Opinion, frustration, new players, belief, wishes, money and Randy the banker

Well said Damian. I'm inclined to agree with your views about Mr. Lerner because, if nothing else, we've no reason not to.

Perhaps a more upbeat attitude from the fans is all that's required. After all, it's not even the end of July yet.

Fair play Damien, i must say your views sometimes differ with mine but you're right, its our opinion.
Im firmly behind MON and he could get us in the top 4 with the right squad WHICH HE WILL BUY.
Now, im having a beer before setting off to Walsall ;D

Oh Damian, just how silly you are going to look.....

Damian,

The real stars of this site were Taglor and that angry Peter fella that used to post. He did talk sense though ;) ;)

very refreshing to here some support for MON and the club. I share your optimism and opinion. The right players will be signed and youth will continue to be given the chance. Wenger does not sign big money players and do the arse cockney want him sacked? the dog that is aston villa will have its day but only if there is continuity from the board and manager down to playing staff.
lets support mon everyone please

im not up for borrowing money from banks, that then puts you into debt and thats something i always looked up to doug ellis for not doing

I wish i was having a bear, I wish i could just keep on drinking from now till the transfer window closes. I have had enough we have Villa fans arguing with Villa fans where i work and all the smelly bluenoses are loving it. Let all us villians be together as one with a positive attitude.

your a class act damian and i always like reading your posts..i am one of the fans the has become more convienced that mon and randy are the best things that has ever happened to the villa ...randy has put his own personal cash into everything he has done or the club so far hence the only prem club that have not borrowed money ...he has restored of historic buildings and signs connected to the club and has treated the place with tlc beyond the call of duty ..upgraded the training ground to the highest level...so i am sure he is wanting the same level on the pitch ... cheer up villans we are going to become a force under these fantastic two individuals.

A question, who would you rather have up front? Crouch and Defoe or Carew and Gabby.................Crouch and Defoe any day of the week for me.. IMO we should have bust our balls to get Defoe in January, the mans pure goals..and if we showed any ambition we should have got Crouch...Thinking about it, fancy Carew,Gabby,Crouch and Defoe at Villa Park....should of happened

Martin O'Neil, Martin O'Neil, Martin O'Neil Martin O'Neil!!!! I read this site every day, I think its very good compared to most. Iagree with you yoday Damien, I think there is money and MON will be spending it very soon and whoever he signs I trust him as we had a great season last season i'm sure we will again, my season ticket has just arrived, 1st one for 3 years, had to get 1 because next season it wil be so difficult as we WILL be in the Champions league I am so sure!!!!

Your opinion is much the same as mine, I know MON will get the club where it should be. The club is in a crucial stage, trying to break into the top 4 in Premiership. Many clubs have tried and failed(Leeds, Newcastle, Spurs...) and end up in debt with ridiculous wage bills. MON and Lerner seem to be very careful in how they work. We all want great big-name players with established-talent, but we must trust MON as only he knows his plans.
All we can do is support the club

Jonnyvillain, you would be better of with a beer than a bear. They don't taste very nice!!

MON has announced that we are not interested in signing Zigic. I am not surprised, I'm quietly confident we are not interested in signing anyone.

Unrelated I know, but does anyone know if the Odense return leg is being televised anywhere? If someone could let me know I'd be very grateful. Cheers

Martin no'deal has just been saying that theres no truth is the zigic rumor, we havent bid and he doesn't even know the player??? Nice

So no bentley no Zigic who knows what the man he thinking, i'll start to give him my support when he gives my team support?
[b]Villa Fans We Need[/b]Goalkeeper, 2 Rightbacks, Defender, Playmaker, Mildfielder, Striker? Stop Kidding Yourself how long do the supporters have to wait for them to come in, its not like we have to sell we are down to the crust

If Young/Laursen got injured (god forbid) in training/match we would be screwed, i hate getting whooped by man u? like last season our team compared to theirs we were like a pub team, Do you think we are going to get 4 points off Chelsea this season, 4 points off Spurs, Their teams have improved no end???

Another point is people always bangin on about we finished 6th last season, the difference between finishing 6 or 10 place was like winning 1 match? Get over it
Those teams around us either had a pretty good run in some sort of competition thats why we finished 6th not because Martin no'deal has brilliant Manager Tactics!
So we got a bit [b]lucky[/b] if you ask me, i want success for villa but the facts are right there.

