Rocafella

That is quite right ml1dch! If Tottenham went in for him we could struggle, if Newcastle with the Allardyce effect went in for him it would be 50/50, I don't know.... but all in all I have seen no proof that MON wants him so I don't know what to expect

Hopefully it's Darren and not Marcus!

I see Muntari are bound to sign for Portsmouth, hope he isn't any good then!

I am not saying we can sign Ronaldinho or Henry, but saying we can't sign players such as Ribery and Sneijder would be stupid. They aren't untouchable, and you certainly don't get them if you don't try. What about van der Vaart who went to Hamburg? They tried and succeeded, easy as that.

People can stop saying things such as "we will never sign him" etc etc, stranger things have happened. Tevez and Mascherano to West Ham and Owen to Newcastle.

The more I think of it Klaas-Jan Huntelaar would be a great signing, he is one of the most natural finishers I have seen, a bit in the van Nistelrooy mold if you ask me. I am not sure one of the top clubs have set their sights on him, if not then it's worth a shot?

Zenden, Mark Gonzalez, Jan Kromkamp, Josemi, Pellegrino etc etc, the list is endless! Also he has spent 80M in three years!

He has only scored 4 goals this season, and played only some 450 minutes. I guess there are several players who would reach the stat but they haven't played enough

Reading the statistics from a AVFC perspective I find a couple of interesting points: 1. Our defenders have scored 2 goals this season, which is totally unacceptable. Everton have 7 and Pompey have 13. 2. Our backs have way too few assists, Bouma and Bardsley have 1 each 3. Delaney is the only player who hasn't figured at all this season 4. Our attackers don't score much, 17 in all. Wigan have 18, West Ham 26, Everton 20, Watford 15 (we should crush them!), Sheff Utd 20. 5. We have 1 red card this season, Barry, which is a good stat all in all. 3-4 could ruin many games 6. McCann have 9 yellows, Mellberg 8. Petrov only 4, maybe he can toughen up a little? 7. Sørensen have 71 saves, that is 17th best in the league (which is pretty poor), but 12 clean sheets (which is tied 4th with 4 others) 8. We haven't saved any penalties this season, Sørensen have let in 24 goals (0,84 per game), Taylor 9 (1,91 per game!). Damn

Here is my humble feed with fresh numbers: Drogba - 2946 minutes - 20 goals (0,611) Henry - 1474 - 10 goals (0,610) Viduka - 2084 - 14 goals (0,605) Keane - 1659 - 11 goals (0,6) Ronaldo - 2783 - 17 goals (0,55) McCarthy - 3050 - 18 goals (0,53) Doyle - 2469 - 13 goals (0,474) Defoe - 1935 - 10 goals (0,465) Saha - 1630 - 8 goals (0,442) Rooney - 2923 - 14 goals (0,431) D. Bent - 2863 - 13 goals (0,41) Berbatov - 2715 - 12 goals (0,40) Martins - 2863 - 11 goals (0,346) Gilberto - 2933 - 10 goals (0,3) Lampard - 3244 - 11 goals (0,3) Taylor - 2686 - 8 goals (0,27) Agbonlahor - 3325 - 9 goals (0,244) Sorry for the inconvenience!

Just to understand that......... 1935 minutes is 21.5 matches. So slightly under a goal every other game, or 0.47 goals a game. Is that right??? yes, I think Roca multiplied by 60 rather than 90, but the list is at the very least in order. I just realized that myself, let me fix it

I might have cocked up the mathmatics, even though the "0,02342" are wrong it should still give the picture of who is best etc. Sorry

I went into the Fantasy league stats and just divided total goals / minutes played x 60 They should be correct even though I might have missed a few players and mistyped some numbers. From this season we can easily say that Viduka is probably worth signing as a reserve, Keane and Defoe are hard to tell due to their short run of minutes, Bent plays for a crap club and could finish higher if he played for someone better, Berbatov/Rooney are class because of contribution otherwise and Martins haven't scored as many as he probably should have. A striker can score 8 goals in a 10 games, before slumping and scoring 0 in the next 15. Let's say a striker gets these 8 in 10 and don't play much after that because of various reasons, he can still look like a great player. Like I said, statistics isn't enough to judge a player, especially not after just one season.

Here is my humble feed: Drogba - 2946 minutes - 20 goals (0,611) Henry - 1474 - 10 goals (0,610) Viduka - 2084 - 14 goals (0,605) Keane - 1659 - 11 goals (0,6) Ronaldo - 2783 - 17 goals (0,55) McCarthy - 3050 - 18 goals (0,53) Doyle - 2469 - 13 goals (0,474) Defoe - 1935 - 10 goals (0,465) Saha - 1630 - 8 goals (0,442) Rooney - 2923 - 14 goals (0,431) D. Bent - 2863 - 13 goals (0,41) Berbatov - 2715 - 12 goals (0,40) Martins - 2863 - 11 goals (0,346) Gilberto - 2933 - 10 goals (0,3) Lampard - 3244 - 11 goals (0,3) Taylor - 2686 - 8 goals (0,027) Agbonlahor - 3325 - 9 goals (0,244) Sorry for the inconvenience!

Florent Malouda would be excellent, he is such a great player.

Of course we would be better off with him in our squad but that is not the point. The thing is; can we attract better players than him? If not, sign him up!

Did Drogba fail the first season? How did he do this season? Writing people off too early again? Yeah I know but Sheva is 30 going on 31 years isn't he, I think a 30M fee signals an immediate return of goals. Also, I think Drogba was excellent the first season as well as he gave them somwhat 16 assists in the league which is quite astonishing.

I'd say that it not being on there was an extremely positive thing. Means that it may have an element of truth to it. Touché my friend, but if it's not mentioned anywhere isn't it just wishful thinking and hear'say? I mean, if someone made up a rumour such as "I know Defoe is going to sign for us in a week", he is automatically linked with us even though there is just a smuck making something up, like hin staying at a hotel in Brum last January and so on. I am NOT saying TribalFooty and FansFC are reliable, they clearly aren't, but they do also comment on true links when they are from a reliable source, unlike SkySports who don't really comment on something if it's not their own story or from their own sources.

So if we are not smaller than Newcastle, which is my point exactly, then why can't we aim a little higher???? Obafemi Martins - 10M Michael Owen - 16 M Albert Luque - 10M (don't care what he turned out to be, Sheva failed too) Pat Kluivert - Free (the same as the above) Alan Shearer - 15M All pretty close to world-class when they signed them, at least Owen and Martins. Newcastle have always been able to sign such players, regardless of Europe etc etc. We have an excellent backroom staff and a great manager, they CAN persuade people to join us.

The funny thing is; are we even linked with Jermain Defoe or is it just 1+1 = transfer thinking? The same with Darren Bent to Spurs. This fan of theirs said it was a sure thing however I can't see a single article about it on the net except some fan blog similar to the one we have, where we are constantly being linked with Eto'o and David Villa. If it's not even on TribalFootball or 100%fans or whatever it is called, it's probably not in the air right now. I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up here. I got one question for you; are we smaller than Newcastle FC?

