nick76

Yeah the front of the marketing of new kit, captains armband and days later leaving.....all just a disaster for us as a club as we won't believe anything in the future and for Delph nobody will believe his integrity in the future

Fabian Wealth, I love it and the only thing that has made me laugh!!!!

Bizarrely I actually feel less confident about keeping Benteke now. Just thought bringing in Gueye and potential a couple of others we have been linked with surrounded by Delph would show Benteke that while we aren't great, Liverpool isn't much of a leap as they will again struggle to get a CL place this season so what's the point, wait for a big team to come in for him.

Yep another hyped youngster that hasn't done it primarily because of injury. More likely to get injured again than have any real impact on the pitch

Agree with this. I have never got a name on a shirt and if I would get one on the yellow away kit it would spell McGrath. I got De La Cruz. I knew he would never betray me I was the same with Salifou, he would never betray me.....long live Salifou

I'm not worried about the money, it's good money for a player we should've lost for free but the marketing and player loyalty does just crap over all of us and shows how gullible we are and they know it and because they have no spine they use it against us

What a waste of talent, going to sit on Man City's bench. Shame he said all he said in January and then moves six months later makes him looks him look really bad even if he is moving to city

if we got a talented player playing well that's the least important thing??? Bizarre! Sherwood could be gone by December? Absolutely nothing suggests that, we hope to be investing in the team this summer under his direction. Why would we do that if we think he'll be gone by December, makes no sense. Buying progressively, what does that mean. We tried only buying youth and that didn't work. We need to take risks, some talent that we can get playing well now that means the team playing well making us more attractive to other players and focus off younger/new players like Gueye and Grealish. That's progressive......

Yes I imagine you are mate... He is trouble, absolutely everything about him is wrong. Entering the twilight of his career, only cares about picking his his wage, comes with so much baggage he is more likely to destabilise the team than add anything, has zero resale value, would blow our hole in our wage budget / structure, i could go on and on... The fact that Spurs are (allegedly) willing to subsidise some of his wages to get him out of the club should set alarm bells off. Too many of these clowns in the game, yeah on their day they look world beaters, but more often than night they are useless and simply a drain on the club. I'm sure Liverpool felt the same way about Balotelli and he has way way more upside than Adebayor, but the sad truth is many of these players are more interested in 'being' footballers than actually playing football. I would fell both sick and violated if he joined us, massive massive step backwards. We should be focusing on finding younger players with real hunger and desire, that want to play and want grow and improve. Lets go out and find a 25 yo Adebayor who wants to make a name for himself, i.e. Wilfried Bony or Benteke types. see I don't think I would mind him joining either. Sherwood got something out of him, there is no doubt he has talent and young, eager Bentekes out there are rare. Clubs like us generally have to take risks on players like this to have a bit extra talent in their squad.

Does anybody know if Benteke wants to go to Liverpool? Have we heard anything from him or his agent at all? I see Liverpool are after him and they may have had some encouragement from somewhere I'm assuming but I havent seen anything saying he is interested but I may have missed it. Still not sure why he'd want to go there as I've said before, his talents scream a better team and if he has a good season with us where he is settle and scores for fun and then showcased in the Euro's then he can go to a big team, a team that's CL qualified at least.

I guess that may, or may not be true. it's a flip of a coin

30m plus Milner

What a strange article.....interested in Benteke who they peeved off before and then it looks like they are likely to not spend more than 15m for any one player. Let's says, we are interested in Messi but we are not at the level he needs and we are unlikely to spend more than 5m on a player. About the same effect

Not going IMO, Benteke will surely want a CL club and Liverpool aren't there and will struggle in the future to get there as Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal are almost locks and Man Utd struggled but still got fourth and are looking to spend big to get back to where they believe they should be. Why risk moving now than wait for a CL club to come in for you especially the season before a major championships, makes no sense. I think we are fortunate that it's Liverpool interested and not a big club, so we might get another season from him

Until confirmed by the club or player I'm calling BS. Like others I've got to believe after all the hype, the way it was release/announced at the game when he signed the deal that the clause if any was only if we got relegated.

