Pez1974

Delph not going to the Euro's would be simply brilliant

I'm guessing that we couldn't afford to go with both Senderos and Okore in the 25 man squad given injury situation, so Big Phil missed out. Could you imagine going into a season with Senderos, Okore and Vlaar in the squad, with only Clark and Baker for cover. Oh wait a minute.....

One point on the 'net spend' comments.... Given the level of change and the level of income from sales, I think it would be sensible for Tim to keep some money back in case something goes wrong with one or more of the signings, whether this be for an emergency buy in January or to boost the funds available next year. Obviously I don't know if he has kept some back, but lets not hasten to criticise anyone; it might just be the major surgery is done and it's just one or two genuine starters a year going forward.

If I start by saying that the club's long term future must come first - and therefore we cannot just throw a load of money at a problem in hope..... I think Tim (and others) have done a great job this window. Some of the incoming are players who get into the starting 11 regularly and will both improve it and will improve themselves (Amavi, Richards, Traore, Gueye, Sinclair). We've picked up some very promising youngsters in Sarkic, Illori, Ayew, Veretout. We've got some experience to replace what we've lost in Lescott and Bunn - and Lescott probably won't go missing for 3 months around Christmas We've shipped out some 'deadwood' - defined by ability, wages, and/or injuries - Weiman, Given, Bent, Tonev, Luna, Vlaar, etc Some of our youngsters have been moved out on loan (including Bennett getting a chance in the PL) The team look like they have a defined attractive style of play and the squad has more depth to it in the key areas required by that style (example - our wide attacking players are now Gil, Grealish, Sinclair, Traore - plus Gabby, Cole, N'Zog and Bacuna - before it was Weiman, Cole, Gabby, N'Zog and Bacuna). Obviously the big issue is the main striker. We need to give Gestede and Ayew a little time, but I really think that Sinclair as a number 9 can work in our system - and his finishing looks good. Buying a striker is always a lottery, and Benteke's goals need to be replaced - but perhaps replaced by the team scoring more rather than risk breaking the club by spending shed-loads on one guy, who might just fail (like Torres; Falcao; Di Maria; etc) I think next summer will see a high number of exits - Cole, Senderos, N'Zog certainly - perhaps Hutton and Richardson too if the new guys do well. Given that this was Tim's first transfer window, I think he's done as much work in this one as Lambert did in total!

It's possible that Traore and Keita are not necessarily first team players for this season (perhaps only squad players). I have banged on for years that Spurs have been pretty smart at picking up players very young and bringing them through after a couple of years in the reserves/youth teams, so I suspect Timmy has been part of that. These guys will need to adapt to English football, but are young and I trust management to get this right. For far too long we have only focused on bringing in first team starters with the result that unless our youth team produce another Cahill or Gary Shaw, we'll be doing it again next year - all of which comes at a premium.

It's unlikely now that he is team captain. I do wonder whether playing him at CB will prove to be a Sherwood masterstroke, or whether we are staring at a shit-storm waiting to happen.

Which I think even VT can rejoice as one at!

If we want this guy and he ends up at Stoke, Randy needs to take a long hard look in the mirror as this is a tangible measure of how far we have fallen. This....and our league position in recent seasons, falling attendances, the squad of players, and every news article about us since MON left!

Yep, official site confirmed it. Timmy talks about a 'winning mentality' in Richards, which is pretty damning on others in the squad in my opinion.

Rumours abound that Tim wants the guy, but others are less convinced. I was be amazed if we signed him other than for a season long loan. Then at 32 we could get away with a one year deal for next season if he does OK?

That'll do for me

I wonder if we're going to see a loanee head up to Rovers? Robinson was mentioned a few days ago.

Betting suspended on him joining

Betting suspended on Gestede joining us - seeming to confirm a fee has been agreed. I'm not sure why we need him and Adebayor; I think we need a superstar forward (no idea how we get one!) rather than 4 'decent options' - plus Gabby.

100% agree. Take the emotion out of it, and I don't know what he brings to the team/squad. He can't play upfront because he doesn't score enough; we have much better wide forwards. If we want fast - sign Adam Gemili! He does a similar role as what I think Crespo will do for the defense - but on about 8x the wages!

