brummie

I'm happy for Citeh (I've always liked them since an event involving their fans the last time we were pushing Man United for the title) and hope it goes through (although listening to talk about this on the radio earlier they said it could be a protracted process and possibly not go through quick enough for serious transfer market activity) I also think Sven would be an excellent appointment. People seem to forget, his club record is excellent. So, he fucked up with England (although I believe he had the best games won ratio) in the end, but so did a lot of good managers. He'd definitely be a better appointment than Ranieri (who himself would have been a good appointment, too). One thing I will say is that comparing the new wave of billionaire owners with Abrahmovich is pointless. There will never be another Abrahmovich, and I don't think any of the new lot are going to come anywhere near his level of spending. The difference they will make is lift the clubs in the second tranche to a point where they have the financial clout to begin to think about competing with the top four (actually, make that the top two).

This post ^^^ SFX: lawyers, rattling sabres ^^^

If the clause actually exists Of course, but the original post said you won't be selling him so "the clause does not matter" which implies the poster was talking as if it did exist. And if it did, it would matter. if you get my drift

But the clause does matter, that's the point. If someone offers the money, you've got no choice.

I guess it depends how much you wanted the player at the time. You must have really wanted Michael Owen. On Martins, I'd get shot asap. Sounds like he has a bit too much dodginess going on in his life, and 13m sounds like very good money. I'd also not be in the least bit surprised if the club hadn't leaked this information to the press to help bring about precisely that.

I think Taylor is miles off a full cap, partly because he's not really that proven a player, and partly because he plays in a position where we have plenty of options. I don't think Upson is ahead of anyone, tbh. Lescott I think is a quality prospect, and he could well become the first native Klingon speaker to represent England. EDIT I think Ashley Young will have a fantastic season next year and at the end of the season, could well be looking at getting into the full squad. Whether that's going to be too late given the impending EC, I don't know.

Why didn't Pearce go on the pitch to point out to the ref that Holland were cheating at every single penalty? England did this well and got this far *despite* Pearce.

That was incredible. Oh well, well done Holland, you and your cheaty fucking stupidly named goalkeeper. At least NRC can come back and sign for us, and I needn't worry about anyone else kicking lumps out of Ashley Young.

Well done Young Ashley.

I don't particularly rate Taylor (although I havent seen a huge amount of him), but he has been an absolute giant playing on in this match. PS every time I see him I remember that absurd 'pretending to be shot' thing he did against us that time.

Our players are technically good enough, we've got some good individuals out there, but I worry about what consistent exposure to a boneheaded numpty of a coach like Pearce will do to them. He really has not got a fucking clue.

If you talk to any of their fans (warning - may involve exposure to neanderthals) almost all of them will tell you Jerome is pish. McSheffrey is a far better player.

To be fair, I don't really have a massive opinion on him either way, I would point out that he only got one season to adapt. Think of how many other excellent players move to England and fail to adapt in their first season. Shevchenko's had a shite season, but that doesn't make him a shite player.

Interesting. This one came from nowhere, tbh. Actually, one thing I am convinced about is that season MON will sign one such player who nobody expected. In a sense, it makes me nervous, having just waved goodbye to one underperforming South American striker. I'm not arsed about the money - we've obviously got enough, if we pay over the odds for the occasional player we want, then that's fine, just so long as we don't become West Ham and start going crazy with it. If it is true then I'm happy that we're in a situation where MON has said he wants someone, but he's going to cost a bundle, and the chairman has been good to his word (he's said money isnt a problem) and found the cash.

.. and Luke Moore and Craig Gardener (who I think will be a big player in the future). And, I fear, Peter Whittingham. I say I fear as we sold him to Cardiff last year.

Young is a fantastic prospect, and Carew a very talented footballer, but Gareth Barry was by some way our best, most consistent player last year. I haven't seen a massive amount of Newcastle last year, but when I have seen you, Milner has looked your best player pretty much every time.

To be honest, I'd be surprised if Newcastle or Villa went for him. You've got Milner (and possibly most of our fans would rather have him back than SWP - personally, I think he's a better prospect), and we've got Ashley Young in that position, or can play Agbonlahor there. I fear he'll end up at West Ham.

Ha ha, no, I can't. Pesky Finns.

I feel qualified to speak on both the aforementioned, messrs McCann and Hughes. Thank Christ the first has gone, and thank him even more the second is going (to Fulham, signing on Monday, apparently). As for Jussi (mentioned above), I'd love us to sign him. Easily the best goalkeeping performance I saw last season. In the same way that you lot see the exit of Bramble as a sign of positive changes, we feel the same way about McCann, Hughes and Samuel.

Wigan are a cast iron certainty to go down. I also think Bolton may very well go down, tbh. The other place will be one of Birmingham (please God, please), Derby, Sunderland (if they don't buy well), or (if they dont get taken over) quite possibly Man City.

this ^^^ is one of the best hittings of the nail square on the head you'll ever see. I couldn't agree more if I tried. The endless hype is nauseating, when we all know pretty much where we're going to be end of season. The nadir was this season's FA Cup final. I didn't even bother watching it. Who, who doesn't support either of those clubs, could really give a flying fuck about which one wins the cup?

Other than Chelsea, no British team has purely bought success in recent years. Man United's best team ever had a strong, home grown backbone. You're right on the general point though, it is a business, we're customers nowadays, not supporters, we're the last consideration, the lowest in the food chain.

There's no doubt whatsoever that the quality of coverage is way, way better than it was pre Sky. ITV had the live rights and used to show a game every now and then when they could be arsed. My beef with Sky is that they focus almost entirely on the big clubs of the day. Understandable, but fucking annoying. Oh, and when they pay that much money for the rights, they expect football to be their bitch, which is why you'll find yourself watching your team playing Bolton at 5.15 on a Saturday evening, and why the fixture list is largely meaningless.

Solano packed in international football whilst playing for us, too. EDIT actually, he packed in playing football whilst playing for us. EDIT EDIT that's a bit harsh, tbh. Well, untrue, in fact.

When our takeover went through, immediately we started hearing stories along the lines of "OMFG!!!! Lerner wants to rename the ground!!!". The general consensus was: 1. He probably doesn't (and has since said it is not on the agenda). 2. Even if he did, we'd still call it Villa Park. 3. So would everyone else. You won't find many of our fans referring to the Doug Ellis Stand, for example, and I'm sure none of you refer to the Newcastle Brown Stand. I'd have thought naming rights for old, established grounds like VP, SJP, Goodison etc etc would actually not fetch that much anyway, purely because in the same way we know they'd always be called by their proper name, so do potential sponsors. New stadia are a different matter, mind.