CannockVillan

I'll give him a chance. An experienced international player who is not going to look like a rabbit in the headlights will be a refreshing change. OK he's not Tiago Motta but he's a (possible) short term improvement on what we have. If he joins give him a chance! Okore is untested at this level and particularly over a long hard 38+ game season. Arsenal obviously saw something in Sendeross (AC Milan, reported interest from Lazio before joining Valencia) and i guess that if that is still there then he'll do OK for us (let's face it it those clubs are generally playing at a completely different levels to us. I suspect he left Fulham becuase he was coming to the end of his contract and the new gaffer didn't want him if he was no commmitted. Valencia - who knows - maybe it just wasn't the right move for him and his family. I am neither over the moon nor disappointed (somewhere in between) but as a free agent I see it as a positive move to stengthen our poor defense. Let's face it both Clark and Baker need some respite in order to be able to develop without constant pressure on them. Over 50 international caps for his country.

Not quite sure you've got that right McGregor1888. buy Villa now for £200m invest £30m plus in trasnfers and wages Get relegated Sell and recoup £200m Don't think so. There are few guarantees in this world that i can think of. That's not one of them. Before you say you mentioned spending to ensure PL status, i can think of a few clubs that have tried that over the years and failed. Last year was a major example of that with QPR.

Post edited - please stop the giant quotes. TV So the club has had £220m odd of capital injected. So the club can expect to receive £70m per year revenue minimum just from being in the PL. All these top line figures are completely crap. It's the bottom line that counts and ours (until recently atleast) has been worse than awful. No profit and big losses accumulatign year on year. Why one earth do you think we have had so much capital invested for christ's sake, because we can't break even and the funding has to come from somewhere or you say hello to insolvency. Randy's been financing the club every year since he arrived and even in these last few spendthirft years. What's important is profit and we have been cutting our cloth to reduce our year on year losses. Ok the finances might be more stable now and we might end up profitable these coming years but that is before you then consider how much money to invest to try to make us competitive again. The club might be worth £200m but I wouldn't be putting my house on it. OK Villa has land (which has a value) and the fact that it is currently in the PL brings associated income (but there's no guarantee of that income continuing at that level for any club and especially Villa given the last 3 years. To keep us stable in the prem league could potentially require a fair bit of investment too which in turn could inflate wages thereby increasing costs. I'd like to see the accounts covering the 2013/2014 season and see how all the cost cutting measures and increased income have affected things but of course they won't be available for a while yet. At the end of the day not many people buy a PL club with a view to making a mint. These days your lucky if you come out with your shirt still on! A bad season and your left with not very much at all other than a parachute payment you really didn't want and certainly no guarantee of getting back to the big time. £200m - maybe. But then again maybe not.

He definitely says "but now people understand the situation" He could of course have been starting to talk about something and changed his mind. "Now people understand the situation. We saw people getting exasperated with lack of investment, wanting more but not hearing anything. Well now they know what's going on. The club is for sale."

http://www.mclaughlinstern.com/attorneys/partners/alkalay-peter-c/ form that V Card i'd say he would be the last person from M and S on the plane. Check out the coprorate lawyers instead.

I am respecting Lambert all the more for what he says. He clearly cares about his job and the club. I'd like to give him 12 months with a fully fit squad (tin hat on)

Surely just had a look around? Fact the lawyers remain is good. IF he is looking at Villa Folski, it does indeed. The fact the lawyers are still here proves to be a positive whoever they are looking at. I am thinking it has to be looking through the books or getting paperwork sorted to get a deal in place. Cannot see why M and S (not the shop) are still in town if Bob was not interested in something. Assuming the two (BR and M and S) are indeed linked and given the connections between the Lerners and the Rich's then it would suggest something is going on. You wouldn't fly your US lawyers over to take a quick look, they'd be here for some on site Due Diligence. Most FDD or LDD these days can be done remotely given technology but when you're paying up to £200m for a company you would probably want your legal and commercial teams to take a good look round to see where any potential issues might be. As far as i am aware there is still no direct link between BR and the lawyers (or am i wrong). The big news would be if anyone unearthed a client/lawyer relationship here between the two. Even then we know the BR has a facility nearby and so it could be something internal(although flying in lawyers from the US suggests something big happending).

