Villa Signings and General Rumours Thread

Villain

Raekwon wrote: »

I have to say I'm very optimistic about next season

I am too if a little nervous of the summer transfer market, we have a lot of catching up to do on teams around us

Raekwon

Villain wrote: »

I am too if a little nervous of the summer transfer market, we have a lot of catching up to do on teams around us

I have a feeling that this summer MON will surprise a few people with his transfer dealings. He is in a position now that he has no choice but to strengthen his squad and the glaring hole at rightback will probably be first on his list.

One thing is for sure though, I am not going to be glued to Sky Sports news like I was last summer/January waiting for Villa to sign players. What a waste of time that was

PHB

I think Villa will add about 4 players to their squad, 4 new players, or else 5 if one is sold etc. I think the spend on those players will be between 6-10 million each.

shoutman

I just hope the players are signed as early as possible so that they can gel before the new season.

Savman

Raekwon wrote: »

One thing is for sure though, I am not going to be glued to Sky Sports news like I was last summer/January waiting for Villa to sign players. What a waste of time that was

Liar liar pants on fire. You're gonna be twitching watching SSN all day 31/8/08, I guarantee it :D

Raekwon

Savman wrote: »

Liar liar pants on fire. You're gonna be twitching watching SSN all day 31/8/08, I guarantee it :D

Yeah you're probably right

Savman

Meanwhile, to pressing issues, who did yiz vote for Player of the Year on the OS?
Ashley Young for me, for consistent top drawer displays (Laursen a close second).
Gabby has to get Young Player of the Year, esp considering Gardner is the only other real first teamer in there.

Not half reliant on 2 players are we



edit: http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/ElsewhereDetail/0,,10265~1286104,00.html

Villain

I went for for Laursen as Player of the year and Gabby as Young player, How come Ashley Young wasn't in the Young player of the year list?

Bounty Hunter

yeah I personally would have went for an Ashley Young double. odd that he is on the PFA young player list but not the Villa one

Raekwon

I voted for Ashley Young as the Player of the Year and Gabby Agbonlahor for the Young Player award.

Speaking of young players, we are lucky to have some real gems coming through the ranks at Villa Park right now. Young lads like Nathan Delfouneso, Zoltán Stieber, Tobias Mikaelsson, Harry Forrester & the Bellon brothers (Damian & Yago) will hopefully be really good players for Villa in the near future (as long as they don't follow in the footsteps of the Moore brothers that is ).

JPA

I voted Laursen for player of the year and Gabby for young player.
Petrov for goal of the season.

I reckon Villa have set 21 as max age for young player of the year.
Something the PFA and FA should do.
Maybe have Rookie of the year as well.
Having Ronaldo in the young player category when he's 23 doesn't really give anyone else a chance.

Helix

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

id still say 6th will be what we will get and Intertoto with it. never like having to win every game

the thing is, you could conceivably see everton not winning another game this season, so 3 wins in our other games and a draw against them could pip them to the uefa

Savman

I would like to see Ashley rewarded for being our dangerman all season long. Fantastic player.

For those of you voting for Laursen, as good n' all as he is, let's not forget supplied him with all those crosses when he was scoring for fun...

JPA

Savman wrote: »

I would like to see Ashley rewarded for being our dangerman all season long. Fantastic player.

For those of you voting for Laursen, as good n' all as he is, let's not forget supplied him with all those crosses when he was scoring for fun...

So an assist is better than a goal?
I voted Laursen because of his fantastic comeback from injury and playing almost every minute, brilliant defending (remember that tackle on Drogba) and of course his goals.

Savman

JPA wrote: »

So an assist is better than a goal?

ROFL! Where did I say that?!
Laursen is a beast of a defender, no doubt about it. But Young makes Villa tick. Either would be a worthy winner, I just think Young shades it.

JPA

Savman wrote: »

ROFL! Where did I say that?!
Laursen is a beast of a defender, no doubt about it. But Young makes Villa tick. Either would be a worthy winner, I just think Young shades it.

Ya Young is sensational. Let's hope we'll have 1 or 2 more like him next season.
He was starting to get marked out of it recently until his role was adjusted.

invincibleirish

I vote Young! not as inconsistent as Gabby and proving everyone wrong about his inflated price! Assists mean goals, so the fact he has a lot of them means Villa are scoring and he is doing something right.

