MessiWillSignForVilla

That's from the MON school of player deployment. No, let's hope Lambert uses midfielders for midfield roles. But Clark is much better suited to midfield rather than defence as he is good with the ball at his feet and is very composed, but is liable to the odd mistake which is much less punishable in midfield. It's not the MON school of player development either, that's not playing youth players when needed, Clark has been played in midfield by both Houllier and McLeish IIRC and looked competent. Barry started out as CB, he became our nailed central midfielder for about 7-8 years. Bale was a LB and almost sold by spurs 'cause he wasn't very good there, he's now one of the best players in the world on the left wing/behind the striker. Henry started out as a winger and became the best striker of his generation. I don't think Clark is in the same league as these players, but they are examples that mean just because you start your career in one position it doesn't mean it's your best position.

Hopefully signing a new CB will see Clark move into a more central midfield role, think he would be much better there, he'd also have less pressure on him when he tries to play out instead of hoofing it, and he's mistakes would not be punished as much as they would if he played at the back.

Although you're right that there was that general air of not caring that season, but Young was one of the only players who did seem to try IMO. Downing was also in that group, so maybe they were playing for themselves rather than the club, but at least they still gave 100% Plus, I don't get this love for Milner over the way he left, he dragged it out by not putting in a transfer request and still got to keep his "Loyalty" bonus, meaning he squeezed even more money out the club, whereas Downing and Benteke (if he'd left) would've foregone that bonus to get the situation sorted, the difference is Downing acted as dick before he handed it in so people disliked him anyway. Milner has no love for the club and I see no reason why the club and it's fans should love him so much when he turned his back on us for money just like the rest.

Benteke, I'd be surprised if he wasn't already our highest earner

I have to admit I had no idea what the Council of Trent was, but I've never really been interested in history so didn't take it any further than year 9. Never really got taught history of religion either, just the origins of it. I do find it funny that a lot of religious people, mainly Christians, can be so condemning of everything around them and dispute scientific and historical facts, yet know so little about there own religions history.

More likely to be 120-150k per week. He moved for big money and was a regular in the England team wouldn't be on 80k I would be surprised if Young is on more than £80-90k a week, I think people do tend to exaggerate how much players earn because of the absurdly ridiculous amounts the very top players get. Most top team will only pay £100k+ if they are confident they will be a guaranteed starter and going to be an integral part of the team. I would imagine the top teams in England (bar City and Chelsea) only have two or three players on £100k+. I mean look at Arsenal who almost lost Walcott, one of there most important and best players, on a free transfer as they weren't willing to cough £100k per week. At Villa I'd imagine Young was on somewhere between £50-60k, was offered ~£70k to stay and offered ~£80-90k at Utd.

That does annoy me when someone asks if I'm christian and I reply "Yeah, i'm Catholic" to get the response of "So your not christian then?" I never quite know whether it's meant as a deliberately provocative thing, or they genuinely don't realise what Catholicism is. A lot of the time it genuinely is ignorance, I often have to tell people that all Catholics are Christians but not all Christians are Catholics, and there are different denominations within christianity. Normally to get educated in why what I know about my religion is wrong and Catholics aren't christians, although I think this part is the majority of the time as a wind up, but it normally starts as genuinely not knowing.

Have you forgotten about Ash's corners then? Yeah his set-pieces ain't great, he had that one good season when he was aiming at Carew and Laursen but rarely puts in a good corner/free-kick nowadays.

Agreed to wear a shirt with a sponsor, he's had a change of heart, that or he's realised what a hypocrite he looks when gambling and using religion as an excuse not to wear a shirt with wonga on.

That does annoy me when someone asks if I'm christian and I reply "Yeah, i'm Catholic" to get the response of "So your not christian then?"

What I got from what he said was that Albrighton was frozen out because he wasn't a supporting striker, like Gabby or Weimann are, and neither would Young be. FWIW I'd be more on your side in this discussion though. I think Young would improve the side. I'd have a fairly safe bet we won't see him in it though. Exactly my point was Albrighton is a winger, like Young, which is why he doesn't quite fit, but felt i had to also state the reason he wasn't in the team was he wasn't good not just the system. I also agree that Young would improve the team but don't quite see how he would fit into our style, as he's very good at cutting in and crossing but he's never been a player who will hang off the shoulder of the defender and get in behind them or a player who will pick up the ball and just drive at a defence, the two things that Gabby and Weimann tend to do in those positions. I just don't see it happening and think this is probably lazy 2+2=5 stuff from people on twitter who are "ITK"

If I was to get a name I'd probably go with Weimann, but I've had to ban myself from getting names on shirts on grounds of superstition, as the player I get normally gets sold fairly soon after, Young, Barry, Milner, Mellberg, Yorke, even Ireland this season, the only exception so far has been Agbonlahor

I think he fits in perfectly out wide in an attacking 3. I suppose, but I've always viewed the two wide players more as support strikers than wingers, and Young is a winger not a striker type player. I think this style of wide man is why Albrighton also has been frozen out a bit, the other reasons being injury and the fact he's terrible, so why would it work for Young?

The Sun ran an article about Benteke, and they had quotes from one of the players who had been outcast, and he said they called them self the "Bomb Squad" and it just stuck.

I thought there was some sort of restriction on the submitting of numbers, as in you can only change number during transfer windows or in extraordinary circumstances. Then again it's such an uncommon occurrence I imagine the rules aren't too defined, the only example I can remember was when Salifou agreed to give up his number for Makoun.

