CHW

Much prefer your simplified version

I hope you're taking the piss.

And Rashica of course. If only...

excellent!

Taylor is shit and Ayew is worth far more than £6m.

I think 40k is more than reasonable. We tell him do what you did last season again and we'll review your wages again next season increasing it further still. We've just about got the wagebill to a manageable level, Lambert is doing a brilliant job in that respect. The likes of Westwood, Lowton are all very modest guys given where weve taken them from, they're not gonna be on much in todays terms but they're not even thinking about it, you can tell they just want to knuckle down and play football. we are building a togetherness with near enough everyone on an even keel. So giving someone in excess of 60k pw after having 1 very good season would cause unrest I feel and sends out the wrong message to the rest of the squad. £40k is reasonable. But it is a figure that any interested club will blow out of the water. Disagree, I'd begrudgingly offer him 100k a week, however that would be the max I'd gladly offer 60-80k a week. We have Ireland, Bent, Given on huge money, yet as I said yesterday we've been quick to throw big money at players we have signed in the past such as Beye 40k a week for a back up right back, Ireland 70k a week, Bent & Given, however we have been very slow to reward the players who have come here and become very very good players, I ultimately think that had we been more rewarding with the players who had done well here and gave them the big bucks that we would have been able to hang onto the Barrys & co, however I do realize that at the time the wages were congested with a lot of players who had little or no value to the first team. We see a similar situation today but our revenue has been increased and our wage budget is a lot lower, if we can shift Bent, that money should go to Benteke in my eyes, if the club see him as a £25m asset they need to pay him like one. I don't see much point in offering him a payrise now. If he stays it's going to be against his will anyway and he'll certainly go after the World Cup payrise or not. We all assume he'll still do his best next season anyway to secure his WC place, so what exactly is the point of rewarding him financially if Spurs fail to come up with the money? The way I see it, the pay rise offered was to ensure he knuckled down for another year with no unsettling transfer speculation to disrupt & unsettle the squad. He's blown that now, whatever the outcome so balls to a pay rise, if you do stay, do your job or sit in the reserves and risk your WC place. On the other hand, if there had been a prospect of keeping him long term I do think £40k is very low compared to what he'd get almost anywhere else and if that was the offer we should probably look at ourselves a bit here.

It's all very well us fans setting a fixed price and date, but we're not putting our own balls on the line on a 20-30m asset. Much as that stance sounds appealing to us, it's not the way it works and has never been the way it works. Whether we like it or not there will be compromises, probably both on price and date. I'd prepare to be dissapointed.

I agree with this. I think the rationale for some (to hate him) was that as City weren't in the top 4 at the time so he was just a money grabber. It didn't take Nostradamus to predict he would win stuff there and he's done ok hasn't he? Frankly the way we treat some ex players who have been great sertvants to the club is terrible - Southgate also springs to mind - ok he didn't win stuff at Middlesborough but was shat on by Chelsea and we all hated Dougs lack of ambition at the time. Young gave us some great years and we made a tidy profit too.

I'm not going to get involved in a long winded debate searching through old posts for the often demanded 'evidence,' but I can't believe you don't think Bannan has been a scapegoat this season? The amount of times I've seen him slated, sometimes justifiably but many times not. Someone called him a useless word removed just two pages ago.

Notwithstanding my earlier posts I think this is stretching it a bit (lot). He could well end up at a Championship side, but like you I think he may do ok elsewhere.

I think you'll find 40,000 of us normally meet up in the flesh at Villa Park. Also, it is not childish to have an opinion on Bannan, whether that opinion is good, bad or indifferent. An opinion is an opinion. Is your opinion going to change peoples minds about Bannan? It certainly won't be changing mine. It's not about having an opinion. It's the constant picking on a Villa player (who is bound to read this forum) and the remorseless ganging up on anyone who has the audacity to defend him.

I agree with this. The remorseless slating of a Villa player is just disgusting and does not do the posters or this forum any credit. Yes he struggled in a poor team. I think he's got some decent skill and could well go on to do ok elsewhere, a bit like how Maloney & Routledge have done. They also seemed unpopular, although perhaps were not scapegoats to the extent Bannan has become.

FFS Adam and Jones for Bent? I can't believe it's actually got to a stage where people are hoping for this? Selling one of the most prolific strikers in the league to friggin' Stoke and hoping they throw us a few scraps in return? Jesus, I hate football...

Denis - what do you want him to say? Realistically?

But is it pointless? People have been getting agitated by the 'wall of silence' He has tried to address that. He's tried to reassure fans that he's backing the manager and trying to get players in. Just because it doesn't say what some people want to hear doesn't make it pointless. I don't see how people can criticise him for saying nothing then criticise him for actually saying something. As I said, damned if you do....

What the hell do you want him to say? Realistically I mean - he's not going to say I'm giving Paul 100m and we're going to win the league is he? In a nutshell, he's said he'd concerned regarding the current situation. We are on a programme to try to become more sustainable and he is backing Lambert. He really is damned if he does, damned if he doesn't here isn't he?

I can see that. We are shite at the moment and it is very frustrating. But I just get a bit irritated by melodramatic sweeping statements which are plainly not true.

This is just hyperbolic rubbish though isn't it? You telling me if we are flying high at the top of the Championship and about to get promoted next year you and a lot of others wont be spending a penny at the club?

look, this is just bollocks. yes Ireland works hard, is doing ok and i'm sure there is more to come. But using stats like these to compare him to Holman is pointless. What Holman brought, particularly against Swansea, was constant harassing of opponents on the ball, which knocked them off their rhythm, forced errors and generally disrupted their patterns. This isn't necessarily shown in the stats so can we please stop this bollocks comparison? Ireland's work rate was good too and no doubt contributed to the closing down of the Swansea game, but not at the same level as Holman. You have to be blind to suggest it does.

Let's forget the Messi analogy / theory. It's a bit (lot) silly and distracting the thread. Holman had an excellent game. People keep talking about lack of ability on the ball, but whilst he's no Messi (see what I did there?) to me he looked very capable with some good touches. He made us tick on Saturday and was my motm by a mile. Well done to him, hope he keeps it up.

I just can't understand why these players wont contemplate a wage cut to get a move and get their career back on track. I appreciate they have a short career and a wage cut when you have a contract is always going to hurt, but they must be enormously wealthy and, even on much reduced wages, would remain so. Surely it would be better for their general happiness and well being to be a few quid poorer but playing regularly at a club where they are wanted. How demoralising must it feel passing time by in the reserves, knowing they are not wanted and wont play? Take a cut and move on or watch your career waste away? I know what I'd do.

£7m? Big move if it's true. 29 years old though. If he can maintain previous form for a couple more years would be worth it I think?

Bent? Collymore? Dean Saunders?

This is a medium term gamble and not a short term fix. I'd be amazed to see him anywhere near the starting XI for a few months at best, unless he really pulled up trees in training and reserves.

I'm all for positivity Mazrim, but I'd be utterly shocked if Essien would even consider coming to us. Or if we indeed had any real interest in him and his inevitable wage demands. This is pie in the sky.