brummie

I kind of see what you are hinting at, and I think Lambert chucking Bent in to train with the kids is treatment Bent doesn't really deserve. To be fair, there haven't been any rumours about Bent being in any way troublesome as a person, it has entirely been about the sort of player he is. it is often forgotten, but Lambert actually made Bent captain at one point last season.

Without getting in to the wider question of Cisse etc etc, to label Bent as "not deemed good enough to play for Villa" is kind of missing the point on him. There's a reason he's not playing for us, and its not because he's not good enough, it's to do with the kind of player he is. Whether he's the sort of player you could us or not is a whole different question which I don't really feel qualified to get in to, but the "not good enough to play for Villa" thing is an inaccurate misconception.

Precisely. It's a pathetic situation, which lots of people raised before the decision was made, yet the decision went the way it did purely because of money. And the weather thing is only one of the problems - there's then the whole mountain of questions about playing the tournament in such a repressive country.

But then again, if that were the case, they'd want you to reduce the money they were paying for the sponsorship as a result of it. I actually don't think Wonga would go for that anyway - if there is a Newcastle match on telly, and people are asking "why is that striker the only one not wearing the sponsor's logo", it's like a nationally televised reminder of how Wonga are unacceptable to a lot of people. I don't think this is a situation which would be easy to fix in any way other than selling the player concerned - even though it's mental to find yourselves in that situation.

Yes, they are, but that's not the point discussed here, as we're talking about them within the context of Cisse's objection to wearing the Wonga logo. If a person objects to Wonga and Virgin on the basis of money lending being morally wrong, then ultimately, they're two very familiar beasts, as that is what they both do. If the objection to them is discriminatorily high interest rates charged vulnerable people, then they're too very different beasts. Good point made by madras, too, about the Barclays logo. Barclays too are pretty despicable, on recent evidence.

Exactly. It's sad, really, it'd be nice for a footballer to at some point do something on a matter of principle and have it accepted as such, but looking at Cisse's thing, it's hard not to find yourself thinking that it sounds like a convenient - if implausible - excuse to get more money or a move.

That's the thing. If I were the player in question, as a non muslim, I would be far more likely to object to Wonga as a shirt sponsor, on the grounds that they're are a company which lends money to desperate people at obscene rates of interest. They're pretty much the sort of loan sharks you'd find in depressed towns, except on the internet. Virgin Money, however, I wouldn't have a problem with. They're money lenders, yes, but I don't see credit cards, mortgages and loans of the type they offer as morally questionable. Or online gambling companies, either. That's because it is my frame of reference, which isn't a religious one (not that that really matters). With Cisse, however, his objection to Wonga is said to be on the basis of his religion. His religion finds money lending FULL STOP objectionable and unacceptable, so if he's using Wonga as an example of an unacceptable company to have on his shirt, then surely he must also object to any other commercial lender, and that wasn't the case for him last year.

It'll probably mean nothing. Like when Benteke didn't go to Germany with us last week. Oh.

I can't believe for a nanosecond some of you seem to think Leon Best would be a better bet than Bent. You're utterly, utterly nuts if you do. Seriously.

Richard Dunne signs for QPR. I am going to miss that guy. I loved the way, first day of the season, he'd be increasingly massively overweight, without fail. Also, I note he went an entire season on our books but with a "mystery injury" only to play for Ireland days after the season ended. Funny, that. Still, we've had an Irish centre half with a similar "injury" before, if I recall.

oh I wouldn't be so sure........ http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11698/8783529/Transfer-news-Carlton-Cole-considering-offer-from-top-flight-club probably JFK on the phone to him Kill me now.. at the first comment "Newcastle are the un-named club" It's absolutely us. Not enough groan gifs in the world. How fucking predictably depressing. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4976341/Carlton-Cole-in-talks-with-Hull-after-West-Ham-release-him.html Can't Control was one of the worst strikers I've ever seen play for us. And I remember Simon Stainrod, Gary Penrice and Guy "Twelve Million Goals in the Second Division" Whittingham.

