ClarrieBlue

Neither of you will "get" Ireland. Give me one good reason why we would sell such a good player to either of you. Not exactly strapped for cash and there are many more players we will sell before him.

Indeed show me one direct quote from Either City or Ireland Stating he is off. The only quote i have seen from the lad is to say how he is detirmind to stay and prove his worth..... I don't see Milner rushing to say the same. The only thing you are basing your theories on is shite toilet paper articles during a slow transfer window.

Attitude problem there? I know for a fact Spuds have been in talks with you over him, suck my fat one!

Utter fabrication according to the man himself.

And we know how truthful he can be. Ask his grandmother's.

City fan here.

A couple of pages ago, one of your guys made me laugh for referring to United as 'having class'. After gaining a huge investment from a rapist (who knowingly sold poisonous meat to children) then later a Peeping Tom, they consistently bribed the families of young players they were interested in while breaking the transfer record in every single position on the pitch, then became a nomad club with no connection to their local area, sold themselves to the public on the Stock Market, then got bought by a bunch of leeches. During this time, they have been accused and charged of tapping up players on numerous different occasions, have a manager who always talks openly about other teams players, and display the type of arrogance as a club and as fans that you would expect from Pepe Le Pew.

We, on the other hand, have been taken over by a very rich man, who has brought the club back to the community, has just announced a £1bn investment into the downtrodden area of East Manchester which will revitalise the economy, have consistently given 'freebies' to fans such as the Fan Days, the cheapened ticket prices, and the sorting out of some annoying things such as a sheltered/heated Ticket Office.

May I suggest that you watch this interview with our Chairman before deciding that we are all a bunch of bastards, because we have had the cheek to bid for an exciting, young, English player who we think we may be able to attract with the lure of greater prospects of future success?

http://www.mcfc.co.uk/Video/Interviews/Chairman-exclusive

This was recorded the day after the Spurs game by the way.

I work about half a mile from the ground you rent, in Newton Heath and if you think that the bit of digging they are doing at the moment and building a leisure centre will amount to a billion £'s worth of investment you are deluded. City are just trying to cash in on the wasteland where the casino was supposed to go.

And while you've got that moron Cook at the club no-one will ever take you seriously.

Sorry, but in my opinion

Gerrard , Lampard, Scholes , Giggs, Essien, Arshavin, Ballack , Modric, Hargreaves, J Cole, Fabregas, Barry, Nasri, Ballack (and a few others but I think I've proved my point)

Yes - they are better than Milner, and if you don't , you are having a laugh.

However, again what I am saying is - it don't matter how good they are, because they are so good, tghey wouldn't consider the Villa.

However, there are players that are far far far better than Milner out there, who if we sold him for 30m, we could get at half the price.

Just another one into the ring. And a) we have been linked with him , Now Cesc is going to Barca , he is virtually guarenteed being available.

Alex Hleb !

or similar with Madrid looking at midfielders - Van de Vaart

Vdv only slightly older than Milner, better in ability , similar role - half price.

Can I please get this through to people once and for all.

I like James Milner, all I am saying is he is by no means "great" - he is good , there are plenty on here hailing him as "the best" that were saying in January - he doesn't cut it in central midfield , we need NRC back.

30m - for a 24 yr old that is still seen as "potential" is not to be sniffed at when you can get world class players of a similar position (look at Arshavin) for half the price

And that is all !

I'm having a laugh???

You're listing players who are way past their best, Hargreaves can hardly walk let alone run, we had the best of Barry, Ballack has had an ordinary season and Cole has had a bit part season. Scholes only played at the end of the season because Carrick was crap and Fergie fell out with Anderson.

Milner has had a better season as an individual than all of the players I've mentioned.

Pardon me if you have a look at the thread, I said, I couldn't even remember who it was, nor what it was, I made the comment about some players who won the YpotY and said it wasn't a given that they become great players.

Now, having done. It's a bit of research I find Jeffers, didn't win it - he was nominated in 1999 - and lost - who to Harry Kewell !!!

So, in fact, the story is the same, just the name is different.

Anyway, it's beside the point.

I can't believe people are so "Milner is the best". He is good, he could be very good.

But he is 24 and he, by no means is anywhere near the top midfielders in this league.

