Silent_Bob

I understand that the club can not comment on players from other clubs (take note Liverpool), find it unwise not to comment on the type of players because of the unsettling effect it might have on the players currently playing in these positions. And telling everyone we will spend £X millions in the summer will only reveal to the selling clubs how much they can charge. It would still be nice to know what to expect, so if you can come up with something a little more concrete it would of course be welcome. Remember, we are like little children on Christmas eve, wondering what Santa will bring this year. It will of course be revealed eventually, but it's a long wait until the end of August...

I don't think that "challenging ManU day in and day out" is the same as the UEFA Cup being achievable in season 2 or 3 NEITS. We are aiming to improve each season. 10 - 7 would represent that in this year 2 and that might just give us UEFA Cup qualification, further progress in year 3 surely would give us that qualification and by the end of year 5 we would hope to be "challenging ManU day in and day out". It won't be easy and there will be times when the task looks more than we can manage but I trust Martin, Randy and the staff at B6 to get us back up where we belong, we just need to hold our nerve and enjoy the white knuckle ride! :winkold: To "challenge" for UEFA cup qualification does in my world mean to ensure we are Top 10 material, with the possibility of getting into that top six or seven that get's qualification. I think around 60 points would be required, maybe even less. Considering we achieved 50 points last year, it's no giant step to "challenge" for the UEFA cup, if you by the word "challenge" means you are considered to have a fair chance of reaching that particular goal. To have a squad with enough quality that, in worst case, will qualify for the UEFA cup is of course another matter. We are just a couple of players away from being in a position where we can say we are realistcly "challenging" for the UEFA cup by using my definition of the word. If we break it down like this: Teams 1-6 - average 2 points (home and away combined, 3-3-6 as an example) Teams 7-12 - average 3 points (home and away combined, 5-3-4 as an example) Teams 13-19 - average 4 points (home and away combined, 8-4-2 as an example ) That would mean we finish the season with stats like these: P 38 W16 D10 L12 Which would mean we would end up with 58 points. Don't come tell me that this is far from achieveable already this season. I certainly don't expect us to get CL qualification at the end of the season, but I expect an improvement in terms of the number of points we end up with. As I have said earlier, I think the number of points we achieve is a more realistic indicator of our progress than instead just looking at the league position. We don't influence the results of other teams unless they play us. In DOL's first season we achieved 56 points and were only four points short of CL. In MON's first season we achieved only six points less, but were 18 points of the last CL spot. My expectation for this season is 60 points. With the apparent willingness of our board to back our manager with substantial funds, it's really down to MON to deliver. If we find we end up with less points due to a mismatch between MON's view on player values and the market's valuation, I think the responsibility should rest with MON for not doing his homework properly. MON need, in my opinion to spend the last week of this window, and the January window to make sure we have enough players. That way we can focus on a couple of real top quality players next summer which will make us even more likely to achieve our goals, I think we will be in a fine position. But I expect us to "challenge" for UEFA by getting 60 points this season already. And I wouldn't mind a couple of more players in next week that will make fans and present and future sponsors happy. We need to build on the positive view everyone seems to have at the moment. But of course, this is entierly of topic :-) So let me just add that I think it's a good thing we don't have a wage cap.

The whole conclusion rests on the assumption that we have awarded Barry with what is effectively the ceiling of our wage structure. I simply don't believe that's the case. If we are willing to pay for performance, then by using the same argument there are no better players than Gareth Barry in the world. Which I disagree with. I think it's good that we give a key player an increase, even though he already is on a contract where a lower wage has been agreed. Why would the club, acting on it's own initiative, decide to give a player already under contract, the max of what we can offer to any player, regardless of ability? Looking at it from another perspective, it could be that the club wants to bring in a lot of players of similar or above Barry's quality. Then his wage adjustment would be a proactive thing to do to prevent differences in wages to become a source of unhappiness for a loyal, quality player. So I think that IF the club now has a £45k p/w max policy, then there could be reasons for concern. But I think the conclusion rests on an assumption that I'm simply not convinced is true.

