GREAT_BEARD_OF_ZEUS

Great news!! But... “Until we exhaust what he has to offer I don’t think it’s right to bring anyone else in to that position." Meaning we won't be signing Dennis Praet any time soon

Out: Richardson (not good enough), Cissoko (no point Tim doesn't fancy him), N'Zogbia (obvious), Senderos (suspect fitness), Tonev & Herd (both never going to make it) Side note, I'd keep Joe Cole (think he is on pay as you play for the most of his contract anyway) and young Bennett (potential left winger in my eyes, plus cant be on much). Hutton I could cope with for another season I suppose - plus I think we'll play Bacuna there when we're playing weaker teams. In: Amavi, Darder (to play in a central 3 with Delph and Gueye), Praet, Embolo & Holgate (if Utd don't nab him). It would be an additional bonus to bring in a really commanding senior centre half just in case Richards isn't the real deal in that position, plus we seem to suffer a lot of injuries at the back. That run of exits/signings would be a dream come true!

Right take a fist full of straws and go with me on this... When Randy first bought the club there was a point where we all thought he was close to an agreement and he walked away, citing that the deal was dead. A meltdown amongst fans ensued before it turned out it was a bit of brinkmanship with Ellis and he eventually came back to the table and finished the deal. Could he be playing the same card here only this time he's in the opposite chair? Just seems odd for it to come out via an interview from Sherwood rather than an official statement, then again they've never officially acknowledged the exclusivity period so some could argue why would they officially state it's come to nothing. Hmmm

Oh yeah he is! Good spot, allow me to edit And I guess it's down to the formation with Gil. I sincerely hope that if we play a formation like last season with the two no.10 roles or the one above with three attacking mids (ala Chelsea) he will get a chance. Sherwood has said that Sinclair is more of an out-and-out wide man.

I know we're getting impatient, but i think we're just four 1st team signings off having a reasonably strong side for next year. I'm hoping that the Amavi deal is still alive and we manage to squeeze it over the line fairly soon, then it is just three to go. Going off the links so far, i wouldn't mind us lining up like this next season... ------------------ Guzan ---------------- New RB -- Richards -- Clark -- Amavi -------Sanchez ------- Gueye --------- --- Gil ------- Praet ------ Grealish ---- --------------Embolo ------------------- With a second string to pick from of: ------------------ Steer ---------------- Hutton -- Okore -- Baker -- Richardson Bacuna - Westwood - Gardner - Sinclair --------------- Gabby ------------------- ----------------Kozak ------------------- That'd still leave us with: Bunn, Senderos, N'Zogbia, Cissoko, Cole, Robinson. And aside from Bunn and Robinson, I think we'll end up shifting the others and adding some more young signings with potential such as Holgate etc.

Loving the fact that we've wheeled out Jim White for the day, only classy clubs do that!

I think you even managed to persuade yourself out of that one villanwesty

Spiders worse than AIDs!!??? I mean yeah ok Bros sure, but what have spiders done that's so bad?

Well he's not lower league for a start, he's a full Belgium international who cost them £10m. Granted he's an unknown quantity in the Premier League and he didn't have the best of seasons last year when he was loaned back to Lille - but he is decent and i'm guessing he's one of a small number of players Liverpool would be prepared to loan. Not all loan deals are bad - if he can come in and do a job, add competition up top for a season without costing anything, we can afford to spend more money on quality rather than quantity.

My final offer would be: £28m Origi and Flanagan on loan Gentlemans agreement to f*** off and let us sign the kid from Charlton unopposed

Tom Fox really meant it when he said "We're getting the right people in the right positions" (or summit like that)

Begovic (if true) seems strange for a club of our spending – Tim and Tom aren’t stupid, you just wouldn’t outlay money on an expensive new GK when it needs to be spent elsewhere first. It actually sounds like (dun dun duhhh) the work of a club about to be taken over by a richer owner about to splash the cash.

Guzan deserves another chance but I don’t agree with those who are saying he’s been badly treated. He’s at a football club where performances earn or lose you your place – that’s how it works in professional football, no room for sentimentality. His performances dropped at a time where Given’s peaked in the cup competitions. What Sherwood did was in fact the fairest thing to do. As for Gill, my hope is that when Sherwood came in and accessed the squad, he decided that with the players available, he was going to stick to one or two formations which suited the overall group (but unfortunately not Carles). With the summer to recruit his own players and readddress the ‘lack of balance’ he cited in his interviews, it may be goes with a different formation next season, one which does suit and accommodate Gill… Would a 4-2-3-1 make a difference? Would 2 holding mids allow the freedom to have 3 no.10 type players ala Chelsea?

F**k that!! Borini is average at best and we'd simply be bringing Ibe up to premiership standard for a season.

