Villa Signings and General Rumours Thread

Savman

spiderdan wrote: »

I'm sick of all this good bit of business talk about MON- buying Buroc would be good business I'm sure we could get him for under 15m! anyway the 10m difference between him and Robbo would be worth it!!

£15m would get us Robinson and Carson. I don't see how splashing that kind of bread on an SPL keeper makes any kind of sense. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's just ridiculous.

Helix

id love borouc, but for no more than £9m or thereabouts

rgiller

Neil3030 wrote: »

Reo Coker
Sidwell
Petrov
Gardner
Salifou

I reckon that's not a half bad centre mid selection for next year.

Nobody really creative in there though: we'll still be relying on Young to do all the work for us. And as we know from the end of last season, most teams just stick 2 on him and he's not nearly as effective.

Also, where will the goals come from with that lot?

Neil3030

rgiller wrote: »

Nobody really creative in there though: we'll still be relying on Young to do all the work for us. And as we know from the end of last season, most teams just stick 2 on him and he's not nearly as effective.

Also, where will the goals come from with that lot?

Sidwell?

Besides, this is our centre mid selection, not our entire midfield selection.

Our creativity/goals will come from Young on the left wing or in behind the strikers and hopefully Bentley on the right, although it'll more likely be Millner or some other such standard winger.

Helix

or gabby, with carew up front with villa

lol

Esse85

Neil3030 wrote: »

Reo Coker
Sidwell
Petrov
Gardner
Salifou

I reckon that's not a half bad centre mid selection for next year.

Thats a poor selection to have if we aim to finish in the top 6.

Reo Coker has limited ability on the ball, he'll run all day and pick up his dozen yellow cards though.
Sidwell hardly played in the last year.
Petrov is not a top 6 player, im not even convinced he has the ability to play in the EPL
Gardner is a rookie
Salifou is more of a RM player

invincibleirish

Helix wrote: »

i dont believe that we have loads of money for a second any more unfortunately

+1, ive come to this conclusion also, Villa may be under new ownership, but fiscally seem to be retaining the same policies over transfers. I would wholly love to be proven wrong over how crap Robinson is, but i dont think so, i too would rather Carson to Robinson.

Esse85 wrote: »

Thats a poor selection to have if we aim to finish in the top 6.

Reo Coker has limited ability on the ball, he'll run all day and pick up his dozen yellow cards though.
Sidwell hardly played in the last year.
Petrov is not a top 6 player, im not even convinced he has the ability to play in the EPL
Gardner is a rookie
Salifou is more of a RM player

Assuming MON sticks to the same formation as last season, then that means Sidwell/NRC as the midfield partnership which could be half decent, its the lack of strength in depth thats the problem, i doubt Petrov or Gardner are going to show us anything out of the ordinary this season.

Bounty Hunter

where are all the RB links gone cos tbh im happy with our CM aslong as we get a RB, RM and GK.

Mattock, Sidwell & Robinson seem the most likely signings atm so no matter what people think of them we still definatley need a RB & RM and maybe some more CB/CF backup, only then will I start looking at CM. Reo-Coker and Sidwell with Gardner and Petrov (backup) will do me fine for now.

Esse85

invincibleirish wrote: »

Assuming MON sticks to the same formation as last season, then that means Sidwell/NRC as the midfield partnership which could be half decent,

But its still worse than last season, as then we had Barry/NRC meaning a dis improvement in the CM last season. We need to buy a player of at least equal or better quality than Barry to improve in this area of the pitch.

Helix

hardly worth posting, but the general confirmed that the davies deal has gone through

Helix

and not sure if this has been covered yet or not, but its bloody super news

ASTON Villa have given promising midfielder Barry Bannan a two-year professional contract.

Bannan’s name is the highest profile in a clutch of Academy graduates handed new deals by the club today.

The diminutive play-maker has earned rave reviews for a string of eye-catching displays.

The Scot was named Player of the Tournament at both the Hong Kong Sevens and the club’s summer tour of Germany. Meanwhile, Thomas Sorensen has set his stall on finding a new club in England, having admitted his situation is ‘unsatisfactory’.

The Danish keeper was freed at the end of last season after a wasted year behind Scott Carson and Stuart Taylor.

