markavfc40

General if one of Bradley, Southgate, Curbishley or Sven ends up being our next manager then change your predistion from probabaly having tough times ahead to most definitely. Whatever the reasons for the manager leaving they are neither here nor there now what matters is the next managerial appointment this club makes. Replacing Martin O'Neill is going to be extremely difficult and I have a terrible feeling that the club is going to make a huge mistake due mainly to the fact that many at the club are lets just say a little bit naive given the rubbish that is spouted about getting into the champions league with nowhere near the financial muscle to back those claims up. Talk is cheap. I hope I am proved wrong. Of the realistic options Martin Jol seems to be the best bet. Go get him.

No chance of us getting Moyes. Some of the names being mentioned are frightening - Bradley, Southgate, Sven, Curbishley will not keep us in the top 10 of the Premiership never mind top 6. Martin Jol is the best manager we can realistically attract at the moment and that is a long shot. I have a horrible feeling though that the next manager will not be a welcome one to many.

Its actually embarrassing that this incompetent prick is leading our country. Unfortunately its the result of those who voted for him so obviously doesn't say much for them either.

Be a great time to become Labour leader as the way the Conservatives and Libs are going about leading the country people will be crying out for a Labour government come 2015. Unfortunately by then the country will be on its knees though. I am still hopeful that the Libs will revolt against this Tory lunacy and that may force an election far sooner.

That reminded me of a post on here before Mons first game in charge against Reading. The guy said he couldn't get to the game as it would mean he would have to rush eating his dinner. The excuses some people make for not attending games really are pathetic.

Barry as got himself a bit mixed up I think. The ball is firmly in Man Citys court. Milner speaking to Martin O'Neill isn't going to change the fact that Man City haven't met our valuation. Maybe Barry should have a word with Mancini and tell him to pay the asking price.

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.

Good to see the vast majority engaged their brain cells before voting.

This is a no brainer. Yes.

I presume your frustration/impatience is directed at Man City as they are the only ones that can get this sorted by paying the asking price. There is nothing Aston Villa can do , well apart from lower the asking price, which I would suggest would not be a very good president for us to set. The ball is in Man City's court. They know the asking price.

Villa have released a statement: http://tinyurl.com/3ab3z6v

He could but given they retired many moons ago its highly unlikely. Far more likely would be him being happy to keep Milner or spending the money and do what he has done previously and bring in players of the calibre of Ashley Young and James Milner.

Something along the lines of the above will end up on Camerons epitaph if he carries on the way he is going.

Watched Green Zone last night. Thought it was pretty good. Decent story line and some good action scenes. Also saw Shutter Island recently and would highly recommend.

Whose this manager with a track record of falling out with players and just ignoring them? If you are referring to Martin O'Neill I'd hazard of guess in the 20+ years of being a manager he has managed over 300 players and I can't think of too many reports of him falling out with players, certainly not enough to give him a track record You know what though I dare say like 99.9% of other managers he has fallen out with players, usually ones who aren't happy about being in the side or that are throwing there toys out of the pram because they can't get what they want. Shit happens in any workplace but Mr O'Neill certainly didn't come with and hasn't develop a reputation for falling out with players since being at the club. For every player you can quote with a bad word to say about our manager you'll find 50 with something positive to say.

Martin O'Neills job is to do what is best for Aston Villa football club not to worry about hurting the feelings of a player that no longer wants to be part of the club. Reading between the lines it appears Milner intimated in a meeting with the club before the world cup that he wanted out. The club around this time had a bid from Man City which does not meet our valuation. It appears that since then we have been back in touch with Milner, either directly or via his agent to again see if James would like to discuss a new contract seeing as Man City have still not met our valuation. James as refused to discuss a new deal and again stated a desire to leave. Therefore Mon has gone public in the hope that it will help push through a deal and to make it known that the player is adament he wants out despite the club wanting to offer him a new contract. The club could not allow this to drag on especially as the player is due back for pre season training on Monday and Mancinni is doing interviews stating he is interested in Milner. This is our way I'd guess of saying to Man City publically you know the valuation now lets get the deal done and to James you've made your bed and we're letting everyone know so as not to show the club in a bad light.

