AVFCAM

Twitter a buzz with the story that Dempsey isn't off to Liverpool because Fulham won't sell to them... Some say he's due a medical at Sunderland... If they get Dempsey and we don't try, I'll be disappointed. Dempsey is the kind of player we need and should be trying to sign!

@VlaarGlare not him?

Vlaar on twitter makes me laugh! Doesn't hold back, just honest...

What worries me is that Randy does normallyopen the cheque book when we are in trouble, but, we normally end up with panic buys like Hutton...which just wstes more money and time

We do have an excellent academy, we produce some really talented ACADEMY level players. The problem is, most of our academy players are small and lightweight (Bannan, Albrighton) and never make the step up from boy to man so to speak. I would flourish for our academy, well, apart from being shit at football, but I'm 5'8 and quite small. Look at Wayne Rooney as an example, although he has grown a lot since he started in the PL at 16, he was already built bigger than our "academy graduates" are now. I remember reading a lads mag years ago, possibly Loaded, they were talking about "the next big thing" in everything. In football, it was Ciaran Clark, he was tipped as the next England captain (pre-ROI choice), tracked closely by Man Yoo and Chelsea and really rated by all who commented on the article. Since then, Clark hasn't really stepped up properly, he still looks like the young lad who first broke into the first team a few years ago. Whereas when you look at the other lads who have broken through in the Prem recently, Phil Jones is heavier set than Clark by some way and looks more like a PL quality centre back than an Academy player stepping up. Although Jones still has some glaring faults to his games.

As I said in the post match thread, he never seems to actually have control of the ball...he recieves a pass, touches the ball in the direction that he will run and follows next to it...he never looks as if he has it under control, it just looks more like a coincidence that the ball is near him...

My observations from the game CNZ never seems to actually have control of the ball, he just seems to run with the ball moving in the same direction...Ireland should have played instead of him... Bannan is ineffective, he plays over complicated passes, he can't shoot very well and he can't hold the ball up... Holman DID make a different when he came on today, he looked hungry and provided some good forward play. Totally different to what people have led me to believe... Clark isn't the right partner for Vlaar...yet...I do think Dunne would fit in well next to Vlaar however...Vlaar on the other hand does look decent... Bent is useless, not in talent, but in our team. He gets little to no service. It's like buying a sports car but not having the money to buy the fuel to use it... Buying Andy Carroll will be a huge waste of money unless we invest in some wingers who can cross the ball... Lichaj is a better left back than Baker, I don't think we need to buy a left back, maybe only one as cover/competition... I actually thought Herd wasn't that bad today, he puts in effort, plays with heart and made some good passes and tackles... KEA looked good today... Wiemann is better than Delfouneso, I have no idea why ND played today or why he has played ahead of Wiemann so many times since 2008... I wish we would shoot from further out more often... In the transfer window we need: A striker 2 wingers A Centre Mid as a minimum, just to compete... Newcastle and Swansea are going to rip us to pieces in our current state...as will most teams in the league...

Dudevillaisnice Much applause for the "new signing" excuse...I'd forgotten about that, classic mate!

I may have missed the boat on this, but, did anybody else catch Kendrick's tweet re: Lambert explaining the difficulty in bringing in players that "meet his criteria"? To me it just stinks of the same old bullshit we get fed...strung along for a whole window and then the same excuses start coming out... "There's no value out there" "We only want hungry players" "We can't find anyone we want" If there's no money, I just wish they'd be honest. Instead of drumming up season ticket sales with all the crap and then leaving us to suffer another season of crap!

I think I echo the sentiment of many on here with regards to the club playing a risky game with the "sell to buy" policy... The players we are looking to shift, Hutton, Warnock, Dunne, are all being looked at by 2 teams who are regularly buying players on the ;ast day of the window, Stoke and Sunderland. If we wait until the last day, we've possibly lost 2 games and can possibly miss out on our targets or be unable to find replacements should those targets fail to materialise!

Twitter is bloody awash with news about Villa signing players... It's just infuriating that it's just players signing shit you buy from the club shop... Perhaps the club is on a sell to buy kind of policy...take a lot of shorts to buy a player mind... Gaffuw...

Not overnight, but at least maybe a bit of fight...maybe some kind of improvement. I didn't really see much of an improvement apart from more passing...but passing means little when there's no final product... Like I said, im not pissed off, I'm just anxious....

