Villa Signings and General Rumours Thread

shoutman

Predictions for West Ham?

3-1 to Villa, Harewood to come on after sixty minutes, give away a penalty and then score a hat trick through various people hitting the ball off him and it being deflected into the goal.

One Cold Hand

And quickly become a cult Villa park hero?!?

Nah I think we can get a win. I'll plug for 2-0, it's been a good scoreline for us this season so far!!

Time Magazine

2-1. Hopefully Shaun Maloney will play.

Harewood's going to start, isn't he? .

V1llianous

Barry, Carson & Young all still in the England squad for the upcoming qualifiers.

One Cold Hand

Ibid wrote:

2-1. Hopefully Shaun Maloney will play.

Harewood's going to start, isn't he? .

I hope to f00k not. I'd prefer Moore up there...

One Cold Hand

One Cold Hand wrote:

I hope to f00k not. I'd prefer Moore up there...

That was a reference to Harewood not Maloney!

One Cold Hand

V1llianous wrote:

Barry, Carson & Young all still in the England squad for the upcoming qualifiers.

Carson should deffo be playing after Robinsons shambles on Monday night.

Time Magazine

You know, when I think about it, playing Homer up front might not be a bad idea. He clearly wants to do well for the team (thus the starting on Gabby), he played sh*te on Monday so has a lot to prove, it's his old club, and Luke Moore was crap on Monday too. So my team would be:

Carson

Melberg Laursen Knight Bouma

Maloney Reo-Coker Barry Young

Agbonlahor Harewood

Wow, we really need Defoe in January.

Seaneh

Villa have better strikers than Defoe in Agbonlahor and Cerew.

Defoe is sooooo over-hyped.

useless little midget.

DSB

I'd definitely predict a win tomorrow. 2-0. Hopefully its Agbonlahor and Moore up front. Just with a change of system.

Time Magazine

Moore's been playing sh*te though. So has Homer, but he'll be fired up against his old club.

DSB

Yeah but we know Moore has the ability to be really class.

~Rebel~

Villa have great home form this year, only dropping points to pool i think, so even just on the strength of that Im definately thinking Villa win.

The continued loss of Bellamy and ferdinand is a blow for West ham as well.

Think Harewood will score, an ugly scrappy one.

Bounty Hunter

i think marlon will get and prob deserves the chance against his old club, but if he doesent do well I dont expect him to keep getting game time ahead of Moore

DSB

Don't think he deserves anything after that shocker on Monday. Lets not let sentiment get in the way of putting our best team out there.

Bounty Hunter

well Moore's for hasnt been much and Harewood IMO knows he needs a good game, though personally im looking to Gabby for goals and predict a 2-1 win with Barry also chipping in

~Rebel~

DSB wrote:

Don't think he deserves anything after that shocker on Monday. Lets not let sentiment get in the way of putting our best team out there.

He's probably worth his spot alright though, players usually have a stormer against their old clubs.

And at least if he cant up his game for that then yee know where yee stand with him.

DSB

I'm not sure thats actually true. I think it just gets alot of media attention when they do.

~Rebel~

DSB wrote:

I'm not sure thats actually true. I think it just gets alot of media attention when they do.

It does happen a lot alright, can almost put money on Anelka scoring against Arsenal. Same with Hasselbaink against his former clubs. Obviously lots of players dont, but it happens quite often. It makes sense that a player would up his game when against his old teammates, point to prove etc. Similer to loads of players scoring on their debut's.

Have a memory of Paddy Berger playing a great game and scoring against us (pool) on his return, though cant remember if it was for Pompy or Villa.

DSB

Hmmm we'll see I guess. I've my doubts about him though.

DSB

Orange Sport definitely know the score:

0 With John Carew out injured, Luke Young gets a rare start for Villa. Nigel Reo-Coker comes up against his former club, with the home side keeping the same side that start at Spurs on Monday.

Helix

DSB wrote:

With John Carew out injured, Luke Young gets a rare start for Villa.

EXTREMELY bloody rare alrite

~Rebel~

There lads see! No faith in Martin O Neil, all the complaining about his transfers, and meanwhile he's been secretly buying in fella's and hiding them in his basement to bring them out at the perfect moment!

~Rebel~

1 - 0 to yerselves.
gardner free

Time Magazine

Harewood not even on the bench! Balls from Martin, I like it.

1-0. Craig Gardner free-kick from 22. G'wan the Villa!

DSB

I think we'll learn from Monday's mistakes and come out well in the second half.

DSB

Oh no. He's on.

Time Magazine

And we still won . We actually picked up a bit after he came on.

