regular_john

The attraction of the toons is quite frankly nothing to do with the size of crowd. The so-called best fans in the world are very quick to turn when things go wrong and were getting awful crowds til *alleged-peado* king Kev (Been thru this before, PM me if you want to know) turned up to magane them, then every woodwork bled supporters.

Simply put the players go there cos of the image that has been projected that they are a massive club. It's all about the gloss, the sell, the salesmanship. The reality is much different I feel. 52K a game does not on it's own make a big club. Shit if Villa were the ONLY club in Brum we'd get crowds to rival if not better Man U. They basically spend money they don't have to attract players by paying everyone, from tea ladies to managers over the odds so to show they are bigger than they are. That is why they are bleeding cash, even with the new guys investment. I wonder if he's taking the debt on or not?

I do not see them as big. Is Fat Sam a big name manager in the mould of Keegan, Gullit, Robson or Dalglish? No way. In fact, the signes that they were skint were there for all to see when their last 2 managers were... Sounees and Roeder. Big **** names heh!?! Fat Sam will be on no way near the wages of managers past and even after the takeover his transfer budget I guess is nothing compared to the past. They signed Owen on a panic of needing a big name to appease the fans and sell tickets. Shit they even agreed a 9m get out clause in his contract?!?! THey must be mad to let a player of his qual leave for that. Hence Fat Freddies public moaning that Owen owed them. He knows they need him fit and staying to sell tickets.

THey are not the draw as they claim to be. We are fast becoming a big draw. Just ask Arsene Wenger. He sees us as a growing force.

if owen is available for £9mill we'd be mad not to bite newcastle's hands off to get him, if there is one player in the world that can really profit from working under MON it's Owen, i don't think he's ever lived up to his true potential and really believe MON could bring that extra bit out of him. i know he's injury prone but i'd much rather pay the £9mill and risk Owen than sign Bellamy for £12mill

personally i think bellamy would be a good addition to the squad, i don't think his temper will particularly be a problem as we've already seen MON doesn't take any shit (i.e. patrik berger) however i would definitely not want us to pay £12mill for him, that is WAY over the top in my opinion. if we could get him for £8mill or so i say go for it, can you imagine how many defenses would crap themselves at the sight of bellamy and carew running towards them?

i definitely think he could do well under MON for the villa, but if we were asked to pay £12mill i'd say the money would be much better spent elsewhere

actually scrap vanden borre, i've just found out he's off to fiorentina

ok guys lets forget the talk of Villa and Eto'o, that is obviously just fantasy talk and won't be applicable for at least another 5 years.

let's get back on track...

personally i would love to see tommy sorenson stay at the club, not as first choice keeper obviously but he'd be an outstanding keeper to have as backup/rotation, far better than taylor. artur boruc is the name that's been banded about and while i personally don't know anything about him i obviously trust MONs judgment, has anybody mentioned craig gordon from hearts? he'd cost a fair bit but i think he'd really be worth it. here's a youtube vid of him

not sure about right backs but we definitely need to replace hughes, how about anderlechts vanden borre? he's only 20 so he'd need a few seasons to mature but i think he'd be a quality buy, apparently he's quite friendly with vincent kompany, another name i've seen banded about on here.

as far as centre midfield goes i think samir nasri would be a fantastic buy, i know he's already been mentioned so i don't need to say too much about him.

i think these are the kind of 'top class' players richard fitzgerald is on about, relatively young players that while inexperienced show enough potential to make them worthwhile buys. it wouldn't surprise me if MON bought a lot of young players in the summer and built a team of 'kids' (ala fergie in '99), much like wenger appears to be doing now.

that's my two cents

i personally would welcome the signing of defoe, though not at the cost of losing gabby, and as far as defoes reported inconsistency i wouldn't consider that a problem if he was playing under o'neill, just look at what o'neill has done for carew - the man previously described as lazy, inconsistent and dispassionate.

also i'm not sure if this has already been mentioned as i'm too lazy to check the other pages of the thread but villa have apparently made an offer for sevilla striker kepa blanco, here's the link http://www.eatsleepsport.com/news_details.aspx?story_id=563245&l_id=1&t_id=2