jonno_2004

Will be interesting to see where he fits in with McCormack - both like to drop deep and how many times have we seen Villa with so few players in the box it's almost criminal.

I would love nothing more than to see them tear it up but if he ends up being sold for good money and we have Kodjia or Bamford playing ahead of McCormack I won't be crying into my pillow.

An adequate enough 'footballer' of a centre-half and had a promising first couple of years but ultimately lacks the positional sense and physicality to be the very good CB we thought he could be at one stage.

Arguably our 4th choice CB at present and during the past 4/5 years in which he has been given a consistent run in the team when fit has always looked like he had a howler in him.

No doubt would have done a job for us this year and seems to be a decent bloke - so long as he doesn't badmouth us in the press I will wish him well - a fresh start is the best thing for all parties IMO.

Generally credible source (in my experience) on Twitter has claimed fee agreed. Interesting.

Holloway's comments have their own merit and for the most part it was fair when you look at the full thing.

Xia's reaction was emotional and defensive, which I think at the very least shows his heart is in the right place but he still has quite a bit of wisening up to do especially with the U.K. media and the more sensitive elements of our support hovering.

The worrying thing for me is the amount of vitriol seemingly in reserve for him the moment he puts a foot wrong. God help us if we don't get off to a good start.

1 minute ago, dundeevilla said:

What a shockingly amateurish and stupid thing to do.

Just about as daft as his line about making us as big as Real and Barca.

Who is advising this man?

I'm worried about this fella. Something doesn't feel right, he acts like a clown and we've seen no evidence of his supposed billions.

Do you want to see a bank statement or something?

Oh..

I may not be 100% behind the entire Twitter thing but laughed out loud in the office reading Tony's latest one - brilliant.

1 hour ago, Ponky said:

Unfortunately, until proven otherwise, Holloway is not too wrong either about us being a half-arsed club that used to be famous. 

Half-arsed is putting it nicely.

7 minutes ago, Ginko said:

We haven't seen him in a year, maybe he's improved? He's also one of our biggest and most imposing CBs whereas Okore and Clark are quite short for the position and Elphick is only 3'5".

Baker also has more Championship experience than Clark and Okore. He might prove to be useful yet. I wouldn't see it as an indictment of whether we'll be successful in our promotion push.

Has Baker made a mistake in pre season yet? It was Elphick who lost his man for the Rhodes header yesterday. Thought he's been impressive so far and much improved.

Massive few weeks for the management and owners to ensure we don't end up with this guy leading the line from September onwards.

When we were knocking the ball around under little pressure he was fine, could have been playing in his slippers.

As soon as Boro stepped up a gear and you needed a bit of bite in midfield it was almost as if they ran straight through him.

Not sure if any of the current CMs are the answer this season.

The problem with RDM preference to play out of the back is that you need both people showing for the ball and a defence capable of doing so.

I think the pass yesterday is something we will see a bit more of asking Aly to play that way unless there is significant improvement.

Just now, Ginko said:

I think this is being blown out of proportion. We were never going to do a complete revamp of the squad and there are talented players in there who would show a lot more of their class with better or more hardworking players around them.

Tony has also stated there are a number of players he and RDM want out of the club. I expect the truth lies somewhere in the middle. If after January we are still absolutely woeful and still persisting on playing the bad apples then will be the time to say I told you so. A week before the season starts when the window is open for a few weeks yet is way too early to panic.

Agreed - I think it's pretty clear by who wasn't involved yesterday in respect of who they want out.

He has been fairly candid in his tweets about the market and desire to sign new players - if that isn't followed up come 1st September then I think it's fair for him to come under criticism.

Not that all problems will be suddenly be solved then either - it's going to take a bit of time for the team to gel and RDM to get his ideals across.

