Macca1888

We'll sell him for £60 million and buy three placements - one for £35 million and two in the £10-15 million range.

The whole model for sports/football journalism is broken. There's no real analysis, certainly, in football and that seems to be the case in every country where I have watched the Premier League. Is it to do with time and cost restraints at the various TV stations I wonder? As an example, it's far easier for a pundit to come up with a quick opinion on a Bale or Ozil than a Kozak. The current TV model dictates that you fill airtime as cheaply and quickly as possible which means they endlessly debate the same old players and stuff. If anyone listened to Talksport over the summer, all they seemed to focus on was Bale and Arsene Wenger (with a side order of Rooney thrown in for good measure). The net result of this was hours and hours of cheap programming with the same old fans phoning in. In the meantime, Talksport were making a nice little sum flogging adverts every half hour. Making an hour's show about Villa signing the likes of Lowton and Westwood would require them to get off their arses and do some research into the respective careers and backgrounds of both lads whilst interviewing folk from Crewe and Sheffield as well as Villa. Don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen, but when a resourceful young journalist does eventually decide to follow the story, expect the likes of Talksport and the tabloids' main men etc. to jump on the back of it and recite the article as if it was their own research and opinion. It's a lazy, lazy, lazy model for reporting news totally driven by money.

"We'll probably cash in for £35 million?"..."£50 million forget it?" etc. Some of the statements one reads around here - written as if they were fact - make me chuckle. If Benteke goes he goes for the price Aston Villa value him at. If suitors don't meet the valuation then he simply stays at Villa Park. Villa are completely in the driving seat, not The Daily Mirror, not some nobodies on Twitter etc. I do wish you good folk would simply ignore the nonsense written about Benteke and just enjoy what's taking shape at Villa Park. Let's see where we are come May.

*sigh*

That bullshitting Itk on twitter who also claimed we were offered Young and he'll be leaving Utd? I heard that about Young 3 weeeks ago and it wasnt from a twitter ITK account. Was actually from a utd Fan. Can't see us taking him back on his wages. Can't see us wanting him.

Viktor Fischer was in the Ajax team that took on our youngsters a couple of years ago in the NextGen. Along with Gary Gardner he was one of the players of the tournament.

Gabby needs to stop the Twitter - it could end up being a huge distraction and source of trouble for both him and the club.

Mertesacker went in two footed on Benteke, too, just before the Arsenal lad was sent off - they were very lucky they only had one man sent off.

That's a fair point. He did do and was subsequently dropped from the team. Since being given another go towards the end if last season he has looked much better. So perhaps he has adjusted to the pace? Or we can just write him off permanently because of a few shakey performances after a solid start. To be fair none of our midfielders are composed under pressure. They either turn in to trouble or give the ball away cheaply. He is not alone in that department None of our midfielders are composed under pressure? Dear Lord, there isn't half some nonsense written on Villa Talk.

Just imagine when Tonev gets up to speed!

I'll back Lambert's judgement of the situation on this one.

Any team would miss him. I'm sure we could reshuffle the pack, though, and win games without him.

There's zero chance of Arsenal signing Benteke. A last minute punt on Bent might be more realistic, though.

im more pissed of with your use of the word soccer. Its football I thought in Ireland it was soccer! "Football" is GAA. The thing is "soccer" is an English nickname for English association football that dates back to the game's formation. When posters (usually from England) get upset at Americans, Irish or Australians using the term they are ignorant of the history of the word "soccer" and mistakenly assume it is some kind of Americanism. The Americans, Irish and Australians use the term correctly.

Zactly. There is no "Big Six". Nobody included us in a "Big Six" when we finished sixth three years in a row. Spot on.

Stevo, take a step back and put yourself in any manager's shoes at a fans' forum. Even if they wanted to, there are certain types of questions that they just can't answer in a straightforward way.

Simply delighted the lad scored tonight - I'd say that's a little personal milestone for him considering the injuries he has had to overcome these past couple of seasons. Onwards and upwards Gary.

Especially delighted for Jack Grealish and Gary Gardner tonight as I think their goals will have given them both a huge, huge boost. These are only friendlies, of course, but when I compare and contrast to this time last year I really think things are beginning to take shape down Villa Park.

