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MON has certainly made a few mistakes with wages. I read somewhere that Heskey is our highest paid player! While that is probably wide of the mark he will still be on a lot of money, if we manage to sell Beye, Sidwell, Heskey and get them off the wage bill then I think Randy will supply the transfer funds to replace them with players who will actually earn what they are being paid. So no huge changes to the wages but a big step up in squad quality. I know it will be difficult to sell average players on big wages but I'm hopeful, let's make up a brochure for each of them ala Owen!

Are we? I think you may have been misinformed on that one, there are three clubs who have bought no-one. (Us Blackburn and Blackpool) According to The Telegraph website, Blackpool have signed Dekel Keinan and Blackburn have signed Hugo Fernandez.

Factually correct but of the three players that have left the club one never played a first team game ( Marshall ) one hasn't kicked a ball for us in two years ( Bouma ) and Harewood never started a Prem game for us and didn't play at all last season. It is also 30 days till the window closes with plenty of comings and goings to take place. That will be the time to judge the strength of the squad. It looks like Albrighton and Fonz will be greater additions to the squad too. We need about 3 players and that can be done before the window.

Yes but it is obviously a big month. Some good signings and my faith will of been rewarded but if it stays quiet then the kids better come good!

If we had a fit Carew all season then him and Gabby could be great as the starters and then have Fonz coming off the bench, leaving Heskey as 4th choice. Would anyone be happy with that? It is very dependent on Carew staying fit but just look at it hypothetically.

Gabby is. We will sign someone to play alongside him this season with Carew coming off the bench as his back can't take full time football these days.

could you please clarify what you mean? Do you want us to sign him or what No I dont want Villa to sign him. Villa need to spend money on much better skilled players..which wont happen with MON in charge but that is another story. Only I said was that I think he was quite good in the World cup consider he played for a very weak international team. And he was better than many of the so called superstars from England and France during the World cup. Oh bugger off, MON has signed plenty of players better skilled than Tsabalalala. And I'd wager that come the end of the window he will of signed a few more!

Dunne, Warnock and Collins didn't seem to mind. They will of had a preseason at whichever club they come from so that is not an issue. I don't buy into this pre season malarkey its not like they are not training with their respective clubs. i remeber everyone saying Salifou would come good after a full pre season..I'm still waiting! I am willing to give Downing more of a chance because he missed it all with injury but once you are sharp it doesn't matter which club you do it with. And every club will have their players in great shape for the start of the season.

I think Albrighton is going to be more involved in the first team regardless of Milner, but they play in completely different positions so I don't see the relevance. SWP is kinda crap, I wouldn't like him.

Dunne, Warnock and Collins didn't seem to mind. They will of had a preseason at whichever club they come from so that is not an issue.

Does noone else think that he will play in the middle with Yaya and Silva, then Tevez, Johson and Balottelli up front? could be a cracking side. We have to hope they need a LOT of time to gel!!

Completely agree.

The problem is though Gabby, we're trying to catch those very clubs and they are moving further ahead. This summer MON really needs to be more creative with his signings or we'll lose further ground. Chelsea, United and Arsenal are far beyond us at the moment and I don't think we will be able to catch them any time soon. I just don't think it can be called a problem when there is 6 weeks left of the window and City are the only ones who have improved significantly and there is nothing we can do about them. The only problem is that it is not very exciting waking up as a Villa fan these days. I'm sure we will sign someone and that it will be the right players but we want something concrete to go with all this speculation.

The problem is though Gabby, we're trying to catch those very clubs and they are moving further ahead. This summer MON really needs to be more creative with his signings or we'll lose further ground. Chelsea, United and Arsenal are far beyond us at the moment and I don't think we will be able to catch them any time soon. I just don't think it can be called a problem when there is 6 weeks left of the window and City are the only ones who have improved significantly and there is nothing we can do about them. The only problem is that it is not very exciting waking up as a Villa fan these days. I'm sure we will sign someone and that it will be the right players but we want something concrete to go with all this speculation.

I don't think that anyone has been signed this window that I wish we would have signed apart from United, Chelsea, Arsenal, City. There is not a single player that I wish we had signed and was a possibility. A signing would be nice though.

Messi, Xavi, Sneijder, Lamps, Fabregas, etc. are brilliant, Petrov is a decent performer, but never brilliant. Brilliant for us. Massive difference, if you are only going to compare our players to the worlds best then you will be disappointed.

"adequately" bugger off he has been brilliant for us over the last 2 years!

Rarely gives the ball away either. He is superb at getting his body in between the ball and the opposition. That and creating a yard of space for himself, he is underrated by Villa fans as he has a calming influence on the game. His legs aren't quite up to the top level but he still has an important role to play at our club. He just needs someone to take some of the pressure off him.

I do not want him as a direct replacement but he is a very talented footballer which is something we are crying out for. If we keep Milner and sign Ireland our squad will be improved immeasurably!

I think a player like Ireland is essential. Will prove our change of style to a more passing nature than directness and counter attacking. Him and Flamini for mid, Keane as ST, Richards in Def. That would be a net spend of about 20 which is what I think we will be willing to spend this window. But most importantly we would have a bloody good squad with those signings!

No one is settling. However you can't just get 4th or higher because history suggests it you have to earn it and it is very very hard to do and takes time. Three 6th in a row suggests a good base to go onto the next level and buying players in July is not the answer to finishing higher, getting the right players in is. So who cares if the right players sign in August if they do the job.

100% agree. but you will find many wont. Finishing 6th is great for them. Not only that, theyre happy to watch the most boring football played by a villa side in years. The Feb collapse is nothing got to do with players coming in late. Collins and Dunne both signed late on and performed well throughout the season. MON has some weaknesses but you are trying to shoehorn them all into one big problem. We need a bigger squad with more quality and that is what has been happening, and if we do it again this season then we will have a very good squad indeed. I think you should be happy with this as opposed to whining about when we improve our squad.

I've said this all along, that we've got no money and was ridiculed for it *Continues to ridicule SGC* I think we do have money based on Randy's press release. I fully expect 15-20m net spent this window. A lot of other things hinge on the Milner transfer, we need it to come to an end. God I hope he stays!

I'll have a wee chuckle to myself as I do every year and then I'll get on with my life The complaints about not having a preseason is not that they did not have a preseason with us it is that they did not have a preseason at all. Downing and Milner are the only 2 that I have heard this said about.

Ah christ sorry, my internet connection is poor, it was so slow I tried 2 more times but apparently they both worked. Sorry.