For what it's worth my view here (as someone who knows absolutely no one connected with the club in any way at all - not even the matchday pint pullers) is that the club has been sold STC now that we have secured our prem status. Everythign seems to point to that. Debt equity swap to improve the balance sheet; suggestions of a new contract for Lambert and then nothing materialising and Lambert not even sure if he will be here (surely Randy would have secured him by now if he wasn't going); Reduced funds for transfers in order to clear the books (although that was probably also out of necessity anyway); Lambert's recent change of tac to the press; and timing (recent new sky deal which increases turnover significantly (Cardiff will gwt more TV money than ManU did last year!); Randy's financial position - he can't suport the investment rewuired any more. There is no way Paul Faulkenr knows nothing. He the CEO for christ's sake. A Buyer would have to do Due Diligence into the Club and he (and other directors) would know full well what was going on. He's either playing dumb or these posters are just full of ****. God knows who the new owners will be but I think Randy is gone, So is Lambert (although personally I would have liked to have seen what he could do on a better budget) and Paul Faulkner is clearly looking at making other plans (i.e the FA). It's just a matter of waiting for the confirmation from Mr Lerner himself. i hoe it's a consortium of sports Savvy people as at least they will know how to run a sports business properly. I don't think the problems at Villa will be resolved by throwing shed loads of money at the club but rather through re-structuring and getting the right people in and having a firm direction going forward (a 5-10 year plan). That's why I don't really blame Lambert for the dross we have had to suffer. He's made the best out of a difficult situation and you cna't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear! I doubt Ferguson would have faired much better in the circumstances. it's all hearsay and guessowrk of course but we've had a number of managers and none of them have set the world alight. It suggests that the manager is not perhaps the root of the problem. This is probably the weakest squad we've had for a long long time. I'll doff my hat to Randy for keeping the Villa ethos alive and for everythgin he has done. It's clear he has made mistakes and the biggest oe for me was not having the right people on board from the outset at board level. He's taken the club as far as he can and that's not his fault but it's clear that a sale is the right way now for him and the club.

Woeful, just woeful

losing patience very quickly with this dross of a team

I can't remember us defending so poorly as in the last two games. Fulham were there for the taking and we have no idea how to press teams when they have the ball. That second goal was just football negligence. We are playing shit, creating nothing and losing more and more confidence. Players need a real bollocking and straight away or I fear for where we will end up. I honestly don't think we will go down but as it stands unless things improve massively I can't see us winning again this season. LAMBERT TAKE NOTE - WE ARE NOT HAPPY WITH THIS SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well if he's citing Borussia Dortmund and they are interested then i very much doubt we'll see him in claret and blue. Can't compete with them.

I agree with Papillon. this guy shouldn't be rushed back. give him time to fully recover and get a good pre-season. At the moment there's no need to panic and i would think we'll get enouogh points over the next few games anyway (touch wood).

Guzan isn't the best in the league, that's for sure. He's a good keeper and one we're lucky to have. Some are saying he's not had as good a season this year but i think that our defence, alhtough inconsistent and wobbly at times, has imporved on last season so he hasn't had to be called upon as much. you then tend only to notice the goals, many of which he can do ntohgin about. Look at Stooke yesterday. 3 shots in the first half and three goals. The first one from odemwingie was the one he had the best chance of saving. sometimes they go in and soemtimes they don't. The other two he had no chance on earth. It was all from poor defending not goalkeeping. the last goal again he had no chance and it came from Gabby(i think) losing the ball in the middle third of the pitch leaving us open to then counter. I think we need a strong defensive midfielder who can break up play to sit alongside Delph (box to Box) and Westwood (who keeps things ticking over doing the simple stuff). Add in an attacking midfielder and let's seehow Okore gets on after his injury. Whilst i don't think he's the most defensive minded i think someone like Moussa Dembele would be great for us. So composed on the ball. That said i think he's well out of our range.

They'd obviously had a talking to but rightly so. Problem was there was no experiecned head in there calling the shots and talking to people. Gabby might as well have sat down at the corner flag for the second half such was his contribution (in fact he may well have done for all i know). Where was our longest serving player! I'd like to see Vlaar bieng more vociferous too. Someone should have got hold of these kids and told them it's not about 10 outfiedl players running round like crazy. It's about pressing as a team and forcing the mistakes. When you have the ball its about movement, patience and guile. We have none of these. There's no point in one player sprinting his backside off to close a player down when no one else thinks they have to do it too. Easy ball out and one player knackered for no reason. Everyone has to close down the space across the whole pitch otherwise you may as well just let the opposition pass it round you. Credit to Stoke for playing well but we really made them look much much better than they actually are. I've seen Sunday League teams that could have played against us yesterday and got a result.

It was a disjointed performance from the whole team. We lacked enthusiasm, drive, determination and discipline. There was little or no movement in the game from the front 6 which has so often been the case for us. Our only really mobile midfielder is Delph and whilst he is probablymour best player at the moment he won't make the step up to a really top team. Westwood, KEA and Sylla are hardly a Keane, Ya Ya or Gerrard type player who can take the game by the scruff of the neck when things aren't going well. Delph tries his best but he can't do it on his own. When the team plays well as a whole the midfield looks good but when the team struggles as a whole they haven't got what it takes to lift a team and re-take lost momentum. We went on the back foot after Benteke's goal and never came forward again. Baker got owned by Crouch first half. atleast he tried to do somethign about it. Where the hell was our Captain Marvel Agbonlahor. totally irrelevant second half from him. He lacks off the ball movement as do so many of our players. When you are being pressed and your team aren't moving for you, you've only got one place to go and that's backwards and ultimately to your keeper to hoof it up and 9 times out of 10 lose possession. WE ARE NOT MOBILE ENOUGH AND IT MAKES ME SICK CUASE IT'S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE IT'S PASSING A BLOODY BALL AROUND A PIECE OF TURF. ARE FOOTBALLERS AND COACHES REALLY SO STUPID THAT THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW WHEN YOU HAVEN'T GOT THE BALL YOU HAVE TO TRY TO FIND SPACE OR CREATE MOVEMENT TO ALLOW OTHERS TO FIND SPACE TO RECIEVE A PASS. YOU DON'T DO IT ONCE AND THEN STOP YOU DO IT CONTINUOUSLY WHEN YOU'VE GOT THE BALL. #fuming It's

