Villa Signings and General Rumours Thread

IrishMike

Aston Villa have had a £15m bid for David Bentley rejected by Blackburn Rovers. (Daily Mail)

Looks like MON is finally ready to splash some cash.
Cant see Ince letting him go as id imagine one of the stipulations of him singing would be
assurances that Bentley wont be sold but you never know!
£15m is about the ceiling value of what Bentley is worth, very high opening bid.

Aston Villa are keen on out-of-favour Everton striker Andy Johnson and are ready to table a £7m bid. (Daily Star)

Surely there are better strikers out there for £7m?

tomred1

I dont think Johnson a player we want. I would prefer to keep Harewood. Heskey is too similar to Carew.

JPA

IrishMike wrote: »

Looks like MON is finally ready to splash some cash.
Cant see Ince letting him go as id imagine one of the stipulations of him singing would be
assurances that Bentley wont be sold but you never know!
£15m is about the ceiling value of what Bentley is worth, very high opening bid.

You can't stop players leaving nowadays. If only I could think of some examples...

One Cold Hand

Agreed. Bentley wants to leave, according to every report under the sun. Not saying he will join us, but Blackburn would be crazy to refuse a 15mil bid. Isn't he out of contract next season?

/edit no OCH he's not. He's contracted til 2011 (according to wiki)

Neil3030

I would have thought Ince would be keen to ship him off. Nice little warchest to start off his reign.

I'd take €15m to spend on new players over a player who doesn't want to be there any day, but fair balls to Ince if he can convince him to stay.

Raekwon

If the £15m rumour is actually true then I'm really impressed with the way MON finally showing everybody that he really is ambitious in the transfer market. Sidwell & Bentley would be two amazing players to sign up and they would instantly improve our squad. All we need now is that elusive rightback, a goalkeeper, another decent striker and possible a few players for cover then hey presto, top *4/5 finish

* If only it was that easy

Helix

£15m should be the first and last bid for bentley. if theyre not selling him for that much, then theres no way we should up the bid

youd get sidwell and swp for that, or a smidge more

Neil3030

I'd strongly support a higher bid for Bentley. Aside from it sending out a message of our intent, his skills are just what we need (we have plenty of pace, very little creativity from midfield).

Besides, SWP will be 27 in October, and his game is largely dependant on his pace, which is one of the first things that will start to dip as he approaches the 30 mark. Bentley, on the other hand, can only improve with age as his game relies more on set-piece/passing accuracy, positional awareness, crossing etc. And he'll only be 24 in August.

Even if Bentley flops at VP (which I really can't see happening under MON), we'll still get around 8-10m for him off Newcastle, City or West Ham if we decide to offload him. On the other hand, if he flourishes his value will only increase through the roof, particularly if he also breaks into the England first team (which many are predicting to happen) or helps us move up the table. We'll then have a star for years to come, or at the very least a very pricey asset to offload if he pulls a GB.

The fact that MON supposedly OPENED the bidding with 15m means we are likely to be willing to go higher. Very poor approach otherwise. IMO Blackburn are willing to sell, and this leaked rejection is a ploy by Bentley's agent to make other clubs aware that Villa are in the hunt, with the hope of generating a bidding war or possibly getting a top 4 club involved.

Mr Alan

link for the 15m bid?

Im_No_Superman

Neil3030 wrote: »

I'd strongly support a higher bid for Bentley. Aside from it sending out a message of our intent, his skills are just what we need (we have plenty of pace, very little creativity from midfield).

Besides, SWP will be 27 in October, and his game is largely dependant on his pace, which is one of the first things that will start to dip as he approaches the 30 mark. Bentley, on the other hand, can only improve with age as his game relies more on set-piece/passing accuracy, positional awareness, crossing etc. And he'll only be 24 in August.

Even if Bentley flops at VP (which I really can't see happening under MON), we'll still get around 8-10m for him off Newcastle, City or West Ham if we decide to offload him. On the other hand, if he flourishes his value will only increase through the roof, particularly if he also breaks into the England first team (which many are predicting to happen) or helps us move up the table. We'll then have a star for years to come, or at the very least a very pricey asset to offload if he pulls a GB.

The fact that MON supposedly OPENED the bidding with 15m means we are likely to be willing to go higher. Very poor approach otherwise. IMO Blackburn are willing to sell, and this leaked rejection is a ploy by Bentley's agent to make other clubs aware that Villa are in the hunt, with the hope of generating a bidding war or possibly getting a top 4 club involved.

Didnt realise SWP was nearly 27 always assumed he was early 20's for some reason. Bently would be an amazing signing for Villa. Id say John Carew is at home praying to see him in a Villa shirt because it will provide him with some very tasty crosses to get his head on.

One Cold Hand

Mr Alan wrote: »

link for the 15m bid?

I don't think there is an official one. Just gossip in the Daily Mail.

