Houlston

It cant be far off the most bonkers thing that has ever been posted on VT.

Excellent so that's a nailed on 6th place finish for us then.

It seemed pretty obvious from the comments from Houllier that we wouldnt be in for a striker

I thought he did ok, I thought everyone did ok especially considering the ridiculous playing conditions which oddly didnt seem to effect Gabby or Warnock much.

We're selling the general? Yep but we're not going to be able to use all the money we get for him so we are only going to be able to sign a Colonel

I doubt Comolli & Dalglish looked at that when deciding. I'd say they were far more interested in putting the ball on Carroll's head from the wing, and in that sense Downing tramples all over N'Zogbia. Which doesnt make Downing a better player it just makes him a player that Kenny feels is more suitable for Liverpool at this time. I dont believe in the "well if he was a better player then Liverpool would of signed him" its all subjective and this is what Kenny wants. Similarly Carroll isnt a better player than Bent.

Where can I find this handbook that categorises players? All you have done is taken a term and defined it as you see fit. Anyway I feel like i'm arguing semantics but if I was to use your classification of players then we have a number of prem quality players and a number of good players, the mix of which is better than most teams in the prem and not far behind the likes of Spurs or Liverpool. Next year just like this year it will be tight and their will be some underachievers and with Kenny not having a clue what his first team will be I'll stick my neck out and say they will struggle again.

Wow and thats where it ends hardly reason to compare our position to that of theirs especially in a "at least were not" type comment. One relegated twice the other relegated and bust. We are still a strong team in one of the hardest leagues in the world.

Fair enough but thats where we differ, I see Albrighton, Makoun, Ireland and Delph as quality players and all will contribute to the first team plus Nzogbia. I also dont see why Dunne cant rediscover his form from when we first signed him. This season will be better than last and I think we'll finish between 6th and 9th. Yes I know we finished 9th last year but I think we'll acquire more points and have a better cup run.

Is there a link? Always nice to see other fans misery! page 206 of this thread

Mackems are gutted ha ha

We have an awful lot of quality first team players and hopefully Nzogbia will soon add to that. I dont prescribe to the view that Albrighton isnt ready and this will be the first season for years that we have started with a proper goal scorer. Add to that the like of Delph, Makoun and Ireland I dont see why just because Downing and Young have gone we cant improve on what was a very shit season last year and yet still finished 9th.

Maybe not be in that situation in the first place? Or maybe this was the risk Randy took for CL football with the vision it would be reached in a certain period of time. This qualification was not achieved and now that level of wage is no longer sustainable so a new approach is needed. So after all these years of being told "At least we're not" we finally find we actually are. Wooosh, nope i dont know what you are on about. I read it as "At least we're not Leeds United/Portsmouth etc" - ie gambled on a CL place and lived to regret it I wondered if it was that but the comparison is so far fetched I just thought it couldnt be.

Exactly its not that straight forward just like its not the straight forward to offer £9m and it gets accepted. Also their was no pr and spin that you mention that came from us, everything came from Whelan.

Do we? Do they? Just because something becomes harder or less realistic doesnt mean that the target should not remain. I think we do know yes. (Why go to Liverpool / Manure if you are a Villa winger with Bent just arrived?) As I said above, the actions don't match the aim. No where near, not even close. All I am asking for is to treat us with a tiny bit of respect in terms of football knowledge. If we forget about budgets and wages and aims for a moment, what I see on the pitch is what I base things on ultimately. There is no way that this squad of players will get anywhere near the CL and if they do what are they going to do then ? United - who can blame him it would of been the same if he was at Spurs. Liverpool - money and a very influential agent And there is no way with this squad of players will we be looking at just survival either. I believe the target hasnt changed its just become much harder to achive and a very difficult way to achieve it has been adopted to due to financial constraints.

Its unbelievable to think that we are on the verge of signing a quality player who scores and creates goals that will balance and compliment the side and for half the price of a very similar level player and yet some still find something to moan or be negative about.

Saved 500K by costing 500K more than we bid? Saved 500k by not bidding the £10m he asked for but yeah look at it the way you want to.

Maybe not be in that situation in the first place? Or maybe this was the risk Randy took for CL football with the vision it would be reached in a certain period of time. This qualification was not achieved and now that level of wage is no longer sustainable so a new approach is needed. So after all these years of being told "At least we're not" we finally find we actually are. Wooosh, nope i dont know what you are on about.

Yep well played Villa, Whelan looks a muppet for constantly spouting off that the fee is £10m and nothing less and i'm glad the board dont listen some impatient fans as this has just saved us 500k.

Hmmmmm?? How ever much I worship Dazza I would find it difficult to have Bent on the back of my shirt!! Agreed. I would use Dazza or DB9! Are you two 10? Its his **** name not an advert for your sexuality.

Do we? Do they? Just because something becomes harder or less realistic doesnt mean that the target should not remain.

Maybe not be in that situation in the first place? Or maybe this was the risk Randy took for CL football with the vision it would be reached in a certain period of time. This qualification was not achieved and now that level of wage is no longer sustainable so a new approach is needed.

You know its a shit newspaper when the Daily Star is more accurate.

*awaits usual response of "you mean no one is allowed to have a different opinion to you snaaaarf"*

I'd like to see Twitter banned as a source of speculation. Actually, I'd like to see Twitter banned, full stop, but that's another issue. Why did you sign up to it then? @MooneyGlory1888 Twitter is just another vehicle for posting messages and opinion much like a forum such as oh I dunno VT. If JulieB wants to post stuff from twitter that is connected to the thread ie Charles Nzogbia then I dont see why she shouldnt. And if you still dont like it then there is an easy way round it, dont read or just ignore the posts.