1 hour ago, tinker said:

It was reported  he spent 5 years at Havard and 6 months at Oxford, he's English is only a bit better than mine and I went to Mathew Boulton! Holes, big holes  

The other day on Twitter I clocked ex-VT poster IanRobo criticising Dr. Tony as illiterate - I almost fell off my chair laughing at the irony.

Nice range of passing and a nice cruncher from Gardner after looking a bit lazy at the start.

Desperately need a striker with a sense of timing and cutting edge - Morley is right with Gestede, one fluke season does not a striker make.

2 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I think the opposite, I feel the Gana situation will make them even more determined to prove a point. They have already said WE DON'T NEED OR WANT TO SELL, and he has no release clause. They are not going to risk looking stupid again.

It is definitely comforting that we have no clauses in the case of Ayew (if that is indeed the case).

8 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

Yeah, thanks Bateman (or is it Paul Allen?) but could you put that in English for those who don't work on Wall Street?

It's written on the PDF on the CH website, but at the RAL level they've converted a rather big loan from its parent to shares.

Without seeing the entire structure I wouldn't read too much into it.

4 minutes ago, TRO said:

The crucial bit is not what he is personally worth.....its how prudently we spend the money he provides us with.

Indeed, or more accurately in line with the Recon Group's funding strategy as a whole.

Just now, sharkyvilla said:

But how much would it cost to buy someone of Ayew's ability when we got promoted?  He will be head and shoulders above almost everyone else in the Championship and if we have no need to sell i.e. a clause, why bother.  

I'm not saying we should sell - I'm saying I wouldn't be that disappointed if we replaced well.

And how much would it cost to buy someone of Ayew's ability in the PL? I'm sure we could find the cash down the back of the sofa to match those 7 league goals last year..

Have a feeling he will go before the end of the window but I wouldn't be too disappointed providing we replace well. A bit like with Gana - I'd much rather have two quality Championship players in these positions who are committed to the cause and want to be here (and you can always look to replace once promoted) than two players not up for the fight and tainted from a shocking relegation season.

Strangely I think selling Gana could work in our favour - may force our hand to really commit to buying someone who will make a big difference in the centre of the park in the Championship. Add a striker (with bullets...) and suddenly things look a lot more rosy.

Will reserve judgement on our changes of promotion until the end of August.

Will be an interesting one. Looking forward to seeing what RDM considers as his strongest line-up to date (which I would imagine he would put out for this one) and also against a PL team who are traditionally a week behind in terms of fitness at this stage.

3 hours ago, useless said:

Someone posted this link on twitter, I've no idea if correct but apparently it shows that Xia capitalized the club at £400m minus what he paid for it.

' Statement of capital following an allotment of shares '.

 

Per the SH01, they've converted the prom note (together with the accrued interest on it) between RAL and its shareholder to ordinary share capital.

1 hour ago, VillaChris said:

Have to say this report caught my eye. No idea how accurate the speculated figures are but just shows you how well Levy does with the wage bill there...and also how massively overpaid Lamela is!

Shows you how mad football has become when you're amazed a prominent premier league player (one of the best in his position) "only" earns 30k a week.

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/christian-eriksen-rejects-tottenham-contract-offer-as-spurs-star-seeks-salary-increase-a3307671.html

Kane's scored nearly 50 goals over last two seasons and we were still paying Heskey more (60k a week) over 7 years ago now. 

And Eriksen is earning less than what likes of Sidwell and NRC were getting here.

And we wonder why Spurs are permanently top 5 and we're slumming it in the championship.

Must admit I read this on the tube and had similar thoughts.

Have to remember there will always be a premium for us in that the players would have to live in/or around Birmingham.

Not overly bothered about this one.

Although it is amusing to think had he torn up trees and we were comfortably midtable, raising his value to £20M+ there would still be a release clause for less than we bought him for.

Whoever had that bright idea needs shooting.

Whilst recognising the need to balance the incomings and outgoings, just feel we need the type of signing that will galvanise the team and really signify we mean business. Newcastle have arguably made two with the likes Gayle and Ritchie.