Villa Signings and General Rumours Thread

One Cold Hand

kinaldo wrote: »

Also we finished 7th under Roeder ffs!

Well we finish 6th under O'Leary, and that go us nowhere!!

In fariness, the clubs are probably about the same size. Villa have probably won a bit more in their history and been in the Premiership/Div. 1 a bit longer, but neither teams has won anything recently.

Raekwon

One Cold Hand wrote: »

In terms of defence: I would like Cahill to stay. Realistically I would think Olof will go. If he and Cahill go that would leave pairing of Laursen (if he stays!) and Davies with Zat as cover. I think Cahill can be a much better player than Knight. Also I reckon Cahill could be groomed into a RB if needed. Knight is purely a CB. (and Cahill did get that legendary goal against Birmingham last year!)

I would like to see Cahill stay with Villa too. The lad has bags of potential and at 22 is definitely one for the future. He won 'Player & Young Player of the Year' when he was onloan at Burnley a few years ago and he is doing very well at Sheff Utd this season (he even scored the winner at Stoke recently). I can actually picture Cahill partnering Curtis Davis is a few years when both players are more experienced and mature.

Helix

Villain wrote: »

obviously we should sell Harewood.

4 bids in for him all turned down according to mon

Helix

shoutman wrote: »

So what are peoples opinions Defoe or Doyle?

martins
defoe
doyle

in that order

Villain

Helix wrote: »

4 bids in for him all turned down according to mon

Really have you got a link for that Helix?

One Cold Hand

Helix wrote: »

martins
defoe
doyle

in that order

I really don't rate Martins that much.

But irrespective of how much one rates him, I don't think he is what we really need. We're pretty much all agreed that we need someone who can stick the ball in the net. So that's why I'd rate Martins below Defoe. Martins is undoubtedly fast and strong, but I don't think his finishing is that hot, despite the odd wonder strike. We already have pace (Gabby and young) and strength (Carew).

shoutman

Shocked to hear that helix. But that said MON isn't going to let him go for half of what he paid for him in the summer, especially if there isn't a guarantee of a striker coming in to the squad.

For me I agree with the general consensus on potential strikers, Martins would be great but wouldn't expect to see him signing. I think an on form defoe would be phenomenal at Villa Park as I think he is a far better finisher then Gabby at the moment.

I also agree with Villain when he said Big John isn't beyond replacing. He is a great player when he is fit, but he is injury prone and there are better out there who can do his job, that said I wouldn't be excited about the prospect of Crouch coming back, especially if MON wants him to do the job he has Carew doing at the moment.

One Cold Hand

Helix wrote: »

4 bids in for him all turned down according to mon

I don't mind that. MON f*cked it up the last time by selling players before we had a replacement (Hughes @ RB, for example). Maybe he's just holding off til he signs Martin, Defoe AND Doyle!!

The thing I'm most surprised about is that there were 4 bids for Harewood!

Raekwon

Helix wrote: »

4 bids in for him all turned down according to mon

I heard that Derby, Middlesbrough & Charlton were interest but only on loan deals.

If we did sell him then we would be lucky if we could recoup even a quarter of the £4m that was shelled out on him.

Helix

Villain wrote: »

Really have you got a link for that Helix?

was pretty sure i read it on skysports but i cant find it anywhere and their search doesnt appear to be working

but mon definitely said wed had 4 bids in for harewood from premiership teams but he doesnt want to sell fringe players because we need them. now i do agree that we need numbers, thats not in question, but the simple fact is that harewood should never have been signed in the first place. mon is probably the only bloke on the planet who knows why we paid £4m for him

Villain

kinaldo wrote: »

IOur expectations have been reduced substantially by the Souness/Roeder regimes so that won't be a problem.

LOL I think they need to go lower again, sacking Big Sam so soon is laughable, what Player would want such uncertainty.

Mr Alan

have to say when i heard of sams sacking, i thought of the discussion in this thread earlier

at the moment Villa are wayyyy more attractive a proposition than Newcastle. Shambolic club.

Villa would want to get Laursen signed up soon, i'd imagine if he didnt sign by the end of the window or soon after, a lot of clubs incl possibly far more attractive clubs than Villa...will be looking for his signature on a pre-contract.

Helix

the worry about laursen is that a club will offer both him and mellberg deals and get them both in as their center back pairing

that would be attractive to both the players, and the club because theyre getting a proven partnership which is damn good

why o'neill insists on leaving this sort of thing til the last minute is well and truly beyond me. a chap i work with is a celtic season ticket holder and told me he was the exact same with them

Mr Alan

Juventus?

Helix

possibly

the pair of them would go a LONG way to sorting the spuds out too

Mr Alan

True enough. Wouldnt say no to Laursen at Liverpool either tbh-Agger/Carragher/Laursen/Arbeloa would have been nice, although with that Slovakian lad we just signed, no need now.

Helix

its insane when you think of it tho, an absolutely top class center back pairing available for free

sickens me

Mr Alan

true, ya know who to blame if it goes tits up so!

Bounty Hunter

Its my belief that negotiations are ongoing with Laursen and that the line "I'm feeling really well with Villa and would be open to extend with them if the terms are right." means that what he considers the right terms arent on the table atm, not that no terms are on the table. Because of this he has referenced two teams with notorious defensive problems who have probably enquired about him as a negotiating tool to get the terms he wants. These terms I suspect may be with regards to the lenght of contract being offered, as I would imagine he thinks he has now proved his injury problems are behind him and that his preformances justify a 3-year deal. Meanwhile MON is probably wary of giving a player with such a well documented history in the treatment room anything longer than 2yrs max.

Really hope he signs anyway. and now for absolutley no reason a Villa quote from years past : "The hardest part of captaining that team was tossing the coin and picking up the trophies" Sir Dennis Of Mortimer

Helix

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

Its my belief that negotiations are ongoing

well thered been no talks up til saturday, and to be honest im not exactly optimistic that mon started them this week either

tho maybe im just untrusting of him at this stage

Bounty Hunter

He has repeatedly stated that he wants to stay at Villa if possible and Villa have said they want to keep him. There must be something holding things up and the above is the most logical thing i could think of.

Helix

he has also stated that there had been no contract talks, which o'neill confirmed and then said he was planning to speak to the player and his agent after the fa cup match

thats just not bloody good enough

Savman

Mr Alan wrote: »

True enough. Wouldnt say no to Laursen at Liverpool either tbh-Agger/Carragher/Laursen/Arbeloa would have been nice,

I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say "feck off"

Seems like just a bit of tactics by both Martins. Laursen saying "look other clubs want me" and O'Neill making him wait, for some unknown reason.
Who knows.

Mr Alan

:)lol:) sorry to offend! neednt worry anyway...Slovak lad signed yesterday so no more needed.

Savman

Good. Cos everytime I look at the league table and oogle Villa's dizzy heights of 7th, deep down I think we know it's largely due to the form of the mighty Dane. He has the fans acting weird, if he was to leave I can genuinely see some cult suicide pact

Mr Alan

Might not need the dane, but if the evil media has its way and Rafa gets the sack.....

......

.....

......

.....

......

.....

.........wonder if O'Neill would be interested?!

Savman

:mad:

eirebhoy

A bit of a meaningless stat but I'll post anything that shows Maloney in a good light. Maloney has an average pass success rate of 82%, more than any other player at Villa. He averages 30 passes per 90 minutes played. Ironically, Petrov is 2nd with an 80% success rate. He averages 32 passes every 90 minutes. The reason it's a meaningless stat though is because neither player probably takes any risks with their passing.

Mr Alan

Jesus Eirebhoy, you really had wayyyyyytoo much free time on that day off today didnt ya?!

eirebhoy

I just found a great website.

Mr Alan

care to share the address?

Helix

Daily Star: Martin O'Neill is preparing a £15m move for Spurs duo Pascal Chimbonda and Jermain Defoe. The Aston Villa boss is ready to raid White Hart Lane as Spurs manager Juande Ramos gets set for a major clear-out of unwanted stars. O'Neill is a long-time admirer of Defoe, who has been told by Ramos that he can move in the January transfer window, and has now also turned his attention to Chimbonda to solve his problem right-back spot.

The Birmingham Mail reports that Martin O'Neill is interested in Chimbonda after being told he had no chance of signing Arsenal's Justin Hoyte.

Chimbonda is reportedly unsettled at Spurs after the signing of youngster Chris Gunter from Cardiff, and Juande Ramos' interest in Rangers full-back Alan Hutton.

Chimbonda said: "I think if this happened to any other player they would be disappointed and would even consider handing in a transfer request, but I don't want to cause trouble.

"It looks like the club are looking to replace me and we will see what happens."

