Ex Lion Tamer

We should be tying Downes and Matsuki to new contracts

He also has two years left on his contract so if he's not going to sign an extension, now is the time to let go - if the price is right

This is what I'm confused about, because it seems like we all kind of agree that THB isn't that good in the Premier League and definitely not good enough for Villa and yet we seem to think he should go for big money? The fee we signed him for reflected that we thought he was a future Premier League player and potential England player. That is in some doubt now

Especially if we're still negotiating a fee, he can hardly come out and say he's gone

I reckon Stephens will be given the chance to play himself back into form

It's hard not the get the jitters at this time of the window but we normally make a few quality signings as the day approaches. It's also not in the club's interest for teams to think we're desperate

I think he's better than Ralph and is going to the top

Full Marx for that signing

I know the guys from the Second Tier podcast aren't universally popular here but the Stoke-supporting one said he thought this was a great signing for us

Most clubs have players of different abilities that may be useful for different leagues. it's not hard for a scout to consider three clubs when watching a match. It's also not hard to watch multiple matches during a trip. In fact it makes it easier for them to use their time wisely if they have multiple objectives to work towards.

You can argue that all our recruitment has benefited from the multi club model because it allows us to pool the resources of three clubs into one global scouting network. (Impossible to prove admittedly)

It's possible that Juan was happy in Turkey and wanted to stay there rather than come back to us after his loan

If it's true that we've only offered him a one-year deal then I think he's absolutely in his rights to look elsewhere

I don't think 2 years is unrealistic to be fair, depending on the salary

I wonder if we'll let him train with us in the hope he stays