If this story in the Guardian is true then I'd suggest that James is unhappy that it has become public knowledge that he never had any intention of signing a new deal with the club despite saying, before the world cup, that he would meet with club officials and discuss his future after the world cup.

Welcome back General, hope you have had and continue to have a nice summer and are in good health. General, I am not so sure that James has conducted himself that well if what Mon said regarding him stating, via his agent, that he is not interested in discussing a new contract, is true. I'd suggest that is basically saying to the club sell me this summer or my value will decline rapidly as my contract runs down. We have given this lad a platform to perform and in my opinion the manager has helped to turn him from a decent player to a very good player in two years. Hardly seems a way to thank the club by not being interested in showing some loyalty. Out of interest General as a fan how do you feel about other clubs cherry picking our best players? Also would you agree that it may be in our interests to tie down both Ashley and Gabby to longer contracts, than the two years they have remaining, before the vultures come a calling. Good to have you back General. Mark

OK Trent I apologise you said they had us over a barrel. That to me suggested we will be **** over. Which I hope you'd agree, given the owners and managers actions and reputation gained whilst at Aston Villa, is not going to be the case.

My views on what O'Neill says to the press have zero to do with my views on Randy they don't even relate to my views on O'Neill as a manager. I just don't think that saying the player wants to go and we haven't any other money to spend is a very smart move in the circumstances. I may be proven wrong we will have to see but please don't put words in my mouth that it means I have no respect for O'Neill or for Randy. You said You believe City have us over a barrel which equates to having our manager and owner over a barrel. Nothing Randy Lerner or Martin O'Neill have done over the last 4 years suggests to me they are going to be **** over a barrel by anyone let alone Man City. Like I said if you believe that the chairman and manager will be **** over by these clowns then in my opinion that shows a lack of respect given what as happened over the last 4 years. We won't be had over by Man City and will get the money we want for Milner. If not he stays. Of that I am 100% certain. You take the opposite view, I honestly haven't a clue why given our transfer dealings under Randy, but that is your preogative.

If we sell Milner for £20m everyone will know we have £20m. His comments today aren't going to change that or some how confuse people into thinking we have less. So I repeat, what is the benefit of his comments today? How are they going to be beneficial in dealing with Man City or Sullivan which was the other example raised. I fail to see it I really do. I can though imagine there is little chance of City increasing their offer, they have us over a barrel. We have told the world he wants to go and we need to sell to buy. That is a terrible position to be in. I'd say its far better that other clubs think we only have the James Milner money rather than believing we have the Milner money on top of a nice little transfer kitty we already had set aside. City don't increase the original offer they don't get James Milner. There is not a cat in hells chance Martin O'Neill and Randy Lerner will be **** over a barrell by these ****. I'd have hoped you'd have had more respect for Mr Lerner and Mon given everything that has happened over the last 4 years.

I'm with Denis on this. This is nothing new from Mon. He as always been very vauge when it comes to issues surrounding what money we have to spend and more often than not talks in riddles. He knows that with most likely having 20mill+ in the bank from the sale of Milner there is great potential for other clubs to try to charge us inflated fees. If by being cute he can stop that happening then good on him. This will all play out in the wash anyway and come August 31st we'll all know what the situation really is/was. I'm optimistic things will work out fine. Nothing over the last 4 years can lead me to believe otherwise.

Mon said that our cheif executive is in contact with Milners agent so I dare say that the feedback they are getting is that he still wants out. I have a feeling this will be resolved before Milner is due back for pre season training on Monday. If not he will be very uncomfortable returning to training with it out in the open that he know longer wants be to here.

I can't say I'm too bothered so long as we get good money for him. He hasn't been with the club long enough for me to get any emotional attachment to him and as the **** wants out then I'm not going to lose any sleep over him going. As for how this will reflect on us as a club I don't think it will have a detrimental effect and suddenly make us a feeder club. Its recently happened to the likes of Arsenal with Adebayor and Toure and now possibly Fabregas and its even happened to Man Utd with Ronaldo wanting out. We'll get an exceptional amount of money, far more than what James is actually worth in my opnion. I have a belief that Mon will spend it well and hopefully we'll again improve next season. Bottom line is that the only consistant about any club is the supporters as players, managers and owners will always come and go. Keep the faith.

Why the surprise now? Lerner said this 2 months ago.