HalfTimePost

Think he can pretty much play where he wants in defence? Pretty sure thats what Transfermarkt says anyway, naturally a rightback but can go where he needs to be put. But I think that would be fine. Some actual competition for both Lowton and Bennett because Lichaj, Stephens, Warnock and Hutton just havent provided real competition this season despite Bennett's woeful form.

Randy wouldnt. Shaw is a very good player. Liked him for 2 or 3 years now before he broke into the Southampton first team, he'll go to a team higher up the league than us I imagine. United could be a good shout for him. I think he has the potential to be that good. I would love him at Villa if it was feasible mind.

No thanks to Rose. Bang average player who is having a good season in a team firstly managed by MON, who we know can make shite players look half decent, and now PDC who I think will show to be very similar to MON in that sense, huge motivation and Sunderland will sink like a ship next season, and Rose's form (whoever he is at) will be the same imo. Would like to be proven wrong, but Levy will ask for a huge sum and I dont think Rose will be worth it in the long run. I'd prefer Cavanda or a left-sided version of Lowton (but one that is cheaper than Baines )

Need to shift a few players this summer, a lot of that can be done without affecting our first team too much and freeing up a lot of wages. Players I would be letting go and selling would be: Given 60k Warnock 45k Hutton 30k Lichaj & Stephens (combined 25k?) Dunne 55k Herd 15k Petrov (Retirement) 55k Makoun 30k Ireland 70k Bent 90k Fonz 15k? Freeing up around £26,000,000 a year in wages and I dont think any of that really affects our Matchday Squad, just a keeper and FB needed to replace Given and Lichaj on the bench. Herd made a few appearances but I thought he was mostly awful before his injury anyway. Then I'd like to see us bring in: 1 GK to backup Guzan 1 FB to rival Lowton 1 FB to rival Bennett 1 CB who is not injury prone 1 DM 1 CM 1 AM 1 Winger 1 Striker I also think Bannan, KEA, Albrighton, NZogbia (been better lately, but due to his wages:impact ratio) and Holman could go but expect them to be given another year as our squad is so thin.

We arent going to be signing anyone

I just want SOMETHING.

**** Di Matteo. And it's nothing to do with the Baggies connection.

I assume they know this long in advance, networking, maybe the scout finds out for the club. In some cases the agent will be the agent to other people at the club. (Pretty sure Bent, Houllier, GMac, Given, Ireland all share an agent). Failing that Transfermarkt usually knows the agents for well known players... Sissoko Transfermarkt and even tells you who else has that Agent. According to that Sissoko shares and agent with: Hatem Ben Arfa, Mathieu Debuchy, M'Baye Niang, Coutinho.. reads like a list of players recently touted to move to the PL. (They have loads more players and some v. high quality ones, but picked those out as interesting that they share an agent) And considering Coutinho's agent has been very vocal in playing up any link with us, it's not too surprising to see Sissoko being linked to pretty much everybody considering he's almost out of contract, agent is probably creating a lot of links to the press.

M'Vila has a bad attitude. Lambert won't go for him. End of.

I know I know.. Tancredi Palermi according to his Twitter profile: "CNN italian correspondent. Gazzetta dello Sport contributor. @SportsTonightTV european correspondent." Has 24k followers, so that much seems legit. Not sure on the link itself though, even the reporter admitting it comes from the agent, and we've already publicly said we arent interested... Smoke and Mirrors? lol

Lambert prefers us to play four in midfield, we desperately need a proper DM and whilst Sissoko can play there. My point is ---------Sissoko---------- ----Westwood--New---- ------------New---------- In midfield is not playing to Sissoko's strengths. -------------New------------- ---Westwood-Sissoko------ -------------New------------- Is. But honestly, I really cannot see this transfer happening. And I'm beginning to think we aren't signing anyone.

are you mental?

I think ----------------Benteke--------------- Agbonlahor------------------NZogbia ----------Sissoko--Westwood-------- ------------------Kvist----------------- Cavanda---Forren---Vlaar---Lowton -----------------Guzan----------------- Keeps us up. Just not sure I see four players coming in. Especially not ones with the quality of Forren, Kvist and Sissoko.

I honestly think we could finish bottom.

