Ginko

It does get a bit tiresome.

If they want to leave, they leave. Players have all of the power, particularly when they are close to the end of their contract.

Downing was quoted in the press as saying that he was happy and staying, so we have no reason to believe that he told McLeish anything different.

Then his head was turned and he wanted to go, so it was left to the club to get the maximum fee for him, something that they did well.

They also got eye watering money for Barry, Milner and Young, under similar circumstances.

We read today that Gary Cahill, an average defender, is some way apart with the suitor club on wages. If we believe what we read the difference is fifty grand a week-difference, not wages.

Footballers go for the money, and their agents go for the commission that a big move brings. So they leave, simple as that.

I know exactly what you're saying and much of what you say is right, but players don't have all the power.

Take the whole thing with Luka Modric, if we are to believe what was reported, he wanted to leave, but Harry put his foot down and kept him because he was such a massive part of that team. You may think that isn't the greatest of arguments because Spurs are a much better team than us now and the club itself is run a lot better compared to us, and you may be right.

We always had the choice of not taking the money and keeping the players here, I doubt players like Milner or even Stuart "Judas" Downing would have purposefully not played to the best of their ability.

On the flip side, we obviously had a financial problem concerning the wages some of our players were on, and that is the only thing I really dislike MON for, but the higher-ups have to take responsibility for that too since they signed off on the contracts offered to these players.

It seems to me that the board and MON have made poor decisions quite some time ago with concerns to signing certain players and putting them on insane contracts and that only over the last couple of seasons have these mistakes really started to come to the fore since these past mistakes have influenced a lot of the recent decisions the club has made.

His name's a bit of a mouthful. Which one is he in the picture?

I too thought he was very impressive, he got stuck in with the tackles and played some really nice passes and made very intelligent runs. The pass to Bent wasn't the greatest in the world but it went in. He supplied the creativity we have so very sorely needed, well done Steve.

If getting high makes you play like that then I wholly condone it. In fact I've just come back from a dealer and I plan on performing an experiment with my cousin's Under 11's team next Sunday... 8)

Our reserve and youth sides have always been one of the more technical set of players who look to player football.

Teams like Chelsea on the other hand have a lot of physically dominant players.

Experience is key and it is no coincidence that two if our better youth products went out on loan and are now having good careers. (Gabby and Cahill).

Interesting, if this is true then it would certainly explain why perhaps our youth team players have never really settled in and earned a consistant place in the starting line-up.

We haven't been a technical team for a long time now, Houllier tried it which is probably why a lot of the youth team players were quite positive to his training and approach.

I think it was pretty much towards the second half of Houllier's reign, he just took up the torch when no-one else would. He probably looked better by comparison since Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Gabby and some others were being pretty dire.

I won't take it away from him though, he did play well back then.

Why does it feel like we've had him since Villa began in 1874? Why do we insist of reducing the wage bill by selling our best players, but make no effort of trying to flog him who's undeservedly one of our highest earners?

It would truly be it for me if we gave him an extended contract.

Because other teams aren't stupid and they want to buy our best players instead of our crap ones? Also, we make a profit when we sell the good players, we'd have a hard time breaking even trying to sell Emile.

Although, I have often thought that offering him on a cut-price deal to a Championship club just to get him off the wage list would be a good idea, but I guess Ivanhoe wouldn't fancy a paycut if he didn't have to take one.

Would it really be it if for you if we gave Heskey a longer contract? Or are you just being a little over-dramatic? Support the club through thick and thin is what I say.

Not sure, Lerner comes across as a bit naive in all things business / money

Jesus Christ, the guy runs a multi-million dollar company, has studied law and business at the best schools and you claim he's naive?

He might be a little naive in running a football club, but somehow I think he knows just a little more about business than you do.

And yes, he inherited his wealth from his father, who he undoubtedly learned a lot from. Maybe when you're a billionaire business mogul then I might take your opinion on Randy Lerner's business-sense seriously.

He hasn't built his wealth. He has inherited it through no effort of his own. He doesn't know the true value of money and he has no business sense. He seems to be utterly clueless about everything. How can anyone have respect for him? What? Was it because he splashed out his dad's money on us once upon a time? So if someone else was a billionaire through no work of their own and splashed the cash on us like a play thing, he would be respected? Nah, it's false. Respect comes from leadership, knowledge and work rate. He has no qualities other than being a spoilt yank who probably doesn't even know how to do his own **** breakfast.