He said: “Of course the situation is unsatisfactory, and I think that it’s an annoying position that I have ended up in.

“I now hope I can quickly find a club that matches my ambitions. As a result, a club in the Danish league does not come into my thoughts.

‘‘On the other hand, a club in England would be the right move but it hasn’t yet fallen into place.”

wynters

Yeah the Davies deal was done alright. 'Think it was a deferred payment as opposed to a loan deal, at West Brom's request. Will be great to have him back, really missed him last season after he got injured...

My only (slight) criticism of O'Neill would be that he seems to be concentrating his efforts too much on trying to sign good young British players, who are becoming more difficult to get! O'Neill doesn't seem too willing to take a punt on a good foreign player. There are good players out there - Berbatov cost Spurs around £11m when they signed him from Leverkusen, but they were willing to take the chance, and have done it again with Modric and Giovanni... Santa Cruz? Elano? Hleb?... just a few that spring to mind - all great value for money. Good players seem to be more readily available on the continent and there's less competition and politics involved in signing them, so it's suprising that O'Neill hasn't really gone down that route considering his track record with foreign signings at Celtic..?

To progress further and mount a challenge for 4th spot, beit this season or the next, I think we'll need to look outside the Premiership for a couple of good players anyway. In terms of quality, the British players we're signing are as good as we can hope to get - players the top 4 don't want basically! - and we're never gonna break into that top 4 if we're signing players (Milner for example) who seemingly aren't good enough for the top 4...

The top 4 seem to hoover up the best young British players, and that situation will just get worse with the proposed '6 home player' rule in the pipeline. So even if we do manage to get the next best available - someone like a Bentley, we'll still need to take a chance on a couple of good foreign players in order to keep moving forward.

Intertoto Cup game only 3 weeks away....!?

*tick tock, tick tock*

Helix

mon doesnt take chances on foreign players unless theyre serious bargain basement buys tho

One Cold Hand

Esse85 wrote: »

We need to buy a player of at least equal or better quality than Barry to improve in this area of the pitch.

But that's pretty much impossible. Anyone who's as good as, or better than, Barry is going to go to one of the top 4. Which CM in England are better than Barry? There's only a handful and they already play for the top 4. All we can realistically do is try to sign someone who will prove to be as good as Barry, and I reckon Sidwell is as good a bet as any.

invincibleirish

The Guardian wrote: »

Aston Villa have identified West Ham United's Robert Green as a potential target as Martin O'Neill steps up his search for a new goalkeeper following Scott Carson's return to Liverpool at the end of last season. The Villa manager, who has also been monitoring the availability of Tottenham Hotspur's Paul Robinson, is understood to have added Green's name to his short-list, with the former Norwich player likely to command a fee in the region of £6m.

Tottenham will seek close to that figure for Robinson, who has no future at White Hart Lane under Juande Ramos and would welcome the chance to resurrect his career at Villa Park after surrendering his position as England's No1 last season. Green, however, has emerged as another possible option for O'Neill, with the 28-year-old's contractual position at Upton Park presenting a window of opportunity that the Villa manager could be tempted to capitalise on.

Although Green remains tied to a long-term deal at West Ham, he is known to be frustrated that his impressive performances last term, when he was named supporters' player of the year and earned a recall to the England squad, have not been rewarded with an improved contract to bring his salary in line with many of his team-mates. With no talks currently planned between the club and the player, Villa would appear to be in a strong position to entice Green to the Midlands.

The goalkeeping position has become a priority for O'Neill in the wake of Carson's departure. Villa had been expected to sign Carson on a permanent deal this summer when the loan agreement with Liverpool was set up last August, but the player's disappointing form in the wake of his calamitous performance for England against Croatia last November has effectively ended OíNeillís interest and prompted Robinson, Green and the American Brad Guzan to come under the microscope.

Green, who has yet to add to the England cap he won in 2005 when he appeared as a substitute against Colombia, might well be deemed the most attractive prospect of the three goalkeepers, although Villa will be mindful that West Ham, despite their failure to enter into new contract talks with the player, are likely to be reluctant sellers. The same cannot be said for Tottenham with Robinson, a factor that could be crucial with Villa competing in the Intertoto Cup in less than three weeks.

