Let's hope Barry leaving hasn't screwed up transfer plans. He may have wanted to spend real cash on other positions but now finds himself looking for a creative midfielder. Don't want Yossi but would take Pascal and Finnan as back-up. Both of these could be taken to VP for around 2 Million each and Finnan has a lot of expierience - not bad if you ask me!

Damian mate, reading your artcile makes me feel a little better, but if we dont spend properly this summer then we're in the dark mucky stuff!!

And i wouldnt mind Chimbdona and Benayoun!

We should go after Orlando Engalaar as a replacement for Gaz Baz, 7 caps for Holland, 28 years old, FC Twente captain, 6 foot 5 and a real presence, as well as having a good touch and an eye for a pass. Gettable by my estimation and a real improvement on some of the names being bandied about.

Can I heartily agree with you about the official website? I am supremely confident that we will be a better team next year. Why can't we just rally together instead of bitching about somehow miraculously getting better than Liverpool or Arsenal overnight after nearly 30 years of dross? To the young uns brought up on Sky and Championship Manager it's more understandable but to us guys who stood on the terraces in the Third Division come on! Get real! Randy Lerner and MON are the bleeding dream ticket.

you won't be buying Engalaar as he has just signed for shalke, as for Chimbonda think he'll be a good signing for you, i've always liked him, he's just not good enough at left back

damian

you added a list at the top of website for players coming and going
i think its now safe to add gareth barry to that list of out players as you pointed out its a list of players who have left or expect to leave VP.

I wouldn't say I'm panicking but I am starting to get nervous. If the plan is to finish at least 6th again the squad needs to at least match or preferabley better than other squads are going to be like in August. So far we're behind track, and the types of player we're being linked with are far from inspiring.

Let's get this in perspective - Benayoun was a standout player for West Ham when they nearly went down. He then failed to make an impact at a club that for a lot of the season was fighting for 4th place. If we are aiming for this same position, how on Earth is Benayoun going to help us given he's already failed at this task? At the moment though I'd actually take him just because we need as many as we can get for the sake of numbers.

Sorry, I'm trying hard to be optimistic but I just want to see something solid happen in the market >:(

no player is bigger than the club, if barry wants to leave get the right price for him, there will be other gareth barry's in the future with our superb academy. starting to get slightly annoyed with lack of transfer activity so far and all the club keeps saying is about renewing your season ticket, will be hard to finish 6th or above next season with barry leaving unless we find an adequate replacement.

Couldn't care less about the official website. As long as it lets me buy tickets on-line and buy stuff from the club shop I'm happy. I never, ever read it for gossip or news. That's what newspapers are for.

With regards to Benayoun. No thanks. Shades of the Sasa Curcic to me.

We should hold out for what we want. £20M. Or Crouch £8M. We don't need to sell Barry. As much as he may want to go, we're under no obligation to sell.

I just wish one way or the other that a decision is coming soon on this whole Barry debacle. if he's goin go so we can get on with the business of replacing him. Let him go. For every 1 good game he plays, he plays 2-3 bad games. But if he is goin we gotta find someone else. Wha is MON waiting for. I know his philosophy is to buy late but how bout just 1 good signing to give us all faith. if he wants Bentley/Sidwell/Milner or whoever go and get them. Stop stuffin round or they will go elsewhere. Come on MON, give us something to believe in!! Make me sleep easier

Totally agree about the website, it looks so cheap and Amateurish.

Chimbonda- quite a good player, it just peeves me that we are taking Spurs cast offs. I do think they will be a force next year(they should with what they have spent), but it's a team we should be competing for players with ( Like the RB Hutton)

Benni- Pretty good again, would quite like him, but he seems the player that needs good players around him to produce. Let's for god sake sign these good/great/amazing players.

At least the club have not said "world class players" to come this year.Got so deflated last year, think I wore the newsnow site out on my comp.

I'm off to the pub and when I come back I expect to see we have signed 8 players(no I'm not going to the pub for 3 years), well at least 1. Please

I am slightly concerned, but surely MON is an intelligent enough man to know that (if the 5 year plan is a bluff) this year will be when it is exposed.

