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

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

Who would play wide midfield if albrighton or n'zogbia are injured? Bannan and the fonz? Hogg? Yikes!

And our defence invoves relying on Warnock coming off hunger strike, and the two clowns in the centre who let us down so badly last year starting to give a shit again.

The two clowns who, when playing under a decent manager in MON, looked a very good partnership and one that we built one of the best defences on in the league. GH didn't know how to manage players...wait, GH didn't know how to manage.

[taylorsworkrate]

I'd love to play poker with all you guys.  This is just McLeish putting the screws to Whelan, nothing more.  Now Whelan has to figure out what McLeish means - is the one signing his guy?  Or has he moved on?  Or the fact that he's open to other possibilities and AVFC looking to other creative midfielders mean N'Zogbia is a distant memory?  Or has McLeish laid out his line in the sand, and that's that?

Brilliant move by AMC to get the git thinking.  And the longer this goes on without another serious bidder in the mix, the more it favors AVFC getting N'Zogbia for the original asking price.  Should put an end to this 'haggling' for CNZ.

Reading all these pages, and hardly a backbone among the lot here.  I could take all you for thousands.  Anyone in here even remotely experienced in the art of the negotiation? 

-C.

Do you think its wise, after the summer us fans have had to suffer so far, for the club to send the manager out to make a statement such as this if not true?

I certainly don't

I don't think it's going to matter one bit in a few days, because then the story will be something different.  That's the way news cycles work. 

IMHO, this is nothing more than what Redknapp does every day of the week during windows - negotiate through the press.  And when an ass like Whelan is screwing around with prices that had already been agreed to earlier, it's time to fight back.

And despite what many here think, it's not as if Lerner has a mil in his back pocket to just splash around, simply because we're negotiating against ourselves.  Who else is in the chase?  To those who just say pony up because the fans have had a miserable summer is just lack of business 101 accumen, plain and simple. 

Let the man do his business, and then tally it up at Craven Cottage for the first game.  All the rest is just hot air and entertainment to keep folks like us interested in the game. 

-C.

I'd love your opinion to be true, really I would.

I just can't see the sense in McCleish saying this if not true.  Firstly, as seen on this thread, it doesn't exactly impress the supporters.  Secondly season ticket sales are hardly going to sky rocket on the back of it.

People aren't saying that Randy should splash the cash as we've had a miserable summer.  We need to buy a no of players as without them, we have at best a very average squad that with a few injuries would be very close to going down. 

As I said before, if Randy can't / won't do that, he should be looking at selling the club.

I'm desperately hopeful i'm wrong (sorry Mazrim, I know that pisses you off)

[Maradona10]

Its an absolute joke. NRC, Friedel, Young, Downing, and Walker have all left the club. We replace them with Given and potentially McGeady.

[VillaZogmariner]

NRC - We offered him a new contract but he turned it down.
Friedel - As NRC
Young - 1 year left and went to Champions.
Downing - Made it clear wanted out and we got silly money for him.
Walker - Was only at the club on loan.

Nothing we could really have done about any of them is there.

[cfetters]

I'd be prepared to bet that we sign more than one more player between now and the end of August.

Anyone fancy taking me up?

I wouldn't. In fact I don't believe for one second that we only have one more signing left in us. I'll happily eat my hat and everyone elses if come Sept 1st our squad has only one extra new body.

Exactly.  The gullible nature of quite a few here is pretty stunning.  Why do you think AMC put the statement out there?  Because he knew everyone would eat it up, including those at WAFC.  Mission accomplished.  He's got everybody talking about it, and I bet Whelan is too. 

Remember the time when supposedly the club didn't have enough money to buy a striker?  Time to sack up, folks. 

-C.

utter rubbish -sack up yourself.

LOL.  Explain yourself.  You actually believe him?  You actually believe AMC would go out to the press and simply spell out his transfer policy straight out?   

I've got some beautiful land in the middle of Florida I'd like to sell you.  It's gorgeous.  But I only have one piece left, so you better jump on it now.  You believe me, right?  After all, that's what I'm telling you, so how can you go wrong? 

I'm sure it's just the idiot Yank in me, but there is NO WAY I believe for one second anything AMC said today - and for one basic reason; the message wasn't meant for AVFC fans.  It was meant for Whelan.  It was a message...don't screw around with us.  And I like it.  In fact I'd go so far as to say I don't believe anything ANY manager says during the transfer window, especially with all the garbage that gets thrown out there.  It's much, much easier - and more sensible IMHO - to just assume it's all crap than try to sort out the real pieces of information from the false ones. 