Well done Damian, this site is my first port of call each and every day and well worth the time. Heres to the next four years.

We will not progress any higher than 6th in my opinion buying players who cant make the starting eleven of there own club. you dont see Manu Chelsea Arsenal or liverpool spending money on the Wayne Routledges of this world. we have the money (apparantly) to bid for the likes of Berbatovs, Gerrards, Im not saying we should go for players like that but feel we should be bidding on some of the starting eleven players. Like why make one bid for Bentley then being turned down and say we wont be persuing that option any more?? He would be a good signing for us. why give up the chase so easily. i hate to say it but i cant see us making any really decent signings this summer only the odd player that couldnt make the starting 11 for his own club or a 37 year old goalie. i hope i am wrong

jamtomorrow the villa game will be live on satanta sports 1 this sat

Villa are likely to spend over £30m this window regardless of the Barry saga. - That's easily confirmed fact. If anyone wants to argue that fact I will put them right.

Is £30m enough? Who knows but I suspect that if the right deals came along and we sold Barry, £50m is available. Is that enough?

Yeah it is enough because the top players will not come here yet. I hear the same thing from supporters of so many nearly clubs at the moment. We have moved on from the Jack Walker era. I would argue the cost of buying a shot at the title is £300m including increased salary deals.

So that leaves us with MON doing the sensible long term thing. We as fans can help the process along by supporting the team or just make it harder by acting like spoilt brats.

Let's stop talking about top 4 please, it's not happening this season or next with the squad of players that we currently have or are linked with. Let's not turn into the scousers or the geordies and start waffling on about rubbish that we aren't capable of achieving.

We are linked today with a 6ft 7in striker, just what we need, another target to hoof long balls up to. I am afraid MON has lost my confidence, he's just not that good in the transfer marker, end of story. We still have no right back and our midfield looks like a shambles with Petrov missing in action. I am not sure why you keep harping on about Lerner, it's MON that's not buying players. If we needed money why would we have a children's charity on our shirt?

People need to wake up and realise that MON can't take us into the top 4 with the squad that we have, the squad that he built. I'd be happy to eat my words if I am wrong and hope that I am, but I see nothing that points to us finishing anywhere from 6-10 this season.

Well said AVMark.

@AV Mark, you make some good points but let's compare Harry Rednapp with MON, playing with a similar amount of cash but seems to do far better with it. The real leveler is this season with Barry gone and few new faces in, we looked lost without him in midfield of Saturday, I just hope there's a better performance this week.

Whilst I have some agreement with AVMark and JimmyVillain the lack of transfer activity is worrying me. I have been a member of the "trust in MON" brigade since he became manager but his handling of the Bentley bid has made me question him. I know we can't attract the best players as we are not involved in the champions league, but we have been told time and again by the Villa board (mostly the General) that we have the money and the ambition to buy the next best, such as Bentley.

Our squad is wafer thin and we need at least 6 or 7 quality signings to not only improve the squad but also the team. I expected most to be signed before last weeks game.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY "AVFC BLOG" HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU.....
This transfer market has made me go crazy.....and the other transfer markets....2 YEARS without a rb.....no proper goalkeeper......no cover for bouma.....no right midfielder.....no replacement for ZAT KNIGHT(davies come soon) and well its making me annoyed....the match on saturday was alful...we didnt even deserve to draw....at this rate we will be lucky if we stay in the league let aone attacking the big 3 and scouseland

Damian, well said!

I know I go on a bit about the numbers but its starting to really show how short we are. Its also about time the club and Manager pulled their fingers out. Fans have been lied to time and time again over the years I don't think they'll take any more.

I'm a big fan of MON even though some would think otherwise but I do get fed up with all the praise he gets. The fact is if the money is there do something about it - Otherwise be upfront about it! I just hope its not another case of promises until season tickets sold out and then the normal - Sorry couldn't get all these players, its been hard with Euro 2008, agents wanting to much etc etc.

The bottom line is - If Villa have the money the players will come. As its looking like the players aren't at the moment which tells a story!

I'm amazed MON can't get a Right Back in - This should've been inplace the moment the window opened ????

