Board must back Eck now; Your Shout.

SAD to say but it's the same old same old from Blues.

We are crying out for more players but there is no sign of anyone coming in.

We should have bought a left-back and got another midfielder to go with Ferguson without any messing.

We need another striker as well and signing Espinoza instead of Onyewu or Edgar looks a massive mistake.

With the money that we have saved on Benitez's transfer and the pounds 50 million revenue generated from being a Premier League club, please don't plead poverty and say the cash isn't there.

All the decent work Blues have done in the first part of the close season is going to count for nothing if they don't give Eck more backing.

T JONES, Shirley

IN REPLY to P Hollis (Your Shout, August 5), I am glad that there are some fellow Villa fans not ready to sharpen their lynching knives.

We have signed two good players so far.

I admit one of them can't walk for a couple of months but when he is ready to wear studs, good old Stewart Downing will score goals.

And Sneijder, as well. We are being linked with him and if we do get him he will be the perfect replacement for Gareth Barry (after he left for Fantasy Football Hughes, we beat a top team with fringe players and got a shiny cup).

The defenders we are being linked with are good and if we get the players, we will out-do Manchester City.

T LAWRENCE, Kingstanding BLUES' pre-season matches at first didn't really worry me but a hammering by Crewe is starting to ring alarm bells across St Andrew's and it isn't doing much good for our preparation into the big time.

Of course, I don't expect Blues players to risk an injury but I do expect a bit of a winning attitude.

One thing I do know is that any honest sportsmen never deliberately lose, be it at darts, golf or football, and losing can be as addictive as any drug.

S VAUGHAN, Yardley Wood n Send letters to: Your Shout, Sports Desk, Birmingham Mail, Floor 6, Fort Dunlop, Fort Parkway, Birmingham B24 9FF. Freephone fax: [phone]. Freephone: 0800 138 2555. Email [e-mail]. All letters should include name, address, and telephone number. If you would like to receive information from Bpm Media (Midlands) Ltd in the future, please add a YES at the end of you text or email. The information provided may be of interest to you and will be from Bpm Media (Midlands) Ltd, Trinity Mirror Group companies or other carefully selected companies. The communication may be by letter, phone, email or other means depending on the data you have provided.