Silent_Bob

You really need to hit the space bar a few times to write all of them.

It was this guy

Yes, we will. That is more or less the going price for any half decent Prem players these days. My guess is that we see at least one player coming in this summer with a price tag in that area.

Let's not forget that Wigan might finish two points behind us. There are no huge gap in quality between their best players and our worst players. And there are players, at least in QPR, that would improve us. Some young players, still developing, could be of interest from all thee clubs. But none of the experienced journeymen that they considered the backbone of their team. Finishing just above the relegation zone is not going to make us an obvious choice for players from other Prem clubs. We can probably choose between "damaged goods" from top clubs, up an coming players from lower divisions, players from relegated clubs and most players, except the recognized wonderkids, from other leagues in the world, except Spain, Italy, Germany and France. From these four countries we would have to choose between the second best players. So I would not rule out bying from relegated clubs. But I'm not sure they have any we should be interested in either. I don't expect a fire sale at either Wigan or Reading and I would stay away from the journeymens at QPR. So it's a bit depending on price as well. 2-3 of the best young players from either Scandinavia, Netherlands, Belgium, etc. A couple of up and coming players from lower league/relegated teams, and a couple of experienced Prem players to help our young'uns is both realistic and would make me happy this summer.

At least it means we should be more competitive buying from abroad. This extra money will only contribute to increase the prices for players that are bought and sold between Prem clubs. The sensible thing to do is to buy a couple of lower league players with potential. And a few quality signings from abroad. Save some money, as player wages will increase as a result as well. But not immediately.

These results that are needed for us to go down: Chelsea beat Villa.(70% likely) Wigan beat Arsenal (10% likely) Sunderland beat Southampton (or Spurs) (55% likely) Newcastle beat QPR (or Arsenal) (65% likely) Norwich beat WBA (or Man City) (50% likely) Southampton beat/draw Stoke (65% likely) Wigan beat Villa (?) So it's seven games that will decide it. From that lot I think it's a Wigan victory against Arsenal that seams least likely. But they did it last year, so let's not rule that out just yet. I still fear having to play a cup final against Wigan on the last day of the season. If they beat Arsenal and we lose against Chelsea, they will see that game as a massive get out of jail card. We will be terrified of losing. Not a good situation at all.

Money has no doubt ruined the game. Man City becoming a plaything for some arabs was what ultimatly destroyed my interest. It doesn't really matter what we do, whitin our means we will never be fighting for the title again. But I found out i didn't envy Man City. Their fans, used to relegations and never winning anything, now has to defend everything that is wrong with football. And how fun would it actually be to support a club that is somebody's toy? Would we be really happy with Bill Gates as our owner? Playing our games at PowerPoint Park? Watching some of the best players in the world playing for a club they didn't care about, only for money? For me the answer is no. Do I support Villa? Yes, and I have done so since 1979. Now I know the only way we can win anything is by selling our soul to some megarich investors. If that happens, I'm sure he will spend a billion to make us successfull. Would I enjoy a trophy, knowing the only reason we won it was money? Maybe, but probably not.

After making an upopular desicion regarding new manager, selling AY to Man U, the last thing the board should do is to sell Downing as well. A bad start to the season and I really think we're in for a bumpy ride. Lerner backed MON with a lot of cash. Last summer we did not reinvest the Milner money, instead we did it in January. I don't think Lerner is able, willing (or a combination) to put a lot of money in. The reason for that is, from a business perspective, understandable. Four years ago he could fund a challenge for a Top 4 spot. With Man City it is instead a Top 5, maybe even a Top 6. And the price has gone up a lot since then. The sensible thing to do now is not to invest, and instead wait for the next opportunity. From a fan's perspective that simply isn't good enough. Lerner used a lot of his goodwill with the managerial appointment. I hope he is aware of that, especially if we have a bad season. That players like Downing realise the ambitions of the club has decreased is the reason for wanting out. We are selling our best players and nothing really exciting is going to happen here the next two or three years at least. If ever.

He has to go. No question. We need to get someone in while there's still time to make a few signings.

I hope we get someone who is willing to at least consider buying players who doesn't already play in Barclays or Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

I think we should accept a player(s)+cash deal. We need this deal to go through as well. Regarding Barry we received an offer from Liverpool well below the value of the player. I think Randy was quite confident in getting a similar fee for him one year later, which we did, so that was not a real gamble. This time we have an offer which, let's be honest, is well above the actual value of the player. If we get two or three of their players, and some cash on top of that, it's a very good deal.

