Villa Signings and General Rumours Thread

JPA

Outstanding result.

Savman

JPA wrote:

Outstanding result.

Indeed it was by all accounts. Sure it was nailbiting stuff but goals win you games, not possession.
Tense afternoon

maxi-twist

shoutman wrote:

Laursons having a bit of a mare too, being shown up a few times and a few dodgy clearances too but he is solid especially with his headers.

Easily man of the match.

Esse85

Its just a pity the next game is 2 weeks away.

Great defending.

Villain

Get in there!!!!

Super super Villa great result now lets build on it.

Up the Villa

JPA

Savman wrote:

Indeed it was by all accounts. Sure it was nailbiting stuff but goals win you games, not possession.
Tense afternoon

They had the possession but did very little with it. Hope fully we'll start getting some recognition now. The media have been very dismissive of us.

Mr Alan

thank you Villa

shoutman

A lot of our fans have been dismissive of us too...

also maxi twist I left out a few words, "appears to be having" should of been after the first word. I thought he was fantastic and dealt with Drogba brillaintly. I also thought that Reo-Coker was phenomenal at times and some of Barrys passing leaves me baffled as to why he isn't in the English squad. I also felt that Mellberg did well on the right, once again he was great at defending in the air and Bouma too did a good jo at keeping Wright-Philips confined to speculative long range chances.

Who did sky give the MOM award to?

Time Magazine

Phenomenal performance. Think how much the team has improved since O'Leary's departure. If Carew and Gabby get a little bit more clinical closer to goal, we're looking at a good season.

And to think that Carson, Gardner, Davies, Young, Reo-Coker, Gabby and Moore are all 23 and under.

shoutman

Was I the only one disappointed with Carew today? He had one or two powerful flick ons but that was about it imo.

kryogen

didnt see the game, saw the beautiful scoreline though!!! i normally sing the brummie songs but thank you villains!! youve done us a favour today! man united that is....

Esse85

shoutman wrote:

Was I the only one disappointed with Carew today? He had one or two powerful flick ons but that was about it imo.

I taught he was rubbish, his first touch is awful.

Im afraid i don't rate the guy, he's like a similar version of Emile Heskey.

I taught Harewood should of came on for Carew with 20 mins left.

Time Magazine

At the moment, Carew's biggest strength is his positioning. By standing at the edge of the box he takes e.g. John Terry out of the game, so when Ashley Young inevitably beats e.g. Belletti, it's far harder for a CB to get the foot in. But of course it looks like Carew is just standing there.

I've been a big fan of him since France '98. Hopefully he'll get a bit more clinical in front of goal.

shoutman

Surely if MON is looking for anyone to take a defender out of the game in that style it shouldn't be our biggest forward?

Savman

Ibid wrote:

At the moment, Carew's biggest strength is his positioning. By standing at the edge of the box he takes e.g. John Terry out of the game, so when Ashley Young inevitably beats e.g. Belletti, it's far harder for a CB to get the foot in. But of course it looks like Carew is just standing there.

I've been a big fan of him since France '98. Hopefully he'll get a bit more clinical in front of goal.

Agree, although not many people seem to notice this. Carew V Terry and Laursen V Drogba was where the game was won and lost.
Big John just needs to get off the mark.

shoutman

eurosport wrote:

England call a huge shock - Young

Mon 03 Sep, 03:15 PM

Ashley Young did not believe it was Steve McClaren on the phone when he received his maiden call-up to the senior England squad.The Aston Villa winger, 22, has been drafted in by McClaren for the crucial European Championship double-header against Israel and Russia.

Young said on Sky Sports News: "I think if anybody had seen me that morning when I was driving to training, they would have seen the shocked look on my face.

"I didn't actually believe it was the England manager ringing me.

"It's a dream to play for your country and I just want to go there and do well."

Young has been promoted from the Under-21 squad, with McClaren openly admitting the senior set-up has lacked players with express pace for some time now.

Young revealed what McClaren had told him when calling him up.

"He said he'd seen me towards the end of the season. He'd seen my performance for the under-21s in the summer and that I've started the season really well," said Young.

"He said it was down to me that I'd got the call-up and that I fully deserved it."

Young is now hoping to do well enough in England training to earn a start in either Saturday's game with Israel or Wednesday's visit of Russia.

"Hopefully, I'll get a start," he said.

"I'm going there on the back of confidence and I've just got to do what's got me into the England squad and hopefully I'll play some part in the two games."

Great to see him getting called up, perhaps Barry should be playing there too? Is there a better passer of the ball in english football or am I just wearing Claret + Blue tinted glasses?

shoutman

Savman wrote:

Agree, although not many people seem to notice this. Carew V Terry and Laursen V Drogba was where the game was won and lost.
Big John just needs to get off the mark.

