shaggy

Can't see how he is going to instill those standards under the current circumstances?

If he is going to be our new number two then it will be fascinating to see how he reacts when the Villa faithful vent their anger at Villa Park?

If the gossip is correct about Keane coming in I wonder do some of us still hold the belief that under the present circumstances if Lambert was sacked we still couldn't attract a another manager of the same ilk?

And both found wanting at managerial level.

Totally agree that Bassong or Hangeland on the face of it would be better options but a fee would probably be involved for both as well as more wages and that looks like a big no, no under the present circumstances.

I put forward Ridgewell on a free in another thread only to be told he is an awful player and wouldn't be a decent signing in the circumstances yet in the same circumstances we should give Senderos a chance to prove that he is better than his previous record in the Premiership would suggest. Right. Grant Holt number two coming up.

Wouldn't be at all surprised to see Cole at Liverpool.

He did to Lambert. Lambert even mention it. MON seems to have consistently spoken highly of Villa since he left. Hadn't heard that at all so thank you for telling me. Puts a different light on the link to Keane then.

Keane could be the defensive midfielder we're looking for.

No one really commenting on the connection between MON and Lerner. Does anyone seriously think that after what happened between O'Neill and Lerner that O'Neill would recommend the job to Keane?

Not sure he's awful but maybe a better option than Baker?

They've bumped the price up £20 just when I was going to commit.

Wee mon problems then between the two. Didn't know that. Still, would like to see Ridgewell back again simply to give us better cover across the back. Bent can do one then.

Why Trentvilla?

Ridgewell on a free. Must be better than having Baker playing for us?

If we needed to sell someone to bring in say Hoolahan and one other then i'd sell Gabby and keep both Vlaar and Delph. Currently selling Gabby wouldn't be as big a loss as the other two but if Vlaar did leave without an able replacement then we can kiss our Premiership status goodbye next season without the change of ownership.

Yeah mate I might do if I get enough requests. One with my late dad but we'll see.

Flock of Seagulls making a comeback in the Rogues Thread. Nice.

This post epitomizes why a lack of success has become acceptable to some of our fans. Its a fine notion to have home grown players in your team but will our academy ever produce enough quality at the one time to form a successful team in the Premiership? a ) People, including yourself, need to **** off with this "lack of success has become acceptable", "lowered expectations" nonsense. We've won 2 trophies in 31+ years - 0 trophies in 18 years. Of course I accept that we're not a top team, for **** sake. b ) Depends what you define as successful. A league winning team, though? No. No academy will. It's not your acceptation of not being a top team that I'm challenging. It's your acceptation of relegation as long as we stay within the threshold of traditions long gone within the top tiers of the league. To put your quote into further context you would rather be relegated than have the success that Manchester City are now having if it meant exchanging old traditions for investment thereby losing the identity of the club, the soul of the club as you describe it. Have Manchester City lost their identity due to this investment or has that awareness of Manchester City been enhanced around the world due to increased investment? Furthermore have Manchester City lost any fan support due to this investment or has that support been increased with more bums on seats. Would you have kept our old training facilities at Villa Park or the Lerner financed changes now and when we do get new owners if we do at the very least start to compete in the top six again with a cup win or two would you still want to go back to what we have now as long as we stick with tradition over investment? The soul of any club is the fans and rather than that soul be decimated by change it would actually grow stronger.

At least Lerner put money into local charities and the refurbishment of established entities already at the club. At least we have a youth model and threads on this forum like "Jack Grealish" where we'd love to see another youngster given the chance to prove themselves at first team level. This guy (if true, etc.) is basically us completely selling the soul of Aston Villa, becoming a money club and gaining plastic fans. Maybe we're the next Man City? Then again, this all seems to appease the majority of fans on here who want nothing more than; a ) Money thrown at the club b ) Success Maybe that's all football is really about these days after all. Football is a game pal, you play games to win. I'd love to know what this soul is that people keep banging on about, is it our single European Cup? Wouldn't you rather we be trying to win another European Cup? I also don't understand why you think we would stop having a youth setup all of a sudden. **** nonsense to be honest mate. I follow football because I love the game and Aston Villa were the club closest to my heart growing up. In my lifetime, I've seen us win TWO TROPHIES. That's 27 years of winning, essentially, **** all. I have no entitlement to winning things. I'd love to see us win another European Cup; I doubt this will happen. Despite how most people feel about certain footballers, I love the fact we've fielded Agbonlahor, Albrighton, Delfouneso, Gardner etc. as local lads playing for a local team. Chelsea have none. Man City have none. If this is the route we all want to take, fine - let's just get bought out by someone who has no emotional connection to the club and sell our soul. If there is substantial financial backing, the youth setup will be obsolete; or, to further, it will exist but be pointless. See: Chelsea, Man City. If you're asking me what I'd prefer; a backer throwing £1bn at our playing staff at us being instantaneously successful or having a poor owner who cares for the club, but we get relegated I'd take the latter everytime. This post epitomizes why a lack of success has become acceptable to some of our fans. Its a fine notion to have home grown players in your team but will our academy ever produce enough quality at the one time to form a successful team in the Premiership? Unlikely, so to be successful we as a club have to move with the times and bring people into the club who are willing to invest to make us competitive enough to gain that success and our league placement over recent seasons should be evidence enough that a romantic vision of home grown players pushing this club back into the higher echelon of the Premiership is just a mirage. The soul of any club is it's fans not the name or the ground and if you were to ask the majority of fans now would you want to emulate a Man City or stay as we are then I really do think you would be very disappointed with the answer. Those old traditions you speak of are gone now unless the relegation you would accept would see us drop further down the leagues to where some of those old traditions remain. If that is acceptable to you then fine but I for one want to see our great club hold some trophies aloft again and to do that we must evolve with the business side of football or simply sink without the required change.

First suggestion would be to watch the bad neighbour programme on channel 5. That should give you several tips on the best way to go with this.

Has your other one healed?

Have had my new Xperia Z2 phone for a couple of weeks now and can confirm for me it is a super phone. Call quality is good. Sound quality is excellent either using the noise cancellation headphones or simply watching music on Youtube. The camera is excellent but while using it at a recent gig it did take too long on occasion to focus on the subject leaving me missing the shot completely. This has been highlighted in reviews of the Z2 and hopefully Sony will rectify this with an update in the not too distant future as it ruins what is otherwise a fantastic camera on static subjects. The camera also has some fun elements to it in particular the AR effect which allows you to take videos and photos with virtual scenes and characters. My favourite is using the dinosaur running about in my living room. The 4k video is excellent but as per reviews the phone does get quite hot using it for extended periods and this is something Sony should also be looking at to fix with an update The speed of the phone on the internet is very fast and I have witnessed little or no lag while the colours displayed on the screen are very vivid but if it is too much for your eyes this can be adjusted. I have not used the phone for gaming yet. There is no doubt that the Sony Xperia Z2 is a big phone in the hand but it is surprisingly light and just looks superb. I would have no hesitation in recommending it but it will be even better with a further update to cure the stated bugs.

McCarthy has much more bite to his play than Westwood and much more bullish in the tackle which compliments Barry's passing style perfectly. Westwood doesn't do this.