Villa Signings and General Rumours Thread

DSB

Yeah that'd be lovely.

JPA

~Rebel~ wrote:

as well as all the very necessary defenders, i was thinking a great move for villa would be to go for Kevin Nolan. He's clearly not getting on well with Sammy Lee, who obviously doesn't think much of him either. would be well worth a cheeky 7 or 8mill bid.

:eek: He's turned to absolute muck. No thanks.

Helix

with every passing day, i have the horrible urge to stop bothering to fight my "told you so" side regarding mon, and with every passing day, i become more and more apathetic towards the club

if the manager doesnt care, why should i

JPA

Helix wrote:

with every passing day, i have the horrible urge to stop bothering to fight my "told you so" side regarding mon, and with every passing day, i become more and more apathetic towards the club

if the manager doesnt care, why should i

We'll see. One thing you could never say about MON is that he doesn't care.

shoutman

MON will always put his heart and soul into the club I have 100% faith in that.

Savman

Ok so let's see if we have everything covered here.
Martin O Neill should:
-"get rid" of Petrov (whatever that means)
-drop Carew (the most experienced player in the squad)
-pay over the odds for players to satisfy fans
-not pay over the odds for players to satisfy fans
-resign to satisfy fans
-bark in the press about targets missed
-not bark in the press about targets missed
-die

I mean ffs, I'm as critical as the next person of MON's transfer situation but get a grip for crying out loud.

MON can only fail by the high standard he has set himself, let's be honest he knows far more about this stuff than all of us put together. His refusal to drop an under-performing Petrov is frustrating, but hardly a sackable offence. He got slated last season for playing Gabby wide right, but I think most of us could acknowledge it's a part of his education. If running into the corner flag at a million miles an hour is his only talent, then Gabby may as well quit now. I'm glad O Neill stuck to his guns on that one because when he moved Gabby back up front he was on fire.

In relation to Moore, it's clear there is an attitude issue with the guy, MON has remarked how Moore is very lax in his outlook and that's not a trait that'll win O'Neill over. Again, Moore needs an education but if he develops into the player we know he can be then we've a real gem on our hands. Similarly, he could be one of the premierships many "coulda-beens" and we seen what good talent + bad attitude did for Messr. Hendrie.

I wish I could pretend to be apathetic towards Villa and O'Neill, but anyone who says they don't care is not a true Villan. We supported countless headless chickens under the Ellis regime despite it being obvious we were never going anywhere but 1 year into the new era and doom and gloom take over again, old habits die hard I guess.

And regarding this notion of all these competitors will bypass us, did Newcastle look world beaters last Saturday? Spurs lost their opening 2 games and were booed off the park by their own fans (champions league yer havin a laff...) and ManU having their worst start for 15 years. Football never goes the way you might think, all these superstars are just names on a sheet at the end of the day.

We've nothing to fear but fear itself.

End of rant. Up The Villa

DSB

I definitely agree with you on 1 point. I'll stick by Villa through and through no matter who is managing us and its kinda sad for anyone not to. But cmon like, do you really think Martin O' Neill has what it takes to bring us a step further? I mean cmon like we have some really pacy/skillful attacking players in Agbonlahor/Young/Moore/Berger yet we're playing a game which involves hoofing the ball up to Carew. To me this just stinks of a manager who is used to playing with players of limited capabilities and just tries to get them to overachieve. Even in the transfer market he just doesn't seem to have it. I think Carew and Young were two good signings, Petrov in my opinion ranks up there with the Bosko Balabans of the world except for the fact that the manager somehow sees fit to actually play him every week. Marlon Harewood isn't good enough but I'll leave the jury out on Reo Coker until we see if he is able to show the form he showed at 1 stage for West Ham. He certainly hasn't looked too bad so far though. But then he has gone and completely depleted our squad. Now I understand that most of these players weren't going to be part of our first 11 but many of them (Davis/Ridgewell/Hughes for example) would have played a decent role as a squad player if we needed depth. Instead we've sold them with no replacement players in with over 2 weeks of the season gone. Now clubs see we are in a crisis and are going to charge over the odds prices for the players we want. I genuinely think that in the end we are going to see players like Anthony Gardner come in because Martin O' Neill doesn't want to be priced out of the market. And we'll struggle. Like we do every season. But this season shouldn't have been a struggle. There was money put out for the manager to spend. Ambition should have been showed and we could be in the same situation as Man City right now. Flying already and showing no signs of letting up in my opinion. Does anyone really want to hear Martin O' Neill talk about a 5 year plan? The whole point of such a plan is progress over time. And well over a year after O' Neill joined the club we certainly haven't made any progress. Squadwise we've probably gone backwards. 11th place last season certainly wasn't good. That was fine though because he hadn't had a preseason to shape the team. Now he has and still nothing.