5th place having played one short of half the teams in the league with a sustainable setup. That's a lot better than what O'Dreary had achieved.

eirebhoy

Maloney gave a lesson to everyone of how to run the clock down.;)

Raekwon

Nice 3 points and 5th spot in the table

In fairness though it was not the most convincing performance from Villa yet again. West Ham had a good few chances and Carlton Cole in particular should have had a hat-trick. But at least we learnt how to run down the clock when under pressure especially after Monday nights disastrous implosion.

Defensively we looked solid enough and Martin Laursen was our rock yet again but we looked vulnerable on the right hand side. I really can't understand why MON can't pick up an out of contract rightback to tide us over until January.

DSB

Laursen has been outstanding. Ashley Young also. So very impressed. The team as a whole has been very lacklustre but we've gotten the results so sure can't help but laugh about it.

Doodee

Lucas Neil is a ****ing scumbag! Dirty dirty player.

Anyone else Think Abby should have passed to Maloney instead of taking it on himself?

Bounty Hunter

villa are now winning games they wouldhave drawn last season

a new centre back is gelling well, a makeshift RB is doing good and last seasons LB seems a much better player all because Laursen is fit this year. he has made a huge difference and IMO has been one of the better CBs in the league so far

Time Magazine

Anyone got any bright ideas for a RB we could bring in come Janurary?

Regardless of thinking he might warrant a start today, I think Homer was a bad buy and although he has bags of potential Luke Moore isn't showing much threat. So I'd really like Defoe or someone like that who can really score. Good to see Gabby getting on the scoresheet a good bit lately, but think we're really missing out when Carew is gone and I'd like to see Defoe ready to come in for when Gabby gets injured. Maybe we could get him on the cheap if we agreed not to give them Homer in a part-exchange? .

I think we should try get Mellberg to sign an extension to his contract, it would be a great loss to see him go. Him and Martin are our best pairing IMO and I reckon Zat was brought in because we couldn't get a RB. So if we get a RB, Zat can fight for his place between those two while Curtis Davies matures for another season or so.

Are we a little thin in central midfield? Patrik Berger is getting on. Salifou is a RM isn't he? And he's only on a one year deal, too.

The critics about MON were right about not having enough strength in depth, we don't. But I think I'm starting to see MON's plan. We have an excellent starting point for a strong squad, i.e. the starters. There's still a good bit to do and RB is the most obvious. Signing Scott Carson is also a priority in my opinion. Beyond that though, we just have to add a few suitable squad players to be very strong. I consider players of the price and quality of Zat Knight to be squad players. We need a couple more of those, but not that many.

Things looking good. Roll on Man Utd.

Time Magazine

Okay so as the forums I mod might suggest, I'm a bit of a stats nerd.

The "average" Villa player is 24 and has 19 caps. It's good to note that although the median of caps is 1 (as many people haven't been capped as have) most of those who haven't (Scott Carson, Ashley Young, Nigel Reo-Coker, Craig Gardner, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Stuart Taylor, Curtis Davies, Luke Moore) all have a real future if they up their game/based on their U21 experience. Obviously Gardner and Moore have potential to play in the English setup, but the underlined have a bigger chance imho.

Small spreadsheet attached.

Helix

Raekwon wrote:

I really can't understand why MON can't pick up an out of contract rightback to tide us over until January.

perhaps because he cant find one worth having?

DSB

Even a loan signing would have been nice.

~Rebel~

Here's a list of Italian defenders who are free agents anyway, anyone tickling your fancy? http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=603649#cooliris

Luigi Di Biagio (possibile retirement or Juve)
Paolo Negro (interest from Bari, Ascoli, Brescia and Cremonese)
Mark Iuliano (interest from Lazio and Borussia Dortmund)
Saliou Lassisi
Alessandro Pistone
Andrea Sussi (interest from Livorno)

Someone like Stephen Darby on loan from Liverpool might not have been a bad idea. Looks a good young local player. Would only go if he was going to be getting football though.

DSB

Just had a proper look at the games after the international break. United will be the sort of game where we can't really go in expecting a result, a good performance will be enough and if we get anything out of it that will be amazing. Then we have the bottom 2 sides in the league. If we're really expecting any sort of European finish this season we'll have to come out of those games with 6 points. Then its the derby at Birmingham, we'll have to expect something out of that game, but even if its only a draw, given the battle Birmingham are sure to put up I wouldn't be too worried. 7 points from the next 12 would be fine I think.

Savman

DSB wrote:

United will be the sort of game where we can't really go in expecting a result

Should we bother turning up for the game at all or just give them the 3pts now? :rolleyes:
I expect at least a point from this fixture. ManU are obviously a good team but our home record is excellent so we have nothing or noone to fear.

