The Milner Novela... Final episode page 296

[Fasth56]

On SSN just, Citeh have 14 midfielders, couldn't name them, but that is one hell of  rotation policy.

[Shrek]

talking of yorkshire men that Delph is a right money grabbing twat who left his club for the money just to sit on the bench isn't he.

If he moved to Peterborough yeah,
 but no not for making the natural progression to the top tier.

Silly analogy really!

[hawkeye]

paulie has he said "i am happy and dont want to leave"

sorry if i am off the pace has jimmy said this

[pauliewalnuts]

paulie has he said "i am happy and dont want to leave"

sorry if i am off the pace has jimmy said this

No.

The point I am making is people are saying "well, he could clear this all up just by saying he is happy and doesn't want to leave"

My point is that maybe, just maybe, he hasn't said it because he doesn't know what he wants to do.

It's going to be funny on here if he signs a new contract.

[BannedUserIAT]

talking of yorkshire men that Delph is a right money grabbing twat who left his club for the money just to sit on the bench isn't he.

Two years ago, Milner leaves Newcastle to join us, because Newcastle wont offer him more money.

Didn't he just ask for something similar to what the others were earning?
A bit different to Villa offering what he's worth vs Man City offering what he's worth x 2.

Still, I understand the temptation and, let's face it, they will win something....eventually.

I just cannot understand why a player can't come out and say "I've absolutely loved my time here. It's a fantastic club with fantastic fans.  But an opportunity has been put in front of me that is simply too good to refuse. I'm sorry if the fans feel that I've let them down but what's happening at Man City at the moment is unprecendented and I've been invited along for the ride. Etc and so on"

I'd have SO much more respect for him/any player that can say that.
I'd also have so much more respect for Man City if it was all done behind closed doors and, if they want to rip the heart and soul out of clubs, they should have the decency to pay the going rate and not fuck about. We seem to be able to do that, why can't others?

[Rudy Can't Fail]

On SSN just, Citeh have 14 midfielders, couldn't name them, but that is one hell of  rotation policy.

It depends, Mancini could decide to adopt the O'Neill Rotation System Experience(ORSE) or as it's known on the Holte, ARSE.

[hawkeye]

paulie has he said "i am happy and dont want to leave"

sorry if i am off the pace has jimmy said this

No.

The point I am making is people are saying "well, he could clear this all up just by saying he is happy and doesn't want to leave"

My point is that maybe, just maybe, he hasn't said it because he doesn't know what he wants to do.

It's going to be funny on here if he signs a new contract.

thanks for explaining, so what do we know? Citeh made an aproach publicly before the WC, JM said he would decide after the WC, MON now says he indicated he wanted to leave before the WC. There have been no direct quotes from Milner recently?

[old man villa fan]

If he didn't say to O'Neill that he wanted to leave why doesn't he now just come out and say he's happy to stay at Villa and doesn't want a transfer....because he's a greedy yorkshire tiprat that's wy.....

Perhaps he's keeping his options open?

That's what I'd do.

It was a bit late for keeping his options open, don't you think.

If Milner couldn't see the situation at Villa at the end of last season and the way Man City were going about their business for this season, he was being a bit stupid to say the least.  He had two options, stay with the Villa for a few more seasons and become the centre of the team and probably the top earner in the club or go to a club that will be challenging for the top honours and earn considerably more.  The contrast between the two options was so great that it wouldn't take long to make your mind up.

At the end of the day Milner is a professional footballer and wants success, money and the glamour of being associated with a team winning things.  Whether he plays a big part or is a bit part player will determine his future career.  It's his choice and if he has decided to go, then I want the best for Villa and that means the best deal possible.  We move on and hopefully it is only one step backwards before moving two steps forward.

No, it isn't too late.

The fact is, though, why would he come out and say "I'm happy and don't want to leave" when, perhaps - perhaps for some of the reasons you mentioned yourself - he isn't sure what he wants to do?

I take all your arguments as to why he should leave us - I don't agree with some of them, but I see why you're making them - but I would suggest that they're not really relevant to the question in hand.

He's no reason to come out and say "I don't want to leave" if he doesn't know if he does or not. That might be the case, that might not be the case, but I don't see how you can dismiss it as a possible reason why he hasn't made such a statement.

Maybe you're more fatalistic than I am. Didn't you suggest the other day that the way forward for us was developing decent players then selling them? Like Wigan, if you will?

What I said was that the two scenarios are so black and white that Milner would not be sitting on the fence undecided.  He would know in his own mind what he would want to do.  If he had wanted to stay with Villa he would have made it very clear to the club that he wanted to stay and the club would have made a very public statement to that effect.

I would suggest that the possible reasons for leaving that I made are very pertinent to the question in hand.

I know I lived in Thailand for a good period of time but I did not become a budhist and thus I do not believe things are predetermined.  I believe that he thinks Villa are not improving quickly enough to match his rush to be at a team challenging for the major honours (and consequently cannot match the wages at Man City).