JPA

DSB wrote:

I definitely agree with you on 1 point. I'll stick by Villa through and through no matter who is managing us and its kinda sad for anyone not to. But cmon like, do you really think Martin O' Neill has what it takes to bring us a step further? I mean cmon like we have some really pacy/skillful attacking players in Agbonlahor/Young/Moore/Berger yet we're playing a game which involves hoofing the ball up to Carew. To me this just stinks of a manager who is used to playing with players of limited capabilities and just tries to get them to overachieve. Even in the transfer market he just doesn't seem to have it. I think Carew and Young were two good signings, Petrov in my opinion ranks up there with the Bosko Balabans of the world except for the fact that the manager somehow sees fit to actually play him every week. Marlon Harewood isn't good enough but I'll leave the jury out on Reo Coker until we see if he is able to show the form he showed at 1 stage for West Ham. He certainly hasn't looked too bad so far though. But then he has gone and completely depleted our squad. Now I understand that most of these players weren't going to be part of our first 11 but many of them (Davis/Ridgewell/Hughes for example) would have played a decent role as a squad player if we needed depth. Instead we've sold them with no replacement players in with over 2 weeks of the season gone. Now clubs see we are in a crisis and are going to charge over the odds prices for the players we want. I genuinely think that in the end we are going to see players like Anthony Gardner come in because Martin O' Neill doesn't want to be priced out of the market. And we'll struggle. Like we do every season. But this season shouldn't have been a struggle. There was money put out for the manager to spend. Ambition should have been showed and we could be in the same situation as Man City right now. Flying already and showing no signs of letting up in my opinion. Does anyone really want to hear Martin O' Neill talk about a 5 year plan? The whole point of such a plan is progress over time. And well over a year after O' Neill joined the club we certainly haven't made any progress. Squadwise we've probably gone backwards. 11th place last season certainly wasn't good. That was fine though because he hadn't had a preseason to shape the team. Now he has and still nothing.

MON has said on numerous occasions that he does not want to play long ball football and that Carew is best with the ball at his feet.
It is the players who are letting themselves down when they resort to playing like this. I don't think you could say we were playing like this against Newcastle. Carew was looking good until he got the problem with his breathing then he faded out.

shoutman

This is what I would like to see.

---

Carew

---

--Young

---

Gabby/Moore--

---

1???----Reo-coker

---

Petrov

---

---

Barry

---

Laurson

---

Mellberg

---

2???

1??? = A player such as Arteta or an inform Tim Cahill, a proven attacking midfielder with the capability to change the outcome of a match, I know its a lot to ask but surely there are names out there willing to come to villa who could play in this role.

2??? = An attack minded right back capable of beating players and crossing the ball, like a more skillfull Didier Agathe who is able to defend.

With this formation you could see Young and Gabby either taking it to the byline and trying to pick out someone in the middle or drifting infield while the wingbacks overlap them outwide, it would provide amazing attacking scope imo, Reo-Coker could stay deep and it would mean there would be almost no emphasis on trying to get him to move forward, an attacking midfield with a good pass could be a true playmaker and gel everything together while Petrov has the freedom to move forward or rest back as instructed. I understand some people may think it is too attack minded and it may be ripped apart by good counter attacking teams but it could be fun.

So basically what I am saying is when MON resigns next week someone nominate me for the job.