I would do but Carrington is a bit far away The training ground is not at Carrington Yes, it is.

They want him because it will weaken our team if he goes there. Right now we are among a group of teams capable of challenging for the 4th spot. So is Spurs, Liverpool and Man City, and maybe Everton as well. So they want him for two reasons, one is to weaken the competition for their "next step", which is Champions League qualification. Second is the player himself. He is good enough to get in their team, but with unlimited cash available, there are better players than Milner. I doubt they would be interested if he weren't playing for us, but for, let's say, Fulham instead. I think it was something similar that Liverpool tried to achieve when they were chasing Barry. Does that kind of strategy work? Ask Newcastle if they think selling Andy Cole to Man United was a good idea. At the time they sold him, they were among the top teams, just a few points behind United. They finished 18 points behind United that season, after selling Andy Cole to them in January.

Even though I think he is our best right back, I'm not sure our defence is better with him in it. MON prefers a formation with three central defenders and one full back. Which means it's Warnock that is keeping him out of the team, not Cuellar. Our defensive unit worked quite well, so it's difficult to break into the team. Warnock is better than Young at left back, Cuellar is better at the right side than the left side, which is why Luke Young find it hard to force his way into the team. Even though I feel sorry for him, as he didn't have a good pre season for several reasons, I still think he should stay and fight for his place.

To be fair, we don't keep players in our line up for years for sentimental reasons either. They are out of the team the moment there is someone better around. I don't think it's just because of the players themselves, it's because of the Bosman verdict and now these new rules where they can terminate their contracts. A four year contract means that after just two seasons, a player that has improved must either renew the contract, or be sold. Unless the club is taking a very expensive gamble. I think it's something we just have to accept. Entire teams come and go within a few years.

I think his age means it's only the last year of the contract that is "unprotected". And he has to inform the club about his intentions within days after the end of the season. And, most important, if it's proven that the club he signs for has been in contact with him, they are banned from signing players for a year. So he can do it next summer, but if Villa complains and there has been contact between player and new club, they will get the penalty. Man City don't care about money, but they do need to sign players. And I don't think Milner would do anything like that. Which means it's not likely to happen next summer, and certainly not this.

I think a lot of the players looked tired in the 2nd half. But again no tactical changes are made. It was clear as the 2n half progressed how this was going to end. A fresh midfielder or a more dangerous striker could have changed the game. We lost 2-1 to Manchester United, no reason to be ashamed. But I think we handed it to them to easily. Delph on for Heskey or Carew for Heskey when we were still at 1-1 could have changed the game. Once they got their second it was game over.

Maybe he would look more interested if he actually had a fair chance of getting in the team? Ever since the lapdance incident there have been rumours about a poor relationship with MON. Heskey isn't excactly scoring for fun or in any way contribute in a way where he should be guaranteed a starting place. Yet he always get in the team. On his day John Carew is our best striker by far. These days doesen't seem to happen too often recently. That is mainly his own responsibility, but maybe he isn't motivated properly by the manager as well? Seems a bit like NRC who never gets his chance as well while Sidwell can play as badly as he likes and still be used as a sub the next week. Even though I think MON is doing a good job, this is what I like the least about him. He keeps favorites and I suspect his team selections aren't always based purely on footballing reasons. But if John and Martin can't work togheter then I think it may be for the best for everyone if we sell him in the summer.

I hate it when we loose. But before the game I was thinking going out might not be such a bad thing after all. We haven't strengthened the squad to coupe with this tournament, and the players we are signing now probably don't care if we are in the Europa League or not. Rapid fully deserved their result, and Villa can blame nobody but themselves. This really was poor. If we did take this tournament seriously we should have played with our full strength when we needed a result.

He's too old for such dreams.

