Paul Faulkner interviewed on BRMB

[Chris Smith]

Spurs did with Modric what we did with Barry and similarly he'll most likely be off next summer.

[brian green]

I do not see the point of splitting hairs over whether Downing could be kept.   Anybody with eyes in their head could see the way he was showcasing himself.   He used Villa and would never show us any loyalty no more than he will show Liverpool if they do not make top four.

He is a weasel and I am glad he has gone.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I do not see the point of splitting hairs over whether Downing could be kept.   Anybody with eyes in their head could see the way he was showcasing himself.   He used Villa and would never show us any loyalty no more than he will show Liverpool if they do not make top four.

He is a weasel and I am glad he has gone.

Agreed, Brian, which is why I'd have liked to hear PF come out and give us the raw facts. He hinted at the player, amongst other things, refusing to train unless he got his move. I'm all for PF being very gentlemanly at the FA etc but he should have let it rip on this one.

[olaftab]

Agree on twat Downing.

[TheSandman]

Is there really any difference to saying someone is not for sale and they are not for sale at any price? I daresay if Darren Bent decides to act like a weasel then we will doubtlessly sell him if we get an offer just like we did with the weasel in the summer.

My gripe is not so much with the fact that the club sold those players. Most of them wanted to go and it may have proved difficult to keep them. My gripe was that the money raised was not re-invested.

Oh and yes Downing is a cock. That is probably the one thing we can all agree on.

[Villa'Zawg]

Since some dozy feckers buggered up the economy I have had to take on an additional operational role in my company and get much less free time for buggering about on t’net. I’m not complaining about the work, glad to have it, but I don’t have enough spare time to spend on here.

On the issue of wages, I thought it interesting that the Gaurdian retraction last month pointed out that the wage bill for Aston Villa football club that we argued about was in fact £69m and not the £79m from the RAL consolidated accounts that was argued about on here. I also notice that the Spurs wage bill for last season was a tad over £91m and that they are still in discussions with HMRC over image rights payments to players.  :-)

[KevinGage]

With an England place up for grabs I don't see Downing going on strike had he been forced to remain.

My concern at the time was that £20 million was more than he was worth but selling one of our better players for the third time in just over a year would be damaging to our reputation. And so it has proved. Even opposition players now warn against the perils of 'becoming like Aston Villa.'

[Shrek]

With an England place up for grabs I don't see Downing going on strike had he been forced to remain.

My concern at the time was that £20 million was more than he was worth but selling one of our better players for the third time in just over a year would be damaging to our reputation. And so it has proved. Even opposition players now warn against the perils of 'becoming like Aston Villa.'

We sould have bought a 10-15 million pound midfielder, that would have showed some ambition. We sold 3 out of 4 of our starting midfield and only bought one replcement.

Liverpool have sold their best 3 players 3 years running. Alonso then Mascherano then Torres. The difference is they replaced them, or at least tried too.

[Simba]

Well they got Torres right. Used the money reasonably well and got the fans behind the new direction. As you say 'ambition'.

Pity we don't have a 'Kenny".

We should, again as you say, have invested Milner money into a new Milner. Or at least play BB/ CH  on a regular basis. In position.

[Fuse]

Our of all the players we have sold the two we miss most are Milner and Ash. I think we have replaced neither fo them. Why Ireland was ever invovled in the Milner deal I will never know or understand. The issue for me is even if we were to reinvest the money now can anyone think of a suitable midfielder out there who could play that running midfield role in the centre that we so desperately miss?

Oh to finding the 2012 version of Dennis Mortimer......we bought him from Cov didn't we? Funny that there is a midfielder at Coventry at the moment. He's an Eng u21 International, gets forward from midfield and scores loads of goals and he wouldn;t cost us a penny!

[Neil Hawkes]

Oh to finding the 2012 version of Dennis Mortimer......we bought him from Cov didn't we? Funny that there is a midfielder at Coventry at the moment. He's an Eng u21 International, gets forward from midfield and scores loads of goals and he wouldn;t cost us a penny!

Who, if he continues to demonstrate his considerable skills at Coventry, will return match fit and immediately be available to slot into one of the most difficult areas of a football team.
There is nothing wrong with this loan, which enable the club to evaluate the player without possible detriment to ourselves, (should he not live up to reputation or have his confidence destroyed).

[DB]

Oh to finding the 2012 version of Dennis Mortimer......we bought him from Cov didn't we? Funny that there is a midfielder at Coventry at the moment. He's an Eng u21 International, gets forward from midfield and scores loads of goals and he wouldn;t cost us a penny!

Who, if he continues to demonstrate his considerable skills at Coventry, will return match fit and immediately be available to slot into one of the most difficult areas of a football team.
There is nothing wrong with this loan, which enable the club to evaluate the player without possible detriment to ourselves, (should he not live up to reputation or have his confidence destroyed).

Agree. When you consider the matches we have while he is at Cov, it's best he is there getting games rather than making his first appearences and getting steam-rollered every week.

[pauliewalnuts]

Well they got Torres right. Used the money reasonably well and got the fans behind the new direction. As you say 'ambition'.

Pity we don't have a 'Kenny".

We should, again as you say, have invested Milner money into a new Milner. Or at least play BB/ CH  on a regular basis. In position.

Liverpool have used the Torres money well? Henderson and Carroll for a combined 55 million pounds?

I struggle to think of a worse way to spunk away that kind of money.

[Vanilla]

Our of all the players we have sold the two we miss most are Milner and Ash. I think we have replaced neither fo them. Why Ireland was ever invovled in the Milner deal I will never know or understand.

I have made this point elsewhere, that someone at the club sanctioned this part of the deal to keep 'fans' happy by softening the loss of Milner.

Whoever agreed to this partial swap has wasted £10 million plus which, considering our barrel is now being scraped, is even worse than when we had money to spend.

[AV82EC]

Well they got Torres right. Used the money reasonably well and got the fans behind the new direction. As you say 'ambition'.

Pity we don't have a 'Kenny".

We should, again as you say, have invested Milner money into a new Milner. Or at least play BB/ CH  on a regular basis. In position.

Liverpool have used the Torres money well? Henderson and Carroll for a combined 55 million pounds?

I struggle to think of a worse way to spunk away that kind of money.

Top 6 and probably League Cup semi finalists, are you sure?