Raekwon

shoutman wrote:

1??? = A player such as Arteta or an inform Tim Cahill, a proven attacking midfielder with the capability to change the outcome of a match, I know its a lot to ask but surely there are names out there willing to come to villa who could play in this role.

This is exactly the player that Villa need but unfortunately these sort of players usually come with a hefty price tag (ie: Wesley Sneijder cost Real Madrid over £18m). The players that I would love to see at Villa Park are Pablo Aimar (Real Zaragoza), Nery Castillo (Shakhtar Donetsk) or Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg). Closer to home players like Joe Cole and Morten Gamst Pedersen come to mind. Obviously I'm dreaming here, but we really do need a player in that sort of mould who can link up attacks from midfield and weigh in with a few goals too.

shoutman wrote:

2??? = An attack minded right back capable of beating players and crossing the ball, like a more skillfull Didier Agathe who is able to defend.

Villa have been linked with Jose Bosingwa since the start of June and he is just the sort of player that I think you have in mind. Exhibit A. Exhibit B.

shoutman

From those two clips he looks the business, and I would quite happily see Villa spend 18m on Wesley Sneijder.

Peyton Manning

I wouldnt go near Van Der Vaart. He has a terrible attitude. I think it was sometime this month that he heard Valencia were enquiring, so he feigned injury (strained his back picking up his 1 year old child would you believe!) and sat out Hamburgs next match. While they were playing, he had 2 journalists come over and take pictures of him wearing a Valencia jersey. He wanted the fans to turn on him but they didnt give him the response he wanted, he was met with indiffernce. Hamburg wouldnt sell him to Valencia, and he was forced to say "looks like I wont be going after all.." (actual words!).

Helix

the massively annoying thing is that had we put in bids for players early in the summer, wed have gotten them for far far less than theyre going for now. nrc would probably go for closer to 11m at the moment

theres zero excuse for sitting on things for this long that im willing to accept

Raekwon

Bosingwa looks like an excellent player but Porto seem to be doing everything they can to keep him. You never know though, he could be one of the last minute signings on the 31st of August? Here's hoping!

I would have also been happy to see Villa spend £18m on Sneijder, although when Valencia's £10m bid was rejected because Ajax wanted around £12m Villa should have pounced. Ah well, he most likely wouldn't have come here anyway because his heart was apparently set in Spain.

Just thinking about this, we haven't had a proper attacking/central midfielder since Paul Merson left the club in 2002. I personally think that we are well overdue a player like that now that we have financial muscle behind us. The trouble is that most of these sort of players come with their ego in tow (ie: Juan Román Riquelme) and MON will not work with players like that and he is right too! It could be worth a risk though, maybe a very cheeky last minute bid for Clarence Seedorf might do the trick? lol

shoutman

Just bring back Paul Merson and problem solved.

Esse85

Lads get real, we haven't a chance of landing the likes of Riquelme, Seedorf or Sneijder.

These are class players who have been used to playing european football week in week out, no amount of money would attract these.

I cant see MON buying a luxury player like that.

I dont think he'll spend double figures in the millions, but i hope im wrong.

As for his signings so far, none of them can be deemed a success YET.

Petrov hasnt delivered, and i dont think he will. Carew has hardly set the premiership alight, 3 goals in about 15 starts. Maloney hasnt got a chance. And Young is a bit hit and miss buy in time i think he'll come good. NRC i think will be a good signing, he'll excel with a creative player beside him. Harewood will hardly sell too many shirts.

I wish MON would come out and just be honest and tell us what we already know, that he fcuked up this summer.
Instead he keeps on teasing the fans with silly comments like "we'll have the players in by the end of Aug"

We should be taking Spurs as an example, they finished 5th the last 2 seasons. Look at the players they brought in Robinson, Bale, Jenas, Defoe, Berbatov, Bent

Savman

Well regards signings, no manager gets it right 100% of the time. Even Alex Ferguson has signed some downright turkeys over the years.

Out of all our 2007 signings I love NRC's tenacity and like the look of Ashley Young, both will be big players for us. Carew it would seem is a bit part player and not the 20 goal man we badly need. Petrov, sheesh. What's up with this guy? Hot poker up the ass and quick,

Maloney looks promising but we dont see much of him. I dont know if Carson could be considered a "signing" as such but he's still an excellent keeper, was quite impressed with him for Charlton last year looked like real quality. Liverpools loss is Villa's gain IMHO.

