brummie

I'll comfort myself with thinking back to, and laughing at, this http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38905000/jpg/_38905959_headbutt_em300.jpg

Run for the hills if he is one of them.

Agreed 101% The manager is the most important thing for a football club Absolutely. What Arsenal have done under Wenger is awesome. Look at the players they bring through. Yeah, they may be foreign, but they mostly go through their youth set up, and turn into quality players. The ones they've got at Birmingham on loan are looking quality too - Muamba, Bendtner, Larsson (although you probably noticed that last week : ) which suggests that they've got another batch coming through. Spending big when you need to, and combining it with "homegrowns" is surely the way to do it, and to keep it sustainable over the long term, not the Chelsea way

Highly debatable. I'm amazed anyone wanted to buy Baros, he's a total waste of space. Houllier has always made it public knowledge that he wants Baros, every transfer window he says he's interested, he even offered Liverpool £8 million for him when he signed for you lot. Knowing all this you could have got at least £5 million for him, maybe even £6 million at a push. His value has undoubtedly gone down since he joined us. 1 goal in 17 is not good. Carew's not a highly prolific scorer either, but I suspect MON wants him to play in a 4-3-3 with Young and Agbonlahor or Luke Moore on either side of him, for which he'd be ideal. Baros offers nothing. No matter how much Houllier wants him, he must be aware that his value has decreased markedly over the last year or so.

Highly debatable. I'm amazed anyone wanted to buy Baros, he's a total waste of space.

You missed the fact we've had 5 games this month with over half our squad out injured? And because of lack of bodies we've dropped points in the West Ham game, and are out of the FA cup. We shouldn't have got 3pts for the Spuds game, so our only win was a fluke. Great month, and were still no closer to bringing in some boides to help us out. The defense is being plugged by kids and an old right winger with no pace. Now Given is out, you can guarantee any game we dont play well in we will lose. All fair points, but it isnt just about wanting or needing to get someone in, it is about being *able* to get the players you want in. We've had a similar, if less extreme, injury / suspensions situation for most of January. And look at our run of form. No wins in 12 till Saturday. We've desperately needed new bodies all season. It would have been fantastic to get someone in at the start of the month rather than not for 3 weeks, but it just isn't that easy in this stupid window - it is difficult for all clubs. Hardly anyone wants to sell, and when they do, they play brinksmanship towards the end of the window to maximise their return.

It sounds daft but it is only jan 22nd and that really is early doors in this transfer window. The nine-days-left thing is a complete and utter red herring. Things only start to heat up at about this point, and most deals go through in the last couple of days. You can bet the fans of almost all other clubs are currently saying "why the feck haven't we signed anyone yet" and getting twitchy. No need.

Absolute fucking masterstroke, swapping that useless alice band wearing waste of space Baros for Carew. Gerard Houllier wants his head tested for going anywhere near Baros. He obviously didn't see him miss 3 good chances in less than 5 minutes on Saturday. I've got a feeling Montella is going to turn out to be a good move, too.

:'( :'( :'( :'( :'( That was one of the worst days of my entire life.

This has got to be Man United or you. Chelsea have the financial screws on and desperately need centre halves, not full backs. Won't be Villa, we need strikers, not left backs where we can play Barry, and have Bouma playing well there at the moment. Portsmouth? Doesn't Matty Taylor play at left back?

Football really is eating itself. I firmly believe it is on the path to implosion in the relatively near future.

Portsmouth did the same last season and ended up staying up. West Ham are signing players who will improve there team and probobly keep them up. Not so much in the January window they didnt, their spending was mostly last summer. Portsmouth this time last season brought in a shed load of players, players which kept them in the division and it looked certain they would go down. They bought Mwaruwaru, Mendes, Davis, Pamarot and Kiely in the January window. Mendes, Pamarot and Davis came for a combined 7m. Kiely was a nominal fee. Mwaruwari cost 4m or so. The thing about West Ham isn't so much the players they have signed, it is that plus the players they have tried to sign, and the prices quoted. That and the wages - Lucas Neill isn't a bad player, but he's not worth 50k a week. They've been linked with everyone, made bids for a lot of them, and signed quite a few still, and I guess we haven't seen the end of it yet. I hope they go down, fucking kitstealers. They also got D'Allesandro on loan. Was pretty poor at first, but then sparked and he brought home the bacon and the vital time for them. These signings certainly saved a team that couldn't buy a win under previous management and with that squad. West Ham had a decent squad beforehand, which was just out of form, these signings will help, but Quashie & Davenport are nothing to write home about Neill is solid and Boa Morte is good on his day, its just not his day as often as you'd hope if he palys for you. They miss Ashton, they simply should of spent £11m on bringing in Bent, and try and start up partnership up that would last for years to come. I think the problems with West Ham are ... 1. They're getting the tag of "doomed" already. Doesn't mean a huge amount but it has a psychological effect. 2. Internal strife - apparently their dressing room is like a war zone, and the chief suspects in plotting against Pardew are equally hostile to Curbs. Take a look at some of the stuff that gets posted on KUMB. Shocking, if true. 3. Their new owners are making themselves look like arses. Talking about who they want to buy, and how much they will pay. That's the manager's job, not the chairman's. 4. Mishandling players on a massive, massive scale. Tevez and Mascherano can barely get a game, FFS. Bobby Zamora is better than Tevez, is he? I don't think so. 5. Signing players the way they have (basically waving more money at them), they're a bit like Boro. A place where people go to play not because of any conviction they're a happening, notable club, just purely for the money. Players there just for the cash aren't what you need halfway through a season where you're looking at possible relegation.