Wow, somebody sure is upset...

OK, he inherited his wealth, yes, but he's also been running his father's empire for a while now and it hasn't gone belly up, so I think he might have just a hint of business sense.

However, he clearly doesn't know much about running a football club, but business in football is unlike the normal business world, it's completely different.

He needs to give us some sort of sign that he still gives a damn though. I've been a supporter of Lerner in the past and I do appreciate the things he has done for the club but at the moment he is taking us backwards and his absence is disturbing.

Things need to change Randy, I refuse to believe that you're happy with the way things are now ,but if you are then do the decent thing and sell us to someone who gives a damn.

I really don't see how this whole thing is an issue and I don't know how it's showing disrespect to us at all.

Do you think he went out there saying, "Psst... Charlie! Swap shirts with me will ya? That'll really piss off my new club that I've only been playing for for 6 months and considering I'll be here for the forseeable future I really want to piss off overly-sensitive fans. Go on, it'll be a laugh."

No, I don't think so.

Problem is, he will never win the fans over.

Of course he could. The majority are here to give him a chance.

I want him gone but if we started winning games then my mind will change. It's not difficult. Results have been poor, made worse by the fact football has been atrocious.

Exactly, of course he could win the fans over. Would you still be calling for his head if he got us European football and cup finals? I'm not saying it's likely to happen but anything is possible.

I want him gone along with the majority of people if the poll is to be believed, but it was and still is possible that he could win the fans over.

I'm normally the kind of guy who calls for time for new managers, but Mcleish, whereas he comes across as a nice guy and I even thought so when he managed Blues, I just don't think he's the right manager for our club. I have rspect for him for making the tricky switch, even if you say that it wasn't difficult since he was managing a club in the Premier League again and getting more money, it's still a lot to put up with and a lot of pressure.

But that being said, I voted no. I wasn't happy with the appointment and I think we need someone with a completely different style, but what do I know, I was quite happy to give Houllier time too.

But who else is there that we could get? I personally think Mcleish was the only decent manager we could get when Houllier was shown the door. Nobody else of merit wanted the job due to all the restrictions, slashing the wage bill, getting rid of our best players and then having no money to do much business in the transfer window. So for that, I respect Mcleish for taking on a big job.

But no, we need someone else, and we need our Chairman to back him big style.

Oneil wanted to be at the club, Houllier gave everyone, including the players, the impression he was only there for the Money, whilst using us a stepping stone back into the English Game.

And why did Martin walk?

And the reason for that has not changed.

Houllier didn't give me the impression he was only there for the money (I severely doubt he needed it), and as for using us as a stepping stone, at his age and with his track record? I hardly think Houllier, after managing the clubs he has and with the success he has had would use Aston Villa as a stepping stone. What would he be stepping towards exactly anyway?

As for why O'Neill went, well frankly I don't think anyone is privy to the truth, it's just pure speculation, but for me personally it strongly points towards Randy et al telling him that he can't spend until he addresses the wage bill, which is fair to me.

O'Neill had put far too many average players on lucrative and long contracts. Yes, Randy and the board are to blame too since they gave him licence to do that. I am in no way saying they are innocent, they have a lot to answer for but they have also done a lot for this club during their time here so I won't write them off just yet.

Regarding Houllier or McCleish? I thought Houllier might have changed us into a team who could challenge again but he made changes too soon and he was naive. McCleish wants to be here and took on a huge challenge whilst facing the backlash from both Villa and Blues fans and for that he gains my respect. Time will tell whether or not he has a positive influence on the team but the players seem to be a lot happier and our defence has gotten a lot better. I've been happy with the signings so far too. We will have to wait and see if he does the business.

Collins for captain? No thanks, guys a freaking liability. Petrov is the obvious choice, he's a good team player, just whether or not he'll play in the team next season. If Dunne plays as well as he did the first season I think he'd be in with a shout but he's not exactly the best role model.

I can appreciate wy Whelan has "moved the goalposts" with regards to the transfer fee, it's his duty to do what is best for his club. However to come out in the press and seem exasperated as to why we won't just hand over the extra million and make us look like morons I cannot abide. There was no need for him to share information with the press, he just looks like a fat tool now.