Fair point about the Sneijder-esque signings, we're living in cuckoo land if we think those players will choose Villa. We're way off that level in all fairness.

Raekwon

Lads I was joking about Villa signing big name players like Clarence Seedorf, players like that are way out of our league and obviously wouldn't touch us with a barge poll.

But I do think that we can attract top quality players (not world class players) if we put our minds to it. People always harp on about how these sort of players need Champions League football every season, but we signed Milan Baros a season after he won the CL with Liverpool and Freddy Bouma a season after he reached the semi-final with PSV. Also John Carew has played CL football with nearly every team he has been with up until he signed for Villa. Wages is always another stumbling block, but Wesley Sneijder has just signed a 5 year deal with Madrid that would see him earn £1.5m per year but our own Garth Barry is on more then that @ £2.3m per year. Also if what I have read is true then John Carew is on the same £55k per week that he was on at Lyon, that is nearly £3m per year. So we can compete with bigger teams in the transfer market if we really applied ourselves, I just don't think that the maximum about of effort has been applied on transfers this summer for one reason or another (I know, I know..........5 year plan).

Back to reality.

We desperately need bodies in our squad. What happened to all the rumours of Brede Hangeland, Justin Hoyte, etc, etc? Is it just media speculation or is MON actually working behind the scenes to get players in? I personally cannot wait until 1st of September, this transfer window is giving me a headache! :mad:

Mark

I'd say the biggest obstacle to signing Sneijder is the fact that he signed for Madrid a week ago.

Raekwon

Yeah we all know that Sneijder signed for Madrid, it was mentioned in a few earlier posts.

One Cold Hand

Raekwon wrote:

We desperately need bodies in our squad. What happened to all the rumours of Brede Hangeland, Justin Hoyte, etc, etc? Is it just media speculation or is MON actually working behind the scenes to get players in? I personally cannot wait until 1st of September, this transfer window is giving me a headache! :mad:

With regard to Brede Hangeland, I was reading on the Villa website that apparently this deal is still on, but at the minute his club (I think it's FC Copenhagen?) are in the qualifying stages for the champions league. They've played the first leg but want to hold onto Hangeland until they try and qualify (they lost 2-1 to Benfica in the 1st leg, I think). Apparently after this game they will be prepared to let him go. I don't know how true this is but this is the rumour that going around.

Raekwon

That's good news about Hangeland, hopefully Villa can sign him along with a rightback (Hoyte?) before the window closes.

I also read online that O'Neill is sending scouts to tonights game between Turkey and Romania, to watch Romania's attacking midfield player Nicolae Dică. It's only a rumor, but you never know.

shoutman

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/23082007/58/premier-league-transfer-talk-rocking-berbs.html

If you go down near the end of the page supposedly we are goin in for Per Mertesacker, looks a bit like Peter Crouch....

However that could just be a backup if the davies deal falls through, however we have reportedly agreed an 8million fee for him according to eurosport/yahoo
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/23082007/4/villans-stump-8m-davies.html

More good news, the Argentinean boss today said that Carew beat them singlehandedly in their friendly yesterday. Hopefully this signifies a return to form for the big man.
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/23082007/1/carew-lauded-argentina-boss.html

~Rebel~

Mertesacker is a savage player! things startin to look up for yee. A RB and ye'll be in much better condition.

Helix

the martin o'neill transfer trainwreck rolls on...

the idiot offered cahill plus cash for davies, not for a loan either apparently, a permanant deal

what the fcuk is going on in that morons head

fortunately cahill was having none of it

JPA

Helix wrote:

the martin o'neill transfer trainwreck rolls on...

the idiot offered cahill plus cash for davies, not for a loan either apparently, a permanant deal

what the fcuk is going on in that morons head

fortunately cahill was having none of it

If it was written down it must be true.

eirebhoy

I thought Celtic fans were bad with Strachan. If he was being called an "idiot" and a "moron" I think I'd stop reading Celtic forums.

