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Why the hell not. Saha in Shola out. Sorted. Do you think they'll take Smith back as part payment? Please make them take him back.

Zoggy's replacement? No smoke without fire etc etc.

Why didn't Man City just go for Defoe? All seems a bit silly to me.

I reckon it was either going to be him or Barnes, so hopefully we'll be bringing him in if the Barnes deal is a no go.

I honestly think its a good sign he's on the bench and I really hope we get him in. Not being sarcastic.

As for the Milner through the middle stuff, it's worth a try but I'm not so sure if he can do it. He was played just off the striker a few times under Roeder and he just ended up drifting wide all game. We were essentially playing with one striker and one extra winger on the left side. As a pure CM though ... maybe, but I doubt it. Simply because he has such a bad habit of losing the ball by dribbling straight into people. I'm not sure he's savvy enough, or subtle enough. Doesn't pass and move enough for me. I just can't quite see it in him. If anything I see him as a right back. He has the work rate to do a good job defensively as well as join attacks, and he would have more success attacking from deep and going up against the oppositions wingers rather than full backs.

I love you for the hope you have brought us. If he is only a sub then that is a great sign! I will hold onto this for now.

Fair point. Even Parky approves so you know I'm onto something here. If we don't get Barnes in it will be rather baffling. Especially as it doesn't look like we will even be trying Zoggy on the left with Duff on the right and Milner on the bench, which in all honesty is what we should be doing right now.

How can one go downhill when they were never uphill in the first place. Doesn't even know what a hill looks like by all accounts.

I'm not saying we have to sign Routledge. I would love it if we could get Barnes or someone else. All I know is we have one right winger and he is awfully dissapointing. So if we aren't willing to pay a lot for Barnes and there is no one else, are you telling me it isn't worth bringing in Routledge for a million on a short contract which he is willing to sign? Come off it!

18 month deal seems very short. £1.25m and such a top class player, you would have thought Villa would have put more commitment into the deal. Routledge probably knows Real Madrid will come knocking in about 6 months and doesnt want to tie himself down. Never been away from the London area, probably being cautious incase he doesn't settle. If he plays enough he will, and he will be very good.

You see this guy right here. He is thinking straight. This guy right here knows exactly whats about to happen. Many will be surprised but I won't and this fella won't. And it'll only make me more bitter.

Christiano Ronaldo? I don't know how he came into this ... All I know is that Milner is a whole hell of a lot away from Routledge.

I know, you can only laugh right. Cuz if you don't it'll only make you cry. I feel your pain brother. blueyes.gif Milner stinks.

Save your sympathy for our pathetic right winger Milner instead. I've just seen someone whose twice the player go for peanuts. Excuse me if I find this alarming.

So Routledge cost £1.25 million only. And yet Sunderland see fit to bid £4 million for Andy Reid. What is this world coming to ...

Not one who is that young and hasn't shown much at all yet though surely? Barnes would make more sense. Just stop it. Get a hold of yourself.

Welcome! So is he quick? Is he strong? Is he smart? Tell us more before people start throwing themselves under buses! You are our saviour we need you! Oh thanks Well, I'll try to explain how is he, my English is not very good, especially with such a specific terminology like football one. He is a good defender, I think his best feature is that he is strong and he is very good at "high balls" (I don't know what are the correct words: he is good header). He also keeps his position well and he usually makes strong marks. Some people say that he was successful in Zaragoza because of Milito played by his side, but I think they did each a different work. The main problem for me is that he is bad playing the ball and can make "dangerous" passings or controls sometimes. Another problem is that he is a bit harsh, he used to get booked frequently. So that's all I can tell you, I hope you can understand it Excellent, thanks. Don't worry your English is a lot better than some of the English guys on here Well, I really like how you've described him. Sounds like a tough cookie and that is certainly the type of defender who will do well in the premiership if any. His touch and his passing sound just about up to premiership defenders standards too. At the very least he already sounds better than Rozehnal i'll say that much.

Still beats leaving it till ... never though, right?

I wonder if O'Neill will just go 4-3-3 with Boateng, Barry and Reo-Coker in midfield and Young and Agbonlahor either side of big Johnny C dub.

Welcome! So is he quick? Is he strong? Is he smart? Tell us more before people start throwing themselves under buses! You are our saviour we need you!

Spurs ITKs foiled again!!! Watch them go for Giles Barnes now ...

