3 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

If it ends in July won't he be 31?

 

So he will, for some reason I thought his birthday was earlier in the year. 

3 minutes ago, AntrimBlack said:

You have to pay off his contract. If you are doing that you might as well keep him.

Long contracts are for young, sought after, improving players with potential, not older, past their best, uninterested players.

It's why Chelsea only give one year deals to players over 30. Might result in a few players leaving on a free but I think it's the right approach overall.

Gabby will be 32 when his contract runs out. For a 'pace' player that is too old regardless of motivation.

22 minutes ago, Lord Willard said:

How long is left on his contract? 

He signed a four year deal in 2014. So we have a few more years of his company left.

1 minute ago, a m ole said:

how many signings have other clubs made so far?

The four teams above us have all made at least one signing (some teams more than one) and Swansea are about to spend £8m on a striker apparently.

Even if it did he was 70 odd days ahead of the next guy. He's had horrible luck with that injury.

Article on bbc sport talking about Daniel Sturridge's injury record and saying he isn't the biggest sick note. They list Wilshere and Gabby as having had more injuries than him but the record for longest injury is Kozak at 494 days. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35413820

The only way he will get a similar or larger contract is if he moves to somewhere like China.

1 hour ago, useless said:

For all any of us know, he might have a release clause in his contract that allows him to leave at cut price, in the event of relegation.

Seeing as we have been in a relegation fight the last few years and we were only signing players who would have a relegation wage clause I doubt we will have agreed to relegation release fees at values less then we paid. They are quite probably in the contracts, but not at crazy low fees but probably about 25% higher then we paid. If a player or agent tried to push for a dirt cheap one we will have likely not signed that player. To do otherwise would be pure idiocy.

15 minutes ago, Shropshire Lad said:

I certainly did, Kelly and Jet from "Gladiators" were my main crushes at a young age.

I think Jet might have been my first love.

16 minutes ago, choffer said:

 

This is the most interesting post I've seen in here for a while.

1 hour ago, VillaCas said:

Maybe a one season trend!  Marhez and Vardy will be off in the summer and they'll be back to square one - lets see how Albrighton, Huth, Drinkwater, Morgan, Schlupp etc look then. 

Lucky lucky team with two decent players

Thye have three good players, you forgot Kante.

But still a very lucky team. They are very low in all the tables (stats wise) but the one that counts. I will be very suprised if they finish the season anywhere near as high as they currently are and  even more suprised if they keep hold of Vardy, Mahrez and Kante next season. The wages they could get from a transfer outweigh what Leicester will be able to offer. I also wouldn't be suprised if it gets leaked that they have minimum fee clauses in their contracts.

3 minutes ago, New_Jersey_Villa said:

I'm pretty shocked with this window.

I find it hard to believe there isn't at least ONE player out there who would improve the squad and want to come to us?

Pretty mind blowing really.

There was one player but he couldnt get a work permit. This transfer window is a massive joke though.

1 minute ago, srsmithusa said:

 

the highlighted bit is where your plan falls apart.

I never said Gabby was intelligent.

9 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

I think Leicester this season have helped to show the flaws in that theory to be honest. 

There will always be exceptions to any rule but I think it will get quite stable going forwards due to the difference in resources. It will be a more exaggerated version of Olympiacos winning the Greek League nine times out of ten or the same usual teams in the top four.

4 minutes ago, Straggler said:

Assuming it is Occams razor misspelled 

Nope. Dont blame bad decisions on conspiracy but rather people being idiots.

6 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

I am not disputing what he said just the part about calling fans delusional thats bitterness as fans never accepted him or Mcleish

The fans were right not to accept McLeish. Ignoring the fact that he managed a rival, at the time we were a team who had recently been challenging for the Champions League and had been to Wembley twice in one season. We deserved a manager with a better pedigree than recent relegation and coming third in a two horse race.