Laursen would deserve an honourable mention except goals have been leaked all season,not entirely his fault (mr. Knight being the culprit) but he still had a few lapses, defenders should get the plaudits when they are keeping clean sheets. but fairplay to him making the comeback from the injuries.

Young player of the year Curtis Davies? started and ended his games this season with a poor performance and an awful injury. but looked reassured for the most part in his game.

Savman

invincibleirish wrote: »

Laursen would deserve an honourable mention except goals have been leaked all season,not entirely his fault (mr. Knight being the culprit)

We were still leaking goals while Knight was out of the team, so I would have a hard time awarding any of the back 5 Player Of The Year, the simple fact is our goals conceded is far too high. It's balanced out by our goals scored, which is largely down to Ashley Young.

Bounty Hunter

Davies has looked as good as we hoped but has still only played 12 games for Villa and I really doubt he would get YPOTY. really expect it to be a Young/Gabby double.

With regards to Everton they are catchable despite being 6points clear of Villa atm. I think they will pick up 4 more points though and Villa 8 or ten. Everton to beat Newcastle and draw with us, while Villa will beat Birmingham, Wigan and either draw with both Everton and West Ham or beat the Hammers. The everton gae really is the key though as if we beat them at goodison despite Evertons 6point headstart i think 5th would be ours to throw away, but that victory is a very big task.

Savman

By murmurings coming out of VP, the manager and his players very much believe there is all still to play for, so us fans have to believe it's do-able. There's a word you haven't heard in VP in many a moon "belief"

Assuming we overcome the scum, that Goodison Park game will decide a lot.

Villain

Young has had an excellent season and would have got my vote for young player hands down but Laursen has been the driving force for me this season he has being a solid rock at the back and thrown his body in the way and put his fitness on the line many times and if that doesn't enough he popped up and scored many great goals.

Helix

2 massive massive games coming up, if we can take 6 points from them, we really have to look at 5th, and as said itll be ours to throw away unless everton can take 7 points off arsenal, chelsea and newcastle (imo theyll take 1)

but lets assume we draw with everton and win our remaining 3 games, thatll leave us with 65pts in the final tally and most likely a better goal difference than everton, meaning everton will have to take 4 points from chelsea, arsenal and newcastle to finish ahead of us. they might do that, but its not beyond the realms of possibility that they draw 2 and lose 1, or lose 2 and draw 1, both of which will let us in ahead of them

the only question mark then becomes pompey

theyre 2 points ahead of us at the moment on 57, and have the easier run in of the 3 on paper, but with the fa cup final to come, its likely that a lot of the players minds will be wandering and they mightnt necessarily be up for the 4 league games they have left as much as youd think

they go to city on saturday which is tricky, and you could possibly see them drawing that. leaving us ahead of them on goal difference and setting us up to have 5th in our own hands

definitely all there for the taking for any of the 3 clubs. if any of them win their remaining games, you have to fancy them for 5th. its just a case of who wants it more

shoutman

I just hope we hold our nerve. I know its not quite winning the premiership but if we do finish fifth it will feel almost (well not quite) as good. We don't have a squad of "winners", ie. we don't have players who have been there before and know what it takes to get there.
That said I'd be optomistic about our chances. Going out for the Chelsea Everton match on thursday anyway, will be important for me.

Savman

:mad::mad::mad::mad:

If this is allowed to happen there'll be hell to pay:
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_3427329,00.html

Can't see MON being that shortsighted nor can I see why our Captain Fantastic would want to move to such an unsettled club. Reports like this make me physically sick:eek:

Bounty Hunter

I like what the daily mail are saying about Villa atm.

firstly the RB situation
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=559822&in_page_id=1779&ito=newsnow

I'd be tempted if Villa want to make me their full back option, says Benfica star Nelson

Benfica right back Nelson says he hopes that Aston Villa will follow through with the interest they have shown in him.

The Cape Verde-born 24-year-old, who has Portuguese nationality, is keen to make a move away from Portuguese football to a bigger league this summer, although Villa face competition from Spanish club Sevilla.

