Our server issues should be resolved now as the offending website is now no longer on this server and it's on a much much bigger one, that should be able to handle it. So, apologies for the performance the last couple of days, it is just one of those things that completely surprised us.
But we do have a rumour that hasn't surprised us and actually, won't happen. The rumour is that Martin O'Neill will move for West Ham midfielder Scott Parker in the event he is forced to sell James Milner to Manchester City or someone else.
Now, so much rests on this that it just won't happen. First, James Milner leaving; possible, yes, even probable, but not a nailed on certainty. Then you have the West Ham owners, who just a few weeks ago said the entire squad was for sale, except Scott Parker - how can they let him go after saying that?
Lastly, we have common sense joining the party and this is the one guest that always seems to liven up a party. If West Ham have said he is the one player they don't want to sell, it's going to take a fair chunk of cash for them to change their mind and Scott Parker will be 30 years old in October and to top it all off, he is injury prone.
Don't get me wrong, he is a very good player but spending anything over £3mn on him would be a waste of money and when we are operating a sell to buy policy - this isn't the type of deal we will even be considering. The type of deals we will looking at are the likes of Webcam and Milner - bring in young players at relatively good prices, run them out week after week and sell them on when the offer is too good to refuse.
Scott Parker is a great player and if his contract at West Ham had just ended, I'd offer him £100k a week to come and play for us next season, but you can't go spending large sums of cash on players that will have no resale value and carry too much risk and that is why common sense will prevail and why he won't be playing in the original claret and blue next season.
England v USA
So, thanks for the rumour, whoever thought it up, now it is time to concentrate on the business of England. I've watched the opening concert of the World Cup, the opening ceremony, both matches and now I have three today. It is my mission this month to watch them all and it will be fun. What will be more fun is to see a few Aston Villa players perform.
I think it fair to say that Milner was picked for England as a squad player, but I have a feeling we might see him start tonight and I've got a feeling I'm going to remember James Milner much like I remember David Platt, but I hope I'm wrong. I just hope we have a good World Cup and some good football, I'm quite happy so far.
If anything else Aston Villa comes along today, please post a comment. For now, I'm off to make a sandwich; I'm thinking sausage.