Just go through them, Lampard, Gerrard, Essien, Barry, Fabregas, Arteta, Eboue, Rosicky, Nasri, Arshavin , Zhirkov, Malouda, Ballack, J Cole, Mascherano, De Jong, Ireland, Park, hargreaves, Valencia, Fletcher, Giggs, Scholes, Anderson, Nani, Huddlestone, Bentley, Modric, Lennon, Parker, T Cahill, Fellaini, Rodwell,

Now that is just looking through Sky's midfielder section on fantasy football.

So ni-on - 30 midfielders, and you can argue that 20 of them are better than Milner (like Ballack, Lapard, Gerrard, Arshavin etc..) , 5 or so (like Arteta , Cahill, Parker) are similar, and 5 or so , are slightly weaker but not much (as I have left out crap midfielders) , like , well actually no, I can't really see many that you would say are worse. Players like Park are vastly under-rated (apart from Alex Fergusun), maybe Bentley, maybe Huddlestone - but I bet Spurs fans would argue with them

So you are talking 30m - for maybe the 25th best midfielder in the league.

Which is not much less than Barcelona are paying for David Villa !

All I keep saying is Milner is good, but he ain't in the league of some of those above, but the money we would get, and could spend elsewhere, is !

You gotta look at it that way, Arshavin, is only one player in thousands playing in Europe, and Arsenal got him for 14m !

Selling Milner is not the be all and end all.

And for anyone who thinks it is - think Andy Gray !

All of the above is in your very humble opinion I take it.

60 minssss! oh ou!

wit is so much funnier when it's not so pedictable

i really dont think martin has it in him to take us beyond where he already has. Not saying he's done a bad job, just think that to take us further he needs to change himself more than the team as its his flaws that are holding us back.

Example? Sure...

Every year MON has been in charge we have stopped playing well from march til the end of the season pretty much.

In year one this was a transition year and we had a very small squad, i can forgive that.

In year two we were still very much in transition and still had a very small squad.

In year three we had a settled core and a team and a fairly decent sized squad - tiredness was caused by a lack of rotation as MON either felt the players didnt need a rest (though i think a blind man could see they did) or he no faith in the players in the squad to do the job (despite having signed these players for substanial sums)

In year four - see year three and its confounded by his refusal to use substitutions when players are clearly not able to continue due to fatigue and his seeming inability to make changes to our shape when things arent going well other than to move a few players around so that most players are playing out of position.

we also need to look at his signings:

Stiliyan Petrov Celtic £6.5m - average player, often goes missing in games and lacks stamina

Didier Agathe Celtic Free - did he ever play?

Chris Sutton Celtic Free - did a job but was only ever a stop gap

John Carew Lyon Swap - good signing, but i do wonder if it was MON's idea or houlier's

Ashley Young Watford £9.65m - very inconsistent, but a good player

Shaun Maloney Celtic £1.1m - might have been a ecent player but was allowed to leave before we found out

Wayne Routledge Tottenham £1.5m - oh deary dear...

Moustapha Salifou FC Wil Undisc. - oh dear again

Zat Knight Fulham £3.5m - wasnt good enough and was sold off again we let better defenders go to make a space for them

Scott Carson Liverpool Loan - oh dear once again

Harry Forrester Watford £250 000 initial fee rising on appearances - watch this space

Eric Lichaj Unattached Free - watch this space

Marlon Harewood West Ham Undisc (region of £3.5m?) - MON's worst signing?

Nigel Reo-Coker West Ham £8.5m - looked a good signing initially but mon lost control of this one

Curtis Davies (WBA undisclosed but around £7.5million?) - jury is still out on him too, has a ot of bad days

Steve Sidwell (Chelsea £5.5million) - honestly? awful footballer and adds nothing to the team

Brad Friedel (Blackburn, undisclosed but in the region of £2 - £2.5million) - good stop gap solution

Brad Guzan (Chivas US, undisclosed, starts at around £800k up to £2m on appearances etc?) - promising

Nicky Shorey (Reading, around £4m?) - very poor player

Luke Young (Middlesbrough, around £5m?) - good player but MON prefers to play a CB at RB - bizzare

Carlos Cuellar (Rangers £7.8million) - looked good when got a good run at CB but has been moved to rb - bizzare

James Milner (Newcastle, around £12million?) - accomplished player and turned out to be a decent price for the performances hes put in since moving infield

