[quote]I'm guessing they're only linking him with us because he is tall and Martin O'Neill likes tall strikers that his defenders can hoof it up too. [/quote]

We are regularly talked about as being the most exciting team outside the top four by all manner of pundits. Do you really think that this is all MON is good for? Give the guy a break for crying out loud!!

Well said Ghosthunter.

It's so easy to make those comments Damian, just because thats what everyone said about his style of play when he was at Leicter.
Do you really think that was o'neils game plan last season. to hoof it up field for Carew. I'm afraid not!
Let's hope the whingers have had a lie in this morning, time to think things over, and come on this site with more positive attitudes towards the club.

up the villa

Not just his time in Leicester. I posted this earlier:
[quote]Someone told me earlier this week that Martin O'Neill was worshipped in Glasgow mostly for the pride he brought back - not much else.

The same person also reminded me who there manager was now and suggested that any half decent manager would do well at Celtic.[/quote]
but you are right - it is easy to make those comments, which is why i've said we need to see an improvement in how the actual football is played. look at arsenal or manchester unit and watch how they play - it's intelligent and they seem to know what the plan is - look at gabby yesterday - running with the ball - hasn't anyone told him what to do when he's got it at his feet and he's running?

how many times did we see that last season and it's still not changed ...

Zigic would probably be worth a £5M punt, he never got a decent chance at Los Ches because of all the upheavel and unrest behind the scenes last season (he wasn't the only one) so he might be worth it but just like buying Crouch, could you see him and Carew (two big men) together up front?

Screws of the World also ran an article saying Villa were after Green!! yet another goalkeeper...That makes 3!!...Perhaps MON is hoping to put 2 keepers in goal next season to make up for the defensive weaknesses!

Fair play Damian, hadn't read the previous comment. Yes we do need to see an improvement in our possesion football. And that will only be improved with players that have a liitle more quality on the ball. This in turn will rub off on the youner players like Gabby.

Ron

I hope you are right. I believe Sidwell is a definite move in the right direction - he likes to get forward and he will score goals, but I'm not sure he is the creative force we are desperate for.

We're also desperate for quite a few players and unless they come in we will struggle to do as well/better than last season in my opinion.

we've been linked to james milner again in the sunday express. but keegan has said he wants 10million for him. i would love to see james milner back at villa. and i know people will say 'we need better than him' and 'he isn't the type we need to get into top 4' just remember that liverpool are after him and he was the only player that stood out last season for newcastle.

I'm convinced Ghosthunter and Ron also still think it was a good idea to invade Iraq and stay there on a lie, looking for weapons of mass destruction! When will you two and the like realise we were told when MON took over and every transfer window since that the players of quality would be coming in. How many have been real quality that would get into any EPL team? Not even Young would be guaranteed a start in every EPL team and he's MON's best signing.

I note you both and others that say the same still evade the issue of MON's failure to sort the RB, RM and keeper situations. All we get is 'have faith in MON'!

Yes, I accept your point of view. After all it's your opinion, but stop coming on saying we are all moaners and whingers. We also have an opinion. Do you not think we want the same success for Villa. I'm not bothered if it's with MON in charge or whoever. I just want a manager that sorts the team out with some quality players for once and get the bloody right side sorted for this season.

Were all going to support Villa whatever happens, because we don't have glory supporters, but I can't see how anyone can agree with MON's lack of sorting the right side properly.

Noone has yet come forward, to stand up and be counted, to say they think it's ok for MON not to have sorted right side out. That's a challenge to someone? Sorry it's not a competition to win a DVD though! ;) ;D

rob green to sign for villa

So just remind me how much we have improved under MON then Andy!?
You liked the o'dreary days did you?

I can see the point about the lack of transfers, and i shall 100% agree if we still have the same squad at the start of the season. But i know we won't.

And comparing it to the war in Iraq mab be going a little far mate!

Oh and Milner is def the man for me on the right. Prefer hom over Bentley anyday, he's over rated!

bring back gregory!!!! because he could get the players in and quality 1's aswell, not this twat mon

i am going down the bookies and i am putting £20 on mon to be sacked by christmas, i am losing patience with this guy fast!!! y do clubs like portsmouth get the better players? i will gurantee you that he will buy rubbish again in the transfer window and we wont have any more players come saturday!!!!

graig gardner has to be the most over rated player at villa!!! he is awfull!!!!

martin jol to be next villa manager

I think Green would be an essential signing. Taylor wasnt on it last night, and Friedel although being fantastic... is 37.

