BG_Villa_Fan

Am I the only one who doesn't think a loan deal is that bad ( assuming they take on his wages )? He's at the lowest low of his market value right now. If he has a good season then his value might go up and thus Villa would be able to get a better offer than what has been on the table this summer.

Yea, tbh I put them in terms of my own preference, as in who I'd take for Villa. Obviously in terms of personal accolades and CVs our Lambo is being helped by the inner homer in me

Tier 1: 1. Jose Mourinho (Chelsea) 2. Arsene Wenger (Arsenal) Tier 2: 3. Andre Villas Boas (Tottenham) 4. Pelegrini (Man City) 5. David Moyes (Man Utd) 6. Paul Lambert (Aston Villa) 7. Michael Laudrup (Swansea) Tier 3: 8. Martin Jol (Fulham) 9. Roberto Martinez (Everton) 10. Steve Clarke (West Brom) 11.Brendan Rodgers (Liverpool) Tier 4: 12. Sam Allardyce (West Ham) 13. Mark Hughes (Stoke) 14. Mauricio Pochettino (Southampton) 15. Chris Houghton (Norwich) 16. Malky McKay (Cardiff) 17. Alan Pardew (Newcastle) 18.Ian Holloway (Crystal Palace) 19. Steve Bruce (Hull) 20. Paulo Di Canio (Sunderland)

James McCarthy would be a great addition to solidify the midfield.

That's not really how it works though - there are transfer budgets and there are wage budgets. Just because we would be paying that much off across four years doesn't mean that our present transfer budget would be affected as a result. Is this a guess or an assumption?

Meh. Expected and not too bothered by this. If Villa can negotiate a good fee and reinvest in 2 or 3 good players the club would be in a better state. Realistically what would have been the alternative? Either him staying, scoring some goals and Villa finishing 8th-12th, thus his price being pretty much the same as now, or he could flop and his price would plummet. ~25m is the best Villa would get for him, whether it is this summer or next. What's important is reinvesting wisely.

Why do they even let him talk to the press at all? Don't they have any sort of PR department? FFS

Wouldn't want any of the promoted clubs. Better to play them around christmas time. At home to some mid-table team would be great - West Brom, Fulham, Norwich, etc - would give the guys a chance to start positively and build their confidence which is so important for young teams. Worst case scenarios - away to Cardiff, Man U, Chelsea or similar.

Cheers Lamski. Bad new is he was apparently Lambert's first choice and Villa are missing out on a very decent player, but oh well. Next.

My info is based on Bulgarian press, I haven't watched the interview, so I can't be 100%, however, multiple sources definitely put these words in his mouth.

His exact words are : Aston Villa have offered me a good contract, but their offer to Kuban has been a very modest one, thus they have rejected it. I'm staying in Krasnodar and I intend to renew my contract. The decision has been made and there will be no change.

French Dave Whelan. What's next? Belhanda is too good for the Premier League?

Apparently he's told his teammates he's going to sign with Villa.

Do Tonev and Popov have experience playing with each other then? Or is he just referring to the fact they're the same nationality? Oh yes they have played together in the bulgarian national teams, youth and senior. Not sure how close they are but certainly have played together quite a bit.

He's very versatile , can play in any attacking position, including on the wing. Probably his best position, as mentioned, is just behind the striker as he's not a prolific goalscorer but is quite creative. In other words he's not the kind of player who'd score 20 goals a season, but at his best he could get 10 goals and 10 assists. If Villa persist with Labert's 4-3-3 from the end of the season he could play on Gabby's or Andi's position, but his versatility would allow him to fit into any formation.

Even though the google translation is surprisingly good here is the correct translation of his quotes, as they're very interesting : 'I'm aware of Aston Villa's interest, which is serious.Time will tell what will happen. I think that the summer is going to be hard for me and hope there will be a happy ending. Even if I stay in Krasnodar it'd be good for me.' 'As far as I know the negotiations between Aston Villa and Lech Poznan regarding Alexander Tonev are in a more advanced state. I hope Tonev and me will be united in England. What could be better than that?'

If the reports weren't mixed but only good Tonev wouldn't cost 2.5m but 15m and would be out of Villa's league. People expecting him to have an impact similar to Benteke are wide off the mark, but he'd be a good squad addition playing the Zoggy/Holman role. Popov is the one who could make a huge impact.

Now Popov would be quality. Not an out and out goalscorer but he offers a lot of creativity, dribbles and passes really well and is a hard-worker.

  Well being Bulgarian I've seen him play full games. He's unlikely to be a star but would be a good replacement for Zoggy. It'd be great to have a player who can score from outside the box once in a while. He'll probably go to Celtic anyway.

He's too good for Aston Villa at the moment. Even with the rosiest fantasies for next season we'd be finishing mid-table and he'd be off next summer. That's the natural way things go. What's important is that Villa manage to squeeze every penny out of the buyer and re-invest the money smartly. That said, grass is not always greener. Yea, no doubt he looks a beast now but a lot of players have had great seasons only to flop the next. Last summer Newcastle kept Cabaye and Tiote after a great season when they were supposedly valued at 20m+ each and now,one poor season later, this doesn't seem like such a home run for Newcastle. They might have been better off taking the big money last summer.

Gabby's at Norwich surely.

If Lerner is engaged in this and provides funds then : Get rid of high earners who don't play; Keep Benteke and Weimann; Sign Bridcutt and McCarthy to strenghten the midfield; Add an experienced CB, maybe a Shawcross or someone from the continent, and a LB competition for Bennett ( Cresswell? ); Add a couple of attacking options - Robson-Kanu and maybe someone like Sinclair on loan if Zoggy is sold. I also like Deeney if Watford don't go up. With the premier league being so top heavy and so poor below the 6th/7th spot, I can see a realistic chance to be comfortably in the 7th-9th range next season.

Hope Villa beat Chelsea and Wigan beat Arsenal. Would make the final day very interesting.

I'd say yes, but without the publicity and drama. Just don't announce it, but don't give the #19 shirt to any player. At least not in the foreseeable future.

Yep our quota is full with Zoggy and Ireland. No need for a 3rd one.