O'Neill, meanwhile, will meet face to face with Gareth Barry tomorrow for the first time since the Villa captain publicly criticised the Irishman at the weekend. The Villa players are due to report back for pre-season training and Barry, despite making clear his desire to leave the club, is contractually obliged to attend. Villa are anticipating a fourth bid from Liverpool for the England international but it appears highly unlikely that the midfielder's future will be resolved before tomorrow.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/jul/02/premierleague.astonvilla

Interesting indeed, Green is a far more enticing prospect then Robinson, but seeing as there is nothing official on this other then this story i wont hold my breath. And even if true and Villa are interested then perhaps it seems more likely Green is looking for a new contract from West Ham rather then a move?.

Villa pre season starting tomorrow, will the boy wonder after his treacherous tabloid antics make an appearance like he is supposed to?, would he have the balls to? MON will surely make him run til he gets sick!

One Cold Hand

Rob Green would be a great signing. How did I forget about him?! He was brilliant last season. As you say though, that story is about as concrete as a bowl of jelly.

rgiller

Neil3030 wrote: »

Sidwell?

Besides, this is our centre mid selection, not our entire midfield selection.

Our creativity/goals will come from Young on the left wing or in behind the strikers and hopefully Bentley on the right, although it'll more likely be Millner or some other such standard winger.

I don't see us getting Bentley or Milner tbh. I do agree with what someone said about going for some foreigners though. Cheaper, often more skillful and sometimes can be a real surprise package. The pros and cons of all English players are well known, but a decent European could come as a shock to other clubs. I can't remember too many good European playmakers in VP (that weren't playing for someone else)

Villain

So now that we will most likely get 15 million for Barry I think we need to spend 40 million at least on players so that would only be a net spend of 25 million with Barry's transfer.

So if you take 5 million for Sidwell, 6 Million for Robinson thats only 11 million so another 29 million to go on a right back, right winger and centre midfielder and a couple of backup squad players.

Helix

if we're talking what we NEED, well then we need more than 7 players

we need 6 to have the same size squad as we had at the end of last season, and that squad needed about 3 more, so with the 2 added subs, we need about 11 lol

4 first team players, 2 capable fringe players, and 3-4 young lads would do me fine tho

MementoMori

When I saw the Green story for £6m I thought that it had to be wrong.

I'd have thought he'd be more in the £10m sort of range.

It looks to me as though he's looking for a pay increase, which given his performances last year I can understand.

However given that he's on a long-term contract at West Ham and the fact that I think they'd be mad to lose him, I can't see the deal happening especially for £6m.

For me there's no choice between Robinson for £5m and Green for £6m, and I think most others would agree.

Would be extremely doubtful that he'd end up at VP at this sort of money.

[Come on buy Carson for £6m - you know you want to:)]

I think the goalkeeping search goes on

Helix

got my confirmation letter for my villa season ticket this morning! wooooooo!

if anyone here is lookin for tickets i should be able to sort yis out, i think i can buy 4 additionals for any game

V1llianous

Helix wrote: »

got my confirmation letter for my villa season ticket this morning! wooooooo!

if anyone here is lookin for tickets i should be able to sort yis out, i think i can buy 4 additionals for any game

Might take you up on that, didn't make a game last season (the first season for a while) - too busy breeding future Villans

Savman

Barry reprimanded by MON! Crikey...
http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~1337572,00.html

Martin O'Neill today dismissed reports that Liverpool have made a 'take it or leave it' £15million bid for Gareth Barry.

And the Villa boss confirmed Barry has been disciplined by the club in the light of comments made to a national newspaper on Sunday.

Barry will not be returning for pre-season training tomorrow and O'Neill told [url]www.avfc.co.uk:[/url] "There's no truth in this morning's reports and the situation remains the same.

"Gareth will not be returning to training tomorrow and he has been disciplined after giving an unauthorised interview to the News of the World."

Bounty Hunter

really hope Villa sign someone soon, so that instead of the players talking about how Barry isnt at pre-season training they can instead talk about how Sidwell for example is.

