KHV

anybody else think that the hutton signing will mean lichaj going back on loan to leeds and young used as a sub to cover rb and lb as young will be 32 by the end of july then by next season decide on lichaj and probably move young on as he will be 33. just a hunch

I would be suprised at all if that happened. I think Leeds are keen again

I;d take 10 milli0on plus Lucas or Kuyt. THe rest i wouldnt touch

Wouldn't want either.

I think £10m + Kuyt for Downing would be an outstanding deal for Villa.

I've never understood why some people don't rate Kuyt. Fantastic work rate, never stops running, no small skill, scores quite regularly whatever position he's playing in, makes things happen by sheer persistence... what more do people want?

I doubt Liverpool will get rid of Kuyt to be fair

We have got L.young, Cuellar and Beye that can play RB I dont think its worth spending £5m on Hutton as I dont think he will make us any better. Am I the only one thinking LB would be better as we only have Warnock who is a true left footed LB??

I think warnock will be given a second chance. i dont mins that if he performs like he did when he first joined

The problem is as highly as I rate Albrighton I don't think he can perform for 38 games in a season, and we need competition. Worst case scenario is we don't sign another winger, one of the starting wingers gets injured and Gabby ends up back on the right rather then up front when he belongs.

He's not a child. And he's proved himself last season. If he can't be put in the side now, when can he ?

His time has more than come.

I said 38 games, most of his teammates in the U21 side didn't play 38 games either. At their age they can't consistently perform for that long unless they're some superstar. Which is why he needs competition...

He can go missing in some games, I dont think he should be the direct replacement for Ash at this stage, not sure he is up to it

I hope he stays fit, major shoulder injuries in older keepers tend to be a bad combination

Sorry to state the bleeding obvious, but didn't Luke Young spend an entire season at left back and do a bloody marvelous job there?

Yes he did but he was apparently pretty unhappy about it.

I would rather we stuck with Young at RB and signed a LB than buy Hutton.

I think its more a case of availability!

I would love Enrique but I dont think we have a chance of signing him.

I would like him to but I dont think he is our price range, I imagine he will go for £10m at least

Not sure about Hutton. Not sure he is all that solid defensively and thats what we all want for the new season, a more solid defence.

Signing Hutton does not really inspire me tbf, to me he is just an average player and I dont think he will improve the team that much if I'm honest.

Potentially a huge player for us imo!!

Thats the trouble with Ireland though, key word being potentially.

Keep him happy and he'll play and play well. He is like Darren Bent in that regard if he's happy he will put in 110% week in week out, do something to annoy him or upset him and he'll coast at about 40% until he's sold.

How are we supposed to 'keep him happy' though?

If hes not happy being paid 80k a week to play football then im afraid hes a lost cause. People can point to the way Houllier supposedly treated him, but as far as i can see Houllier was more than willing to give him a chance.

Houllier did give him a chance but he kept his finger firmly up his arse. He didnt even pull it half way out. Face it Ireland does not want to be here or play for us and he is on about £80k a week !!!!! No thanks

Can't see Bent going, no one is going to sign Darren Bent (28-29) for 12/13 season for £20-25 million etc...

depends how he does next year and how he does for england

Alan Hutton no thanks

After 'Tin Tin' was appointed by the board i stated on here that Downing would leave.

Bent will be next, maybe not until January but he will be off too.

Unfortunately I fear you may be right.

He wont be here next season I fear

He will be. Besides the fact we will strengthen in the coming weeks, who will buy him?

United- Nope

Chelsea- Nope

Man City- Will want a 'bigger name'

Arsenal- Would be a good fit but Wenger won't pay big for a 27 yo

Liverpool - Suarez & Carroll so Nope

Spurs- Not again

Where do you think he will go?

Should have been clearer, he wont be here for the 12/13 season.

Who do you think we will strenghten with in the coming weeks? I dont think I am as optimistic as you on that front

Im not sure Lichaj is prem quality

Potentially a huge player for us imo!!

