sharkyvilla

interesting news. It seems the deal may not be completed before October, which would mark 10 years since the death of Randy's father. This is interesting in that it appears Al Lerner put in his will a 10 year moratorium on the sale of the Browns. Randy would be selling as soon as he was able in this case.

Potentially Randy has been a "lame-duck" owner in Cleveland for the last decade, which would explain the team's lack of success, though I think it would be unfair, as Randy has continually resisted pressure from the NFL to raise ticket prices, rename the stadium, and other revenue increasing schemes (certain types of revenue are shared across the league), and has never shied away from opening up the checkbook.

It would also give further validity to his passion for Villa as he "chose" to buy this team and invest in it. Updates when I have them.

It's a really fascinating turn of events. It's weird that if he never really felt much attachment for the Browns other than through his father's legacy that he chose to invest in another sport, one where very few owners make money. Who knows what it means. It could be great news for us but I suspect he just wanted to cash in due to other circumstances.

I thought it was obvious he was a top target for us, just glad sticking to selling a player before buying one didn't cost lambert a player he wanted. As long as this policy doesn't effect our incomings then I guess it doesn't matter.

Getting Lamberts top targets is number one priority.

But we haven't sold anyone, therefore it would appear we are not on a sell to buy policy. Infact, by my reckoning, we have now signed four new players and, as yet, have not sold a single player. I'm not quite sure what you want?

Well let's see what happens over the next few days.

I'm happy with how the summers going. My worry during all the fuss was that we'd miss out on Vlaar as one possibility was we needed to sell a player before we signed him. If collins does go I think it would be one massive coincidence that we just happen to sign Vlaar around the same time.

Again I don't see the problem with a sell-to-buy policy, if indeed there is one (the evidence supports otherwise). I think it will be a bit of a miracle to get rid of any of the defenders this early in the summer anyway because they are shite so I think Collins will be here for a while longer.

Because we need a striker. Just like we did when we signed Bent.

It's not writing £8m off, it's reinvesting it in something we need. The squad needs strengthening and the bean counters will know that too.

Could better value be found elsewhere? Probably. But we know our manager rates this one and considering his profile it could make sense at £15-£17m to get him.

I think Randy will back him if the salary numbers can work.

Who knows what Lambert is saying? If he went to Randy and said "this guy could be the difference between 10th and 6th" it might make the difference. Randy will also be aware of the impact major signings can have comercially.

True. If Carroll could score 15-20 goals a season for four years then £15m would be relatively cheap. He's young enough and has more ability than is given credit for (I thought he turned the cup final on its head when he came on). It may depend on what his advisors say - if I were them I'd tell him to steer clear of Newcastle so he doesn't go back to his old haunts. Then again we may not even be interested as nobody seems to have any idea who is on Lambert's wishlist.

Nobody can deny it was a low point for the club last season but imo it was largely unavoidable in that we had to clear out the deadwood this summer and McLeish was the only person realistically available to manage us through the season under the circumstances. Tough decision that had to be made by Lerner and I admire his guts, but hopefully we're seeing the greenshoots of recovery.

If this deal is still on then everyone's gone about it in a perculiar way. Just glad we've not been drawn into a slanging match.

I think if we signed Defoe we'd get the same instant reaction as we did with Keane where you think 'why the hell didn't we sign him 5 years ago?'. He'd bang them in wherever he went, and is one of those players who seem to get knocked for what they can't do rather than looking at what they can do.

GB were shit but it's a really shit group of players he's got against a Brazil side where basically every player is worth £20m+.

The GB consists of players worth £20m+... if its Liverpool that are buying

I watched the game too and it was awful. Pearce really is a terrible manager. He's clearly been/being groomed for the top job which certainly looks well out of his league. The FA should offload him sooner rather than later and look to some other promising young manager who might make the step up in the future.

But a promising young manager is likely to have a club job, unless you can convince someone to manage a club and the U21s at the same time.

I still think Becks is a good player but really they needed one defender, one midfielder and one striker from the over-age players. In a choice between Giggs who still does it for Utd and Becks who plays in the US, I think Giggs is the better choice.

as opposed to the everything is great with villa agenda?

