Rob182

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!!

I think it's BS tbh. I heard something this morning about Liverpool going after Bridge. Buying Bridge would make more sense as he's probably already been replaced at City and he'd probably cost a similar amount to Warnock.

vreitti, that would be good... Until next summer when there could be more offers for him and we would either get something like £15m for him - or keep him again... for him to eventually get sold for a kitkat and a curlywurly or released on a free.

Possibly because it's been dragged out for ages and Man City could back out. Man City are used to getting who they want. If it goes on much longer they might just change their mind and go for someone else, leaving an unsettled Milner here. They get a new player and they've disrupted one of their rivals.

Not really it would just give us a stronger position from which to deal with any approach. Heads get turned regardless of the length of contracts, all the contract does is enable you to demand a higher fee. If a player wants to go then 9 out 10 times they go.

Though I agree that loyalty is rare in football. It's true that Ash signing a new contract would reduce the chance of someone putting an offer in for him. If Milner had signed an extension before the season ended then I doubt Man City would have made an offer. Yes, they have the money to spend what ever they want, but they seem reluctant to offer more than £20m for Milner and if he'd signed an extension then his value would be higher and they'd probably move onto a different target.

Well, you've just unearthed a new problem Adam! Football is being americanised because they've got ref's who wear black and so do we!! About the away kit and the colours. I don't like the red FxPro logo on the black top because there are too many colours there - red, black, claret, blue... it just looks a bit messy. Maybe it'd have been better to have the body of the top black, the sponsor white and the chequers down the side - claret and white?... or just black and white chequers with a bit of a claret trim on the sleeves somewhere?

Oh, definatly John! Me too. I'm sure we could throw some money at him because there isn't a transfer fee. The only problem will be that we're offering Europa League and Spurs will be offering a "Champions League Qualifier" :winkold:

I think he said Keane is likely, Ireland is likely, MON will put more trust in Delfouneso, Clark & Albrighton (and possibly Wiemann next season). From what he's heard we're not in for any wingers as we have enough - but the constant talk of McGeady could mean it's a possible transfer. I think he also stated to not be suprised if we see Young pushing into the middle in a role behind the striker. We enquired about Joe Cole in Jan but it's unlikely we'd get him now as Spurs/ Arsenal would be after him. We enquired about Doyle last year but the price was too high (also he's stated on SSN that he's happy at Wolves). IIRC, he's now on holiday for a week - so any questions will go unanswered!

'special players like Stewart Downing....' One of our better players who last year came back from a broken leg and had a good season, all things considered. Rainy, I don't think Bannan would cut it in our midfield. I've seen him at reserve level and he's been okay. It seems like his level will be Championship or bottom half of Prem at best.

If we do sign McGeady then I'm willing to give him a chance. I've only seen glimpses of him on Youtube and he looks like a bit of a showboat. But I'm not going to judge him on that and what other people have said. Who knows? Maybe he'll pick up his game in the Prem and prove us wrong?

Does Friedel normally wear short sleeves?

I'll probably buy the home and away kits. I really like the home kit, the away kit seems okay.. but I'm not sure about the claret & blue & black & red sponsor.... too many colours!

I really like the home kit, I think the away kit will grow on me.. the goalie kit is horrid. Sorry Brad!!

Even if they're nonsense - I'm enjoying all these fancy/ cheap foreign players being linked with us. Defour, Witsel, Boussoufa, Shabani, Mandzukic, Huntelaar... We have the British backbone, now get us some fancy, creative, cheap foreigners Martin!

Yup, the OS says both home and away shirts will be unveiled today. "sexbelowsound", I'm the exactly same! I'm just backed up by the fact that I spend most of my working day on VT.. so I'd already seen it

Wow, where did you find this?!!! :shock: :shock: :shock: Have you two just arrived? These links and pics have been posted for the last 5 pages.. :winkold: