Villa Signings and General Rumours Thread

DSB

Well I've no idea really what his wages are like, but if they aren't too strenuous then I'm sure the likes of Fulham, Wigan, Reading or some German teams might be interested. If they are unrealistically high, we can always dump him off to West Ham at which point he will inevitably suffer a career threatening injury.

shoutman

Seriously DSB, did Petrov sleep with your wife and/or mother?

DSB

Im still a little young for a wife. Might get in the way of college. But I'll ask my Mam tomorrow if there's been Bulgarian men around the house.

Savman

Problem is if Petrov does go, Berger is in his last season, Gardner still a youngling and Osbourne not yet ready.
We have no real cover for central midfield, although I do rate Gardner and would love to see him get a run of games he would have his work cut out against the Scholes, Giggs, Gerards and Fabregas of this world.

So it looks like Petrov will be hanging around out of necessity, one can only hope he discovers some kind of form in the meantime.

DSB

I really don't think it will be hard to replace him. Presuming he does go it will have to be in January, most players are better than him so we've alot to choose from.

Doodee

Question, anyone know of a good place to get Tickets.


Wanna go see Villa V ManU in 2 weeks

Savman

I feel like killing someone. Marlon Harewood will do.

Doodee wrote:

Question, anyone know of a good place to get Tickets.


Wanna go see Villa V ManU in 2 weeks

Are you a home or away fan?

homerjay2005

i picked up 4 tickets for villa v united, just by my cousin going to villa park when the tickets went on sale, he does it for me every year. i have been to villa v united every year since 2001 and im a united fan. scholes goal last season was an obvious highlight. most years i have been in the "home" section and have had to stay quite, however, one year got tickets above the united fans and it was 90% united where i was too, so it was great crack. villa park is a class stadium.

most of my mothers side of the family are villa fans as they all live in brum, so its a good laugh going over there.

DSB

Martin O'Neill showing his incompetencies once more. 4-1 up thanks in a large way to poor Tottenham defending and goalkeeping. Should be cruising. Chimbonda gets 1 back. Instead of keeping on Gardner who can help us defend, or bringing on Osbourne who might do the same, O' Neill brings on Petrov, I realise I sound like a broken record in saying this, but its a neverending cycle. When Petrov plays, Villa are an awful team. He contributes nothing and can't tackle or pass. If I'd been asked before the game I'd have taken the result with open arms. But realistically, what manager can't tactically master a side to victory that are 4-1 up with 20 minutes left? What was he hoping to achieve by bringing on Petrov? Win 6-2 maybe and look good tomorrow in the papers? Ridiculous.

shoutman

I just won a fiver...... off myself. DSB you are so predictable. I didnt get to watch the match but drawing a game having been 4-1 up is not a good thing, but I can only imagine any manager will think the game is as good as over when you are 4-1 up;

DSB

It should be. But its only over if you defend well. Which Villa didn't. Refereeing decisions were a tad dodge. But in the end we made our own bed. Game should have been over by then.

DSB

Also, you may think I'm predictable, but do you think I'm wrong?

Doodee

Home Team, Villa fan of course

Savman

OK let's get one thing straight, Petrov actually did quite well in the time he was on. He looked lively the few times he got the ball. He also replaced Gardner who got mauled by Bale all night and was on a Yellow card.

Osbourne wouldn't have given us any outlet whatsoever. I was expecting Maloney but not totally surprised to see Petrov.

Just an awful display. If we're all honest with ourselves, did anyone actually feel comfortable at 4-1 up? I sure as hell didn't. Groundhog day at the Villa.

Savman

Doodee wrote:

Home Team, Villa fan of course

Have you tried www.avfc.co.uk
You need a booking history to book tickets for the Man U fixture.

DSB

Savman wrote:

OK let's get one thing straight, Petrov actually did quite well in the time he was on. He looked lively the few times he got the ball. He also replaced Gardner who got mauled by Bale all night and was on a Yellow

At 4-2 up with 16 minutes left we needed a solid defensive midfielder who can also defend well and pass it about well. We didn't need more goals. We just needed to keep a bit of stability about us. We fell apart instead.

One Cold Hand

Flip me, that was a rollercoaster of emotions last night, it's not easy being a Villa fan!

Obviously very disappointed not to win this, but there is 2 sides to the coin. Before the match I reckoned that a draw away to a Spurs team that had to win would be a good result. Obviously the manner in which we got the draw wasn't too pleasant, but it's still an away draw against a top 5 team (last year).

I wasn't too happy with how we played. We didn't deserve to be 4-1 up. The only goal of any quality was Gabby's. Spurs pretty much gifted us the rest of them.