We don't need Zigic, we need midfielders and defenders. We were sh1ite last night because we were unfit, Gabby lost the ball too many times.

Petrov and Sidwell were hard to notice in that game, but that was just one game.

LINK

Said it last season. You were lucky.

villa villa villa got out on the wrong side of the bed this mornin!

Last night proved that we need players badly if not we are going to suffer, we need 6 players, a keeper, righ back and right midfield is like crazy! a creative spark in midfield and atop striker, if not were going to be in real big trouble, ijust dont know whats going on at the club

Bring back Ellis & Dr Jo!

andyyouareatwit said

[quote]I'm convinced Ghosthunter and Ron also still think it was a good idea to invade Iraq and stay there on a lie, looking for weapons of mass destruction! [/quote]

Pointless and not funny.

Anyways, Damian - in your previous posts on another article you say that your MONs biggest fan. Now, I know that you were only alluding to the fact that you are a fan but I can't help wandering what you're a fan of. You don't seem to like his transfer dealings and you don't seem to like his style of football - I'm not having a major pop here but I honestly think you don't really like him much at all but don't seem to want to come out and say it. I understand your frustrations and I think the only difference with me and (it seems) most other people on this site is that, although I'd love to see more players, I'm happy if results keep coming and am willing to give the guy a chance to continue to do his stuff. Has he not earned the right after taking us from 16th to 6th for us to perhaps give him the benefit of the doubt??

As for Andyyouareatwit. How can anyone stand up for the fact that we don't have a recognised right back, it's not good but by the same token how can people continually lambast MON when his results, and this is what it's all about, continue to improve.

Of course we all support the club but if MON, RL or one of the current players looked on this site (and I'd like to bet that some of them do!!) I would feel that doing anything for Aston Villa is a waste of time. We are doing OK and heading in the right direction have a good Manager and Owner and we should enjoy it while it lasts (which hopefully it will), we've waited long enough!!

At 16th we were under achieving for the squad we had, which probably had something to do with O'dreary, So it's true we are moving in the right direction but it's not as miraculas as everyone seems to think, we have moved in the right direction but to carry on we need to buy better players than MON has so far!!! with pompy, spuds etc... all buying quality we will be left behind, I mean come on how many millions has MON wasted so far, it's true we need squad players but we need players for our starting lineup, I want the best for my team like everyone else, and I'm not satisfied to sit back and wait for some young players to come through, we need to buy big now, or it will be mid to bottom of the table for us next year. I suggest ghosthunter get an opinion and stop being a sheep!

reading this blog makes me suicidal.

have you seen nikola zigic on wikipedia. UGLY B@ST@RD OR WHAT? hope we don't sign him, don't need forwards and he's got a girls name.

Ghosthunter

I'm a huge fan of Martin O'Neill on the basis that give him a player and he'll make him better but at the moment he's not getting the players and as I've alluded above - it's about getting the right players in; Sidwell is a start but players like Salifou, Harewood, Routledge, Petrov, Maloney (although I don't like saying him as I don't think he's had a proper chance) are not the right type of players.

I am a huge fan of Martin O'Neill but I've recognised now that he cant do everything and Randy Lerner has to step in.

Martin O'Neill is a fantastic manager and he's got two very good coaches but he's not very good in the transfer market.

IF we all accept that Martin O'Neill is a fantastic manager, which I think we all do, then what is to say that he shouldn't just concentrate on that and we bring in say a Director of Football to get the players, because IF there is money available, you don't need to be a genius to figure out who to go and spend it on and maybe, just maybe, Martin O'Neill isn't the best at convincing players or maybe he's just not very good at it or maybe he's stuck doing it the old fashioned way.

Get him the right players and the football will get better, but I think he's too interested in getting players that he knows will run and run for 90 minutes that maybe don't have the flair that we really are crying out for - that is only going to get us top 6.