I really don't understand that at all. What impact did Carew make on the game?

DSB

shoutman wrote:

I really don't understand that at all. What impact did Carew make on the game?

Plenty. He was constantly getting into positions that dragged defenders towards him as opposed to the players with the ball. A commanding presence throughout the game.

Savman

shoutman wrote:

I really don't understand that at all. What impact did Carew make on the game?

Carew isn't an impact player. If you want "impact" you throw on Maloney. Terry is one of the best defenders around but he had his hands full all afternoon.

There comes a point where you have to stop being overly critical with individual performances after such a huge result. Also, any criticism levelled at Carew could just as easily be thrown at Drogba, neither were really effective.

shoutman

I think Drogba was ineffectual because of the quality of the Villa defensive effort, from what I saw Carew was just lazy. I dont know how you can say Terry had his hands full with him as Carew didnt do anything to warrant special attention.
I also dont understand the Carew dragging defenders out of position argument, if you look at the goals we scored Carew hadn't dragged players out of position in either of them nor had his positioning in any of Villa's attacks been of any consequence to those attacks. From what I saw he did not run enough off the ball and he did not look to get himself involved in the game whatsoever. Every so often he might sprint for a ball but that was more or less it, he just didnt seem bothered.

Savman

shoutman wrote:

I think Drogba was ineffectual because of the quality of the Villa defensive effort, from what I saw Carew was just lazy. I dont know how you can say Terry had his hands full with him as Carew didnt do anything to warrant special attention.

This statement is quite bizarre. Carew and Terry were at each other all afternoon. John Terry is probably the best defender in England, if not Europe, some might say even internationally. He's right up there. What the hell do you expect? A Carew hat trick?

Sure, he should've really just waltzed past John Terry, nutmegged some guy called Ashley Cole while flicking the ball past Barca reject Belleti, simply brushing aside Brazilian nobody Alex to round Petr Cech (who?) and tap into an empty net.:rolleyes:

Every so often he might sprint for a ball but that was more or less it, he just didnt seem bothered.

Hmm. I wonder was he "bothered" when he scored twice against Argentina last week. In fact, the Argentina manager had this to say:

"Carew was outstanding," Basile told Argentinian television station TyC Sports. "He won the game by himself, alone, not needing anybody else.
"One penalty, one header and he played excellent.
"It was impossible for us to mark him in aerial plays."

But I guess this was just a friendly, right? Maybe Argentina fielded a weakened team.

Argentina: Oscar Ustari, Javier Zanetti, Ezequiel Garay, Nicolas Burdisso, Gabriel Milito, Javier Mascherano, Luis Gonzalez (Federico Insua, 46), Lionel Messi, Maxi Rodríguez, Ezequiel Lavezzi (Javier Saviola, 46), Diego Milito (Fernando Gago, 79)

I guess what I'm trying to imply here, is that either Carew is "lazy" or you're just wrong.

JPA

Hmm. I wonder was he "bothered" when he scored twice against Argentina last week to help Finland beat them 2-1.

That's news to Norwegian Carew! sorry!

Carew has been getting a fair bit of criticism from the villa fans this season and to be fair he hasn't set the world alight. But that's the kind of player he is.
We'll be lucky to get 10 goals from him this season.
But you need a big guy up there to shake things up. Terry would have had Gabby or Moore in his pocket if they'd played up there together. But it's very difficult to 'handle' a player like Big John.

Savman

JPA wrote:

That's news to Norwegian Carew! sorry!

Sorry you're right
And I was doing so well...

shoutman

I didnt once state that I wanted Carew to score some amazing goal to warrant his inclusion in the squad, Luke Moore did nothing spectaculor yesterday but I felt he had a good game. Carew is never going to be a prolific goalscorer and I'm not expecting him to be a superstriker whos going to score amazing goals like you seem to think I do. But I hardly think him standing outside the box as opposed to running in and contesting for a header means he is causing the opposition problems... If it was Terry's job to man mark Carew and Carew stayed outside the box
in order to pull him out of position fair enough but I couldnt see it having a huge impact on the game.
I cant think of a single time yesterday where Carew caused significant problems for Terry. I dont expect him to be pulling tricks on the guy but I would of liked to see him chase down defenders and show a bit of effort. It was evident from the likes of throw ins where two or three times he should of been the player to come close for the throw in to either nod it on or flick it back to bouma or mellberg who was throwing it in. I really didnt see what he did yesterday.

