We have a match against Portsmouth tomorrow and speculation of handbags at Bodymoor yesterday between Martin O'Neill and Nigel Reo-Coker. One is an actual bit of something happening the focuses on the real business of football and the other is paper talk.
I can understand why one is going to get talked about more than the other but I'd prefer it wasn't the one that is going to get all the attention in the pre-match press conference starting in thirty minutes, although I suspect we won't see anything of it in any video other than Martin O'Neill answering about it once and saying no more on it.
So, seeing as the one story today that is going to get all the coverage is one that really shouldn't, we are giving you a competition instead and we are making it about the match tomorrow to try and shift focus.
The prize is one of three copies of a new book coming out very soon called The Gerry Hitchens by Simon Goodyear and for those that are interested, you can also pre-order a copy here with a special Villa Blog discount.
You should know this, but if you don't, Gerry Hitchens played for us between 1957 and 1961 scoring 90 odd goals before moving to Milan. I won't tell you too much about him in case you win the book or in case you buy it, so I'll move on.
Author, Simon Goodyear{rokbox title=|Aston Villa Legend :: Gerry Hitchens scored 90 odd goals for Aston Villa before leaving for Italy| thumb=|images/gerry/gerry_300.jpg| size=|514 800|}images/gerry/gerry_800.jpg{/rokbox}
Gerry was considered a Villa legend when he played for the club and there is still a huge interest in him even now. He was one of England’s greatest football players, and I decided that I would fulfil my late father’s desire to write a biography of his boyhood footballing hero.
But, to stand a chance of getting your hands on a copy for nothing, all you have to do is predict the correct score for the match tomorrow. There is also the added extra chance of picking the first goal scorer too and I'll explain below.
I'm going for a 3-1 home win with Milner to score and that is all you have to write in the comment box below; the score and a goal scorer, although I am not in the competition so my guess doesn't really count, but you get the general idea.
If more than three people guess the correct scoreline, which I would be surprised if it happened, then all those names will get put into a hat and I'll draw the three lucky winners, but if three people don't guess the correct score then we will go on first goal scorer for the remaining copies of the book and if nobody guesses the correct scoreline everything will be decided by the goal scorer. Not too complicated is it?
So, guess away below and the winners will be announced on Sunday, if I have to that is and the books will get posted out next week by the publisher, because if you had to rely on me, it would take weeks.