SSN: "Downing won't commit to Villa"

[VillaAlways]

"12 Jul 2011 14:32:53
Ive beeen told downing is booked into the hilton tomorrow night, medical tomorrow or thursday Jf92"

http://www.liverpool-rumours.co.uk/

They broke the Adam deal before anyone else.

Everybody knew Adam was signing for Liverpool.It was the worst kept secret in football

[Mazrim]

Does that mickey mouse town even have a Hilton?

He'd fail the medical anyway. They wont be able to find his spine.

[eastie]

All of those John, history of trophies, gates, finance , worldwide fan base, Recent success and being up there regularly over a long period of time, Chelsea and man city are rich successful clubs right now but I class man utd arsenal and Liverpool as bigger overall- each to their own view.

Does anyone here think we are a bigger club than any of those 3 out of interest?

[Brend'Watkins]

eastie is that bloke in the pink suit on the last day of standing on the Holte isn't he?

"Come on everybody all together....walk on, walk oooonn with hope etc etc"

[Dr Butler]

As I say as big clubs are ranked we are on a par with everton , we are not as big a club as man utd , arsenal or Liverpool - they are the 3 biggest English clubs in my view - not the best teams but the biggest clubs.

Just out of interest, what criteria do you use to judge a 'big club'?  Numbers through the turnstiles?  History of trophies won?  Recent success?  Financial clout?

To me 'big club' is a meaningless statement as it means different things to different people.  And football is a transient business, so clubs you are classing as 'bigger' now could, for a variety of reasons, be struggling in a year or two and we'd be nicking their best players.   

John,  I judge "a big club" on the number of FA cups stolen....

[Billy Walker]

As I say as big clubs are ranked we are on a par with everton , we are not as big a club as man utd , arsenal or Liverpool - they are the 3 biggest English clubs in my view - not the best teams but the biggest clubs.

JockY What do you unbelievable about that  statement? Yes we have won the European cup and I had the privilege of seeing us win it , Liverpool have done it 5 times and  forest twice , I am saying our history over the last 90 yrs we haven't won the sort of trophies to be classed up there with the liverpools and man utds.

If only we could have a debate like this every ten years and record the conclusions for posterity.  Imagine if we had begun having such debates from 1890 onwards.

The fact is football changes and  is very fluid - or at least it was beforre the days of the media and big money influencing it.  Stating club x, y or z are the biggest, as though it is set in stone, is a nonsense.  Certainly those three clubs currently have more trophies on their rolls of honour,and certainly those three clubs have more "plastic" fans than us at the moment - but that is all down to the Premier League, the media  and the way football has panned out since 1993.
 
They're "bigger" clubs than us in the same way that Katy Perry is currently a bigger hit-maker than The  Rolling Stones.  Things change, nothing is set in stone.  One thing's for certain, for the greater part of our existence we have been a more trophied club than Man Utd than Man Utd have been more trophied than us!

[eastie]

As said earlier Bren I hate Liverpool but Im not going to say we are a bigger club than them and I sadly understand why downing wants to go .

[eastie]

Billy walker if in 1990 you had asked the 3 biggest clubs in England before the premier league the reply would be Liverpool , man utd and arsenal- check the all time league tables we are talking over the last 100 yrs not just since the premier league .

This is 2011 not 1911.

[WA Villan]

All of those John, history of trophies, gates, finance , worldwide fan base, Recent success and being up there regularly over a long period of time, Chelsea and man city are rich successful clubs right now but I class man utd arsenal and Liverpool as bigger overall- each to their own view.

Does anyone here think we are a bigger club than any of those 3 out of interest?

Bigger than all five. We always have been, as a Villa fan you should know this, even if we don't win anything for the next 100 years we will be bigger than them. You forgot Barcelona and Real Madrid by the way.

[Mazrim]

Have you remembered we've won a bit more than an FA cup and a league title in the last 90 years though eastie? I dont honestly give a fuck who thinks who is bigger. It's childish.
It's the Sky speak that gets on my morks.

[eastie]

Back on downing has anyone any idea about this inter Milan Kenyan winger we have been linked with as a replacement at £2.5m according to reports in Italy.

[eastie]

Maz I know what we have won and am very proud of it , let's hope big eck is the man to bring back the silverware to us !

[Redman]

As said earlier Bren I hate Liverpool but Im not going to say we are a bigger club than them and I sadly understand why downing wants to go .

Take no notice Eastie - it's a legitimate argument and don't let anybody tell you otherwise just because they happen not to agree.

[Billy Walker]

Billy walker if in 1990 you had asked the 3 biggest clubs in England before the premier league the reply would be Liverpool , man utd and arsenal- check the all time league tables we are talking over the last 100 yrs not just since the premier league .

This is 2011 not 1911.

In 1990 we had more trophies than Arsenal, Eastie!

True, they'd edged ahead of us in league titles - I think they were on nine by then - but in terms of overall trophies they were behind us.  Ditto Man Utd.  (I think Liverpool had overtaken us twelve years earlier.)

[Concrete John]

As I say as big clubs are ranked we are on a par with everton , we are not as big a club as man utd , arsenal or Liverpool - they are the 3 biggest English clubs in my view - not the best teams but the biggest clubs.

Just out of interest, what criteria do you use to judge a 'big club'?  Numbers through the turnstiles?  History of trophies won?  Recent success?  Financial clout?

To me 'big club' is a meaningless statement as it means different things to different people.  And football is a transient business, so clubs you are classing as 'bigger' now could, for a variety of reasons, be struggling in a year or two and we'd be nicking their best players.   

John,  I judge "a big club" on the number of FA cups stolen....

Only meaningful barometer in my eyes.