I like the General but I think his thread is now redundant. I was appalled at the club's PR campaign on McLeish's appointment.

I agree. Maybe it's just me, but sometimes he comes across as quite rude whenever someone expresses a negative yet valid assessment of recent activity. I can understand that he doesn't have an easy task and that he is obviously forbidden from talking about the stuff we all really want to know, and perhaps quite rightly so, but everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Julie are you joking? Mini Beast gets all his rumours off twitter, he just reads tweets then makes them his own, he retypes them and puts them on the #avfc timeline.

He knows nothing at all, but he believes every tweet he reads about Aston Villa.

I see...... I get the picture.

Can I ask are you CheesyCombo on Twitter because I recognise the Avatar?

Yes I'm he.

OMFG I'm lyk ur biggest fan!

No but seriously I appreciate you mentioning me on the #FF's every week

Well that doesn't sound like Mr Kendrick knows much about agreeing a fee with Wigan then...

Thanks for the information. Lets wait and see. We all want the same conclusion either way.

Hey speak for yourself. I'm still holding out for Shawn Wright-Phillips to join on a ten year contract on 150 grand a week.

Honestly I find anyone who doubts Randy quite sad. We should be grateful to have him even if we don't make any signings this summer. The more fans wish for some rich Sheik to take the reins the more I fall out of live with the game.

I completely agree and I don't like the idea of someone throwing billions of money at a football club and buying their success like "you-know-who" but it isn't that black and white for me I'm afraid.

I was fully behind Randy and the board but a lot has gone on this past year. I feel a little lied to and let down. I'm not saying I want them out, Randy has done a lot for our club, but too many recent decisions have left me baffled. I'm just not as certain anymore, we'll see how the season progresses.

Fingers crossed but he is probably in bed with his otherhalf drinking tea and watching E4... hang on.... no that's what i'm doing, silly me.

Oo spooky. Replace 'otherhalf' with no-one, 'tea' with water and 'E4' with Babestation and that's my wednesday night.

Mat Kendrick has been quiet all night. I really believe now that he has heard the bid has been accepted,he is preparing for his report write up tomorrow...Well, that's what I'm hoping anyway.

If that's true then he'll probably hint at something sometime after midnight.

Hah I wondered when this was going to crop up, it was only a matter of time

Right well, I've been behind the board since they got here and I can understand some of the decisions they've made but I must admit my faith is on the slide. There's been a lot of decisions made recently that I have really struggled to get my head around. I know that McCleish is the manager now and he will get my full support because I love the club, but I had to question the appointment process.

It came across to me that everyone was turning us down for whatever reason (probably explained with the lack of transfer funds and the sheer amount of players who have left leaving us with a thin squad) and we jumped on McCleish as soon as he became available. If this is true then it just makes us look a bit clueless. If we indeed did target McCleish as the number one target then you have to wonder whether or not we did tap him up and that our board's judgement is lacking. Add to that the fact we paid compensation, if we didn't do anything wrong then why did we pay up? If this is true then the board lied to us. Either way, in my opinion they don't come out looking good.

I think ten mill for N'Zogbia isn't a bad deal at all. Look at his stats from last season and compare them with Ash's.

Let's just get it over and done with. Enjoy the number 10 shirt Charlie

Sky are being surprisingly slack in picking this one up!!

Sky are slow? It's not even up on the OS is it yet? Not on the front page anyways.

So assuming the rumours are true and Given is announced today, I just wondered what people thought about this potentially having a positive effect on Ireland next season.

I know it sounds a bit strange but then again, Ireland seems a bit strange too, but with Dunne here and (assumingly) more happy now that Houllier and GMac have moved on, and now with Given in (if the rumours are true, I suppose we'll find out in the coming hours) who he may well know quite well from Man City and ROI setup, and also perhaps now he has the number 7 shirt (as he is self-confessed to be superstitious about the number, apparently he wanted to wear 77 for us last season but the PL wouldn't let him), I just wonder if these contributing factors, as well as the painful experience of last season and hopefully McLeish being a bit wiser when dealing with him, will push him on to start performing again this season.

Or perhaps I'm just being optimistic.