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So Bobby says we're close to signing him. Where do we play him? He's never convinced me as a winger, so in the middle, but we've got a lot of talent there. Dunno, dunno, dunno.

He's one of the most versatile players in the prem though - we'll have the formation that suits on the day

When most of us tried to cobble together our 25 we struggled to get there with quality players even including Milner and Balotelli. Remembering that U21s are exempt anyway.

The rest are either not good enough (and never will be) with the occasional 'may be good in the future' thrown in!

Plenty of room for Mr Milner. He can play anywhere across the mid, and Bobby likes versatility so he can change things about 6 times during matches.

john@staustell wrote:When most of us tried to cobble together our 25 we struggled to get there with quality players even including Milner and Balotelli. Remembering that U21s are exempt anyway.

The rest are either not good enough (and never will be) with the occasional 'may be good in the future' thrown in!

Plenty of room for Mr Milner. He can play anywhere across the mid, and Bobby likes versatility so he can change things about 6 times during matches.

Well there were 27 on show at the open training today and that was without Nedum,Bridge and Zaba plus Michael Johnson.Add Milner and Balotalli and we have 3 teams!! Changes coming for sure.

Either wing, behind the striker, anywhere across a midfield 3 or part of the 2 in a 4-2-3-1, centre mid in a 4-4-2, fullback & striker in an emergency.

Wooders wrote:He's one of the most versatile players in the prem though - we'll have the formation that suits on the day

this! milner's versatility and "yes sir" attitude is an asset for us. he may not be an automatic starter but he's a reliable player to have in the squad. lets wrapped this up quickly together with balotelli.

Tony P wrote:So Bobby says we're close to signing him. Where do we play him? He's never convinced me as a winger, so in the middle, but we've got a lot of talent there. Dunno, dunno, dunno.

Been out this afternoon - did I miss something, where did Mancini confirm we are close to signing Milner?

(apologies if its stated somewhere else very obviously)

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:

john@staustell wrote:When most of us tried to cobble together our 25 we struggled to get there with quality players even including Milner and Balotelli. Remembering that U21s are exempt anyway.

The rest are either not good enough (and never will be) with the occasional 'may be good in the future' thrown in!

Plenty of room for Mr Milner. He can play anywhere across the mid, and Bobby likes versatility so he can change things about 6 times during matches.

Well there were 27 on show at the open training today and that was without Nedum,Bridge and Zaba plus Michael Johnson.Add Milner and Balotalli and we have 3 teams!! Changes coming for sure.

Given Hart Taylor

Zabba Richards Boateng Bridge Kolarov

Lescott Kompany Toure (Ned)

Barry DeJong Toure Vieira

Ireland Silva Johnson SWP Milner

Tevez Adebayor Bellamy (RSC)

=25

Balotelli under 21. M Johnson injured til Christmas at least.

If any are going be leaving or get injured we have Jo & Caicedo.

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:

john@staustell wrote:When most of us tried to cobble together our 25 we struggled to get there with quality players even including Milner and Balotelli. Remembering that U21s are exempt anyway.

The rest are either not good enough (and never will be) with the occasional 'may be good in the future' thrown in!

Plenty of room for Mr Milner. He can play anywhere across the mid, and Bobby likes versatility so he can change things about 6 times during matches.

Well there were 27 on show at the open training today and that was without Nedum,Bridge and Zaba plus Michael Johnson.Add Milner and Balotalli and we have 3 teams!! Changes coming for sure.

4 keepers and a couple of u21s so knock 3 off

i think dude is a playa...he slides right in here...that's where he fits in.

Tony P wrote:So Bobby says we're close to signing him. Where do we play him? He's never convinced me as a winger, so in the middle, but we've got a lot of talent there. Dunno, dunno, dunno.

Milner was one of the first players we bid for, so therefore was /is one of the Club's prime targets. My own view is that he is a prime target to fill the hole that was in front of Barry and DeJong that we tried to plug with PV in the absense of Stevie Ireland stepping up. PV cant do it and Ireland would still be a gamble to go into the season relying on him. but now we have Yaya the options have multiplied and at a guess we might find Yaya a bit deeper with Barry or DeJong holding and Milner poncing about in front of Yaya.
The short of it is last season we struggled to link play up, now we have Yaya, Ireland, Barry, Silva, PV and what looks like Milner.. oh and when fit possibly M Johnno to add to that.

Maybe this season we will just be linking up all the time but not doing anything with it??

I'd definately play him in midfield.

I don't really buy into this "versatile" player crap. In reality it usually means he's not excellent in any position. Look no further than Zabba for an example. We don't need any more bench material, we have too many squad players already.

Does he want Milner for the right/left side of the diamond? A defensive cover for Boateng/Kolorov whilst able to do the job on the wing himself?

Like I said, definately in midfield though.

Ancelotti when asked about why he signed Benayoun & let Joe Cole go, basically implied that, in football terms, Benayoun understands what the fuck is going on & Cole doesn't. We have a lot of Joe Coles at our club.

I recon Milner is the kind of player who understands when he's given a job to do. Managers love players like that. Almost every successful outfit has a player who does the 'versatile player crap'. Ours will be Milner.

I. Do. Not. Rate. Milner. One. Bit.

These are the words that I hope will come back to haunt me.

Milners appeal is his grit and determination, and we will need him away from home when the chips are down. He should balance the side nicely when selected. He's young, English and has scope to improve further.

He's a pricey addition and I'm not a huge fan myself, but am playing devils advocate and stating why I think he is highly sought by us.

ScapeGoat wrote:I don't really buy into this "versatile" player crap. In reality it usually means he's not excellent in any position. Look no further than Zabba for an example. We don't need any more bench material, we have too many squad players already.

There is a difference between being able to play in different positions, lets say reasonably well and what Milner tends to do. You will find a better description as a box to box mid, but even that doesnt really describe his play. You will find Milner popping up all over the place playing different roles. His character is like someone who takes responsibility for how things are going on the pitch. he covers a lot of ground and gets stuck in all over the place, also he tries different tactics. He is a kind of midfield schemer but isnt quite there yet. My guess is that Mancini wants him to try and take him in that direction. And in that sense while Milner is not flashy and is not brilliant at anything in particular, he is of the Gerrard Lampard type mould.

Like a few other players we have got or just got, Milner should be a good match up with Yaya and Steven Ireland imo.

Goaters 103 wrote:Milners appeal is his grit and determination, and we will need him away from home when the chips are down. He should balance the side nicely when selected. He's young, English and has scope to improve further.

He's a pricey addition and I'm not a huge fan myself, but am playing devils advocate and stating why I think he is highly sought by us.

I'm not a huge fan either but i can see why the manager wants him & I can kind of see why some of the respected names in the game think he'll be one of the best players around over the next few years. My jury's out on how good he'll become but he's a good player now & I'm willing to trust that those people could be right. Imo we don't have a player like him at the moment & variety in the squad is good.

Goaters 103 wrote:Milners appeal is his grit and determination, and we will need him away from home when the chips are down. He should balance the side nicely when selected. He's young, English and has scope to improve further.

He's a pricey addition and I'm not a huge fan myself, but am playing devils advocate and stating why I think he is highly sought by us.

Amen to that