markavfc40

I've gone for 8. I'm more than satisfied with the business we have done. We have decent cover in all positions now ( I am aware that at RB and LB if we have injuries it will mean playing Gardner/Reo right back or Barry LB until Bouma is back ). In goal we now have a very good experienced keeper with a young understudy and a good third keeper in Taylor. Good first choice RB/LB with adequete cover for now ( as mentioned above ). Centre back should be a three way tussle between Laursen, Davies and Cuellar to start the majority of games and Knight for all his detractors is a good back-up. Centre mid is where we are really blessed with any two from Barry, Reo, Petrov, Sidwell, Gardner. I also see Salifou and Osbourne being ok against lesser teams in cup games. Out wide we have Young and Milner with Routledge seeming to gain in confidence every time I see him. Up front is my only worry if we get injuries as I don't see Harewood as being consistant enough to start too many consecutive league games and Defouneso is too young/inexperienced to be relied upon. I'm also hopeful that the odd gem from the youth system will come through and make a mark on the first team. I think the squad still allows for a chance to be given to one or two youngsters which I see as a positive. On the whole I am therefore happy. A new striker would have polished it all off but we are a work in progress and I am sure that one will come either in January or next summer and I'm willing to wait as I think it'll be worth it.

Had Milner signed a week ago and not 2 days ago I believe he would have started. I don't blame Mon for putting a player, who had probabaly only trained with his new club for a couple of hours, on the bench. We started the game without a natural right sided midfiled player but its not something we haven't been doing for the last god knows how long and was hardly a situation which warranted throwing a player in who'd been with the club 2 days.

indeed mate but a descion has to be made not playing milner in a 433 is fine but not a 442 ... in fact as I said he showed MON lacked bottle Ian Mon didn't lack bottle. Had Milner been signed a week ago he would have started in my opinion. The fact that he didn't sign till Friday afternoon, thus having not trained with the rest of the lads, was the reason he didn't start today.

It must be fantatastic for Mon and us as fans for the first time in years to have a headache such as this. It should also be remebered that Sidwell will come into the midfield equation soon. Obviously someone will miss out but I honestly couldn't say who. Guess thats what Mon gets paid a fortune to decide.

General can I start firstly by saying I have been one of Randy and Mons biggest supporters but I am now unfortunately starting to have doubts about the direction of this club. I know you are not involved in the football side of the club but I feel you should pass on the concerns of the supporters, without whom there is no club, to those that have an influence over football matters when it comes to the size of our first team squad. I have seen you state on numerous occasions that Mon knows as well as we do the problems that we currently have in terms of numbers and quality and that he is better qualified than any of us when it comes to addressing them. You are right of course but please do not underestimate the knowledge of Aston Villa fans. It is clear for a blind man to see that we are nowhere near prepared for the upcoming season. With every passing day we are getting the same old sound bites that we are doing our best to bring in players but those words are now becoming hollow and the time as come for action. The fans have backed this new regime over the past 2 years and you have so far delivered. Please be aware though General that, having been starved of the success for so long that I believe a great club like this deserves, fans will not accept failiure and false promises regardless of what has gone before it in the past 2 years. If this club looks as though it is prepared to take a step backwards or even stand still then the goodwill built up and the progress made over the last two years will have been wasted. You are pretty new to Aston Villa but we have been through years of false dawns and getting our hopes up only to have them dashed and if that is the case then, and this is not a threat, you can rest assured that whilst Aston Villa fans have been happy to come out in more numbers than ever to support the club, some supporters will just as quickly dissappear. I am sure you are already aware of all of the above General but it is a message that needs reitterating as the remainder of this transfer window will not only shape this coming season but the next 4 - 5 years of this great football club.

Good news regarding Gareth. Just like to say well done to the board and manager for the professional way they have conducted themselves through this whole saga and for not lowering themselves to Liverpools level. The way this club is now run is an example to others.

I wonder if your sympathy for Gareth would be the same if lets say Man Utd came in for your captain, hes head was turned but then Man Utd wouldn't pay the asking price. Would you then be saying oh lets just lower our asking price our poor captain is now suffering its not fair on him boo whoo.

