Rob182

Isn't this the case at most professional sports clubs?? Its an occupational hazard surely?. I imagine it is the case in most clubs; but managers in other clubs tend to use their bench when their first team are injured or have played constant games for months and months. I can see where Randy is coming from. If MON had used his players more often then they wouldn't be on the "unwanted" list. If we'd used NRC and subbed Petrov for 5 or 6 games then his wages would be warranted. If we'd used Davies and took off Dunne when he was injured near the end of the season then he might not be on the way out either.

So he has given up on getting CL football then and want us to have free players that sit on the bench? Players that cost nothing in wages? Does this also mean that MON must always play every player that earns more than a certain amount per week from now on? No matter how they perform? Then Lerner has certainly **** up Villa, that is for sure. Also, you need to be very careful with how you word things on here. People seem to assume you are always giving us the inside scoop whenever you post. What a daft comment. (See what I did there...) That's obviously not what MM was implying. It's fairly obvious to everyone that it's a waste of money to have 5 or 6 players in the squad who are earning higher than £30k/£40k/£50k a week and aren't playing or even making the bench. We could easily offload these players and replace them with youngsters or players of a similar/ better ability but with lower wages. Delfouneso - he could replace Heskey in the squad and is surely on at least half Heskey's wages. Clark - he could replace Davies, "see above" regarding wages. Then we could bring in players like KPB who will probably ask for lower wages than what Sidwell is one. A young right back to be paid less than what Beye is on. etc etc.

MysteryMan, keep us updated with any goings on. Milner is returning and I think a lot of us expect to see some developments sooner rather than later.

villarocker, I see your point and I fully agree that it's a risk when leaving your transfers late. But I also doubt that MON has one transfer target. If a team decides they don't want to sell then I'm sure we could go for another player. I'm not saying it's an ideal way of working transfers - it definatly has it's faults: players missing pre-season, playing 3 or 4 games without your new transfers & the risk that players could end up staying with their squad. But I also think that if we are working on a tight budget (I'm not saying we are, I'm saying "IF") - then it's a way of getting players for cheaper and therefore having more money available to buy an extra player or two. I trust MON, he hasn't failed us in the past when it comes to strengthening the squad.

If that is the truth...then it is a lousy tactic. Not many clubs sit on golden "left overs" at that time and some are quite reluctant to sell. No I dont buy that...MON has huge problems with the transfer market and when he has come to a point where he need to act he go british to play it safe. There is no spark...no edge...with his signings...just a grey hopeful bunch of honest players or whatever he brands them. Well it worked last year when we got Richard Dunne for £5m and James Collins for around the same price. Both of those were two incredible bargains that, in my opinion, wouldn't have been as cheap if we'd splashed all our money in June. It could be the difference between getting one more player. For example: Spending money in July when opposing teams are at no risk to sell their players quickly: Robbie Keane £9m, Stephen Ireland £12m, Nedem Onouha £4m, Kevin-Prince Boateng £5m. Total of £30m (funded by the sale of Milner/ fringe players). OR. Wait until teams realise they'll either need to sell the players off or have an unhappy player in their ranks (or in Man City's case; possibly have a player that they can't register because their squad is too big): Robbie Keane £7m, Stephen Ireland £9m, Nedem Onouha £3m, Kevin-Prince Boateng £4m. Total of £23m. There probably won't be a massive difference in price but it could add up. In this example (with very rough guesses on prices) we'd get an extra £7m to spend on another player. It's a simple tactic that could pay off Luxa. The worst case scenario is that someone else lodges a bid with a player that we want - in which case, I'm sure MON would then pop up with an offer. I'm sure he wouldn't just think "Oh, well we aimed to spend money in August.. So we'll let the other team have this one" I trust MON and I'm confident that we will come out of this window a better team - with or without wantaway-Milner. The only problem with this transfer-tactic is that it does mean that you have to play a few games of the season without your new transfers. (But if it means that we also get an extra player - in hindsight I'm happy with MON's strategy)

I think we might need to wait for a few players to be sold, or just Milner, before we buy new players - not for transfer funds but to ensure that the wage bill doesn't go through the roof! Also, if you check any of MysteryMan's comments from the last few weeks, the insight is that MON prefers to buy players near the end of the window to ensure the price is as realistically low as possible. Be patient. :winkold:

I predict someone will say, "Easy this managing lark!".. but I like your thinking VERB (apart from Scott Parker. He'd cost too much and is too old. Swap his name for Witsell for £5m or Flamini for a similar price and we'll be sorted for the season !)

I think he is joking

is this link working guys? I don't wanna click on it to find a virus...as Rob mentioned before

smokingzen - I wasn't "posting for effect".. more "posting to relieve my boredom" But thanks for taking the time to read and reply to my post!

Same but I would've structured that sentence differently. :winkold: Ha, yeah I was going to post something similar lexicon. But I feared for being corrected by the teacher :winkold:

My favourite blink song

Danny Villaman, I'm not sure if it's the language barrier, but I don't think anyone was making fun of you :winkold: You posted your post - a few agreed (I disagreed about the Collins DM thing) But then someone said "You're not English are you? If you are then what. the. ****"... They were basically saying that if it was an English person then the grammar was terrible. But as you're not English (I assume) then they weren't making fun of you Out of interest, where are you from? And some said that you're deaf, is that true or something that has got lost in translation?