Diarra has been left out of the Gunners squad for Wednesday's Carling Cup semi-final first leg against Spurs amid speculation that he will be sold.

this mornings villa news

Villain

Yep that would be 15 million well spent

Villain

Mellberg and Laursen were in Milan yesterday!! Reports in Italy say Mellberg has agreed to sign for Juventus in the summer. But the main question is was Laursen just going along for the ride or was he agreeing something too?

Th eonly thing about Laursen is he probably wouldn't pass a medical because of his knee.

One Cold Hand

You have a link for this? or is it wild speculation?

eirebhoy

I have to say I rate Mellberg better than Laursen but obviously haven't seen anywhere near as much as Villa fans. Playing right back isn't doing him any favours.

Villain

No Laursen is much better eirebhoy, stronger and reads the game better.

I was reading it on VillaTalk One Cold Hand, they had been reports that the two were seeing in the airport yesterday and then someone had a link to an Italian paper which reported on their trip.

One Cold Hand

Villain wrote: »

No Laursen is much better eirebhoy, stronger and reads the game better.

I was reading it on VillaTalk One Cold Hand, they had been reports that the two were seeing in the airport yesterday and then someone had a link to an Italian paper which reported on their trip.

Ah I wouldn't mind VillaTalk! There's some amount of sh*te talked on there! The tranfer speculation thread is 150 pages long, and we haven't even been properly linked with anyone yet!

I reckon that Laursen is slightly better than Olof. Not much in it, but what would be phenominal would be if we got a good RB and the two of them could play in the centre. That'd be an awesome pairing.

Villain

Well the Italian paper seemed very convinced and given how many times Mellberg has talked about Juve I reckon its true and he will join them, I just worry about Laursen being with him.

Villain

http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fcontrocampo.mediaset.it%2Farticoli%2Farticolo4477.shtml&langpair=it%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8

One Cold Hand

Jeebus, who the hell translated that article?!?!

Villain

One Cold Hand wrote: »

Jeebus, who the hell translated that article?!?!

Google

One Cold Hand

Good work by Google!

Chimbonda has said that he would be 'keen' on Villa.

Linky dinky do

Villain

Well lets hope MON goes and gets him so, he's very good imo.

Raekwon

I was just thinking, with all of the uncertainty at Newcastle at the moment, wouldn't this be an ideal time for MON to try and sign James Milner?

Helix

chimbonda wants to join villa

Tottenham defender Pascal Chimbonda would be keen on a move to Aston Villa, according to the player's agent.

Spurs manager Juande Ramos has told out-of-favour Chimbonda he is free to leave White Hart Lane, along with striker Jermain Defoe.

And the pair are rumoured to be on Martin O'Neill's January shopping list as the Villa boss looks to steer his side to European qualification.

Chimbonda is seen as a priority as Villa have been forced to use centre-back Olof Mellberg, who is a target of Juventus, as a makeshift right-back this season.

And according to Chimbonda's agent, Willie McKay, the Frenchman would be interested in a move to Villa Park.

"Would Pascal welcome a move to Aston Villa? Of course he would. He is looking to leave Tottenham and Villa are a big club with great potential," said McKay.

One Cold Hand

Raekwon wrote: »

I was just thinking, with all of the uncertainty at Newcastle at the moment, wouldn't this be an ideal time for MON to try and sign James Milner?

Deffo agree with you there. He's the same sort of player as young in terms of dribbling past players, but he's a really good passer and crosser. And he can score goals also. Would be an excellent signing for us.

Defoe, Milner and Chimbonda (or Bimbonga as my dad calls him!) and I'd be pretty happy.

shoutman

I'd be happy with that trio also One Cold Hand. Just got my tickets for the Liverpool match. I'm right behind the goal in row two seat 100

Raekwon

One Cold Hand wrote: »

Defoe, Milner and Chimbonda (or Bimbonga as my dad calls him!) and I'd be pretty happy.

I'd be pretty happy with them too.

As regards Milner, although he is a left-sided midfielder MON could play him on the right wing so he could cut inside and cross/shoot with his left foot (similar to the job right-sided Ashley Young does on the left wing). I think it would work a treat and would definitely give us more attacking options & balance to the side. They could also switch wings when required plus Milner could play in the middle too. *Perfect!

*Well it would be if it ever happened.

One Cold Hand

shoutman wrote: »

I'd be happy with that trio also One Cold Hand. Just got my tickets for the Liverpool match. I'm right behind the goal in row two seat 100

Bucky Lastard!!

Maybe if Gabby is running past you stick out the auld leg and trip him up, we might get a peno!

Or just give Torres a hefty kick in the sack, reckon it's only way we'll stop him!!