Michael Bradley

[citizenDJ]

I watched him play a few times in Germany and he was pretty good. I thought he did well at the World Cup, too.

Has he definitely signed, then?

[brontebilly]

shouldnt be buying a player without having a manager in place.

[cdbearsfan]

shouldnt be buying a player without having a manager in place.

I see your point. However, there was a rumour when we got him on loan that the permanent deal was non-negotiable... like when we got Curtis Davies from Albion. Maybe that was the case in which case it makes no odds who our manager is? Or maybe Randy just wanted to buy one of his country's star men and didn't care what the manager thought?

[supertom]

I'm sure he can offer something. I was impressed during the world cup. Other than that, I've seen little of him. But with Coker gone, he's a combative midfielder, so he could potentially fill the gap left by Nige.

We didn't see enough of him to make an informed opinion. With a full pre-season we'll see just whether he's Sidwell mk2 or not.

[Merv]

If he has signed, I'm quite pleased. He's 23 years old. Didn't see much of him last season but, at international level, he's looked good. And we need midfielders.

[cdbearsfan]

If we're looking to buy players to give strength in depth, he's exactly the sort we need. Young and hungry as opposed to old and wealthy.

[The Left Side]

ITSOTP, that's when I will believe it!

[Dave Cooper please]

Apparently we've taken up the option to buy him for 5m euro... LINK

Good. I think he'll be a good player for us next season.

Based on what exactly?

Based on the fact that I think he's a good player.

[cdbearsfan]

ITSOTP, that's when I will believe it!

Does that work when we've already seen him ITSOTP? Maybe change it to ITNSOTP (In The NEW Shirt On The Pitch).

[pedro25]

Bradley, Makoun, Delph, Petrov, Ireland, Bannan, Hogg, Herd and Gardner for 2/3 starting berths, can't see anymore centre mids coming in this summer.

[olofmilosevic]

He's shit! send him packing! was a bizarre [loan] signing to begin with

[Mazrim]

I haven't changed my mind. I think he's a solid player that could do well for us. We haven't really seen it in a Villa shirt yet but there's been limited opportunity for him and Makoun. Both will benefit from a full pre season and after having been exposed to what this league is all about.

[KevinGage]

Came to us with the reputation of being a bit of an athlete. But he seems to lack pace from the bit I've seen of him in a Villa shirt. A slow athlete, maybe?

If other parts of his game are strong enough it's not necessarily a huge issue. But I'd have to be honest, based on his run outs with us to date I wouldn't have been pushing to do a permanent deal. Maybe as cdvillafan says though, perhaps it was part of the conditions for the loan.

[gervilla]

From what I've seen of him he looked a bit lost in our midfield.

[Mazrim]

He looked lost against Man City which made him fit in a treat.
I thought his few cameos since have shown promise. He is what the general would describe as a 'horse' and tidy on the ball usually.

We need a squad and Bradley is way better than the likes of Salifou, Osbourne and so on. Although I must admit I'm suprised. I thought he'd be heading back to Germany after Houllier calling it a day.