You mean the commentators are saying it right, or wrong? BTW KG, I think it's fantastic that you and your bro are both such big Villa fans and that you post on VT. I think jealousy would prevent a lot of blokes from being such big supporters. A real credit to you, and probably to him as well, in spite of your crap spelling and grammar hahahaha !!! Didn't know it was that bad... LOL but yeah cheers man. It's not often I'm getting the compliments by the villa fans Also I won't be around for much longer, whenever (IF) jack makes his first team debut I'll be off and not coming back until he stops playing for them. Only because it would be unfair on jack for me to be commenting on his teammates etc. Sad times, I know But the original quesion is no, they ALL say it wrong. #RelishTheGrelish Yep, that would be the wise move Kevan. I'd imagine Lambert and the squad wouldn't be comfortable with someone so close to the inner sanctum posting on a public forum and it wouldn't help young Jack either. Look upon it as a sacrifice for the greater good of Jack and the mighty Villa!

I certainly expect something from the first three matches! What on earth makes people think that Liverpool, for example, are a team to gift points to? Ditto Arsenal. We've got more than enough about us to get points from all three games.

I hear you Macca but you can hardly blame people for discussing his form in this thread. The reason we were in a relegation battle last season was that we couldn't defend, and Clark was a major factor in that. I really thought he'd step up last term but he didn't at all and I feel nervous when he lines up at the back. I think he does as well. He possibly does feel nervous Patrick, which is where we step in and support him through it. The lad made a couple of high-profile errors last season (including one for Ireland) and it will have effected his confidence. Supporters need to lift a player through that kind of stuff, surely? Yes, there's no harm in discussing players' form on the internet BUT sometimes from such discussion we get a bandwagon that inevitably leads to match-day vitriol. There's a tipping point. I've seen it many times, a kind of herd-like mentality that snowballs out of nowhere and leads to match-day abuse. I'd ask fellow fans to simply put themselves in a player's shoes before hurling abuse on a match day - the likes of Ciaran Clark deserve better and I would hope our discussions (and similar discussions elsewhere on the net) don't lead to the making of a new scapegoat. Scapegoating players does not help our cause.

No they won't. How do you know they won't? 1) How do you know they will? 2) I'm pretty sure the fact the kid has signed a new contract with a year's extension and no buy-out clause guarantees nobody will be after Benteke for at least twelve months. We are comfortably in the box seat with this player. I'd recommend you enjoy the ride as opposed to fretting over things that won't happen.

When a player suffers a drop in form what is the best course of action for "supporters" to follow? a) Herd together like brainless sheep and form the collective opinion that he is "shit". Make him a bag of nerves so that he has no chance of playing himself back into form and allowing him time to develop as a player? b)Support him, encourage him and give him a positive environment to play in so that he can regain his confidence and fulfill his potential? People who resort to option a) genuinely make me despair. Put yourself in the player's shoes and ask yourself what you would want? Clark has been with the club since he was a very young lad - he deserves to be supported and backed not turned into the latest scapegoat. Scapegoating players does NOT help the club: it creates a horrible vibe in the ground that transfers onto the team. Lift the players don't destroy them.

Nope, he's Irish because, although born outside of Ireland, he was raised Irish. It's no different to ex-pat British people raising their children as British even though they might have been born in Spain, America or whatever. It's like KEA choosing to play for Morocco. Respect Grealish's feelings, family and upbringing: no doubt they are proud Brummies and Villla fans BUT there is also a very strong Irish identity there too that they are equally as proud of. Nationality and identity is a very personal thing. So if Prince William raises his son as Chinese, is he Chinese? And KEA probably chose to play for Morocoo because he knew he wouldn't be good enough for Holland. *Sigh* If the Windsor family were Chinese ex-pats living in England and they decided to raise their English born children as Chinese, making sure they had Chinese passports and so on...then yes, of course they'd be Chinese. It's not that hard to grasp, surely? I'm assuming you are English and live in England. Let's imagine the scenario where you are very proud of being English but decide to live in Spain to further your career. After a while, you and your English-born partner have children in Spain but raise them in a community of British ex-pats in a culture that is very "English". Time passes by and it transpires your oldest son is very, very good at football and is eligible to represent Spain, England (and possibly any of the other three UK national teams)...what would you want? Which country would you like your lad to play for? Should he play for Spain and potentially win the highest prizes? Should he play for England, the land where you are culturally from? Think about how difficult this type of decision is and how personal it is because a whole lot of family history and emotion is embedded in it. My take on Grealish is that, although he was born in England, he is from a very proud Irish family where that green shirt has an awful lot of meaning. Respect his feelings.

All our pre-season games have consisted of mix and match sides composed of youth, new signings and last season's first teamers. The emphasis has been on building up fitness, team bonding and understanding. If you think anything that has happened so far bears any resemblance to the Premier League or how we will approach and perform in said competition you need to go outside and take in some fresh air. Lambert is not picking sides at the moment to win football matches - as he keeps stressing in post-match interviews.