brummie

Any reason this one is particularly foreboding? We've had some pretty bad ones in recent years. I think the transfer market is increasingly polarised. The likes of Man City spunking 25m here and there, a handful of other clubs trying to keep pace with them, then the rest of the league, coming to terms with the idea of wage and transfer restraint and looking for value above all else. Not that that is a bad thing. I do think it'll be the sort of factor which seperates the good managers from the less good.

Obviously, apart from James Milner. I would walk up to Manchester, throw him across my shoulders, and carry him all the way back to Villa Park if at all possible.

Thing is, though, what did Sinclair expect? They might be confident of their own abilities, but the majority of these players of his level - as opposed to most of the players they sign - who go to Man City do so knowing they're not going to get anywhere near the pitch for any amount of time, it is almost entirely about the $$$. I think that says a lot about a player, and to me it sets off a great big warning alarm.

Cut the man some slack. He broke his leg at Wembley. Have some fucking respect. He never fucking learns. The bloke is an absolute cock socket of the highest order.

There are some aspects to footballers' abilities are nothing to do with acquired knowledge, though. To suggest you can just teach players things and, if they work hard enough, they'll be good players is entirely wide of the mark, in my opinion. Is Messi a product of hard work and good training and the environment he was brought up in?

http://abload.de/img/moureturrrrrnedj4n.gif

if that's the case, then, given that all US players give 100 percent all the time, shouldn't they al be amazing players (instead of just Brad Guzan, obvs)?

Is this a joke, Deuce? American footballers have always been lauded for their athletic ability. We may not have the most gifted footballers, but our players always give 100%. And scientifically, there is no such thing as natural talent. Yes there is. Or, there are at least physical and mental attributes you can be born with which make football a game you find easier to play than many others. Sense of balance, peripheral vision, mental strength, physical strength, height even.

Yeh hes not the best. In fact hes shit. hell certainly be leaving villa this window. McLeish's last present to us.

On the subject of Australian football, can I just say, Holman isn't very good, and runs and pants like a 65 year old, so you can add a few years to his effective age. That is all.

Can someone explain the big deal about that hotel? Thats about the tenth time I've heard it being mentioned by various mackems, I know theres next to f**k-all down there but they seem inordinately proud of it! Guess it's a bit of a novelty for them. They're just glorified Travelodge's imo. Wow, fancy that. A hotel. It'll be department stores and restaurants next.

It probably says a bit about current football (and about me, too, I guess) to say that I really could not give one hundredth of a flying fuck who wins the league next year.

Maybe a little, but I wouldn't complain if I were you He is off the books from July 1st, so hasta la vista, you fat bastard.

Is it, or is it not, a bit strange that Richard Dunne can be out for the entire season for Villa, yet declare himself fit to play for the ROI this week?

What's wrong with it? It is clearer and more modern than your old badge. Your old badge had horrible-ass gradients all over the show. No laurel wreaths, a tower that looks like a 5 year old tried to draw a beehive, Leeds-esque colours, no motto and just generally looking extremely cheap, tacky and amateurish. Which is exactly what it is, amateurish. I actually agree that the badge needs updating (the current version is a bit of a mess in itself) but they didn't even bring in a proper graphic design agency to modernise it, instead doing it on the cheap by letting the 'in-house design team' (aka failures who design ticket stubs for a living) loose on it. I've calmed down a bit now and won't be sending my ticket back unless we hire Iain Dowie but I do still wish a horrible death upon everyone involved in this clusterfuck In 2 days there's been universal uproar from the fanbase, a petition with almost 20k signatures against it, an anti-twitter account with a load of followers, most popular news story worldwide on the BBC and negative coverage in every paper, which tells me this won't last past next season. In their infinite wisdom, the club have already ordered millions worth of merchandise, kits, signage, fittings, stationary etc so they can't change it for the new season. Fucking mongs. It is nowhere near as bad as the abomination that was foisted on us two years ago as our new badge, which rumour has it, was designed by Lerner himself. Using MS Paint, one assumes.

Sorrento and Positano are nice and the people are much friendlier. The Amalfi coast is truly beautiful. Naples is an exciting but also utterly insane city. I'd advise everyone who gets the chance to visit it. Not to live in it, mind.

Really looking forward to this. I'd like to think Lambert picked up some of this Dortmund ethos, that way of doing things. Even if he fails, it makes it more interesting.

It is obviously going to cost more to keep him. If he's on 60k a week and has three years left (thanks, McFuck, you fucking fuck) then that's pretty straightforward maths.

Staying on at club as development coach, working with Sid Cowans and the kids. http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~3187739,00.html

Um... Benteke. I don't want to come over all "we're not good enough", but he's getting a lot of interest and we're not as attractive as we should be... Benteke will stay this coming season, have a good world cup, and take his pick of where he wants to go, to be honest. That's how good he potentially is. He's only young and has lots of rough edges to lose still, but he's significantly better than Andy Carroll (who went to Liverpool for five times as much as we paid for Benteke, and probably earns three times as much as Benteke does). Andy Carroll is significantly better at being English though. He's the absolute perfect Martin O'Neill signing.

Um... Benteke. I don't want to come over all "we're not good enough", but he's getting a lot of interest and we're not as attractive as we should be... Benteke will stay this coming season, have a good world cup, and take his pick of where he wants to go, to be honest. That's how good he potentially is. He's only young and has lots of rough edges to lose still, but he's significantly better than Andy Carroll (who went to Liverpool for five times as much as we paid for Benteke, and probably earns three times as much as Benteke does).

McLeish was nuts to give a 36 year old keeper a five year contract. Utter fucking nuts. Given is a good keeper and deserves to be starting matches, not on his arse on the bench. Unfortunately, though his brilliant shot stopping saved us numerous times under McLeish, Guzan has been miles better this season. Commands his area way, way better than Given ever did.

I'm not, I'm just saying it's not as high as people think it is. From '92 until '99 our net spend was about £25million. We won five league titles, three FA cups and a Champions League in that period. Quite a few teams, including Newcastle, Arsenal and Liverpool, outspent us by quite a bit then. Villa, Chelsea, Spurs and Everton spent roughly the same. We hardly bought the trophies when everyone else spent the same or more. Pointing out you spent a lot of money is not the same as suggesting you bought the trophies.

I imagine the vast majority of clubs wouldn't pay anything like that, and rightly so, too. More and more clubs will be moving in that direction - away from the mental salaries.

Eh? How much did you spend net last season, then? Net? There's also no point looking at net spend per season since the PL began, because that was over 20 years ago - when the record transfer fee was a little over five million. Nobody is denying that Ferguson's trophy haul is brilliant, it is, but you've also spent a lot of money in doing it. Don't go making yourselves out to be some kind of slightly spendier version of Everton.