brommy

If a contract is accepted at first offer, I suspect the offer was too high! I don't think any of the contract talks are at stalemate yet. Our club is not a bottomless pit of money so I don't blame it for not being held to ransom, i.e. deciding what a player is worth and not exceeding it. The club will offer lower and move to a middle ground - the period we are in, I guess. At the same time, I don't blame players and agents waiting to see what other clubs are offering. I would really like Andi to stay but if he has an offer of say £45k/week, should we really be trying to match or improve on it? Andi would be snapped up by half a dozen clubs at £25k per week, but we'd have no trouble matching that. I only hope there isn't a manager out there who takes a shine to Andi and persuades his club to offer £40k+/week.

Couldn't agree more How do you force a player to sign a contract for less than he thinks he is worth?!

Weimann

Go for it, that would be ace! Expect the media to report it as 'Benteke urged to end stay at Villa'.

^Exactly how I remember it.^ Some might add that it was under Lambert's management that we went through all the above. I prefer to think that period was part of Lambert and his team 'settling in' or 'finding their feet' and the good (not faultless) last third of the season was more reflective of things to come. Next season will tell.

None of what CB has directly said or what has been written (mostly via translation and/or out if context) means he is definitely staying or definitely leaving, but I think many will find the comment above far too reasoned for VT! I wonder why the media don't run with this side of the story?

Cheers turnbull! That gave me a proper laugh!

What is the point of second guessing things that might or might not happen based something else which might or might not happen? It means RL..., PL won't get the money anyway..., we're a nothing club..., other players are bound to leave as well..., FFS. Well CB's not even left yet for any of those things to be even a possibility. It's worse than another bugbear of mine - from the morning news - "The PM is expected to announce blah in a speech this morning". Fine, bring me the announcement and I'll listen myself or summarise it for me when you've heard it! Don't make it out as news before it's even happened!

You say that as if it's news! That's what you get when you cannot hold onto your best players it is a vicious circle and people who say "If (Young, Downing, Milner, Barry, Yorke etc) want to leave then let them and we'll invest the money" failed to see that. This is why people like John above say we are a nothing club and why I have been saying for a while we are a feeder club. And why we cannot hold onto our best players. This summer Weimann and Benteke next summer Lowton and Sylla who knows after that I've had a season ticket for the best part of 30 years and not seen it any different. Why worry about it now?

One could also wonder whether PL and RL would have a tiff if RL was willing to refuse a decent offer in the hope that PL would build around CB next season, but PL fancied giving it another go in the transfer market with the cash. I'm not sure how relevant or enjoyable guessing the answer to hypothetical questions is though.

Its 2013. There are alternate ways of communication. AVFC should have been keen to get this done before hand, and so should Benteke (provided he wanted to stay of course). Put it this way, If you wanted to stay in a job and you knew you were getting a pay rise - Would you leave it a couple of weeks? Isn't it possible CB and AW are happy to stay and happy to see what offers, including ours, come their way? The power is with the player/agent. I don't see how Villa can force the deals - "Look, we've offered double your money. If you don't sign this week, it is clear you want to leave so we will sell you." It won't work!

Great video and editing. I really enjoyed watching. Thanks!

I have front, back and side gardens and just about tolerate mowing the grass once a week between April and October. Anything else I see as a pain in the ar$e and therefore I'm unlikely to be able to contribute any further to this thread!

oops... Rev 'went for a steak'. I don't think 'went for' equates to home cooking.

Too often in UK restaurants, they over cook steak. My guess is the cut is usually slightly too thin so it cooks to the middle too quickly. Also I suspect it is cooked to the point it should be eaten at and then during resting the highly heated outside of the steak continues to heat through to the centre. I presume the solution is to cook it to 'one less' than required before resting, eg. cook to rare, rest, eat at medium rare.

Medium to well done, i.e. just a bit of pink. My guess is you prefer yours 'on eye'.

I think we'd all settle for a steady top half season after the last couple of years. I have a feeling we'll have another roller coaster season but hopefully it will be rising and falling around 10th and not 16th!

Because it sells papers and under the guise of a 'free press' it is difficult to defend against. The real fault lies with those who pay for such drivel. Why people pay to read what just might happen (but usually doesn't), instead of keeping updated about what is actually happening, confuses me. Many people know more about untruths and rumours than they do about current affairs. I'm sorry Belgium Guy, it is something we have had to endure since before Benteke and until people stop buying or believing such nonsense, it will continue after CB. ok i ment no disrespect btw. I know BG, I fully agree with your frustration. My post was aimed at the media and those that feed from it and definitely not at you. :-)

Because it sells papers and under the guise of a 'free press' it is difficult to defend against. The real fault lies with those who pay for such drivel. Why people pay to read what just might happen (but usually doesn't), instead of keeping updated about what is actually happening, confuses me. Many people know more about untruths and rumours than they do about current affairs. I'm sorry Belgium Guy, it is something we have had to endure since before Benteke and until people stop buying or believing such nonsense, it will continue after CB.

This site is full of premature statements, such as 'Wigan will beat Swansea - FACT'. I won't traul through to see whether you've ever made premature statements but why highlight those who may have regarding PL?

It appears that some, who were rightly concerned about the first two thirds of this season and blamed Lambert (rightly or wrongly) for the mess we were in a couple of months ago, are reluctant to acknowledge the improvement. Perhaps they are still concerned, as I am, about our inability to keep a clean sheet, but it could also be they invested too heavily in sticking the boot in to PL during the winter troubles to feel able to acknowledge PL might be on the right track after all. Managing our club from the the start of this season would have been a difficult job for any manager. Some would have done a little better; many would have done a lot worse. I'm sure even PL realises he has made mistakes and there are still issues to work on. If our form had been reversed over this season, I'd be very concerned but as our form has increased, I'm hoping it is a good sign. To not recognise the context of this season and the recent progress made seems short sighted. Oh, and just because I'm willing to praise Lambert for turning things around of late and I'm looking forward to what he may achieve, I don't think he's our Messiah. ;-)

I ask for medium rare in the US because I then get served medium rare. I ask for rare in the UK because I then get served medium rare.

Yep. It's missing a scarf and a gypsy.

Remove "Villa" and replace with the name of any club in the entire football league outside of the top 4 ...and in virtually every league across the world as well.

What do you suggest to change things?