(IMHO!!!) she's a failed model who now wants to make in the media as a TV presenter / sky sports news 'desk dolly'. She does though seem to have contacts in the game (check out her twitter pics... oh I'm sorry you already have :-) ) and she could well be getting some inside info from a few of them as a favour to help her build her profile. This says to me that she's not your typical 15yo kid trolling for kicks, she's put herself out there and wants to appear credible. She's called quite a few things right (a couple wrong but we all know that even true ITKs do because of changes in circumstances). I don't think she's as clued in as she says but it's probably worth keeping tabs on her.

There’s only two things the player and club have done wrong in all of this: 1, Underestimate just how judgemental and warped the majority of the UK population can be 2, Underestimate just how greedy and immoral the British press can be in playing up to that majority attitude It has nothing to do with anyone what he gets up to away from his public role as a footballer – people will say that it does because he is a role model. Wrong, his private life is his own but somehow modern society has ruled that we somehow own anyone with a celebrity status and they should behave as we see fit. Jack Grealish can drink, smoke, stay up late, hell he can whack off to pictures of old pensioner porn if that’s what gets him off… as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone or contravene his Aston Villa contract. Unfortunately though, everywhere he goes he’ll have his privacy ignored, photos taken and scumbag tabloid editors dream up headlines to portray him as a ‘bad lad’. As wrong as it is that’s his life and it’s one which he has to accept because sadly it’s not going to change. Therefore he should have known better than to land himself in a situation such as the one where he was sparko on the pavement. Equally the club should have briefed him on how important this was (which they may have done and if so, Jack only has himself to blame). He’ll eventually learn to surround himself with people he can trust and party at places where he knows he’ll have (and can pay to have) complete privacy.

Regarding Huddlestone... I watched him quite a bit a few years back for Spurs and I thought he was brilliant, I couldn't believe that they would even think about letting him go. However he's always carried a bit of timber and whilst he isn't lazy (as people who've posted stats have shown), he's not one of these super athlete type players either. Does he suit a regular 4-4-2? Perhaps not, but in a midfield 3 he is the archetypical quarterback style player... don't ask him to run from box to box, but allow him to govern the centre circle. He can still chase players down and make a tackle it seems, and his distribution is excellent. He's also got a very hard shot on him, which as a late arriver to the edge of the box should be getting him at least couple of goals a season.

So what if during the 1st four years I built 20 solid gold training complexes, in sought after locations around the world, all in the clubs name and all written off at the time by shareholders. Then for the next 20 years I sold one off every season to the tune of £100m, which I then spent on players and wages?

Would it have been so difficult to say "I need a new challenge" instead of "I'm capable of stepping up"? Or even better, just leave your agent to it and leave quietly? No, so sling your hook Ron. And if you ever try and fake allegiance to the Villa when you're washed up and on Sky as a pundit, forget it! It still doesn't wash with Dwight Yorke and it sure as hell won't with you.

This is bang on. For me, as good as he can be on his day, he has unsettled our defence massively over the last few seasons as we've had to swap him in and and out. To be fair Baker is the same, and Okore has been in and out due to him coming back off such a big injury, but this is why we need an experienced commanding CB who is going to last the season and steady a very unstable ship back there.

With a bit of luck (and common sense) he'll be signed on a pay as you play deal. Or at least a big chunk of his wages will be set to that model. Which if he comes on a free means its effectively a risk free signing.

I kept a watchful eye on him during the Burnley game, in which he played absolute gash! I know they all had a bad game that day but he was atrocious! He's got that in his locker sadly, in less fast paced games where his hustle and bustle isn't really needed, he almost gets frustrated with himself that he's not good enough to do much else. I'd have had him stay as i think there's games where he's vital, but there are plenty of hardworking athletic midfielders to be had.

Meh not enough of an upgrade, I'd rather have Bennett back. I saw enough of Bennett to know he's got enough technique, he just needs confidence and a decent centre half next to him and he'll be ok. I know that's not the popular opinion, but he was a young lad in a shit team in an unforgiving position with us, he deserves a second chance.

For me he is a more athletic yet technically less skilled version of Delph. Yet they both offer energy and lots of running which has balanced our midfield well with one either side of the pitch and Westwood sitting deep. Problem is whilst that high energy, closing down style midfield is going to get you points against some lesser teams and occasionally higher up teams who perhaps have an off day, I think the technically better sides quickly worked out that they could easily pass through us (Southampton and Arsenal) and Burnley knew after going one up that for all our huffing and puffing we weren't creative enough to penetrate them. I wouldn't mind having Cleverly and Delph in those same roles next term, as long as we had upgrades to the men around them i.e N'Zogbia, Grealish and Westwood (the latter two by the way i still think should be involved, but in more of a squad/back-up capacity, albeit Jack would eventually become 1st choice).

Does anyone know how restricted 'restricted view' seats are in the upper Doug Ellis? I mean it's not like the stand has pillars or anything, so what could it be? Edit: Spoken to the ticket office, it's only a hand rail, woop woop!!