AVMark - I appreciate some of your points re Villa not ready to tempt the top players yet, but my argument would be when will we ever get them here if we have a manager with so little ambition in the transfer market? One bid for Bentley and then he walked off! Barry leaving what he regards as a sinking ship. The lack of ambition is clear for everyone in the land to see, not just us Villa fans. If I were a neutral player I'd probably choose Portsmouth above us which is crazy but I shows how negative our profile is. We need some big signings just to show the world we mean business, not more Marlon Harewood's who are the kind of players Wigan and WBA go for.

Goldie 7 made some great points about us coming sixth, i completley agree, thank fcuk we never had any real major injuries, we seen how the Curtis Davies injury affected us at the back end of the season, MON lucked out, could you have imagined us having Gabby,Young,Reo-Cocker,Barry,Bouma and Laursen injured for most of the season, we would have been in sh*t street..We would have been staring at a relegation fight for sure..As much as a knock MON he isn't a fool and i hope to god he's going to make us eat our words and pull out some great signings we need....i just can't see it..if we sign more than 4 players i will be fcuking amazed

Well said Damian & most of the posters. Mostly positive comments for a change! We finished 6th last season with the smallest squad in the league. We knew when MON joined he wasn't going to be a 'Cheque-Book Charlie', so the amount of people who are expecting him to do a Ranieri or O'Deary (at Leeds) are kidding themselves. It was always going to take time to convince players to come to Villa after recent seasons, so unless a player wants to come and play for us (like Sidwell, who's taken a pay-cut to come), I don't think waving the cheque book is the answer, ask any Leeds fan if they could've done things differently, they'd all say 'YES'. I know from talking to a friend of mine (an agent) that MON is, and has been after various players, but because it's Villa, the price goes up! Look at Carson, £10m (not a penny less) for us, then he goes to the Baggies for £3.2m, not that I wanted him after McClown ruined him. Be patient, up the Villa!!

Very positive article Damian, It's nice to hear positivity. I have to say that I have always been one of the 'trust in MON' fans on this site. I don't post comments very often but I don't think I've ever posted a negative comment about MON.

But I'm really starting to understand some of the negativity now. I'd like to think that a patience is one of my qualities, but I'm finally losing it. I know MON likes to leave his signings late in the transfer window, which I have been fine with before. But when the situation is a serious as this, and our squad is as small as this, then you would think that MON would change his tactics. But no, he is still leaving them late.

Players often need time to adjust when they arrive at a new club, so having them here for pre season is, in my opinion, ESSENTIAL for the player so that they can settle down, rather than arriving after the season has already started and trying to gel with the other players immediately. It's looking more and more like the players will be arriving after the start of the season, be that the number of players we need or short of it (the latter of which would not surprise me now that I think about it).

I've just read back what I've written and I can't believe how negative it is considering all the great things that MON and Lerner have done for the club, but all of those things might as well be forgotten if our squad is not added to - we risk throwing away the great season we had last year and ending up in mid-table obscurity again.

The right back problem has become somewhat laughable; I understand holding out for your targets if you think they are worth it Martin but when something so important needs sorting and it is left this long with, might I add, very few rumours circulating recently about a right back heading our way, then it is totally understandable why people are worrying - And I see that now.

Your positivity in this post is admirable Damian, I'm just finding it very hard to keep mine.

Phil67 I hope your right. But the simple answer is that if we want a player we will have to pay over the odds. Ok, not £10m for Carson but we paid over the odds for Young at the time and he has been worth every penny. If Blackburn want £17m for Bentley, then pay it.

Happy Birthday!
It's nice to have a positive day, even tho the usual whingers are trying their best to spoil things.
I'm hoping for a couple of signings before the weekend, and i should imagine it will be a Goalkeeper and a right-back.
Although i do think o'neil is holding out for Finnan in this Barry deal, that seems to be taking an age to happen. I wish Rafa would just make up his mind!

well said Damian...

I fully understand most of the points being made but let's be honest most of us including me just want sexy signings. We want that fantastic, indulgent couple of days of being in the news and fans of other clubs talking about us.

We ALL want that. Fans of every club and yes Villa have given us so little - maybe one in the last 50 years (Stan Collymore) and even he was a reject.

But MON is being slagged of for doing things he isn't doing (wrongly reported in the press) and slagged off for not doing things when we don't know the facts.

