brommy

chelsea have signed luis suarez for 40mil...

 

Yeah right. I'm sure Ivanovic would be very happy about that move.

Suarez is slightly less likely to bite his own team mate.

Agreed 'Electric Avenue' and where ever he does go he will score a bucket load of goals in the right system and probably one or two against us as well.

If Bent went to a team that created bucket loads of chances, he could score 15 to 20 goals for the next season or two. Thing is those teams good enough to create bucket loads of chances want a better player capable of converting 30 chances, not 15 to 20.

I think Bent's prime time has past. A 30 year old Bent could be decent for a middling club willing to play exactly the way Bent needs to get himself 15+ goals/season, but at what compromise to the effectiveness of the rest of their team?

I've seen good players leave us and I've almost dreaded them playing against us, only for them to have a 'mare. I've seen poor players leave us only for them to play well against us. Sod's law shouldn't dictate Bent's possible sale.

Those are all interesting points but where in my post have i said anything about sod's law dictating Bent's possible sale?

I didn't claim that you did.

 

You are also alluding to the same conditions here which might be prevalent in other teams and how that will affect that team if they buy Bent. Any manager purchasing Bent will know exactly what he is good at and will probably have a system in place to get the best out of him and i don't think any manager would be stupid enough to purchase Bent irrespective of that.

I'm sure many a manager would envisage creating a system that enables Bent to score plenty whilst he also contributes well to the rest of the team. For this player past his prime, the reality is likely to be very different.

You implied it and how do you know Bent is past his prime?

 

Are you basing this on his age or his recent performances with us?

 

If it's his age your referring to, players are able to play longer now at the top of their profession when the technology is there to help them extend their careers.

 

If its his recent performances with us then you are judging a player being asked to play in a system that clearly doesn't suit him which is more than a tad unfair.

 

When Bent does leave it will be for a team that will play to his strengths and not expect him to contribute to the team in the way you suggest as he is simply an out and out goal scorer and not a link striker.

I didn't imply that you said anything about sod's law dictating Bent's possible sale; merely added to an open discussion.

I don't know Bent is past his prime, anymore than you know Bent will score bucket loads in the right system or any goals against us. I still stand by my opinion on Bent's future career - possibly 15 goals (decent but not what I'd call bucket loads) in the right system for him, at the partial expense of weakening other aspects of his team. Any team strong enough for 'forward support' to be a negligible issue will be looking to for an even better finisher and more creative player than Bent, imo. I guess it's about getting enough goals out of Bent that it doesn't matter he provides virtually nothing else to the team - a difficult equation for most teams.

Agreed 'Electric Avenue' and where ever he does go he will score a bucket load of goals in the right system and probably one or two against us as well.

If Bent went to a team that created bucket loads of chances, he could score 15 to 20 goals for the next season or two. Thing is those teams good enough to create bucket loads of chances want a better player capable of converting 30 chances, not 15 to 20.

I think Bent's prime time has past. A 30 year old Bent could be decent for a middling club willing to play exactly the way Bent needs to get himself 15+ goals/season, but at what compromise to the effectiveness of the rest of their team?

I've seen good players leave us and I've almost dreaded them playing against us, only for them to have a 'mare. I've seen poor players leave us only for them to play well against us. Sod's law shouldn't dictate Bent's possible sale.

Those are all interesting points but where in my post have i said anything about sod's law dictating Bent's possible sale?

I didn't claim that you did.

 

You are also alluding to the same conditions here which might be prevalent in other teams and how that will affect that team if they buy Bent. Any manager purchasing Bent will know exactly what he is good at and will probably have a system in place to get the best out of him and i don't think any manager would be stupid enough to purchase Bent irrespective of that.

I'm sure many a manager would envisage creating a system that enables Bent to score plenty whilst he also contributes well to the rest of the team. For this player past his prime, the reality is likely to be very different.

Agreed 'Electric Avenue' and where ever he does go he will score a bucket load of goals in the right system and probably one or two against us as well.

