sharkyvilla

If ever a batch of poison croissants needed to be made it's for that programme. I'll never forgive Brian Woolnough for the way he used to talk to Jimmy Hill.

from his twitter feed in july2011 Sky Sports told me Im “Very talented & excellent on screen” but that Im “Anti-authoritarian” & that they’d decided to not renew my contract.’ So basically they dont like my attitude and wanted rid of a potential troublemaker within the company" Wasn't it him who headbutted Richard Bacon for going out with his ex-girlfriend? Could have been someone else on Sky but I think it was him. He did sometimes have strong opinions on screen which I guess is more the pundit's job than the presenter.

You're right, Zatman, Cricket punditry is a million miles ahead of that for football. There are almost no rubbish cricket pundits, and a heck of a lot of really really good ones. The worst cricket pundits in this country are probably nearly as good as the best football ones, and the best are in another league altogether. I'm biased maybe as a cricket lover, but as far as coverage goes, it's the best of any sport, I feel. There is quite a difference in the level of education that Hussain and Atherton had compared to say, Jamie Redknapp, who can't even string a sentence together. Most of the cricket media have been university and even privately educated, even Phil Tufnell who is my current favourite on TMS. I think James Milner has A-Levels but I wouldn't bet on many other current or former footballers having the same. I'm not saying that is the only factor but it must have a lot to do with it.

I love Gerry Armstrong when he commentates on La Liga and when he's on with Kevin Keatings it's fantastic. Rob Palmer, the other guy who does La Liga is a clearing in the woods and goes way overboard with the Barca loving (as much as I love Barca). Scott Minto is shite. I like Lee Dixon, I think since he has moved to ITV it has shown how good a pundit he really is as he sticks out like a sore thumb amongst that shower. Really confident and almost looks like he has bothered to do some media training. I also like Graham Taylor when he's on Five Live and I've enjoyed Joe Royle when he's been on ESPN before, he actually goes out of his way to praise refs from time to time.

Randy's made lots of mistakes but he's learning from them. I'm not sure what more we can expect of him, other than discover the secret to time travel and go back and correct the cock-ups the club have made over the last 5 years. He's obviously decided the club should go on a different path based on a completely different financial model and has recruited a manager with the same values it seems. He's then backed him with funds to do his job and I expect after a slowish start, the club to grow quite rapidly again. Can't wait.

I'm surprised he's gone for two up top, maybe he feels it's worth throwing caution to the wind. He's said he goes into all games thinking he can win. However I struggle to see anything but Newcastle domination for 90 minutes.

On FM I've had bastards who wanted a certain amount of money per week for the rest of their contract when I've tried to flog them. I expect real agents are even bigger scoundrels. The trick is to not buy utter shite from other teams in the Premier League and I'm glad we haven't. A bit risky for this season but in the long run the right approach imo.

I'm just pleased that we seem to have learnt from our mistakes. Lerner has given some decent funds and Lambert hasn't just blown it on the likes of which we've blown it before. I'm not expecting miracles but I see this as just part 1 of the recovery. Hopefully we'll show some heart in the first half of the season, before becoming stronger in the New Year, giving us some momentum going into the summer where I think we'll really start to kick on. Good luck to the lads anyway and I hope they hold their nerve.

Has Lerner actually got the money for the Browns yet? I didn't think he could officially sell until October. If Benteke signs then the spending would be above £15m and it's possible there will be other moves tomorrow too. If you compare it to the £24m Sunderland spent on Fletcher and Johnson alone then I think we've done the better business considering the whole squad pretty much needs changing.

Exactly, I get a bit fed up with people saying 'oh look at Sunderland, Stoke and QPR, we'll get left behind' etc etc. We've been there, done that, and it didn't work. I'm much happier going for young British players and slightly more experienced overseas players.

Tbf most Liverpool fans are completely nuts. I'd say Henderson has no ability, at least Spearing can win a tackle and has a good work ethic. We're also comparing £20m against about £3m. I think El Ahmadi would appreciate someone like Spearing next to him.

I actually reckon he'd be a good signing but probably belong in the wrong opinion room for thinking that

If we could get rid of Hutton for £1m, Warnock £2m and flog the Zog back to Wigan for £5m, that would free up a shit load of wages to partly pay for Lennon and Parker say for £12m for the pair, that would be one more nice surprise before the window closes. ----------Given----------- Lowton-Vlaar-Dunne-Bennett -------Parker-KEA--------- Lennon--Ireland--Gabby -----------Bent----------- I'd feel more comfortable about that

I really hope Lambert tries for Lennon. He's one of the few players with Prem experience that are still young and if Spurs have listed him, relatively decent value. His pace and ability to take a man on would be a welcome change. Him and Gabby either side of Bent would be an interesting combo, plus throw Benteke into the mix too and things look a bit brighter. I'm not going to get my knickers in a twist about signed the young unproven lads as I think we will benefit in the long run much more than panic buying. As long as we stay up...

The problem was the amount of players we signed in the first three years who have since been let go for nothing or virtually nothing. Think Sidwell, Heskey, Reo-Coker (signed for 8m and let go for nothing in his 20s!), Shorey, Davies, Cuellar, Beye and possibly Delph soon. That must be at least £35m on transfer fees alone (heaven forbid how much we spent on their wages) down the toilet and that was down to bad choices by the manager.

dafuq!? Theres a video on there of him scoring a whacking volley tho It was an absolute belter Unfortunately I think our media relations department would make him change the music on his website to a song without the N word in the first line and it would lose its subtle charm

I'm sure that those kinds of deals are more likely than blowing 9m on the likes of Dawson. Judging from the Vlaar and El Ahmadi deals, Lambert's knowledge of European football is pretty decent and would have a list of players he likes that present good value of money.

