ciggiesnbeer

Well good for him for showing up and smiling with fans. I have no idea whether he will be around next season but fairplay for not sulking or whining to the press.

We didnt turn on Lambert after he dropped our best player, we got thrashed 8-0 , kicked out of the cup by a League two side and he put us into the relegation zone. Why would we turn on him for benching a player if he has attitude issues?

same was happening for me when using internet exporer but it worked first time when I tried it with google chrome. Hope that helps Yeah AVTV is also very browser picky. For some reason it will not work with firefox for me only chrome. Other folks have said the opposite. Random

Funnily enough there is a youtube video of him at an airport (In Japanese unfortunately). Some Japanese guy has translated it to him saying something like, I understand there is interest from AVFC and this excites me. He then goes onto say something like the deal is half way there. Or in direct translation "It is halfway towards my goal" Is that really how it translates though? I would love it if we signed him, love it.

I surely hope he would be clapped. if we can clap Frank bloody Lampard when he nearly relegated us then we should be able to get a cheer or two out for Darren Bent. *Note I also also happily clap for Ashley Young.

I am gonna be sad when he goes. I will always associate him with good news. I hope we get a good price for him, he is a quality finisher.

Whoa, whoa, back up there. More deluded than Newcastle and Liverpool fans? Come on son, thats some world class competition

Don't get me wrong here; "Who's going to end up in tears? Villa or Benteke." I Can't see it being Villa. I suggest you look harder then. Worse case scenario for Benteke - he doesn't cut it at spurs and becomes a fringe player on treble the salary. If Benteke leaves were in for another very tough season - unfair as that is - thats how I see it unfolding. It is unfair, but I think you are right. If he goes we will have a hell of a job to replace him. He was not consistently good for us last season but when he hit his good spells he made a huge difference.

Similar club to us except they have spent their money a lot more wisely the past few years. Pretty much it is envy that we could have been where they are and it sticks in the craw. At least thats why I hate them anyway so you hate them because they made the right choises but AVFC not? Correct.

Similar club to us except they have spent their money a lot more wisely the past few years. Pretty much it is envy that we could have been where they are and it sticks in the craw. At least thats why I hate them anyway

True but Benteke is going to be expecting more than what we are offering if he signs for them. I think that is the measure of the man Now we know it I dont hold it against him.

Nah. If Chelsea / City/ PSG bid for him he would be off like a shot. It is clear Benteke doesnt give a shit about anything but the maximum money. I dont blame him for that, but lets not dress up his sudden interest in Spurs as anything other than what it is. They are the only club who are interested and who might be able to afford him.

Tap in specialist whos been having it easy in the SPL. no thanks Is he? Honestly I have no idea what his play style is. He has some decent stats , but as you say thats in a one team league. If we do sell tekkers I am not sure we would be in for another forward. I can see Lambert spening big (for him) on a playmaker type instead. Well Ive seen him score nice goals but most times if I watch Celtic highlights his goals are tap ins Cheers. Well it looks like QPR might be in for him, which makes more sense.

Tap in specialist whos been having it easy in the SPL. no thanks Is he? Honestly I have no idea what his play style is. He has some decent stats , but as you say thats in a one team league. If we do sell tekkers I am not sure we would be in for another forward. I can see Lambert spening big (for him) on a playmaker type instead.

Too bad he has now officially got Bentekes chant already

"no sale without bids" more like.

What should Woodward ask in the post match interview then? "So, fitness levels appear to be picking up" ... "And.. Those fitness levels ay? They'll pick up even more soon" ... He could ask about tactics, individual fitness and roles, how new players will fit in, how Lambert is changing how we play, Lamberts views on how German football is different, there is a hell of a lot of interesting stuff he could be asking, not least being he could ask about players other than goal scorers and goal keepers. I am not asking for much, just stepping up his questions to be more football related and take the funny man routine down a notch. To his credit Jack can be a decent match commentator and his comments clearly indicate he actually knows something about football, but he just turns off when he is doing interviews with the team/manager and asks some inane nonsense. Look at yesterday when he had Faulkner in an interview. He doesnt have to ask any awkward questions but asking Faulkner where he plans to take the club with Lambert and a retrospective on last season particularly january's bold decisions would have been great. Instead he asked him about morale and team bonding or some such. He has a challenge with Lambert who is a dour bastard at the best of times I will give him that, but still Jack and the AVTV team could up their game and provide a lot more value IMHO.