As for who to blame for the Spurs come back, I don't really know. Certainly Harewood straddling the Spurs fella was shocking. Stupid rash decision from a player who I've never rated at all. It was panic stations after that.

Raekwon

Savman wrote:

Just an awful display. If we're all honest with ourselves, did anyone actually feel comfortable at 4-1 up? I sure as hell didn't.

Nope, I didn't feel comfortable either. Infact as soon as Spurs pulled a goal back to make it 4-2 I suddenly got a horrible feeling that they could get a few more goals and really screw up Villa's night..................and unfortunately they did If you offered me a draw before the game I would have gladly excepted it, but this draw feels very much like a defeat and a bad one at that!

I think we sorely lacked Mellberg partnering the towering Laursen in the centre of defence instead of Knight who again looked shaky. Also the need for a proper right-back was again highlighted by Garth Bale's dominance of the left side of the field. Time and time again Bale was allowed to cut inside and get unchallenged crosses into the box (even from the byline). Finally I feel Carew's presence was missed last night. We needed a player who could hold the ball up and link midfield with attack. We didn't have one. Back to the drawing board MON!

Man of the match: Martin Laursen. Yet again the big Dane stood head and shoulders above his team mates and even bagged himself a brace of goals. He was at fault for the first goal but he showed more heart and determination than another Villa player on the pitch. Class act!

Villain for Villa: Marlon Harewood. Where do I begin? This 30 minute cameo from Deadwood was shocking. His lack of control coupled with his sear inability to keep possession for more then 2 seconds is staggering! He is one of the worst players in living memory to be allowed to put on the famous Villa shirt (Bosko Balaban take a bow). His kamikaze tackle in his own box to hand Spurs a lifeline was the cherry on the cake. Hopefully MON will come to his senses and give him a free transfer to Wigan during the next transfer window!

PDN

Raekwon wrote:

His kamikaze tackle in his own box to hand Spurs a lifeline was the cherry on the cake. Hopefully MON will come to his senses and give him a free transfer to Wigan during the next transfer window!

I was listening to "Off the Ball" last night on Newstalk. Their description of the penalty decision was, "Marlon Harewood has just jumped on the Spurs attacker's back in the penalty area and tried to ride him like a horse."

Classic stuff.

Helix

Raekwon wrote:

one of the worst players in living memory to be allowed to put on the famous Villa shirt (Bosko Balaban take a bow)

balaban is a good player, and was a good player when he was with us

not his fault he was never picked

Savman

Laursen is immense.

The thing is, the damage was done on August 31st if you ask me. We asked for a Jermaine Defoe, we were given a Marlon Deadhead. We asked for a Right Back we were given nobody.

I refuse to listen to any excuses about the depth of the squad, MON has had the entire summer to fix that. I would like to see this Salifou fella in action.

Moore is a passenger last few games, cant complain he's not getting his chance. Gardner is a super player but was given a torrid time by Bale all night, I just think Gardner was short of match sharpness he hasn't been playing much lately. In fairness, Knight has been doing a decent job so far IMHO.

We were just poor, could not hold onto the damn ball for 5 seconds and anytime we got forward we looked like scoring. It was the most bizarre match I've seen in a long time. Before the game I'd have taken a point, then we go 4-1 ahead which you have to say was undeserved as we were never really in the game. Then to throw away a 3 goal lead was just abysmal, but not surprising. Carson had a great game even if he did concede a few.

But, hate going on about it, WTF was Deadhead trying to do? Does he fancy Darren Bent? Did he take his surname literally? ****ing idiot. It has no footballing brain, it looks truly awful and I still cannot believe MON paid money for it.

:mad:

Raekwon

Helix wrote:

balaban is a good player, and was a good player when he was with us

not his fault he was never picked

So John Gregory shelled out £6m for him yet never picked him because he was so good?

Also, if he is that good why then, at the age of 28 (his peak years?), is he back playing for Dinamo Zagreb in the Croatian first division? Is La Liga or Serie A too much of a step down for him after experiencing the dizzy heights at the top of the mighty Belgian league? :rolleyes:

