Rob182

do people still consider Walcott a striker? when was the last time he played up front. Never at Arsenal in my recollection. Hes a winger now and we have better. I do. He has that clinical finish which we miss a lot of the time. The problem with him playing on the wing is that he's too prone to use his pace. He wears himself out and doesn't have the same effect for the last 30/40 minutes. Upfront he could conserve his energy and make shorter runs into dangerous positions (Although the fitness part could be temporary and due to his injuries)

Milner to City would be a similar move to Bentley to Spurs. I don't mind all these links to our players because they happen, they always have and always will. We had all the links last year about Young (suprisingly after he won Young Player of the Year as well!) but he's still here. If City come with a £30m bid and Milner really thinks that he will continue to improve up in Manchester then he'll probably be sold (but both instances are unlikely imo).

Walcott & Gabby upfront would be one of those signings that could work or could flop. It could be devastating with the pace between them - but only if O'Neill could drill it into them that they have to concentrate on their positioning and movement. On the other hand - if it flopped then Walcott could drop to the right wing, Ash can stay on the left and Downing could be used for rotation to keep them both fresh (But then we'd be back to square one - needing a new striker).

I hadn't considered Walcott but, all things considered, I like the idea of him playing upfront with Gabby! Is it realistic to think we could buy him (or afford to buy him) from arsenal? Gabby & Walcott upfront would kind of remind me of some of the striking partnerships you see in European teams (or in the Europa League). Two small-ish players with pace, linking up to pass the ball into the net. The other plus with Walcott is that he is very effective on the wing. So if we were to drop to 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 then he'd be a much better option to push out to the wing (instead of Gabby, who is wasted out wide).

Now that ^^^ is something for someone to keep in their signature!

So the transfer speculation on this thread today is that we'll sign... .. no.. we'll offer a contract.. to Delfouneso? come on chaps! lets get the rumours started!!!! Enough of this nonsense about Ronald Rooney and Derek Delfouneso! I know my football, and I can assure you that neither of them are good enough to play for Villa.

Carrick? Won the premiership 3 times, champions league and the world club cup. Lets hope Milner is using him as one of the examples. I hope he isn't..

Sky Sports Nelson Valdez: Borussia Dortmund Striker, 26, can also play in midfield. His agent is thought to be eyeing up a move for him before the World Cup with England a possible destination. Barry McIntosh (his agent) says: "I have moved a number of South American players in recent years to England, but he would be amongst the best".. Does anyone know anything about this guy/ seen him play/ or who his agent has represented previously? (If he hasn't moved by the WC then I think I'll keep an eye on Paraguay's games.. just in case!)

If I was MON then I'd resist any offers below £30m. Yes, £25m would be a good lump sum and would be a great return for what we paid. But I do think that Milner has a massive future and will be cemented into the England Team until he's 33/34. If we got £30m for him then it'd be more than enough to revamp our squad.

Not really no.. I can't say I've ever heard baggies sing to the tune of "the animals went in 2 by 2" It's just that whenever I picture the baggies doing their "boing boing" I just laugh.. If it caught on and VP was "bouncing" then I'd be more than happy to join in! Tismyk, what's the tune for the Rioch song?

bounce? lol.. Are we West Brom now? We need a song for Milner. Carew has millions!

I posted this on the Hugo Rogellega thread... it has more relevence here. Boyd FREE Fletcher £2m/£3m Piquionne £3m/£4m Doyle £8m/£9m Kalinic £8m/£9m Keane £8m/£9m Cole £8m/£9m Jones £9m/£10m Bellamy £9m/£10m Rodellaga £10m/£12m Santa Cruz £15m Pavlyuchenko £15m Bent £20m + They're my guesses. They're all realistic signings apart from Bent. I'd personally prefer Santa Cruz, Rodellaga or Bellamy as a new striker and then one of Piquionne/ Fletcher as a backup. If we buy from Spurs or Man City then I can see the values increasing slightly because they wont want to improve their rivals for cheap.

So he's like a creative Petrov?.... Just what we need!

user66 - I think the "OUT's" in that post were from the rumours and articles stating that we'll listen to offers for Luke Young, Sidwell, NRC, Davies, Beye and Shorey. Clyne, Parker and KP Boateng would all improve our squads if the above-mentioned article proves correct. Edit: But the Carew thing I agree with, we shouldn't sell him.