I know I do. The guy is a fantastic player.. Same.

I think we would have to change. Last season we became a bit one dimensional towards the end. Not surprising given Bentekes ability in the air but I remember a couple of games where the most completed pass combinations were Guzan to Benteke.

It is true. I dont mind JW's mindless optimism, in fact I like that. What annoys the crap out of me is he gets access to the players and Lambert WEEKLY. Think about what he could ask them? "Paul I noticed to you had Westwood dropping a little deeper than normal today, why was that?" , "Andreas, you were playing more centrally today, how does that alter your game?" They are just made up questions but Woodward almost always just asks some cringeworthy idiocy instead.

Not sure if this topic has been tried before but AVTV is a pretty big deal for many of us overseas. So to make this topical, Lambert is the latest person who looks like he is going to smack Jack Woodward. In todays post match briefing Woodward decides to start talking about the weather just after talking about the army, Lambert looks at him like he is a complete idiot, then smiles in the same way a cat smiles before killing a mouse, then just changes the subject back to the game. I swear he is just going to smack Woodward soon. (sorry if this is OT mods, please lock if it is).

What could be the possible reason for doing this...? Levy has a history of doing this. He definitely did it when we sold Robbie Keane to Liverpool. He managed to use the press to change the focus away from the fact we were yet again selling one of our prize assets, to the fight he was in with Liverpool. Our fans backed him, yet remarkably we sold Keane for the exact amount mentioned in the NOTW the day the story first broke. It was almost as if the deal had already been struck. If this time last week it was announced, out of the blue, that Benteke had been sold to Spurs for £25 million, wouldn't most on here gone mental? Lerner et al would have been crucified. But the way this story is evolving is making such a deal far more palatable. Why did Villa announce he'd made a transfer request? Often we later learn that players make these requests, but they get instantly turned down, so at the time we don't know about them. For example, the window before he joined you, Bent wanted to go to Turkey, but Sunderland refused and no one knew. I don't see the benefit of telling the world a player has asked to leave when he still has 3 years left on his contract. Why accept the request, especially given he has 3 years left on his deal? Man Utd have been very clear that Rooney isn't for sale and he's only got 2 years left. If you really want to keep him, then just say no. Surely the only reason can be that there is a price you'd actually be happy to sell at. With that in mind, why do Midlands based journalists continually talking about a £25 million fee? £25 million seems low for setting a price. If you want £25 million it would be normal to quote £30-35 million. Nothing has been said by the club itself about the actual price, but it's journalists that report on Villa and are based in Birmingham that are saying it. They aren't going to want to low ball Villa, as their livelihoods depend on good relations with the biggest club in the region. If you were trying to sell a player for £25 million, wouldn't you get your allies in the press to talk much higher numbers? Wouldn't the likes of Moxley and John Percy be suggesting figures of £30-£40 million? It seems really odd. Why would Benteke's agent seemingly be so dismissive of other viable options? I've never heard of an agent ruling out big clubs the way he has. Chelsea don't even have a decent striker at the moment bar Lukaku. It seems odd to rule them out stating worries about playing time given their strikers last season were Demba Ba and Torres. I'd imagine any £25 million striker going there would expect plenty of playing time given his competition. Can any of you remember an agent saying things like that before? If you got £25 million now, I bet most of your fans would be a lot less disappointed than they would have last week. It all seems very similar to when we sold Robbie Keane and Levy used to the media to take the focus away from the fact we were yet again selling one of our star players and onto the deal itself. Doesn't it seem to you as if the focus has now shifted onto whether Lerner can hold firm and get his £25 million? It's almost as if it's now becoming more about whether can stand firm and get the £25 million, rather than the fact another star player is being sold. I just don't get why Villa didn't flat our refuse to sell and now journalists with links to Villa and quoting £25 million. It's almost as if it's being managed so the deal is seen as a triumph. I would never had thought Levy would or could pay so much, but now I wouldn't be surprised if a deal for around £25 million was announced in the next couple of weeks. I think you are a smart bloke. I think the only bit you are missing here is you are assuming his agent is a rational person. He is a fooking nutcase. That explains a lot of the weirdness you note. That said I rather like your conspiracy theory. Both clubs leading their fans bit by bit down the garden path. I can see it tbh.

Hopefully he will not be rated by Hodgson (just as we can hope no Villa player gets picked for their country). The less our players are involved in international nonsense the better.

And Gardener sounds good too.

Weimann!!!!