If Bent went to a team that created bucket loads of chances, he could score 15 to 20 goals for the next season or two. Thing is those teams good enough to create bucket loads of chances want a better player capable of converting 30 chances, not 15 to 20.

I think Bent's prime time has past. A 30 year old Bent could be decent for a middling club willing to play exactly the way Bent needs to get himself 15+ goals/season, but at what compromise to the effectiveness of the rest of their team?

I've seen good players leave us and I've almost dreaded them playing against us, only for them to have a 'mare. I've seen poor players leave us only for them to play well against us. Sod's law shouldn't dictate Bent's possible sale.

Swansea have made a bid from few places on twitter.

Can you make a bid on twitter?

 

 

Luna is far too handsome to be a Villa player 

 

He's deceptively big. Or his mate is deceptively skinny. I have an idea, stick Bennett in the middle.

 

Perhaps he's carrying a little 'holiday weight'?

 

whats that sportsbra thing they're wearing?

I'd imagine it monitors heart rate, blood pressure and all kinds of aerobic things we don't understand.

 

Its a catapult harness (not a joke). It attaches at the back to an elasticated rope (like a bungee rope) which acts as an increasingly strong resistance against the players running/movement. I guess the players leave them on between boughts of resistance training.

A clutch player = a player for the big occasion.

Why?

I can't remember a more clutch player in my time supporting Villa. Don't know how one man can be in the right place at the right time so often.

Clutch player? Never heard that phrase before

Crutch, perhaps?

As predicted the cull of the big earners has now reached Barry Bannan on £20k per week.

Who predicted and at what context/significance?

Hmmm, sort of wish we'd gone in for Cornelius and maybe this shows us that the big money really isn't there, if he was as easily gettable as he obviously is then why would we go for Helenius ahead of him?

 

could imagine the uproar on here if we paid 7.5 million for a guy in Danish league. He had 1 season and only got a couple of goals more than Helenius who cost 6 million less

Exactly.

I leave the tough decisions to someone who is paid well to make them, knows more about their overall budget than I do and spends their working hours investigating targets in more detail than my youtube highlights viewing.

Leeeeds!

So overpaying for a player is determined as paying more than an undetermined form of average of the values stated by football fans based on their guesses (hopefully informed) of the players future worth to the new club?

If CB goes for £24m (lower than many appear to think he's worth), but he barely reaches double figures for the next 4 seasons, the buying club will have overpaid.

If CB goes for £35m (higher than many appear to think he's worth), but he scores 20+ per season on the way to winning titles, the buying club will not have overpaid.

I think I'll leave the present tense term of 'overpaying' to others.

The opinion of internet football forum users decides how much a player is worth? Mean, mode or median? Those averages will vary - a lot!

I'd say the value of a player to a club can only be decided once the player has completed his stay at the club. Some transfers seem cheap, others expensive, but until a player has 'added value' or otherwise to his new club, stating whether a transfer fee is overpaying is premature.

If citeh pay £35m for CB but he gets 30 league goals on the way to the title next season, would they have 'overpaid'?

What determines 'overpaying' for a player?

Hmm.  As admirable as it is, and it is, I'm not sure little Timmy will be thrilled at the idea of buying a shirt different from the one his heroes wear at the weekend.  I know the plain one is different too but that's an omission rather than an outright different 'sponsor' logo.  Good gesture from the club that might in a way hurt sales of junior replica shirts.

As the father of two, I'd like to think that any parent of a child over 7 or 8 would be able to explain the circumstances. Despite the slight difference in advertisement I know my two would be proud to bear the name of Acorns instead of Dafabet.

Why would Villa not wait it out? Erm the constant cries that he is not for sale and that they are desperate to keep him. I think Paul Lambert wants this to go to bed as quickly as possible. It seems Benteke does not - hence one of the reasons why I think he wants to leave.

What 'constant cries'?

Of course PL would love CB to sign a 6 year contract on £20k/week. Back in the real world, CB is happy for his options to increase over the summer before being able to compare them to Villa's final option and Villa will benefit from a possible price war as the weeks pass. No rush for either party and no indication of intent either.