I know you don't understand, have a read, it's not that people are happy or have no problem with how we are, it's just the ways in which they choose to react. For some people, it's less about blame and more about sympathy, for some it's the idea of what support is and isn't, for others it's about pinpointing the cause of problems and either trying to find fixes or pointing fingers, but I don't think there's anyone on here who has no problem with our present situation, or who thinks it's good. People are different, your opinion is your opinion, other peoples opinions are theirs, none are exactly right or wrong, although there are themes that are likely to run through all of them. I wouldn't be happy if we were relegated, I've not given up on us staying in the division just yet though, I recognise that the owner, board and chief exec haven't done well and have made some serious errors over the past two years, but I'm not looking for a night of the long knives, I think they're naive and at times foolish, but they're paying for those lessons and I still hope they'll learn them, that belief in them doesn't make me an idiot I hope (although they do seem to be trying) and your belief that their incompetence should lead to their immediate removal doesn't make you one either - but your belief that anyone who disagrees with you is a fool probably says more about you than them. That is exactly how I feel as well. I am disappointed that things have drifted over the last couple of years but there are reasons why, some that are Lerner's fault and a fair few that aren't. He has my sympathy for the amount of his own money that has got written off but still recognise that he himself has to carry the can for a lot of it. The important thing is how he rectifies it and in my post on the previous page I said that it will take time and a fair amount of pain but the decisions indicate to me recovery is on its way, despite how inadequate the squad is at this moment in time. It's the incessant slagging off that I really dislike but if that's the way people view it it's up to them I guess, and little will change their mind in the immediate future either way.

Not sure why you think this but I certainly would question why we would spend £8m on Henderson. We have already shown we can find better players for better price; KEA for £2m or w/e it was much better player than Henderson in my opinion. True, I'm sure Lambert has other players around Europe in his sights that are similar to KEA and Vlaar in terms of value. It's just a case of identifying the weak parts of the team (it turns out to be all of it) and finally being given the go-ahead to sign them.

McLeish is comparable though. Lambert is the Hughton character ready to get the club moving forward again

I think Downing's as unlikely as Milner. Unless the two of them have got their heads together and decided they wanted to save the Villa

The squad reminds me a lot of Newcastle when they went down. Loads of awful journeymen players on over-inflated wages due to poor management, and poor managerial appointments. I can also start to see the same antipathy (verging on hatred it seems from some people) towards Lerner as there was for Mike Ashley. Ashley had enough, cut back and tried to sell the club, but finding a buyer for a Premier League football club is incredibly hard, especially when the current owner is already a billionaire. Finding someone richer is nigh on impossible. It leaves the owner very little option other than to stick it out, put up with the abuse and try to find the best way of getting the club back on its feet. It's going to be a slow process. With Newcastle, I think that tough period is all but forgotten. Even renaming St James' Park doesn't seem to bother them that much whilst they are flirting with Champions League football. Their turnaround has been utterly remarkable and the decisions by Ashley to change the managers at the right time and revamp the scouting system have paid huge dividends. McLeish's appointment was a massive PR gamble by Lerner that failed horribly, although I am sure he would be grateful for the job he did in cutting a lot of the wage bill whilst keeping us in the division. The damage to Randy's reputation amongst the fans though is at an all-time low because of it, much like Ashley's was during the relegation. The key is backing a manager with the quality to rebuild a club on a sound financial footing. He needs all the help he can get through scouting which has obviously been identified by Lerner and co and we seem to have made encouraging movements on that front. Lerner has clearly seen the approach Ashley has taken at Newcastle and its medium-term success, for all its short-term pain. Our problem is can we really afford to go down a division, which is the way we are heading with this playing squad? I'm pretty sure that all contracts have clauses where they get reduced if relegated, which makes players easier to move on, plus with parachute payments and hopefully immediate promotion back to the Premier League, it isn't the financial nightmare it perhaps looks on paper. But nobody wants to get relegated, ever, fact. So Lerner will hopefully see the need to dig into his pocket now but for the right players. No players approaching 30 on over 50 grand a week for 4 years and no sell-on value just for the short-term boost to keep us in the division. At most we can afford to bring one of these players in if they have the right mentality to lift a club. If we get too many of these players we will just end up at square one. I trust Lambert over the long-run to get this club back into shape but it has to be done in the right way. I genuinely think we can turn a corner next season if we hold our nerve. Unless Lerner can find somebody richer than him to spend a fortune on getting us back into contention with the other big English clubs, this is the best way forward.

True, his game has never been about pace and running, a bit like Bergkamp. He can score or create a goal in half a yard whereas someone like Gabby would run around like a blue arse fly and not achieve the same output, as much as I like Gabby. Bent is mobile enough to play up alongside him imo, they would be a great partnership.

Sounds like us. We could do worse. Could we ?, worse than an ageing permanently injured Owen ?. Maybe Doyle granted but i can't think of many worse ideas I could see how a team like Arsenal, or even a Spurs could take the risk on someone like him but not us It would only make sense on a pay-as-you-play deal. Then there's nothiing for the club to lose and Owen has everything to prove. He will score goals if he plays but Lambert said that 'he wasn't for us' earlier in the summer

Berbatov would fit quite nicely. Even if he hasn't got the legs any more, his intelligence and quality would be a great addition to the club a bit like Keane last winter. He could teach a few of the young lads a thing or two as well. The problem is structuring a deal for him. His contract runs out next summer and I guess he would have been banking on earning himself a last lucrative contract somewhere.