ohmelads

I find it hard to believe we're going to spend that much and yet we're targetting fairly cheap players: Rozehnal, Hyypia, Beye, Viduka, Barton. Don't get me wrong, I'd be happy enough with those signings as they could put us back in the top 6, but with £50m we should be looking to challenge 4th and therefore signing better players to take us up a level. I know we have a lot to replace and probably need another 4 more after the Rozehnal deal plus any replacements should Owen/Martins leave, but you would think we would be going for more expensive players than Beye or Hyypia?

The full back positions are definitely tricky ones to fill at the moment. I'm hard pushed to come up with proven, available full backs at a reasonable price. Even the likes of Baines and Shorey are a gamble; young, english and on the back of a good season means an expensive pricetag. Luckily Shepherd doesn't call all the shots because his record for investing in full backs was appalling. Hughes and Bernard free, Carr for 2M, Griffin for 1M, Baba for 1M. Beye captains Marseille so his CV is at least as good as players like Luke Young. I'm just happy we're being linked with right backs at all, because we need new blood across the back four.

I'd say it points more to a 4-3-3 with defensive full backs and the wing-forwards (or whatever you want to call them) getting a lot of freedom. If you watch Chelsea closely the full backs rarely pour forward, which I think is part of the reason Ashley Cole hasn't made such a great impact there. This is why it's hard to hit Chelsea on the break, because so often they already have 4 men back. I have no idea what formation Allardyce intends to play, you'd think if Owen is still around then 4-4-2 as I don't see him being happy or effective in a three man attack. But if tall defensive full backs points to anything then it points to 4-3-3 for me. I don't know where all this 3-5-2 talk has come from, it's a formation very rarely employed in England.

Milner's biggest problem is that he lacks both pace and strength. He's got pretty quick feet and a few tricks up his sleeve and if he had pace he could become a very good winger indeed, but it's something he was born without. I've rated Milner ever since I saw him debut for us, but I had doubts he'd ever make it because of these shortcomings. He has made great strides in 12 months though and I think he's a much better all-round player than he was a year ago. He was arguably Villa's best player two season ago and he was arguably our best player last season, so I think he deserves a break. I think he'll go on improving and turn into a decent Premiership winger (he's alright at the moment), but I think his lack of pace or strength will prohibit him from ever being a great winger. He does combine workrate with a bit of flair and if his crossing, shooting and confidence improve the way they have been he'll always be a handy player to have around. At his age, to be considered player of the season by many at Villa and Newcastle two years running is a good sign of things to come.

I agree. There is scope for putting Dyer right wing and Milner left wing. Duff is out and if Zoggy and Luque continue their poor form it's an option, certainly a better idea than shoving Emre out wide which Roeder did last season.

If it's true that he spent the whole of last season at right back then odds are he'd be playing there for us.

Don't remember the first game brilliantly, I just remember Drogba was brilliant but so was Woodgate. Drogba hit the post and it flashed right across an open goal with everybody's hearts in mouths. From what I remember it was a pretty even game and we were content enough with a 0-0 considering the Drogba chance. In the second game Woodgate was injured and Drogba ran riot. We had quite a few injuries and lacked any pace but we didn't create anything of note in the whole 90 minutes. Can't comment on Beye specifically but their defence was solid over both games.

He sounds like a Gary Neville mould of right back, then. Not quick or skillfull on the ball but experienced, good defensively and club captain.

Well we failed to score a single goal over two legs and barely even created a half-chance in the Stade Velodrome.

It's funny how whenever he hasn't played for a while he's labelled a total waste of space, yet when he's fit many of the same people say he has to start. He's a decent player and in my view he's worth more to us than his transfer fee (we'd only get a few million for him). It's true that he's not a winger in the traditional sense of putting in crosses to a target man but I do think his most effective position in a 4-4-2 is on the right wing. Many wingers these days don't put crosses in, look at Robben for example, he gives the ball away a lot but he's a runner who scares defences. I'm not comparing Dyer to Robben but I believe he has the same attitude to the game, he likes to get the ball down and run at people and take chances, he doesn't particularly utilise high balls but he scares defenders. Dyer was pretty good in the centre under Bobby Robson, but that was playing for a good team who dominated games more often than not. His passing isn't as bad as many here are making out. In his own half he's a very poor player because he can't put his foot on the ball and it's true that you won't catch him playing 40-yard passes either, but in the final third he is very effective and always looks for the through ball or forward pass. He needs to be playing high up the field and I think his best position would probably be wide right in a 4-3-3. That position needs pace and would be too much for Milner who would probably be better wide right in a 4-4-2 where discipline is more important. Dyer's biggest weakness is his inconsistency, which isn't helped by his injuries. But I think Allardyce will want to utilise Dyer whenever fit, be it in the team or from the bench, because he can press defenders into mistakes and his presence will scare opposition. As much as you might want to criticise Dyer, there's a reason why every manager likes to have him around and I wouldn't be too comfortable with him playing against us. I haven't seen him wide right in a 4-3-3 but I think it would make the best use of his talents and I wouldn't be surprised to see Allardyce use him there.