Sissoko isn't really a DM though, yes he can play it but it's not where his strengths lie. For Toulouse I'm sure he plays as more of a box-to-box midfielder. Usually it is Etienne Capoue who is played as the Defensive Midfielder for them. Sissoko is a relatively strong player but as far as im aware he prefers making runs forward and likes a few chances on goal. He is more similar to (a poorer) Yaya Toure than (a poorer) Claude Makelele for instance. That said I'm not saying I dont want Sissoko, he would be a superb signing for us and definitely has the qualities we need to add to our midfield. But we would also need an out and out DM in my opinion, especially with the 4-1-2-1-2 formation that Lambert prefers to play. Westwood-Sissoko would make a very good '2'. But if Lambert is going to insist on playing an out and out DM behind the two then that shouldn't be Sissoko as it would restrict what he is best at. William Kvist has been mentioned a bit recently. He would be more of a real DM. But I think it would be a total dreamland for us to ask for Kvist and Sissoko.

Makoun was being used as a DM but M'Vila actually has strength to him.

Just realised that (presuming we get a replacement for Henke) we will have had 5 Chief Scouts in the past 2 and a half years

Ian Storey-Moore - Head Scout - Quit at same time as Martin O'Neill Jeff Vetere - Head Scout - Joined under Houllier. Quit for a DOF job at Charlton within a few months. Lil Fuccillo - Head Scout (originally joined as part of Vetere's scouting team until he left) - Binned by McLeish when he took over from Houllier Glenn Roeder - 'Match Preparation Scout' - Taken on by Houllier to produce analysis on our upcoming opponents from about January to help us beat relegation. Left end of that season I think Arthur Numan - International Scout - Let go when Lambert took over from McLeish, now at AZ Alkmaar (where he scouted Holman from for us. Michael Henke - Head Scout - Off to a 2nd Division German club as Assistant manager within 4 months of joining. Not great reading. Newcastle have given Graham Carr an 8 year contract, he will likely be there longer than the manager and any of the players which he has scouted. Why can't we have some stability? Why cant we just have a scouting system laid out by the club and not just a general 'BYOS' (Bring Your Own Scouts) with our managerial merry-go-round. If Lambert walks at some point in the future (which is likely given his record) we'll be left without scouts again.

