but made by the hand of man, leading his army into battle towards Istanbul......."

Sorry to whitter on again about it but it's still all the talk here in Moscow and I bet it is the same back at home in walmer climes.

I read with interest that the Villa boss now wants to meet the fans to discuss their points of view.

Good for him. There's a few here would keep him talking until next Monday.

Anyway, we've been landed a few hours now.

It's cold.... but nothing a fleecy jacket can't handle.

Northerners wear little more than jeans and T-shirt in weather like this.

And when you've seen one red district you've seen them all.

Although, curiously, the one here in Moscow appears to be in the shape of a square.

There's snow on the ground. But not on the pavements or the roads.

It's all heaped up onto the verges with mechanical precision in the hours of darkness by Russia's version of council workers.

Swiss Air serve a mean chocolate pastry.

It was a very early start to get here.

Very early.

The bloke at British Rail sold me the wrong ticket. What did I want with a West Midland rover in Russia? I had to pay 90 pence for an upgrade at Birmingham International.

Two aeroplanes and a brief stop off in Zurich and I am witnessing the funniest hats I have ever seen.

Kenny Everett couldn't top them.

Russian soldiers, sprinkled about Moscow airport as we headed for the mini-bus for the hotel.

Green in colour but tilted at an incredible 60 degree angle to the head creating the sort of slope that skiiers could have a field day on.

22 Villa fans have made this particular party.

How would I best descrbe the mood? Difficult to say in a sentence.

Part lethargic, part angry, part excited, part dismayed...

That squad announcement has really kicked these folk in the guts.

They've paid between £600 and £800 on flights and hotels to get here.

At least the match ticket is only £8.

One wag suggested he could have brought his Villa season ticket to the game and got in for free as it is the reserves.

Another bloke's marriage is on the rocks, so he says, because he is out here with his son against the wishes of 'er indoors.

Then he finds out yesterday that the first team aren't here.

He's not very happy at all.

Erland is here from Sweden. All six foot five of him and looking like a roadie for Status Quo.

He's non-too chuffed.

He got a phonecall from Villa Park yesterday, saying: "Milner, Barry, Young, Gabby, Petrov........."

"I thought he was telling me the squad and I thought: 'Great!' - but then he told me they were the ones staying at home."

Mike McKiernan, from Shenstone, and Steve Gough, from Cannock, are regulars on the foreign trips. They are frothing at the mouth: "We are no longer a club interested in winning trophies", says Steve.

"All we are after is the potential riches of the Champions League which might not lead to anything anyway," adds Mike.

Anyway, down in the lobby the mood has lifted somewhat with the imminent venture outdoors to find a suitable venue for a swift half or two.

That's where I will have to leave this then.........

The Red Square waits for no man.