The Bent argument is pretty straight forward. He's an excellent finisher, and that doesn't really change no matter how shit the team he is playing in. The problem is that that is ALL he does. If you are going to play Bent, you have to shape your whole front six around him, because otherwise, he might as well not bother turning up He won't do anything else, he won't drop back and fetch the ball, he won't hold it up, he won't lead the line, he won't do any of that, but if you want a striker who will play off the last defender, and apply the finishing touch, he's your man. The problem is that football has changed an awful lot the last few years, and players like Bent are very much out of fashion. That's why Lambert didn't use him. He's not an idiot. When we were struggling for points, he dropped a player we'd paid 18m for and replaced him with a kid we'd bought from Belgium for far less. There was lots of piss take from the likes of that brainless turd Lawrenson about what the fuck are we doing yada yada yada, but it was quite clearly the right decision, and the sign of a manager who was progressive rather than regressive. Darren Bent's problem now is that most, if not all, of the top flight sides have moved on, and will not play a brand of football which will suit him. He hasn't become shit at what he does. The problem is that hardly anyone wants a player who does what he does any more.

Of course he does. I honestly can not believe anyone who has watched any football, let alone writes about it for a national newspaper, could seriously think that Darren Bent is a player who will "link play" in any possible connotation of the word. What utter, utter bollocks. How can anyone say something like that and keep a straight face?

Rumours Shay Given is going to Doncaster on loan. Crikey. Surely he can do better than that?

We don't know that they actually have been quoted a straight 25m for Benteke.

Rumours re Chelsea offering us 25m plus Lukaku on loan for a year. Given that, were we to keep Benteke a year, and he did well, he'd be off next season anyway, if they were stupid enough to offer us that, I think I'd be tempted to take it.

That's it. They are when you compare them against the wider market - ie players outside the UK.

8m for Ince is fucking nuts.

How highly to do you rate Benteke btw? I think, based on the second half of last season, he's got the potential to be amongst the best players around. He's still rough around the edges, though. I've never seen a player get offside so often, for example, and sometimes his first touch is abysmal. I think this coming season is crucial for him, it really is. If he goes somewhere he's not going to get a run of starts, like Chelsea, I think there's every chance he'll go backwards, quickly. He also needs the team set up to play around him, which is what we did last year. He's a twat, really. He needed to stay, have a decent season and build on what he achieved last year, go to the world cup, do ok there, and he could basically move anywhere he wants. Instead, he's got involved in all this unseemliness instead.

Good article about Benteke here. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2360073/Aston-Villa-wont-sell-Christian-Benteke-25m.html#ixzz2YjV9saHY

Well, no, because if he has another decent season, his value will go up, not down. If he has a decent world cup at the end of the season, his value will go up even more. And you're right, that isn't the most credible of sources. If we should do something on the basis of him having angled for a move since the season ended, then I think it's fair to assume that actually needs to be the case. Rejecting a transfer request and holding on to a player another year is hardly something that never happens. Clubs can't just roll over and play dead every time a player fancies a move. It has to stop at some point, and some times, the club really does hold most of the cards. At the very least, I would expect the club to be really, really fucking awkward in defending our asset, too. I dont doubt for a nanosecond that Lambert will be doing exactly that.

That's the point, we don't want to achieve that, we want to keep the player. It is a discouraging price tag, not an attempt to get more money in. There's also a limit to player power in these circumstances. There's a world cup at the end of the season, what's he going to do? Refuse to play? It wouldn't be the first time a player has submitted a transfer request and not got a move. True but he's been angling for a move pretty much since the end of the season and is obviously another Ba in that he'll be touted around Europe/Russia for the rest of his career. Do you want this kind of bullshit every window? He's shown his colours, cash in and move on. It's inevitable. How do you know he's been angling for a move since the end of the season? We wont be expecting this every transfer window, the plan will doubtless be to hold on to him till the end of this season.

That's the point, we don't want to achieve that, we want to keep the player. It is a discouraging price tag, not an attempt to get more money in. There's also a limit to player power in these circumstances. There's a world cup at the end of the season, what's he going to do? Refuse to play? It wouldn't be the first time a player has submitted a transfer request and not got a move.

I would pretty much guarantee you that Lambert has told them he wants far more than that. I'd bet money on it.

Far too much the same player.