He seems so quietly confident in his press conferences, I can only hope to have faith. Perhaps it is because I have no choice but to.

As for Benayoun, I don't think he would be a bad little signing, for the right price. He did very well at West Ham and was given limited chances at Liverpool. When I did watch him he looked very busy, inventive and hungry - which is more than you can say for Chimbonda, Pennant or some of the other players we have been linked with.

Admittedly I would rather go for someone of the standard of Diego or Van Der Vaart, but Yossi is not a bad player at all.

I think barry is as good as gone & i'm sure deep down MON knows this to and would have some idea of a replacment who that should be it just dont know, dont think chimbonda is the answer at right back all he's bothered about is money so sod him.

I reckon we'll have enough with what we've currently got to get through the intertoto so not to concerned about lack of transer activity so far, i try not to get my hopes up to much with regards to big name signings & just hope 1 year i'll be suddenly suprise maybe this year whos know!!

if barry wants to go, then let him, no point keepin a player who doesnt wanna be at vp. as for benayoun an chimbonda. wud rather hav some other right back - finnan. 15mil for barry an finnan as the sweetner. i wud rather not see crouch back at the club. dont want any liverpool rejects. finnan is a good right back an wud give us a solid option, so i dont view him as a reject.

What worrys me is how quiet everyone at Villa, including MON, is being regarding Barry and new signings. Reminds me of last summer & January. As to the players we are linked to today, Chimbonda is'nt a MON type iof player - he likes defenders who defend, and Yossi isn't anywhere near as good as Bentley or Milner or SWP. Hope this is more paper rubbish.Maybe looking this standard of player is what's convinced Barry to go.

Glad you feeling positive Damien, because I have a feeling of a long slow inactive summer (again!). Go on MON prove me wrong.

if liverpool want barry make them pay 20mil if anyone else wants him then 14-15mil is ok, with that money buy quaresma. guzan said he wants to join us, i dont know how he never last year as you see all these other people coming into the country but a professional footballer cant???? id take finnan aswell even though he used to be a bluenose

I am slighlty concerned but I trust in MON to get us back to where we belong. Whilst I admit Barry is a goodplayer but he is a good player because of MON and wthout MON he will struggle. Yes, he playes well but surely he is not irreprceable.

I know i might get some stick for this but barry leaving might be good for villa, this whole saga may inspire MON to do better than Liverpool next year.

So FORGET BARRY AND LETS MOVE ON.

Of course it's not the end of the world, but I don't think Barry will struggle without MON like many seem to think. A quality replacement with a more attack minded approach, that's what I want *cough*Diego*cough*. ;D

I would like Benayoun btw, he is just overshadowed by Babel at Liverpool. If he was playing week in week out at Villa then you gotta feel he would deliver the goods.

looks like you can add gareth barry to the out section in the top right, nice to see an even balance between out's and in's again !!!! !!!!

I'm happy with Gardner as our right back, let the young lad play.

he is going for sure i just hope are arent taken as clowns if benitez is valuing crouch at 15m then i want at least that for barry. its an over priced market in england we have paid over the odds before (young although it looks like good money now) so we should hold out for what we deserve. if we dont get it i wud have no problems wit barry playing in the reserves till his contract runs out the prick.

Damian you had feelings last summer and they didn't result in anything. I agree the website is shambolic but then I think that is just an extension and reflection of how the club is being run as a whole. It's an US and THEM mentality and I think we touched upon this last summer after they said they were going to be open with the fans well it's us that pay their wages yet we are the last people to find things out. Have we ever had real reason why the CEO left? internal affairs sound awful and I think GB knows a lot more than us and his loyalty to Villa would be if he let us fans know the REAL reason he is leaving and what is or apparently isn't going down at Villa park.

