P3te

yeah, the choice is obvious if youre a huge club with massive resources. but apply the restraints of villa to this. who has most experience working with low wage ceilings? who has experience searching out bargain players? who knows how to get the most out of the resources at hand? whats the last team carlo ancelotti managed where he couldnt just go out and buy whoever he wanted? he has operated on a whole different level to villa for years, expecting him to slot into buying players he'd never have considered at his other jobs is no guarantee for success Chelsea. ah come off it he had more money there than he'll ever get at villa, and he had champions league football to offer players hes not even got europa league footie to offer at villa. itd be a phenomenal change for ancelotti, it's not a case of him just slotting in, he's going to have to adapt his management style a huge amount, and it could be a disaster

yeah, the choice is obvious if youre a huge club with massive resources. but apply the restraints of villa to this. who has most experience working with low wage ceilings? who has experience searching out bargain players? who knows how to get the most out of the resources at hand? whats the last team carlo ancelotti managed where he couldnt just go out and buy whoever he wanted? he has operated on a whole different level to villa for years, expecting him to slot into buying players he'd never have considered at his other jobs is no guarantee for success

i think interviews are fairly normal

I wonder about this as well. Randy said to MON you've got to "sell-to-buy" hinting that finances were tight/not available. Houllier comes in and suddenly we've got £25m+ lying around for GH to use? fairly sure what randy ACTUALLY said to mon was more along the lines of "im fed **** up paying the wages of shit signings you never **** play, so sort your mess out or you're not getting a penny from the big mountains of cash ive got to put into the club"

this we dont know what these guys say in interviews, who their targets are, what style they'll want to play, what players they'll want to get rid of and bring in an unknown could do as good a job as a decorated manager. the behind the scenes stuff really dictates that and its something we'll never be privvy to

hmmm rafa has just turned down the atletico job

hes taking the atletico madrid job

everton have spent a LOT more than some people realise

no way, its lovely

city are still paying some of ireland's wages

hurrah some sense in a sea of idiocy at last

he's never said he wants to leave ffs he just said he's not going to extend his current deal at the moment. he's got 2 years left

dont think theres any chance of that at all we're playing much better football, if we get a new defence in who are comfortable with the ball at their feet we'll be a cracking team next season. definitely up there pushing for 5th spot on... if we can keep our players over the summer... to be honest, of the ones mooted to be leaving only downing is essential to next season imo. ash needs to go, for his sake and for our sake. for the money we can get for him based on his reputation we should be able to bring in someone who can perform above the level as has been the past 2 years, even if he's not as good a player on paper Who would you sign then?????????????? And if they are as good as Ash, why would nobody else be chasing after them? people buying ash are buying him for the player he can be, not the player he has been the past 18 months. he's never going to get back to that level again with us, because he's in the comfort zone. if we want a player to replace the ash we've had for the last 2 seasons we dont need a player as good as him, we just need a player with a bit of consistency

dont think theres any chance of that at all we're playing much better football, if we get a new defence in who are comfortable with the ball at their feet we'll be a cracking team next season. definitely up there pushing for 5th spot on... if we can keep our players over the summer... to be honest, of the ones mooted to be leaving only downing is essential to next season imo. ash needs to go, for his sake and for our sake. for the money we can get for him based on his reputation we should be able to bring in someone who can perform above the level as has been the past 2 years, even if he's not as good a player on paper

How you mean P3te? Dont understand... the people saying we'll be in the bottom 3, or houllier will have us fighting relegation again not gonna happen i hope ged stays purely because he'll show that this season was a transitionary one hampered by an incredible amount of injuries. like it or not, this season was the season we'd have had post mon whenever he left, regardless of who replaced him

dont think theres any chance of that at all we're playing much better football, if we get a new defence in who are comfortable with the ball at their feet we'll be a cracking team next season. definitely up there pushing for 5th

not a hope should ged stay on there's going to be a LOT of humble pie being eaten this coming season by some posters on here although they'll still whinge about something

i couldnt think of anything worse a draw for wigan and thumpings for blackpool and blues would be the ideal end to the season

I feel the current forward 3 of Downing, Young and Bent is better than that 3. N'Zogbia worth a gamble, do feel he is a step down from Young though. the current front 3 is only better if young plays well, which he doesnt do too often

another couple of stats: Bent Shots/Goals Ratio - 0.22 Shots on Target Ratio - 0.59 Rooney Shots/Goals Ratio - 0.12 Shots on Target Ratio - 0.57 Drogba Shots/Goals Ratio - 0.15 Shots on Target Ratio - 0.53

right, heres the stats from 2005/06 onwards. rooney's got one more. from the looks of the sub appearances though, id say he's had much more pitch time Bent 2010/11 - Played 35, Scored 17 2009/10 - Played 38, Scored 24 2008/09 - Played 33 (12 as sub), Scored 12 2007/08 - Played 27 (16 as sub), Scored 6 2006/07 - Played 32, Scored 13 2005/06 - Played 36, Scored 18 Total - 201 (28 as sub), Scored 90 Rooney 2010/11 - Played 27 (2 as sub), Scored 11 2009/10 - Played 32, Scored 26 2008/09 - Played 30 (5 as sub), Scored 12 2007/08 - Played 27 (2 as sub), Scored 12 2006/07 - Played 35 (2 as sub), Scored 14 2005/06 - Played 36 (2 as sub), Scored 16 Total - Played 187 (13 as sub), Scored 91 Drogba 2010/11 - Played 36 (6 as sub), Scored 11 2009/10 - Played 32 (1 as sub), Scored 29 2008/09 - Played 24 (9 as sub), Scored 5 2007/08 - Played 19 (2 as sub), Scored 8 2006/07 - Played 36 (4 as sub), Scored 20 2005/06 - Played 29 (9 as sub), Scored 12 Total - Played 176 (31 as sub), Scored 85

well they he was one behind rooney and drogba when he signed, and since then he's got what, 10 goals? while neither rooney nor drogba have scored more than 3 or 4 each?

i think its 6 or 7 now now sure of games played, i wouldnt assume its many more. neither drogba nor rooney have missed THAT many games, and bent was out of the spurs team for a fair bit

incorrect NOBODY has scored more than darren bent in the league over the last 5 years at this point in time he's bypassed both rooney and drogba

bad and all as we've been we're 6 points off 7th given the turmoil and injuries we've had, plus the fact that we've been adjusting to a new style of play, it's not exactly been the disaster some make out it hasnt been good, but it's been much in line with expectations many of us had for the season before mon left, given that we'd lost milner