Woodytom, if I were planning a picnic in 20 days time, would you spend every day telling me you think it will rain on my picnic? The reliable forecasters don't predict that far ahead and the other forecasters are basing their prediction on seasonal weather patterns but in reality can't say for sure either way. I know there is a chance it will actually rain on my picnic. That doesn't mean I need or want to hear your constant wet sandwich prediction. I'd rather look forward to a nice afternoon and if it does look like rain I'll postpone or eat indoors.

 Just ignore my posts then.

 Brilliant debate

 Well, to someone who admits that they do not want to hear my opinion, there is nothing more to say.

I think I have made it clear, I will not be lying to please people.

Do you understand why many would prefer not to hear your long range prediction of rain? Hey, there's a chance it will rain on the day and you'd have been right all along. You may even enjoy saying "I told you so". I wouldn't expect anyone to have appreciated your negativity along the way though.

We have absolutely nothing concrete to go on so opinions will be made.

Strange. I see that as a reason not to form an opinion.

I see more indications he wants to leave than stay.

'More' numerically or 'more' as importance? For all we know, CB could have disregarded half of your theories and put more importance on playing Premier League first football in a team he's settled with during the build up to the World Cup.

Is CB staying for another year? As you stated, there are no concrete clues so I'm not about to proclaim either way.

Had a weird, beer induced dream he started up front with Benteke. We lost 4-0.

 

Let's not play him there.

You need to copy that to CB and PL. CB needs to know where he is playing next season and PL still needs to sort the defence out.

Another quick question.

 

My 80 year father doesn't want to go to every game - so I have thought about just getting a ticket for me amd my son (Under 16) - on occasions when my father wants to go would he be able to use the junior ticket ?

 

Is the senior ticket much more expensive than the junior one? If not it might be worth getting the senior ticket for your son.

 

Yes thats the issue - the OAP ticket is a lot more expensive than a junior one - which seems a bit of a waste as it may only be for a couple of games where my dad wants to come

Ring the ticket office. They may allow you to upgrade the junior card to OAP level for the couple of games you require, if you pay the difference for each of the matches you need. I think they may 'cancel' the ST card for the match and your father will need a paper ticket but if your notice is too short for the post you can collect from the ground right before the game.

I suspect it is as it doesn't state my name just "dear applicant" I got this email from HMRC yesterday regarding a tax refund, tried calling them to verify but was on hold for 20 minutes and gave up as was at work.

 

Dear Applicant:

You have received a tax refund payment of 632.25GBP

from HMRC (HM Revenue & Customs) into your Internet

Banking Account.

Please accept the tax refund request. The money will

appear in your Internet Banking Account within 3-6 days.

A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons.

For example submitting invalid records or applying

after the deadline.

Please click on sign in to Online Banking to accept

your incoming funds

Best Regards

HM Revenue & Customs

Not sure if serious.

Am I alone in thinking he is very much like Dennis Bergkamp? Some of those touches & finishes in the video clips are truly sublime. I also see the Tore Andre Flo similarity too mentioned by other posters.

Looks like we have unearthed another real gem & a steal at £1.5 M to boot if that is to be the final reputed figure.

A bit much? Possibly.

Possibly not.

As uncool as it would be, let us wait and see. I revel in the wait and discovery.

I'm liking this window so far. Feels like high risk instead of a dull 'safe bet' that seems to back fire on us anyway.

I agree with all your points John but maybe if Weimann had gone to pastures new his fee would have purchased a player of at least similar quality and maybe better?

 

Benteke however, if sold, would be a lot harder for the manager to replace with similar qualities.

How much do you think we would have got for Weimann with one year left on his contract?

Do you really think we could have purchased a player, guaranteed to settle in, perform at the same ability or better, give the same high work rate (especially important during the times of weak form) and easily young enough to improve his game further, for the same value another club would value a young Andi available on 'a free' in 12 months time?