It's all very well saying we should have bid over the odds for Bentley. What you have to understand is that there is a direct link between purchase price and player contract. The more you are prepared to pay the higher the salary - that then has a knock on affect throughout the entire squad. You can't sy to a player or his agent - oh yeah we paid all that money but you are not really worth it - we paid over the odds!

We just don't know the full picture and all I'm saying is if you call yourself a supporter don't be so quick to slag someone off on a hunch or based upon what the press have told you.

its all good having the sexy signings but without a defence which apart from ZAT THE PRAT almost made our season last year can we even stay in the top half

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVFCBLOG

Just decided go 2nyts game. Does anyone know if there will be enuf tickets to just turn up and get one?

Fancy having alook at Delfounso.

Well said Damian, I've been dipping in and out of here for some time but signed up today (happy birthday blog) to try and inject a bit of positivity into proceedings to find that you already had.
Cheer up people, there are weeks of training and signings before the big kick off proper and we'll be in europe with a better squad than last season, I'm sure of it. If we're not then obviously we can look at things then but for now how about a bit of optimism eh? For the first time since the turn of the millenium we're looking at starting a season with a deserved place in europe with a manager that most clubs would kill for, who has already taken one club to a eufa cup final after winning trophies and surpassing expectations at both that club and the one from the crispbowl that are now in the third tier.
Let's get behind MON for god's sake and give him a fighting chance!

Big rumour on Sky Sports News that Brag Freidel will be a Villa player within next 24 hours !

I reckon damian knows of some imminent signings and is backtracking to not look bad?!?!?!?

I like the idea of having a Randy Banker though ;)

cannot believe barry might play against wassall tonight im off now to the bescot to see the slave thrown in to the lions den!im sure we will give him a warm welcome ;D ;D ;D ;D not!!!!.where are ya jazmundo xxxx

Damian knows about Super Signing Wednesday. The Magic 7.

Site is great, MON is great, Randy is great, Villa are great, even the moaners are great. (Ps I'm on holiday for 6 weeks, it's 5.15 on a Tuesday and I'm supping lager in the garden)

AVMark, can you write something really really long because it restores my sanity and perspective. Better still get your opinions into the Forum.

So barry might be playing tonight it will be good 2 see what the fans will say 2 him

Zigic is tall, but he isn't an atypical target man striker a la Carew, he's a prolific goalscorer a la Niall Quinn.

happy birthday Aston villa blog.
great blog the best,well done to all.
players coming in after we qualify(there queuing up for european football)trust the soulmerchant

HOW THE F*** CAN U BE POSITIVE WHEN WE HAVE PLAYED 1 COMPETITIVE MATCH AND ANOTHER 1 ON SATURDAY AND WE HAVN'T SIGNED A: RB, GK AND THERES IS ALOT MORE POSITIONS WE NEED TO MAKE STRONGER..

MON HASN'T DONE A BAD JOB IT'S JUST THAT IF THERE'S MONEY THERE IT'S LIKE I DON'T WANT TO SPEND IT IT ISN'T MY MONEY TO WASTE..

AND IF THE SQUAD IS LIKE THIS AT THE END OF AUGUST I SAY THE CHANCES OF GETTIN TOP 10 ARE VERY SLIM MAYBE EVEN RELEGATION BATTLE IS POSSIBLE DEPENDING ON INJURIES. AND WITH PLAYERS LIKE KABOUL I NEVER EVEN HEARD OF HIM BEFORE HE WENT TO SPURS HE'S JUST A WASTE OF MONEY COULD GET A NEW RB INSTEAD.

AND Goldie 7 I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU YOU COULDN'T BE MORE RIGHT. ;D

and if anyone goes to walsall tonight i think we should welcome barry back because i would rarther have barry than kaboul or someone silly like that..

I MEAN BARRY IS BETTER THAN ONE SIGNING ISN'T IT???

AN WHO IS CATCHIN THE 529 THERE??? ;D

I'm writing this on a train from london waterloo, and reading this blog as i do almost every day. Happy 4th birthday, and well done on an excellent website. I'm a web editor myself and consider myself a regular visitor. Keep up the good work.

O YH RICHARD DAVIS WENT TO MY SCHOOL IF HE PLAYS HE AINT THAT BAD U NO AN IM OF NOW ;D

Taglor has spilled the beans. Sssh, the Super Seven Wednesday was supposed to be a secret.