But, in terms of Martin O'Neill as a manager of a football team - I think maybe there is only one better in the league but there are other managers that are maybe better or have people in place at doing other things, which are also very important.

In the modern game there is more to it than getting the lads up for the 90 minutes on a Saturday - you need to have naturally gifted players, intelligent players and you need to have so much going on behind the scenes that can make things happen that it's quite hard for us to comprehend.

But, as a football manager, he's untouchable in my book, he just needs the players and Lerner has a responsibility for that too, after all it is his club.

These are glaring holes...we need milner and miguel, minimum, now!!

micheal johnson is speaking to MON now about a move to villa park

LINK

Sky Sports are reporting the story pretty much as a done deal. If Zigic wants to come to Birmingham, Valencia are keen to sell. This is all good, 'cause Nikola could be a 20-a-season striker for us, going on his past record.

I expect he'll go to Newcastle though.

[quote]I am a huge fan of Martin O'Neill but I've recognised now that he cant do everything and Randy Lerner has to step in.

Martin O'Neill is a fantastic manager and he's got two very good coaches but he's not very good in the transfer market. [/quote]
I agree with this sentiment. O'Neil is a stunning man-manager and tactician, but we need a director of football or similar who isn't afraid to splash some of Lerner's cash around (and not just on overpriced domestic talent).

Theres no point moaning about the performance last night. It could have turned out alot worse and we have every chance now of a comfortable win at villa park.
The real concern is the lack of transfer activity and also in my view the amount of players we are being linked to. Surely villa know who they want so like other clubs lets come out, make public who they want and go all out to get them so the fans know where they stand. We must have been linked with easily 100 players so far. My other concern, as I,ve stated on here before, is arent we suppposed to have plenty of money? If not why did we give our shirt deal away? and if so why dont we for once pay a little extra for players so that we can push on? In return that should bring in extra revenue to cover the extra weve spent.
I'm not going to start my list of players I'd buy as its up to O'niell however one player I would be desperate for is Wright-phillips. For me though its all coming too late as this summer we needed alot of good players and we had a good chance of getting them I thought. Look at our team last night. Firstly every player currently knows he will start next week so wheres the incencentive to play well. Secondly some players are not good enough, eg, bouma, knight, petrov, gardener, taylor and in my view gabby and reo-coker should not be guarenteed starters and carew needs bringing off in the games he cant be bothered with which in my view is 1 in 2. Our subs our average or young so I honestly believe we need 10 good players if we are to push on.
Come on villa, lets name who we want, pay that little extra to get them here and lets start looking to next season properly with a good squad.

Damian

Nicely articulated and, to a degree, I can see what you're saying, however..

I think you're asking MON to be something he's not (or ever has been). I think he would want to pick the players who he wants and if that happens to be players that run and run for 90 minutes and it works for him then that's what he'll go for. I'm sure this isn't quite what you meant (though it does sound a little like it) but I don't think MON would want someone else picking players for him - in fact, with the exception of Man City and Chelsea Managers I don't think there are many that would!!

Also, when you say that, if the money is available, you don't need to be a genius to figure out who to spend it on - well I'd have to disagree a little. It's being able to work out just who to spend it on that separates the likes of Wenger & Ferguson to the rest.

Nonetheless I like your answer to my question and am glad that you set me straight on what it is you like about MON (and I'm not being sarcastic). I do agree I don't think he's very good in the transfer market (though TBH I didn't really want Bentley so was quite pleased to hear we weren't persuing) but, as I've said before, I'll only start to get on his back when his system of working fails to achieve the progress I'm [i]realistically[/i] expecting.

I also rate Martin as a manager the trouble is, he wants to control everything else.
We are no longer in the 70s events outside like the Bosman rulings have changed the infrastructe of the game.
Player power is killing the game but we still have to compete.
As for overated players for me GabA has to take the title, he boarders on lazy to often & does not have the vision to use his pace.
Milner a wast of money we have to many other weak areas to fill first.

Zigic is a big donkey, the picture of him on teamtalk says it all. If however we had a bentley on the right and a young on the left he would bang in a few

Ghosthunter

O'Neill wanted Bentley and he wanted Defoe - both players I think you'd agree that would strengthen our current team. He could also have had a right back last summer but wouldn't pay the £2mn. more the club wanted, but I've forgotten the name and maybe it's something I shouldn't bring up.

