Friday, 5th June

There's international stuff going on, and it's England v Ireland on Sunday, so there's stuff about Grealish and Delph in the news. None of it particularly interesting, truth be told.

Also, Cleverley to Everton is seemingly official. Meh.

Saturday, 6th June

We're linked with Pogba. I hope that doesn't affect his performance in the Champions League final tonight.

Oh, hang on. It's not that Pogba...

Right, it's his brother, Florentin, who currently plays for Saint-Etienne. He apparently plays centre back or left back. I've no idea if it's true, although I will say that the French media started it, and it was them who linked us to Belhanda a couple of summers ago....

Sunday, 7th June

England play Ireland, it's all very dull, and the only Villa interest was Shay Given coming as a sub in the second half. It was the type of game where I'm grateful for distracting technology, as I barely needed to look at the TV, so I spent it doing other stuff while sort of paying attention to the dross they served up.

Spurs are linked with a £20m move for Benteke. He has a £32.5m release clause. Whether it's a genuine Spurs bid or a story from the media - try again.

Monday, 8th June

It's Papa Kimbo's 60th birthday today. He's a good bloke. My passion for Aston Villa completely stems from him; he occasionally apologises for that  :)

Ron Vlaar says he can 'go a step higher' than Aston Villa. This brings a few feelings forward; the first is that is probably not something to say about your club. The second is that, well, let's not pretend he's exempt from how rubbish we've been during his time here; he has been part of it. Finally, the most prominent feeling is that he'll probably get injured trying to put his foot on that 'step'.

Darren Bent is released and signs for Derby. A few kids leave, Graham Burke being the only one that got any sort of first team action.

Apparently Chris Herd is getting a chance to prove himself to Sherwood. I like Herd's enthusiasm but for me, he just hasn't got it. I'll be surprised and disappointed if he gets a new deal.

Oh yeah, and there is the small matter of the takeover. John Percy writes an article for the Telegraph stating that a bidding party has been granted exclusivity. The end game could well be upon us, people....

Tuesday, 9th June

Young defender Kevin Toner, who has been linked with a few clubs, has signed a new deal. This is where it gets annoying that we don't get to see many reserve games these days; at one point I'd have an informed opinion on him. Now I just hear he's supposed to be pretty good! A loan move to a lower league side next season sounds good to me.

We have a new sponsor - Intuit QuickBooks, previously of Albion shirt 'fame'. The deal ranges from a bag of swizzle lollies to a billion quid, depending on what you read.*

*Disclaimer - that may or may not be an exaggeration at both ends of the spectrum

Wednesday, 10th June

Tom Fox attends a lunch presentation thingamajig with Gianluca Vialli. Questions of Christian Benteke and a possible takeover are the headlines; he confirms that we are offering CB a new contract, and he basically bigs up Lerner rather than give takeover details - which is fine, it's not like he can talk about the takeover.

Fox splits opinion; I think it's slight harsh to overly judge him negatively so far, likewise it's being overly optimistic to lavish love in his direction. For the job he's doing, it is not being soft to suggest that his work for Aston Villa, in theory, is still in its infancy. When I met him he came across very impressive, but he's certainly a slick corporate type. I don't think it's in question that he's an upgrade on Paul Faulkner. But as it is, we will probably never get a long-term judgement of him as there's every chance he'll be gone soon enough. That said, there are certainly no guarantees on that. But I do feel that Fox and most likely Sherwood are both on shaky ground right now.

Thursday, 11th June

All over the media, it appears that Micah Richards will soon be a Villa player. I'm pretty happy with that, the biggest doubt is his injury record. If he can stay fit and get playing regularly, he could turn out to be a solid, maybe even an amazing signing for us.

It's announced that we are playing Forest away in a pre-season friendly. That's Forest, Wolves and Walsall - at least fans won't be shedding out too much for petrol!

So that's your lot. There might not be any games to look at, but with the transfer window opening next month, and the takeover situation rumbling on, there's still plenty for me to waffle about. Sorry!




PS - we have a submission from a first-time writer for us next week, so keep an eye out for that...