BigJim

hmmm...so on what basis do you call them poorer sides? They cost less? They don't play in the famed Premier League? We need to wake up to the fact that English teams in general and I would say Villa in particular are not very good at the finer arts of the game.

It's all very well to say Heskey, Owen or anybody else would work well with Gabby, but what happens when Gabby is injured? We need a player who is strong, confident and can score, who can play regardless of who he is partnering, or who could do the lone striker role. I chose RSC from the list but I would just as soon have Doyle or Sturridge.

I think our friend has a point here. But at the risk of disappointing him, I just can't see a deal being agreed with Liverpool. My money is on a late move to Arsenal for an undisclosed but considerably reduced fee.

Great report as usual, thanks OBE

Ditto.

I think we'll end up with 5 or 6 new players, but we're moving so slowly they won't all be in by the start of the season. So I voted an optimistic 4, with 2 MON last minute specials, but it could just as easily be 3 and 3.

I'm sorry but I can't see the point on taking a gamble on an injury-prone has-been who would cost us an arm and a leg and who has absolutely no wish to move to Villa Park anyway. I want to see a few up and ocming stars in their mid twenties who can easily be persuaded that they want to join the Villa revolution and who will give their all for us week after week, not slope off to the treatment room at the first opportunity. I could make some exceptions and to prove I have nothing against aging Aussies I'd be delighted to take Viduka on board. But not Harry. Please.

Is he out of contract then?? Don't think he would swap his cushy number at Anfield for a pay as you play deal. Hope not, anyway.

Reo Coker is rejecting Spurs for Arsenal, according to the Grauniad Another one got away

On the right lines....We're going to see a lot of people's heroes on the bench next season.

Absolutely right. Anyway, there's a good chance he'll be thrown in prison for his latest prank.

Wise words, OMVF. I don't think we have ANY players that fit your description (OK, Barry and Petrov might just squeeze in). Some have suggested on here that we are only a couple of players short of being a top side. I think they may be in for a shock when the window opens.

Yes, well... perhaps not a good time to start that particular ball rolling... I was more interested to see if anybody would be interested in siging him now? EDIT: he's 29

Of the "gettable" Prem strikers, Benni McCathy is one of the most effective in terms of goals per minute on the pitch. IIRC he was a target when we bought JPA... Any takers now? The top ten according to this stat are 1. Solskjaer (only had a few games) 2. Van Persie 3. Henry 4. Drogba 5. Ronaldo 6. Crouch 7. McCarthy 8. Viduka 9. Zamora 10. Rooney

He's also very quick. But I'm still not sure what you would do with him at VP. Presumably yuo would play him as a first choice in a 442 - alongside JC? Or Gabby? What about Luke and Ash? Remember, MON bought Ash to play up front, not on the wing. I don't think he will be ready to throw him out just yet after spending all that money on him. We don't want more than 4 strikers to rotate. If we buy another, Bent or whoever else, one of the above will have to make way. I don't want to see Gabby on the wing next season. For that reason, I would prefer us to buy a winger or two rather than a striker. I would like Luke and Gabby to be given every chance to show what they can do, not be relegated to fourth choice.

He must be referring to the London factor, though I doubt it has much bearing on Bent's profile. If he had the same goalscoring record for Blackburn he'd surely be rated just as highly. FWIF I think he would score more goals for Blackburn, but I'm not quite sure where you think he would fit in at VP?

Never seen either, but that's enough for me! We've already got one of those!

I don;t think there were any. And therein lies the whole problem. Talking about fluke goals, you could say that Chelsea goal was a fluke, because he never repeated it (or even came close to doing so). In fact of late he has hardly ever even attempted a shot like that.

Do tell me what Villa player the last 10 years which has done the biz on a regular basis? Merson? Taylor? We have had a lot of flops havent we. We have had a lot of very ordinary players, but you can't count them as flops because nobody had very high expectations of them to begin with. Everybody expected a lot more of JPA (perhaps too much?) But for me he never really lived up to it, so therefore I am tempted to call him a flop.

Agreed. For some reason he fired everybody's imagination when he arrived, including mine. Unfortunately he just didn't have the full range of qualities or skills needed to be a top striker in England. Most people love him so much thay have constantly overlooked that. For me, he has been a disappointment overall.

Sometimes players are released for non-footballing reasons I'd agree that competition in Arsenal's midfield is about as tough as it comes so maybe MF is a candidate for us. I'm not a big fan myself. I still maintain that big clubs in general won't release really talented youngsters. I certainly wouldn't take any of ManUs current fringe players (and that includes Bardsley).

It is very difficult to get quality youngsters from the top clubs. Flamini for example has played loads of first team games for Arsenal. AW has had plenty of opportunity to assess his full potential. If he was prepared to let him go, I would say that means he's not good enough for us. The same would apply to Fletcher or Richardson from Manure. Why would those clubs let their top youngsters leave? The best you can hope for (from the big clubs) is to get lucky and nick a kid who's had little or no first team experience.

I would certainly take Sidwell on a free, but there will be an awful lot of competition for his signature.

A great goal, but anyone who watched the whole match would have seen a lot of defects to his game. He is pretty erratic and his left foot is especially weak. Quite a long way short of Ronaldo IMHO. Wouldn't mind almost anybody from the rest of that squad though.

A lot of people have said similar things about McCann. They're all probalby right. So If GM is "not quite good enough" why in the world have we not signed anybody to at worst deputise for him when he's out, or at best to replace him altogether??