meme

I think this is the case with most takeovers, if not all. There is always a chance that something will go wrong and/or the owner turns out to be a right mess. Only time will tell what will happen to our good club.

I may be talking complete bull (as per usual, mind me), but as a 2nd choice goalkeeper we could always sign Bartlomiej Dragowski. Top goalkeeper for the future, always buy him in my Football Manager saves, and would obviously mean we wouldn't see Brad Guzan, even in the subsitutes! Would probably cost around 4 to 7 mil.

I think it more screams Celtic saying "If you don't show us hard work, intensity and cliche in your first season, you're out out out."

Some people haven't passed, but fair to say Small Heath's Carson Yeong and a certain future Thailand dictator who has a very large name did both somehow manage to pass it.

I don't think he did the best, but not the worst either. He built a fairly good squad, but there were probably two reasons for his downfall from Liverpoool He did make some... rather interesting (bad) signings for very large prices. He was constantly ridiculed by the English press up until the point almost nobody outside of Liverpool fans could really look at him the same way. Oh yes, Hard Work, Cliche, Intensity.

Gestede is a proven Championship goalscorer, but he isn't really suitable out of it since he is absolutely gob***** if he isn't given the ball in the air. He would work well in a partnership with two strikers though. He can score goals by heading, and we can get a Premier League quality all rounder who is a proven goalscorer. I would suggest Bacuna for one, but the defense needs him more.

Gabby currently loses us 60k per week. A Chinese player would basically reverse that and GIVE us 60k a week. Probably more.

I'd be willing to add one extra word to our stadium name that everybody would disregard for a chance to loophole FFP (Not like we need it at the moment, FFP does not affect sides relegated from the Championship in their first season) and basically be good for both parties here.

I think it's just because of the past few years and huge media influence; the former means we have developed amazing mechanisms that are able to find flaws and loopholes in everything, and the latter because anything the media writes that is half-controversial means money for them.

Agreed. The five companies on the public stock exchange have absolutely no way at all to fund a private space exploration, and don't seem to be forming any sort of profit. RECON probably has countless shares in private companies, potentially worth many billions; this would be the only logical solution if Dr X is telling the truth, and he isn't backed by the Chinese government.

He isn't a Villa fan (don't forget Lerner was the one who said this), but judging by his indepth knowledge of how the game works is a vivid football follower and certainly a genius in the game.

I'd say its 80-20 towards passing. Might be a few questions regarding his unknown background and rumours of the government taking control behind the scenes.

To be fair, if Xia and the 'Recon Group' want Villa to be the cornerstone of one of their many divisions, and the Chinese government want to invest heavily into European football via Villa, I think Xia knows the club is too much of a shambles to sit back in China and run it from there. Besides, if he's learnt anything from Lerner, it's to actually GO to games.

I think this will be one of them football owners who we'll know nothing about for many years but will still be contented with due to the fact he has bucket-loads of money.

Of course, with the exception of Bacuna.

All Ayew needs to work on is his rather short-fused temper; he can get frustrated quite quickly and it's obvious it can sometimes affect his game. With a little more composure he could be a beast in the Championship. If he stays, he could score 15+ goals with relative ease.

You mean... players other than obscure French par-average footballers?

Spot on. The Championship is determined more by team morale, cohension and tactical genius than tens of millions of pounds worth of investment and plastic players. It's looking reminiscent of the old Division 1 more than ever now.

Hopefully we remembered to put some Doctor-X brand batteries in. We don't want our GameBoy to corrupt our Aston Villa Rollercoaster Tycoon!

The lack of financial details are likely due to China's censoring and rather secretive nature, rather than some dodgy dealings. Besides, if he's backed by the government, more money for us!

Well, at least we share the opinion that sausage rolls, particularly from Greggs, are delicious and must be consumed in colossal intakes.

I've always appreciated Jordan Rhodes as a player for ages, obviously a Premier League striker and too good for the Championship. Only problem might be his adaptability; if we do get promoted, who knows if he could quickly adapt to Premier League football, considering he has played in the Championship for virtually all his career? As for a goalkeeper, we could get Sergio Romero on loan with an option for a permanent transfer. Can have a bit of risky distribution but has huge experience at international level and a beyond-proven shot-stopper. Had 3 out of 4 clean sheets for the (few) matches he did play for United. Certainly better than Brad, no matter!

Not the Europa League... Anything but the Europa League!

Pearson would be a disaster. Par-average manager at all clubs he's managed, even at Leicester. We need a manager who has experience with club overhauls and a large transfer kitty at his helm; an all-rounder who has put teams to success before. In other words, someone like Di Matteo.