He lost out on Bentley because his idea of a fair price was too low for Blackburn - regardless of everything else these are the facts as we know them today.

He lost out on Defoe because he wouldn't pay the wages Defoe wanted - this hasn't come out but I've got it from a good source. Defoe even wanted to come to us over Portsmouth I'm also told but there was such a huge gap in what we offered and what he got, it just didn't work out.

My point is and while you didn't really want Bentley, we are crying out for a right sided midfielder, there is a chance that we could have got him and there was a definite chance we could have gotten Defoe.

Why Martin O'Neill doesn't want to pay? Maybe he hasn't got the money or maybe he's not very good at the side of the business; or maybe he really doesn't think it fair to offer £15mn. for Bentley and pay Defoe £70k a week - if that is true then we'll never get that calibre of player, because that is what is is about these days; sad but true.

If it isn't true and we have loads of money available then Lerner maybe has to step in and help - i.e. take responsibility for his football club or tell O'Neill; just pay the 'fu*&ing money'.

I reallyi don't think we have it and O'Neill is having to do it on a budget and if that is the case, and it is starting to look like that, we'll never be top four, because to get into that league, you have to spend the money, because they will and there are only so many players at that level.

I'm not saying he isn't involved in who comes to the club, only that maybe he should be giving a list to someone who has the responsibility for getting them.

Zigic is actually really good. He has a tasty strike rate in La Liga and is good in the air AND with the ball on the floor(unlike Crouch).
I'm a Villa fan but have also been a Valencia fan since I was little(due to family ties) so it really excites me to see Villa links with such great players as Zigic and Miguel. Hopefully we can hoist them up to Villa Park in the week and get them to sign. Brad Friedel will be great too because, from what I've seen in pre-season, Taylor's a freaking joke!

Damian

[quote]maybe he's not very good at the side of the business; or maybe he really doesn't think it fair to offer £15mn. for Bentley and pay Defoe £70k a week - if that is true then we'll never get that calibre of player, because that is what is is about these days; sad but true.
[/quote]

That bit sums it up for me. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I think you've hit the nail on the head there.

[quote]I reallyi don't think we have it and O'Neill is having to do it on a budget and if that is the case, and it is starting to look like that, we'll never be top four, because to get into that league, you have to spend the money, because they will and there are only so many players at that level.
[/quote]

That bit is off the mark for me. Delighted to give you a light at the end of the tunnel though.

[quote]If it isn't true and we have loads of money available then Lerner maybe has to step in and help - i.e. take responsibility for his football club or tell O'Neill; just pay the 'fu*&ing money'. [/quote]

That bit just ain't gonna happen. That's not the way either of them work.

Yes please.

I honestly believe we just don't have the cash avaliable to get these players in, Defoe would have been a great signing for us, We also should of tried to get in Diarra as well who went to Pompey. RL has done nothing to take this club forward in my opinion, we might as well have Doug Ellis back........after second thoughts maybe not.
Id love us to sign Zigic, we struggle when we don't have a big man upfront, just like when Sutton got injured and then Carew, would love to see the stats when both of these players were playing and when they were'nt..We can't rely on Carew being fit the whole season

Ghosthunter

But we don't know if it will or will not happen yet.

If Lerner is the successful businessman we're told then he will be continuously adapting how he does business and how he runs his businesses and the people involved in those business.

If he is the successful businessman we are told and he starts to see more and more targets picking other clubs (we have to assume he's aware of the targets as they speak every day), then he's going to want to help or look for ways to help.

If he's the successful businessman we're told and he really wants football success at Aston Villa Football Club (success on the pitch can be directly linked to financial success off the pitch for a football club so it's a fair assumption), if we don't continue the development this coming season - on all fronts - he's quite possibly going to want to get involved.

The fact of the matter is, we don't know much about Lerner but we do know he's fairly active with the Cleveland Browns, so maybe it's a case of him not getting involved yet to see how it plays out.

I also believe that if Martin O'Neill needs help, he's a big enough man to accept it if it's offered and for all we know, he may actually go asking for it if this transfer window turns out like the last one and the one before.

