John

Our transfer budget for last season was a mere £10m. I cannot see us being able to sign "bigger & better players" with that sort of budget and I cannot see our outgoing owner wanting to increase that budget during this window. Signing free transfer players may also prove harder than we would like to think if wages are to remain pegged and Marc's departure suggests that may remain the case. Given the shock news of an even playing field for bomb squad members (which it is hard to see being the manager's idea) could it be that he was told that they will be just like new signings for us next season?

Nobody noticed when he attended the home games dressed as Hercules last season either villabromsgrove.

It is a pity that we look like losing one of our players at a time when we cannot afford to bring in a replacement. It is also a worry that it will make us weaker and a club who are likely to be fighting with us at the wrong end of the table stronger. But that is where we are as a football club at the moment unable to pay the wages out of contract players would want to stay with us or the wages new players would want to join us if they were prepared to sign for us in our current state of limbo.

I think we would struggle to attract players to the club with the long term future of the owner and manager open to question. I also think we may struggle to get players who are with us to sign new contracts for the same reason and because the club will not want to increase the wage bill too much pending a potential sale. I suspect we will be looking to sell where we can and using any savings in wages or fees on bringing in the odd player on loan. I think money wise £5m - £10m might be the very most we will see being used in our current state of limbo over this transfer window. We need change and we need it now or we run the risk of looking back at last season as the good old days by this time next year or should I say the slightly better days?

I suspect loan players that sign for us are expected to be strictly that by the club. That is because we lack the money players such as these would command in the form of both transfer fees and wages. This is even more so the case now as we currently have no means or will to do a long term deal in our present state of financial limbo. Players like Walker and Bertrand play for us to get first team games and to show their owner clubs or potential new clubs that they are good enough to do a job for them. Whilst with us if asked they will express an interest in joining us but I doubt if they or we would see that as being a realistic future prospect. Sadly unless the new owners turn up before the window closes I can see us relying on further loan signings to keep us up and as Small Heath demonstrated with a similar policy albeit in a lower division that can be a bumpy and uncertain ride to safety.

"He's saying that he doesn't know, but he has said that he has had it confirmed by two sources." Daddies & Heinz possibly useless?

"My cousin works for John Lewis, but I don't know whether he's ever met Mr Lewis in person. I could ask him, I suppose?" I have been in touch with Randy following your suggestion Rob. His value for the club is a tad high for me at the moment and he has told me he has never knowingly undersold any club he has owned but I have stressed it is essential we sell to the right buyer quickly!

We could start by bringing GT back to the club say as director of football so the new or current owner/manager has someone who can offer sound advice on both the club and the game in general.

Our former chairman is not in the know any more and surely if someone had told him the identity of the prospective buyer he would not want to put any deal at risk by breaking the story this far past his bed time?

Although we had wanted good news as soon as we could get it this lacked the detail we had hoped for. Given it was also made public on the same day that the England World Cup squad was it soon became the second biggest sports news of the day at best given WBA are now looking for a new boss. I really hope we have been looking for a new owner before today and that we can have one in place sooner rather than later because that is the news we need to have.

Talk Sport have just mentioned a Red Bull rumour. The first of many more potential links...

"Id say if the sale doesent go ahead funds would also be released from the tv income to fund new players too." Not sure on 2 fronts Nigel. Would potential new owners want the current one spending income that may have been included in the asking price they were quoted and would enough of that income be used to avoid another struggle?

"On a practical level, the Club will continue with its normal operations and plans for the summer." I had hoped the statement would be of a sale rather than that we are for sale. Could it be that any offers he may have had did not match his valuation and we are now up for grabs on a general basis in the hope that other bids might? It may well be that a hunt for a buyer at the right price may be a long one and that in the interim any targets we may have had for players will move elsewhere with us starting the season with the same squad and manager in place because the current owner will not pay off the current manager or make any signings with the prospect of a sale pending. This really needs sorting out quickly because the longer we continue to tread water the more likely it is that we will drown at the end of next season.

"I'm ok with randy staying as long as he opens up his cheque book a little more. Instead of the regular £20mil, give £30mil, think that's plenty to compete in this league" Enough to compete in the bottom half possibly cosofsaunders assuming that £30m is for signings only rather than for wages as well. But after the years of treading water near the bottom of the table I think it would take a lot more than £30m to compete in the league as a whole and we would need a big change in direction of our football club for that to happen.

I agree Pawlowski looked a great prospect pre-season and he has to be worth looking at (we might even be able to afford him if we do not get that change of owner we are anticipating) .

Another possible scenario to add to those already provided by smetrov: I have received bids for Aston Villa but none have matched my valuation of the club. I am therefore determined to continue with the long term project that is in place. This will see the club meet UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations and aim for a marked improvement in first team results".

Thanks for the kind words. I see where you are coming from on Delph 8pints and I once again agree on the points you have made villa-revolution.

Source: Player Match Ratings: Safe at last!

