will_avfc99

The facepalm gag is a new one on me. I thought being a gobshite was a prerequisite of membership here? I realise that implicates me.

This time, the gobshite. Awful humble of you

Paul Lambert has said he could be interested in a deal. Liverpool have all but said he is available for transfer. He is a viable target, whether you say so or not. If you don't like it then you should go and post in one of the many threads for the players who are nailed on to join us. Good luck there though because at the moment, however unlikely, Carroll appears to be one of the likelier deals to be made.

I am guessing its still going because Lambert has confirmed a liking and a possible interest in signing the player. His club have all but stated a willingness to listen to offers. It's not as whacky as you may think. I agree it's unlikely but to risk a vintage '93 Razzle? Never.

I don't understand the reasoning behind this post. A reject because it hasn't worked out for him at his club? A reject then like Paul McGrath was at Man United? And why would the fact that he supports Newcastle mean he would have an anti-affinity for Villa? Should we only be signing players who were dragged up in a council terrace on Witton Lane? Well you didn't quote the whole post, so you must have understood SOME of the reasoning, which is encouraging All very well mentioning Paul McGrath, but for every one of him there are a dozen players who, having been sold by a bigger club, arrive at their new club slightly demotivated and uninspired. Milan Baros is a perfect example, but there are heaps more. Very few players show the same form after moving to a smaller club that they showed before they signed for the bigger club. There are very real psychological reasons for this. Surely I'm not alone in wanting the club to find and develop its own talent? Signing a player who has not been a success at his former club makes us look small time. Would Man Utd do such a thing? Rarely. The Geordies HATE Aston Villa. We relegated them, and there were some pretty nasty, gloating, un-witty banners on show that day. I was unimpressed, and I'm a Villa fan. When they put six past us after getting promoted, they were absolutely loving it. Seeing as they are a club of similar size, they hate us all the more. I think it would be naive to think that all this makes absolutely no difference to Carroll. I'll ignore the Witton Lane argument, which is just silly. I was selective in using your post as I only selected the items which I wanted to discuss. I thought this was a fairly standard practice. I thought a more concise approach would make for a better forum - apologies if not, I am not a very frequent poster. I left out the other bits, which I understood and mostly agreed with. No (obviously) you're not alone in wanting the club to develop its own talent, but surely that is a given at any club. It is quite widely recognised however that alongside your harvest of youngsters, a sustainable club usually requires players signed from other clubs (often not fans of your club too) who will strengthen your starting XI. Andy Carroll fits nicely into this category. On the contrary to your psychological diagnosis of Mr. Carroll, I think he (perhaps more so than any other player in the league right now) has a burning desire to prove a point and to prove his army of doubters wrong. He would not be happy, at this early stage in his career, to sit back and continue to be mocked by fans, most of whom would welcome him to their clubs with open arms. It is surely naive to believe that we 'relegated' Newcastle when they were dire for almost all of that fateful season. They don't hate us any more than any other team that contributed to their demise. Besides, if he was so fiercely loyal to Newcastle he would not have jumped ship in the first place. He is also far from lazy. I believe he covered more ground than any other player on the pitch in the England game against Sweden, which franks his desire to succeed at the highest level. I think he will become a very good player and would be very happy to get him on board. I'll go as far to say that I think £10-12m would represent good value. Whether or not he feels we would be a good move for him, however, remains very much in doubt. I suspect not.

I don't understand the reasoning behind this post. A reject because it hasn't worked out for him at his club? A reject then like Paul McGrath was at Man United? And why would the fact that he supports Newcastle mean he would have an anti-affinity for Villa? Should we only be signing players who were dragged up in a council terrace on Witton Lane?

Not really, no.

http://www.joe.ie/football/football-news/remember-the-defender-so-bad-he-was-dropped-by-holland-aston-villa-are-on-his-trail-0026906-1 It always amazes me how quickly people are to publish bad press about other teams. A story out of nothing. I think what is very apparent is that no-one worth a carrot seems to know too much about Ron Vlaar. The very fact that he was considered good enough to be in the Dutch starting XI at the Euros, indicates that, at least at his best, Ron Vlaar is a very good player, and at the £3m-£5m being mooted, I think we'll find that we've spent less wisely on defenders in recent years. Not mentioning any names of course. Cuellar, Hutton, Knight, Warnock, C.Davies, Beye, Shorey, L.Young.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/holland-v-denmark-player-ratings-7834284.html?action=gallery&ino=4 I've been looking for Euro2012 player ratings, could only find this (Holland vs Denmark) Not reading too much into it though. I've got more than enough faith in Lambert to welcome Vlaar with open arms. He'll only improve our fragile defensive situation and I'm encouraged by his apparent leadership attributes.

This! No real money to spend with us so at best keep us up. I would rather gamble with a young up and coming manager. If he gets it I hope he proves me wrong. No I dont like the fact that we would be his back up option but to be fair how many managers have we gone for and gone for a "back up" works both ways. I want something new and fresh down VP, something for the future A young and upcoming manager like Martinez?

Look at how well he spent it, 20 odd million on Glen Johnson, 20 odd million on Aquilani. Real quality! There is no hype over Martinez. The crux of the matter is he would try to get us playing football. For that, I would be happy. Add another £30m into the mix with Robbie Keane (19m) and Ryan Babel (11m).

You're one of 'those people' that does the 'quotation marks' with their 'fingers' aren't you?

Michael Laudrup; Young, vibrant, good (albeit fledgling) managerial record, very well respected, very well connected, hasn't been relegated with Blues, free and available to commence duties immediately.

If you are real madrid and the like then yes, but we are aston villa, we can`t just take our pick. I understand your reasoning. But, we should strike a balance between someone who is talented and ambitious with someone who would relish the chance to jump at a big job like ours. Jesus, we're not Rotherham. There are surely talented managers who would be excited and totally committed to swapping their current situation with a chance to turn Villa around.

If you are approaching the right candidate, when you whistle, he should come running.

I don't think he'd come but surprising how little there is about Moyes this time. At the risk of being bombarded with abuse from those claiming to be ITK and from all the experts out there, I wouldn't mind Glenn Hoddle on a two year deal. There, I've said it. Why have the forum police shut down the OGS thread? Is it no longer a relevant topic for discussion?

how about ''VillaTalk.com'' :nod:

MARTIN BLOW US A KISS, MARTIN MARTIN BLOW US A KISS

4th every time

Basically: technical ability vs graft.. and a good team needs both. thats my vote.

16TH consecutive ST missing maybe 5 games in the first 15seasons, missed half last seasons home games though 4-5 aways per season

Summed up, back on page 1, and wecome back Bromsgrove. i'll go with that

I like this yeah... except its man uniteds song. i love it when people post songs on here as if they are original.. the original version was aimed at chelsea.. mooouuurriiinnnhhhhhhoooo are you listenin....

I was browsing through some of the old threads on villatalk, stumbled across this one and have found myself loving the progress that we have made since the dark and horrible days that the thread concerns. You just need to read some of the posts to realise what a state we were in. What i'm trying to say i guess, not that it hasn't been said a million times alraeady, is cheers randy!!

muhahaha i thought it would raise a few eyebrows. strange to think that we were gonna do this just 2 years ago when milner was valued at 4 million and now we seem to think barrys worth 18 million