I'm sure you've raised some valid points smokingzen. But as your post was longer than a donkey's shlong, I've decided to quote the above parts; which I found the most revealing. *disclaimer - the above words were typed by smokingzen but I may have deleted a few other words from his post for my own enjoyment/ boredom.

Are you really hoping for a reply to all those comments? I hope not, this thread will be one long quote-on-quote-on-quote!

As opposed to Stan who is lightning quick and able to track back and make tackles??? Stan can turn and has decent agility. I don't just mean sprinting around. I mean when players are around him and he needs to turn directions quickly to break up attacks. Collins is a lump. He can tackle & pass but couldn't be a DM. Do you think he could?

I disagree about Collins being a DM. Even though he is decent at passing, tackling and is strong. I don't think he's quick enough and he's built to be a defender, imo. To be a defensive midfielder I think you should be quicker, a little bit more athletic and less in the "Giant Defender" mould.. He could be decent if he wasn't so bloody big! I could see him struggling to turn and make a tackle when the opposition are about to counter attack.

Or hopefully they realise that it'd be worse if Milner, who seemingly wants to move, didn't get sold until the last day of the window and we panic buy for a replacement. Then maybe they'd see why MON is pushing the deal forward. Also - how would they feel if Milner wasn't sold and he came back for training? Training with a team who he is basically saying aren't good enough to challenge for 4th or higher. (Higher than 4th is optimistic to say the least. But I think that we have a team who will work hard for each other and will have a similar season to last - challenging for 4th for, hopefully, the whole season).

Jeez guys! 286 Pages! I left work at 5 last night, I've come in this morning - now I have 20 extra pages to read!!

The guy is pure class, out of our league, will probably end up at Citeh as well. I say, we do it anyway! This is the kind of buy we need to be making now. There's no point us moving forward by buying players like Young & Sidwell. We should look higher than that and try to establish ourselves as a Top 4 contender! MON must have had plans at the start of the year to get the funds together to buy a striker. Which means that we can use the money from Milner for something else. Would we get Van Der Wiel for £14m? Maybe it'd be a bit over-the-top, but I'd love it if we got someone who is described as "pure class"

Lets be honest rob, you live for my replies. They are an inspiration to you and thousand of other Villa talkers. Ha! On one hand, yes. On the other hand, I have a rock ready to throw at you!

Santa Cruz is gash! Amen to that, brother! I used to like the idea of getting Santa Cruz but now I've realised he's past it, injury prone and would not be worth the money. I'd love it if we got Ireland and then spent the rest on a top quality player. For example, if we splashed £10-15m on a striker/ RB. Maybe a cheaper striking option would be better because it seems like we're going to be using Fonz and Gabby eventually. I'd like it if we used the money from the sales of fringe players to buy Keane/ Bellamy - someone like that, and then spend the rest on an up-and-coming, attacking fullback! Gregory Van Der Wiel was mentioned a month ago - maybe him, though I haven't watched much other than WC games.

Woodytom, do you just have an alarm set so that you're informed whenever I post something on here!! :winkold: I agree, life is about taking risks and playing it safe can be monotonous or detrimental to your cause. But I really don't think that it would have been much of a risk for him to stay here an extra season or two. He has, probably, another 10 years left of his football career. He's coming up to his peak and would surely be able to get a move to a different, if not bigger, club in the next few years. But let's not get into another discussion of how our views on Milner's future completely differ

Legov, I think that some people, myself included, think that it's fine if Milner is moving for a greater chance of success. But he could be sacrificing so much for that "chance". At VP he is loved, he gets to play in his favoured CM position for almost every game of the season, he is in a stable club with one manager (something he has valued and commented on), we have helped him get into the England Team, he is clearly respected by the manager, fans and all the players and he could stay here and have a team built around him. At Man City he could be in a team challenging for the title, he could be in a team challenging for a CL spot and he is more than likely going to be on mega-bucks. BUT he will not be the "star" in their team, he'll be one of many faces that could spend a lot of time on the bench. He might not get to play in his favoured CM position. If Man City don't perform then they might change manager. If Milner doesn't perform then he might get replaced within one season. I'll admit there are a lot of "ifs" and "buts", but still, the risks are there and I think he'd be better off to stay at Villa and have a team built around him. Also - some people are probably commenting on the fact that we paid over the odds for Milner when we bought him from Newcastle. He has given us one 'okay' season and one 'great' season. One offer comes in from a club on the up and he wants out. I'd personally prefer it if he signed an extension and repaid some of the faith put into him. If he then left next summer - 3 years is slightly better than 2 years of service. Okay MON, get the deal moving! Get it all ready for when James Phillip Milner turns up on Monday. Pass him the paperwork, get him to sign and then say "Thankyou James, enjoy your time at Man City, it may be short". Hopefully we can put this all behind us and look forward to bringing in a few players and moving forward. Stephen Ireland, for me, is a must.

Aaarrrgghhh! This is so frustrating! I know we're waiting for Milner to come back from Holiday before anything can be done or clarified; but it's so boring around here! I think Milner will leave tbh. If he does then I hope we bring in Ireland as a direct replacement, we use the other money to strengthen upfront, we play a blinding season with Ireland becoming next years "Player of the Year" and then Milner feels like a right plank as we play in the CL and he sits on City's bench with fat Barry, slow Patrick, broken Bellamy and the rest of "Next Elite Man City Squad".. Or.. I'm just making things up because I'm so bored!!