Mattansell

Montella has two for Fulham already and he only came on at half time - would have been worth a gamble as a stop-gap!

Spot on , this guy is a predator of the highest order If he was that great I think clubs bigger than Fulham will be looking at him. On top of that its going to take him a season to settle, if at all. Look at Shevchenko. Probably correct but i'd rather see us taking the gamble now we have some finance behind us than see his vital few goals push Fulham over us.

The Times and Guardian have both got Fulham down to sign Vincenzo Montello from Roma on loan unril the end of the season. Now he is a good striker and could definatley do a job for us in the short term.

He's also the bloke on the mic at the start of the game that says tw*tty things like " todays referee Uriaaaaaaaaah Rennieeeeeeeeeeeee" in a sinister 'we hate the ref' style. Glad I won't be hearing that anymore.

Does anyone think we should have a feedback/suggestions/ideas sticky for the General to look at? I'm pretty certain that as into it as he is, viewing our squabbles abot Angels penalty taking might be a bit mind numbing!

Firsty welcome! Secondly thanks to Randy and yourself for giving us back the one thing all fans should thrive on - hope! Finally congrats on some of the positive changes ie. PR, Museum, speaking directly to the fans. Just to illustrate the difference, my copy of 'FourFourTwo' arrived via the post today and a leaflet advertising Villa weekends dropped out - I have never seen this club promote itself in the national media before!!

Hersheys Nutrageous / Cups. Mmmmm peanut http://tinyurl.com/gqqdq

"Randy lerner,the US billionaire who is close to securing the takeover of Aston Villa is in talks with a number of global companies about a long-term £100m-plus sponsordhip deal for the Premier league football club" This was in the Telegraph today apparantly. As someone else says £100m for renaming the ground - snap their hands off!

We should consider ANYTHING that can change us from being also-rans to front runners. As long as it is a sponsorship partner that fits then cool - the Müller Rice Bowl would be particularly bad for example!

He can change it but only if it is a partner that fits - ie not a pisstake name, like the 'Walkers Stadium'. MBNA Villa Park wouldn't be awful.

Wonder if they simply got this off the Mercury report?

From Sporting Life (http://tinyurl.com/helbu) ELLIS IN TAKEOVER TALKS Aston Villa chairman Doug Ellis has confirmed talks are ongoing regarding a possible takeover of the club. Four consortiums have been linked with a takeover with the American billionaire Randy Lerner favourite to become the midlands club's new owner. In a statement to shareholders released on the Stock Exchange, Ellis said: "Extensive discussions are ongoing to determine whether a formal offer for the issued share capital of the company will be forthcoming." Last week Ellis appointed Martin O'Neill as the club's new manager following the departure of David O'Leary. Preliminary results for the year ending May 31, 2006 reveal Villa made an £8.2million loss before tax in contrast to a £3million profit in the same period the previous year. Revenue dropped from £51.6million to £49million with attendances down 8.7%.

There's no chance that people bidding have got in touch with some of the players and encouraged the statement is there?

Well John Fears vitalvilla have Michael Neville associated with a new bid, this time however with out the Comer Bros!

Same here, pm me if you want!

Saw that post on H&V too but wasn't entirely convinced that a guy involved in mergers & acquisitions would spell his username 'DaleytheLedgend' wrong!

Yeah agree, well done Evening Mail. Keep this up & I might even start buying you again. NB. Only after they stop this Blose stadium thing though!

Got to say, thats spot on for me too!

I dislike all of them bar Arsenal for several reasons; Man Utd - Ferguson (but have to admire the way they capitalised on a very good youth team coming through & built an empire on it) Chelsea - Money is ruining the game & the media have actually built them up to the point that opposition fans & players believe they will lose to them in advance) Liverpool - A massive media lovefest for them & yet they believe the opposite! It's because of these that I actually don't hate teams like Man City & Everton; imagine living in a city with any of them & having that shoved down your throat all the time! You have to admire Arsenal; in exactly the same place as us 10-15 years ago, yet with a great transfer policy (scout well, buy cheap, sell lots) and supplementing this with a great youth setup they have built themselves in the way we should have. Unfortunately, in comparison we have a fairly good youth setup BUT bought terribly ie. old players for lots of money and thats why we are where we are!

Didn't see that one coming!