Portsmouth did the same last season and ended up staying up. West Ham are signing players who will improve there team and probobly keep them up. Not so much in the January window they didnt, their spending was mostly last summer. Portsmouth this time last season brought in a shed load of players, players which kept them in the division and it looked certain they would go down. They bought Mwaruwaru, Mendes, Davis, Pamarot and Kiely in the January window. Mendes, Pamarot and Davis came for a combined 7m. Kiely was a nominal fee. Mwaruwari cost 4m or so. The thing about West Ham isn't so much the players they have signed, it is that plus the players they have tried to sign, and the prices quoted. That and the wages - Lucas Neill isn't a bad player, but he's not worth 50k a week. They've been linked with everyone, made bids for a lot of them, and signed quite a few still, and I guess we haven't seen the end of it yet. I hope they go down, fucking kitstealers.

Portsmouth did the same last season and ended up staying up. West Ham are signing players who will improve there team and probobly keep them up. Not so much in the January window they didnt, their spending was mostly last summer.

Yes, I did. However, I've pointed out several times that we're paying too much for Young. And the fee is 8m plus 1.65 based on performance - stuff like playing for England. If he plays for England, then we'll have got a good player. I also said a few posts back that the inflation factor for English players is absurd. Don't see any inconsistency there. Plenty of bad players play(ed) for England, one cap doesn't mean they become a mint player overnight. Danny Mills reached nearly 30 caps FFS, JJ is actually in this squad, and Heskey was a 1st team player at one stage. There are many others, we could go on for days about the shite which have been capped for England. Quite true. In fairness, a lot of players who have looked shite for England have looked quality for their clubs, though.

Yes, I did. However, I've pointed out several times that we're paying too much for Young. And the fee is 8m plus 1.65 based on performance - stuff like playing for England. If he plays for England, then we'll have got a good player. I also said a few posts back that the inflation factor for English players is absurd. Don't see any inconsistency there.

Yep. But when you've got a billionaire owner who's obviously itching to spend money, prices do get inflated, plus there's no point having the money if you're not prepared to spend what it takes to get what you want. Nice attempt at trying to justify blowing a fortune on an average player. Whether he's average or not is a different matter, but I'd have thought my reference to prices getting inflated and spending what it takes made it pretty clear I know we're paying too much. If it didn't, then I'll say it now. We're paying more than he is worth. However, I'll temper this with the fact that we've emerged from decades of tightarse Ellis and a situation totally the opposite to a situation where we *can* pay over the odds if it gets us what we want. See my mention of same point on the Milner thread. EDIT - and the market for English players is *absurd*. See 18m for Richards, 18 for Carrick, 10 for Davies etc etc

Smacks of desperate, panic buying to me. It'll all end in tears. Real, salty tears.

Yep. But when you've got a billionaire owner who's obviously itching to spend money, prices do get inflated, plus there's no point having the money if you're not prepared to spend what it takes to get what you want.

Jesus, i don't believe some of the stuff I read on here about Milner. He was fantastic for us last year, and what I've seen this season, he's been good for you too, and has weighed in with a few spectacular goals. After the way Newcastle dicked him about on the last day of the last transfer window, his commitment seems absolutely exemplary to me. It certainly was for us last season. He's 21 years old, for god's sake, he isn't the finished article, he's got a long way to go yet, so give him a chance. Its funny, but we get other fans telling us what a great player Agbonlahor is, but Milner for me is just as promising a player, and Agbonlahor shows all the infuriating inconsistencies and rough edges that Milner does. Apparently, MON approached Roeder for him again in this window and was quoted double the price we agreed with you for him in the summer. Sounds stupid really, on on principle I'd not want us to pay it, but when you consider we're about to spaff the best part of 10 million on Ashley Young, maybe it isn't too mental?

*logs on* *scans thread* *logs off*

I wasn’t born interested in Football. This is why it’s hard for me… Since leaving college though all I think about and look forward to is Football. support your local team, then, wherever you're from.

I must object to this. Gaunt is definitely a prick, but he is definitely not a brummie prick. He is from Coventry, which despite being a pointless satellite of Brum, is not in Brum. Talksport is spasticated shite.

Picking and choosing your football team is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. You're born with it, and you stick with it, end of.

Fuck fuck fuck. I thought we deserved a draw from that. Good to hear 6000 Villa fans totally outsing 70,000 of the home counties finest. OT surely is the best example of how away fans always outsing home fans these days. Got to say, though ... 4 fucking mins added time? I know the goal was in the first, but it DOES make a difference if you know you've got that extra bit of time to get the winner. One minute and you're more inclined to see time out. Some things never change. Sad, but i was actually thinking 1-1 would be the worst result, we really didn't need to be playing a replay.