A Dub in Glasgo

Nothing to stop anonymous people on the internet spouting ****e I suppose

Helix

eirebhoy wrote:

I thought Celtic fans were bad with Strachan. If he was being called an "idiot" and a "moron" I think I'd stop reading Celtic forums.

so mon is being bang on in the way hes handled the summer in terms of strengthening yes?

you see nothing wrong with almost halving the size of the squad that was already one of the smallest in the league?

and you agree with the manager coming out every week since may saying thered definitely be signings on the way?

its a load of nonsense and i said itd happen when he got the job

any other manager in england did what mon did and theyd be absolutely slaughtered, but lets not badmouth golden boy o'neill, sure hes the perfect manager

JPA

eirebhoy wrote:

I thought Celtic fans were bad with Strachan. If he was being called an "idiot" and a "moron" I think I'd stop reading Celtic forums.

Don't go visiting any Villa sites then. You'd probably give up on football altogether!

JPA

Helix wrote:

so mon is being bang on in the way hes handled the summer in terms of strengthening yes?

you see nothing wrong with almost halving the size of the squad that was already one of the smallest in the league?

and you agree with the manager coming out every week since may saying thered definitely be signings on the way?

its a load of nonsense and i said itd happen when he got the job

any other manager in england did what mon did and theyd be absolutely slaughtered, but lets not badmouth golden boy o'neill, sure hes the perfect manager

The reason he keeps saying there'll be signings is because he keeps getting asked! He can't ignore the questions.
His ways are unorthodox and frustrating but why such vitriol?
You can judge him after the window closes and by on the field results.
But you're clearly far more qualified than MON so why not apply for the job?

Helix

so what, you completely agree with everything hes doing, purely because hes martin o'neill?

and im not entitled to an opinion on it because im not a professional football manager?

surely that means your opinion is worthless too

JPA

Helix wrote:

so what, you completely agree with everything hes doing, purely because hes martin o'neill?

and im not entitled to an opinion on it because im not a professional football manager?

surely that means your opinion is worthless too

Well I think he should be judged after the transfer window and on the pitch.
But you seem to really dislike him based on his transfer dealings which is a bit strange.

Helix

i said the day he got the job i didnt think he was the right man for villa, we needed someone capable of building a team, not someone who was always ropey in the transfer market at the best of times whod been out of the game for a considerable time

he is the manager of the football team, its his job to buy and sell players to ensure that the team has the best chance of success. he has failed with flying colours at that, and considerably weakened the squad

a few injuries and we're cast iron relegation fodder, theres no 2 ways about it, and thats nobodys fault only martin o'neills

JPA

Helix wrote:

i said the day he got the job i didnt think he was the right man for villa, we needed someone capable of building a team, not someone who was always ropey in the transfer market at the best of times whod been out of the game for a considerable time

he is the manager of the football team, its his job to buy and sell players to ensure that the team has the best chance of success. he has failed with flying colours at that, and considerably weakened the squad

a few injuries and we're cast iron relegation fodder, theres no 2 ways about it, and thats nobodys fault only martin o'neills

Well we will sign players, better late than never.
He was out of football for one year.
And he's never being given the chance to build a team like he has with us so in a way that part is slightly unknown and perhaps he will learn from it for next year.
I don't want to be in an argument so we'll agree to disagree on MON but agree that we just want Villa to be successful.

Helix

definitely, i just dont think mon was ever going to be the man to do that

hes going to be found out big time at us, but of course he'll still walk away smelling of roses

Savman

Talk about an over reaction. Helix I think you're off your rocker altogether, you really believe these random no-brainer football gossip sites? Next you'll be telling me The Sun is a sophisticated read.

Until MON speaks publicly on the issue, we cannot assume anybody was being used as a makeweight (for a deal, I might add, nobody has actually confirmed).

Its all gossip, gossip, gossip and you're worse for believing it.

You are entitled your opinion about whoever the Villa manager is, but I think most of us would agree O'Neill was the best candidate for the Villa position 12 month ago. Until he fails in the clubs goals, the issue of a new manager should never come up tbh. Its a results based business, lets see where we are in May, or at least December, before we jump to any wacky conclusions.