taglor

last summer we were told 'top class' signings were coming and it was the first full summer window martin o'neill had - with all the talk and expectation - i got carried away

i'm going to get carried away again because it feels better that way rather than expecting nothing

this summer for me is all about setting out the stall. we finsihed 6th last season and we're two matches away from playing in the UEFA cup

if we want to compete in that tournament we need to bring in a lot of players and fquite a high percentage of those have to be quality, that you'd expect to go into the first team - if we are to compete in it and try to kick on this season

so - getting carried away seems the logical action

So what if Bary wants to go, do you really want someone playing for our club that doesnt want to be there, cos i dont!! on the subject of his replacement i think benayoun would be adequate and i also think Sidwell could do just as good job, i watched him many times for Reading in the season they got promoted and he is quality as he showed in his first season in the prem, just cos he cant get a place above lampard, ballack, and essien in the chelsea team is no disgrace to him, as far as chimbonda goes sign him up, any players in at this pooint in time is an improvement, Keep the faith, MON knows what he is doing even if it does leave the rest pulling our hair out. UTV!

Is it me or are the transfer rumours slowly but surely becoming more rubbish... with nearlly 6 players leaving since the end of the season o'neil shouldnt be on the telly, he should be in the office with a needle and thread patching up our constant growing holes.

Guzman, chimbonda, finnan... are just not what villa should be firing for and on each note the only plus is theyre prices, which then spells we are CHEAPING out! routledge and harewood were on the same wavelength and we all have to admit they havent exactly set the world alight.

Also I personally remember crouch from the last stint he did with us and to be fair, the thought of wasting money in the barry deal on him makes me shudder (lets bring balaban back while we are at it) dont quite see how hes so rated, every team hes been sold to have eventually shown him the door (in a nice way).

The best signing for us from oneil was Ashley Young by far, with maybe reo coker coming a distant second... while we are rated 6th in the league now is the time to blow some cash on players that might be able to keep us their.

We have been keeping it real with transfer speculation under gregory, under taylor and under oleary... but now is the time where it is blunt fact we can buy players of quality! so why arent we doing it?

so gareth wants to leave and join a team with a manager that obviously cant keep a secret discussion secret, a manager that probably wont be there in a few seasons time , a manager that as soon as a spanish equivalent comes along he will sign, a club thats owners are fighting amongst each other and a fanbase that only worships 3 players gerrard, carragher and torres. in my opinion if your stupid enough to want to join them then you don't deserve to be with us.

I like Yossi Benayoun, he was half decent for the 'ammers but, apart from that hat-trick against besiktas in the champions league, he ain't realy done much! Stil, he is attacking-minded, can pass, can play in the middle and on the right and has a shot and a half! better player than Mr. Petrov, he strikes me as a little petulant at times but MON could maybe give the kick up the rear end!

As for Chimbonda, theres no doubt he's a good player, but he only had the 1 good season for Wigan when they come up! But theres a down side too, he reminds me a little of Nicholas Anelka, he seems to come out in the papers moaning when he misses a game or two! He has a muppet for an agent too. Willie Mackay! Duno though!

I think the team needs some more foreign influence, a bit more creativity perhaps, a bit more solidity on the rear-guard! An eccentric continental Goalie! What does everyone else think?

Would everybody like to see more foreign players gracing Villa Park? Or should we keep it relatively homegrown?

mike_roberts, agree with the first part, but you surely don't subscribe to the theory that we just sign in numbers and that will be an improvement. That's what we have been doing for years and look where that's got us. Let the other teams do that. You don't see Man U, Cheslea and Arsenal doing it do you. Better to concentrate on getting a cherry-picked group of players. Granted that may not always be possible, but it should be policy within this club.

Gareth wants to go, Rafa wants him and Gerrard wants him bad! Therefore I think MON is holding all the ace cards. Just hold out for £20 million. If they don't meet that, Chelski or Arsenal will. Just keep the nerve. If not then Gareth will still play footy for Villa because he will want to stay in the spotlight playing for England and look to move next season. We can't lose.

Should we invite Randy to become a member of this site, so that we can be informed and give constructive feedback. Mind you we would have to gag taglor! The General is on a rival site, so can we have Randy?