Eyeing a move: Nelson, (right) for Benfica, is keen on a transfer to England or Spain

He told Portuguese sports paper Record: "It's my ambition to play abroad in a bigger and more competitive league.

"I would not refuse Aston Villa or Sevilla if the clubs reach an agreement with Benfica."

then the GK conundrum
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=559534&in_page_id=1779

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill primed to swoop for Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill is poised make his long-awaited move for Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.

O'Neill's desire to sign the highly-rated 32-year-old Finland star appears to be the worst kept secret in the Barclays Premier League and, as the season draws to a close, the former Celtic manager is now ready to swoop.

Jaaskelainen is currently out injured with a back problem which has sidelined him for the rest of the season. It means he is unlikely to play for Bolton again as he is out of contract at the end of the season, and with O'Neill unwilling to pay the £10million wanted by Liverpool for on-loan Scott Carson, who has impressed at Villa Park, he will turn instead to Jaaskelainen.

The Finnish stopper has been inundated with offers but, with his contract running down, is keen to join a club where he is No 1 rather than just back-up.

Jaaskelainen joined Bolton for £100,000 from VPS Vaasa in 1997 but turned down a new contract with the club last summer.

and finally here is O'Neil talking about how pre-season plans (a return to the States) are on hold until we know if were in the Uefa/Intertoto or not.

There's the possibility of a trip to America which we've had to put on hold because we don't know when we need to come back in. Then there's the possibility of participating in the Intertoto Cup.

"We have to have two pre-season plans in place because you have to start getting competitive more quickly if you are playing in the Intertoto."

meanwhile the Birmingham mail has linked MON to a big group of players

He has been scouring Europe for talent and has looked at Gatafe's quintet of Ruben De la Red, Esteban Granero, Ikechukwu Uche, Pablo Hernandez and Cata Diaz. O'Neill wants Aaron Lennon and Tom Huddlestone of Tottenham and he sent a contingent of scouts to the PSV Eindhoven versus Fiorentina UEFA Cup match last week, where the Italian club's young Argentinian midfielder, Mario Santana, was under his microscope.

Young Italian strikers Riccardo Montolivo and Giampaolo Pazzini were also assessed.

DSB

If theres some truth in a good bit of this, things might be looking up alot.

JPA

Savman wrote: »

:mad::mad::mad::mad:

If this is allowed to happen there'll be hell to pay:
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_3427329,00.html

Can't see MON being that shortsighted nor can I see why our Captain Fantastic would want to move to such an unsettled club. Reports like this make me physically sick:eek:

Not for a second would MON want to sell him and I would hope Barry is happy here but I'd be very worried if there was truth in this.
Barry is in his prime and I think it's realistic to say he could achieve more at Liverpool.
Let's hope for loyalty.

Villain

Itsotp!!!

Savman

JPA wrote: »

Barry is in his prime and I think it's realistic to say he could achieve more at Liverpool.

In terms of success, probably so, but not necessarily as a player. Rafa is well known for his needless tinkering with teams and I'm sure the Gareth Barry England revival would hit a brick wall if he was playing for the Liverpool reserves. I think (hope) he has more integrity than that.

shoutman

Savman wrote: »

:mad::mad::mad::mad:

If this is allowed to happen there'll be hell to pay:
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_3427329,00.html

Can't see MON being that shortsighted nor can I see why our Captain Fantastic would want to move to such an unsettled club. Reports like this make me physically sick:eek:

Not a snowballs chance this is going to happen, there would be a peasants revolt if it did.

Helix

Villain wrote: »

Young has had an excellent season and would have got my vote for young player hands down but Laursen has been the driving force for me this season he has being a solid rock at the back and thrown his body in the way and put his fitness on the line many times and if that doesn't enough he popped up and scored many great goals.

Savman wrote: »

:mad::mad::mad::mad:

If this is allowed to happen there'll be hell to pay:
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_3427329,00.html

Can't see MON being that shortsighted nor can I see why our Captain Fantastic would want to move to such an unsettled club. Reports like this make me physically sick:eek:

id take £13-15m for him tbh

Helix

Savman wrote: »

In terms of success, probably so, but not necessarily as a player. Rafa is well known for his needless tinkering with teams and I'm sure the Gareth Barry England revival would hit a brick wall if he was playing for the Liverpool reserves. I think (hope) he has more integrity than that.

i would imagine benitez's interest is based on how well barry and gerrard work together

Savman

Helix wrote: »

id take £13-15m for him tbh

:eek:
Thank feck you're not the manager is all I can say.

