cyrusr

Maybe what RDM is suggesting is that if other clubs make bids then could delay things. His release clause ends at the end of July so come 1st August no release clause? Therefore if Villa say bid more gets it done quicker? Purely speculative of course but makes sense of the comments from RDM. Either way he doesn't want to be here. Rather he did stay as clearly had something about him, even if it was in one of the worse midfields for the club but if he's not commit lets get this done ASAP and get someone in who wants to play for Villa.

Does anybody know when he get formally announced? I would imagine sometime next week and would be really telling as to who is part of RDM team and who is not.

Finally some real ale!!! VERY happy with this!

On Official Website too! Not the worse player of last season, but 1 that definitely needed to be moved on. I do (sincerely) wish him well.

Still following Villa on Twitter according to this list...

Hate the b********. They always just want to float away right at the wrong time! And seriously in the game, it was the only time I used Repel in the game, so annoying!

The actual article from L'Equipe: The body of which when "translated" comes out as: So Nice are seeking a loan which we do not want, with no quotes and anyway he wants the Premier League instead. How good is L'Equipe for links? This doesn't seem to have much substance to this.

The biggest difference from last season is that we seem to have some organisation on the coaching side. We have some poor players and some that need coaching right. Already the noises from the players are better which to me suggests that they will hopefully play better. The signings are positive and the youngsters seem eager for an opportunity and are ready for it. It is clear that the starting 11 for the 1st game will be a lot different to the team that played the last match against Arsenal which was: Bunn, Lyden, Bacuna, Lescott, Toner, Cissokho, Westwood, Sánchez, Gueye, Sinclair, J Ayew Substitutes: Guzan, Richards, Traoré, Gil, Hepburn-Murphy, Gestede, Grealish I am not even sure what formation was played but that was an awful team. Black's selections were by far the worse of the managers last season. Based on the pre season games I would say that out of the starting 11 only Bacuna, Cissokho, Westwood and Ayew have a chance of starting (and Gana if he stays) so we have already changed over half the starting 11. We are already a better team from last season. The point is even as it stands I reckon we are a good mid-table championship team and with a good run push for the play-offs. Some more squad changes between now and the end of the window will only improve the team and push us higher up the table. Ultimately time will tell but there are some poor teams in the Championship but we will know by 1st September how realistic promotion next season is.

Was listening to Talksport this morning to see if there was anything... Yeah its getting that desperate! Happy-ish so far but would like the momentum to continue. I reckon we may see a quick succession of players leaving as they are all in the pipelines. Anyway, Robin Van Persie is being linked to Rangers and Stoke. 32 years old (33 next month) but scored 16 in 31 league games last season in Turkey, maybe could still do a job next season in the Championship? If Rangers could tempt him surely we could?

One of the better players last season and I would rather he stayed. If he wants to go though, this should be done ASAP rather than drag on. That will not do us any favours. Now if he could only sneak Lescott in his back pocket...

Nothing but I was just saying if he doesn't want to stay and fight for the team he should move on and quickly. Wyness probably knows a lot more than me though as to where they are at with the transfers so no doubt more will be revealed either way shortly

Either: a) he has a release clause and Everton have met it and we can going to try and convince him to stay; or b ) journalists are talking out their arses. Either way, one I would have preferred to stay but if his hearts not in it I don't want him here and we are better getting rid now.

If Sunderland do sign him (and N'Zogbia) then I think we really dodged a bullet with Moyes. I get the potential with Richards, but he has bulked up too much to be an effective RB anymore and has a complete lack of positional awareness. Seriously how many gaps in our defence last season did he cause?! It was ridiculous. He is not a CB and soon he won't be a RB. Clueless but N'Zogbia? At best I can see he is trying to impress to get the next contract and then he will go AWOL again when the going gets tough. To be fair most of the Sunderland fans do not seem to be keen and if they are its at RB. Most seem to have their head screwed on. It's been said before but if Sunderland sign both of them I would bet on them going down next season.

Could still do a job though

Team I think RDM will pick for Sheffield Wednesday if no changes: Gollini Hutton Elphick Clark Amavi Tshibola Gana Green Ayew Grealish Gestede I think Gana will probably go though. If he does it would be good to get a replacement but if not I think he would play Gardner there. Definitely though needs a new striker though, Gestede cannot be first choice. Whilst I like Ayew, he has to either be partnered up top or he plays in one of those roles behind. Doesn't score enough. This position is absolute priority. Wouldn't mind replacing Hutton either but not priority. The noises as well appear to suggest another creative midfielder which means Green will be a squad player IMO. What that says to me is that the 1st team looks a lot better, that we struggle beyond that and a few injuries in key places we will struggle and go into the mix of the middle of the table. We need to strengthen the squad more and we need a striker. If we sort that we can push for promotion.

