Godders

£5 f*ing million?!! Reckon Hogan is worth 3 Westwoods. Good business!

Personally I think there are several key differences between Xia's spending and Lerner's early spending: 1. FFP only became a thing after Lerner had been spending, so Lerner wasn't able to plan around FFP the same way Xia is. 2. Xia seems to be worth a lot more than Lerner (or at least has access to a lot more cash than Lerner did). Lerner also got hit massively by his divorce 3. Xia seems to have his head screwed on, and seems to have surrounded himself with people who know the industry.

I'll be pretty disapointed if come 7pm tomorrow night Hogan's name is on the teamsheet.

Hmmm, weren't the 50% & 95% for the ins the other way round earlier? Does this mean Bedeau is now 95% and our mystery striker is down to 50%??

Promotion to the premier league is worth far more than £15mill. I have no problem with that sort of money on a player who will help get us promoted.

So, a striker who's going to be a big signing. The doc follows Rachel Riley, a well known Man U fan. The doc also follows Rooney, a Man U striker...

That pretty much mirrors what I think @nnock1984, only I reckon the 65% out is McCormack, and not sure who the 50% out is. Plus I wouldn't be so bold as to say the mystery man is Alex Bruce.

Didn't SB just say though we're close to signing someone we've not been linked with so far? I think it's probably Taylor and a random in the 90% bracket.

Replace the percentages and symbols with words and I think it makes it a bit clearer. Doing the brackets first probably means Ayew out with cash coming in. Outside the brackets is Taylor coming in. So Taylor plus cash for Ayew.

Messi. He's got a buyout clause, and a point to prove after missing out on this year's Ballon D'or. What better way to prove you're the best in the world than by tearing up the Championship and getting us promoted.

It's funny, I think Karanka had a similar chat at Middlesbrough: "So Aitor, who do you like the look of?" "Well, the Aston Villa team looks good..."

I think you're probably right. This really bugs me about young footballers though. As a youngster, you should be playing as much as possible at as high a level you can. There's usually no point signing a mega deal at somone like Spurs, because you're not going to playing regularly enough to carry on learning. He's not exactly pulling trees up in the Championship at the monent. He should stick with us and apply himself until he's regularly turning in motm performances. Then he should move to the next level, maybe a Stoke type team (assuming we're still in the Championship/bottom prem). Play regularly, rinse and repeat. It really annoys me the number of talanted young players that throw their careers away by choosing the money option to sit on the bench at the Chelsea's or Man U's of the world.

I think that's the crucial dilemma. Best case scenario is that we keep him here and he blossoms into the player we all want him to be. If it's his attitude holding him back at the moment though, then maybe he'll always carry an air of swagger/arrogance about him that will always hold hom back. In that case, maybe he needs to move on in order to realise his full potential.

Hidden letters, obviously for misdirection. Same place the other o h and e came from. It could be Kelle Roos, the Dutch GK with Derby that's being referred to, but given the good Dr's recent penchent for midfielders, I think Kroos is more likely.

No percentages, so was a bit of a struggle, but think I've got it.... Rooster = K-roos t-o h-er-e. We're signing Toni Kroos!!!

He's sometimes ticked me off. Does that count?

I wonder if there's a bit of an attitude problem here. I mean Villa fans can see his potential, the FA can see his potential, the media can see his potential, so I'm certain SB and the Villa hierarchy can see his potential. How many times have we seen "the next best thing" or the "new Messi" fade into obscurity? Too many, and the reason is their attitude. They fail to apply themselves and make their most of their ability. Paul Pogba is a case in point. Just resigned for Man U for £100 mill, arguably their best player this season. As a youngster though, Ravel Morrison was apparently the better player. The same Ravel Morrison who was linked to a Championship club in the summer, failing to get a game in Italy. I think it's pretty obvious to all that he doesn't have the attitude of a professional footballer. If Jack's giving it billy big bollocks in training, not willing to work on his weaknesses to the extent a lad of his age should be, then maybe SB and his staff are reaching the conclusion that he may not have the attitude to realise his full potential on a consistent basis. There may be a concern that Jack, unless he bucks his ideas up, may have hit his limit. It would be a real shame if true, because the lad has talent. If that's the case though, then reluctantly, the best thing for the club, and Jack himself, would be to let him go and bring someone first team ready in instead, or a youngster or two with the right attitude. I don't think that decision would be taken lightly, and I think the message would be delivered with a heavy heart, but it could well be best for all involved. If he does move on and it gives him the kick up the arse he needs, then I would be more than happy to applaud him onto the Wembly pitch when he makes his debut for his country.

"We know what we're doing. We'll make the decision that's best for the club, even if it's not what the fanbase want." Is what I've taken that to mean. No room for sentimentality in football (or business in general really).

Not good for me though. I wanna see them play!!

You gotta take your medicine.

Welcome!! NEXT!!

I hope he means 'ready?' here, and we're not going to get a 'u?' at half 1 followed by 'ready?' at 4!

Lets stop pimping his missus out shall we? At least until he's signed. Wouldn't him reading this thinking "hmm, maybe they have a point. He is a good looking Viking. Perhaps the butters folks at Palace would be better."

On Steve's couch. It's the new AVTV web series. "Join us next week to see who's on Steve's couch".

He could balloon the ball over the Holte end for all I care. An Aston Villa midfielder getting himself into a 100% goal-scoring opportunity is the stuff of legend and folk-songs at the moment.