The Milner Novela... Final episode page 296

[KevinGage]

25m and Ireland 'could' happen according to the Mercury.

In the Mercury, so large bags of salt required et.c.

But if the offer was anywhere close to that I'd take it.

[ozzjim]

Agree totally, we should say 25 and Ireland and get it sorted, then we don't have to spend all summer worrying about it and have a replacement in. I actually think IReland and NRC could be more effective than Milner and Petrov, but we will see.

[Gareth]

Agree totally, we should say 25 and Ireland and get it sorted, then we don't have to spend all summer worrying about it and have a replacement in. I actually think IReland and NRC could be more effective than Milner and Petrov, but we will see.

Would break their arms off for that deal!!

[KevinGage]

I don't think there is a huge amount between them ability-wise.

It's all about the timing.

Jimmy has just come off the back of a good season whereas Ireland has fallen out of favour with a new manager.

Go back 12 months and you might have seen those figures touted -only in reverse.

[ozzjim]

Totally Kevin, exactly why we should do it. 25 and Ireland would be a brilliant deal for us, as we can still sign a striker and a right back with that, while almost certaibly still being able to raise enough for maybe Daime from Wigan and Bentley. Need to get a lot of creative midfielders in to break sides down at home, as well as a top striker.

[Chris Jameson]

Point of order: Milner, just like The Kaiser Chiefs, is not from Leeds but from Harrogate. I am not sure if Man Utd hatred is as big in Harrogate.

Objection. He's not from Harrogate, he's a Leeds lad. The K****r C****s are most certainly not from Harrogate.

[usav]

Agree totally, we should say 25 and Ireland and get it sorted, then we don't have to spend all summer worrying about it and have a replacement in. I actually think IReland and NRC could be more effective than Milner and Petrov, but we will see.

That would actually mean MON playing NRC, a task that seems beyond him most of the time.

[KevinGage]

I do like the look of Diame.

Him alongside Petrov would give our midfield real backbone. We could do with extra height in the middle of the park.

It might also do away with the need to play Cuellar at RB, as part of that justification seems to be the additional security he gives us defending set pieces.

If we have Dunne, Collins, Diame and one of Ivanhoe or Carew we should be plenty covered in that dept.

Not sure Wigan would consider selling for anything less than ridiculous money though (and why should they?). There is also Alou Diarra at Bordeaux who plays a similar role. I'm sure there are others too. Diame was at Rayo Vallecano little over 12 months ago, we'd do well to get on at the ground floor occasionally, poach these players ourselves before they become widely known.

[TelfordVilla]

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

How realistic is it, that a players private thoughts are freely available to any Tom, Dick or Harry who just happens to have a part time role at the club ?
Any one who starts a post with "someone said" or "I heard from blah blah" is just gossip spreading and should carefully consider if this drivel is really worth sharing with a wider public.

This transfer is going to drag on like Barrygate and could run for another two years.
£30m to ordinary people is a huge amount of money but in the crazy world of the premier league is not very much at all.
It doesnt matter what Milner is actually worth, or how good or how crap he is, or what his potential is. It certainly doesnt matter whether he is as good or better than Fat frank or stevie "fall down" G.
He is a Villa player and if money bags Citeh want to buy him, Villa set the price not market value or common sence.
arsenal say Fabergas will cost you £50m because that way they get big money or keep their player.
Villa can say Milner will cost YOU (richest tw~t in the football world) £100m.
It doesnt matter whether he is actually worth it or not. It's supply and demand.

[tommy_boy]

First of all if Milner is willing to sign an extension, we should keep with any cost.

If he decides to leave, I want 35m at least. Or 25-30m+Ireland/Richards.

Hope he stays though. He owes Villa and MON a lot.
But wouldn't blame him either. The money is tempting. He will get at least 100k at City.
Here, he will get 80k tops.

We are a big club, and we can survive the absence of Milner- like we did with Barry's departure. A combination of players like Ireland, Bentley, Jenas, Noble, Keane, S Fletcher, Rodallega, Richards can provide a better chance to break in the top4.. can't know for sure
But this time it's about proving we are not a selling club. Especially to one of our main rivals. We have to prove to other clubs that we are serious.

[CJ]

Unfortunately tommy_boy there's no loyalty in football or footballers any more so no matter how much we think he owes Villa/MON it counts for nothing as far as players are concerned.

For what it's worth I still think he'll go to Man Utd for around £25m, and I could accept that as he would have a better chance of winning something there and it represents a good fit for his style of football. A move to Citeh just makes him a mercenary like Barry and could threaten his England place with the number of midfielders they're hoovering up.

[Kid Loco]

I don't think there is a huge amount between them ability-wise.

Maybe not, but they are totally different types of player. Can't see how you could fill Milner's role with Ireland

[AsTallAsLions]

I don't think there is a huge amount between them ability-wise.

Maybe not, but they are totally different types of player. Can't see how you could fill Milner's role with Ireland

Totally different is stretching it. Every player is different and unique and CMs play different roles at their different clubs, but, when he was in the team, Ireland was talismanic for City in the same way James is talismanic for us. The ball finds him in the centre. What he does with it might be different, but we can't spend our time looking to trade like for like. Ireland is a good player. Milner is a good player. Are they different players? Of course. Should we want the one to replace other if he goes? In my opinion, yes.

[Kid Loco]

Milner's energy is the main benefit to our side. His non stop engine both going forward and back. He probably covers more grass than 2 players in one game, adding a valuable bite to our side

Ireland to me is the absolute opposite

[AsTallAsLions]

Milner's energy is the main benefit to our side. His non stop engine both going forward and back. He probably covers more grass than 2 players in one game, adding a valuable bite to our side

Ireland to me is the absolute opposite

That's fair. But equally fair would be to say that Ireland makes up for that by scoring more goals than Milner (penalties notwithstanding).