Helix wrote:

i would imagine benitez's interest is based on how well barry and gerrard work together

Probably.

Bounty Hunter

putting my balls on the line again...

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

Barry will be at Villa for life, and you can quote me on that.

that quote is mine from page 81 of this thread! and at the time I backed it up (despite the fact that some people thought it was a crazy statement) with the following.

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

exactley in the current climate with Randy behind us we have no need to sell players, especially our best players. Barry is our captain and loved by the fans, who he recently cited his love for and said they were a major reason he didnt retire from international football especially mentioning how they chanted "Barry for England" for years when he wasnt being given a look in at that level. He himself as stated above is not looking to leave. Martin O'Neil also came out responding to that article simply stating he is not for sale.

We are looking to add quality players to our squad and build around Barry, Young etc and i fully expect Barry to be at Villa for all of the MON years, after which time i would expect Barry to be in his 30s and not likely to want to leave as the only way would not be up.

He has finally established himself in one position CM, and honestly do any of the big four need a CM. Liverpool argueably have too many to accomodate another and the same could be said of the team hes been linked to Chelsea who are suppose to be looking for more flair players anyway. Fabergas is the man at Arsenal and with him will be a DM which Arsenal truely have a converbelt of at the club Flamini, Gilberto(for exp), Denilson, Diaby ect. Infact the only one that would have made sense to me would have been Man utd if they had not signed Carrick i.e in his place, but man utd have a packed midfield when there all fit.

most of that still applies except now its Liverpool hes being linked to (where he also wont be guaranteed first team football) and I honestly see Barry going down as a Villa great having spent essentially (he signed from brighten as a trainee at 17) his entire Career at Villa Park.

Savman wrote: »

:eek:
Thank feck you're not the manager is all I can say.

my sentiments exactley, i wouldent sell him (as we dont have to) unless we got ridiculous money, around the 20mil mark and Barry wanted out

invincibleirish

If Barry was going to leave Villa, he should have done it a few seasons ago when the club was in the doldrums and Spurs and Harry wanted him.

He is a great player but is he going to get the gametime at Chelsea/Liverpool that he is going to get at Villa? is he that desperate for success he will be willing to start 20/25 games a season and be the perennial time wasting substitute who comes on when the goals are scored or its the 91st minute?

He has been an amazing servant to the club so if he did want to leave we cannot begrudge him a move, but to be honest im a little tired of this coming up summer after summer.

Savman

You only have to look at players of a comparable level to Barry to see a pattern emerge, Bellamy, Crouch, Wright-Phillips, Sidwell etc. all gambled and found themselves frozen out at big clubs having performed very well at smaller clubs.

The gas thing is, even though Barry is the exact type of player Liverpool need, I cannot see them ever having the conviction to buy someone like him. Barry is not a headline-grabbing player by any means, he just goes about his business quietly and is a Mister Dependable. Methinks Barry wouldn't be "big name" enough for Anfield where impact signings are the order of the day in a club still struggling to mount a real challenge on the Premiership. And if I'm honest, from what I've seen this season we're not a million miles off Liverpool so it wouldn't be a significant step up for Barry even if the rumour was true.

invincibleirish

Liverpool & Chelsea just dont need Barry. no manager is going to pick him ahead of Gerrard/Mascherano/Ballack/Essien/Makelele for the important matches. he isnt as good as those players.

Sidwell and SWP are two players who should be thinking long and hard about their futures. it would be nice to see them at VP. Crouch on the otherhand.......

Savman

invincibleirish wrote: »

Liverpool & Chelsea just dont need Barry.

