Rocafella

Is neither an option ?

Please don't mention the "you don't win anything with kids" thing said about Man Utd and make that a common exception. What happened there was 1/10000000000 and it will never happen again I'm afraid. At the time the league was not as strong and there weren't many international stars here. Liverpool weren't good and Arsenal was mediocre.

We are clearly going to increase our wage structure each season now but it's only natural (and swell for the team as well, it only means we are in business) I think Chelsea pay around 130-150M each season, and we pay some 30-40M? Within years I guess we are going to pay 70M and with players like Carew coming in on 50K a week is won't take many players to reach that level. Imagine Newcastle - all that money but no success

Perhaps Fat Sam has some sort of gentleman's agreement not to pursue every Bolton player he'd like? I mean, I believed he was going for Nolan once he got the job

People on here say we are bigger than Newcastle, yet we can't sign one of the players they have in their squad who has already taken three steps down by joining them in the first place.

That is a major assumption Roca, this is not Doug Randy doesn't like leaking stories to Baggie Bill. We might have deals lined up just not announced, for example NRC because he is away, Defoe because he is in Spain doing some addidas training camp or waiting for Spurs to sign Bent etc etc etc. Nothing has to be announced until well whenever the clubs see fit, doesn't mean nothing is happening or has happened! It is blumin frustrating though..... Yeah of course I am just thinking out loud but I wouldn't be surprised if they struggled a bit this time around. It's better to get over with it, looking at every aspect. You want the players soon so they can adapt quickly and enjoy their summer vacation further, you want the fans to be happy so we don't start bitching about it and you want to keep other clubs away from the players. Look at United, three targets, blitzkrieg and they are signed. I am so much looking forward to seeing the players holding the new kit inside Villa Park though, it's gonna be great.

There is no evidence that points to the fact that we have been left out by any players, although I guess MON was after Craig Bellamy but 1) he doesn't want to leave and 2) his wage demands are absolutely ridiculous if the quoted 100K a week is remotely near the truth. Him not wanting to leave is reasonable enough, I guess most people would stay at Liverpool fighting for a spot rather than being a starter at the Villa. However, I am quite certain our men are struggling a bit with the transfers because we are in need of so many players and no-one has been brought in. We have gotten rid of Lee Hendrie, J'Lloyd Samuel, Gavin McCann and Juan Pablo Angel as of now, two of them who were starters at one point of the season. I guess Nigel Reo-Coker is coming in, he is an improvement on McCann but certainly not a proven talent in my eyes. My only wish is that every player on MON's radar is here before the start of the pre-season training but I guess that will never happen. I hate it when managers complaint about new players not having enough time to settle etc, I hope MON won't fall in that trap though.

No I think that's how the tired General answers the tedious question over and over again - (and I have asked it too at some point).....

I don't see the point of signing de Jong if we really are after Nigel Reo-Coker.

Alan Smith is 100% commitment and grit, but he isn't really a striker, and he isn't even a midfielder that's for sure. He isn't a poacher and he isn't very good with his headers. His passing is average and his temper is not good at all. How many times have you seen the defender pass the ball only for Smith to wack him down and get a stupid yellow card? Because of little playing time and injuries he has become more of a forwand and a attacking midfielder, rather than a striker and for me he's nowhere good in any of those positions, sorry to say.

These are pro footballers, it's not a war between the Boers and the natives anymore.

Gareth Bale is just a talent right now, but being at this level at his age is nothing short of marvelous and the finished material could be something out of the extraordinary. We won't know for years, too bad he went to Tottenham as he would develop better under Alex Ferguson.

Now some guy has gone to the West Ham forum and said that Wesley Sneijder will sign for them in the coming week or so. This is getting a little tedious, why do people believe these morons who go on and make fake rumors?

Actually the Danish coach rates him higher - that's why he played against Sweden and Laursen didn't

I don't think people should read too much into the Bayern Munchen thing, they aren't going downwards at all. They will build and come back stronger than before, I think their players would love to be part of that. Signing players like Luca Toni and Franck Ribery isn't exactly a bad move either

I guess it will be: Barry - NRC - Petrov - Young but I read MON's strategy, it's about creating more competition and having lots of players in backup, I am certain players like Maloney aren't the ones starting when we are fielding our "best" team. I don't think we're in for Sneijder so I think this is it when it comes to reinforcements in the central chain in midfield, but if we were then some players are totally not needed at all....

I think Petrov and Barry are MON's first picks every time

I think we have two Scotland's player of the year in the team already

You aren't seriously talking about signing a player because he is decent at free kicks are you? He is a very mediocre player

Ahh, the eternal "if I can find one example that differs then I prove everything is a hoax"! If MON only bought players from Celtic I think there would be a riot on here. But it's close to not being exaggeration though....

WTF? Nakamura? I hope you are kidding? Why don't we just buy Boruc, McGeedy, Vennegoor of Hesselink, Lennon and Balde as well? It seems MON can't manage to find players outside Celtic This can't be true, I think he just signed a new contract and said he would not leave Celtic this summer. He can score on free-kicks and deliver a decent corner from time to time, other than that he is slow and and doesn't track back.

We have not been properly linked with Sneijder other than what some lousy journo have stolen from this site? Because TEAMtalk is stupid enough to steal from Bill Howell it isn't a real target...... So basically we are as much interested in him as in Ronaldinho right?

The point is - any false person on a forum lying about rumors would say the same things as the people in the know when trying to convince people

Out of so and so many rumors - some of them are bound to right, but that doesn't make them "right" at all It's like this Spurs guy who hangs around here and claim Bent are signing with a 95% certainty - of course he might be signing but it's not because of what he says. It's like saying - bet 50 pounds on this team because their striker is the best in the league. Then the team wins but the striker gets a red card and scores an own-goal. Was it a good tip in the first place?

Stiliyan Petrov will be a starter next season, of course he will. He is MON's pet and I have no problem with that. It's like Wenger moving to Barca and bringing Fabregas with him - he would start in front of Xavi and Iniesta.