FamousHolteUnion

Guidetti linked to Sunderland again for £6m, they say City have given the greenlight for him to hold talks with Sunderland, so a bit more than just idle speculation MON may be interested.. could still be bull.

They're looking to have Saha + Guidetti as a partnership according to the article.

Really hope we're looking at Guidetti considering injuries to Gabby and Holman and the likelihood Bent will get injured again.

Every time I see a new page on this thread I get hopeful he's moved on to another club who can put the final nails into the coffin that is his career, alas, not yet. I remain hopeful that it'll happen though... :/

a Berbatov and Bent strike partnership sounds like perhaps the most awful partnership we could ever hope to create up front. 2 of the laziest strikers we could ever hope to put togther..

------Ireland

--Berbatov-Bent

Jesus, they'd have a game of cards on the go at the edge of the opposition box waiting for the ball to come within a 10 yard distance from them before thinking about moving.

Awful idea. Just, awful.

Bent really isn't lazy.

Not lazy per se in the sense that he doesn't move (I'm a big fan of Bent). I.E vs Swansea Bent covered more ground than any other player on the pitch this season, so yes he isn't lazy in that sense I guess I meant more in the sense of how involved he gets in a game, he reads the game and makes runs to get into positions very well but in the build-up and creating part of the game he is non-existant (yes I know thats not his game).

The point being that a Berbatov and Bent partnership wouldn't do anything, there is no grafter that is going to go wide to help create or drop deeper to pick up the ball and make those powerful runs, it wouldn't work at all and we'd have two isolated strikers not doing an awful lot picking up somewhere in the region of 150k a week between them.

a Berbatov and Bent strike partnership sounds like perhaps the most awful partnership we could ever hope to create up front. 2 of the laziest strikers we could ever hope to put togther..

------Ireland

--Berbatov-Bent

Jesus, they'd have a game of cards on the go at the edge of the opposition box waiting for the ball to come within a 10 yard distance from them before thinking about moving.

Awful idea. Just, awful.

Had he not refused to go on loan since joining Chelsea I reckon he would have been part of Chelsea's first team plans, he needs a loan but was having none of it when he first joined them.

Our aim isn't European Qualification.

His agent said yesterday he is in the final stages of tying up a loan move to a Premier League team and that it isn't Fulham (who he'd been linked with). Would like to think we're in for him but another young unproven striker (albeit one with the potential to be the best striker in our team by a long shot) on just a season long loan could be quite risky if Bent gets injured and we havent won the league by November (when Gabby stops scoring) relying on 3 unproven guys to bring in the goals.

I would like Lukaku though dont get me wrong but I'd rather take a similar risk with somebody like Guidetti and have him permanently rather than a year.

Kenwyne hates being at Stoke according to Stoke fans, apparently on his twitter (which I imagine has been deleted as I cant find it) he was apparently getting some stick for calling the club a joke because of something that happened on a trip to the gym. He then replied to one of their fans (paraphrasing) 'Go on then give up your season ticket and see if I still get paid' or something to that effect.

I'd only go for him if it was a straight swap with Alan Hutton and even thats in the vain hope he would work well with Bent again.

Wolfswinkel is surely out of our reach?

Fletcher would be about £7m absolute tops if he was playing in the Eredivisie, Ligue 1 or Bundesliga last season. For £13m we could be signing a very good striker abroad (or Guidetti) and a Left back and possibly even a third player. i.e:

Guidetti, Cresswell and Annan.

I think it'll be

----------KEA

----Bannan-Holman

--------Ireland

-----NZog--Bent

vs West Ham.

She'd definitely get it. (Ennis that is)

He should go to Rangers in the Scottish third division or wherever they are now. I doubt he'd be good enough for the Scottish Third Tier but at least they might be willing to take him as no-one else wants to play for them.

Annan was quite promising at one point iirc.

Obligatory 'he was a beast on FM' post too.

So he can take an 80% pay cut and not have to compete for any of those 4 pesky trophies he'll be competing for with City this season. It's as good as a done deal.

Welcome Nigel.

He joined on 30k a week I believe.

I believe the work permit issue. Perhaps Makoun doesn't want to play for us but considering he gave up CL football to come to play in the Premier League for us I dont believe that either. Maybe he really really just wanted to play for Houllier but it's quite a big step to take to move here to play for a manager that was being hounded out during the January he joined, honestly believe he wants to play for us. Dont think we want to sell him, read these quotes from Paul Lambert about Karim El Ahmadi:

"I don't think he's a set player in terms of defensive or offensive. He can do most things and could do both roles if I asked him to do that.

"Certainly I won't curtail him and will let him play with freedom because I think that is the way he plays. He is a very good player.

"It was pleasing to get the deal done early because we needed someone who can put their foot on the ball and move it about a bit quicker. I think he'll do that for us.

"I think your eye as a manager tells you what a player is like in terms of their good habits and bad habits as well as how well they can move the ball.

"I think he can move the ball well and, at 27-years-old, he's an experienced player who has played international football.

I very much think a lot of these points can be applied to Makoun too. Especially about him being able to play deeper or more offensively, being able to move the ball about quicker than the rest of the squad, experienced etc.

Exactly the type of signings I wanted. Happy so far.

Would love Douglas, Newcastle have been after him. He was quoted at one point as saying that Newcastle were after him but so were 5 clubs, some from the premiership and that bigger clubs than Newcastle were after him.

Now, I know we know we're bigger than Newcastle, but unsure whether Douglas would know this or merely believe that Newcastle are bigger due to their 5th place last season, as I imagine we'd be offering similar wages I'd be surprised if he chose us over them if they can push for CL this season.

Douglas would be fantastic though, especially to partner with Vlaar, although I'd worry about losing Clark.

James Nursey @JamesNursey - Appears #AVFC Lambert still considering another centre-back despite signing Vlaar. This summer at Villa Park promises to be a serious refit

If true imo it could mean one of three things:

1) Lambert rates Clark as a backup CB or as more of a midfielder

2) Baker will be due for a loan spell, giving us Vlaar, Clark, Dunne + New Guy

3) My personal favourite, Dunne will be sold meaning we have space for a backup CB to understudy with Baker to Vlaar and Clark.

Hopefully its Dunne being sold.

What else is he going to say though? I mean that is such an obvious statement you wouldn't expect him to say anything else. I don't think anything can be read into that.

It's Smoke and Mirrors I tell ya!

I'll give it a go.

Rumours that Randy Lerner is losing his commitment to Aston Villa after deciding to sell Cleveland Browns have been described as 'nonsense' by chief executive Paul Faulkner.

Lerner has opted to sell the NFL franchise, prompting some speculation that he could follow the same path with Villa whom he bought six years ago.

But Faulkner is adamant that is not the case and Lerner has already spent nearly £10million on new signings for manager Paul Lambert this summer.

Faulkner told the Express and Star: "The Browns situation means absolutely nothing with regard to Aston Villa - neither good nor bad.

"The big point that people sometimes forget is that he inherited Cleveland Browns. He bought Aston Villa.

"Any rumours that Randy could be thinking about getting out or losing interest is nonsense."

Sky Sports News

#OnlyOneHappyWithUsBeingFinanciallyResponsible

the player concerned behaved appallingly

with Dunne under Houllier, shouldve had the boot then. He's been in crap form for 2 seasons and is on 20-25k more a week than he's ever been worth to us. This is why he's been given the boot by fans.