Would have him back at Villa, but not sure he would fit in Lamberts formation let alone his philosophy for signing players. He'd also have a looooooooong way to go to make up for that dive EDIT: Don't know why I originally put wouldn't, made my post seem totally different

In a way a feel sorry for Bannan, he's got the attributes to become a good player, but just hasn't developed well enough in the time he's been here. He has a good touch and is a very good passer in my opinion but all that counts for nothing a lot of the time because he doesn't know when to play the right pass or the right type of pass. Bannan definitely has the potential to be a good player, and as absurd as it sounds I think he could reach that potential if he played for a team like Arsenal, as he would have coaches who would be able to adapt him to the type of game he is suited for. Just to be clear, as much as I think he has potential, I don't think he'd make at a team like Arsenal, just develop well there, get loaned out a bit and get shipped to a mid-table team. On the other hand I'm glad he's leaving, he never reached his potential and has been disappointing the majority of times he's pulled on a Villa shirt, and he seems to have a pretty bad attitude and often comes across as if he can't be arsed. I think a lot of the abuse Bannan gets on here is over the top, but I think a lot of it is in response to Con's over the top praise of him, to bring some sort of equilibrium to the thread.

At my primary school it was just learning about religions as far as I can remember, with comparison to Catholicism and how they relate and are similar, not God created the earth 6000 years ago and that is fact, mainly because the teachers just didn't believe it, even the christian ones.

Forgive my ignorance but do youth players need numbers to play? I thought there was some rule that they were "freebies" to the club when needed? 1) Yes 2) Kind of, they don't need to be registered if they are under 21, they can be given a number whenever they are needed, but so can any other player. I don't think numbers are overly official, they just make it easier for the FA and Premier League to track things such as discipline, goals, other statistics, bans and help process registration i'd imagine. Numbers are generally submitted in huge chunks at the start of the season to include players that will need registration in case they're are needed and for the players who are most likely to play this coming year. At the end of the day numbers aren't really needed, they're just marketing ploys by the clubs, to sell more shirts with names and numbers. The season would run just as well with every team having shirts numbered 1-18 on match day, rugby does for example, and it was less than 20 years ago that squad numbers were introduced, I think.

As someone who was raised Catholic, is Catholic-ish (I wouldn't consider myself that religious) and went to a Catholic primary school, I have to say it really annoys me when I see comments like this claiming to "Brainwash" kids. Just like any other school it depends on the quality of the school/teaching. At my primary school we had prayers during assembly, before lunch and at the end of the day, and had 1 RE lesson per week (I assume this is the same as other schools, as my non catholic secondary school was the same. The lessons I mean, not the prayers). That is it in terms of religion. Other than that we got taught the same as other schools, maths, english, science bollocks*, history etc. with little emphasis on religion. My best friend at primary was atheist when he joined and atheist when he left, because religious schools don't "brainwash" kids, they teach them the same way but with prayers during the day. If a school is not very good then it'll most likely focus more on religion to make up for it's lack of teaching ability, but you wouldn't want to send your kid there, even if you are religious. If the school is good then the religious aspect really doesn't come into it as they're more focused on teaching the kids than "forcing" religion on them. Despite all this I do agree that state and religion should be separate and the government shouldn't fund religious schools, it should be done by the dioceses' and the like. *By "bollocks" I mean this piss-poor excuse for science teaching in this country, it's my belief that what you are taught at GCSE level should be basic knowledge by that time.

There is also Vladimir Weiss who played for them last season, not sure if he's still there or been sold though, but would be a good addition. EDIT: Even if true, it's not Weiss, signed for Olympiacos a month ago Although what I've heard of Celik and Capuano, they would be good signings also.

I think what a lot of people tend to forget with Bennett is that he was pretty much our only LB last season with Warnock and Stevens not being in Lambert's plans so couldn't be dropped during poor form to be replaced by some one who would put him on his toes so he really works hard to get back in the team or so he doesn't get dropped again. With Luna coming in, Bennett will have competition that Lambert will be willing to use and will really need to work for his place. Also he was injured at the start of last season so he missed the majority of, if not all of, Pre-Season, + a few games at the start of the season and was thrown in after a bad start to save us from relegation, that pressure must have been huge for the guy, added to the fact he already had a lot of pressure on him stepping up from the championship. IMO, he'll turn out much like our last signing off of Middlesbrough, Downing, who was also injured when he joined and was continuously slated during his first season, but will massively improve in his second after getting to know the squad, league, opponents, etc. (Hopefully with out the dickish move to Liverpool at the end of the season )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhyYgnhhKFw For people who want to see the back of the Monarchs, this could be worth a watch, they are actually extremely important to our economy. The only annoying thing about them IMO, is the way people lose their shit just because of a royal wedding/baby.

I loved those guys As Much as I would love/want them to be Villa fans with brilliant minds, every time I see that I can't help think it was just a marketing stunt by Lynx, hence the tags on the shoulders/arms As to not go completely OT, Delighted with this news, had a sneaking suspicion he would stay, but never thought he'd sign a new contract.

Putting my pessimist hat on here, but considering he told fans multiple times that he was staying both before and after his request, does anyone else get the feeling he was never going to spurs in the first place and this was all to make Villa cough up some extra cash?