3 minutes ago, PussEKatt said:

I read your article and I fear that if we go down we might not come back up for a long long time.I think the big money in the PL will cause an elite in the championship with the 3 clubs that come down in the next 2 seasons, I fear they will pull away from the rest making promotion so very much harder.

It will likely become a closed group of 23 to maybe 26 teams that stay in the Premiership with the weakest six to nine rotating in promotion and relegation. The 23 being next years premiership teams and the three teams promoted up next season (hopefully Villa if we do go down). The other three teams being mixed in being those that get into the Premiership the year after and are financially viable enough to not get completely left behind after only a year or two (big stadiums/following/sponsorships). The increased parachute payments will keep the top of the Championship pretty stable. Villa need to make sure we get back up asap.

The only other way a team will get up is with either a lot of luck or a change to the financial fair play rules.

7 minutes ago, cbr600rr said:

i dont blame him tbh, newcastle have been pro active in this window,jjs & townsend,they have gave them two quality proven playes to work with, this chair man of our has been quoted saying its not money that makes a team,you pay now chairman or pay later

Don't forget Henri Saivet. If he fulfils his football manager potential he will get them at least 30 goals by the end of the season.

11 minutes ago, VillaChris said:

I remember one of the years SHA went down they got Muamba, Seb Larsson and Bendtner all in one go and all three were crucial to them coming straight back up.

1 hour ago, OutByEaster? said:

Adama is a million miles away from being on the bench at a really big club. He's fantastic at bursting past a man - at the top level, that's not enough - not by a long chalk. We've all been in positions where we're blind to a players weaknesses, where what we love about him means that we can ignore the rest, but you must realise how daft you sound when you talk about him. He's not Messi or Ronaldo - he's not the finished article In terms of what he produces for a team - the actual net result of him being on the pitch as opposed to the thrill of watching him explode past someone - I think you'd be hard pressed to find a Premier league manager that would trust him over 90 minutes more than they'd trust Marc Albrighton.

Marc Albrighton will never ever be able to do the things that Traore can do - he'll never have the physical gifts, or the ability to move the ball like Traore will - the lightning quick feet; but he can find a team mate, he can cover a runner, he can maintain a teams shape, remain aware, play a simple pass, cover space for a team mate going forward, notice space on a pitch and find it, with and without the ball - all the things that he's learned and been taught. It makes him a safer bet to produce more in games than Traore is right now.

The important bit in that comparison is that Albrighton learned those things, they can be taught - you can't teach the things Traore has - but if he doesn't learn the rest, he'll rarely get the chance to display what he has got in the kind of leagues he's capable of playing in. I think he can learn those things here, and if he does, then in two years time, he could be the player you'd like him to be today - right now though, he needs somewhere to learn. Hopefully we have the right people at Villa Park who actually do know about this stuff to make a player out of him.

 

 

 

Agree with nearly everything you wrote, but your first sentence implies that Villa are not a 'really big club' and I just cannot like a post that implies this. Even if I sadly know we no longer are.

1 hour ago, VillaCas said:

Do you think Hollis reads this thread. He seems like exactly the sort of bloke who would google himself.

I do hope so!!

Is this a clever bluff to throw suspicion of you actually being Hollis?

Anybody going to grab Adebayor? 

Adebayor has joined Palace.

One less club looming at Remy.

1 hour ago, TheMightyVillans said:

If we could just get this kalinic deal through and get remy in on loan id consider it a great window in our position.

I'd be happy with Kalinic and Remy on loan but I'd be happier if we signed a striker who could do a job for us no matter what league we are in and would be here for next season to help us get back up (someone like Afobe). 

31 minutes ago, Barney_avfc said:

Aston Villa back in for Lovre Kalinic after work permit issues scuppered original move. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3417626/Aston-Villa-Lovre-Kalinic-work-permit-issues-scuppered-original-move.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

Daily Mail are reporting we are still pursuing him too. 

They probably read this forum for ideas too.