Guzan Bacuna Richards Clark Amavi Westwood Veretout Grealish Gueye Sinclair Ayew Bench - Steer, Crespo, Okore, Sanchez, Gil, Gabby, Kozak Which still leaves: Bunn; Baker; Richardson; Cole; Gardner; Robinson (plus a shit load of kids who may be able to step up) To be sold: Hutton; Senderos; Bennett; Cissokho; N'Zogbia; Tonev That seems like a decent first 11; a good bench; decent back up and very little chaf (although I think Crespo will simply do a fill in job for a couple of years until a couple of kids come through)

This ones feels the same as the last few - with details creeping out and being picked up on others. The media will usually print anything, but the language of the articles are more 'factual' than the usual gossip mongering so I am feeling quite confident, and would be bloody delighted. It also feels a bit like the Delph saga - which whilst many of us were disbelieving of, the journos will pretty much on the money.

Like others, I reckon this is a utility player who will start 38 games on the bench giving us some cover across the park. I have heard the fee is about £500k and you wouldn't get Jordan Bowery for that. Flexible and experienced - Does this mean the defensive now looks like (in no particular order): RB - Hutton; Bacuna; Richards; Crespo CB - Clark; Okore; Richards; Baker; Crespo; Senderos LB - Amavi; Bennett; Richardson; Crespo; Cisshoko And that's without including the U21 players coming through. From that I think we could easily lose Hutton, Senderos, Bennett and Cisshoko and retain a strong defensive squad for the season. Crespo fitting into all 3 roles helps with the trimming of the chaf.

No papers are reputable - they all regugitate garbage for advertising revenue and hide behind "other people reported it", and then herald their 1 in 100 correct guesses. I would be staggered if he left, but other than coming here for a look, will not lose a blink of sleep until the club confirms it.

How do you know this? I'm not arguing about whether it does or not, but where was this confirmed? I've not seen anything credible saying that there is such a clause let alone how much the trigger value is. Lots of people are posting that this is a fact and I've not seen the evidence. Exactly I can't know for sure but surely if the clause is there then it's not leaving Avfc in a good position. I get your point, however, if the clause was a requirement for Delph to sign it at least means we can get a fee of some sort. Additionally, I would say we are less likely to get bids now he has seemingly knocked back Citeh, as other clubs would not want to be in the same position.

I really think that this is a massive boost for the club, and will make us a more attractive proposition for players to come here. A current first team England player has just turned down Citeh's riches to stay here. Other's will probably want to know why. I do think that the club missed a small trick with the statement - it was a chance to really big up the club as a justification of why he stayed - the 'this is my club' is brilliant, but makes him look like a fan, rather than a professional who finds his place of work to be the best he could ever wish for.

Liverpool know the price of Benteke - so it's £32.5m or bugger off. There problem now is that with £50m in the bank (less the chunk to QPR) the fees other clubs will want from them has just gone up a notch, both because they have the cash and they need to replace their best player. As a result, I now think it's more likely they'll cough up in full, as our fee won't/can't change. Which means that Man U are more likely to buy him - because he's a better fit and it'll piss off the scousers!

I think too many people complicate things.... It certainly appears there is a release clause of sorts - and I reckon Citeh met it. The comments from Tim suggest there was a good chance he was leaving.And the club in some way confirmed this to members of the media, who assumed that the rest (terms, medical, etc) would be easy, so Fab was off. For all his love of the club, Delph would be bonkers to not at least talk to Citeh, in my opinion, which is probably why the story didn't die before it really started (his missus is due to give birth any minute, so Delph probably didn't dart up there immediately). However, he isn't stupid and knows how great things are for him at the Villa, and although things could get better at Citeh, it could easily go wrong and his career come to a grinding halt. He decided to stay. Obviously I am filling in a few blanks, but there is nothing in that version that is unlikely or unusual - other than a footballer not grabbing the maximum amount of cash.

Maybe we're just trolling the Spuds!

I thnk it's harsh to question his signing, it was what we needed at the time. However, giving him a 5 year deal, on such a high salary, was mad. 2 years should have been enough, maybe 3 at a stretch. A good pro, all the best Shay.