There was just no.. Oh actually I can't be bothered. ..yes that's it!! No one seemed bothered that Stoke were bending us over and sticking it right up our holes. Just disgraceful. At least look like your bothered instead of running around like headless chickens and playing as 10 (Guzan not included) individuals instead of as a team. Awful, Awful, Awful!

The capitalisation of £90m!! Well isn't that just taking money out of one of his pockets to put it into the other? It does concern me now that there appears to be a staging for sale going on here. With the new Sky contract kicking in this year the club's income will have increased significantly (as a proportion of total turnover) whilst costs continue to be driven down. That said not many people buy companies on turnover. So will be interesting to see what the profit and loss account shows next year!

Well I for one am happy with him. He may not be putting shedloads of money in the club but he has bankrolled us in our attempt to hit top 4. When the playing field changed we had to change. I'm not expecting Randy to put his personal wealth on the line any more than you or i do. And please don't anyone go on about spending your money at the gate, it's not the same thing. You're paying to watch a game and be entertained in the same way you have to payu to go to the theatre or cinema, you're not paying to bankroll the club. The club should be self sufficient. The problem nowadays is that the players take all the cash from the clubs. In the same way there was an imbalance before Bosman there is still one now it's just that it's been a seismic shift too far the other way. until we have a salary cap it will stay that way and we all know the big boys won't accept a salary cap that would threaten their monopoly. Basing it on a % of turnover won't ever even things out. The big clubs will still get bigger and the smaller clubs stay where they are bar the odd blip here and there. We need the manager and the coaching staff to shown their worth when our hands are less tied financially and for the coahing staff to do a much better job. If Everton, who are in dire straits can perform then so can we. If Southampton and Swansea (last year) can perform then so can we. We're 9th in the table in terms of avge attendances at games this season so for me the problem is not in the owner it's in the entire coaching set up. I think we need to overhaul the coaching methods from the ground up because it doesn't seem to be working as well as it should. Teams like southampton are outstripping us in producing quality players for their first team and now for England and other natinal teams. Walcott, Oxlade C, Lallana, Roderiguez, Lambert(?), Shaw, Bale... Players coming through the ranks should be concentrating on learning how to play the game well rather than ripping up a reserve league or winning fairly meaningless trophies. If we do it the right way then great but we need to be producing players who are comfortable on the ball and comfortable in tight situations and most of all who are very mobile as a unit. Step 1: How do we want to play the game; Step 2: Introduce that style at all levels throughout the club from juniors to first team; Step 3: Get the right coaching staff in teaching the best methods; and Step 4: Wait for the hard work to bear fruit. The point is that until we address this we will always continue to drift along the lines of whoever the current manager is. We should be looking at the manager as a means of instilling those values in the first team and appoint managers who agree with that philosophy and want to play that way, otherwise we will continue to wander in the desert changing things every time a manager comes and goes. Staff are temporary guardians (as is the owner) but the philosophy of the club and the way it plays should be permanent. I'd like to know what we are doing to address this.

Friend of Mine who is an Everton fan and was at the game on the weekend said he was impressed by our defending. Felt we were fairly organised and well disciplined. Always the samE though - you'll never really get anywhere with less than 30% possession (atleast you won't most of the time).

you do know that sunderland and fulham are getting their players at last minute It's their Darren Bent style signings. They know they're in the shit and feel the need to try and buy themselves out of it. Big risk when your buying players who haven't played in this league. Massive culture shock and not necessarily going to get to grips with the power and pace of the premier league.

Its quite easy to answer that at the moment: "the next one"

And I've seen the same player do F*** all since!!! As the Financial Adviser will tell you "past performance is no guarantee of future performance". He was crap and he's gone.

January trasnfers (as nearly every manager under the sun has said) are extremely difficult and usually over priced. i think i recall Ferguson or Wenger saying there was generally no value in the January window and not much on offer anyway. This year might be difeferent slightly in that its a world cup year but that's generally for the cream of the crop (and I doubt we're shopping there) so it's not surprising that any potential new signings are taking time as the leeches (sorry agents) look to make a killing.

Never shown anythign remotely close enough to really competing for a starting XI spot. Don't care what he showed when he was younger and in the youth/reserves, cause he ain't there now!! Move him on i'm afraid. I think he lacks the right attitude. Too many players think they've made it when in fact they've just had a small taste of the big time. Well it looks like he'll be another one of the many top youth players who have nver made it for one reason or another. Championship at best on his current form. Still, he'll still earn more than I do in his lifetime but perhaps he is where he is now because (and this is all supposition on my part - no ITK) he's maybe more concerned about that than actually winning anything.