It depends on your point-of-view, doesn't it? If you are talking in terms of Barry's career, you could say O'Neill is denying him the right to play at the highest level of club football and enhance his chances of playing at the world cup. You think Mon should just sell him for less than he believes he is worth then just so Barry can achieve the maximum from hes career? By that logic Benitez should get on the phone to Alex Ferguson and say I've got a couple of players here, Torres and Gerrard, you can have them for 10 mill a piece as I'd like them to win a couple of league titles before they retire.

http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/2645/holiday2008june191co2.jpg' alt='holiday2008june191co2.jpg'> My two daughters Jemma and Aimee. Aimee is 23 months old now. Last time I posted a pic of her she was only 16 months old and only seems like yesterday. Jemma will be starting her 5th year as a ST holder this year and shes only just 10!

I think anything around the 15 mill mark plus Finnan would be a good deal for us. If Finnan is part of the deal then you could value you him at anywhere between 1 and 2.5 mill as even though hes 32 he has plenty of Premiership, champs league and International experience. I would just like to see this deal concluded now as its becoming a little tiresome.

Bottom line to all this is simple and that is come the end of this transfer window, August 31st, we need a squad capable of competing in the league and possibly 3 cup competitions. Do you believe General, without giving any details, that this will be the case?

General your first post yesterday was spot on. I'm not sure who suggested that what you do is a PR stunt but the answer you gave was one which 99.99% of Aston Villa fans would agree with. You must have the patience of a saint though as no matter how many times you reiterate the fact you have nothing to do with transfers and that it is solely down to Martin O'Neill who you and the board have complete faith in, you still get asked questions regarding this aspect of the club. Keep up the good work General.

It will have to be the raisin.

General do you ever think about not coming onto the site during the transfer windows as no matter how many times you say that you have no involvement in tranfer business at the club you still get asked questions surrounding something that you have clearly stated on numerous occasions has nothing to do with you.

Like you John I hope all supporters this pre - season trust Mons judgement when it comes to signing players regardless of who they are. I for one believe, that given last seasons achievements, he has earned that trust.

Good game really enjoyed it. I'm glad Man Utd won for the simple fact that it means still that only 4 English clubs have won the Euro Cup and none of them are from London.

Scott, excellent read mate. Thanks. As for Gareth its puts into perspective that if he goes we are unlikely to see anyone get anywhere near making the amount of appearances he has again for a very long time. I saw him make hes first appearance, I hope I didn't miss him make hes 392nd and last on Sunday.

I will be renewing mine and my 9 year old daughters. My brother will also be renewing. It will cost us a total of £95 extra this season. I think the price increases are reasonable and are to be expected if we want a top 4 team we can't expect to pay bottom 4 prices forever.

July 5th and 6th are relocation days before tickets go on general sale.

General, I think the season ticket price rises are reasonable and me, my daughter and brother will definately be renewing. This will be my 21st year as a season ticket holder and with whats being served up on the pitch I certainly feel I'm getting better value for money than I have in a long time. Cheers General.

It really doesn't matter now what any of us think. It'll go down in the records that Hopkins did actually lose to a white boy.

I had Joe winning it by 2 rounds but in all fairness I wouldn't have been totally surprised had Hopkins got the decision. It wasn't a very good fight mainly due to Hopkins spoiling tactics and for some reason Joe was unable to move in and out in hes usual style without getting tied up. Hopkins play acting, especially in the 11th did him no favours for me. If anyone has seen any of Hopkins past fights they shouldn't be too surprised that as a spectacle this didn't live upto the hype.

Anyone else still up watching this? Audley Harrison is about to fight. Heard him talking about becoming world champion in an earlier interview which jut shows how bad the heavyweight division is if he seriously thinks he can win a world title. Calzaghe - Hopkins is at 3am GMT.

Roy Jones said at the weigh in today that he wants to fight Calzaghe next. Its a shame that fight couldn't have been made 3 or 4 years ago.

Joe on points. Also for those wondering what time it will start, build up starts at 10.30pm but I doubt very much we'll see them in the ring before 4.00am. I'm going to stay up to watch it as it should be a decent fight. Not sure if it'll then be worth going to bed though as I have to start out for the match at 10.30am.