hey, don't bash the guy. i'm sure without training or knowledge of html and how websites are designed, your first few weren't great looking either. heck, mine was just a black background with blue font xD
before you start talking about errors in the html code,
take a look at yours (20 errors, 1 warning at time of post)
again, with no or very little knowledge of html, he wouldn't know what div's are or what they are capable of. there are _still_ a lot of big websites out there that have their design in tables. Some prefer it because it's easier. there's no wrong or right way when laying it out (div vs table), as it's PREFERENCE!!! sure having your design in tables can slow down loading times and make it look distorted while loading, but with high speed becoming the norm now-a-day, it's only there for a split second, if you even notice it at all.
some of the stuff you said was valid though...
i'm not a fan of the colors though (green). green on white (links on bottom) make it a bit hard to read.
put your css into a separate file, that way any changes you make to the css will load on all pages using it, not just one like the way you are doing it:
http://oubliette.alpha-geek.com/2004/01/18/how_to_load_external_css_stylesheets
being a better php programmer comes with time and effort, although looking at others work could help you make your site more secure by seeing what methods their using and what you may be missing