DSB

Just wondering, do people really think Martin O'Neill is the man for the job? Do people not think that the talent we have at our disposal sometimes flatters him? I mean I can't argue with our position, we've done quite well at times mainly due to having some out of this world players. His transfer dealings have been poor at best. Petrov, Harewood, Knight all strike me as examples of Martin O'Neill's lack of ambition really. None of these are particularly young players so they aren't really for the future. Carson, Reo Coker, Young and Davies all look like good signings but then again they weren't players that took a genius to tell were good. And all costed a good bit of wedge. 11th place wasn't a great finish by any means last season but I think people were willing to accept that it was his first season and he needed time to build. This season I think we'll do better than that but I don't think it is much of a reflection on Martin O'Neill. David O'Leary has left a legacy at the club with some excellent young players that he blooded which O'Neill has his disposal. They have all started to mature significantly and I think this is a telling factor in why we'll do well this season. Mellberg, Laursen, Bouma, Agbonlahor, Barry, Moore and Gardner have all been at the club since O'Leary's reign and I think these form the nucleus of the Villa team. I just wonder how much more O'Neill has really done to bring us on from that midtable team that we've been for years since the early John Gregory era. On a number of occasions this season (and last season) we've been caught out as being tactically weak, and his substitutions don't seem to have any real impact. He has left us dangerously weak as regards squad. Whereas against Man City we lacked an attacking subsititute we could bring on to try get us back into the game, last night we were left with limited defensive options to bring on and add stability to the team and help our safeguard our lead to achieve victory. I know many non-Villa supporters who think O'Neill is the bees knees but I often wonder if this is highly linked with the Irish obsession with Celtic. He did well with Celtic but it is important to factor in that their fixture list regularly has opposition such as Dunfermline, Livingston, Gretna and Inverness Caledonian Thistle. I often feel that an O'Neill side will never be relegated. He has a knack for taking poor teams and making them overachieve. But with Villa, I often feel the limited success he has had has been highly linked with the legacy O'Leary left when he gave so many young players a chance, and that the side would be in better hands with someone more tactically astute and someone more shrewd in the transfer market.

Savman

DSB wrote:

Just wondering, do people really think Martin O'Neill is the man for the job?

Yes, considering his history of making average teams better, he was the best person for the job and still is.

Do people not think that the talent we have at our disposal sometimes flatters him?

I don't quite get you here, are you saying we have talent or we don't?

His transfer dealings have been poor at best. Petrov, Harewood, Knight all strike me as examples of Martin O'Neill's lack of ambition really.

FFS lay off Knight he hasn't done much wrong. Spectacular debut and people were singing a different tune. Since then he's been ok, but the whole team has been merely "ok" so it's stupid trying to make Knight a scapegoat when he's been fairly solid most of the time. Petrov I won't get into again, if he "comes back roaring" as MON says then feelings might change toward him, right now he's an expensive flop. Deadhead is without doubt MON's biggest questionable signing to date.

Carson, Reo Coker, Young and Davies all look like good signings but then again they weren't players that took a genius to tell were good.

Well, they all had other offers but all chose to work with O'Neill due to his reputation. I have no idea what you're gripe is, it always costs big money for youth & potential.

David O'Leary has left a legacy at the club with some excellent young players that he blooded which O'Neill has his disposal. They have all started to mature significantly and I think this is a telling factor in why we'll do well this season. Mellberg, Laursen, Bouma, Agbonlahor, Barry, Moore and Gardner have all been at the club since O'Leary's reign and I think these form the nucleus of the Villa team.

Please research your statements before posting as fact. Gareth Barry was at Villa long before DOL, Agbonlahor is a product of the Youth Academy as are Moore and Gardner. O'Leary simply cannot be credited with breaking these youngsters. He gave them a run, sure, but one might argue that was because he was forced to by Doug Ellis' refusal to spend big, meaning DOL had to delve into the youth team for squad players. Also, Olof Mellberg was signed by John Gregory.

I'll give DOL credit for signing Bouma and Laursen, even if he does have dodgy knees.

On a number of occasions this season (and last season) we've been caught out as being tactically weak, and his substitutions don't seem to have any real impact.

Care to provide examples of these "numbers of occasions"?

He has left us dangerously weak as regards squad.

About the only point in your rant that makes any sense.

He has a knack for taking poor teams and making them overachieve. But with Villa, I often feel the limited success he has had has been highly linked with the legacy O'Leary left when he gave so many young players a chance, and that the side would be in better hands with someone more tactically astute and someone more shrewd in the transfer market.

Villa were a poor team, and we did over-achieve. If you remember we went unbeaten longer than anyone else at the start of last season. I travelled over to see a few games while DOL was in charge, it was depressing. Like many I was glad to see the back of O'Leary and his pathetic excuses.

I think you need to re-think your stance on a lot of things, you really sound like a broken record on the O'Neill/Petrov/O'Neill/Petrov rubbish.

:rolleyes:

DSB

I'm not gonna try multiquote because I'd most likely find some way of getting it wrong and the whole reply will look a mess so I'll just reply to your points individually.

1) At first thought, I'd have thought he was the right man for the job. When I think about it moreso though I think he was about as suited to the job as Allardyce would be to taking over United.