I think O'Neill has had a few shocks this summer with Barry wanting to leave and him not getting everything he had hoped and with us not getting information from anywhere, we are left to guess as to what the reasons are.

But, it is slowly boiling down to Lerner having to get involved because if come September 1st we've got more average and slightly above average players, some of the natives might not like it come November and we've just lost at home to a team we really should be beating.

On the other hand, we did quite well last time we had a really small squad and if we finished better next season than we did this one and maybe a trophy - I won;t be complaining and I'll probably be dancing in the street.

Ron said....

"I can see the point about the lack of transfers, and i shall 100% agree if we still have the same squad at the start of the season. But i know we won't."

The season started last night and we we have got a smaller squad than we had last season. We need quality players quickly, and lots of them.

You know that i meant the league, and i am confident we will have at least 2 mew faces by next saturday. You can hold me to that!

Damian, i strongly agree that Lerner is taking a back seat at the moment. I believe he is trusting O'Neil to do the bussiness, but like you say he won't do that for long if things do turn sour!

Damian

Interesting points again but I just don't see it quite the same way. I think RL and particularly MON are very intelligent men. Some people seem to believe(and I'm not suggesting you're one of them) that they have no clue which is just a ludicrous position to hold but that's digressing a bit. I agree that I think MON was shocked at Barry but again that's a separate and well documented subject.

I just think that RL is perhaps more genuine than you give him credit for sometimes. I'm not sure how much he is involved in the Browns but I may start to have a look to see how it compares to AV.

Anyways - Here's to some signings next week!!! (actually I think we'll have some - or at least one).

Anyone got any info about the rumours in the people today. Simpson from man.utd and sharner from wigan?

I am really surprised to hear so much negativity going on here. Are we never satisfied as Villa fans??
Personally I never thought we were in the running for Bentley and the we have a bit of a chicken and egg scenario. We won't get the decent players until we get into Europe consistently and that is the key.
I expect us to get some more average players although I would be very happy with either SWP, Milner or Lennon. MON is very well respected in EPL but he doesn't necessarily have the world wide appeal. However we are building. For Villa we should be aiming for 4/5 and hope for a good cup run.
Realistically we are about 10 players down and I think we will probably see another 5 in, but don't be too surprised if we see Gardner remaining as RB.
Come on chaps lets set keep our expectations realistic. We are still moving forward and yes I have to question MONs transfer history, but I applaud him on the way he dealt with Barry. Also look at the clubs wider appeal. We were on TV a lot more last year so that has to be a good thing.
The thing is realistically we are still a year behind from where we were under Gregory, but we also have to look at how much the competition has changed. If we do finish 4/5 that will be a fantastic achievement.
I feel nervous after the intergalactic cup and I would love us to sign a lot more players but that’s what being a Villa fan is all about.
Keep the faith and support the manager.

God please, Not Sharner...awful.. Now on the other hand Danny Simpson could we be worth a shout, remember him covering for G Neville a few times..

Damian can you let me know if your doing another squadgod this year please ?

To the topic

He will be a good signing question is when or will martin sign him 2 minutes before deadline day maybe ?

Or typical villa just miss out

hello earth calling mon you need a right back asap not a 8ft forward.martin have you been going to spec savers.where are you jazmundoxxxxxxxx

newsflash mon hands the invisible man i mean routledge a new 5 year contract saying he will be the new ronaldo and he can also play right back :D :D :D :D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Lets just be patient and see what MON does in the transfer market. Hes asking for us to be patient so lets do it! Yes last night was clear we need alot of new blood but if we can get through on saturday, then have another little break before the next round to sign a few,going out would be a disaster!

Atlas, signing a striker doesn't prevent us from signing a RB.

this whole transfer window has been a complete farce again!!! MON is a tight arse pric!!! Ok he got us 6th with an average group of players and proved he can motivate etc but a manger like him cant take us to the next level in the prem - u have to spend money and get in the real world. this window was his last chance for me - i have had enough of it!!! Sack him now!!!
our squad is so thin on numbers its nothign short of a joke!!!

Bring in Martin Jol and get rid of MON now.