People refusing to condemn the club because of a lack of info can not be seen to have an 'everything is great' agenda. People who DO want to condemn the club despite a lack of information, can only be seen to have a negative agenda. Some have made their minds up and some are being more circumspect. I'm sorry if you can't see the distinction between the 2 approaches.

How is ignoring any information that paints the club in a negative light not an agenda?

Putting forward the idea that we've messed them around or have a sell to buy policy is no different to putting forward any of the ideas that paint Vlaar, his agent and his club in the wrong.

Picking up on the sell before we buy policy, I don't really mind if there is, if there is indeed one (there is no evidence at the moment, it has to be said). The inference that Lerner would suddenly change the rules on Lambert and pull the club out of a deal behind his back to me is very unfair as there is no indication that Lerner is anything but honest with his managers. He made it clear to O'Neill that cost cutting had to be done, it was O'Neill who didn't want to do it. He obviously made it clear last season when trying to recruit, which is why we ended up with nobody better than the ginger knob willing to take the job on.

Can't believe he started with Micah richards at CB and Tomkins, really dissapointed Caulker didn't start.. Think he's a huge talent.

Tomkins was absolutely **** useless wasn't he? Looked like he'd never played a game of football in his life.

i think he's done a terrible job with the U21s, its mind blowing how tactically inept he is, if had carroll last year then we might have played even more long ball...

I'm not saying he is the world's greatest tactician but getting one of our youth sides to a final is a really good achievement imo. He always seems to be having to work with a hotchpotch of players from different backgrounds because our top 4 clubs don't seem to bring through many quality youngsters, yet still qualify comfortably.

Picking Danny Rose really is inexplicable though, despite a half-decent showing in the second half the other day. I'm not sure who else we could expect to be attracted to the England under 21 manager's job, or the GB job for that matter.

He's put out a come and get me plea and it's fallen on deaf ears. Time to move on. I would have thought that any move would be unlikely to happen whilst we were in the US and that would have been made clear. I'm glad the club hasn't been jerked into a slanging match that ends up with us giving away details of the transfer policy that may drive up prices for other targets. Players are always coming over to training facilites and stadiums, my dad's a taxi driver and took Eden Hazard to Arsenal's training ground a couple of seasons ago and nothing happened there. It's just this got out in the public domain in a way that Villa are loathe to do due to circumstance.

I never fear for my safety at any point of any day. If a burglar wants to rob my house he can, if muggers want to mug me they can. Only time I've ever been mugged was in Birmingham by the way and I spent 6months in South America.

Sounds like a good deal if you ask me

I guess this is the problem with Villa doing everything in utter silence, we only get to hear one side of the story as to what's going on and it looks bad. It happened with Solskjaer where the power of the internet brought it into the public domain but that turned out alright in the end. I reckon there must be more going on behind the scenes, or it could just be that Feyenoord and Vlaar want it to happen more than we actually do.

You guys really MUST try to get over O'Neill, you know.

It starts to look like an obsession and, what's more worrying, a refusal to face up to the issues of the present by blaming them all on the past.

It's two seasons since he was with us and a lot has changed since he left. We have had two years of some of the worst club and football management I have seen since the late 60s.

MON was the best manager we had since Johnny Gregory and brought us the only decent run of results and performance since JG.

I like him for that because I like managers who help us win matches, gain points, move up the table, and do well in cup competitions. So I despise the two fuckwits who have followed on from him.

As for saying he left us no legacy, he left us with a squad in 2010-11 that was more or less the one that had got us to 6th the season before and only the most incompetent of managers could have failed to build on that.

Well I said I liked him and for very similar reasons to you, but I don't see how that makes him free from criticism and not a major part of the hole we've been in. Pretty much all but 3 of the players he's signed have had to be written off, some of whom have picked up huge wages for doing bugger all. Houllier and McLeish were bigger disasters, I agree. Only McLeish was a rank bad appointment, Houllier really let himself and the club down when he was here.

Pearce is useless, is the U21's, ruined the best chance we had at a tournament (last summer, or maybe yr before that) by playing negative football with payers out of position, and looks like he is doing the same again...