I'd take 15mil for Barry and replace him with Sidwell (5m), Bullard (3.5m) and Milner(6m), I'll have the remaining 1/2mil if it's going spare.

No to crouch, good player but worth 4mil tops.

Sidwell and Bullard have both had Barry in their pocket when we've played them recently so they are more than adequate replacements.

I'm feeling fairly confident that we can happily live without him. Remember selling Platt and ending up with a whole new team under BFR. Same went for selling Yorke and getting in Dublin and then romping to the top of the table the following season (all be it for only 1/2 a season - bloody doug!.

Then there's Andy Gray and winnig the league.

Oh, and as for the website, they must do two hours in the morning, down the pub for 11, back at 2pm to take some extracts from the Mail and Wolvo Express and Star and then back down the Holte for a few more beers by 3.30! On Randy's Bar tab aswell! Shambles!

I dont think its a reflection on how the club is run as a whole! Its just an internet site!

As for the club 'statement'. Can anybody smell anything?

Damian
I agree that we have to hope things happen and I still have a small part of me thinking they will go all out and really surprise us and make me look like a whinger. I just find it hard to believe until they do start setting out their stall and after a couple of weeks from the end of season I guess I'm like everyone else just getting frustrated lol

Chirstian Maggio has signed for Napoli

Come on MON there will be no one left to sign by the time you get round to it.

why do people want crouch back? he was shit when he last played for us and he wont be any different...we already have 2 massive strikers we dont need another - unless you want to be playing hit-and-hope long ball football again?!

in the past how many players has MON bought that weve actually been linked with? from what i can remember its 0, so i wouldnt expect to see either yossi or chimbonda in claret and blue next season.

personally id buy:

Guzan
Jaaskelinen
Onuoha (carbon copy of mellberg-but much quicker)
Dawson
Nelson
Michael Johnson (scored a brilliant goal against us)
Huddlestone
and a striker like Saviola

We will make a few signings, but it will probably be from the championship (3) and one from abroad. The truth is we don't have the money. Mr Lerner is a great PR guy (by virtue of others), however he is a serious business man who will work on profits first. Let's take Spurs for

Have to say that now barry has come out and admitted he want to go, let him, thats not the sort of attitude that we want at the club, and even if he does stay the rest of team will now he doesnt want to be there, perhaps this is the opportunity fo replace the last of the old regime! Install Laursen or NRC as club captain and have them lead a young , hungry and driven team forward! Im not concerned with big name signings coming in, Id rather we get young, up and coming players in that can gel as a team and by the time they are at there peak they have 4/5 years of playing together under their belt (as I saw in another article) much like the Utd team of the 90's.

Maggio signed for Napoli?

Apparently the Daily Mail @ 1.41 pm today says his still available and being chased still by Villa, Milan and Napoli?

hope you guys dont get Chimbonda. Trust me you dont want him he is to in love with money let him go to the barcodes or the spammers.Finnan would be a better option.
Gd luck for next season

its common knowledge that liverpool are a club with big money problems.thats why they must sell to buy,what worries me is that we dont seem any better,are we waiting for the barry cash so we can buy,i really hope not.utv

sky sports say maggio has gone to napoli, finnan would be a decent back up for me, id hate to see chimbonda though even for £2mil

and personally i think selling alonso to finance a move for barry is possibly the stupidest transfer saga ive ever seen, alonso is the second best short passer in the league (fabregas no 1)

liverpool wont challenge for the league whilst rafa is still there, they are screaming out for wide men, and he keeps on selling good CM and buying decent ones (sissoko and alonso or barry and lucas?)

i dont think there is any need for panic as MON IS A MANAGER I THINK WE should all trust ....i also believe we will be a much better team this season than the last one.....also we are not the only team that has yet to buy players as knowone of any note has moved clubs thus far apart from modric to spurs and i dont fancy him much

If Barry was so bloody brilliant how is it only Liverpool want him? Let him rot in the reserves for a couple of years then let him go to Small Heath Amatuers

Jussi Jaaskelainen has signed a contract with bolton

i think the problem with us that we are linked with so many players that when we see one we like an he goes to anouther club we all get pi**ed off.

