CHW

£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?

I don't know who these superstars we used to sign supposedly are.

Ashley Young? From Watford and was a promising player but not the finished article and certainly not high profile.

Stewart Downing? People were mixed about it, a divisive signing but not THAT high profile.

James Milner? Turned him into a **** machine but again just seemed like a good signing at the time, not that high profile either.

So.. who was it?

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.

I aggree, if hes the sort of player to go on strike when he doesnt get his own way then i'd be very worried about him. If he can go on strike at Genk he can go on strike at Villa. IMO move on if its factual hes gone on strike

Move on? To who? We haven't really got this luxury with just a few days left have we? Not ideal by any means, but we need to tie this up, strike or no strike. And unpalatable as it is, frankly if it gets the deal done then he will have done us a favour.

I dont aggree. I know for a fact if say Darren Bent went and did the same today if we rejected a bid from a top 6 club this place would go into meltdown........

sorry, if hes got that in his locker then Id be very wary.

Of course we'd be pissed off and rightly so. It's a shity way to behave. BUT if in the meantime he's given us 2-3 years high quality service, maybe having been the difference between a relegation scrap or not, then the possibility of being a pissed off at some point in the future (whilst hopefully making a healthy profit) is probably a price worth paying?

SSN reporting that Genk have turned our bid for Benteke down, probably because we've tried to get him on the cheap.

Yeah, I think we should pay the asking price for every player. Just imagine how easy transfers would be then? Come on Faulkner you bafoon, start paying the asking price for these players, it's the way forward.

I aggree, if hes the sort of player to go on strike when he doesnt get his own way then i'd be very worried about him. If he can go on strike at Genk he can go on strike at Villa. IMO move on if its factual hes gone on strike

Move on? To who? We haven't really got this luxury with just a few days left have we? Not ideal by any means, but we need to tie this up, strike or no strike. And unpalatable as it is, frankly if it gets the deal done then he will have done us a favour.

but if a good offer is made for him and we have a better replacement to come in....I'd be happy to see him go.

Wouldn't you say this about every member of the squad?

Ellis was an arse and managed to sell to Lerner. If Lerner is not an arse, just who would he sell to?

The highest bidder?

How has this ridiculous myth gathered pace? When did Bannan become this fantastic player, scoring goals for fun and completely controlling games and pretty much winning them single handedly like Charlie Adam did at Blackpool?

This is what people said about CNZ when he was at wigan.

How is that relevant? You could insert any name you like there of someone who has not done brilliantly after a move. I can't remember a single person on here not keen for us to sign CNZ at the time.

The point is Bannan has done nothing yet. Charlie Adam has.

No point bringing in Adam as he's no better than Bannan and on twice the wage.

How has this ridiculous myth gathered pace? When did Bannan become this fantastic player, scoring goals for fun and completely controlling games and pretty much winning them single handedly like Charlie Adam did at Blackpool? Bannan may be a neat player at times with some potential, but I've never seen anything like this than from him yet and for me they are light years apart.

Nice post. Great house. Love the history on the walls thing, it looks fantastic

I don't think I've ever heard a chant from an internet message board repeated at the ground. For good reason, they invariably shit. I'm with Boff here, it's excruciating reading this shite.

He's a good player. £10m sounds steep because he's coming from Wolves and is therefore quite unfashionable. But for a decent pretty young striker it isn't a huge amount. I think if he gets to a better club he could do very well and make the £10m sound very good business. Don't think it will be us though.

edit - thought better of it.

Quasi-racist bullshit.

oh FFS.

Quasi-moronic comment.

Hate to break it to you dear but "most of our players need to be from this country" is the same thing as "most of our players cannot be from other countries" and is a borderline racist argument.

No, no it's not.

It's hysterical responses like yours that make me so furious about the loony political correctness that has swamped our society over the last 10 years.

It is a perfectly valid argument to suggest that a team may be stronger with a spine of home grown players. Of course it doesn't always bear true, but a reasonable stance for someone to take without having the term racist bandied about.

Frankly I find your accusation incredibly offensive and if I was the OP it was aimed at would have been absolutely furious. I mainly just lurk these threads but outrageous statements like the one you have made make me incandescent. I am afraid you are talking utter, utter shite.

I hope you sleep on it and come back and retract your comment tomorrow.

Quasi-racist bullshit.

oh FFS.

Quasi-moronic comment.

Can people never ever ever call him "Lambo" ever again? It's as cringeworthy as Sunalun fans calling MON 'Marty'.

Exactly. Not ever please.

Re RDM

He was successful because he had a short term goal there, to abandon any idea of moving the club forward before the end of the season, reintegrate the old guard and win some matches. He did this by playing a horrible brand of football that I would hope never to see at Villa Park again.

And it's not even as if results for Villa would be guranteed playing that way. Doing it with a very expensive Chelsea side is incredibly different to doing it with the current Villa side.

Exactly. And had a huge slice of luck with a penalty miss in each game. He's obviously a decent man manager. He united the squad and gave the old guard their head for one last huurah and got very, very lucky. In my mind there is no way that that demonstrates the necessary ability to turn round a massively underperforming Villa with a frankly very poor squad.

Just read that he uses fifa 12 to prepare for games. Says it all really, this chap would get exposed big time in the premier league.

I can understand the initial excitement, but i have no idea at all why the thought of this guy managing aston villa has gone down so well online.

You can`t just appoint someone because they are young and used to be a good player, football management is a job like any other and the guy who we go for needs to have proved he can do it.

The great things about forums like this is everyone has a right to an opinion.

But after your one man crusade to get Steve McClaren appointed last year, do forgive us if we think yours is utter sh1te.

I think it's clear MM has some inside info but as with Mcleish it's also clear he doesn't know the big picture all the time.

If the rumours that we've made contact with Mick are true then I'm truly worried. For me there will be no way back for Lerner if he appoints that man.

Surely we can't make the same mistake again.

Look, it wont be McCarthy FFS. Stop worrying about it, it just wont happen. Stop banging on about him - you're just giving the wind ups a reason to laugh at us.

Is AVB unrealistic?

I think so, but no harm in checking if he's interested.

AVB? We are deluded. It was Ancelloti last year and we ended up dodging McLaren to end up with Mcleish.

No wonder it took him so long to sign - he must have been trying to negotiate a new shirt from Nike - that one is minging.

Wigan rejected the 10M bid for N'Zogbia. How much do they want for God's sake?

He's their best player and has just had a very good season. We're buying him to replace a player we've just sold for £20m. Some people even think he will be more effective than Downing.

Notwithstanding the year left on the contract, I can see why Wigan value him at > £10m in todays market.

Be honest, if we were selling him would you be happy with £10m?

General,

TBH I've never felt motivated to post on here before - I've never felt the need.

All I have to say, is that I trust you, Paul Faulkner and Randy to act in the clubs best interest. As far as I'm concerned you have NEVER let us down before - and on that basis I have no reason to believe you will do so now.

All that I ask is that careful consideration be given as to the appointment of the new manager, and that whoever he is, is truely the best possible candidate.

You will have MY support whoever you decide that person is.

Up The Villa.

Agreed. But I just hope the decision to not take Hughes has more to it than being dissapointed by the way he resigned. I suspect the vast majority of fans would have preferred MH, and most of us are perplexed as to why you continue to overlook him.