The reason I am getting a little anxious is because I've just pumped over £500 into the club for another season ticket, I'd thought about returning it, didn't, then saw a pretty average performance on Saturday with all the same problems as last year (no pace, no width, no delivery)... I can see that we need wingers yet we don't seem to be getting any. My worry is that another year will go down the pan. Another year like the last 2 and I not only do I think I'll be refusing to renew next year, but I'll probably give up going mid season. Only 1 game in yes, but most people's tolerance for dross has been left pretty low after the last 2 years...

Or is it that he backed MON so unreservedly? Perhaps he wishes he had questioned a few of the purchases rather than trusting MON's judgement of worth...

I agree with Richard, if we don't try and sign Johnson and he moves elsewhere on a permanent deal, I'd be annoyed. He's the ole player we should have signed instead of Downing. Wingers are what I've been saying we need since AY and SD were sold. Ably wasnt good enough last year. Johnson for £12m Nathan Dyer for £8m (is he a winger?) and then maybe a CM as well! I'd ask for a striker, but then I'm just being greedy. I genuinely think our issues last season were down to not having wingers!

Not Bannan please. He'll play long balls to nobody and he give the ball away. Then he'll smash a sitter over the bar. I'd love to be proved wrong.

Are any defences really scared of Gabby though?!

I'm not sure why Randy getting $1billion dollars for the Browns means he is selling up here at Villa Park. I can see what is being said about the cost cutting, but, we have signed players this year (I know some have left) and our owner, who is apparently looking to sell, used his own private jet trying to secure a manager for us (the Gunnar saga)... I'd have thought getting $1billion for the Browns would keep him interested here, he no longer has to worry about his own fortune, that's ok now. He can just get Villa to a point of running under it's own power.

I see Ends Steven's transfer a bit like I see Fabian Delph's and I don't think we really handled it well...we've been a bit like Chelsea with it all. We signed Delph, a promising young player who was playing week in, week out, for his old club. He then plays a handful of times and is obviously not quite good enough to be a regular. Then he gets injured (quite a bit) and never gets a run in the team due to not being good enough or another injury. We signed Enda Stevens, I don't know much about him, but, he was promising enough for Shamrock Rovers to be keen to hold onto him until the end of their season. He makes the bench less than a handful of times during the season, doesn't play once. Plays a bit in pre-season. Chelsea and I suppose Man Yoo and Citeh are guilty of this as well, buy youngsters, almost so others can't have them and then sit them on the bench. Look at Sidwell as an example, he could've gone to quite a few PL teams after his season with Reading, but, Chelsea wooed him and he sat on the bench all year, because he wasn't good enough. This lack of playing has moulded him into the "player" he is today, which is far less less than the player he seemed to be becoming (although he may have only been a one season wonder anyway) Why didn't we loan Enda back to Shamrock Rovers? Why hasn't Delph spent more time back at Leeds (although he did get injured last time he went...surprise, surprise)? Just seems a bit of a waste...

For all the dressing room bust issues, for all the hoof balls...he did put in some extremely decent performances for us. He did put himself on the line for the shirt on occasions and he did have a good number of good games. Call him overpaid and a bad influence, but he's been alright for us.

Moose on twitter saying fee agreed and should sign in next 48 hours... I know he grates some people but he's normally pretty spot on with hammers stuff!

Adebayor is in it for the money and that is all

Have I missed something?! When did this get confirmed, with only a medical to carry out?

My thoughts on Gabby, if anyone actually cares: Gabby is a loyal player, loves the Villa and would stay here until he retired because he loves he club. Gabby is a loyal player, loves the Villa and would stay here until he retired because he is now on a very decent wage for a player of his ability. Every season he has a few good months where he is unstoppable, usually early October to mid December. This is followed by a few good goals, a few tap ins, and very little else. Gabby has never had to play for a contract, he has always been offered an extension, with a pay rise, long before his deal has come to an end. I'm not saying he hasn't deserved these extensions, nor that he hasn't shown (some of) his worth. What I am saying however, is that he has got very comfortable. I always remember Carew being out for most of the year with a back problem, yet he still outscored Gabby in what was Gabby's most prolific season...even though Carew was now creaking when he moved and the turning circle of a narrow boat. If we got a bid of £10mish, I'd sell, simply because for the (rumoured) £50k per week could be better spent on somebody better. He earns that money for loyalty, which he fully deserves, but, when they are people better suited to he job you need to move people on.

Si. No, I like the yellow bit