Arsenio Halfhuid from Excelsior (undisclosed - watch this space)

Emile Heskey from Wigan Athletic (£3.5m) - ooops MON did it again - amazingly poor

so the vast majority of MON's signings have even turned out to be bad ones or he's fallen out with them, played them out of position, or just frozen them out for some reason. Best Man Manager in football? i dont think so...

personally i think Mark Hughes would do a better job. He'd at least get us playing some decent football and isnt afraid to changes things and admit when hes made a mistake

What a strange critique of James Milner - Considering Aquilani cost 20 million and we got 12 million for Barry, I would say that Milner's price is a lot more than decent for the performances he's put in. Performances that will get him into the World Cup squad.

I reckon there is a bit of a wrangling going on about the date. Blackburn won't be happy with a Thursday game as they've got Fulham on the Saturday. I reckon we'll play the away leg on the 20th and they'll move the home leg to the 2nd or 3rd Feb

4th in the league, semi final of the Carling Cup and Villa fans vote for the worst player so far this season, unbelievable.

Phil Thompson and Matt le Tiss

When were they Villa players? It was Paul Merson, but you probably knew that and it was a PFE

What they should never do, and don't as far as I have heard, is boo during the play.

So what was the booing at half time then, or weren't you there?

Bullied? Someone voices a different opinion to you and you feel bullied? Bieng a bit precious aren't we? To compare things as they are now to the end of the Ellis era is a strange comparison, the 2 couldn't be far enough away. With Ellis there were no signs of investment and the whole infrastructure of the club was in a state of collapse, today, it's what's happening on the pitch that is a nproblem and a worry but continual harrassment of players and the manager will not help us get it right.

It wasn't other clubs fans who passed the comments it was the panel, but you probably don't care what they say either, fair enough, but when well known ex players have detrimental things to say about my club then I do care.

My opinion, which differs from yours is that polls like this should stop now and we should get behind the players and the team.

This poll and the Should he go or stay poll are both running at 75%to stay. i think it's time to move on and all get behind MON and the team.

I was just watching Soccer Saturday and the negative remarks the Villa fans received were numerous. Criticism of the half time booing and the constant ridicule of the players. We are getting a poor reputation.

sidwell's agreed to join Chelsea. Just on SSN

Portsmouth have signed Lauren, so forget him.

He also says he thinks that the squad can get him through to the Summer anyway, so it doesn't matter quite as much. Not what he was saying a couple of months ago, mind...

A coupe of months ago we had a lot more injuries than we have now and we have Hendrie back to bolster the squad, J Lloy is fit and Lursen and Morre are nearly back also. Although we have let Players leave the squad is stronger than it was in November/early December.

if not that he is on his way to manchester and stopped by for the night..

by the time Defoe has come off the M6 and got to the hotel, he could have arrived in Manchester and been all snug in his bed at the Lowry Hotel, where England stay. Which is nowhere near Moss Side

Welcome General,

I think if you continue to be a regular contributor to Villa Talk you will quickly realise what it means to be a supporter of this wonderful unique football club. To love the Villa is like nothing else, it becomes the the core of your life around which everything else revolves. I know you've travelled to an away game, Scunthorpe in the cup, but if you have the time and opportunity please go to the Chelsea game because I am sure it will be a sight and sound to behold and one you and Randy will remember for the rest of your lives.

Forever Claret and Blue, forever Villa.

I think tomorrow morning is the critical time. If you can get Sky Sports News,turn it on at about 7.15 on Monday morning, if there isn't a yellow ticker tape at the bottom of the screen saying Villa have received another bid, then I don't think there will be one at all.

The next announcement from The LSE will be on Monday at 7.00 a.m. at the earliest. If there is no news of another bid then I think we can take it that Randy has got it.

And Villa fanzine Villa Matters

Who are they ? I've never seen a fanzine called Villa Matters.

AV06 are ''supposedly'' bidding next week. I think they have made this statement to try and stop shareholders sending in their acceptance replies before the 10 days are up, slowing up Randy's bid.

It means that the Martians are about to land.

Have you noticed anything on the radar, thetrees ?

My 36DDs??

It's about time VT had video links between posters

On SSNjust now they showed the back page of the Sun and down on the bottom right the headline was 'RANDY ON VILLA BRINK'. they didn'y read the article though. so god knows what it means