Besides, all this moaning and pissing about will be history when CNZ signs; no one will even care what AMC said last week, because it will be irrelevant.

-C.

[tarzansbrother]

NRC - We offered him a new contract but he turned it down.
Friedel - As NRC
Young - 1 year left and went to Champions.
Downing - Made it clear wanted out and we got silly money for him.
Walker - Was only at the club on loan.

Nothing we could really have done about any of them is there.

Your right but the club can do everything to replace them.

[PaulWinch again]

NRC - We offered him a new contract but he turned it down.
Friedel - As NRC
Young - 1 year left and went to Champions.
Downing - Made it clear wanted out and we got silly money for him.
Walker - Was only at the club on loan.

Nothing we could really have done about any of them is there.

That is true but they need replacing.

[timeoutbigbar]

Well I can't say with any degree of honesty these were the comments I was hoping Mcleish would make after his first signing.

[malckennedy]

Radio WM with doom and gloom commentary from Paul Franks ("Randy's not interested any more") and everyone turns into a cross between a lynch mob and a suicide squad. God, I'm so glad that the main contributors (whingers and moaners) on this site aren't representative of the majority of Villa fans I know. Although, no doubt, they are the vocal minority of boo boys at matches that make our club look so silly in the press and on TV by turning on our own people at the slightest excuse, thereby exacerbating the problems that they're so worked up about (like conceding a goal, for example). Moyes is on record commenting on this trait at VP, which may have influenced the fact that he never ever had the slightest intention of coming here.

Why don't those of you who have threatened to, just give your season tickets up and leave the rest of us to suport the team?

[Maradona10]

NRC - We offered him a new contract but he turned it down.
Friedel - As NRC
Young - 1 year left and went to Champions.
Downing - Made it clear wanted out and we got silly money for him.
Walker - Was only at the club on loan.

Nothing we could really have done about any of them is there.

Have we replaced them? Thats more the point.

[VillaZogmariner]

NRC - We offered him a new contract but he turned it down.
Friedel - As NRC
Young - 1 year left and went to Champions.
Downing - Made it clear wanted out and we got silly money for him.
Walker - Was only at the club on loan.

Nothing we could really have done about any of them is there.

Your right but the club can do everything to replace them.

I couldn't agree more.

[hilts_coolerking]

NRC - We offered him a new contract but he turned it down.
Friedel - As NRC
Young - 1 year left and went to Champions.
Downing - Made it clear wanted out and we got silly money for him.
Walker - Was only at the club on loan.

Nothing we could really have done about any of them is there.

Doesn't matter really matter how they left, the fact is that all five played a reasonably significant part throughout last season and none will be available next season.  Given + 1 would leave some alarming gaps, if true, and would mean we're relying on some rather unreliable characters coming good to get us through the season.

[VillaZogmariner]

Radio WM with doom and gloom commentary from Paul Franks ("Randy's not interested any more") and everyone turns into a cross between a lynch mob and a suicide squad. God, I'm so glad that the main contributors (whingers and moaners) on this site aren't representative of the majority of Villa fans I know. Although, no doubt, they are the vocal minority of boo boys at matches that make our club look so silly in the press and on TV by turning on our own people at the slightest excuse, thereby exacerbating the problems that they're so worked up about (like conceding a goal, for example). Moyes is on record commenting on this trait at VP, which may have influenced the fact that he never ever had the slightest intention of coming here.

Why don't those of you who have threatened to, just give your season tickets up and leave the rest of us to suport the team?

It's been a few days since we last had a "I'm a better supporter than you" post on here.

[eamonn]

Central midfield we have lost our best performer on a free in Reo Coker. Leaving us Petrov, Makoun, Delph, Ireland and Bannan. Ie short.

Having five players contest two (or three if we go 4-5-1) central berths is short? Numerically it's fine, quality-wise...well, I suppose it's untested/unreliable in many cases. But we've all been clamouring for the likes of Delph and Bannan to be given a run. Makoun and Ireland (who will really have a point to prove now) have flourished in good sides before.

No, it's not perfect. It's a bit of a leap of faith but add in the prospect of Gary Gardner and our current midfield intrigues me a lot more than having Reo Coker and Sidwell clogging it up.

[Dante Lavelli]

We've all seen the accounts for the past few years so we should know the club doesn't generate enough cash for major purchases and I fail to see why Randy should keep dipping into his pocket.

I think it's time we start to maximise the assets we have in the likes of Warnock/Ireland and also the youth players. If they fail to step up then I'm sure Randy will bail us out again in January but at least the players will have had a decent opportunity to prove their worth.