James Milner And The Never Ending Transfer Saga

Anyone else feel like throwing up a white flag and screaming END! END! ?

As of right now, nearly 3pm PT, 11PM GMT, the offer appears to be a £27.5M package for Milner. That package apparently includes Stephen Ireland.

While it seems evident that most Villa fans are excited about the idea about Ireland coming to Villa Park, for the most part, I just shrug. Yes, it's a midfielder--but he's certainly not a replacement for James Milner. He can pass the ball and he has a nice touch, but he's not going to be guiding the center of the field.

Perhaps if Martin O'Neill is really going to try not playing a 4-4-2 (and oh goodness I hope this is the case) we can pack the midfield with players and it won't matter so much that Villa just have a passing man. And if he grabs that cash and runs, far far away from the crazies at Citeh, maybe he can track down a decent right-back. One that's not on crutches or moaning about their hamstring. Villa had one of the best defenses in the league last year, and I'd like to keep it that way.

For the most part, I trust MON. He brought in Dunne and look where that's gotten us. But I don't think he's some sort of Irish-Whisperer or anything like that. Should that money go to buying Robbie Keane and Aiden McGeady, I'm leaping off the O'Neill bandwagon.