A lot depends who MON deploys on Ronaldo duty because Gardner got a torrid time by Gareth Bale last week. 1-0 win to the Villa, Petrov to score

DSB

The only thing Petrov will be scoring will be Graeme Le Saux if he is doing pundit on the game.

Savman

DSB wrote:

The only thing Petrov will be scoring will be Graeme Le Saux if he is doing pundit on the game.

*yawn*

One Cold Hand

To be honest I'm kinda worried about the United game. They seem to have hit form against Wigan. I know Wigan aren't great but Utd did look awesome. Also United walloped us every time they played us last season. Also the fact that Carew is missing is worrying, we'll really need his power up front to retain all those balls that we're sure to hoof clear. Might be a game to bring in Marlon!!

Here's hoping utd can pick up a few injuries over the international break.

Raekwon

Ibid wrote:

Anyone got any bright ideas for a RB we could bring in come Janurary?

I think it could be possible that MON will renew his interest in Porto's Jose Boswinga, then when Porto refuse to budge on their £12m asking price (yet again!) his attention will turn to Arsenal’s Justin Hoyte and hopefully he can snare this promising young player.

Helix wrote:

perhaps because he cant find one worth having?

Yeah it certainly looks like MON didn't find who he was looking for to fill the right-back position during the summer. Infact he has been looking for a right-back since he took over last summer and as you know he even got Phil Bardsely onloan for the second half of last season as cover for Hughes. The fact that Bardsely, Hughes and Delaney have all since left the club and not one of them has been replaced is shocking. IMO there is no excuse for not bringing in somebody, even as short term cover (a lá Didier Agathe).

Anyway, as for my suggestion of signing an unattached player on a short term contract, as you can probably see here, MON still has a good few options open to him.

DSB

Oh how Kleberson and John O'Brien have fallen from grace.

Bounty Hunter

Raekwon wrote: »

I think it could be possible that MON will renew his interest in Porto's Jose Boswinga, then when Porto refuse to budge on their £12m asking price (yet again!) his attention will turn to Arsenal’s Justin Hoyte and hopefully he can snare this promising young player.

Well Hoyte has dropped down to argueably 4th in the Arsenal pecking order after new Signing Sagna, Eboue and Diarra who can be employed there, so would relish a move to VP where he fits the mold being a young, English U-21 who could be nurtured into a future star by MON. and although I cant say how accurate this quote is (found it on another site) it would back up what you say about Boswinga.
---
Mirror - Villa's £6m for Boswinga - 10/10/2007

Martin O'Neill is ready to pay £6m for Porto right back Jose Bosingwa in the January transfer window.

Aston Villa boss O'Neill was quoted an exorbitant £14m in the summer. But Porto are asking realistic money now for Bosingwa, 25.

O'Neill said: "I thought he was worth waiting for. Porto have led me to believe something can be done."
---
Also seems like their is no problem between Riise and Big John, and with a player talking so openly about the move it now seems quite likely.

from sky sports...
---
John Carew has told compatriot John Arne Riise that he should move to Aston Villa.

Villa have been tipped to make a bid for Riise in January, with the Norwegian believed to be a long-standing target of manager Martin O'Neill.

Now Carew has backed his countryman to link-up with him in the Second City.

"It seems like John Arne wants to go, so I can't see why not?" Carew told Dagbladet.

"There is a possibility, He would fit in very well at Villa, so that would be a positive."
---
I wonder wether he would be bought as a LB or LW. either way if either Hoyte or Riise signed it would mean uch veratility in the squad i.e Riise in midfield would allow A.Young to go RM. Riise in defense would replace Boua or push him into CD. Similarily Hoyte who can be played as a backup LB playing at RB would replace or push Mellberg into CB.

One Cold Hand

Is Hoyte not a natural RB? Surely he would just go straight in there and let Ollie go into CD for the useless Zat?

Anyway Riise would be a very good signing. Would add some experience to the squad. I'd be inclined to him at LB and leave Young on the LW. The two of them together would cause havoc when attacking!

Bounty Hunter

One Cold Hand wrote: »

Is Hoyte not a natural RB? Surely he would just go straight in there and let Ollie go into CD for the useless Zat?

Anyway Riise would be a very good signing. Would add some experience to the squad. I'd be inclined to him at LB and leave Young on the LW. The two of them together would cause havoc when attacking!

he is a natural RB and if signed that is where he would play although i was merley pointing out that like a large number of Villas current squad he can play in more than one position having previously filled in at LB. Similarily i would prob play Riise at LB but the option of pushing Gabby upfront and moving right footed young to the right wing while continuing with Bouma at LB is also a good one.

One Cold Hand

Yes I suppose 'Options' is the key word here, and they would definately give us a few of those...

Time Magazine

Why isn't Shaun Maloney starting on one of the wings with Ashley Young on the other?