[quote]taglor said:
This is getting silly now I'm all excited with the Villa again and they are making me smile!
[/quote]

That didn't last long then...welcome back ;)

Yesterday's performance frustrates me. But calling to sack MON is frankly a bit dumb and short sighted. Sacking MON will accomplish nothing. We finished sixth last year for goodness sake. How has MON harmed us? By fielding a team that tied Odense? I'm sorry, but that doesn't constitute a sackable offense. Talk to me if we lose to Odense next weekend and then start the season without a RB and a RW.

andyantichrist
I also think we need a right back but I want you to tell me who you would get and why you think MON is unable to get one.

who won the dvd?

how can people be wanting to sack MON..... are you for real?

the bloke is a legend... the best thing that has happened to us for a long time.... exluding getting rid of the doug of course...

give the guy backing

to texas villain,

keep your fat ass away from atlas!!!!

ive been brousing around internet and it may just be speculation, but mon is apparently after a young star from a russian team named peter power, plays in defence and is quite reliable.


ZAT NIGHT FOR SALE!

jazmundo
that russian player was on gta IV as a cabbie driver

are you sure bout that 8)

and jazmundo i didnt want to say it in public but

im not into 1 night stands sorry xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ;)


and i want it to last longer than our euro/run up the villa

well you never know atlas, we may even last to the second leg ;) ... in more ways than one!!!

ive just read more about this russian and it says hes "strong at the back", "keen to get the ball", and "is a really HARD player".

...sounds good to me ;D

[b][/b] no thanks you have more clubs than robbie keane and i am not easy

its amazing we have the manager that liverpool,newcastle,chelsea wanted ,even man utd said he could replace ferguson. yet we still fucking moan.If we dont trust this manager we might as well all give up.Ive never seen such exciting times at this club ,weve the english ronaldo in young,Mon is making harewood like a world beater,Curtis Davis will be a future england captain,Martin oneil turned barry from a fat slow turd into a england starter and (hopefully)sells him for 18mill. THE BLOKE IS A LIVING LEGEND STOP TALKING CRAP AND SUPPORT HIM !!!!!!!

Living legend for doing well in scotland? What else has he won?
Harewood a world beater?
Please stop supporting Villa.
ps MON is a lovely bloke just a nutjob as a manager

villa will never attract big players cos of where we're based. all want to go to london or manchester not birmingham

good articles damo, spot on.

the clubs a shambles

so who do you want to manage us shrek martin jol or some clueless twat like that,wycombe promotion,he got leicester uefa cup football !! and final league cup miracle stuff,Us from shite to 6th.I predict we will be top 4 this coming season and it wouldnt surprise me top 3.keep the faith, i always will do.

taglor - jol is hamburg manager so that isnt going to happen, plus until we actually have a season where we dont improve i dont see why MONs position should even be questioned

we are obviously 5-6 players away from being a good team and ready for the new season, but the end of the transfer window is also 6 weeks away, we need a RM and a RB before the season starts, and then some squad players before the window closes

MARTIN JOL, LOL LOL LOL

That's a new one...Zigic eh? I'll have to have a look out for him. Thing is he'll only do at best what our current strikers are doing unless he gets the service from Mr.new signing/s because the performance against Odense was awful in my opinion.
I really don't know what to think about the way our club is being run at this present time but i really hope that things improve and very quickly !
I commented the other night about Bhurji moaning to Damian like a schoolkid that one or two had made fun of his user name. He seems to have disappeared since but for those of you who don't know, a few people made jokey remarks based on his user name to which he/she took offence. Many people including myself would presume a user name to be a made up alter ego for the purpose of the blog (for instance mine is AV33 but i wasn't christened as this !)
Several entries on the blog were then entered in response to this that had nothing to do with the content of the particular thread. We have more important things to think / write about than defending so called racist comments but i do have to comment further on something above.
Maybe i have missed something, maybe a long standing joke or something but atlas and jazmundo seem to be conducting a gay chat network on the blog.
Please feel free to call me homophobic if you like but is this what we want to be reading in regards to Aston Villa Football Club an all that it stands for.
Opposing fans reading this must think we are a load of puffs !
If altas and jazmundo are joking about, please correct me immediately and i apologise for any offence caused by my comments. If you guys are serious, please use gay.com or something to conduct your affairs so as we can read about nothing but the Villa on here.
I hope i'm not in trouble now, but it needed to be said...sorry !

