The Milner Novela... Final episode page 296

[peter w]

So Milner has told friends he wants to
go to Liverpool.

Surely he isnt that fucking stupid?

Must have the same circle of friends as Gareth Barry.

[pauliewalnuts]

Christ, Percy, nobody thought you were a bit "thick"  

Uncharacteristicslly touchy there.

And no, the argument want that there would be a queue of billionaire waiting should they finish outside the top four. It was that there would always be someone waiting to buy them if they were about to implode. Which they are not. Sadly.

Incidentally how are they meant to get better crowds than they do now in a ground which isn't big enough?

Again, Miner had already played several times through the middle at Newcastle and their fans largely rated him there (I know a few Newcastle fans and they all said this) so you really don't have to be Nostradamus to have picked that one out.

[barrysleftfoot]

To be fair paulie, i think you are one of the fairer, less judgemental posters on here, i'm sure Perc, like all of us has made some fairly outlandish statements in the heat of the moment, and now takes great pleasure in pointing out to his then critics, that he was actually quite right.

  I was never a big fan of Milner when playing wide, but fair play to MON, he looks a better player ijn the middle.Not sure Petrov is the player to play alongside him, or if he should play in a 5 man midfield, but hes no Gerrard/Lampard, or even a Cowans.He does'nt dominate a game, he has a nice pass, and a good shot, but we don't see it enough to suggest a £30m price tag.If we get anywhere near £30m, or even better the opportunity to get players like Onohua,/Ireland/Richards/Hart/SWP, then i think for OUR club to move forward then we have to do a deal.Good Luck to Milner, a beacon of integrity atm in the world of football, but we need better players in the team atm, and selling Milner is probably the only opportunity we will have this summer to get the kind of players in we need.

[peter w]

I never wanted him playing through the middle and i still don't think he gives us enough there and the right balance. I think him and Petrov leave us exposed and we struggle to get the ball back when we lose it, and to then keep it. I also thought that making Petrov captain was a mistake because it made him undroppable and limited what we could do in the centre. I als thought it would affect the balance in a 4-4-2.

I also thought the capacity of Villa Park needed more insight and exploration.

Still, some you win.

[Percy McCarthy]

Christ, Percy, nobody thought you were a bit "thick"  

Uncharacteristicslly touchy there.

To be fair, Fletch admitted it at the time.

Re: Liverpool's crowds, they got 37,000 for a league game towards the end of the season.

Not claiming unique foresight re: Milner's position, just pointing out that was one occasion when my sanity was called into question.

[PeterWithe]

I also thought the capacity of Villa Park needed more insight and exploration.

Did you manage to find out what the capacity was during your recent sabbatical?

[richard moore]

To be fair paulie, i think you are one of the fairer, less judgemental posters on here, i'm sure Perc, like all of us has made some fairly outlandish statements in the heat of the moment, and now takes great pleasure in pointing out to his then critics, that he was actually quite right.

  I was never a big fan of Milner when playing wide, but fair play to MON, he looks a better player ijn the middle.Not sure Petrov is the player to play alongside him, or if he should play in a 5 man midfield, but hes no Gerrard/Lampard, or even a Cowans.He does'nt dominate a game, he has a nice pass, and a good shot, but we don't see it enough to suggest a £30m price tag.If we get anywhere near £30m, or even better the opportunity to get players like Onohua,/Ireland/Richards/Hart/SWP, then i think for OUR club to move forward then we have to do a deal.Good Luck to Milner, a beacon of integrity atm in the world of football, but we need better players in the team atm, and selling Milner is probably the only opportunity we will have this summer to get the kind of players in we need.

Exactly what I think so thanks for putting it so well. Nice guy, great attitude (though in truth only what any footballer's attitude should be), good player, may become a very good one or not but doesn't show the potential for me to do so like Gerrard and Lampard did at about the same stage in their development (despite the microscopic analysis of comparative dates on here). When I want a balanced opinion about us or any of our players, I ask impartial friends or relatives and their thoughts on Milner are that £30m or the equivalent in players plus a cash balance is a fantastic deal. They can't see how he is remotely worth that and I agree...

