AndyClarke

1. It is hard for several reasons. Although I have seen him on a fair few occasions at reserve and youth level it is tough to try to translate that to how he will fare in the Premier League. The reserve level in particular is a strange one and is not really a barometer of where a player is at, although a certain amount can be gained. Add to that the fact that the majority of fans have probably seen him once (and that was Saturday) or twice, after Saturday he has since been hyped up beyond belief. Fans of Villa and beyond will already be earmarking him as a signing so I expect abuse if he doesn't fit with their expectations. He is of course rated based on last season and not what has happened over the course of the last month or so, if he continues in the same vein, he will of course be rated accordingly. What the majority of supporters don't tend to realise is that there have been so many players who have started brightly and then faded away to nothingness, I'd much rather be cautious and find that I have to raise a players ability rather than do the opposite. The key is to make sure that both strengths and weaknesses are portrayed and remember that a rating of 10 in any given attribute is not 'bad' as people seem to think, it is exactly what it is, average, in the middle! What CA and PA would people here hand out to him? 2. I do and I have heard the comments that Spurs were a problem side in FM2010, same as Arsenal have been in previous releases. I'm not sure how much of this is his fault as opposed to being as a result of Tottenham having the type of players that 'work' in the match engine. We only have to look to Gabby and his attributes to see that it perhaps isn't a data issue that he scores for fun.

I think you'd get sick to death of just being a chairman, there are games on the market where you can do things like set the hot dog prices and build the stadium but you'd need the match side of things to keep it interesting.

Cheers for the kind comments. Gabby being quick, strong and having high workrate seems to be a formula which guarantees him plenty of chances in the match engine. The whole club from top to bottom, that means anything that goes on and fits into the game as well as the hundreds of individual items which make up each players profile!

The data is always going to be entirely down to an individuals opinion. The problem is that everyone thinks that their own opinion is the correct one, although it sounds incredibly arrogant SI trust the opinions of the research team, that is why those people are in place. There is far more work than people know about going into the data and the research team analyse this data, understand how it relates to Football Manager the game and where players are in relation to one another both at domestic level and on a Worldwide level, things that your average gameplayer will have no idea about, nor are they likely to have an idea about. You'll find people quibbling over 1 point here or there or posting a rant without actually saying anything e.g "Joe Cole should be better". I've been at it long enough to not let it bother me, I'm always happy to listen to what people have to say and discuss it at great length with them, it is part of the fun being able to talk about football. What I often find is that after people have an initial rant, they'll think about it, realise that things are done for a reason and most importantly play the game for a while and realise that perhaps it is not as innaccurate as they first thought. I actually look forward to demo release day because that is when people will have their first look at the data and want to talk about it!! Gabby scoring at better than a goal a game in FM2010 is actually quite embarassing for me!!

I get a free copy of the game. There are other perks like being a newgen in game and I get asked to beta test most years. Like pretty much all of the researchers, I do the research for the enjoyment, we have our own community so it is good fun. If you ever look on the official forums, you'll see the abuse that some of the researchers have to put up with, which when you consider that this is a hobby is why the mods jump on them pretty quickly!!

Cool. How did you get that role if you don't mind me asking? Pure luck if I'm honest. I posted a long list of issues with the Villa squad on the official forums a few months after CM03/04 had been released. They'd been struggling to find somebody to do the Villa job, the previous researcher had gone AWOL and other people had been taken on but never delivered. Just happened to be in the right place at the right time and have enjoyed doing it ever since.

No, but we were offered the opportunity to have the code added a few years back, so a few of us are in there. The player will come through with my day and month of birth and have Villa as a favoured club. I upset the Birmingham City researcher by finding a screenshot from somebodys game where he became a Villa legend!!

I am indeed the Villa researcher. I'm afraid it is a wait and see in terms of how individual players are rated. If you want to speculate or throw around the numbers you would use, feel free.

I thought it was "MON MON MON MON MON MON turmoil turmoil turmoil MON MON MON...........they played quite well today"

Big John was unplayable today, I've no idea how you defend against him an absolute beast of a man, shame he seems to have forgotten how to finish!! Young was great and caused so many problems for West Ham it is untrue, Albrighton was great and absolutely buzzing with confidence. Downing did well but I'm sure there is more to come from him. Biggest problem we have is at left back, Warnock spends half his time fast asleep and we get done down that side, even a piss poor West Ham managed to exploit him. I hoped the second half of last season was a blip following injury but he seems to struggle to concentrate and makes far too many mistakes at this level.

That but Habib Beye at centre half instead of Clark.

I am working on the finances at the moment, not sure how it will work exactly because we are in a strange situation in terms of having an owner who will pump millions in but we have no idea how much of that he is expecting to take back before he eventually sells the club on.

Sounds like Bradley is having talks with the USA FA (or whatever they are called) after the International game. I really hope that is just wishful thinking on his part.

According to Nicko (and he has an eye on the situation as Rovers are supposedly interested) we want around £5million for NRC.

Played quite well, some really nice stuff at times. Defended solidly and they never looked a threat, that said, we were toothless.

Isn't he owned by aout 4 different people and therefore a nightmare to bring to the Premier League legally?

How often have you seen Buck bowl? Not saying Buck will necessarily get chucked in ahead of Woakes, moreso that the lad has outbowled Hoggard regularly at the age of 19 and operates in the mid 80s. England seem to like to bring through players from U19 level and Buck has been the main man in the bowling department so I wouldn't be suprised to see him get some recognition in the next 18 months or so.

Woakes isn't really quick enough, Bumble was saying on commentary the other day that he needs to put on a yard or so of pace to be able to be a regular threat at the top level, rocking in and bowling at 80mph isn't really quick enough unless you are hooping it around corners. Nathan Buck can't be too far from getting chucked in for a one day game.

I think that is the key, there is no way he can play effectively standing up against a centre half, not just that he isn't physically strong or tall, I don't think Young really fancies a header, particularly if the likes of Campbell or Vermaelen were ready to nail him. His role would have to be deeper lying, but for me starting as high up the pitch as possible to exploit spaces in dangerous areas rather than drifting around trying to run the game from the middle of the park.

I think you are a little harsh to be honest, looks a good player to me, whether he is Real Madrid good is another matter. Time will tell, it wouldn't be the first time they brought someone in and then never really used them.

Young has the ability, no doubt about that. I'm not sure as he'll ever change the way he plays in that he wants to beat players every time he gets the ball, to a degree a winger is limited in what he can do because of the limitations of the pitch so a move inside opens up plenty of opportunity. If he is willing to move the ball on a little more quickly than he does at the moment he could be very effective, of course the ability of those around him plays a part.

Bramble is a decent centre half who is remembered for his mistakes which came particularly in his early years. Same (but not as good) as what happened to David James, who, as anyone who went to Villa Park regularly in his time with the club will know was a fantastic goalkeeper only matched by Bosnich in recent history.

Chris Eagles? Would rather play Albrighton and I don't massively rate him!

That bluemoon forum is sickening! Thread after thread about the players around and unlike our speculation threads they could sign any of them without a second thought!! Their Milner thread is a bit quiet though for saying someone has claimed they've chucked in an improved bid!