Thats the trouble with Ireland though, key word being potentially.

Keep him happy and he'll play and play well. He is like Darren Bent in that regard if he's happy he will put in 110% week in week out, do something to annoy him or upset him and he'll coast at about 40% until he's sold.

He hasnt done a thing for about 3 and half years though. Has he been unhappy for that long???

I just think he is a lazy arrogant git.

He was outstanding in 08-09. He was OK in 09-10. He had a disaster in 10-11 although he did miss over half of it thorugh injury.

Any way sick of repeating the same thing. Can’t wait until he bangs in a few in pre season and the usual fickle Villa fans will be licking his balls.

Trouble is they will then be claiming he’s Zidane and will go back to moaning when he doesn’t secure us champions league qualification!!

He is just another Stan Collymore

After 'Tin Tin' was appointed by the board i stated on here that Downing would leave.

Bent will be next, maybe not until January but he will be off too.

Unfortunately I fear you may be right.

He wont be here next season I fear

Give Eck chance to look at the players and see who he wants to buy

Eck buying players is something that worries me greatly

Potentially a huge player for us imo!!

Thats the trouble with Ireland though, key word being potentially.

Keep him happy and he'll play and play well. He is like Darren Bent in that regard if he's happy he will put in 110% week in week out, do something to annoy him or upset him and he'll coast at about 40% until he's sold.

He hasnt done a thing for about 3 and half years though. Has he been unhappy for that long???

I just think he is a lazy arrogant git.

Potentially a huge player for us imo!!

Thats the trouble with Ireland though, key word being potentially.

we will sell downing for £17-20m . There is no way we will keep hold of him for another year. We need the money we are a selling club

For those who voted yes what has he done in the last 2 weeks that is so impressive?

he hasnt signed Barry Ferguson

yet..............................

I said no,

I never wanted him in the first place and he has done nothing so far apart from say everybody will be given a chance. I took that comment as meaning the likes of Beye, Warnock and Ireland will be in the first team so he has done bugger all to endear me to him so far.

I doubt he will do anyrhing to inspire me in the transfer market although I will not blame that on him as I dont think we have a pot to piss in at the moment.

Probably wont be changing my mind until after the first 5 or 6 games.

Lets be fair, if somehow McLeish can get him to play well next season and do something for the team, then I couldn't really give a shit what he said about Birmingham.

You can be pretty sure he isn't the first, and wont be the last football that we sign who doesn't really like Birmingham, Ireland is just a bit more stupid in interviews.

I'd be amazed if anybody can get anything out of Ireland. Personally I just think that lad is a complete knobhead and he will just waste his talent a bit like Dalian Atkinson and Stan Collymore did

"As a city, Birmingham doesn't compare to Manchester"

SI has clearly never been to the karaoke disco at the red lion in Erdington, that will change his mind

That's my one major concern over him; his ego. He does seem to think he's vastly better than he actually is. I remember he was constantly touting alleged moves to Arsenal and the like whenever his Newcastle-form dipped, and yet none of the big boys came calling.

I think he'd be good for us, but almost equally as frustrating.

Good but equally frustrating? Sound like he's already Villa through-and-through!

Would be a good replacement for Downing though. we havent got anybody else to stick on the left

I would love to see Ireland perform for Villa though I really don't think it helped that Houllier called him out in public, you just don't do that as a manager. You sit down with the player and talk it through. I mean had that not happened and he had got a few more games he could have really shined. Much of the time when watching him Ireland looked frustrated as Gabby just wasn't intelligent enough to read his passing, maybe Bent is a bit smarter..

^This^

Houllier treated some of our players poorly and showed them a lack of respect.

Stephen Ireland doesnt deserve any respect. He hasnt played well for nearly 3 years and sat on his arse collecting £60-£80k a week

He is such a lazy tosser he retired from internatioanl football at 22, and I forget how many times his grandmother has supposed to have died

Well that's Houllier's fault for freezing him out of the first team and sticking him in the reserves.