An article from an Irish Newspaper with the Comers older brother: (pdf of page available if anyone wants it) Galway brothers may reconsider Aston Villa takeover as bid appears to fall through BY MARY O'CONNOR The brother of the two multi-millionaire Glenamaddy men who are believed to have pulled out of a € 96 million deal to take over English premiership soccer club Aston Villa says he feels they may yet reconsider their decision. Billy Comer, the older brother of Luke and Brian, who lives in Shannaugh outside Glenamaddy and who is in regular contact with them, says he would be very saddened if the takeover was called off. His comments came in the wake of reports yesterday which said the deal appeared to have fallen through after the Comer brothers, who live in Hertfordshire and who were leading a consortium, decided not to proceed with the move which would have seen Doug Ellis, the 82-year-old current Villa chairman and major shareholder in the club, relinquish control of the Birmingham side. The report says the Comers - property magnates who own a property company worth € 1.5 billion - were attracted to Villa because of the prospect of developing land owned by it within the club's grounds. Billy Comer, who stayed with Luke at his home in Dunboyne, Co Meath on Friday night, says they discussed the proposed takeover. "Villa came up in conversation. He wasn't saying much about it [the proposed deal] I kinda felt it wasn't as concrete as it should be but I was of the opinion it was still on." He says he was disappointed and surprised by reports in the media midweek that the takeover by a consortium led by his brothers seemed to be off. (At the time of going to press club sources had not confirmed that the deal was not going ahead.) However, he believes the talks could be back on again. "It's news to me that they have pulled out and if it's the case it is disappointing. Everything seemed very promising. The talks have been going on since November. So much negotiation went on. I was sure it [the deal] was going to happen at Christmas. I felt it was just around the corner. It could be back on again." He believes octogenarian Doug Ellis - who visits Galway regularly to fish on the Salmon Weir and to meet former Villa player Eamonn Deacy - and who is noted for his shrewd approach to financial matters - may have been a "stumbling block". "Maybe Doug Ellis didn't want them to develop as much land as they wanted. That might have been the problem." He says it would be a great pity for Galway if the deal does not go ahead as expected. "It would be great for Galway and the area [Glenamaddy] if it went ahead. All the locals want it to happen. There are an awful lot of Irish in Birmingham. There are relations of Carmel [his wife] there. They are hoping it will happen." He says his brothers, Luke (47) and Brian (45), who started out working as plasterers before moving to England in the mid 1980s, would have viewed the deal as a "big thing, a big step" and would not rush into it. "They were checking out everything. They wouldn't rush into it. They are very successful and worked hard and were determined to get where they are today." If the Villa takeover is off the table, Billy says there may be another club that would attract their interest. "It's a pity if it [Villa] doesn't happen. But you'd never know there might be even another club." While the Comer brothers attend premiership matches regularly, they do not support any particular club. Their great love has always been Gaelic football, he says. Brian played for the Galway minors in 1976 but broke his wrist in a Connacht final against Mayo. He won an All Ireland medal with the Galway Vocational Schools in 1976. East Galway TD Paul Connaughton, who knows the brothers well, says if the deal went ahead, it would be like something out of a fairytale. "It would be great if somebody from north Galway could be up with the likes of Alex Ferguson. It's about as near as any of us would get to such an empire. It brings out shades of people who did well in England. If the deal went ahead, no doubt they would turn it into a successful club and a successful business venture. "They [the Comers] have the talent and they did it the hard way. They were in England since they were young. Their success is built on hard work and decency. Some people get rich by dominating people, by being pushy, the Comers are not like that, they are fair people."

Fair enough.....but i'm gonna ask one more thing! Are you suggesting that the Comers aren't gonna happen or that there might be someone else on the horizon?

Any chance of elaboration on that one? Pretty please!

The Times take on the matter: Ellis may be ready to release Villa reins By Russell Kempson MANY an Aston Villa supporter has welcomed in the new year with the same wish: that Doug Ellis, the club chairman and majority shareholder, should sell up and vacate the premises. While it has fallen on deaf ears many times in the past, it could be granted at last in 2006. Discussions over a £64.4 million takeover are continuing between Ellis and the consortium of Brian and Luke Comer, the Irish property developers. It was reported yesterday that a deal, which would involve Ellis selling all or most of his stake of about 38 per cent, could be concluded by early next month. “It will not be completed before Christmas but there is a possibility it could be completed in the new year,” Michael Neville, a Solihull-based businessman and lifelong Villa fan who is leading the Comer bid, said. “I am still very upbeat about the completion of the transaction.” However, it is understood that Neville’s comments may be premature and that Ellis, a notoriously stubborn negotiator, will not relinquish control until he is satisfied with every minute detail and that the Comer brothers have the club’s best interests at heart. Not for nothing did Ellis, 82 next week, once utter the famous line that he would leave Villa Park “only in a wooden box”. Villa refused to comment on the progress of the talks yesterday but it is significant that they did not feel it necessary to inform the Stock Exchange of any developments. At the start of November, the club did confirm to the Exchange that a “preliminary approach” had been made. The Comer group has now entered the stage of “due diligence”, in which it is examining the Villa accounts. Brian Comer, 45, and Luke, 47, who are based in London and whose property company is worth £1 billion, have met Ellis. “They discussed a whole range of things,” Neville said. “It has taken longer than we thought because of the complexities of due diligence but Mr Ellis has been most charming and most accommodating. Everything is cordial and on track and I have got no view of anything that would hinder this deal.” Villa are viewed as perennial underachievers in the top flight and lie in fifteenth place in the Barclays Premiership, only four points above the relegation zone. David O’Leary, the manager, is constantly bemoaning the lack of funds to strengthen his squad, a thorny problem that could be resolved in the event of a successful takeover. Neville remained optimistic. “I think that Champions League football is a realistic possibility at Villa Park within three years,” he said. “I would love to see them back in Europe. “It is very difficult to replicate the pockets of Roman Abramovich (Chelsea’s billionaire Russian owner) but Villa are a big club with a big stadium. I’m distraught that they are where they are. I just wish that they were at the top of the table.” Asset-rich and relatively debt-free, Villa are seen as an attractive investment. Yet when Ellis has been courted, he has dug his heels in and refused to sell. He has rebuffed the bids of Ray Ranson, the former Manchester City, Birmingham City and Newcastle United player, whose group offered £47 million, and consortiums from Russia and Venezuela. ALSO Nuremberg, they have put your comment about party poppers on their site too!

Great News! Didn't someone on here say that things would be much more clear on the week after the Manure game! Well done to that man!