Villarocker

You may have hit the nail on the head there mate! Culverhouse shouted at Luna and the lad is thinking "who the f**k are you? What did you ever win?" whereas now we'll have Keane barking the orders and nobody can think that way. What a strange thought. Good coaches don't have to have won anything or been of any note as a player. And adversly good players don't necessarily make good coaches. I'd imagine that the language barrier may have been more a problem than Culverhouse's experience. That and the fact that Luna wasn't good enough. In a perfect world maybe you would be right but, how many times in the past have you seen a statement from players joining new clubs that goes something like "It was offer I couldn't refuse because the manager is so respected in the game" etc. Not saying that Keane will be any better at coaching than Culverhouse, just that he might get respected more for what he's achieved in the game. Luna may have been the kind of player who looked at Culverhouse and had no respect for him. Who knows?

I think all this talk of him coming in to play defensive midfield is well wide of the mark. We need to play him further forward because Ki is just what we need to unlock opposing defences.

You may have hit the nail on the head there mate! Culverhouse shouted at Luna and the lad is thinking "who the f**k are you? What did you ever win?" whereas now we'll have Keane barking the orders and nobody can think that way.

Have to say I thought Collins was one of the most overrated defenders I've seen here. Dunne had a very good season in 09/10 but was a liability after that especially off the pitch. Ron is much better on the ball than either of them were (Collins especially who was a hoof merchant) and as others have said we had better protection in those days e.g. quality like Milner and Petrov infront of the back 4. We still conceded a fair number of goals under Houllier and McLeish with those two as our centre halfs. This is what I think a lot of people often miss, especially with Dunne who I think is sometimes overrated on here. Once Milner was gone Dunne looked very poor and that was with Petrov still there. Vlaar on the other hands looks very good in a Villa shirt with nothing like the kind of protection that Dunne got most of the time and he looks even better playing for the Netherlands. Vlaar is without doubt one of the top 3 CBs I've ever seen play for Villa (bit too young to remember Southgate properly and definitely too young to remember McGrath). I've witnessed some great centre backs over the years. McGrath being the best but, Evans, Teale, Southgate, Ehiogu, Alpay, Mellberg and Laursen have all been good to watch over the years. If Ron stays and we get some decent defenders around him, he's going to be right up there in the list of great Villa centre backs in my opinion.

I have been undecided about Vlaar in the past. One minute he looks sublime, the next he looks awkward and panicky. But, there's absolutely no denying that Vlaar played excellently at the World Cup against top class attackers, whilst surrounded by decent defenders. It just goes to show how poor Villa's other defenders are. But, Vlaar and Okore did well for the short time they had together last season so I'm hopeful of a more solid defence this season, if big Ron stays of course.

Welcome to the club. I've only ever gotten two names on my shirt. Makoun and Luna...sure worked out well. I have a heskey shirt......please don't kill me Have you had any luck with the ladies since you bought it? Just wondering if it's stopped you from scoring. For the record, I saw Luna play in the Malaga pre-season friendly last year. He was skinned a few times by some young Polish kid and after the game my mate and I both said how he looked no better than Bennett. Obviously, you have to give him time to see how he develops but he clearly wasn't up to the standard of the Premier League.

Tony Bennett would probably play better! Do you think Luna feels sad about not making it at the Villa? Just wondering if he's a blue moon right now....

I don't blame Lambert for buying so many younger players. Think about it logically, older players with quality are known about and will cost plenty. Lambert has obviously tried to buy younger cheap players in the hope they have a bit of quality already and can develop even further. People are saying that Cole is past it, and that may hold plenty of truth but, would we have afforded him if he was 5 years younger? Probably not.

I hate it when fans under-value us!

We tried playing Young behind the striker (Robben role or number 10, call it what you will) and it never worked. And, that that was back when he was playing good football! I am pretty confident in saying that Ashley Young a second time around would only be of 50-60% of the player we had first time around.

He's never had an ounce of pace, though. Question is can a player like that work in the Premier League? Gareth Barry? Actually, I'm not sure how fast Gary Medel is but he did OK last season. To stay on topic, I think Cambiasso could do a great job for whoever he plays for. Quality player regardless of pace and age, in my opinion of course.

This won't happen for the obvious reason that is wages. But if it did, it would be amazing to see such a high quality player in a Villa shirt.

I never again want to see Ashley Young in a Villa shirt, unless it's some old footage. He has hardly kicked a ball in anger for 12 months and the quality we had when he was here was a million miles away from what we have now. If we're going to spend money please don't let this greedy so and so have any.

I'll be amazed if nobody comes in for Vlaar after his showing at this World Cup. He's been unbelievably consistent in every game. With just a year left on his contract, it's going to take some deal and powers of persuasion from Villa to keep him.

Richard, do you have any info on who we might possibly be signing next? That's if there is actually a "next" signing this window.

If Bent does stay, at least we should have a stronger looking bench this season. Should normally be along the lines of Steer, Hutton, Bacuna (or Lowton), N'Zogbia, Clark (or Baker), Bent and Kozak.

If a takeover doesn't happen before January, and Villa are say within 5 or 6 points of the top half, can anyone envisage a situation where Lerner takes a look at it and thinks that he might have a better chance of selling up if the club is in the top 7 or 8,therefore giving Lambert a further 10-20 million to bring in better quality to try to get us into one of those finishing positions? I know it might sound a bit ludicrous to think of Lerner splashing some cash but, he might think it's worth it if it means not cutting the asking price by 50 million. Just a thought.

He might not be everybody's dream signing but I'm far happier to see this lad playing down the left side of our defence than the likes of Bennett and Luna. I think that he'll do well here and with Okore back we will be stronger defensively. I also think we'll see a back three with KR and either Lowton or Bacuna, probably the latter, playing wide right. Having seen Vlaar, the club captain, play so well in that system at the World Cup, why wouldn't you want to play that way?

I think that Grealish might get a few cup starts this season. Hopefully he will get a few more starts.

I don't think anyone would be back in for Benteke until he's at least played a few games and shown he's over his injury.

Welcome to the club Kieran I hope you do well for us.

Would be nice if we could bring some more players in that maybe we pay a fee for, this summer.

I'm going to guess 8th of September (this year) for the announcement of our new owner. It would be nice if all the rumours are true and the takeover could go through behind the scenes, so that any potential transfers don't result in Villa being fleeced.

Thinking about these theories regarding us already being bought but no announcement until September; there could be some truth in this. I recall Villa being held to ransom on transfers because other clubs knew of Lerner's intent to spend big, hence paying £8m for the likes of Reo-Coker. Perhaps Lerner has passed this information on to a new owner and the new guy has decided to throw in a couple of cheap signings in order to fill the squad whilst making us look like paupers at the same time. Then, Lerner suddenly pops up over here with the intent of getting more involved due to Faulkner's departure, and then we start doing some more serious deals for decent money without being asked to pay over the odds. It's a very big "what if" but you never know.

As much as Lambert is disliked by a lot of fans, could you imagine what it would be like if he walked out of the club before the season starts.