NRC is bollocks. Theres a reason nobody is paying him

This year The Premier League have outdone themselves and managed to sell the TV rights to next seasons Premier League games for a staggering amount of money, an amount which will cost 3 unfortunate teams around 60 million pounds this summer when they suffer relegation to The Championship. Fans saying they cannot wait for the 'bubble to burst in football' I can't agree with you more - however it is not happening this summer with the fee's and ludicrous amounts of money only increasing in 2013. What this means for the three unfortunate clubs that face relegation is that they will not only have current players clamouring to get back into the Premier League - as these increased fees will certainly be finding their way into players' pockets with increased wages and not into the fans' pockets with reduced costs - but also that their would-be rivals in Premiership will have a considerable amount more money to spend in the next 12 months than they do (and even more if the clubs cannot win instant re-promotion - a much harder task than is expected, with Birmingham, Blackpool, Blackburn, Wolverhampton and Bolton all finding themselves in the bottom half of The Championship at the moment). All this makes this January window possibly the most important January window for a long time. Clubs such as QPR will no doubt invest heavily as Harry Redknapp aims to make his mark on an over-paid and under performing squad at Loftus Road. There are already signs of a turnaround with positive results from both Chelsea and Tottenham. The question of QPR's large investment is more a matter of 'when' than 'if' as relegation could cripple a club where players such as Julio Cesar expected to fight for Europe this season rather than relegation. Southampton's - who have a game in hand on their relegation rivals - capture of £12m Gaston Ramirez shows the Saints are not afraid to dive into the market if they see a good player they can take on board. Whilst Alan Pardew's Newcastle have already secured Mathieu Debuchy and Loic Remy, another two outstanding coup's for the Magpies who still have Yohann Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa to return from injury. This is not a squad that will be fighting relegation come March despite their ridiculous poor form (and no away wins) this season. Martin O'Neill's Sunderland have also dipped into the market for N'Diaye and are also reportedly battling it out with neighbours Newcastle for the capture of Toulouse's midfield warhorse Moussa Sissoko. Even Reading have the signature of Daniel Carrico, the former Sporting Lisbon captain. Curiously then, after a £20m summer spending spree that Aston Villa have yet to dip into the market. Lerner's expenditure however, despite the large looking number, was the bare minimum the Villa squad required. A small, young, inexperienced squad at the start of summer somehow managed to come out the other side younger and less experienced. Which would be fine. Except it is the quality of the squad that is the problem. Skip back three years ago and the Villa squad reads like a dream compared to nowadays, particularly in midfield where players such as Gareth Barry, Stiliyan Petrov, James Milner, Ashley Young and Stewart Downing ran rampant to now be replaced by midfielders who are caught in a persistent no mans land. 'Midfield playmakers' Ashley Westwood, Barry Bannan, Fabien Delph, Karim El-Ahmadi and Stephen Ireland make up the Villa midfield. And those players all have one thing in common, they are known for their passing skills and nothing else. The strength and defensive nous previously offered by Barry and Petrov, the undying engine and work rate from James Milner and the get-up-off-your-seats action from Ashley Young - is all missing. And perhaps the most worrying thing for Villa is that a team with 5 playmakers in the midfield - can't string more than a couple of passes together. A team of 'creative' players that can't create a thing. Former Crewe captain Ashley Westwood joined the club in the summer and has looked by far Aston Villa's best midfield player this season - bizarre then that Paul Lambert insists upon substituting him at any given opportunity. The only midfielder who can so far keep the ball and not lose possession. He is not a strong midfielder but with him on the pitch vs Chelsea, Tottenham and Wigan this christmas we only conceded 3 goals. Compared to 12 without him. The signings made by Lambert this summer (by and large) have been positive. Christian Benteke, Matthew Lowton, Ron Vlaar and the aforementioned Westwood have been stellar in the majority of their performances this season. So why isn't Lerner entrusting more of these to be made? These players are not the problem, it is the ones that were already at the club causing the majority of the issues. Other than just the midfield Aston Villa's squad just lacks any kind of quality. Yes it is young, yes it needs more experience and an experienced Centre Back and Defensive Midfielder are a must for Villa in January. But one must also look at the quality of players. 17 year old Luke Shaw looked a revelation for Southampton until his injury in Saturday's game between the two clubs, whilst 22 year old Joe Bennett looked appalling during Villa's 3-1 defeat to League 2 Bradford. Sometimes players are not good enough and whilst Bennett and El-Ahmadi have shown flashes of potential quality it is not enough and it will not be enough to keep Villa in the league. When you look at Villa play for even just 90 minutes it is clear where the issues lie. A lack of quality and experience in the defence causes horrific errors in every single game, the same is said for the midfield. Perhaps these under performing playmakers could perform better at what they do best if they weren't being asked to try and be strong defensive midfielders too? But aside from the negatives, if you watch Villa you also see the potential throughout the team. The 3-1 win at Liverpool this season shows there is potential there. Christian Benteke, Andi Weimann, Matt Lowton, Ashley Westwood and Nathan Baker are some huge positives for the Claret and Blue army this season and some good, smart purchases could completely turn the club around. These players by themselves can not keep Villa up, these are the players that should be developing at the club with quality dotted around them to help them learn from their mistakes. However, at the moment these players are being relied upon to BE those experienced, calm pro's. They are expected to make up for the frailties of their team mates. Frankly, it is not fair on them. Another - much needed - investment of £20million could keep this club in the Premier League at a time where failure to hold onto your Premier League status WILL cost a club £60m this summer. It seems bizarre that with so many good purchases made under Lambert than the club would fail to spend this January. Lerner is toying with the future of the club for what must be pennies to a man who has recently sold his other sports team (The NFL's Cleveland Browns) for One Billion Dollars. In my opinion £20m keeps us in the Premiership this year and effectively gives a return of £60m this summer. If Randy Lerner fails to deliver yet again, I am afraid he must go.

That Football_Consultant account also says we are still in for Lescott, our business is being done quietly and we have much more than is being reported to spend, still in for Coutinho. It's bullshit. He has tweeted 28 times and has 56 followers. He started tweeting about Liverpool, us and arsenal - obviously only had luck conning our fans and has since only tweeted about Villa. It's bull.

Barton is on much more than 30k a week. Williams wont be leaving Swansea. Ince is going to Liverpool. We wont be spending £7m on anyone.

I fear it'll be done by then.

Because in those three years where things looked good we threw all of the club/randys wealth at it. We are in severe debt and still have huge ongoing costs. Randy's **** us up. It's only going to get worse if we get relegated this year of all years.

Just to top off a so far great day... FC Ingolstadt hope to announce Henke as their assistant manager... Source Theres also a quote a Villa fan on twitter has found where FC Ingolstadt have apparently said: