DCJonah

Amazing that WBA can spend more on wages than us these days.

I doubt it. Don't forget we've still got a few players here on massive wages, it's just that most of them aren't good enough to be starting.

I'm not sure our existing players are relevant to the first point.

At the moment it seems that west brom can currently offer better wages than us.

West ham and west brom making positive signings that I'd have liked.

Hope we have some takeover news soon as I fear we'll be looking at relegation rivals with envy at how they're improving their squads.

I heard the same things being said about Norwich last season. Keep Calm and watch the World Cup.

Well I wasn't too impressed with the signings Norwich made last season. I know there's little point worrying about it but it will become a serious concern if teams continue to spend. We're in a unique position, we're the only club who has an owner open about not wanting to be here. Other teams will be implementing plans to achieve the best they can and we'll be doing very little in way of a plan. We'll be spending a minimal amount to try and remain a premiership team.

West ham and west brom making positive signings that I'd have liked.

Hope we have some takeover news soon as I fear we'll be looking at relegation rivals with envy at how they're improving their squads.

Maybe I'm being very negative but I'm seeing about 18 pts on the table by Xmas.

Like others have said though we'll pick up points in unexpected games and drop a few where we should win.

The news about arison is interesting. That's an awful lot of money to then not reinvest it in something.

Has a sporting background as well.

I hope that's rubbish and that Lerner would accept a fair amount for a club he's run very poorly.

To be fair I'm 6ft 5 so 8pints will look down on me, I'm not at his level.

I have to always get to the airport very early to try and get emergency exit seats.

I'm aware I'm ruining a nice wedding thread by complaining about issues faced by the taller man so I'll stop now.

Let's bitch about leg room on flights and the tutting that comes from behind when you sit down in the cinema or theatre

You win

I've never really got the fuss over kits. some people get very worked up about them. I think once again they look OK. Not the best kits we've ever had but they look smart and I'll probably pick up the away one.

Awesome mate! Share the rest when you get them.

A question though - are you taller than 8pints?!

Haha not sure how tall he is but I'm vertically superior to a lot of men. The wife did have to put a pair of high heels on for the wedding day.

A couple the photographer sent us. Looking forward to seeing the rest even though he took what seemed like thousands and thousands!!

Congrats! We thought it'd be easy to see everyone whilst we were away but folks were in different resorts so it meant a lot of chasing about in the end.

Yeah it was the same for us. Some people I only barely spoke to the day of the wedding which I felt a bit guilty about. And I had 15 family members miss the ceremony as they got lost.

Is £500 enough to get a decent ring? The one she pointed out was £300 but I'm not falling for the trap and would like to get a nicer one but I don't earn enough to justify spending £1k plus, especially as we are saving towards a holiday and a deposit on a house.

The best thing to do is go and speak to people in the jewellery quarter. I learnt so much about diamonds and different styles. If you know the style she likes you should be able to then find the diamond that fits your budget. I decided to go for a better quality diamond over a huge one.

Congrats that looks great. I got married in Tuscany a couple of weeks ago and I'd echo the statement about having a wedding abroad. We had a get together the day before and then a BBQ the day after so it was great to see everybody for more than just the day. Most of my family used it as an excuse to have a holiday so it was nice to hear what they got up to when they left us.

I have to say I never realised how much work went into sorting out a wedding and although I don't really like being the centre of attention I had a fantastic day. It just goes so quick.

I'd post a pic but not entirely sure how to do it.

Oh and can't wait for the honeymoom. Off to Vegas, mexico and New York in 5 weeks time.

At the same time though Vlaar isn't going to want anything less than playing week in week out.

Not sure you can state something like that. Many good players are happy to go to a big club and become part of the squad in order to win things and earn more money. I'm not sure Vlaar would be any different.

If not stupidity, it could be that Lerner just doesn't give a toss at all.

I think its a mixture. He continues to make very poor decisions and if I'm honest I don't think he's seemed too interested in the state of the club since he hired Alex McLeish.

It all depends on vlaars attitude. If he's happy to stay another year he will but if not I can't see us putting up much of a fight for a player who wants to leave with only 12 months left on his contract.

Also the club can't really make much of a stand when the owner openly doesn't want to be here.

If any of Man Utd, Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal come in for him he will want out just like Barry, Milner, Young and Downing did. In all fairness as much as it grieves me to say it given the state of the club you could hardly blame him.

For what its worth I don't think one of the top teams will come in for him.

I don't think it will have to be a top team for him to want to leave.

The good news for us is that both Lerner and Lambert will probably be hoping they don't have to be all that concerned with what happens next summer - so there's not a lot of benefit in picking up £3m now for Vlaar rather than just letting him run out his contract. I think he'll leave on a free next summer so we'll get another year out of him. In a way that's good news, we're forced at the moment into thinking in the short term on the pitch and he'll be 30 by then so his residual value wouldn't mean a big hit..

It's not so good news on Delph, who we'll be giving up for nothing instead of for £15m.

I'd say Delph is worth no more than £10m

I know this isn't a delph thread but i think delph is worth £15 million +

TBH I'm struggling to see why a better side won't come in for him this summer.

This to be honest. Even teams who are only just slightly above us, Southampton for example, could offer him a much better deal than what we could. Last year of his contract and is in his prime, performing better and better as the games go by. Why wouldn't another team want him?

Any half decent team scouting the world cup will look at our current situation, the length left on his contract and think he's worth going after.

TBH I'm struggling to see why a better side won't come in for him this summer.

I bet his agent is very happy.

Hes a good solid defender, and alongside a quicker defender, his reading of the game, and experience, is crucial.

Don't recall Vidic being very quick tbh.

Vlaar and Okores, with a good defensive midfielder in front of them, would be a good defence imho.

It's got potential but I worry if Lambert can organise the team correctly.

I'm still not sure he's good enough for a team challenging for the title. But van gaal may fancy him if he continues his world cup like this.

Demichelis vs Vlaar…its pretty even isn't it?

Yeah good point. I'll guess we'll see because this summer is a great chance to get him.

Shows how much some Villa fans know about our players.

I think the last couple of years have made it difficult for fans to think of our players as real quality unless they do stand out things like delph and benteke.