John

I take your point Denis but he did need to go with him having been in the position to have done so.

I would suggest French, German and Spanish in the EU. UK internal translation wise possibly languages such as Arabic, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and Somali.

But they do not like spending it bickster. I think Zamora would be more likely for them at half the price we would want for Bent. But, I suspect an offer that is near to what we have paid rather than the maximum we might have needed to pay (say £18m) might just tempt Randy to look to get his money back again.

I would not bank on that Mattyp-avfc. :winkold: I would guess that even if we cut out the middle man and had those kits made in those sweat shops directly the price would be similar but the mark up would just be higher. The deal with Nike suggested we would have more outlets available that would sell our kit a deal with Marcon would suggest we would have less than signing with one of the big kit makers so it suggests to me that we are moving further down market off the pitch as well as on it.

I see what you are saying myb but as Ulver said previously "It wouldnt surprise me if the board tried to sell him mind". Could it be that he has not been made aware of the contact from Liverpool and it has been done at board level? I must admit that having seen his goal celebrations at Chelsea I had thought that Darren was happy where he was but if a deal is done he would be unlikely to hang around if we agreed to let him talk to them. At the moment I have no confidence that the club would turn down a bid that approached what we have actually paid for him which I guess is nearer £18m than £24m and I would anticipate straight cash rather than one of their rejects (although that might be used to inflate the actual fee paid to make the deal look better than it is for us) might be what any sticking point might be. If DB is still with us on 1/2 then my concerns will prove groundless but I just wonder how taking his wages off the books and getting somewhere near what we paid for him may play given our present approach to financial prudence at whatever cost to the playing side.

Agreed on N'Zog and Stan barry'sboots. Petrov has looked a far better player in a move forward role this season it is a pity we did not see him play more there in previous seasons. It was a difficult one with Bent as without Marc's service he did not threaten but we needed goals and he does get them. The problem was how could we accommodate both and the decision made on that did not work. Also agree on Ireland's improvement, but I do not think it would have been fair to have thrown on GG with the team playing as it was and 2 goals down. I do think that we the fans were the biggest losers though. :winkold:

I'm with Big Eck on this one because we are not good enough as a squad to make wholesale changes and still be sure of going through as they will raise their game for the cup, television and their new boss. We most likely will not win the cup but I don't want to go out due to resting too many players so I would go: Guzan, Hutton, Warnock, Clark, Dunne, Albrighton, Bannan, Ireland, N'Zogbia, Bent and Gabby. We can make changes when we go 3 goals clear!

Yes I was Baalbwerith. As another week in week out fan of many years standing I do not claim to know any more about the game than anyone else. The ratings I have given over the years are open for comment as they have always been and I welcome the opinion of other fans as we can all have different opinions on individual performances having seen the same game. One opinion is no more valid than another and we obviously have a very different opinion on N'Zogbia's contribution yesterday as we do with the quality of some past Villa wingers. One thing we do agree with is that taking Ireland off was not something that either of us would have done and another is that we would have liked to see more of Marc than we did in a game like this.

For us?

He lacks a bit of mobility at 66 Woodytom. :winkold: That is a bit of a positive for me smetrov as for me he was more of a "yes man" than the type of person we need now at the club.

My thought as well bose. It is a pity that Randy's 5 year plan did not bring the top 4 place he had sought, that the investment in the team ended when it became clear that top 6 was as good as it was going to get as other clubs had deeper pockets and that having had the Milner cash he had expected to be able to use on players taken off him Martin was unwilling to stay with us having known where this level of under investment was likely to take us. We are now left with one of the very few managers that was prepared to work for the club under such constraints.

I have to agree John. It is the season of goodwill to all dudevillaisnice and Santa works those (D)elphs hard at this time of year! :winkold: Sadly I think he may have already made his decisions and we may not like them WallheathLions. I do not give minus points but take your point and if Herd was not so valuable in the middle I think he would be making a big push for the full back role as surely must Clark for a central spot in our defence.

Nothing John. But they were either not under consideration by those making the choice or were not prepared to come because of the constraints they were expected to work under. As we know from past experience owners will sell as, when and if it suits them. Or is it the inflated salary that comes with the big money move BB? Or the money to do it (we had both felt N'Zog was up to it before he put on our shirt I would suggest)? As things stand I share your opinion on the signings we have made but we are shopping at Aldi rather than Waitrose for the first time in a long time and it is therefore likely to be more hit and miss than before as a result.

It was not an appointment that most of us would have forecast John. But we would also not have anticipated a Wigan manager turning down the opportunity to manage us would we? For me the reasons seem clear. Namely the club were not prepared to back their new manager so the list of candidates who were prepared to take us on became a short one as the job presented a major risk to any manager with a decent CV. I would not have guessed that we would have appointed Big Eck given the appointment was unlikely to be a popular one, without being willing to back him. But making that appointment did give fans an obvious target on which to vent their frustration in anticipation of things going pear shaped and someone other than those who have pulled the purse strings shut and made the appointment to put the blame on. So for me the plan has worked as the manager who was appointed to take it is now facing the flak and those who made the decisions are hiding behind their scapegoat. I think Big Eck has had his hands tied behind his back and should now he is our manager be given until the end of the season to turn things around along with some cash for the next window to help him in that task.

How about no ender4? Behave....

4 years ago is a long way from being family history sonic-bouma. :winkold:

A point well made Denis. I think "something special" is more likely that then the availability of a Messi or a Defoe and it stops being "something special" when it happens twice in two seasons and we pay the price for "something special" by selling off the family jewells and so create the same problem for the following season. It is simply not acceptable that we will do nothing in the next window as there are holes in the squad that need fixing and this wage thing will seem like chicken feed if we are at risk of going down in 5 months time and of losing millions the following year as a result due to the sudden unexplained need to balance the books at all potential costs.

I agree with NeilS this is now a must not lose game. But we cannot just sit back and try to soak up their pressure because a clean sheet looks unlikely on current form. I would go for the following: Given Hutton Dunne Collins Warnock Ireland Clark Petrov N'Zog Bent Gabby Subs: Guzan, Herd, Cuellar, Delph, Albrighton, Gardner, Heskey.

No & Yes Wainy316.

We should have had the games here anyway as the ground capacity was never really going to be increased was it? I have tickets for Coventry but would see the games at Villa Park as well but having side stepped the opportunity to get games last time I guess they may look elsewhere around the UK where there are no Olympic matches being played nearby such as at Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool, Nottingham, Southampton or how about in Northern Ireland?

Gone way to soon my thoughts are with his family at this sad time. By the way, what a great reaction by the General and the club as a whole back then as well. Paddy well merits the warm welcome he will receive from those Holte Enders in the sky that are already watching Villa stars of the past take on the likes of Matthews, Best, Ball and Moore every other week at the Villa Park in the sky.

The Reverend Henry Kane in The Poltergeist gets my vote.

Thanks for the report Lancs. Milner showed class with his reaction to scoring against us and Balotelli showed the opposite. The result sadly was as anticipated as is the gulf between the performances and expectations of the two sides that this game demonstrated now that their investment has kicked on and our own has dried up.

Much too short an innings this time but he will always live on in our memories as the player that shared that stand and stuck in there with IT. My thoughts are with his family.

:oops: So do Bent & Gabby brommy but less so. :winkold: