Craig Gardner

[eamonn]

I cannot remember where unread it but apparently Gardner did want to stay at Brum City but was told he had to be sold because they needed the cash.

Once something is read it cannot be unread.

[villa1]

I had heard from a decent source that he was 'desperate' to come back to Villa and his agent had been in touch with the club.

He can fuck right off.

[willywombat]

I had heard from a decent source that he was 'desperate' to come back to Villa and his agent had been in touch with the club.

He can fuck right off.

As he's just signed for Sunderland I guess that's pretty much what he was told

[brontebilly]

decent business by Bham - bought for 3m sold for 6m. Never rated him at Villa but to be fair to the lad he didnt get many chances in the centre of midfield. Buying Sidwell for 5m while Davis and Gardner were let go wasnt great by MON.
Still think he is a bit one paced and one dimentional on the ball but was always good breaking forward and has a good shot on him. Combative too. Best of luck to him.

[nick harper]

decent business by Bham - bought for 3m sold for 6m. Never rated him at Villa but to be fair to the lad he didnt get many chances in the centre of midfield. Buying Sidwell for 5m while Davis and Gardner were let go wasnt great by MON.
Still think he is a bit one paced and one dimentional on the ball but was always good breaking forward and has a good shot on him. Combative too. Best of luck to him.

I think the fact he is a bluenose has clouded a lot of opinion about him. He got to double figures in goals last season in a side that didn't score many. Not many midfield players in the Premier League do that.

He'd have walked into our midfield for much of last season.

[PaulTheVillan]

He'd have walked into our midfield for much of last season.

Agreed.

[cdward]

Howay man, I've been a sunlun fan aal me leif . Ah used te stand on the terraces an watch them aal the time.
Aal me family are sunlun tee , it's a dream come true, yee knaa.

[supertommykN'iba]

Ahh Aye av alwees been Sunlun, evah since a wur a wee laddie. An i heet the Mags! A wus gutted wen thee gat red av the oold Rurker Park A yused tae stan thur as a ked.

[Hookeysmith]

He is a typical Blue - one sign of trouble and he is on his toes

So who does these deals considering the Hairdresser is in clink?

Probably the same people who boguth players when they had no manager

Whatever happened to the days when a manager drove to the players house and said "i want you son" and that was it. I can understand nowadays there have to be financial issues but is it really a case of the modern manager saying

"I want x player" and then walks away until he turns up at the training ground?

[The Villa Werewolf]

Sunderland have signed Craig Gardner from Birmingham City for an undisclosed fee believed to be about £6m.

The midfielder, 24, has penned a three-year deal at the Stadium of Light.

He was Blues' top scorer last season with 10 goals in all competitions, and helped the side win the Carling Cup in February before they were relegated to the Championship in May.

Gardner has joined Ji Dong-won, Connor Wickham, Seb Larsson and Keiren Westwood in moving to Wearside.

Gardner told SAFC TV: "It's unbelievable, to be honest. As soon as I found out Sunderland were interested, it was a no-brainer.

"I've been a Sunderland fan all my life and used to watch the lads from the stands in the Roker Park days. To sign for my boyhood heroes is a dream come true.

"Obviously, I have heard so much about [manager] Steve Bruce and his backroom staff and how good a chairman Niall Quinn is.

"It's such a massive club and their ambitions for this season meet my ambitions, and it was too good to turn down."

South Korea striker Dong-won completed his transfer from Chunnam Dragons to Sunderland for an undisclosed fee just hours before Gardner sealed his move on Thursday.

Dong-won, 20, is the second striker to join the Black Cats in as many days following 18-year-old Wickham's £8.1m switch from Championship outfit Ipswich.

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce signed goalkeeper Westwood and winger Larsson from Coventry and Birmingham respectively on free transfers.

Gardner believes the signings demonstrate the club's desire for success.

"It means that the club wants to go places," he added. "Obviously, we want to finish as high up the table as we can. We want to be in Europe next year and it's a great task to go and chase.

"It's a good goal for us. We can go and do it, and I am sure we will."

[Phil from the upper holte]

Looks like potato head is spending the Bent money

getting his business done early

[Des Little]

'Craigy Gardner is a blue...
...is a blue
..is a...bollocks...

'Never rated him, Tom'

[Big Dick Edwards]

Looks like potato head is spending the Bent money

And the Henderson money..

[Pete3206]

£6 million? The world has gone mad

[hawkeye]

he is at least as good as henderson so looks like good business