And I didnt see him play against Argentina, so I have no way to compare his play for Norway with that of his play for Villa, I'm not saying he is not good I just thought he was lathargic and the worst performing player of a very good Villa performance.

Savman

shoutman wrote:

And I didnt see him play against Argentina, so I have no way to compare his play for Norway with that of his play for Villa, I'm not saying he is not good I just thought he was lathargic and the worst performing player of a very good Villa performance.

Fair enough but I just think you're not giving him his due credit, he's probably the most experienced player in the Villa side so I reckon he knows what he's doing. I would still love to see Defoe or similar striker sign in January.
Whatever about Carew's flaws, I can't imagine Harewood offers anything more.

shoutman

I am in no doubt of Carews ability and I was delighted when villa signed him but I just thought he seemed lazy in the games ive seen from him this season.

One Cold Hand

So, 4 games in, how do ye think we're doing? I personally am very encouraged and I think we look very good. I am aware that a few injuries could do us serious damage, but thats the same with every team. So far we've beaten Fulham, O'Neill was disappointed not to beat Newcastle, unluckily lost to Liverpool to an (admittedly phenominal!) freekick by Gerrard that shouldn't have been given.And remind be how we did against Chelski...oh yeah we stuffed them! We're 10th and with a game in hand on most teams.
I'm impressed by our defense. Laursen has been brilliant, the right back problem hasn't cost us yet and Mellberg looked good there against Chelsea. I still have reservation about Knight but he was good in the last game. The only goals we've conceeded are a gammy goal against Fulham, gave Liverpool and own goal, and an dodgy free.
In midfield I'm impressed with Young and NRC and Barry has been solid as always.
Up front I'm not so sure how Carew will do. I think our season may hinge on how our strikers will do. We need someone to row in with 15 goals or so. It's all well and good being big and physical up front but we need a striker who will but the ball in the net. I still think Moore should be given a good run and was delighted to see him playing the full game in a 4-4-2 formation vs. Chelsea. I think he's got a lot of goals in him.

shoutman

I agree with all of the above. Would love to see Defoe come in during the transfer window in January.

One Cold Hand

Yeah everytime Spurs play I just hope he doesn't score or even come on! The more fustrated he gets he more likely we are to get him. I think he would have been a great addition. Does anyone know anything about yerman Salifou that we got for an undisclosed fee?

Raekwon

One Cold Hand wrote:

Does anyone know anything about yerman Salifou that we got for an undisclosed fee?

MON gave the lowdown on Salifou on the official site. Apparently he is way on International duty (friendlies before the African Nations Cup in January) with Togo but he will link up with his new Villa team mates next week. MON also said that he enquired about Chelsea's Lassana Diarra before the transfer window closed but the player opted to go to Arsenal instead.

I think January will be interesting. MON has said will make a renewed bid for his top right-back target after missing out ahead of last week's transfer deadline. No names were mentioned but I have a gut feeling that it could be Jose Boswinga who Villa were linked with all summer. Also like the rest of you I hope that MON makes a move for Defoe. I think it will depend on how Spurs do in the UEFA Cup and obviously on the form of Bent, Berbatov & Keane. Hopefully Villa can snatch him away from the likes of Man Utd. because he is a player that is guaranteed to get into double figures and that is what Villa still lack.

V1llianous

Raekwon wrote:

I think January will be interesting. MON has said will make a renewed bid for his top right-back target after missing out ahead of last week's transfer deadline. No names were mentioned but I have a gut feeling that it could be Jose Boswinga who Villa were linked with all summer. Also like the rest of you I hope that MON makes a move for Defoe. I think it will depend on how Spurs do in the UEFA Cup and obviously on the form of Bent, Berbatov & Keane. Hopefully Villa can snatch him away from the likes of Man Utd. because he is a player that is guaranteed to get into double figures and that is what Villa still lack.

I don't think it will Boswinga - in several rumblings and newspaper articles it infers that a deal was nearly signed and then a last minute change of heart by the selling club who now are letting MON know his man will be available in January. I can't see MON paying £12m for Boswinga - with this and the rumblings I think it will be Justin Hoyte, Arsenal have had problems with injuries at right back so probably didn't want him to go until these had resolved themselves.

Overall I am impressed with how the season went, I know some Villians were baying for blood after an assumed ineffectual transfer window but Sunday's result helps with that. I hope none of the players come back from the internationals with injuries and if we escape serious injuries we could be in with a shot of Europe this time around.

What about Young ? Talk about being sky high in confidence to lob a Brazilian right back on the touchline in front of your own manager and Jose too

Savman

V1llianous wrote:

What about Young ? Talk about being sky high in confidence to lob a Brazilian right back on the touchline in front of your own manager and Jose too

Smashing player, but if he gets injured I think I'll cry like a baby.