I get the pessimism in that respect. Personally I would want to have had a bigger clear out. However: 1) What happened last season was a combination of poor board, management and players. We have new (albeit untried and tested I accept) board and management and as such there is significant progress in that sense. So already (IMO of course) we are already on a step up from last season. 2) The championship is a mixed bag. They are a lot of variables which will take into account who will be challenging for promotion or not. What we can take from last season is that 3 of our victories were against "championship teams or equivalent". Birmingham - obvious. Norwich - now championship and how they played that day, were destined for relegation (we were terrible and we best them! Hell, even Gabby scored!). And Bournemouth in their first game. It is arguable that they were all "championship sides and lasts years team beat them. Now our team as it stood were no where near good enough for premier league BUT what evidence is available, however limited, suggests that team could beat championship sides. I am of the opinion that even if we had Lerner and a different manager we would be a mid table side in the championship. The league is tight and making the improvements we already have to me says that we can challenge at least for the play offs. Given what has been said to it is clear the fundemental promise Dr Xia/RDM needs to have given is that we will challenge for promotion. There is utterly no point trying to avoid relegation from the championship, it is unrealistic. The rhetoric is to get back up asap; the longer we are in the championship the harder it will be. We do not need/want to be there. The point is that whilst the current squad may have a lot of flaws; it is still a decent Championship side. Good enough for promotion? As it was, probably not but with the changes already made (in team spirit alone) have probably helped a lot. Few more personnel changes and yes we will be challenging. Already the noises from preseason are a lot better than last year. Besides, if we don't challenge for promotion, why are we even bothering? Why is RDM and Dr Xia bothering? The clear goal is to get back up to premier league ASAP. Those previous awful premier league teams (Derby, QPR, Sunderland) have done ok in the championship and of course RDM did it with West Brom. He was made manager when they went down and then got them back up at first attempt with changes to the squad but not wholesale.

Good luck to him. To be fair he was the player bought at the worst possible time. Was Lamberts last signing about a month before he was sacked. The gone through 4 managers for whatever reason didn't fancy him. Didn't get a decent run at the first team. Yes could argue that he wasn't good enough for first team, but given the quality of what was being put on the pitch I think it's fair to say the managers didn't know what they were doing. Doesn't mean he deserved to start every game but can't judge him in that sense. More importantly whilst he may have done a good job for us (and I do think he dould have) if his heart is not in it, he shouldn't be in the team and getting him out like this is best for everyone involved. Good luck Carles, hope you tear up La Liga

The tail end of the piece suggests to me he has been offered some sort of role, it's whether Stan wants to take that role up (coaching or whatever) or whether he wants to seek a playing contract elsewhere. He will likely be able to play elsewhere, it's just whether he wants to or not. Has to be the right decision for both. Either he was good enough or not. Whilst it would have been a dream for him to come back strong enough, but sadly football is very much a business and the priority has to be what the best team is.

This. Given the involvement in preseason, it would seem the noises from the club and RDM would appear that they could use him next season. Personally disagree, don't rate him at all but if RDM wants to keep him that is fine. If he does go, Celtic would be perfect. Cannot see a Premier League side taking a punt on him, meaning the only other option would be another championship side and that would be horrific as he will score against us. Celtic definitely the way to go!

Given he is on (allegedly) somewhere between £40-50k a week; we stand to actually make a profit.... But yes Sunderland fans reading this: every negative comment in this thread about Richards is written by a Newcastle fan and should be treated with caution. In actual fact he is a wonderful player, has great positional sense and is a great Centre Back. His attitude isn't quite as good as N'Zogbia's but its up there. You are really, really lucky if you sign both of them!

Definitely one I would have preferred to have stayed. Wasn't great last season but certainly had potential. And certainly wouldn't have wanted it to be a loan. Maybe a loan to permanent deal would be fine; but loan will only cover the wages and I would hope that wouldn't be too much... However if his heart is not in the fight or the cause and he wants out, then get him out ASAP. Only players willing to give 100% to the team should still be wearing the shirt on 1st September.

Exactly. Like has been said above Valdes hasn't played properly for a while (except when he went on loan - can't recall who to and how he did) but means that Guzan can get back to focusing on building his confidence back. He will have opportunities with Middlesborough even if it just the cups but he will get more money than he will here if he stayed. It's good for Guzan, it's good for us. It just makes sense. Besides with Gollini, Steer and Bunn I think, certainly for this season we are set for Goalkeepers. Bunn/Steer from what seen/read are more than capable back ups this season but if 1 wanted to move on think we could have the youth keeper there instead as 3rd choice. Definitely no need for Guzan to sit and waste away his last year on a "just in case basis". Better to get him off the books instead. Certainly not the worse player and he has played well for Villa at times, but needs to go and hope he does well in the future.

Whilst not the first names I would like out the door - would be very happy with this and an excellent step in making space in the squad and gives everyone a clean break too (from the players perspective too). Also means weve actually got money for players (Richards (assuming anyway), Sinclair and Sanchez) and/or not paying out wages for them anymore (Guzan). Yes very pleased with this (if actually happens of course...).

Btw how is everyone finding the data usage? I've used less than I expected to be honest; seems to have been roughly 100-200mb over the last week or so and that includes everything else. I thought it would eat it all up in a few days...

Absolutely this. Think it needs some balancing and still incredibly buggy but it's still fun. not really had a chance to do gyms but it is crazy how tough some people already are. In Canary Wharf today and there is a snorlax that's over 1700cp...! Luckily it's my "team" but still. Would be nice to catch other Pokemon as well as starting to get pretty bored of Pidgeys/Rattatas!