From F365:

VILLA GET BUSY
Our good friends at Aston Villa are getting busy.

The headline news in the Daily Mail is that the Midlanders have had a £15m bid for David Bentley rejected.

'Villa appeared in pole position to sign the 23-year-old after opening discussions with his advisers, but talks stalled last night,' the newspaper declares.

Meanwhile, The Independent claims that Martin O'Neill 'is set to step up his attempts to sign the Chelsea midfielder Steve Sidwell now that the player is back from holiday. O'Neill is hoping to agree a fee with Chelsea - probably in the region of £5m - and then hold talks with the former Reading player.'

Villa are described as 'confident' they will get their man.

Anton Ferdinand is also thought to be a target for O'Neill, and The Sun says he will cost £8m to bring to Villa Park.

"West Ham would not be interested in any figure under £8m. They don't want Anton to go but his agent has not been in looking for a new contract so something might happen," a 'source close to the Hammers' is quoted as telling The Sun.

And the Daily Star is joining in the fun to suggest that Villa lead the pack chasing unwanted £7m Everton striker Andy Johnson.

£8million for Anton Ferdinand! Ha!
Would pay £7m for Andy Johnson tho.

invincibleirish

Tis still all tabloid talk for the moment, lets wait until Bentley is sitting his flash London boy arse next to the proverbial smiling MON at an unveiling conference before we get excited. And whats the story with Sidwell? any chance he's waiting at Chelski with SWP in the hope Scolari might take pity on him?

Raekwon

invincibleirish wrote: »

And whats the story with Sidwell? any chance he's waiting at Chelski with SWP in the hope Scolari might take pity on him?

If Avram Grant didn't give Sidwell a chance I seriously doubt that he will even be on Big Phil Scolari's radar, especially if he signs players like Deco or Diego to strengthen the already ridiculously strong Chelski midfield.

invincibleirish

Raekwon wrote: »

If Avram Grant didn't give Sidwell a chance I seriously doubt that he will even be on Big Phil Scolari's radar, especially if he signs players like Deco or Diego to strengthen the already ridiculously strong Chelski midfield.

Yep i know its a crazy idea, but didnt SWP use this same reasoning last January?

Im pretty sure Sidwell will ensure there is absolutely no prospect of having a future at Chelsea under Scolari before jumping ship for a potential paycut?

Villain

Read a story somewhere yesterday that Sidwell had been on holidays and was back this week and the deal should go through.

Esse85

I hope we dont go near Ferdinand or Johnson. Bentley would be an excellent signing. Id way prefer him to SWP, some good points made by Neil on comparing the two.

Surely Paul Ince wont want to keep a player that wants to leave, i think what Ince said was only said to get the fans behind him and its the right image to send out by the club.

invincibleirish

Esse85 wrote: »

Surely Paul Ince wont want to keep a player that wants to leave, i think what Ince said was only said to get the fans behind him and its the right image to send out by the club.

On the contrary, If Bentley & RSQ leave Blackburn lose their best players and will have an enormous difficulty in replacing them. Inces first priority should be to keep them and get rid of the Blackburn deadwood. Maybe he might even copy Villa and demand unbelievably high prices for their players. PL clubs like Villa & Blackburn realise keeping their highest priced assets is preferable to losing them and replacing them with sub standard replacements unless a astronomical price is agreed.

Esse85

invincibleirish wrote: »

On the contrary, If Bentley & RSQ leave Blackburn lose their best players and will have an enormous difficulty in replacing them. Inces first priority should be to keep them and get rid of the Blackburn deadwood. Maybe he might even copy Villa and demand unbelievably high prices for their players. PL clubs like Villa & Blackburn realise keeping their highest priced assets is preferable to losing them and replacing them with sub standard replacements unless a astronomical price is agreed.

I agree with your points but i feel Villa might not suffer as much as Blackburn in keeping a player against his wishes (considering Barry and Bentley) as id imagine Barry would be more professional and just keep his head down and get on with it having already spent a decade at the club whereas Bentley i feel may shout his cocky mouth off and his attitude might not be as good if he were not to get what he wanted.

In the majority of situations, if a player wants to leave a club, then the club is better off selling for a fair price in the long run rather than asking for a ridiculous price. Opinions of a fair price differ from person to person, but my evaluation of a fair price would be £15m for each off the above players.

estebancambias

invincibleirish wrote: »

Tis still all tabloid talk for the moment, lets wait until Bentley is sitting his flash London boy arse next to the proverbial smiling MON at an unveiling conference before we get excited. And whats the story with Sidwell? any chance he's waiting at Chelski with SWP in the hope Scolari might take pity on him?

He's actually not from London. I thought he was as well.

invincibleirish

Esse85 wrote: »

In the majority of situations, if a player wants to leave a club, then the club is better off selling for a fair price in the long run rather than asking for a ridiculous price. Opinions of a fair price differ from person to person, but my evaluation of a fair price would be £15m for each off the above players.

