The Fun Factory

I think someone has to tell Alan 'bubbly' Brazil the reason why Westy and Lowton are not in the england U21 squad is that they are 23 and 24 years old.To pay 750k for him is just silly. I feel a bit guilty over Crewe about this.

I still think there is a decent footballer in Clark. I dont think making him captain last season was the greatest of ideas- he struggled quite a lot last season. Not having Vlaar in a lot of games as a senior pro didnt help matters. He is decent on the ball and is a regular in the Ireland squad at 23 so he isn't that bad. Granted I think this season is probably the make or break for him at Villa. He has to be better than last year or I think he will be off.

Sorry did someone say Carroll was world class? lol. Look he is a decent player. In the good old days he would have had time at Newcastle to settle in and develop his game, to be the local hero. Then at say 25/26 he might have got his big move. Instead he was bought way over his value by Liverplop and not given the time. At his very best he will be the next Mark Hateley, a good but not world class target man.

Considering we paid 18 up to 24 for Bent, Dzeko cost 27 million and even Steven Fletcher who is a average player cost 12 mil for Sunderland, I still think 20 to 25 would have been a fair price for Benteke. Anyway I think we are going round in circles. He is at Villa next season and hopefully he will score lots of goals again.

Firstly I am still really pleased Benteke is still with us for at least another year. Re Spuds pricing of him it seems a bit strange that they didnt even get near the 25 mil mark. If they really wanted him I think that would have been a fair price in todays market- if Andy Caroll is worth 30 mil, etc etc.The guy is 22 and unless he goes all hollywood he is going to get better. It could have been enough for Spuds to go from being a top 6 side to a top 4, and that would have paid for the fee.

A pleasent suprise. Hopefully he can settle down and do what he is good at. Like scoring lots of goals. Hopefully this is the end of the matter. Until next summer!

Yeah but loads of us would have said Lambert has tactical naivety in our terrible patch over christmas. I dont think you can judge a manager over about 6 games,

I dont really think he had enough time at Villa to be judged a good or bad manager. But given the fact he was the youth coach (and a very,very good one) for over 10 years before the chance to manage fell to him,perhaps he never really wanted it? I am sure a good club will give him a coaching job soon, all the best Mac.

Because they are a deluded bunch who insist that they are title challengers every year, even though the last time they won it was in 1961. The fact that they get disproportionately more media coverage than similar sized clubs, because they are from London. That they endlessly go on about the ‘Tottenham way’. The fact they charge over 80 quid for tickets because they can. That White Hart Lane is in a shit hole and miles from a tube stop. That they embraced money in football before virtually anyone else- ‘there used to be a football club over there’. Alan Sugar. Chas and bloody Dave. I mean I could go on.... Yeah you used to get this from Redknapp aswell. Every November-December you used to get from him "why can't Spurs win the league" and by May it had been downgraded to "what a great achievement it is finishing 5th" I find it amusing the annual way they're always 40 points of Arsenal in early March and yet come the final whistle in may they still finish below them (this is an Arsenal side that have been on the decline for the past two seasons aswell). Good cup team but haven't won the league since 1961. Two Carling cups in the last 20 years so yep pretty much the same as us. I mean Spuds havent even come 2nd since 1962. Not even a proper title challenge in half a century. No FA cup final in over 20 years. Burnley, Forest, Leeds, and Derby have won the title more recently than that lot. It just annoys me how much the hacks spunk themselves over Spurs every bloody year.When you compare them to Arsenal, they are not even close, though they always insist they are the 'proper' north london club.

Because they are a deluded bunch who insist that they are title challengers every year, even though the last time they won it was in 1961. The fact that they get disproportionately more media coverage than similar sized clubs, because they are from London. That they endlessly go on about the ‘Tottenham way’. The fact they charge over 80 quid for tickets because they can. That White Hart Lane is in a shit hole and miles from a tube stop. That they embraced money in football before virtually anyone else- ‘there used to be a football club over there’. Alan Sugar. Chas and bloody Dave. I mean I could go on....

I don’t really think Westy goes that unnoticed really. If you watch a Villa game for 90 mins, you can see that he is a class player. He reminds me of when Barry got into the team. He has football intelligence and can read the game so well. The fundamentals are there already from just 1 season in the top flight. Just needs to keep working and not to go Hollywood. From what I have seen him on AVTV and other stuff, I don't think that is going to happen.