2) I'm saying we have talent and lots of it.

3)Knight hasn't done a huge amount wrong. True. But he wasn't exactly the quality we were expecting considering the amount of money O'Neill was given to bolster the team. Apart from the goal I think calling his debut spectacular would be quite a bit overdramatic. He hasn't looked the part since really but there is time for him to improve. He doesn't look the class we need if we're going to improve as a team though. And at 27 he certainly isn't 1 for the future. Petrov has had over a year to come back roaring. And Harewood is well........ he is Harewood.

4)That wasn't a criticism or a gripe. I was just pointing out that those sort of players aren't the 1s that deserve big praise for signing as opposed to Wenger and Ferguson having reputations for finding amazing unheard of players at low costs.

5)I know Barry was there before the O'Leary reign. I just put him in the list as it would have seemed odd to leave possibly the most integral part of his reign out. And regardless of money at O'Leary's disposal he still endeavoured to give young players a chance. Always has and probably always will.

6)I posted some of his tactical mistakes straight after the point I gave. And have been posting them throughout the thread. Last night and against Leicester being also prime examples. Seemingly you chose to ignore that though.

7)I don't think Villa were a poor team last season. Sorensen was never a poor goalkeeper although prone to the odd error. Carson is certainly better but Sorensen wasn't poor. The nucleus of the defence is the same as that of last season. I don't think Zat Knight strikes me as being a huge improvement on Aaron Hughes to be honest. In midfield we had Davis, McCann, Berger, Barry, Gardner etc. He just chose to play Petrov instead. Up front we had Angel, who to be fair, aging or not, is a better option to have in there than Harewood.

Also just to point out, I'm not saying for a moment that I would like O'Leary back as manager. I'm just pointing out that he played a large role in building the hugely impressive team we have today. I'm proud to be a Villa fan and I love the players (with the exception of Petrov and Harewood). I just think they could be under better hands. And I know there are a good few people who share my views. They've been posting for a good while before me throughout the thread. So I don't intend to change my stance anytime soon. And call me a broken record, if you please, but it is hard to not get angry after being beaten by Leicester City, and then losing a 4-1 lead with 20 minutes remaining. If Petrov was to start playing out of his skin I'd shut my mouth and eat my words. As for O'Neill I worry that he'll get too much credit if we finish 7th or 8th this season. We should be fighting Everton and Tottenham for 5th place this season with the team we have. If we are, then I've been proved wrong.

One Cold Hand

Who do you think would be a better manager to have than Martin DSB?

By the way O'Leary was a chump. (I know he finished 6th in his first season but we were nearly relegated after that). I don't think the word 'Legacy' should be used, as that would imply a number of achievements over a long period of time.

Helix

Raekwon wrote:

So John Gregory shelled out £6m for him yet never picked him because he was so good?

gregory had a large percentage interest in his management company, it served his own interest to buy him

DSB

Well by legacy I mean what he left for us to succeed in the future. But as for new managers, theres a few. Steve Staunton would be the obvious choice clearly, but if we can't influence the Irish fans to allow him leave, maybe a departing Martin Jol might be a decent idea. He has gotten players of a similar quality to 5th place, and while Tottenham might want more, 5th or 6th would do us nicely if we're being realistic. Didier Deschamps maybe?

Savman

DSB please use the Return button every now and then. You wonder why I ignored your comments, I challenge anyone to try make sense of that grammatically challenged rant.

DSB wrote:

Steve Staunton would be the obvious choice clearly

Oh dear lord. Now you really are talking out of your arse bud.

DSB

It was clearly a joke.

One Cold Hand

DSB wrote:

Well by legacy I mean what he left for us to succeed in the future. But as for new managers, theres a few. Steve Staunton would be the obvious choice clearly, but if we can't influence the Irish fans to allow him leave, maybe a departing Martin Jol might be a decent idea. He has gotten players of a similar quality to 5th place, and while Tottenham might want more, 5th or 6th would do us nicely if we're being realistic. Didier Deschamps maybe?

Don't think Jol would be any better. He's spent millions at Spurs and failed to get anywhere significant. They're now in the bottom 3.

Deschamps has achieved flip all compared to O'Neill.

I presume Staunton was a joke.

Savman

DSB wrote:

It was clearly a joke.

Right. And this "joke" is highlighted where exactly?

DSB wrote:

Well by legacy I mean what he left for us to succeed in the future. But as for new managers, theres a few. Steve Staunton would be the obvious choice clearly, but if we can't influence the Irish fans to allow him leave, maybe a departing Martin Jol might be a decent idea. He has gotten players of a similar quality to 5th place, and while Tottenham might want more, 5th or 6th would do us nicely if we're being realistic. Didier Deschamps maybe?