Raekwon

I see MON is looking to loan out a few fringe players to Championship teams. I think Cahill & Osborne would benefit with loan moves because their positions are pretty much covered but letting O'Halloran go on loan could be a mistake. He is strongly linked with a loan move to Ipswich but he is the only leftback cover that we have, so if Bouma picks up a knock then we will have to revert Barry to that position and he is having a great start to the season in midfield.

One Cold Hand

I would assume that loan will only be allowed on the condition that the player can be recalled at any stage by MON. I think this is usually the case.

shoutman

Agreed also it looks like Sorensen wont be around for much longer.

One Cold Hand

Fair enough, but again this would only be okay in my eyes if we are albe to recall him at any stage. Wouldn't wan't to end up with another Kiraly situation like last year! Most teams have 3 senior keepers in their squad...but it would be good for Tommy to keep play regular football, I think Carson will keep him out of the team.

shoutman

Carson is a classy keeper, I would pay a lot of money to have him as a permanent addition to the team.;

Mr Alan

think Liverpool said to sign Carson it'd be around 12 million

shoutman

millersangel wrote:

think Liverpool said to sign Carson it'd be around 12 million

They must be having a Steffi, I'd say its something they just put out there to say he can go for the right price, just like when Celtic claimed McGeady was worth 50 mil or something. I would pay 5-6mil for Carson, I think he will be the next English Keeper.

One Cold Hand

5-6m sounds about right. 9m for Gordon was a ridiculous price to pay. Cech was 8m I think.

Raekwon

Liverpool slapped a £12m price tag on Craig Bellamy's head but then sold him for £8m. I think Carson should cost around £6m or less (especially considering we paid £2m just for a loan). He is a brilliant keep though!

In regards to loaning out our fringe players, it is true that we can get loaned players back at any stage but are Villa really in a position to be even contemplating this with a squad of 20 outfield players? Anyway, fringe players are always useful especially in the likes of the Carling Cup.

One Cold Hand

Yeah even if you take Cahill in the central def. position. In theory we have loads of cover, with Cahill 5th choice behind Olaf, Laursen, Knight and Davies. But Olaf will probably play RB and if there one injury we'll need him on the bench. Could easily get 2 injuries, esp with Laursen.

~Rebel~

I thought Barry was fantastic today, played some really impressive incisive forward balls and got himself 2 assists. Have to say after that i would definately play him and NRC in centre midfield, drop Petrov and play Young left and Agbonlahor/Maloney right. That with Carew and Moore/Agbonlahor up front would be pretty awesome.

shoutman

Rebel thats exactly what happened when we beat Chelsea.

~Rebel~

Excellent.

Raekwon

I see that Sorenson has come out in the press and said that he is willing to take a pay cut to play first team football for another club. That's fair enough, I cannot see him playing for Villa again this season anyway, unless Carson gets injured of course. Also the Maloney rumor mill has not stopped yet, even though the transfer window is closed. It seems that he will most likely be playing for Celtic again come January which is a shame because he is a great little player that I will be sorry to see the back of.

Source: The Mirror

Time Magazine

Sorenson on the official site saying he's been mis-quoted; that he'll fight for his place for this season. Afterwards he'll walk if he's not playing.

DSB

Losing 1-0 and in need of a goal, so we take off our most creative player Ashley Young, and bring on Stilian 'worst player in the world' Petrov. Martin O' Neill is a joke. Can't motivate the players to play away from home.

Time Magazine

DSB wrote:

Losing 1-0 and in need of a goal, so we take off our most creative player Ashley Young, and bring on Stilian 'worst player in the world' Petrov. Martin O' Neill is a joke. Can't motivate the players to play away from home.

Ashely Young stayed on. Reo-Coker, who the BBC described as "anonymous", came off.

DSB

Jaysus my bad. My point still stands about bringing on Stilian Petrov with 10 minutes to go in any game though. Why wasn't Harewood on the bench? I've looked around and haven't seen any reports to claim that he was injured? Have we really spent 4 million on an impact player that we don't intend to even put on the bench? Maybe I'm wrong now and he was injured but I just can't fathom how O' Neill decided that bringing on Stilian Petrov with 10 minutes left while 1-0 down was going to achieve anything. The man isn't fit to wear the Villa colours tbh and should be shipped off to whoever will take him for whatever price we can get for him. Whether Reo Coker had a good game or not, at least we know he can do something for us. Petrov has no real qualities. Yet Martin O' Neill insists on playing the man. And it infuriates me beyond belief.