My comment about developing youth and selling on was related to those that did not make the grade and was my preference to buying in squad players.  Not like Wigan, at all.

[pauliewalnuts]

What I said was that the two scenarios are so black and white that Milner would not be sitting on the fence undecided.  He would know in his own mind what he would want to do.  If he had wanted to stay with Villa he would have made it very clear to the club that he wanted to stay and the club would have made a very public statement to that effect.

Again, whilst you might think that is the case, you don't know it is, so my suggestion that he hasn't made his mind up must at least be a possibility, surely?

Are you saying there's no chance whatsoever? At all?
.

I know I lived in Thailand for a good period of time but I did not become a budhist and thus I do not believe things are predetermined.  I believe that he thinks Villa are not improving quickly enough to match his rush to be at a team challenging for the major honours (and consequently cannot match the wages at Man City).

You say that you don't believe things are predetermined but the rest of your post says, effectively, that Milner's decision is predetermined.

If things are not predetermined, how can you flatly refuse to accept that maybe he hasn't made his mind up?

[Dave]

talking of yorkshire men that Delph is a right money grabbing twat who left his club for the money just to sit on the bench isn't he.

Two years ago, Milner leaves Newcastle to join us, because Newcastle wont offer him more money.

Didn't he just ask for something similar to what the others were earning?
A bit different to Villa offering what he's worth vs Man City offering what he's worth x 2.

If I had my current company offering me what I am worth and another company offering me what I am worth x 2 then I would be off to the other company like a shot.

As long as we get a good price for him then I would say cheerio with good grace.

[BannedUserIAT]

New season 'James Milner: Awesome' t-shirts are now available:

[Dave]

What I said was that the two scenarios are so black and white that Milner would not be sitting on the fence undecided.  He would know in his own mind what he would want to do.  If he had wanted to stay with Villa he would have made it very clear to the club that he wanted to stay and the club would have made a very public statement to that effect.

Again, whilst you might think that is the case, you don't know it is, so my suggestion that he hasn't made his mind up must at least be a possibility, surely?

Are you saying there's no chance whatsoever? At all?

Indeed.

I think the most likely scenario in all of this is "I would love to move to Manchester City and the ridiculous salary that they will throw at me but if they don't offer my current club the price that they want then there is a good chance that I will still be there next season. Do I want to burn my bridges?"

Why would you make an idiotic statement like Barry did two summers ago? Everything to lose, nothing to gain.

[Greg N'Ash]

My guess is milner wants to leave and we want to sell him. MON being the media obsessed control freak he is, wanted to shift the blame milner's way after they came to an agreement before the world cup to keep schtumm. Hence Milner being a bit narked

[hawkeye]

What I said was that the two scenarios are so black and white that Milner would not be sitting on the fence undecided.  He would know in his own mind what he would want to do.  If he had wanted to stay with Villa he would have made it very clear to the club that he wanted to stay and the club would have made a very public statement to that effect.

Again, whilst you might think that is the case, you don't know it is, so my suggestion that he hasn't made his mind up must at least be a possibility, surely?

Are you saying there's no chance whatsoever? At all?

Indeed.

I think the most likely scenario in all of this is "I would love to move to Manchester City and the ridiculous salary that they will throw at me but if they don't offer my current club the price that they want then there is a good chance that I will still be there next season. Do I want to burn my bridges?"

Why would you make an idiotic statement like Barry did two summers ago? Everything to lose, nothing to gain.

agreed, he was trying to keep his options open and then MON broke cover which has effectively removed the option of staying, its just about how much. Its the Barry saga all over again and i dont think our manager handed that one too well either

[Dave]

My guess is milner wants to leave and we want to sell him. MON being the media obsessed control freak he is, wanted to shift the blame milner's way after they came to an agreement before the world cup to keep schtumm. Hence Milner being a bit narked

Greg making his usual sense. Where along the line do we think that Milner is 'narked'? I'm not sure there has been a comment from Milner on the issue in months. The manager wants to use the media to get the best deal for the club as he can. Where's the problem with that?

What I said was that the two scenarios are so black and white that Milner would not be sitting on the fence undecided.  He would know in his own mind what he would want to do.  If he had wanted to stay with Villa he would have made it very clear to the club that he wanted to stay and the club would have made a very public statement to that effect.

Again, whilst you might think that is the case, you don't know it is, so my suggestion that he hasn't made his mind up must at least be a possibility, surely?

Are you saying there's no chance whatsoever? At all?

Indeed.

I think the most likely scenario in all of this is "I would love to move to Manchester City and the ridiculous salary that they will throw at me but if they don't offer my current club the price that they want then there is a good chance that I will still be there next season. Do I want to burn my bridges?"

Why would you make an idiotic statement like Barry did two summers ago? Everything to lose, nothing to gain.

agreed, he was trying to keep his options open and then MON broke cover which has effectively removed the option of staying, its just about how much. Its the Barry saga all over again and i dont think our manager handed that one too well either

What exactly did he do wrong there?