I still don't see why he would go there? Surely another season with us, put himself in the shop window in euro's and then go to a really big club

The guy is too good for Liverpool, hope he holds out for a bigger club when he does leave. It would be funny if Liverpool did trigger the release clause and then Benteke said no.............

Can he play at left back?

Problem is that you probably wouldn't be because you'd get used to having a lifestyle at that level and once you stop earning that you want to continue living your lifestyle. Look how many players have declared bankruptcy not long after retirement or go on to continue working in whatever form. People get used to living off the wage they earn and some are fortunate to invest wisely and others squander that money but very few ever retire from all work post the football career. You start expecting the better things in life, bigger mortgages (larger interest payment), more exotic holidays, better cars etc and you also do this because your friends (new friends) do the same so peer pressure. You also think how many fat cats have been in the press over the last 20 years about wanting more money, doing dodgy schemes to get more money even though they are incredibly wealthy anyway. The same with recording artists or any walk of life, money is not the be all but people get used to living at a certain level and while you think you'd be set for life at 70k per week, that's because you are comparing it to the situation you are in now. These guys are used to 70k a week and 20k more is better, 50k even better and so on......... so it's all about your own situation. Just think when it comes to your annual pay rise at work, a difference in a 2% payrise to a 4% payrise, that's not life changing but I'm sure it would be a big issue for you

Fixed

I'm in the same boat in terms of travelling having flew over from Sydney and paid OTT for tickets as I didnt have enough attendances to get a regular ticket thus had to go through the corrupt system of buying from Club Wembley member who has made a fortune from me for tickets worth a fraction of the value. I'm in London at the moment for a few days of work before flying back to Sydney tomorrow, and have been enduring some stick Saturday was a huge day, I was so hoping for not the pain I suffered in the 2000 final and again I suffered the same. I get up at stupid hours to watch Villa every week live as we are fortunate/unfortunate to get almost all the Villa league games through Foxtel (OZ equivalent to Sky), and must admit I have been so disillusioned this season that I have missed one or two games for various reasons. I have wanted to give up the Villa but they are part of who I am and I think even if it gets worse I will still never be done with Villa, I just don't think I have that ability. Growing up in Erdington with a season ticket and going to all the away games season after season and then moving to Sydney for work 11 years ago at the age of 27, the feeling hasnt changed no matter what has happened in the corrupt larger game. Those 90 minutes every week, I still hope, I still bite my nails, I shout and scream, mostly in pain rather than joy and I stand and argue the merits of my team to any expat that wishes to argue. Saturday was a very low point, the last four seasons have been awful, the corrupt governing bodies are destroying the game and FFP is a disgrace and totally unfair but those 90 minutes every week I still believe, I still hope and that's why I can't give up the Villa................

Feel Lerner needs to go if it's down to stick or twist. Worried that FFP means even a new owner can't do much and worried a new owner could be worse but just like a job where you are unhappy, moving may not be any better but you don't know until you try. The fact that you are unhappy now means there is a current problem and like that phrase "doing the same over and over again and expecting a different result....." comes to mind

Just got back.....totally gutted. Arsenal were immense, we never had a chance. Every one of their players was on fire and we just don't have equal quality to match. By early second half we knew it was over. Not really going to blame the players, as whether you argue whether they, the villa players, turned up or not which'll be an ongoing debate we just couldn't compete so losing 1-0 or 4-0 still means we lost. We need changes at our club if we are going to move up the table as our quality is not great, just better than relegation and potentially a few places higher but that's it. I really hope we can change that..... Flew in from Sydney, paid OTT for tickets and now I'm sitting in my moms house after being spanked 4-0.....sometimes it's hard being a villa fan

Think there is a lot of over reaction, we went from 0-0 to 3-0 down in 2 min 50 sec. No manager can make any changes that quick. We had a blip of a game, well half a game, it's over, fortunately in hindsight made no difference. Now let's learn from it and then forget it, we need confidence back for the final.....

Oh well, hopefully that's all the mistakes out before the final, it's a kick up the backside that we aren't brilliant and need to focus, and hopefully Spurs will do the business over Hull for us.