brummie

You're right, this is our first home friendly for years. First of any kind, in fact.

Sounds reasonable. Well, a fiver more reasonable than ours.

How much are you charging for these games? We're playing Inter next week and it is 20 quid or 15 for ST holders, which seems a little steep.

What a fucking awful render. It looks like it was done by someone who's acquired a 10 year old copy of 3D Studio Max and an "Idiots Guide" book.

I'm starting to doubt this. If you lot think you are getting twitchy over the lack of signings, you want to see what some of our boards are like. We need 4 or 5 quality signings, pref by Aug 11th, or we will go backwards next season.

I dont believe Ljungberg is on that much, I suspect a lot of this is just press conjecture. Well, I hope it is.

Owen. Got to be. Although with your (and his) luck with injuries, I reckon he's going to wander into a bear trap at some point in the next week or so, so maybe not.

Sick isn't it to say at least. I bet that players like Neill and Parker, Bellamy Faubert and others aren't exactly on small wages either. How much do you reckon Kieron Dyer is on at the moment? *whistling emoticon*

Senderos is going to Juventus? Really? Fucking hell.

I'd like to think Villa would take Curtis Davies, but I doubt the Stripeyfilth would sell him to us.

Change the names of the players and the name of the club and you've got every single signing ever, right there.

I know this is probably preaching to the converted, but this is what i find incredible. As if there weren't more base things to fix first, and as if the trophy signing thing hadn't been tried before. I'm aware I'm possibly touching a sensitive subject as an outside here, however, so I'll back off, but you know what I mean. FWIW, I imagine SA is the kind of manager who WOULD put the basics right first as a matter of urgency.

Everybody has got money these days, though, that's the thing. Except for Everton

On a football basis, I'd say clubs like Newcastle, Everton, Villa would be far more attractive to players than, say, West Ham. However, nowadays, especially for foreign players, as NE5 said, West Ham have a massive advantage in being a London club. Interesting though, now that all clubs can afford to pay stupid wages, factors such as the "I want to play for that man" come into it more. That's where managers like SA, MON and to a lesser extent, possibly even Moyes come into it. Alan Curbishley, great achiever with limited resources though he is, well, can you really imagine a player really, really wanting to play for him? Oh, and Gemill is right, Spurs are far more attractive than any of the clubs mentioned above, at the moment.

Is it daft to suggest that the reason Ashley hasn't spent big money on the transfer market yet is because either Allardyce hasn't decided where he wants to spend it, or he has, but the players in question (or the clubs they play for) have knocked you back? There doesn't seem to be a lot of movement in the transfer market as a whole this summer, to be honest. Maybe with the big tv money, clubs who previously would have capitulated at the first sight of a decent wedge no longer have to do so, so are either keeping their assets, or playing hardball when talking figures? I'm just as worried about my club's lack of activity, but I'd be more worried if it were only us. Except it isn't.

After the Harewood affair, I doubt MON would risk a signing like this. Well, I hope he wouldn't. Celtic could no way afford 6m for a player, though, so that makes the whole thing look a bit shaky.

You say that as if I have previous in that department. The only occasion I can think of was when I thought Martins was a bit of a gamble. Perhaps I've got the wrong opinion of you Brummie, if so I apologise. No need, no need

You say that as if I have previous in that department. The only occasion I can think of was when I thought Martins was a bit of a gamble.

Yes, he sounds like he'd be a really committed player were you to buy him. Now, who was it who said this? Ironically, I wonder whether he had a specific northern team in mind when he referred to the long ball being booted upfield? Steer well clear.

Sid Cowans is an all time Villa legend, of the "bleeds claret and blue" variety. He's possibly the most cultured midfielder I've ever seen play for us. Oddly enough, in our 81 Championship year, he had a pretty bad season, never really got moving, but otherwise he was a fantastic passer of the ball, one of those cultured, classy players you love to watch. He runs our academy now, and is largely responsible for our recent output. Incidentally, he's from County Durham, and thus can be added to that massive list of players on your doorstep Newcastle missed over decades. Incidentally, our championship and EC winning team were criminally overlooked at international level. How the f*** Tony Morley only got 6 caps and Dennis Mortimer got none is beyond me. in those 6 games morley done very little and mortimer was up against bryan robson (i think) Doing very little for England wasn't usually a problem. I seem to remember John Barnes getting 80 odd caps and having about 4 good games And being up against Bryan Robson is one thing, not getting a single game is another. See, most of us stopped giving a shite about England in the last few years, I stopped 25 years ago.

Sid Cowans is an all time Villa legend, of the "bleeds claret and blue" variety. He's possibly the most cultured midfielder I've ever seen play for us. Oddly enough, in our 81 Championship year, he had a pretty bad season, never really got moving, but otherwise he was a fantastic passer of the ball, one of those cultured, classy players you love to watch. He runs our academy now, and is largely responsible for our recent output. Incidentally, he's from County Durham, and thus can be added to that massive list of players on your doorstep Newcastle missed over decades. Incidentally, our championship and EC winning team were criminally overlooked at international level. How the fuck Tony Morley only got 6 caps and Dennis Mortimer got none is beyond me.

Fancy a bet we'll finish above you? Jesus, Parky, you're obviously a bit flush, mate.

This sounds melodramatic, but I genuinely get goosebumps when I think about how lucky I was to watch that man play on a regular basis. He really was *that good*. His partnership with Shaun Teale was magnificent. Week after week he just made it look absolutely effortless, and to think he did it without being able to train and whilst being shitfaced half the time, what a fantastic piece of transfer business that was. I can't believe they've put Platt's transfer in, but not Dwight Yorke - 10k to a club in Tobago, several years excellent service, then 13m to Man United.

Changing the subject, excellent username there. He's a massive, massive Villa fan, is Spizz. Have you ever heard "The Sun Never Sets on Aston Villa"? Marvellous. Anyway, as you were...

I'm amazed Villa haven't made a move for Young, seeing as we currently do not have a right back at the club (Delaney doesn't count, he's perma-injured).