runtingz - i agree with most of your post but im sorry modric is gonna be brilliant, though i think both him and dos santos will take half a season to bed down both of them will shine

that said spurs seem to be doing the same as liverpool - buying players in positions that they already have covered rather than addressing their problems, same as if MONs biggest signing this summer is a CB

I think Benayoun is as good as Barry. Is it OK to say that? He's a better attacking player and a good passer. When he did play for Liverpool, I thought he played well.
At some point we'll all have to get used to the glacially-slow, no comments to the press transfer strategy thing MON does. I think he'll sign good players, and the team will kick on, no matter the doom and gloom I (and everyone else) might occasionally feel.

N17YID, thanks for the good luck wishes, we'll take Chimbonda off your hands and make you regret it! LOL

i think that chimbonda will b brill at right back even though he played rubbish at left back last season. as for benayoun i think we should sign him and see what happens!

p.s. put HONK! at the end of your message if you like cookies!

oh and i forgot - we need to get someone like lennon, bentley or wright-phillips aswell

Yossi and Chim who - You lot are crazy if you think this is a good move. Unless MON pulls some things out of the hat I think we're going backwards. Be patient - Heard that before! Not looking at players in Euro 2008 .... So where are you looking oh yes Mr MON your having a jolly in Vienna maybe there's some pub 5 side league your looking at. Thank god we've got Young & Gabby as there is a little light but the tourch of Randy & MON is going out with every hour

Here's a list of players we should be looking at - All should be within price range but I doubt we'll get one of them.

Thiago - Sao Paulo
Kerlon - Cruzeiro
Breno - Sao Paulo
Aronca - Fluminense
Marcelo Grohe - Gremio - Goalie
Miguel Torres - Newell's
Pablo Piatti - Estrudiantes (LP)
Andrey Arshavin - Z Peterburg
Anthony Vaden Borre - Fioentina
Thomas Vermaelan - AJAX
gABRIEL tORGE - Poli 1921 (I think)
Ben Arfa - Lyon
Benzema - Lyon
Moutinho - Sporting
Veloso - Sporting
Montolivo - Fiorentina
Pazzini - Fiorentina

Well that the kind of players we should be looking at but we'll just get somebody eles rejects. In MON we trust - Yeah right !!!

If I were MON - I'd play a good hand and say to Barry - Right you want CL football - If we don't get into top 4 next season then you can leave and leave for nothing. It will really see if Barry, MON & Villa have backbone.

Liverpool have serious money problems - Crouch no thanks, that Irish muppet at Right Back in his 30's no thanks, the Ex Blue Nose on the Wing - No ..... So Rafa doesn't have the money - If Villa do have money which it keeps being said - Say no to 20 million and as Liverpool need Xavi deal to go through to fund the Barry saga. Its looking less likely that it will happen. As Juve now want Muntari instead. Oh dear Rafa looks like you will be looking for a new job very soon as I hear mentioned from Anfield.

Don't people think that Villa should come out and say what's going on - Is Barry off?
Players are coming in?

Or is it that old Ellis business trick - Get the season tickets sales through and then come out maybe buy a couple of rejects and say there's nobody available and those that are their clubs are asking too much.

We need a fly on the wall at Villa - But the problem is nobody works in the offices there - Well top bods anyway as we don't have any!

LOL you been playing FM Ben?

van den borre is a good shout, fiorentina sent him out on loan since jan so he hasnt settled, and id love to see us go for arshavin, and torje who looked great against england U21s last year (even though he's all of 5 ft 3" )

alot of the brazilians wont get work permits, kerlons been touted for everyone yet no ones made an offer so i wonder if he is that good, and breno is at bayern (9mil in jan)

and then the likes of montolivio, pazzini, benzema, ben arfa wont join villa, not until we are a CL team anyway

I hope the efficiency of the website doesn't reflect the efficiency of the club - in the long term - before the optimist brigade starts going all hysterical on me. Again, this summer's the proof of the pudding and we shall see if Villa mean business or we are just a promotional tool. Imagine how good Lerner will look in both US and here now that he's made that deal with Acorn..maybe I`m cynical so we'll see what we do this summer..