Because Defoe won't be happy being 4th choice striker. So it's better to cash in, rather than having an unhappy £10m player that will walk away for nothing in a couple of years if they force him to stay. West Ham and NRC is a similar case. NRC has requested a transfer, so they have to let him go. And West Ham want far to much for him. It's not just us that won't pay it, it's everyone else as well. At least it seems that way at the moment. So why should we pay more than his real value? West Hams options are to pay him his wages for another year, keep an unhappy player at the club, and then sell him at a lower price next summer, as he is entering the final year of his contract.

I expect that we will sign some European or South American players this summer, so in a straight choice between NRC and De Jong, I would prefer NRC. We need some "Premiership-ready" players signed this summer as well.

And if we lose out in the Sneijder race there is another Dutch international at Hamburg who I wouldn't mind seeing us get, Rafael van der Vaart! I'm sure Old Fart would agree with you.

Youth players?

Edit

Berson?

Close, but no cigar.

That's what certain people have been led to believe, too. Which certain people is that, and what have they been led to believe more spesificly?

Kewell on the right terms could be OK. That means cheap and "pay as you play".

Man City - Man Utd transfers are extremely controversial. I don't that sort of move will happen for a variety of reasons. Not that I believe it will happen, but United would be ruled out because of their rivalry. Chelsea will be more carefull with their spending from now on, Spurs have already spent heavily on Bale. Wouldn't Richards, even though he is a bit older, fall into the same category? Are Arsenal or Liverpool likely to go for him? If not, I can't think of any reason why he wouldn't want to come here, with so many clubs excluded. But I don't think it will happen.

I think we would have a fair chance of siging Pele if we offered wages at around £50-70k per week. I think he is available on an Bosman, so we would have to throw in a huge sign on fee as well.

We are? easily, we will be in the top 4 of spenders and are you saying Randy is not totally ambitious for us ... I just hope people will realise we will be in for £1.5m bargains like Natsmith as well as the top signings Please remember that every club gets an extra £10m from the new TV deal. We belong in a group with Man United, Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea, Liverpool, West Ham and possibly Man City who are all capable of spending quite a lot of money. Which means we may be in the top 4 of spenders or we may not. The important thing is that Randy has to continue the good work that has been done so far by spending a lot of money. If we don't deliver what is expected of us, then I think companies like Nike and other potential future sponsors tempted by the Villa revolution will walk away. And it will be twice as hard to attract them here the next time.

Do you remember the Rumour: 'Insert player name here' format in January? Think that worked quite well. Yes. That's what we need.

Will individual player threads be allowed, once linked through the media?

I think your question answers itself.

7 days???? Really? I thought it was June. The transfer window is open 365 days of the year. By that I mean we could make a deal with any club for any player we want at every time. But we would have to wait for the next transfer window to get the player registred as a Villa-player. I'm sure we have done some deals already, or at least been informed of what we have to bid to get the bid accepted. Officially the player is transfered between July 1st and August 31st or in January, but I think transfers involving Premiership clubs will be announced from the end of the season.

You never know... Good back up for Carew, whether he'd leave to be a Villa sub is another matter. Once I saw the teamsheet, that was the first name that jumped out at me, but no, I wouldn't want him here now, after we've got Carew...... Koller seems to play well with Milan Baros in their international team. Perhaps we should bring him back as well? :-) Seriously, I think Koller would be a magnificent signing. We could get one or two seasons from him where he would act as backup for our young strikers and Carew. Imagine Carew and Koller up front with quick players like Gabby/Young/Moore around them. That would be a nightmare to defend against for the opposition.

I think that's a bit expensive, even considering the new TV deal. EDIT: Damn ml1dch, you beat me on that one :-)

Does it say anything about guaranteing the fans first class football as well? I'm sure it would boost ticket sales if they did.

DOL had to leave because of what had happened during his three years here. If the takeover had happened three years ago, I'm not sure we would have liked to replace him with MON right now. But unfortunatly for DOL he had to work with the previous chairman and the three year cycle repeated itself. Hopefully for the last time.

He's too lazy. He's too old.

Sutton and JPA are both probably in their final season at the club. As a straight replacement for one of them, yes. It would be an improvement for the squad, because I don't think these two have contributed much this season. I'm not sure if it would improve our first choice XI.