I for one know that a striker shouldn't be judged purely on goals scored as it sometimes gives the wrong impression. If so, John Carew will be a huge flop for Aston Villa as he won't score that many. However, I like it when a striker opens up for other players in the team. Look at Berbatov and Rooney, not the out and out poachers all the time, they often fill the role of a servant at times. Saying that, they are both world class and have chipped in with a fair chunk of goals this season. I wanted us to sign Darren Bent but we got John Carew instead, fair enough he can be a very good player as well only if we use him right. MON is clearly going for the "big guy/target and small guy/poacher" partnership a la Koller/Baros and Crouch/Bellamy to name a few examples. Gabby fills the role of a poacher really, so does Moore, but none of them are developed enough. Relying on them could cause major upsets for our tally next season and we haven't scored enough goals this season. Jermain Defoe also fits the role perfectly next to Carew, I have no problem admitting that at all. He would probably score between 12-16 league goals if he stayed fit. Problem is, I think he is way too similar to Moore/Gabby and why should we pay 10M for a player we already have? Either sign Bent or someone we didn't think we could sign, or don't bother.... like someone said, bring in Viduka as a replacement for Angel because if Defoe signs we will not have Moore or Gabby around for long and that would be a shame IMO.

Jermain Defoe (last three seasons playing 20 league caps or more): This season: 34 games and 10 goals Last season: 36 games and 9 goals 2004/2005: 35 games and 13 goals Together = 105 games and 32 goals = 0,30 (probably many games as a sub) Mystery Aston Villa player (last three seasons playing 20 league caps or more): 05/06: 25 games and 8 goals 04/05: 26 games and 9 goals 02/03: 27 games and 9 goals Together = 78 games and 26 goals = 0,33 Don't read too much into statistics. Players who are in top shape but don't play every game tend to score goals and really spark before being left out of the squad again. The story could be different when he played every game week in week out, getting tired and so on. Oh the mystery player is Milan Baros. (Edit: I know this doesn't proove anything, I am simply highlighting the fact that you shouldn't read too much into stats... at least not all the time!) IMO buying Defoe would be buying something we already have in Gabby and Moore. At least one of them will reach his level within the next season I am sure of it. Also, we would be buying someone who is not good enough for Spurs. People would argue that it is not true, but if he leaves Tottenham (5th and 5th) for Villa (16th and 11th) it would be a step down (right now it clearly is) and he would leave because he is not their preferred striker after Berbatov. I think he would be an addition, but there are better players out there for a club with such ambitions and money like AVFC07/08.

FitzGerald tells us to expect star signings but still people concentrate on player who could perhaps enhance our team, if only marginally. Luke Young - average season for an average player in a relegated side, enormous hype because of his nationality Phil Jagielka - sure he could be a decent squad player but shouldn't we be concentrating on getting better players? Kevin Doyle - one season wonder we shouldn't be taking our chances on, at least in my opinion Joey Barton - can we afford to take him on board? He is like a 8 year old bully Craig Bellamy - same as the above, do we want a player such as him in our side and does he deserve to be here? Paul McShane - saw him today, nothing special at all in this game. SURELY there are better players out there (we need a RB desperately) Robbie Fowler - I didn't take that one very seriously, like bringing in Solskjær 5 years too late Jerzy Dudek - out of contract sure, never good enough for our team My little shopping list: GK - sure we don't really need one yet, but when such a good keeper is available you shouldn't hesitate. BORUC RB - why not make a sneaky attempt to sign Paulo Ferreira? Would easily become our best RB ever... clever, knows how to contribute in attack DMC - Many players available, like Claude Makelele and Yaya Toure. We need an enforcer with good skills on the ball, unlike McCann MID - you never know what is available in the market and what we are able to attract. Cahill, van der Vaart, Sneijder and all sorts of players ST - throw all funds on Darren Bent. English and a great, great player. Don't think we can top any signings over him this season

First of all it's Pedersen, actually Gamst Pedersen. Show some respect for people's names now should we? Also, our keeper is named Sørensen... Sorensen in English, not Sorenson! I think he is much like Barry. They both have equal amounts of strengths and weaknesses. MGP has a great foot we all know that, but he is terrible in defense. Barry is more complete, without any real strengths. Solid players, but very much alike. None of them could skin a player, both could score 5 open play goals a season, so why invest in something we already got. Sure he would give us some great goals from set-pieces but it would not do any good with Gareth.

It just annoys me that West Ham stay up and probably will compete with us in terms of signings....