@ ben richards

finnan was a bluenose aswell

also @ ben richards
id have finnan in the squad even if he is an 'irish muppet' and from your comment you seem the bigger muppet

By the way, Maggio of Sampdoria has signed for Napoli so that's a non starter as far as targets go.

Ive just looked on various websites and they have all confirmed that Aston Villa target Christian Maggio has gone to Napoli. The right back may have not been our target but a lot of rumours that were after him. I hope thats not the case and we did not want him as it shows again that we wait to long to get the players we want. M.O.N is a great manager but we have got the interto cup in a month so it would be good to bed the new players in then but i think i will be watching sky sports news around 11.59 on the 31st August to see if we have got any players in.

I've always taken an interest in Bra, Arg & Eastern European Football as i get to spend a good amount of time there. In regards the Brazil players there season is a bit here there and everywhere. So if a couple have moved on then I'm sorry. This list is something I've had on me for ages. Its somewhat bigger so I just wrote ones I'm sure most have heard of.
In relation to visa's I think you'll find the way around it is getting players signed to pre-contracts. I know Scumchester Utd have a few more South American's coming in the next few years. Also there's nothing wrong in Loaning players from these parts.
In regards the French players yes your right they wouldn't come to Villa as we're not CL Team. I would like to know what our scouting system does outside of Europe?
In regards being a muppet, I've got my view points and being a person whose given my whole life to Villa I like to say such things.
Players like Finnan - he's in his 30's which does't fit into the "5 year plan" ...Liverpool again will have one over us if we just buy players they don't want. I firmly believe we should cut our ties with Liverpool.

Why can't we (Villa) seem to scout the best up and coming talent in Europe. Ok we might not get the best from Spain or Italy but all the other counties our well within our reach.

Yes I would go with Borre, Torje was fantastic against England U21.

I've been working it out that we need 2 Goalkeepers, 2 Right Backs, 1 left Back (cover) 1 amybe 2 centre backs, 1 right wing, 1 creative midfield maybe 2 and a 20 goal striker. So 12 players which with the current market we're not going to get.

I watched some of the youngsters this season and there's a few for sure that will make the grade. Who do you think?

Kieran sorry if I insulted the Irish - Still don't like Finnan

Shame about Maggio as I heard he's a very good player. Have Napoli qualified for Europe? Seems a strange move otherwise - So I again I think this one might be Red Top paper talk

apparently the napoli story is all talk - maggio's agent has said they have recieved an £8Mn offer but i think its been rejected

and im with ben richards here - why the hell buy finnan when hes into his 30's already!

also i have ALWAYS said we need more ambition, i love RL and MON to bits for changing this club for the btter, but now its come to decision time it seems like both are bottling it...

if we do not buy the required players this summer then i will no longer have faith in O'Neill.
because im SICK of hearing about how good we are, about how we can challenge for major honours again. IF we do not get the right players then how the hell are we gonna do that martin? give the players 3 leaf clovers? rub some magic lamps?!

This is like Wonka's factory no one comes in no one goes out just the same as last year, I HATE THE TRANSFER WINDOW

Sign someone now

I wanting to know what people think about fans having a better link to the club via a blog like this. I know the General gets involved sometimes but there needs to be a link between fans and MON a go between. I know managers have a hard job but the fans sometimes do know best. Many have been there through thick and thin whilst managers come and go.
I look at it this way - Villa will have fans all over the World. Lets all get togther and be a scouting network for the club. If that link is there we'll get to hear of the best young players from every corner. The club get the homwork done free of charge and therefore once they want to look into it more then there could be a little come back from the club to fan / scout - Like a reward system. Ok you might say well everybody will say him or him. But then the club know that's somebody we want to look at .... Somebody whose only mentioned once or twice might be that D.Yorke ( tracksuit set wasn't it?) which lets face it was our last 20 goal a season man. And we sold him for how much?