How about it then, Villa raiding Blackburn in a £30m+ deal for RSQ & Bentley, i like it.....

He's actually not from London. I thought he was as well.

Yep hes wiki says he's from Peterborough, but then i guess the 'London' attitude can be bought into.

estebancambias

Just so you know I wasn't trying to be smart. I didn't care you got his birthplace wrong or anything.:)

But yeah I see what you mean, and he did live there since he was 16.

estebancambias

Can anyone tell me how S. O'Halloran is getting on.

One Cold Hand

He did his ACL there in March or sometime. Will be out for a good while. Bit of a set for him, as he seemed to be progressing well, according to reports.

rgiller

Paul Robinson

Here

Tomthepost

5m seems alot. In fairness though after a few errors last season his confidence was shot. Only this time last year he was England No1 by a mile.
He is only 28 and MON having the balls to invest 5m in him would be a great shot in the arm for his confidence.
Worth a risk I think.

Villain

Pompey and West Ham been linked with Nicky Shorey thats one Player I would like to see MON go after

Raekwon

I think Robinson is just an older version of Carson TBH. They are both decent enough shot stoppers but are prone to the odd howler (especially playing for England verse Croatia ) and neither really give the defence in front of them alot of confidence. I'd prefer MON to pursue someone like Artur Boruc instead.

Btw did anyone see that former Villa idol David Platt is the latest person to voice his opinion on the Barry to Liverpool saga? Muppet! :mad:

One Cold Hand

Not so sure about Robinson. Maybe as backup. But I'd say if he's signed it would be as first choice.

I dunno, maybe a chance of scene might give him the confidence he lacks, and he did have a terrible defence in front of him at Spurs.

invincibleirish

There is a decent GK in paul Robinson somewhere, his early performances for Leeds were ****hot. But he already turned down Villa before and his confidence appears to be shot. He could become a renaissance man like David James when he came to Villa, but somehow i just cant picture it.

Tomthepost

invincibleirish wrote: »

There is a decent GK in paul Robinson somewhere, his early performances for Leeds were ****hot. But he already turned down Villa before and his confidence appears to be shot. He could become a renaissance man like David James when he came to Villa, but somehow i just cant picture it.

Please no references to 'Chelsea' 'FA Cup' and '2000' in relation to the above man. Bad memories:mad:
What about this US Keeper so? Is he any good or is it based on the fact he is American and 'Friedel' 'Howard' and 'eller' all proved to be a huge success.

invincibleirish

Tomthepost wrote: »

Please no references to 'Chelsea' 'FA Cup' and '2000' in relation to the above man. Bad memories:mad:

Yep Calamity struck again in 2000 but he is still the best keeper Villa have had since Bosnich left. Old man Schmeichel, Sorenson, Carson & Taylor have all being going through the motions in front of Villas sticks since James & Gregory fell out, I wish David James had stayed with Villa given what else he has done in his club career since.

Savman

Robinson...are people for real?? :eek:
Sorenson to Carson to Robinson is not exactly going up thru the ladder of quality now is it?

Tomthepost

Savman wrote: »

Robinson...are people for real?? :eek:
Sorenson to Carson to Robinson is not exactly going up thru the ladder of quality now is it?

Its got a nice ring to it though. We have gone from 'Man' to 'Son'
Remember Peter the Great, Yes the Scandinavian but not the Dane'
Could we reverse the trend and maybe get Leh'Man'

invincibleirish

Tis the silly season but i really wish we were linked with some decent keepers also.

Boruc anyone?

Tomthepost

invincibleirish wrote: »

Tis the silly season but i really wish we were linked with some decent keepers also.

Boruc anyone?

TBH havn't watched enough SPL to have a proper opinion.

Bounty Hunter

weve been linked with Boruc alright and he is probably the best player in that position that could move that most people would know a good deal about but IMO any link ive seen has had nothing substancial in it and is most likely nothing more than the usual linking of MON to a celtic player that plays in a position we need.

Robinson... personally I think he could be a really good goalie again and was very very impressed with the young Leeds Paul Robinson. Every goalie seems to go through a bad patch and get better with age and at 5m i doubt we would lose money on him. However the easiest way to sum up weather he is the man we should be targetting is to look at the thread about what Spurs need to break the top 4, the amount of people who say "Replace Robinson" is huge and although he needs the move as well as Spurs IMO we have the same targets as spurs now.

I expected Guzan and Jussi at the end of the season if im honest at the moment i wouldent be shocked if we got the American and former England No.1 searching for his confidence. wouldent be dissapointed but would have prefered my first set of expectations tbh.

Bounty Hunter

don think it was mentioned here but England U-21 RB Richard Stearman who was heavily linked to Villa a while back has joined Wolves on a 4-year deal.

