Robbie09

They could be champions league finalists every year and im 99% certain some of them would still be mre interested in our results.. Most Blose fans hate the Villa more than they love their own shower of shite. They will always be in our shadow.

Don't forget Lambert - he's proven he's not one to be f****d around.

Try sticking your fingers in your ears and humming loudly: it's a convenient avoidance mechanism when it comes to points of view that you don't wish to contemplate. Is that what you do when people remind all Spurs fans that you are constantly living in the shadows of your more successful neighbours?

Care to share what your thinking is? I am sure we could all do with a chuckle. Sure. I've managed to establish some important facts ... at least some of which seem previously to have been lost or ignored in this thread: 1) That the supposed £25m min. valuation figure (and anything higher) comes simply from media reports - not a very reliable source of information when it comes to transfer stories. 2) That Downing handed in a transfer request. This resulted in him being sold despite the Villa manager having previously stated that he was not for sale and he would not be leaving Villa in the summer concerned. This leads me to think that Benteke's sale to Spurs, for less than £25m, is not as impossible as most VTers profess to believe. I've also been thinking about the some of your other high profile sales: * Villa refused to sell Barry to Liverpool because the club's 18m valuation wasn't met. But then the club lost 50% of that price when he was sold to City for 12m a year later. * Downing's 20m price tag was paid by Liverpool during a time that club were still deep in their much-regretted phase of paying crazy prices for players left, right and centre (pace Henderson, Carroll etc). * Milner was sold for 20.5m (when Ireland's valuation was taken in account) to moneybags city. * Young was sold for somewhere between 15 - 20m, again to a very wealthy club. From this I conclude that Villa's "high-price" and "tough" negotiating stance is perhaps not quite all that it's cracked up to be ... and that when it comes to a player (Benteke) who has handed in a transfer request - and a player for whom no sign of a bidding war is emerging (at least not involving any clubs that Benteke is willing to sign for) - all talk of £25m+ is perhaps actually based on not much more than wishful thinking. My thoughts can be greeted with hoots of derision if you wish, but at least I have based them on some actual facts, rather than mere Villa-biased assertion. Your point about Downing is irrelevant - different manager, different mandate, different mindset. The arrogance of many Spurs fans borders on the delusional - as posted earlier you're in the same position as we were 5 years ago. Been there, done it. Nothing new Please stick to your own boards and post your biased diatribe there.

Scores on his debut, reminds me of another previous signing.....

There is no doubt they are currently ahead of us. However they are a very mediocre club and who in terms of history aren't in anything like our league. I also think that with in the next 2 - 3 years if Lambert stays with us and what he is trying to do comes off then we will again be ahead of them. I am sure at the moment he sees them as a stepping stone and a fast track to eventually going to a really big club. Spurs are now where we were 5 years ago, just outside the top 4. Question is whether they gamble on spending big to gatecrash the party. My guess is they won't and therefore Benteke can do much better than join them.

Sky Sports ran a stat showing his conversion rate in the premier league is better than Suarez, Van Persie etc. Once he'd settled in his finishing especially when one on one with the keeper was ice cool and for that reason alone his value should be a minimum £28m-£30m cash with add on clauses. He could be worth an additional £5m profit to us in future transfers given his track record of moving every year or so.

Hand on heart, I am beginning to see Benteke as the victim here. The only thing he is guilty of is putting all his faith in an agent whom sees his player as a meal ticket. Everything I am reading (from what the club has said to Pete Colleys quote earlier) points to the agent. Im pretty cool about this situation now, and can see this backfiring big time on Kismet and his team. He comes across as a little man trying to be the big man in a big pool, but deep down he knows he is out of his depth. Lambert is chipping away at this with the player as we speak, you can be sure of that. I can still see him staying. I agree with a lot of your post, although I do think he will leave before the window closes. Benteke doesn't strike me as being the brightest, and therefore is guided by his agent. After his performances last season I expected him to leave us, albeit next season, and to some extent I haven't the same affinity to him as I have for someone like Weimann or Gabby simply because he's only been with us for less than a year. If he stays great, if he goes then I trust Lambert to invest the money wisely to improve the team. Whilst it was fun watching Benteke destroy defences last season, it was a worry how much we appeared to rely on him. If he stays, I doubt we will be so reliant on him as I expect the team as a whole to be far stronger.

Any player from Spurs is on the way down, we are looking for players on the way up. As I said, the only way a player swap deal could work for us is if we had complete freedom to choose any player we want. That won't happen. Spurs will just offer us their standard hamper basket which is full of shit. You can't possibly believe that? I think what Con means that any player Spurs are willing to offer us are on the way down. And I agree when Con says that if they're not good enough for Spurs they're not good enough for us. Levy is shrewd so they're hardly going to offer us one of their prize assets.

77 - complete mind blank with the Everton Aussie......

Sorry can't agree. I hope they disappear into oblivion.

More than I do...

Awful club, neanderthal fans, I can't muster up any sympathy for them. Like others have stated, visits to Highfield Rd were particularly unpleasant. I hope they remain in the doldrums for a long time.

It was the worst Villa side of all time, at that time. It broke so many unwanted records. Thankfully we were able to turn it around and improve. The team may have broken some unwanted records but it was far from being the worst Villa side of all time. The season under McNeill was far worse than last season.

I voted 9-13th because that's realistically achievable. We may finish 7th or 8th but to do that we'd need a lot of investment and a huge slice of luck. We certainly didn't have much luck last season and I think it is highly unlikely Randy is going to throw a shed load of cash in the short term.

I think he'll come good, he just needs an experienced partner alongside him. Definitely worth keeping.

His kid goes to the same school as my youngest and every time I see him I feel like personally thanking him for being a major contributor to the financial meltdown they are facing !!!!

No more O'Neills at B6 please.....

Disagree. His versatility is useful and as another poster said, he was an important payer for us in the latter part of TSM's reign. I like his no nonsense approach so his value to the squad shouldn't be overlooked.

Dortmund are keeping him and are not going to sell him, they've stated they are happy to let him go on a Bosman next summer. I think Dortmund's stance is directly aimed to deter Bayern - it's accepted he'll leave so surely it's in their interests to get a fee this season from an overseas club such as Citeh rather than watch him leave for nothing next season to join Bayern? Although CB fits the bill in as much as he has done it in the premier (albeit only 1 season) I suspect they're looking at a bigger name. Let's hope so.

x 10000. A very good player for us and I understood him joining United to further his career but after the way he conducted himself in the game at Old Trafford I hope I never see that diving cheat wearing a Villa shirt again.

It was widely reported that his wife was unhappy about leaving Sutton since she and their children were settled. Im pretty sure he would choose us over Spurs. Im also pretty sure that Gareth himself would like finishing his career with us. £4m? Drop in the ocean when you consider what it brings to the squad and team. Sutton? GB lived in Ullenhall for the last 2 years of his Villa career. Whilst I still think he could do a job for us, I'm not convinced PL would be interested in him. He's still a very good player and although I was disappointed that he left us, I would be happy to see him back.

I'm not so sure he will get his chance under Lambert. He's one that I think will be allowed to move on should an acceptable offer come in for him.

I think we can beat Liverpool - can't understand all the doom merchants predicting we'll be bottom three by October.

Okay I will - old fashioned!