19 games vs 2 games. Not a fair comparison. 12 vs 9 is fair. You can't just pick A and B randomly and say because A has happened without B then we don't need B to achieve C. There are other factors as well. Opposition. Their form. Other players form. Do we dominate in terms of possesion more or less without Carew than with him. And prove that what you come up with is related to Carews absence and nothing else. And even if you do prove it has been true, you also have to prove it will continue to be true in the future. By exactly the same logic as you I can say that he would have been top scorer for us had he not been injured. I am pretty sure he has a better goal per minute played ratio than Gabby. At least in the league, but I can't be bothered to look it up. I'm sure there is no coincidence that football clubs are being managed by experienced former players and not by mathematicians. As I said with regards to opposition... We lost to Boro, Stoke and Newcastle with Carew. We got 8 points from Everton away, Arsenal home/away and Man Utd without him. So opposition critique does Carew no favours. Possession is irrelevant. The object of the game is to score more than the opposition, not to keep the ball more. I think it's no coincidence that all managers use pro zone, statistics are very important in football. I did not say that opposition was of lesser quality with him in the team. I say you have to look at the opposition when you compare. I was pointing out the shortcomings of your stats. But most of all you have to prove that the results are related to Carew. You are assuming the results come as a consequence of Carew playing or not. I can't see how you have proven that they do. With stats someone else have proved that it is of no consequence for Liverpool wether Torres play or not. If you choose to look at simpe stats they way you do, you at least need to accept your own logic is either always right or always wrong. As I said I do not think it's a coincidence teams are run by ex players instead of mathematicians. You reply that they use ProZone. Yes, stats are important. That's why they use specially designed computer software instead of an Excel spreadsheet. But it's just one of many tools available to a manager. It's not developed to replace managers. And it's used to get insight in what's not obvious to the naked eye at first sight. Not to do team selection. Then you say possesion is irrelevant. That's not true. Your percentage of possesion tells you something about how likely you are to score a goal. And it's not the more the better either. Goals are most of the time scored by attacking fast, and most goals are scored by the player receiving the 7th pass. Passing the ball 15 times or more means you are facing a balanced defence and you are less likely to score.These kind of stats are important. Your stats are too simple to build any opinion on. You could just as well argue that there is no need for another goalkeeper on the bench by the same statistics, and it would be equally true. Yet we do have one every game. And that's even though MON has access to ProZone and game stats.

19 games vs 2 games. Not a fair comparison. 12 vs 9 is fair. You can't just pick A and B randomly and say because A has happened without B then we don't need B to achieve C. There are other factors as well. Opposition. Their form. Other players form. Do we dominate in terms of possesion more or less without Carew than with him. And prove that what you come up with is related to Carews absence and nothing else. And even if you do prove it has been true, you also have to prove it will continue to be true in the future. By exactly the same logic as you I can say that he would have been top scorer for us had he not been injured. I am pretty sure he has a better goal per minute played ratio than Gabby. At least in the league, but I can't be bothered to look it up. I'm sure there is no coincidence that football clubs are being managed by experienced former players and not by mathematicians.

By the same logic we haven't missed Laursen recently either.

General, I just want to say I am impressed with how the club has handled the Barry situation over the summer. In my view it has been dealt with in a way that not only make sure we receive our full asking price, but also I think we have made our intentions of keeping our best players in the future quite clear. I’m sure it will be a long time before another so called top four club approaches us for one of our players, without even having the cash to back up their interest, and thinking they can do a deal on anything else than our terms. It has made Liverpool look like fools and I’m sure the neutral and well informed supporters have sympathy with Villa. However, it seems many haven’t been following things that closely and their impression is that we are holding Barry against his will. Apparently the facts that Liverpool hasn’t even made an offer or Barry hasn’t even handed in a transfer request are facts that I think people have missed. I hope we do everything to win the PR battle as well as receiving our asking price for Barry. Recently you have been in the receiving end of what I will describe as a lot of crap by a few posters on this site. Please understand that you are our main communication channel with the club, and that many of these comments are how people feel there and then. I’m sure you have handled more difficult situations in your past, and I think the frustration many feel at the moment will disappear once the season starts and new players arrive. I hope these comments don’t offend you personally or will make you reconsider reading and posting on this board. It’s good to know that Randy will back MON with the necessary money. MON is described as someone that only marches to the beat of his own drum. Perhaps giving him Duracell batteries would make him beat his drum a bit faster? During transfer windows he seems more like someone that need four hours just to watch an episode of 60 Minutes rather than a manager that make deals happen. But he deserves to be judged on his achievements rather than the amount of money he is able to spend, although a few new arrivals would calm people’s nerves before the new season. After all we have so far signed two good keepers, a Chelsea squad player and made Davies’ transfer permanent, while loosing two players (including Barry) that have captained Villa during the last few years. It’s obvious we are not as Prepared yet as we would like to be. Let’s hope we are once the season actually starts.

Let's hope Man C get them, then Perhaps we should have a closer look at some of their players? YouTube