[richard moore]

Do you really believe that, Villadawg? Honestly?

He's a good player, nobody is disagreeing with that, but better than Lampard and Gerrard at his age?

How many non-partisan observers do you think would agree with you on that?

Not me for one. To claim Milner is anywhere near as good as Lampard or Gerrard at the same age or thereabouts is utter pie in the sky. I don't enjoy saying that either as I hate them both. As paulie says, try asking an impartial observer...

[sid1964]

Just been told by someone who works at the club that MILNER has made his mind up and wants to go.

Milner has told the club that he wants to play at the very highest level for both club and country - by the sounds of it he could be off to Chelsea /Man Utd but dont rule out Arsenal if they sell fabregas

I am dissapointed if the above is true but, I have seen players come and go before (e.g Cowans, Andy Gray, etc...)

I just hope if we do get the type of money that is being talked about £25 million+ that we dont sign  Carlton Cole, and we really go after top class players

[Whiney MacWhineface]

Christ, Percy, nobody thought you were a bit "thick"  

Uncharacteristicslly touchy there.

To be fair, Fletch admitted it at the time.

Re: Liverpool's crowds, they got 37,000 for a league game towards the end of the season.

Not claiming unique foresight re: Milner's position, just pointing out that was one occasion when my sanity was called into question.

Wish I hadn't said anything now. Wasn't aimed at you Percy*, was meant to be vaguely light-hearted (though as with any message board there are a few contributors who seem to have at least one foot in another dimension. e,g, some of the views re: AC/DC).

* for the record I don't think you're crazy but neither are you the heir to Evadne Price.

[ktvillan]

Delph will be better than Milner, and not far off as good as Gerrard.

This is the bit where you go and see a head doctor

There's a good chance he'll be right IMO.

I happen to agree also.

Me too as long as he gets some decent coaching and development along the way.

[ozzjim]

I would not begrudge him United of Chelsea. Arsenal are on a downward spiral without Fabregas and without selling to the people who want to buy them, Hill-Wood is holding them back, so he would be mad to go there. Citeh I can understand, they will throw cash at it till they succeed, but if it was City I would want 10 million more than to the other two.

[Kid Loco]

25m and Ireland 'could' happen according to the Mercury. I like Ireland but the thought of him and Petrov as a midfield two does scare me a bit. He's hardly a renowned 'team' player is he?

And we all know Petrov's legs have gone, which is why Milner had to cover so much ground last season doing a lot of defending and attacking

Best solution would be to keep Milner and just buy Ireland and pair them up!

[Chris Smith]

Do you really believe that, Villadawg? Honestly?

He's a good player, nobody is disagreeing with that, but better than Lampard and Gerrard at his age?

How many non-partisan observers do you think would agree with you on that?

Not me for one. To claim Milner is anywhere near as good as Lampard or Gerrard at the same age or thereabouts is utter pie in the sky. I don't enjoy saying that either as I hate them both. As paulie says, try asking an impartial observer...

Possibly not Gerrard who is one of the few world class players this country has produced in recent years but he's easily the equal of Lampard at the same age. When he left West Ham it wasn't Manu and Liverpool competing for his signature it was us and Chelsea neither of who were top level sides at the time.

[ktvillan]

Milner is nowhere near what Gerrard was aged 20.  I have to say I could never see what all the fuss was with Lampard until the last 3-4 seasons, where he has looked excellent.  Even then he's hardly ever shone for England.  

I'm surprised  Milner is so in demand, he's good but I don't think he's as awesome as some seem to.   I'm more concerned at the prospect of another long drawn out summer witnessing O'Neill trying to replace him and the other players we are set to offload.  I think if we could get 20+m and the excellent, if slightly unstable, Ireland and/or another player in the deal we'll have done well.