Villa tamed the Wembley bound Tigers yesterday and by so doing secured our place in the top flight for another season. But now is the time to make the necessary changes to prevent another season like this being set before us. If we continue to flirt with relegation season after season the consequences will be inevitable and unacceptable for our football club. What we want now is that promised bright future rather than a dismal, depressing and embarrassing one. A goal on 58 seconds gave us just the start we had wanted in this vital game for us. Although we were pegged back on 28 minutes we did not fold as we had done against Stoke and instead Weimann claimed two late first half goals at the perfect time. The crowd got behind the team and they responded to prevent us having to rely on the results of other teams to ensure our safety. But six home wins, ten home defeats and 38 points from 36 games simply is not good enough for this football club. It was a good time to be playing the visitors but as their manager said “we got what we deserved and that was nothing” and who among us would want to disagree with his wise words? My player ratings from a game that has seen us finally hit the 38 points that we needed to secure our safety are: Brad Guzan – 7 – Did so well to stretch out a hand to keep a 30 yard Huddlestone shot from finding the top corner of the net on 35 minutes. Our brittle confidence might well have been shot had we gone behind at that point. Brad also made a decent low save from the same player on 75 minutes when he hit a shot from the edge of the box. Matt Lowton – 6 – A solid enough performance. Ciaran Clark – 6 – Fortunate not to pay the price on 59 minutes when he missed his kick and presented Rosenior with the opportunity to find Jelavic inside the box but the striker scuffed his chance. Ciaran was otherwise solid enough yesterday. Ron Vlaar – 7 – Solid in his own game and did his bit in maintaining the concentration of the two central defenders alongside him. Nathan Baker – 6 – Unlucky not to head the second in himself on 41 minutes when first his powerful header from a Delph corner was kept out near the line by Jelavic and then his follow up header bounced onto the crossbar and out. But he played a key part in that goal and gave a much improved performance at the back. Ryan Bertrand – 6 – Let us hope this will not be his last Villa Park appearance in our shirt. Again gave us the assurance we have lacked so often this season in this position. The money needs to be found to make this and other signings happen in the coming months Fabian Delph - 6 – Held things together in the middle. Ashley Westwood – 7 – Hit our opener. Ash did well yesterday and can kick on next season. Gabby was fed the ball on the line just inside their half in the 1st minute. He then made a run at pace brushing Davies aside before playing the ball into Albrighton who missed his kick but recovered to feed Westwood on the edge of the box who proceeded to coolly pick his spot and hit the ball past Harper into the corner of the net. Marc Albrighton – 6 – Played his part in our second and we now need to secure his services for next year. Andreas Weimann – 8 – MOTM – Stepped up to the plate when Gabby left the field and scored the two late first half goals that have kept us up. Made a good run into the box on 39 minutes having left two defenders in his wake but his shot was blocked by Harper. He was Andi on the spot on 41 minutes when after Baker had been denied by Jelavic and then woodwork he headed home an attempted headed clearance from Jelavic to restore our lead. He then added a second in the second minute of first half stoppage time. Albrighton did well to keep the ball in play before finding Bowrey nicely. Bowrey then took his time before hitting a good cross into Andi whose glancing header found the corner of the net our third and match winning goal. Might have had a hat-trick had Bowrey played the ball back to him early on 52 minutes when he had run on unmarked instead of hitting a shot himself which Harper kept out at his near post. Gabriel Agbonlahor – 6 – Left the field on 24 minutes having picked up a knock in a clash with ex-Villa man Davies on his return to Villa Park. But he had already made a big contribution to our win in this “Cup Final” with the determined run that led to our opener. Substitutes: Jordan Bowrey – 7 – Replaced Gabby on 24 minutes and went on to give his best performance in our shirt. Unluckily turned Rosenior’s 28th minute effort into his own net after Huddlestone had played a free kick to the unmarked but offside defender on the edge of the box. Might have tried sticking out a leg on 25 minutes when the ball sped past him for a corner having taken a slight deflection after he had headed the ball onto Weimann who had beat Davies and got a cross over at the second attempt. Had a 39th minute header tipped over the bar by Harper having got on the end of a ball from Delph. Karim El Ahmadi – Replaced Albrighton on 76 minutes and was not on long enough to earn a rating. Leandro Bacuna – Replaced Weimann on 81 minutes and was also not on the field long enough to get a rating. Onwards and Upwards Villa! John Lewis

66, 70 & 90 for me in that order.

Nearing 500 now.

The Times quotes someone as having been told by him that he would "love for her to be dead".

Corpus Christi College in Leeds is “open as usual today”. But it sadly opened without 61 year old Anne Maguire this morning who had taught there for the past 41 years since leaving university to take up a career in teaching. Anne Maguire was due to retire this year. But a well earned retirement was denied her by a 15 year old male pupil at around 11.45 yesterday. Her assailant is said to have left his GCSE Spanish lesson having asked to do some printing. On his return he is reported to have walked up behind his victim in front of her class of 30 and ended her life by repeatedly stabbing her in the back and neck with a kitchen knife. The 15 year old was held by a fellow teacher who had heard the screams coming from her class and by other staff who then helped detain him until the police arrived. Mrs Maguire was taken to hospital by paramedics but was declared dead on arrival. The accused was said to have held a grudge against the teacher following a series of arguments and a detention he had been given by her last week. He is said to have a history of depression and is described as being withdrawn. His Facebook page apparently lists no friends and features a pencil drawing of the grim reaper. But what on earth could lead him to consider that he had any justification to even consider taking a life? What also leads to a situation where a survey carried out by the Teacher Support Network shows that 48% of teachers have either been assaulted or threatened by pupils? Anne Maguire was not a soldier going to war yesterday morning. She was a teacher of RE, Music and Spanish who was expected to return home safely to her family as were those staff and pupils who left for school today. My thoughts are with her family at their time of loss.

In the bygone past the team kicked a few balls into the crowd and clapped the fans pre game. I think some clubs also had a banner saying something like "thank you for your loyal support" but the lap around the ground tended to only apply if the team had won something. I think we might want to think about going back to what was done in the past for this one...

I think we may well have the points to stay up by the skin of our teeth already and another point would give us safety. But strange things happen on the last day of the season and I really would not want to be going to Spurs looking for other teams to do the job for us that we were unable to do.