Neil3030

Number of days until Intertoto first leg: 31
Number of days until Premier League opening day: 51
Number of needed players: 10
Number of players signed: 0

So in order to have the squad ready for the Intertoto we need to sign a player every 3.1 days, and for the League it's every 5.1...

Exciting times ahead...

invincibleirish

MON does most of his business 5 minutes before the shop closes so to speak, whatever system he has thats the way it works.

Apparently Celtic want £15m for Boruc, whos gonna take the bait?

Villain

I see Pompey had a 9 million bid rejected for Crouch, I hope we dodn't go bidding for him at anything higher than that.

DSB

Neil3030 wrote: »

Number of days until Intertoto first leg: 31
Number of days until Premier League opening day: 51
Number of needed players: 10
Number of players signed: 0

So in order to have the squad ready for the Intertoto we need to sign a player every 3.1 days, and for the League it's every 5.1...

Exciting times ahead...

Isn't a hope of us signing 10 players. Personally, I think we'll be lucky to get 5.

Bounty Hunter

plus our current squad is good enough for Intertoto. I want all signings in as early as possible but in before our intertoto games will not decide if we sign a player or not

Neil3030

Well there was a hint of sarcasm in my previous post, I don't think for one second we'll be signing players anywhere near a rate of 1 every 5 days!

Hope someone sells a player soon and opens the floodgates. Almost seems teams are up on a bungee platform with their knees quivering over the prospect of offloading their players.

No YOU go first, no YOU go first, no YOU!

Mr Alan

Villain wrote: »

I see Pompey had a 9 million bid rejected for Crouch, I hope we dodn't go bidding for him at anything higher than that.

it was 7m straight up with 2m after "x" appearances.

I think 9-10 would get him straight up.

Savman

Neil3030 wrote: »

Well there was a hint of sarcasm in my previous post, I don't think for one second we'll be signing players anywhere near a rate of 1 every 5 days!

Hope someone sells a player soon and opens the floodgates. Almost seems teams are up on a bungee platform with their knees quivering over the prospect of offloading their players.

No YOU go first, no YOU go first, no YOU!

That's pretty much it tbh. It takes one big money transfer to kick things off, managers won't sanction outgoing transfers until they get incoming replacements so I'd say quite often there's a stalemate.

I'd hazard a guess that whatever Liverpool are demanding for Alonso, Villa are demanding for Barry, meaning Blackburn are probably demanding somewhere similar for Bentley and so forth. They all seem to want a piece of the pie.

I'm not overly keen on the prospect of Robinson joining, when he's good he's great but when he's bad...oh dear. Carson still has age on his side, Robinson is supposed to be nearing his peak!:eek:

Savman

The Robinson rumour seems to be gathering momentum, a few sources saying talks are pending. Can definitely see this one going ahead, ticks all the 'MON boxes'
-British
-showed potential when young
-fell by the wayside/never realised said potential
-still has point to prove

O'Neill seems to love these 'men on a mission'

And on a similar note, Sidwell's agent has basically been saying he's fond of a Villa move but wants to hold talks with Scolari. I'd still say that transfer will happen though.

Helix

DSB wrote: »

Isn't a hope of us signing 10 players. Personally, I think we'll be lucky to get 5.

if barry leaves and we sign 5 players, thatll leave us with 1 player less than we had last season

Helix

Savman wrote: »

O'Neill seems to love these 'men on a mission'

aye, and althought it brought us from 16th to 6th in 2 seasons, i dont think theres any further we can go if he persists with that transfer policy

eventually he has to bite the bullet and actually start looking for first team players from other teams

we're always hearing him say that he absolutely must have the right player, yet pretty much everyone hes signed has been either deadwood the club wanted to get rid of, or someone who had grown stale at his current club

6th is probably the highest we can manage with other teams cast-offs, and the most worrying thing is that when mon leaves and a new man comes in, hes going to have a team of players that pretty much only mon could get the best out of both mentally and on the pitch, which could be disasterous in the long run

Raekwon

Helix wrote: »

6th is probably the highest we can manage with other teams cast-offs, and the most worrying thing is that when mon leaves and a new man comes in, hes going to have a team of players that pretty much only mon could get the best out of both mentally and on the pitch, which could be disasterous in the long run

That’s a very good point Helix. Hypothetically speaking, if MON was to leave Villa tomorrow and a new manager was appointed, Randy Lerner would probably have to shell out around £50m+ on new players (because the vast majority of managers out there like big squads with plenty of cover/options to choose from) plus players like Harewood, Knight, Petrov, etc would probably be deemed surplus to requirements and be sold off for a fraction of their original fees or on even on free transfers (Villa paid £16m for these players alone). It's kind of scary when you really think about it.

Savman

Guess it reinforces the point of how good a manager he is eh