sharkyvilla

Very sad news that Tom Maynard of Surrey and England Lions got killed by a London Underground train during the night. Only 23 and would most likely have played for England at some stage. Last week he turned up for a day at the Sussex v Surrey game with two black eyes with it being blamed on getting hit by a car, though there were other rumours of nightclub incidents. Either way a sad loss.

True, I always thought we were a bit of an afterthought with Nike. Randy's US connections got us the contract but they really weren't all that arsed about us. I quite like the kits though do prefer a simpler collar, but as you can tuck it in then all's good.

Agreed Zatman. Given was one of the few players who earned their money last season and will this season too. I have no problem with senior players on decent wages if they perform, just not those who sit on their arse on the bench or underperform season after season and causing grief off the field like a lot of O'Neill's signings.

On the basis of yesterday's games I'd say both Shevchenko and Ibrahimovic will have a field day against England. Really? Surely the French front 3 are bigger threats and we negated them quite impressively. I thought we were excellent at what we did, the question is whether we have other gears to see us go deep into the tournament. Rooney will slot quite nicely into this team so I have a feeling we may do so. No chance of winning it mind.

I don't think Green or Robinson would be an improvement so don't see the point. We need some sort of continuity amongst all the upheavel. Butland looks great mind. Perhaps signing him and McGregor from Rangers, assuming that they have to get rid of everyone for free, would be the best way of doing things should Given want to go. I'm pretty sure Lambert will want to keep him though.

Super Pav could have too if he'd played from the start. My 50/1 is looking pretty sweet so long as Advocaat starts him in the last two group games

I've put a fiver on Pavlyuchenko at 50/1 to be top scorer. Is he normally first-choice in the team? If so I fancy him to bag an early hattrick

I got accused of cheating on Countdown the other day but it was just their word against mine

If the £7m was built upon say £4m up front with performance related clauses then I'd be up for it. I think he has a spark about him that would make it a gamble worth taking. I'm pretty sure Lambert will have watched a lot of him so if he did go for him then it would be a pretty safe bet.

I think KP's scored 3 Ashes hundreds and at the time he scored them we weren't being battered in any of them. We did go on to lose the Adelaide test in 06/07 but that was due to a collective brainfart from the whole team on the last day. He won't be able to play any more IPL than he currently does as we don't play ODIs when it's on, he'll do his stint then come back for our home Test series. He'll only be losing money from his central contract being downgraded, so I don't see how money comes into it. Oh and Nick Knight is an awful commentator. I don't think KP had an issue with criticism, just that Knight is dull and can't make his mind up on anything.

Must have been hijacked by West Ham fans who don't want him down there. What really depresses me is the comment 'with Heskey and Carew gone we need a big man up front', like **** we do. This be the 21st century.

I cannot see in a million years Lerner agreeing a 3 year deal for someone like Holt (after all that's why he's supposed to have put in a transfer request) after the cost-cutting exercise we've had to go through. It would be totally counterintuitive.

I think Randy had some very tough calls these last couple of seasons, especially on controlling the wage bill and the knock on effects. Hopefully now we can rebuild under Lambert.

I don't see the logic in him not being able to play Tests and T20s. He's not going to be around for the next 50 over world cup so what's the point in making him play up to 14 ODIs this summer merely to make himself eligible to play the T20 world cup, especially when we have such an important Test series coming up to decide who is number 1 in the world. Strauss has been able to pick and choose what cricket he plays.

He is the kind of shit signing O'Neill would have made. I really hope we look a bit further afield than 30-something year old players from his old club

I hope he has decent connections in Germany and Europe from his Dortmund days to build upon. I find it kind of weird that a Champions League winner managed clubs like Wycombe and Colchester before making his way up. He should have a good, varied approach to the game and he has had nothing given to him on a plate. He must be relishing a project like this at a club like ours. Really looking forward to it. I just hope our expectations aren't too high to begin with and it's up to us to make Villa Park a positive place for him and the players next season.

Fab spot Matt. Kind of brings it all together and it makes sense. It would certainly seem that way Julie. Funnily enough Dean Scoggins of the Sun was adamant before OGS saga blew up that Lerner was after Lambert as his No 1 candidate. Interestingly enough....when it looked like OGS was coming to Villa....he said publically via tweets...... that he got the feeling that the whole OGS pursuit was more a way of pushing the Lambert & Norwich situation forward. I think we can safely say that none of the media had any idea what Lerner was doing, and credit to him for that. It may be the odd journo got it right but more by luck than judgement. I don't think there was any smoke and mirrors with OGS, it's just that he was the only one we knew for certain had been interviewed because of thetrees's being particularly observant, nothing more than that.

It's clearly a done deal. Sweeeeeeeeeet! A young, enthusiastic manager who has gone through all the leagues with success, who is also a Champions League winner, hopefully with a half-decent pot of cash to work with. Get in.

I met him too when Swansea played my local side Horsham in the second round of the FA Cup, he is a total gentleman and showed total respect to the club (unlike the likes of AFC Wimbledon whilst making their way up the divisions, but that's a different story). Whatever happened, Whelan is a gobshite who must make things incredibly hard for Martinez. I hope RM continues to exceed expectations playing good football and keeping them in the division. As for Lambert I am delighted and is just the right type of manager for us all to get behind. Just get the contract signed plz.

When I was over there I worked in a call-centre in Sydney selling Westpac credit cards, it was one of the worst two weeks of my life before I jacked it in and spent the rest of my time on Bondi beach. I doubt that would count for getting signed off if ski work doesn't. I'd suggest asking people who run hostels, they'd probably give the best advice.

I think we can expect things to accelerate a bit more now the Liverpool situation is cleared up. I'd be a bit narked if Poyet went to Swansea and we ended up with someone shit, but I have a feeling we won't be disappointed with whoever it is. There are certainly enough decent candidates.

Well it's only been two weeks today since he got sacked and West Brom and Liverpool haven't got a manager either, but it could be: a) they are still interviewing they have chosen someone out of work who has agreed but is on holiday, waiting for him to come back before calling press conference c) they have approached someone already at a club who has other job offers e.g. Martinez d) they are waiting to see if Chelsea keep Di Matteo e) they are after someone who is managing at the Euros f) they have got someone who has another job and are ironing out the financial details with their club g) they have no clue whatsoever to go for Either way Lerner always does his work in total privacy where possible so we and the press haven't the foggiest clue who it is. The Ole thing only came out through here and a bit of detective work from an airport staff member. We have absolutely no idea what is going on and people should chill a bit.

Me too. They've all got their pros and cons but at least they aren't our previous manager. Just wish they'd announce it fairly sharpish.

I think the OGS/family thing is a load of balls. I assume his kids were born in England and have only lived back in Norway for about a year and a bit. I'm sure Molde gave him the old emotional blackmail plus a renegotiated contract meaning he withdrew his application, that's all.

I thought the first half was encouraging how we kept the ball, at least until Gerrard got it as he then tried Hollywood pass after Hollywood pass and failed more often than not. Lampard would be better in this system I think. Second half was a farce as usual.