Did anyone hear David Conn on talkshie earlier today? Usually a big fan of his but he moaned that all americans dont know anything about football, which is a bit harsh given the growth of the MLS. He then said all amercian owners are in it for the money. That may be the case but 1- I can think of about 10 other things to invest in and have a profit easier than football, and 2- at least the yanks want to run the clubs in a sensible way rather than spending cash like its going out of fashion. Like Manchester City, who Conn supports!

The 2 areas for me for Ash to work on are to track runners back when the midfield lose the ball, and to chip in with a few goals. If he can do that, he is England material.

I will be pleased with a steady improvement from last year's rollercoaster and not losing to a league two side in the cups. 12th and a FA Cup quarter final. League Cup early exit.

I think Westy will be a stayer for us. Potential captain discuss?

I dont want to put too much pressure on the lad but I wouldnt mind a cheeky bet for Westwood to be in the England Squad by the end of this season. Which probably means we would have to sell him. So I like the current arrangement of us Villa fans saying that Westwood is going to be a top class player for us and the rest of the fans saying Ashley who?

I wonder if Villa could do a pre 2008 banking trick and pair up Benteke with the toxic asset that is Stephen Ireland in one complete bundle?

I cant really see Lambert leaving us anytime soon unless we go down. Last season shows the faith of the board in him, and he has been allowed to bring his players with little fuss. Other than Manyew, none of the top clubs would be seen dead employing a British manager. I just hope the Lambert project works and he has time to build something good here in the next 3/4 seasons. When I mean good I mean like top 10 and some decent cup runs. I am not mad enough to suggest Villa will ever get near the top 4 now. Was thinking this. There are comments from Lambert regarding a new contract, something along the lines his is relaxed about it. I think Lerner is waiting until next summer. But thinking how Lambert came to us, if and when a bigger clubs comes knocking the contract that Lambert is on won't matter anyway.

I think we need to start a 'is he still here ?' thread on tekkers.

In fairness to mad old al fayed, you cant blame him for cashing in. He bought the club when they were in division 3/league two and has made them a constant presence in the top flight, which hasnt happened to fulham since the 1960s. Also by accident rather than design, he has kept them at Craven Cottage which has so much character and one of the best away trips in the league with that 'neutral' end. I thought they have planning permission to expand Craven Cottage to around 30,000, which is more than enough for their fan base. I am sure a rich billionaire would be very tempted with Fulham.

We can all say he is badly advised, but the fact is that he can earn far more at another club and probably be more succesful than at Villa at the moment. Football is a such a up and down sport, he could stay at Villa have a poor season or get a bad injury and his earning potential (and agent fee) will be far less. I know we all like the idea of evolving the side and developing players but that is all bullshit. Money talks and we know it.I hate to say it as such as the next fan but that is football in the premier league at the moment.

It will stick in the throat if he goes to Spurs now- a big club that hasnt won the title in half a century, and havent come in the top 3 in nearly a quarter of one. They are not a bigger club than us, but their fans are prepared to pay 70 quid for a ticket. Hence why they can afford to get players like Benteke on 100k a week. But hey. thats the premier league for you. And its only going to get worse with the new tv deal coming in. I wonder how long it will before Lambert gets disillusioned with it all? Or I suppose if he does well for us next year if would go as well?

Argeeing with a lot of the posters here. Sure is very disappointing but not in the Milner/Barry mold. It feels like we have a plan under Lambert. He has already brought in a load of promising young players already. Benteke was never going to be here for long (I hoped for another season) but rather than beating myself up over another player going, I am excited about what Lambert will do with the money.As fans, we need to stick together and support the club in times like this.Thank you and good night.

Ridiculous. We'll be unlucky to get £20m. Really? He could now basically go on strike and cause a serious disruption. He had a amazing first year in the Premier League but a few other have done that and not done much the year after. Grant Holt anyone? Okay he is miles better and younger than him but still. Clubs can now play hard ball as they all know he wants to leave. We would still make over 10 mil on him even if he goes for 20.Could be 20 with a few adds on to Arsenal/Chelsea/Spurs/Liverpool/delete as appropriate.

Not that suprised he is off but suprised about the timing. I thought this would last til 31/08/13. It was fairly obvious he saw Villa as a quick stop to the big bucks and he had a cracking season for us last year. He has form in Belgium was well in fairness as he forced Genk to sell him. But having heard he thought Villa was in London before he moved should have highlighted what was going to happen. The transfer request has point us in a defensive postion and will lower the valuation. We will do well to get 20 mil now. All in all, its modern football, and its all about the money. Villa have made the policy not to be big wage spenders now so any top player will leave us.Either you accept that or just give up and do something else in your spare time.