Summer transfer rumours, speculation and out-and-out b*ll*cks.

[eastie]

I expect kalou would be on wages far beyond our structure- I agree sturridge would be a better option.

[Mazrim]

Actually Adebayor would be pretty useful to us. Fuck Everton.

Dunno Maz.

£18+ million on Bent means it's him + whoever.  Both are more suited to playing up top on their own, and £80K + a week on wages for a loan player not guaranteed to start would be folly.

Once we get some of the more obvious squad deficiencies sorted though, I do think we should be looking  a young up and coming target man. Either from here or abroad. I liked the look of Van Wolfswinkel at Utrecht, 6ft + and a Dutch international from a young age. But he's gone to Sporting Lisbon for a ridiculously low fee.

There are bargains out there to be had, which hopefully this Montgomery fella will unearth.

Yeah, I know what you mean. It's only really greediness that makes me want Adebayor. I do rate him and although he's a bit of a loner most of the time, I could see him working with Bent and his height would come in handy.
But its not a priority and I'd like to give Gabby + Bent a chance to work.

I've been saying a while now that the kind of foward we need is either a target man or a creative number 10 type. Sturridge for instance (a mix of the number 10 and a striker in his own right) would be far more use to us at the moment if we could swing a deal for him. Which I admit is unlikely but you never know.
It would be nice to have a crack at getting Xherdan Shaqiri, Alex Chamberlain or Eden Hazard.

Yeah, this Montgomery guy, it would be nice if he starts finding some truffles for us. We could get him to this youth champions league we're in and use what ever financial muscle we have to hoover up some of the best kids.

[PaulTheVillan]

According to FM2011 Kalou is on £60k a week. The wages on the game are all pretty much spot on.

[eastie]

Never mind Alex chamberlain , it would be nice to have a crack at Helen chamberlain- I think maybe people are expecting too much of monty, he hardly pulled a load of rabbits out the hat at blues and pannu sacked him.

[eastie]

So kalou is on less than heskey , if only we could get someone to take heskey , what a colossal waste of millions he has been .

[Concrete John]

I think gabby is a pretty ideal replacement for Bent in the event of injury/tiredness etc. Also, I think he has played enough games as a winger to be handy as one of the outside of a three. Personally I think he's still got a big part to play and seems to be of the right character to play any role for the team.

Fully agree.

If you work on the idea of two players for every position, then that's us covered for strikers.  And if it's 4-4-2 we have the Fonz and Weimman.  Although you may not like the idea of playing two kids, I'd be happy enough to give one at a time a run out next to Bent or Gabby.

Don't rate Kalou and think he's no better than Gabby.

[sg]

Kalou wont happen. There will be some Italian club offering champions league football and he'll go there. Not a massive fan either, he's ok, but just that.

[eastie]

Kalou is far better than gabby , this is a big season for gabby and he has to deliver- as a striker his finishing really is not good enough and he needs to work on it, he is going backwards as a player and needs a good season to get back on track.

[Mazrim]

Far better than Gabby? I dont think so.
Gabby had an injury hit nightmare of a season last year and was used out of position for a lot of it. Otherwise his record was on an upwards curve.

[Concrete John]

He's a (still relatively) young player who's increased his goals output season on season since breaking through to the first team.  Last season was the blip, but that was caused by a combination of injuries and being played out of position by a poor manager in a poor Villa team.  I have no doubt that if given enough games as a striker he'll get around the 15 mark next season.  My only doubt is how well he'll link up with Bent, if that's the way we go as both are better up front alone.

And Kalou is not all that and lucky to be at a club like Chelsea.  He's their Wes Brown.

[eastie]

Gabby for me is a squad player at the moment and I would not see him in the first 11 unless bent was injured , if we go 442 I'd be hoping for a new striker alongside bent, gabby if he can get back on track and improve his finishing could still prove to be quality but as I say he needs a good season as last season was a write off.

[Mister E]

Kalou? - wouldn't he simply be filling the role that Ireland is expected to play? Of course there's no guarantee that Ireland will 'turn up' but I assumed McGinge was under orders to utilise the resources in the current squad; if true, then the only likely arrivals willl be a keeper (Given), an AY replacement )N'Z) and possibly a FB (to 'replace' Walker).
Kalou won't come to Villa: after having been in a CL-playing team for n years, he'll be seeking similar status unless someone offers crazy money.

[eastie]

As posted earlier I see sturridge as a much better option than kalou or gabby -

[Mazrim]

How can Gabby have a good season if he's on the bench?

[eastie]

How can Gabby have a good season if he's on the bench?

Maybe the fact he was on the bench suggests he wasn't good enough to be in the team ?

I like gabby but he needs someone like mcleish to give him a kick up the arse and get his career back on track , and mcleish may be the ideal manager to do just that - we have a few players who have lost their way and big eck is ideal to get their careers on track.