Why would Villa want Routledge? Experienced no improvement at all in Spurs, and not exactly very young still. Does he play on the right? There's your answer. I doubt there is any truth in this. This window is a b******. Nobody wants to sell. What a let down. Exactly how good he is now I have no idea. When Arnesen, Santini, Jol etc first joined, he went over to Korea for the Peace Cup and was voted Player of the Tournament, Essien (who was still with Lyon) got the job of keeping him quiet in the final, couldn't and eventually got redcarded for persistent fouling. Santini really rated him, in the first match of the season Routledge broke his metatarsal, got replaced in the team by Lennon, Santini went, Jol didn't rate him and he kept going out on loan after that. So that's the story so far, it may be inspired by MON, it may not. Worth a gamble, won't be costing a lot. With regard to Chimbo, I hear that there may be some problems regarding his wage demands. No surprise there then! Exactly. If anything, he has been very unfortunate. How quickly people forget things in football. He is also only 22 I believe, so why Delima refers to him as being old is beyond me. Brummie please take Milner of us and we can get Wayne instead you know you want to! SSN: Routledge having medical with Aston Villa. Martin O'Neil is certainly no mug. He will get the best out of a promising young player who still has a lot of potential. Routledge fits into that Villa team perfectly. Young, Routledge and Agbonlahor will drive teams crazy. I feel this transfer is going to make a lot of other clubs feel really silly. It's only Routledge... Better than the likes of Milner, Ireland and Etherington though ... I just feel quite a few teams could have taken a chance on him but fluffed it. It will be a good move for him. I would say Milner is a better all round performer than WR, Milner just needs to be in the right team. He looked far better on loan at Villa than he does at SJP imho, maybe he needs a change of manager, maybe KK is the man for him, I don't know. I'd be surprised if WR was worse than Etherington (though he is a leftie), Ireland?? Dunno, depends on what WR is like now tbh. Better all round huh ... well what does that really mean? That he tracks back defensively? Well let him play right back then! Routledge is quicker, is a better dribbler, is a more effective crosser because he has more success getting to the byline, and also gets into better goal scoring positions overall. Milner might have a better shot from range but I do remember Routledge hitting a few nice ones too. Possibly, but if he did that consistently he would have been near the England squad. He did it consistently in a tourno in Korea, but since then, even on season long loans, he's never reproduced the Peace Cup form on a regular basis. Well I know he does it a lot more consistently than Milner and that is a fact. It's also difficult when your getting loaned out all over the place to be at the top of your game. I can't imagine he was in the best frame of mind.

I've seen him quite a few times. He's fooking s**** (and I'm a poster who usually rates new signings too high). Fair enough. Can you tell us a bit more? Is he slow? Weak? What exactly makes him bad? Also, have you only seen him play for Levante, which seems to be a bad team overall.

Why would Villa want Routledge? Experienced no improvement at all in Spurs, and not exactly very young still. Does he play on the right? There's your answer. I doubt there is any truth in this. This window is a b******. Nobody wants to sell. What a let down. Exactly how good he is now I have no idea. When Arnesen, Santini, Jol etc first joined, he went over to Korea for the Peace Cup and was voted Player of the Tournament, Essien (who was still with Lyon) got the job of keeping him quiet in the final, couldn't and eventually got redcarded for persistent fouling. Santini really rated him, in the first match of the season Routledge broke his metatarsal, got replaced in the team by Lennon, Santini went, Jol didn't rate him and he kept going out on loan after that. So that's the story so far, it may be inspired by MON, it may not. Worth a gamble, won't be costing a lot. With regard to Chimbo, I hear that there may be some problems regarding his wage demands. No surprise there then! Exactly. If anything, he has been very unfortunate. How quickly people forget things in football. He is also only 22 I believe, so why Delima refers to him as being old is beyond me. Brummie please take Milner of us and we can get Wayne instead you know you want to! SSN: Routledge having medical with Aston Villa. Martin O'Neil is certainly no mug. He will get the best out of a promising young player who still has a lot of potential. Routledge fits into that Villa team perfectly. Young, Routledge and Agbonlahor will drive teams crazy. I feel this transfer is going to make a lot of other clubs feel really silly. It's only Routledge... Better than the likes of Milner, Ireland and Etherington though ... I just feel quite a few teams could have taken a chance on him but fluffed it. It will be a good move for him. I would say Milner is a better all round performer than WR, Milner just needs to be in the right team. He looked far better on loan at Villa than he does at SJP imho, maybe he needs a change of manager, maybe KK is the man for him, I don't know. I'd be surprised if WR was worse than Etherington (though he is a leftie), Ireland?? Dunno, depends on what WR is like now tbh. Better all round huh ... well what does that really mean? That he tracks back defensively? Well let him play right back then! Routledge is quicker, is a better dribbler, is a more effective crosser because he has more success getting to the byline, and also gets into better goal scoring positions overall. Milner might have a better shot from range but I do remember Routledge hitting a few nice ones too.