Ha! Since when has that stopped anybody? Can anybody say there was a huge gaping hole in Chelsea's midfield before they signed Sidwell? Some clubs don't buy to improve, they buy to strengthen even if its to the detriment of the player. SWP being a perfect example.

shoutman

I think SWP would be unbelievable at VP. Just imagine him on the right with Young on the left and Gabby up front. Right there are three players who's sheer pace would terify opposition defences. No one would enjoy being a wing back knowing that you have to come up against that pace and trickery. It could also lead to a central defenders having to come and cross a lot of the time in cover, leaving a lot more space in the middle.
That would be awesome.
Can't see it happening but would be great if it did.

Villain

SWP would be a great signing and I think Chelsea will see a lot players leaving and joining so its possible.

What about Bentley as a signing?

Villain

I think Carson is a good keeper, and I said at the time McClaren had done damage to him by playing in that game where he made the mistake. His confidence suffered and I think that affected his performance. I still think he could be our No1 but at 10 Million or anything near to it.

If Liverpool are willing to sell him at a decent price I think MON will sign but if he's too pricey I think we will have a new No1 be it the American or Jaaskelainen. Jaaskelainen would be a great signing for free, he is a good keeper.

One Cold Hand

shoutman wrote: »

I think SWP would be unbelievable at VP. Just imagine him on the right with Young on the left and Gabby up front. Right there are three players who's sheer pace would terify opposition defences. No one would enjoy being a wing back knowing that you have to come up against that pace and trickery. It could also lead to a central defenders having to come and cross a lot of the time in cover, leaving a lot more space in the middle.
That would be awesome.
Can't see it happening but would be great if it did.

Argeed, it'd be awesome also as teams wouldn't be able to double up on Young any more. Yeah we really do need an attacking right winger. that'd leave 2 out of Barry/Petrov/NRC in midfield. I think if petrov got a run in the centre he could prove effective. He obviously doesn't work on the right.

PHB

Chelsea rejects would be a great place for Villa to look this summer,

Ben Haim, Bridge, Sidwell, SWP would all add greatly to the Villa squad. You'd probably get them relatively cheap too,
Ben Haim under 5
Bridge under 7
Sidwell under 7
SWP under 10

The only problem would be wages

One Cold Hand

PHB wrote: »

Chelsea rejects would be a great place for Villa to look this summer,

Ben Haim, Bridge, Sidwell, SWP would all add greatly to the Villa squad. You'd probably get them relatively cheap too,
Ben Haim under 5
Bridge under 7
Sidwell under 7
SWP under 10

The only problem would be wages

Yup agree.

And I think Bentley would be great, but I don't think he'll come. I reckon he'll be aiming a bit higher, Liverpool maybe.

Mr Alan

SWP under 10?! be suprised, still think he is a cracking little player

Helix

PHB wrote: »

Chelsea rejects would be a great place for Villa to look this summer,

Ben Haim, Bridge, Sidwell, SWP would all add greatly to the Villa squad. You'd probably get them relatively cheap too,
Ben Haim under 5
Bridge under 7
Sidwell under 7
SWP under 10

The only problem would be wages

dont forget cudicini

apart from that i just made pretty much the exact same post as that on another forum a few mins ago lol

Helix

Villain wrote: »

SWP would be a great signing and I think Chelsea will see a lot players leaving and joining so its possible.

What about Bentley as a signing?

hed be great but hed also be insane money and youd have to question whether hed be interested

PHB

Oh yeh Cudicini would be a fantastic buy aswell. He could possibly still be the 2nd best goalie in the PL after Cech, which is just nuts.

Raekwon

I haven't checked this thread in 48 hours and already there are two pages of transfer rumours

I really think that this summer will be the best Villa have had in the transfer market since.............I can't even remember when We are in a much better position to obtain 'top class' players then we were in the last couple of years (& not Richard Fitzgerald's definition of 'top class') so I expect to see some exciting signings before the end of August. The only stumbling block could be wages. I think our highest earner is John Carew (on around £50k per week) but would the likes of Shaun Wright-Philips take a pay cut to come here even if he was nearly guaranteed first team football? Or would he prefer to join the likes of 'Arry's south coast revolution without having to take a pay cut?

shoutman

Surely we dont have a rigid wage structure do we?

I mean there is no need to go wild or anything offering players huge contracts, but surely we can match the bigger teams wage wise, financially speaking. So if it takes 60k a week to secure the names of quality players surely Lerner + co, will authorise it without too much hassle.