The transfer window is only hotting up, expect a lot of activity from a lot of clubs in the next 10 days.

Helix

Savman wrote:

Talk about an over reaction. Helix I think you're off your rocker altogether, you really believe these random no-brainer football gossip sites? Next you'll be telling me The Sun is a sophisticated read.

Until MON speaks publicly on the issue, we cannot assume anybody was being used as a makeweight (for a deal, I might add, nobody has actually confirmed).

Its all gossip, gossip, gossip and you're worse for believing it.

You are entitled your opinion about whoever the Villa manager is, but I think most of us would agree O'Neill was the best candidate for the Villa position 12 month ago. Until he fails in the clubs goals, the issue of a new manager should never come up tbh. Its a results based business, lets see where we are in May, or at least December, before we jump to any wacky conclusions.

The transfer window is only hotting up, expect a lot of activity from a lot of clubs in the next 10 days.

its not the cahill thing in the slightest, ive been saying the very same things since he got the job last year. with the squad as it is, we'll need an absolute miracle to even finish as high as last season

theres absolutely NO excuse for leaving transfers to the last 10 days of the window, after the season has started

he had all bloody summer

eirebhoy

Helix wrote:

any other manager in england did what mon did and theyd be absolutely slaughtered, but lets not badmouth golden boy o'neill, sure hes the perfect manager

Disagree with him all you want but there's no turning back after comments like that. If he does turn Villa into a decent team that you're happy with I think you'd be one hell of a hypocrite to back him after those comments.

Of course every single Villa fan isn't happy with the summer of transfer activity. If they all thought like you though O'Neil would be not only driven out of the club but probably severely beaten too. It really does sound like you hate the man.

Savman

Exactly, I can agree with certain criticisms - its a part of O'Neill's job in fairness, but this sounds more like a witch hunt.

I'm sure these "fans" will be singing a different tune if we do well this season or get to Wembley. Its not exactly panic stations ffs.

Helix

eirebhoy wrote:

Disagree with him all you want but there's no turning back after comments like that. If he does turn Villa into a decent team that you're happy with I think you'd be one hell of a hypocrite to back him after those comments.

Of course every single Villa fan isn't happy with the summer of transfer activity. If they all thought like you though O'Neil would be not only driven out of the club but probably severely beaten too. It really does sound like you hate the man.

i dont hate him, i just think hes possibly the most hideously overrated manager of my lifetime

if he turns villa into a great team ill be delighted, but ill still hold my reservations about him and ill still voice them

Helix

Savman wrote:

Exactly, I can agree with certain criticisms - its a part of O'Neill's job in fairness, but this sounds more like a witch hunt.

I'm sure these "fans" will be singing a different tune if we do well this season or get to Wembley. Its not exactly panic stations ffs.

so its fan in inverted commas because i disagree with you about something? thats a bit of a pathetic post isnt it. i pay to go to games at villa park the same as any other fan

we WONT do well this season, simple as that, if we get to wembley then so be it. but that hardly makes an amazing manager

i dont rate him, never have, never will

simple as that

DSB

Savman wrote:

Exactly, I can agree with certain criticisms - its a part of O'Neill's job in fairness, but this sounds more like a witch hunt.

I'm sure these "fans" will be singing a different tune if we do well this season or get to Wembley. Its not exactly panic stations ffs.

This is the most pathetic post have I ever seen. Someone isn't a fan of a club because they don't think the manager is good enough for the job? Ridiculous. On the contrary I'm quite passionate about Aston Villa and therefore wouldn't want a man running us who I didn't see fit to do the job. However if Martin O' Neill proves me wrong then I will be chuffed. Of course I'll be singing a different tune. I want Aston Villa to succeed. How difficult is this for you to understand?

Time Magazine

Helix wrote:

with the squad as it is, we'll need an absolute miracle to even finish as high as last season

You're getting so angry he hasn't signed players yet, so I assume that if he buys 2/3 players in the next 10 days you'll still be mad?

In which case, if he does just that, and we finish as high as last season, are you going to call MON a miracle-worker?