The last tournament he wasn't allowed Carroll or Wilshere who would have made a big difference, but the tournament before that England got to the final before getting outclassed by a German side that has gone on to be one of the best in the world. I think he's done a decent job with the Under 21s. GB were shit but it's a really shit group of players he's got against a Brazil side where basically every player is worth £20m+.

I liked O'Neill a lot and I even liked his brand of football, which whilst it was a bit agricultural sometimes it was done with pace, lots of wingers, great set pieces and loads of enthusiasm. His problem is that he has never built a legacy at any of his clubs and we suffered more than most by his short-termism. That's what stops him being regarded amongst the very best managers imo.

I knew of Vlaar when he was younger and was quite promising right? What is he like now? Is he better than Dunne and Collins?

I don't think that many of us have seen a lot of him other than at the Euros, where the Dutch defended really poorly and he didn't shine himself. We'd be foolish to judge him on that though. Collins and/or Dunne need removing and I think this is an excellent deal on paper. Just hope everyone holds their nerve and the deal gets done.

I'd be a bit peeved if we spend £20m on Carroll, especially with his reported 80k a week wages. When we spent a similar sum on Bent, we knew he was a proven goalscorer which made it all worthwhile, Carroll on the other hand hasn't really done a thing to earn such a fee and its Liverpools fault for spending a shitload on him in the first place.

For £20m and 80k a week of the wage budget I'm pretty sure we could get one if not two players that have far greater quality, it just doesn't seem logical, especially after apparent wage crisis.

I don't think we could attract any other £20m striker to the club tbh. Maybe a couple of cheaper ones but if Lambert really rates Carroll then Randy has to trust his judgement. It will probably mean that the rest of the Downing payment will effectively be getting paid off in one lump rather than over the next couple of years, giving Lambert a bit more in the transfer kitty this summer, with only what, £5m-£10m actual cash outlay to sign him. I doubt he will take a wage cut but if he is going to be first-team regular and is only early 20s then he'd be worth it as much as Bent is.

I'd like us to have signed Bruma. Bit wasted on another loan to Germany.

Not picking on you, but you just reminded me of this.

Every season, people suggest signing certain players on "pay as you play" deals.

It all sounds well and good, but does anyone actually know of any players who are on deals like this? Do they actually exist or are they just made up by fans?

was Hargreaves not on one at City?

Woodgate was on one last season at Stoke and actually managed to play about 18 games (though he was mostly garbage at right-back). If Owen could play 18 games then he'd probably score 3 times as many goals as Gabby in a whole season. If the deal is right then I can see its merits.

Nice stuff ajax-fan. Overall I'd be very happy if this comes off. Age, experience and price are all great. Get him signed!

Who is that over PL's right shoulder ?

Looks like a centre half

William Gallas

I'm surprised he didn't gain dual nationality having played in France for 10 years. No work permit needed then.

As for Carroll, he'd have to take a pay cut to come here permanently I would have thought, and the loan deal doesn't seem to be that attractive either. Having Ireland's mentalness at the club is bad enough.

The guy in the blue shirt looks like Luuk De Jong. Plus, Ramis is bald. So the blue shirt guy isn't him. Definitely looks like De Jong.

You recon? Looks a lot older, darker, Spanish/Portuguese looking rather than blondish and Dutch like Luuk De Jong. If the other guy is Ramis, that other guy is probably his agent.

I don't think it's Ramis but doing a google search, the other guy definitely doesn't look like his agent. Just a random couple of blokes.

The school must have known his character and whether he was likely to do **** all so I'd blame them, though I guess they have to try and give everyone a placement regardless of their attitude. I think you were just unlucky and like someone else said, next year you could get a real diamond. Stick with it, if they do bugger all and just leave after 2 days then you haven't really lost that much.

My work experience was great. My brother got me in at his place in the marketing department in a pharmaceutical firm. I was a really shy kid so it took me a while to find my feet but it helped me hugely. We also spent our lunchtimes playing Duke Nukem on the network and I actually god paid, which I spent on my first ever Championship Manager game. Changed my life.