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

[Greg N'Ash]

I have no wish to see us get it up the hoop from Wigan twice in a month. they want 10m or so it seems, good luck to 'em. i'm sure there's a queue a mile long waiting to buy him (not!). Last thing we need now is to give 'em 10m and then have likes of Sunderland come in and offer him more wages

So it's embarrassing because of something that might (but in all likelihood won't) happen? Gotcha.

Haggling over a million is embarrassing. It obvious to everyone that money is tigher than a gnats chuff at Villa , considering we've pulled in 37m in the last month. they're taking the piss and after this stand-off i wouldn't be surprised if Whelan accepts a lower bid or just the 9m we offered to make us look stupid

[Concrete John]

your probably right but it gets to the stage where further cuts becomes a false economy. you've got heskey, Beye, and Cuellar, at worse off the books next summer. It would be worth shouldering their salaries for a year and bringing in 3 decent players just to put some meat on the bones of the squad. As it stands we're 1 injury away from having to reply on the kids excelling themselves in so many positions. Yes we shouldn't have pissed millions away on shite players but at the end of the day they let MON do it and should take some responsibility. In other words, get yer wallet out Randy.

I'm not knocking the idea of Randy sanctioning some more signings, but putting Cuellar in with those two is wrong, IMO, as if called upon he could also be relied upon.  As it stands, were we to play the 4-5-1 and excluding the largely untried kids, we'd still have the following team and back up that I think we could trust:-

Given, Young, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Petrov, Makoun, Albrighton, Ireland, N'Zogbia, Bent.

Marshall & Guzan, Cuellar, Clark, Delph, Bannan, Delfouneso, Gabby.

You could argue experienced back up also exists in the form of Beye and Heskey for emergencies.

So more than 1 injury away, unless it's the DCM position, which I've been saying for a while now is the key weakness once we get N'Zogbia or similar. 

[Concrete John]

I have no wish to see us get it up the hoop from Wigan twice in a month. they want 10m or so it seems, good luck to 'em. i'm sure there's a queue a mile long waiting to buy him (not!). Last thing we need now is to give 'em 10m and then have likes of Sunderland come in and offer him more wages

So it's embarrassing because of something that might (but in all likelihood won't) happen? Gotcha.

Haggling over a million is embarrassing. It obvious to everyone that money is tigher than a gnats chuff at Villa , considering we've pulled in 37m in the last month. they're taking the piss and after this stand-off i wouldn't be surprised if Whelan accepts a lower bid or just the 9m we offered to make us look stupid

Sorry, but after his statements of being adamant of not letting him gor for 'a penny less than £10m', how does accepting £9m or less from anybody make us look stupid?

[Greg N'Ash]

your probably right but it gets to the stage where further cuts becomes a false economy. you've got heskey, Beye, and Cuellar, at worse off the books next summer. It would be worth shouldering their salaries for a year and bringing in 3 decent players just to put some meat on the bones of the squad. As it stands we're 1 injury away from having to reply on the kids excelling themselves in so many positions. Yes we shouldn't have pissed millions away on shite players but at the end of the day they let MON do it and should take some responsibility. In other words, get yer wallet out Randy.

I'm not knocking the idea of Randy sanctioning some more signings, but putting Cuellar in with those two is wrong, IMO, as if called upon he could also be relied upon.  As it stands, were we to play the 4-5-1 and excluding the largely untried kids, we'd still have the following team and back up that I think we could trust:-

Given, Young, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Petrov, Makoun, Albrighton, Ireland, N'Zogbia, Bent.

Marshall & Guzan, Cuellar, Clark, Delph, Bannan, Delfouneso, Gabby.

You could argue experienced back up also exists in the form of Beye and Heskey for emergencies.

So more than 1 injury away, unless it's the DCM position, which I've been saying for a while now is the key weakness once we get N'Zogbia or similar. 

well it depends. As you say the DCM is a problem. If allbrighton gets crocked we'd struggle,. Bent getting crocked i don't want to think about as i wouldn't be confident of any of our strikers replacing him adequately on last season's form. And again half of those other 1st teamers were shit/mental last season.

[Concrete John]

If Bent gets injured we'll play Gabby upfront, probably on his own, which is where he's best.  He won't score the goals of Bent, but he won't let the side down either.

As for the other areas you mention, I guess it's a matter of relying on players versatility; Albrighton injured and maybe Bannan or gabby wide?  A DCM goes and we use Clark there?

It's not ideal and not what I'd like, but the options are there that we can be reasonably confident about.

[Greg N'Ash]

I have no wish to see us get it up the hoop from Wigan twice in a month. they want 10m or so it seems, good luck to 'em. i'm sure there's a queue a mile long waiting to buy him (not!). Last thing we need now is to give 'em 10m and then have likes of Sunderland come in and offer him more wages

So it's embarrassing because of something that might (but in all likelihood won't) happen? Gotcha.

Haggling over a million is embarrassing. It obvious to everyone that money is tigher than a gnats chuff at Villa , considering we've pulled in 37m in the last month. they're taking the piss and after this stand-off i wouldn't be surprised if Whelan accepts a lower bid or just the 9m we offered to make us look stupid

Sorry, but after his statements of being adamant of not letting him gor for 'a penny less than £10m', how does accepting £9m or less from anybody make us look stupid?

Look they accepted a lower bid a while back. that to me suggests they have a replacement lined up or at least have plans for the money in place. Whelan just wants a bigger slice of the Downing money and i'm guessing he'll be quite happy to accept what was bid last time in reality, but this is "Villa can't push Wigan around Part2" as far as he's concerned

[Phil from the upper holte]

Playing Clark as a DCM would be a bad idea, he did ok last season as cover but at times he looked like a defender playing in midfield!

We need a real DCM, no excuses the money should be there

[Concrete John]

Playing Clark as a DCM would be a bad idea, he did ok last season as cover but at times he looked like a defender playing in midfield!

We need a real DCM, no excuses the money should be there

I fully agree and have said the same in the past - I was just hypothesising about what we could do if we don't sign a new DCM.

[UsualSuspect]

Playing Clark as a DCM would be a bad idea, he did ok last season as cover but at times he looked like a defender playing in midfield!

We need a real DCM, no excuses the money should be there

I fully agree and have said the same in the past - I was just hypothesising about what we could do if we don't sign a new DCM.

We definitely need a bit of steel in the CM area

That CM of last night will get mullered in the Prem

[Phil from the upper holte]

Don't worry John I agree with you, I was just saying like

[Phil from the upper holte]

Never should have let Osbourne go

[Greg N'Ash]

I still wouldn't be surprised if NRC came back. He had definately agreed to join blose before they went down. Could have blown it now with those comments he made though.

[Concrete John]

I wouldn't argue with NRC coming back, but given his reported wage demands and wages being our hot issue at the moment, I can't see it unless he has a major re-think.  Not sure how much he'd cost fee wise, although sure it'd be covered by the Ash and Downing money, but I'd rather see Mulumbu, who'd probably accept NRC's old wages.

[Greg N'Ash]

I think even with his limitations he represents good value in the current "haven't a pot to piss in" circumstances. A lot of humble pie would have to be eaten on both sides though.

[Concrete John]

A lot of humble pie would have to be eaten on both sides though.

Not really - we offered him a deal and he wanted more money.  If there's any humble pie he'll be eating alone as I can't see Randy now upping that contract offer.