UP THE VILLA
;)

i have a gud feeling tat we are going to sign a player tomorrow (monday 21st)

Ghosthunter - You do not actually deserve a reply. Mmmmm calling fellow Villans Twat?!

Nan was a fan - As it happens I would have liked the Miguel link to have been done in January. That said Scharner had already attracted my attention in the last year (both by seeing him play and doing the fantasy football and keeping track of Actim Index) and I hope this link comes through. I would also have swallowed my pride and let Barry go long ago with a deal including Finnan as back-up RB. (if indeed it was £15m plus Finnan?). Bentley should be signed for what it takes. (can't be bothered to explain why he should be signed) Sad, but big fees have to be paid if we are actually going to break the top 4. Not sure about keeper, but originally I never really understood what was wrong with Sorensen (some will probably show me to be wrong on this), but Guzan should be a good deal with big Brad coming in for the first year. If I'm perfectly honest I would have been looking at selling Gabby long ago. Zigic mentioned today is also one I had seen previously and when I had seen him play he had skill, both in the air and on the ground and you know what, you can tell he is really hungry for it and loves scoring just for the sake of it.

How would I sign these. I'd bloody tell them that they are the best players around and that I will work my socks off to make them the best they can be and show them that they will be the foundation of the next big English Premier League team. Also that they will be household names cemented into their countries national teams. But I'm sure MON will be telling them all this...won't he?

That's my rant as a moaner and purveyor of doom and gloom over with. This will be my last post on this site and I will be supporting MON now whatever he does, because he's a living legend. I have decided that I am going to spit my dummy out and I will not be revisiting this subject and will be moving on to other matters (Have I heard that before recently, or is it Deja Vu?)

[quote]andyyouareatwat and andyantichrist here! said:
Ghosthunter - You do not actually deserve a reply. Mmmmm calling fellow Villans Twat?!
[/quote]
Andy - I'm sorry if you misread what I put but misread it you did!! - As a general rule, I avoid using bad language on web sites because you never know who you may offend (not everyone swears) and I didn't write it with the connotation in mind but appologise if you or anyone else thought I did.

Your earlier comments at me were pointless and not very funny and the point I was trying to make was to keep it to football or at least make your response respectfully humourous.

As a final note (if you do read this) I'm glad you've converted to the positive side I'm sure you'll enjoy it more but the dark side will always keep calling, trust me!!!

Andyarchitect.
Agree with all you've written. I think that is exactly what MON has been doing. So if you were the manager in place of him I think you'd be in exactly the same position now that he is in. You are not managing a top 4 side so your powers of persuasion would be limited like his are. You get Jol, Mourinho or Bill Shankly in as manager but they will face the same challenges. The fact is he IS making progress where others have failed.

zigic sounds like another milosevic to me. did well in his native country, but the move abroad was that step up to much.
its gettin closer to august, i said i wouldnt panic til then if we are in the same position, but im gettin a bit jittery!!

nan was a fan the point is everyone knows that is difficult to attract top players to a club like Villa who have been under performing as a club for many years. But how can Pompy attract the calibre of players to their club? The obvious answer is money and it is obvious that something is wrong at Villa. Either we have all been duped and Learner does not have the money to move us on or MON is unwilling to spend this money if it is actually there. Either way something is holding us back. I know all the MON lovers will come here and say that he is dead right not to spend money on wages for the likes of Defoe, Diarra and Bentley but he cannot keep buying the rubbish which he has bought so far and expect us to ever break the top 4. To get top players you have to spend top bucks and either we don't have it or MON is the wrong man in charge to bring us forward from 6th.

Ghosthunter.......I will be reading, but not commenting again on the front page, but before I go I owe you an apology. After the bottle of wine last night at 1am I did indeed misread your comment. Please accept my humble apology. Sorry Ghosthunter.

Up The Villa

No problem Andy it's easy done in the heat of the moment. As you say, we're all on the same side we just see things diffently. It just makes life interesting I suppose!! Don't think you should stop commenting though. This is a great site and it would be sad to lose someone over a little disagreement (or maybe you have other reasons!). Maybe you might change your mind. Apology accepted and again, sorry if I offended.