So come on Villa this is a WIN WIN situation - Surely Randy like that talk? I for one know this would be a first and would work.

What do people think?

Ben

finnan is 32, and i wouldnt mind him as backup. if he can do the job then whats the problem. we tried to sign henrik larsson last season and he into his 30's so he didnt really fit into the 5 year plan either. i wasnt saying sign finnan, give him the captains arm band and pay him 100k a week, i was just saying he would be a good backup player with all his experience

also ben i think your idea above is terrible,at the end of the day the manager does know best he has spent all his career behind the scenes of football clubs and are trained to know everything about it. he is the manager and its his team, if we scout for players the club will receive thousands of names from thousands of people and signing marlon harewood last year proves he does know best. i bet no villa fan would have recommended him or ashley young or john carew.

Kieran - I know what your saying but you miss understand - The system doesn't seem to work that well with what we've got at the moment - Young was fantastic and is a pure pleasure to watch. So yes that one fair play to MON.

What I'm trying to say is - The Villa scouting system can't be in every country. I don't know how many people work for Villa in that capacity? But think of it - If Villa have fans in Scandinavia or Eastern Europe or wherever - We should all be compiling lists with details for our team. Of course MON and his men know their jobs, I'm not saying they don't. But coming from a business world you never look away from free advise - Its up to you whether you take it on board. But you really can find some good players out there that the club isn't aware of. Not everybody comes up through the system - No better example than Ian Wright.
The club aren't stupid but they could sometime do with our help.
You must admit that we (Villa) seem very slow when it comes to getting people or by the time we show interest its to late. So that needs to change. It really doesn't mean we buy everybody - It means we are at the forefront of player knowledge and we pass on what we know to our club.
I find the remarks from Kieran strange as he seems to dismiss out of hand suggestions that could and might help the Villa. I'm not saying my system is perfect but it could and might help the cause if properly set up?

Also Kieran, we all know people who support other teams - Do you ever listen when they say we've got this great young player whose one to watch. Well that's what I'm talking about. That's called sharing knowledge and can be useful if applied in a clever way.
Kieran maybe you only know Villa fans so maybe your knowledge stays within B6.

Villa is my life and I want to help my club in whatever way I can. Just turning up on Sat isn't the only thing people should be doing. This is just an idea.

If your happy with mediocrity then do nothing. If you want the club to move in the right direction come up with ideas. To many people out there are can't won't people and Villa have their fair share and it pi*ses me off.

Just reading a link about J M the Newcastle winger - That Liverpool have won the race against Villa. Don't you just love the anti Villa paper the "Mirror". Liverpool don't have the money. They need to sell first - They've must have some friends within the gutter press as now they're trying to offload there carthorses in exchange for the best players. Now Newcastle want to raise cash and drive there wage bill down so exchange doesn't work. I really think Rafa / Parry have a bigger problem than we are led to believe - MON you are right to hold out for £20,000,000 as Liverpool will struggle to raise it unless going more in debt. There could be a big twist in all this Barry saga!

But if its the case Villa should be putting a concrete offer for James now so we don't miss another target if he is one.

I must say its very frustrating with nothing coming from the Villa about anything apart from the Patient remark???

guys i think that we are all getting carried away and starting to talk about doom and gloom.
in the last 2 seasons we have not spent as much as most teams but still progressed faster than the other tems outside the top four(baring Everton). the 3 signings of top quality (top quality for a team in our position)have been young, Carew and Davis. then we have the next level of signings in Hokey Cokey and Petrov. all the other players were bought for a perpose ie squad players.
the players that have left over the last 2 seasons have not featured and the team or featured very little and done nothing.

what would you all prefer. a player that costs 25 mil and is a flop thus villa droping down from sixth, or 2 solid players that improve the team costing 10 mil each plus 15-25 mil of squad players that will keep us in the same position in the league and give us some good cup runs.

what we have to remember is we have not been in europe for nearly ten years or won a cup for the same amount of time so why do we all expect world class players.

i do trust MON and the 5 year plan.

one last thing a replacement for Barry is Van Der Vaart. he is certainly within our reach and could be the world class player he was considered once again under MON and would cost around 10-15 mil.

and BTW the club have just announced that an offer has been rejected for Barry. someone must be reading our blogs lol.

nice how they said 'prise away'

as if barry doesn't really want to go ;)

Dear Gareth & your agent,

Before you confuse your career needs with your emotional and irrational desire to play with your mate Stevie in the odd Champions League game, you might like to consider this.