You've lost the plot altogether. You were almost making sense for a minute, then you go and ruin it with the most clueless post of the day. Martin Jol, was that a joke too? Or was that the serious bit? Because sitting in the bottom three is not really my kinda humour, I'd hazard a guess that 40,000 other Villa fans might agree.

And as for Deschamps, one Serie B title makes him a better choice? Uh-huh.

DSB

I think you both are forgetting a Champions League final.

Savman

DSB wrote:

I think you both are forgetting a Champions League final.

I think you are forgetting a UEFA Cup Final that MON reached with Celtic.

One Cold Hand

DSB wrote:

I think you both are forgetting a Champions League final.

Granted that was a good achievment. But O'Niell also got a European final with a far weaker team. And he won 2 league cups with Leicester, who weren't exactly world beaters.

DSB

But surely we should be looking for managers with proven records with good teams? I mean we're a good team.

One Cold Hand

DSB wrote:

But surely we should be looking for managers with proven records with good teams? I mean we're a good team.

Well then we shouldn't be looking for Jol or Deschamps. Neither have proven records with good teams.

Anyway why does the manager need a proven with good teams? Is it not enough to have a proven record with weak teams.

DSB

Well it needn't have been. Clearly the fact that he only has a record with weak teams isn't the only reason I amn't a fan of O'Neill. I just figured that if people were looking for other candidates for the job then they'd want to hear some names with a proven record at the top level. Ones that would have an interest in coming to Villa too obviously.

One Cold Hand

What do you mean by a top level? Do you mean managers that have won trophies with the likes of Liverpool / AC Milan / Barca / Real etc? We're never gonna get a manager who has been successful at top clubs, cos thats the level he's gonna remain at. It's like expecting to sign World Class players straight away.

DSB

Nah I mean around the level we're at. Which is around the same as Tottenham I guess. I think Jol has done decently enough with them. But there isn't a point in keeping him there. They want something else entirely.

One Cold Hand

Okay so you're talking about the likes of Moyes or Allardyce? If hypothecially one of them came to Villa it is possible that they could do better than O'Niell. But they could also do way worse. It's impossible to know. So I wouldn't go lynching O'Neill. At least give him 3 years. He has the bones of a very good squad there. If he can add 3/4 good players to that in Jan or next summer we could have an outstanding squad. Our results have been very good so far this season, and generally against quite strong teams.

DSB

I amn't suggesting sacking O'Neill. We're in the top half of the league at the moment. That would be ridiculous. I'm just questioning whether people think he is upto the job at hand. The only reason other potential managers have been mentioned is because people have asked me to come up with who I'd prefer.

One Cold Hand

Oh okay, well I do think he's up to it! Glad we got that sorted out!!!

Bounty Hunter

if Villa win their game in hand they will be 5th, despite no recognised RB or RW and despite a tough start fixtue wise: Liverpool, Chelsea and Everton have already visited Villa park meanwhile Newcastle, Spurs or City wont be easy places to visit this year either (Spurs will improve, most of us admit we would have taken the result before the game). MON is great at getting the best out of players on the pitch (except Petrov in England it seems) and there is nobody better than him that we could get atm.

That said his transfer dealing are kind of questionable but one signing IMO is getting a raw deal, and thats knight. he, i think (and when he was signed so did you guys) is a squad player. he had a great debut but since has not been playing at that high standard. He is still getting used to the players aroung him as is Davies whom when fully fit will replace him IMO.

DSB

Davie's attitude alone I think makes him something to look forward to. I think we'll finish 7th or 8th this season. I hope we apply for the EURO Vase. I really wanna see Villa back in European football.

One Cold Hand

Was just thinking last night, one thing I am worried about is missing Carew. Our main problem last night was retaining possession and I think Carew is very good at winning long balls and holding it up or laying it off. Harewood is useless and Moore isn't as strong or physical as big John. I think it shows already how thin our squad is.

DSB

Definitely.

Raekwon

It looks like Patrik Berger will be joining John Carew in the treatment room after suffering a recurrence of his hamstring problem in training. He has been unlucky with injuries over the years and I really think his creativeness/cutting edge in midfield has been missing this season. Hopefully the rest of the team can stay fit until January.

On a positive note, Shaun Maloney should be fit to play against West Ham on Saturday. We really need a big performance after the Leicester and Spurs fiasco! Hopefully we can 'hammer' them and claim 5th spot

Time Magazine

Woot, post #1000!

One Cold Hand

Ibid wrote:

Woot, post #1000!

We are officially a sprawling mega-thread....