Neil

Why not?

So do you think he's worth £18m? Ultimately, he's worth whatever Villa were prepared to pay for him but from subjectively, yes, I think he is worth every penny. He's consistently scored goals in the past few years and although it may take a little while to accept "Darren Bent: £18m - eh?", the stats don't lie. Couple that with Villa's particular need for goals then there's no surprise they were willing to splash considerable cash for him. Sunderland have got a fair price. you'll have to completly change your style to accomodate him. I think he'll suit Houllier's preferred style of play very well, i.e. 4-5-1 defensive set up relying on counter attack football. Agreed. As is talked about widely, he doesn't seem to successfully link up with a strike partner so yes, there is that issue, but at Villa iirc they usually stick with one main striker and have others try to support him. This will suit Bent. Barring injury, he'll probably get 1 in 2 for Villa; could well hit double figures before the season is out.

So do you think he's worth £18m? Ultimately, he's worth whatever Villa were prepared to pay for him but from subjectively, yes, I think he is worth every penny. He's consistently scored goals in the past few years and although it may take a little while to accept "Darren Bent: £18m - eh?", the stats don't lie. Couple that with Villa's particular need for goals then there's no surprise they were willing to splash considerable cash for him. Sunderland have got a fair price.

You're being very kind with only £4m for Onouha too.

Nigerian U20 team? Whatever you say.

Taye Taiwo? Blimey, Lerner's got a few bob spare it seems.

Aye, SAFC fans are well better than us like. So much class, so much sophistication... hang on... They are proper big lads tweeting a football who's not likely to give a s*** what fans of his ex club thought of him The only group of fans I've met who enjoy the company of Sunderland fans are Darlo supporters, and that's only because their brand of football tends to be so tedious they'll go for anything. That and they're both cunts. It's a charming town, though.

He doesn't score enough. In fact IMO he simply doesn't shoot enough. He plays some really nice short balls in the final third and sure, it's nice to watch, but at times you just think, come on, put your foot through it.

That video. :lol:

He's pretty consistent. Some of his performances this year haven't been at his best but he's still been decent. You rarely see him have a particularly bad game, he's always trying to get on the ball and make things happen.

I don't want players to get injured, but if Gyan wouldn't mind just, y'know, having a little "accident", that'd be rather amusing.

I enjoy Nut's enthusiasm for wanting to create teams of a particular theme.

I'd love to know where he keeps going and why he can't huff in the house If I see him should I ask, or would that be endangering my life, do you think? You'll be on The List, that's for sure.

Aston Villa are 17th, we're 6th, that means we're 11 times bigger than them.

You're entitled to your opinion. 1878 has basically summed it up. Kranjcar is a pretty good player, I like him, but if I had to choose someone to have in my squad, it'd be Pienaar.

They've essentially ripped the doors off and are on their way to Dover as we speak.

Invariably I'd deny it but simply put, I entirely disagree.

What did Quinn say? *sets it up*

Get in, Blef. Was he grumbling to himself? AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!%@#$%%£!

A very good sum, yes, but the issues for me are: a) Will he have all that to spend - Short has injected a fair bit into the club, perhaps he wants a bit back? b) Who can they attract? Highly doubtful they can get anyone who can consistently score as much as Bent has. If they get someone near him they'll have done well. c) IMO they are in fact forced to get someone. Welbeck is apparently injured for 6 weeks (confirmed?) and Sunderland are desperately short up front. Playing with 1 up top is an option but in my view they are much better when they have 2 up front.

Yep. Yes, Villa will climb up the table but still - it's a blow to fans who on one hand legitimately could claim they were in a great position (nowhere near relegation, top 10 spot looking likely), but on the other to those who genuinely believed they would finish in Europe this year. Certainly a smack round the chops.

KD: thoughts on how Pienaar will fit in? Pleased he went to your lot over Chelsea, at least he's got a chance of getting some decent game time. I assume he won't be starting, but he'll be useful to come on, possibly also backup for VDV in that AMC role? I'm not going to lie, even if it is due to his contract running out, it's a painfully good deal.

Is the £18m figure accurate?

Holy fuck. This is NEW news. Neesy: putting the NEW into (twitter is telling me this) NEWS.