Raymond

He's one of those players that's going to be a great squad player in a Champions League side when he leaves us, completely out of the blue. Still, no idea why this bloke is still on the books to be honest.

I think his champions league days are well behind him now.

Sorry, completely forgot we bought him off Lyon...!

Yes - getting on for 2 years ago we brought him from Lyon. At that point he had played in the CL.

Given that he is 29 now - and we hold his registration for a further 2 years, I just don't see him playing CL football again.

If he does I will hold up my hand and say I was wrong - but given his current position that seems unlikely.

He played CL last season.

Stop talking nonsense. You know if it did not happen in England, it did not happen.

Mmmmm, I won't hold my breath on Ireland

I can't see him lasting the season under Lambert personally

Hope he proves me wrong

Can you tell me why?

2nd. Ireland is talented and is playing under a manager that has a history of getting the best out of players.

Why would he not succeed?

Does have to be paired with a midfielder/midfielders who can get the ball back and pressure.

I do not follow the English National Team so I do not know.

Have Bent and Carroll played together? If so, how did they look?

I think we need someone like N'Daw sat just in front of Vlaar & Baker

That would protect the back line and allow players like KEA / Ireland to be more progressive up the field

Are you a retard?

Are you? Seems like a reasonable idea and seems like the way Lambert would like to play.

If we do bring in a defensive midfielder, it has to be someone like (I said like. I know not as good as) Yaya Toure who can defend well but can also make driving, powerful runs up field.

I saw Clark do that a couple times last season. I liked him in the position, but it might be nice to bring someone in for that role.

To sell, there needs to be a buyer

Hence the pause in ALL activity for now

Thanks for clearing that up for us all, we've all been waiting for some official update and now we have it, great.

I am not so worried about the midfield. I feel like Clark looked good in that position last year

I'm afraid from the games I saw he was very weak and wouldn't have anywhere the midfield. I'm curious as to which game your referring to where you thought he looked good?

He scored a couple great goals for us during January/February, one against QPR I think?

More it was just a general feeling that he was well suited for the DM role. He knows how to defend and tackle, but has the skills to play the ball forward and get involved in the attack.

Very weak? I would like to know what games you thought he looked weak in .

Striker for sure. Left back a close second.

I am not so worried about the midfield. I feel like Clark looked good in that position last year and Warnock can play there as well.

NFL teams don't have as big of an expense than PL teams, because most of the players are coming straight from College (uni), thats why they are worth so much, because a lot of money stays within the team...Its a strange one no matter how bad an NFL team is, it can still be a cash Cow.

It more has to do with the rigid salary cap and the revenue sharing than rookie contracts.

A certain percentage of the Cowboys, for instance, revenue goes into a general pot that is split at the end of the season. This helps smaller market teams like the Browns turn a profit.

They also are limited by a fairly hard salary cap on what they can spend every year on players. I think the Browns payroll was roughly half of the Villa payroll last season.

Then, of course, is the crazy popularity of the sport in the richest country in the world. The NFL brings in about $6 billion in television revenue a year, and that money is spread evenly to all 32 teams.

There is just a ton of money. I saw the Dallas Cowboys were appraised at $5 billion. It is insane.

Been on loan at Burnley and played out of position, on loan at Leicester, didn't get a run of games. He has lots of abilty. Pace, strength (when he gets stuck in), very good dribbling skills, gets into some good positions as well. Needs to be more proactive and improve his movement in the box. For Delfouneso the problems are mental, but that also means that the problems can be overcome.

You left out the biggest problem. He cannot consistently hit the target.

Perhaps that is mental as well, and the goal on the American trip had to be a confidence boost. I am still waiting to see it.

I think Lambert played Warnock at DM in one of the American matches and I kind of liked him there last year.

Maybe PL sees him in that role for this team. Maybe use him in matches when we need a bit more bite in midfield.

“The big point that people sometimes forget is that he inherited Cleveland – he bought Villa. Any rumours that he could be thinking about getting out or losing interest is nonsense.” - PF

Talking about the rumors that Learner is looking to sell Villa as well as the Browns.

Basically the exact point I made a couple days ago.

I used the search feature but could not come up with anything.

Is there an app we can use to browse the VT forum?

Is the West Ham link real? The mirror (I know) have Collins in London for talks on Tuesday.

Would be a good trade for me. Give up 2 million up front, but lose 15k a week off the wage bill.

Anyone sure on the reason for selling?

It was his dad's team really, and the recession/divorce has seriously hurt his personal wealth.

If there was something you really did not care that much about you could sell for $950 million, would you?

I was watching Sturridge closely in the Olympics earlier and my thought process went "Mmm he is a bit greedy isn't he....Oh what a finish!"

If we had he and Nzogbia in the same team, I doubt we would see a pass.

I agree. Perspective is required when judging ALL youth players. Often we tend to use plenty of perspective when it comes to our own lads but then lose all sense of perspective when some hyped up kid from another club hits the scene. There's a significant percentage of our own fan base that seems to have the default setting of the grass always being greener elsewhere, they take the media's word as gospel and so on. It's this attitude that breeds a losing mentality and inferiority complex. Villa, as a club, should never have an inferiority complex - and nor should anyone who pulls on the claret and blue jersey. Would I swap Gary Gardner for Wilshere? Not in a million years.

I agree with you on principle, but not with this particular pair.

Gardner really struggled last season. You can say it was because of AM, and that would be a fair argument, but Wilshire has had success at the top level. Unfortunately, Gardner has not yet.

I do think he will come good though.