I don't think Real should sack Capello but I also don't think they've been worthy champions. The number of games they've scraped in the last minute and their form throughout the season has not been of championship standard. Mind, neither Barca nor Sevilla showed the form of champions either. In the end it was a case of somebody had to win. All season Barca fans were laughing at Real for being too poor so I thought it was funny to see Real win it in the end, I don't really like either side. For entertainment alone Real were the team to watch second half of the season purely for the rollercoaster games they had.

Deportivo are really skint and need to make a big name sale. There's a spanish article about their finances at the moment, basically saying they need to make about 19 million euros to balance the books and Andrade is their only player capable of making decent cash. Any reasonable offer would be listened to, they really need the money and the player wants out. The problem would be luring the player, but the club would definitely sell. Real and Barca are always linked to these types of players though I think Andrade would be a backup option for them. Both are interested in Chivu, and Barca ideally want a left footed player such as Heinze who can cover left back. They're also linked with Abidal of Lyon. I wouldn't be surprised for Real to get Chivu and Barca to get Heinze, or something like that.

Well the player has come out and said he thinks it's the right time to leave, for player and club. They're claiming Real and Barca and some unnamed foreign clubs are interested. I expect they will have other targets (Real want Chivu apparently) and this is just agent talk. Depor I imagine would prefer to sell to a foreign club. Like I say it'd be tough but not impossible. If we're going to sign a 'big name' this summer I'd like it to be a defender for a change. Allardyce is far more international with his transfer policy than Roeder ever was so I expect he'll have his eye on developments in the Spanish and Italian leagues.

I seriously doubt we'll play that formation.

What's happening with Sol Campbell? Reports not so long ago that it was practically a done deal. I'd definitely take Sol Campbell, an excellent player for Taylor to learn from and a leader for the whole back four. We've needed someone like him for ages, Woodgate showed what a leader could do when we went into games against Arsenal and Man Utd and weren't surprised to keep clean sheets. Hyypia wouldn't be a bad move on the cheap but Campbell would be an excellent signing.

Have to say from the pictures of him the one reservation I had was he looks a bit skinny for a centre half. The likes of Emile Heskey or Didier Drogba would have no problems pushing him around if he's as weak as he looks. I expect Sam will bring in a big centre half as well though, seeing as he's already gone for Ben Haim and is linked with Hyypia. We could do with Rozenhal if he's quick and intelligent and then get a big stopper in, preferably someone of real calibre. Jorge Andrade has said it's time for him to leave Deportivo. He might be tricky to lure here but he'd be worth a big money bid in my view.

A bloody good footballer or a feckin injury-prone liability? Like a lot of people now, I couldn't give a toss about him. Stay, go: don't care just get the thing out of the way. I agree I'd like to see it resolved quickly.

Well it was clearly leaked to the press that he was looking for a way out, something he has had weeks to deny, and despite daily headlines he still refuses to talk about his future at club level in any of his interviews.

Excellent news.

Don't see why this should change anyone's opinions on wanting him to stay or go. If we lose him we're still losing a bloody good footballer cut-price, a player who we could not attract to the club were he not already here.

I don't know, Shepherd may just be greedy enough to stay on purely to get the remainder of his wages. A drop in the ocean given his wealth and potential payoff, surely?

We need a squad though, Barton and Emre as creators and Butt and Diarra as holding players leaves us with a well equipped engine room. I appreciate we're not Real Madrid but they'll all get games and Butt might be past it in a year anyway so now is a good time to look for a long term holding player. Besides we may well be planning for a 4-3-3 formation next season in which case we will need another centre mid.

Don't know what to make of this guy, his CV is a bit of an odd one. Wanted by top clubs yet never made it at any, and yet he was brought on for Vieira in the world cup final last summer. If he was good enough to replace Vieira in the final then how come he's hardly got a game at Lyon and they want to sell him already? Bayern, Liverpool, Lyon and France have all seen something in him, yet none have stuck with him.

I'm not sure he'd have agreed to stay if his role was as diminished as admin as some are suggesting, he might as well just take his money and go if that's the case but he hasn't, which leads me to believe he will still have some influence on what goes on. He may have contacts but what good has it done him over the years? We buy high and sell low, our scouting network is nowhere near good enough, our coaching is nowhere near good enough, we nearly always top the injury tables, he makes a fool of himself and us in the press with grandiose comments and lies, we've been on the slide for years and we sack managers on a regular basis. I don't see how anyone can say we need Shepherd or his 'contacts'. There are many in the industry who could replace him, Shepherd is totally replaceable. I don't view this as a period of transition at all. It's a takeover with a new manager to boot, that's big news and involves major changes behind the scenes, changes that may disrupt things for a while, but needed to be done. Of course I don't know how much of what has gone on has been Shepherd's doing, but as the chairman I hold him responsible for a lot of what has gone on at this club. To see him remain as chairman is extremely disappointing indeed, the sooner he's gone the better in my view.

It's an absolute disgrace that Shepherd is staying on as chairman. This could come back on Ashley if things don't go as planned.