Hicks and Gillett hate each other. The club has their debt incurred acquiring the club. They have already refinanced and the club pays interest of £30m a year. Accounts of Kop Holdings Ltd (set up to run the club) show a loss of £32.3m in the last year, despite reaching the Champions League final. The duo had to draw £1.5m to cover their ‘personal expenses’, hardly something rich men need to do. The duo have still not obtained finance for the new stadium. If they have not got it now, they will not get it. They have no capital worth talking about, the world is already suffering the ‘credit crunch’ and is about to go into recession.

Villa is totally stable and improving.

If the Reds have to sell to buy, they will have to do it again next season. Does any other Champions League club have to do that? Eventually they will run out of players. Are Man U, Chelsea or Arsenal interested in Milner? How long before someone comes in for Torres or Stevie? Will the duo resist the desperate need to sell? Have you ever heard of the two full backs Benny has just bought?

Who will pay £15m for Crouch, with only 1 year on his contract? Is Benny that daft? Harry Rednapp cannot believe what he is asking?
If they get the money to buy you, who else will they be able to afford? Benny has just had to confirm publicly his job is safe. He will be the last to know he’s going.

The Reds are a season from emulating Leeds, maybe DIC will save them from administration and a 10 point loss. DIC will sack Benny and the new man might not want you, or Stevie, who is reaching an age when they will cash in. A good agent would never sell his client to a manager with such an uncertain future or such an unstable club. The Scousers have not got a hope of catching the 3 above them.

They must qualify for the Champions League.

You are idolised by the Villa fans, but you won’t be by the scousers, wrong accent.

At Villa you have established yourself as an England regular. How do you feel about being rotated and only playing every other game? Fabio, one of the more important people in your life has said, “It’s very important to see the players every week. Its better for us if they play regularly (Crouch, Bridge and Defoe to note). It’s not important to be playing in the Champions League. A lot of players have done very well for the national team (you) without playing in the Champions League”. Source - Independent 10.6.08.

Steve (gis us a job) McClaren has just tried to raise his profile by saying you will benefit from Champions League football. Well he made only one good decision as England manager, he picked you who never played in it. But what does his view matter any more?

Benny has said they can play you at full back, wide and central midfield. He doesn’t know where he is going to play you. You need to play central midfield regularly. You play for the best manager in the country. Do you really want your next child born a scouser?! What does the wife say, or more importantly keep to herself?

Have you any idea of the fans response if you ever return to Villa in a red shirt? Don’t bother. Look Stevie in the eye, does he care for anyone other than himself and the Reds? Just accept you are bloody well off and you could screw it up, for what? Stevie will tell you about the importance of loyalty, if you need to be told, he must be laughing his head off.

Think Gareth, life isn’t always greener living in the red.
From someone who has contributed to your wage packet for the last 10 years.

@ ben richards
i was just saying its a terrible idea, people are paid to do this job and how well there doing it we cant say but how would you like it if your customers/people outside the business start giving you tips on how to do your job. if this was a good idea dont you think one of the clubs in the world would have adopted this idea.

If it helped I wouldn't mind - You should always be willing to listen to others if they think you might be doing something wrong or something that might improve what you do. If there idea stinks you don't have to pay heed.

In regards this process there is something similar at a few clubs in Italy - Ok its more on a youth / future front. But I can tell you Lazio & Fiorentina do something near to it.

As for others I really don't know. But ask yourself something - Villa do have money (Fact) whilst there are many teams from many countries that don't but they seem to find talent from other places - So please tell me what's working there - A lot of these teams wouldn't have the scouting system we have for sure.

macmccarthy.

Brilliant.