brommy

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

HM Revenue & Customs Not sure if serious.

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.

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?

It would be easy for Villa to state Stan has no authority in scouting/purchasing players, Stan knows the player well and was talking privately and 'off the record'. "Dear Stan, please be careful not to be misunderstood when you speak to your fellow countrymen. Lot's of love, The Villa".

Patience is the path to enlightenment.

Because AW is yet to sign a new contract. The desperate need to provide news before it has actually happened continues.

When another club officially states (not just a rumour) that we have bid for a player and it turns out to be a lie, it does make me wonder about the validity of many of our transfer/finance discussions.

i did everything i could now its up to CB and the villa board to make the right decision. I am reasonably confident our board will do what they can to keep CB for now, short of being held to ransom. I think 90% of the decision is with CB. We all hope he make the right decision but if he leaves I won't be angry at our board or CB. They will both be doing what is best for them in a compromise based on circumstances, mostly financial, we know little about.

Partially true - but as Lambert has told us 'not to to expect any big signings' and 'those days are over' - assume towards the lower end ! Lambert is clever enough not to advertise how much we have to spend. You don't walk in to a market and tell the traders you have X to spend because the first price quoted by them is likely to be X plus their haggle margin! I don't agree with those stating 'there's no way we would spend €15m on a player'. Currently unlikely? Possibly, but not 'no way'. In any case, the maximum we spend on a player in the next year or so is likely to be influenced by a certain Christian Benteke. I couldn't be certain of the chances of him staying or going this summer. 50-50??? I still believe Lerner would sanction a large transfer fee if the player's contract was right for Villa, i.e. reasonable wages, would take the team forward based on their current ability, would make a profit if they played well above their predicted ability. This would appear to rule out signing large value players in their late twenties. Having said the above, it makes little sense for a club of our income to be paying any player over around £75k/week. I would expect most £15m+ players to command more than we can sensibly pay them so that does self regulate the high end of the transfer fees. Back to Belhanda. I agree, at first inspection, it does not seem like the type of transfer we would currently complete but, as unlikely as the transfer may be, I don't believe anyone could be as certain to give it a 'no way'.

Why? Just out of curiosity or trying to work out other Villa finance matters? Yeah mate. Just would like to know as it will set a bench mark for Westwood and Lowton when the time comes. Quite possibly. It must be a nightmare running a Premier League football club - players playing well and demanding new contracts for twice their value or threatening to leave; players not playing well still being paid the high salary they negotiated when they did, at some point, play well. Hopefully it will be officially confirmed soon that Andi is staying. With all the talk from the media and even some Villa fans that Benteke is 'too good for us', Andi is 100% the type of player we should be keeping hold of.

Why? Just out of curiosity or trying to work out other Villa finance matters?

Indeed! The breakaway run from the opposition's corner kick was rapid! I think we'll be leaving him 'up' when we defend a corner!

Think he could be faster than Gabby I wonder exactly how fast is faster than f...

Was that Lech Poznan's website and did the website quote in GBP?

£2.76m at the current exchange rate.

I've edited my guesstimate range for you. I've read that it was closer to £1m but to be honest even when the two clubs announce a figure (which is increasing rare), there is often disparities.

I'll be in Edinburgh for two hours tomorrow afternoon, but I'm not sure that will help you. I have an 8 hour return trip so I hope the burger is good.

1. I don't think it has been officially disclosed. Expect to read anything from £300k to £3.25m. 2. Yes, somebody has. He does looks good on youtube, but who doesn't?! Seriously though, I can't think of another player I've seen score more than just once from 25+ yards with either foot. 3. Ask Con.

The quotes do not mirror the conversation broadcast on the air at all in terms of context. Lambert was merely saying that people forget how young Benteke is because he has the physical stature of an older professional. The emphasis was on looking older than he is, rather than acting younger than he looks and that he is still developing both as a person and within is career. Im more concerned about the whole situation rather than that single interview. I see what your saying but I think over the last couple of weeks its become a bit of a shambles. Up until then Lambert was just saying 'he is going nowhere'. That seems to have been swapped for waffle. Don't mistake all the crap that has been self generated by the media for 'waffle' from the people that matter. But thats just it, the media could not generate anything from Lambert before, It was simply - He is going nowhere. Yes they could during the season, there were many questions regarding Benteke, where he stated he'd tripled his price, he'd be better off staying here. I agree. Lambert apparently said CB is going nowhere and then the media misquoted CB when after pushing him on him being stuck at Villa. If you examine exactly what PL and CB had said specifically about staying/moving, it would not amount to anything like waffle. The media will stir things up until any deal is done. When that happens is mostly down to CB and his agent so I don't see why anyone should see it as a shambles.

The quotes do not mirror the conversation broadcast on the air at all in terms of context. Lambert was merely saying that people forget how young Benteke is because he has the physical stature of an older professional. The emphasis was on looking older than he is, rather than acting younger than he looks and that he is still developing both as a person and within is career. Im more concerned about the whole situation rather than that single interview. I see what your saying but I think over the last couple of weeks its become a bit of a shambles. Up until then Lambert was just saying 'he is going nowhere'. That seems to have been swapped for waffle. Don't mistake all the crap that has been self generated by the media for 'waffle' from the people that matter.