Liverpool chasing Ever Banega.. I buy this chap on FM ! Holding midfielder.. he has a lot of 19's and 20's.. lets buy him :winkold:

Onouha? He only played 16 games this season, 6 of those as a sub. I like him, good player, young, English. Could be right up MONs street. I knew it! I could be one of MON's scouts for sure.. I don't think Onouha would cost much and I reckon he'd be happy to leave City (and like you said, he is a MON type of signing). Ok.. my (newest) wish list: Nedem Onouha Stephen Ireland Jimmy Bullard Stephen Fletcher Kevin-Prince Boateng "New Striker" I'd like to think that'd be funded by the sales of fringe players and a small input from Randy.

Are Micah Richards and Nedem Onouha both right backs? If so, has anyone seen Onouha play much recently? He was in the England under 21's and hasn't got any game time at City. Could be a decent buy if we are resigned to selling Young.

But who will they bring in? They can't bring in CL quality players because they'll struggle to attract them. Their strike force consists of Teves, Adebayor, Bellamy, Santa Cruz, Robinho - they're not going to find many players better than Teves, Adebayor and, at times, Bellamy. And if they do a full revamp then, as I've said in numerous threads, they'll have the problem of the squad gelling together like they have this year. I think the only way they can realistically improve is by buying 3 or 4 players to replace people in their current squad who are either unhappy or haven't impressed. (Replacing Santa Cruz/ Robinho/ some of their defence).. And if they do that then they're not going to have a squad too dissimilar to this years.

I don't think we're going to see a massive improvement in Spurs and Man City this summer. Spurs probably will buy 2 or 3 players who will only move for Champs League football. Man City, however, probably won't do much. They can't buy many players better than what they already have. Unless they plan to do a complete shuffle again - in which case they'll have the same problem as this year in that they have a team that need to gel together before they start to play well. Either way - I don't think we'll see a huge change in "The Race for 4th" and also don't think we'll need to spend loads and loads to put up a fight.

With the exception of NRC that is just replacing chaff with more chaff. In my opinion they'd all be good buys and would cost less than the players we're rumoured to get rid of. Fletcher is young and has done well in a poor Burnley team. He's a more natural finisher than Gabby (but without the pace and experience). Bullard can score penalties, long range efforts and is really good at controlling the game from the centre of midfield. I'd much prefer Bullard to replace Petrov on 60 minutes to help us see out a game/ sustain a win than seeing Sidwell brought on. Do you disagree?

If the rumours are true and we are listening to offers for 6 players then Bullard, Fletcher & Kevin-Prince Boateng would be decent, cut-price replacements for some of the squaddies. Fletcher for Harewood Bullard for Sidwell KP Boateng for NRC

Yeah, there's a thread for this in "Other Football". I think the general shouts were for Bullard (Hull), Fletcher (Burnley) and Kevin-Prince Boateng (Pompey). I'd like all 3 of them at Villa but only as bench warmers/ rotation players (which wouldn't be a bad idea if they were to replace Sidwell, Harewood and NRC). I'd much prefer the idea of bringing on Bullard for 40 minutes, to control the midfield and take a few long shots at goal, than bringing on Sidwell to hoof the ball into the crowd with every touch.

Po-ta-toes.. ..Lord of the Rings geek 8)

So they're all up for sale.. Sidwell - good Shorey - good NRC - good, as there's no use keeping him if we don't play him Beye - good Davies- I'd prefer him to stay Luke Young - Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!! I might send Randy an email and give him the heads up that we'll make more money from football and transfers if we sell that spanish chap with the beard.

My favourite thread is back! Firstly - I cannot see us getting Darren Bent. Sunderland bought him for more than £15m so they'd want at least 20-25m which is probably out of our range. (Also the rumours Today are, as unlikely as it sounds, that Mancini wants him) I think, realistically, that we'll get someone like Robbie Keane. I can't see us going abroad or buying someone who could be a risk. I hope that Randy gives us a small pot of funds to work with, which we can then add to the money from selling Shorey/ Heskey/ Sidwell/ possibly Davies/L Young etc.