Nan was a fan, You must be at school if you've got 5 weeks holiday!

See Barry is in the squad tonight to face Walsall, Wonder what reception he will get?!

who is this ruddy nobhead!!!!welcoming barry back,i reckon he fancies barry the twitcher,why dont u go to liverpool as well""".i will welcome barry back with open arms and clenched fists the dirty little turncoat >:( >:( >:( >:(.i love jazmundo

Great site and quite unique IMO. Well done to all involved.

Love the positivity around at the mo. It's like I said the other day. We have to enjoy what has actually happened and not what we fear might happen. I see this season as trying to cement ourselves as a top 6 team and hopefully have a decent cup run to boot!!. Much more than that may be a little too optimistic but you never know. I'm all for continued steady progress and I think MON is, more or less, acheiving it. As for RL, I've said it before but I really do think we have the best owner in the premiership and I'm trying to make that as unbiased a statement as I can.

Damian - great to see you championing the cause. We don't always agree but I'm delighted you're coming round to my way of thinking. ;) Seriously though well done on the site - enjoy your beer. Given the stick you sometimes get, you've earned it (that's my opinion....today of course ). :)

It's simple, really: either Lerner is a fake and a PR whore or MON is uncapable of dealing with so called primadonna players - a situation most successful managers manage to cope with - witness Ferguson, Mourinho, Ancelotti etc.

Either way, the only ones to lose out in all of this are likely to be Aston Villa football club and its fans.

barry is only playing to keep his fitness up, if he is unfit liverpool can use that as a bargaining tool and maybe get a mil dropped off his price tag

just read this about lerner on forbes. 'Son of Al Lerner (d. 2002), founder of credit card giant MBNA and savior of Cleveland Browns pro football franchise. Family sold 40% of stake in MBNA to pay taxman; will convert the rest to shares and cash pending $35 billion sale to Bank of America'

what does that mean. because it means what i think it means doesnt it mean hes going to have around 17 billion british pounds in his pocket. and if it is i wonder what how hell use it.

actually i dont know if it has already happend. any help please.

hello and thankyou to all the villa fans that have shown such enthusiasm when commenting this articles. i do not usually comment on websites not connected to the club however i feel that this website has been a great place for different villa fans from all over the world to express their views.

yes i am aware that we as a club need to spend. and all i can do is reassure you that sigining will come. it was my intention to sign david bentley as im sure you are all aware, however blackburns asking price was just too high. as for other speculation younes kaboul is a good defending and i admit we have been in contact with spurs over him and one or two other players. so as you can see although it is not publically known we are very active and i promise that signings will come.

finally i want to ask that everyone gets behind the lads in our second leg of the intertoto cup at villa park. i want us to be playin in the uefa cup next season, and by having 43,000 fans behind the lads it drives us on.

thank you everyone for your support and also a big thanks to damian, you are a true fan and i honestly am greatful for the work you have put in to this great site

yours TRUELY

Martin O'neil (AVFC MANAGER)

Martin .. You spelt your own name wrong matey!

Thank god martin Oneil signed of with
"Martin O'neil (AVFC MANAGER)" i had no idea who he was.
Does any one else think that we should just pretend to like Barry so we can get another season, or half a season out of him? Then when he goes to Liverpool start not liking him again? ;)

MON is dyslexic? No wonder we don't sign the right players...

Yeah - makes you wonder how he got a law degree.

Happy Anniversary on the website, love it

Well Said!!!

I reckon your thinking to deeply into this... i think it's pretty simply. MON knows you live and die by your transfer dealings and thats why he likes low risk players like Routelidge, Harewood etc who are fairly cheap and fans have little expectation. I honestly belief the money is there waiting for the manager but he wont spend lots on average players or over the odds. I think this will work to our beneift over the next few years becuase i think big clubs will struggle as it is already happening with Liverpool and Spurs where they have to sell before they can buy.

just been sent home from work for not having the correct tools for doing my job....if this rule applied to the villa would MON still be in a job....i hate being so negative but the goings on so far have got to me,id rather sell Barry for 10million and spend it on new lads than keep Barry with no signings.if this was happenig under Ellis you would all be marching in the streets asking fo answers....