DSB

If Martin O' Neill brings in good players at a good price, I'll hush up. But I'll still have doubts in my mind over his skills in the transfer market whereby we've had to play our first 3 games with a dangerously small squad. 9 points can make a huge difference in a season and from our first potential 6 points we've only taken 1. Maybe we'd have gotten those results anyway but we'd have been in a much better situation thats for sure.

Bounty Hunter

If Curtis Davis and Boswinga(sp) are signed i think most fans will be appeased although more spending would prehaps be expected in January without further sales. We've all heard from celtic fans how MON likes to do his shopping at the last moment to make sure he gets the best he can, lets hope its true, and maybe he picks up another bargain too like Hoyte to cover RB and LB. cos this villa team is very young and has huge potential IMO. stay positive it makes being a supporter better.

shoutman

I really find it crazy how people are all over MON at this stage of the season. As posted before he is building a squad not buying players to appease the fans.
Helix what manager would you have liked to see at Villa? At the time and even now I dont think Villa could of gotten a better manager.
The start of the season has not been a disaster. We were robbed of a point against liverpool (Dubious free kick that should of led to a indirect free kick had it been awarded), although we were definately the second best site at Liverpool we shouldnt of lost, Newcastle we were unlucky not to score and a point away from home to Newcastle is not a disaster.
Villa are a team on the up, and I still have full faith in MON.
Heard yesterday we are being linked to Numo Gomes, and also MON has said how he wished Steven Davis had stayed at Villa park.

Savman

Helix wrote:

so its fan in inverted commas because i disagree with you about something? thats a bit of a pathetic post isnt it. i pay to go to games at villa park the same as any other fan

we WONT do well this season, simple as that, if we get to wembley then so be it. but that hardly makes an amazing manager

i dont rate him, never have, never will

simple as that

I standy by my view, anyone on the manager's back at this stage and makes such gloomy predictions without basis is hardly what I would consider a true fan. You're so sure we "wont do well this season" - if we dont I'll hold my hand up but as a supporter of the club I'll give the squad and the manager my full backing until such a time comes where it's obvious targets have been missed. Anything other than a UEFA cup spot this season will be a bad achievement, so I'll get on MON's case next May when that final table is printed.

DSB wrote:

This is the most pathetic post have I ever seen. Someone isn't a fan of a club because they don't think the manager is good enough for the job? Ridiculous. On the contrary I'm quite passionate about Aston Villa and therefore wouldn't want a man running us who I didn't see fit to do the job. However if Martin O' Neill proves me wrong then I will be chuffed. Of course I'll be singing a different tune. I want Aston Villa to succeed. How difficult is this for you to understand?

Actually what's more pathetic is this agenda against Martin O'Neill and the fact our own "fans" (note the inverted commas) have to actually embarrass themselves with these silly outbursts. Like I say its a results based business, so lets look at things so far eh?
Unbeaten in pre-season including a 3-0 hammering of Inter Milan. Lost out on a point at home to the Pool by a superb last minute Gerard free kick. Come back from St. James Park with disappointment at not winning the game convincingy, bearing in mind this new Allardyce side everyone is tipping for bright things considering the players he has at his disposal.

Despite the obvious frustration with the pace of transfer dealings, I've not seen anything so far that makes me go loopy with panic. We're still a good side, albeit a small side.

Up until now everyone was happy with the 5 year plan idea, all of a sudden it's become "now now now". I see we're being linked with Jermaine Defoe again, would a signing of that scale shut you up for a while? Cos then we get the "we're paying over the odds" brigade when we pay £15m for one player. O'Neill can't win here, so I prefer to see him do his thing his own way.

I'd love some mega-signings, but I'll support the team regardless.

Helix

Savman wrote:

I see we're being linked with Jermaine Defoe again, would a signing of that scale shut you up for a while?

no, coz it shouldve been done 6 weeks ago

Helix

Bounty Hunter wrote:

We've all heard from celtic fans how MON likes to do his shopping at the last moment to make sure he gets the best he can,

and what better way to get the best you can, than by giving your rivals a 2 months head start to get those players in first