rodigan

i believe warnock has a year left on his existing contract. if they can, they will sell him before he can leave on a free... if i was in charge, i would keep him for the last year of his contract - he's a senior player and has been at the villa for a while now. keep him while new defenders bed in, or young ones come through. at the end of next season, if he's still getting a high number of first team games, offer him a new contract on lower terms due to his age. if he's not, he can go, having brought through the next lot of defenders... last thing we want it to get someone in, let warnock go, and find out the new guy is a hutton... is it just me or has warnock looked completely revitalised, since he was given the added responsibility of playing up the pitch.... not saying he deserves a game there, but i just got the impression that he was giving much more effort, much like stevie ireland after being announced as player of the season.

and were all full time professionals last year, and the year before when they came out and loved it... if its mickey mouse, and we need to fill it up with people who are about to be out of contract, not much point in entering, really... everyone who's been out for the last five years, has loved it and can't wait to get out again... my point is that there are lots in the reserves squad, and even the more established players in the academy who should be getting rewarded / given the opportunity to play in this, mickey mouse or not...

yep... seen the squad... young, but then again, i remember a squad five years ago with albrighton (sharky), zoltan steiber, harry forrester, barry bannan, elliott parish, eric lund, sam (striker, last name eludes me) - no one had ever heard of any of them, they came out and did great... looking to see young grealish play, and daniel johnson looked great in a squad last year with herd, lichaj and weimann... newcastle came on saturday night should be a good un...

don't care who it is, as long as the front six look to go forward first, and only if thats not on look to play sideways or backwards.... so many games this season, players have looked terrified to make any pass other than the no risk one 15 yards backwards... time for some confidence to come back into the squad... we are villa, FFS....

not arguing with this, but unfortunately, we don't pick the squads... all i said, was that i wasn't sure whether he would hold down his spot if both were available to play in those positions....

just noticed his wiki saying current club aston villa, squad number 8... bit of a bogus number of late, with jj, and pires before him...

saw him play in south africa at the last world cup three times, and he was up there amongst the best players in that socceroos team... think he's a good addition to the squad and will play many games next season... are they giving him no 14? welcome brett...

He has the coolest **** name ever. a 21st century kaiser soze.... back to the soccer sevens, why on earth would we reward kids with a trip to HK if we were going to release them? doesn't make any sense to me... also looks like a very weak team compared to previous years, in my opinion. i understand so many players moving up the first team squad, but there are a number of young fringe players who could have been rewarded with the trip: siegrist baker stevens gardner johnson carruthers delfouneso would have been a good team in keeping with the last five years.

Not sure how Lichaj didn't... lichaj had a great end to the season, but i'm not sure that if hutton and warnock were fit and not required to play in midfield, he wouldn't be dropped back out of the squad. think he's done well since he got his chance, and hope he's around for a while, although i still see him more as a squad player than a first choice.

simply relieved.

shame herdy's not stopping in Hk on way home for the soccer sevens...

squad just announced and its a very young one compared to previous years: benji siegrist reese caira ebby nelson addy connor taylor joshua webb josh barton courtney cameron jack grealish daniel johnson bradley lewis lets hope there's some stars in the making, but after a squad last year that included herd, lichaj, weimann, hogg, lowry, dj, benji, baker, this looks like a pretty young side... big clubs this year as well, with chelsea, newcastle, west ham, celtic, rangers, sunderland, leicester all there... anyway, myself and my lad will be there for any of the games... anyone else going, we'll be the ones in the support stan tshirts...

i think chris herd, like ciaran and to a lesser degree, sharky, has gone a long way to establishing themselves this season and will certainly be in the mix at the start of the next season. bannan, andi and GG (you can also add nathan baker, eric lichaj and nathan delfouneso to this group) will have some work to do, as they didn't really establish themselves as first teamers during the course of this season...

good work nicely done, RL... as far as how much will be spent this summer, what would be perhaps the most useful of all would be for the club to give us an actual snapshot of where we are financially: - what the wage position actually looks like now - what the revenue to wages ratio is - how much debt are we likely to be in at the end of this year. for all randy's faults, i think he has always been prepared to put his hand in his pocket - even to the tune of 20m last summer, while we were in a consolidation phase trying to get wage numbers under control. If RL were to come out and say something along the lines of: - today we are paying our squad [x]. - based on our current revenues, we will lose [x] at the end of this year. - i am prepared to pay out of my pocket [x] on an annual basis, which will have to cover that loss, as well as signing fees and wages of any new players. - to date, i have put in [x] to this club. something along those lines will at least allow the fans to make a realistic assessment of what is possible for the villa on an ongoing basis....

he's been one of the leading players for the socceroos for the last couple of years. i think he's exactly what this team needs - a no nonsense aussie winger - seasoned and a bit less of a nancy boy than many we have currently in our squad - certainly not one that's gonna get onto the pitch and sulk... the diggers in the premier league in recent times have all been positive contributors to their squads - emerton, cahill, kewell, schwarzer, herd... i think holman will be great for us... UTV

agree with this. also believe that ireland is one who has gotten his head right in the last couple of months... giving him the player of the season has given him the fan support he clearly craves and i think he is one who will be a key player in the coming season... bring on the new manager and lets see what this team can really do...

a confident gabby playing in a confident front six is a star and a villa one at that - has been in the past and could be again... keep and if we're going to play him, do so in a way that plays to his strengths...

and i think this is a great site trent, and a credit to you and all the other mods and administrators who keep it running when i'm sure there are times that you just want to pull your hair out...

great post... what this shows me is how many points we could / should have picked up... things bode well for next season... bring it on and UTV...

great post... what this shows me is how many points we could / should have picked up... things bode well for next season... bring it on and UTV...

well done, herdy.... a long career for the socceroos beckons... see you in brazil in 2014...

some people just don't know when to call it quits, in my humble opinion... the club has done the right thing. eck is gone within 24 hours of the season ending. wages appear to be under control. We have the whole summer to get a new manager in, do some rebuilding and get the squad motivated and playing the way it should. i, for one, simply say thank you for having the balls to admitting that they have cocked up and for taking a step to make that cock up right - how many clubs have you seen the owner come out and say that to their fans? as for the general owing anyone an apology - again utter tripe, in my humble opinion. his involvement on the site was always in a personal capacity. what he gave the fans was a channel of communication with RL and an insight into what he thought RL's vision and thinking was - that frankly i think is fairly unique. he did a lot of good by fixing the little things around the periphery that had nothing to do with footballing decisions - again something that appears to have been conveniently forgotten. actually, in my opinion, it is a shame that this channel has been shut down. Now, more than ever, is a time for us all to look forward, rather than looking backwards for cheap 'i told you so' shots... UTV

i get the sense this season that since he has been leading the front line, he has been the focus of defenders, which have allowed them to get in close to gabby. without the creative talent to put him into space behind them, we haven't got the chance to see whether he still has the pace or not...

big fan of barry, as is my lad. however, i have not seen him turn a game at any stage of the season. as a smaller player, he needs to make an impact when given a chance, and i can't, even with my most rose tinted glasses on, say that he (or, in fairness, any other villa player) has done that... one more season for me, but in last few games, have been more interested to see what carruthers can do, than bring barry on, which just about tells me all i need to know...

dont think bent will go in the summer... won't be able to command a price at which we would consider selling him... on andy carroll, i think he's going to have a scorcher of a season next year... last few games i've seen him play, he's been fantastic, and i think he will cause defences real problems... in a game with very few successful big men, defences just aren't set up to cope with that sort of threat... would love to have him here, although not at the expense of bent...