Helix

V1llianous wrote: »

Might take you up on that, didn't make a game last season (the first season for a while) - too busy breeding future Villans

yeah sure give me a shout whenever and i should be able to sort you out, barring the arsenal and united games tho, theyre already taken lol

Mr Alan

does that offer incl me for the liverpool match i promise i'll play nice

V1llianous

Helix wrote: »

yeah sure give me a shout whenever and i should be able to sort you out, barring the arsenal and united games tho, theyre already taken lol

Should try and get over a few times, Villa have never lost when been at a match. Wonder whether Randy would loan me his jet for every game on that basis

V1llianous

Helix wrote: »

yeah sure give me a shout whenever and i should be able to sort you out, barring the arsenal and united games tho, theyre already taken lol

Cheers for that !

Should try and get over a few times, Villa have never lost when been at a match. Wonder whether Randy would loan me his jet for every game on that basis

Helix

Mr Alan wrote: »

does that offer incl me for the liverpool match i promise i'll play nice

yes, but only for a holte end ticket, and you have to wear your liverpool jersey

Savman

Mr Alan + The Holte End = :eek:

Mr Alan

The Holte end couldnt handle me :cool:

Savman

Mr Alan wrote: »

The Holte end couldnt handle me :cool:

Famous last words. I beg to differ...gets pretty mad in there.

Mr Alan

pfffft!

Holte end like a library that place!

Helix

aaaaaahahahaha

someones never been to b6 before

estebancambias

Can I ask what do Villa fans think of MON?

Mr Alan

Thats like asking wat do you think of Trapatoni!

you didnt write back to my PM by the way El Cucho

estebancambias

I was going to but I couldn't think of any suitable expletves to reply.

Helix

estebancambias wrote: »

Can I ask what do Villa fans think of MON?

done well so far, this is his deciding season where we see if hes actually a top class manager or a bloke who can get results from hoofers

Savman

estebancambias wrote: »

Can I ask what do Villa fans think of MON?

God > Jesus > MON :pac::pac:

Esse85

One Cold Hand wrote: »

Which CM in England are better than Barry? .

The pool of suitable replacements should be stretched further than just England dont you think?

Neil3030

Reserves are playing plop on LFCTV

This is the replay of the reserve league final I gather?

It is, the commentator just said it.

One Cold Hand

Esse85 wrote: »

The pool of suitable replacements should be stretched further than just England dont you think?

I fully agree. But I can't see MON buying too many foddiners. Can you?

One Cold Hand

Slow day on the rumour mill for Villa.

From F365:
"Aston Villa want to sign Lee Naylor from Celtic in a move that could see Shaun Maloney move in the opposite direction"

Who? I'm pretty sure if I've never heard of him he's no good.

DSB

I'm beginning to lose my initial enthusiasm for our summer transfer exploits. We're probably not going to get any more than 4 players capable of going right into our first team. Anyone feel the same?

Helix

yup, have a feeling mon will cement my opinion of him being useless in the transfer market this summer. and if he does, tbh i think it might be time for him to move on next year. im pretty sure 6th is as far as we can go buying the calibre of players he has been buying, and looks like continuing to buy

DSB

You're probably right.

Helix

ive been saying it for a long while now that this summer was his make or break one. there are too many people who buy into the martin o'neill myth. yes hes great at getting the best out of hoofers, and getting them playing some nice stuff, but if the aim is champions league football hes not cut out for it in the transfer market

hes never dealt with a superstar (larsson excepted, but he hardly acted like one), and the biggest name hes ever signed is john carew (who apparently he wasnt even interested in until he was offered as a swap for baros). to be honest i think hes afraid of trying.

he has his reputation built and most people buy into it, but he will NEVER take, or even be offered, a real top job if he doesnt sort out his transfer policy

yes martin we know you love polishing turds, but at some stage you have to buy first team players from other teams. youre not brian clough.

Pyjamarama

Helix wrote: »

ive been saying it for a long while now that this summer was his make or break one. there are too many people who buy into the martin o'neill myth. yes hes great at getting the best out of hoofers, and getting them playing some nice stuff, but if the aim is champions league football hes not cut out for it in the transfer market

hes never dealt with a superstar (larsson excepted, but he hardly acted like one), and the biggest name hes ever signed is john carew (who apparently he wasnt even interested in until he was offered as a swap for baros). to be honest i think hes afraid of trying.

he has his reputation built and most people buy into it, but he will NEVER take, or even be offered, a real top job if he doesnt sort out his transfer policy

yes martin we know you love polishing turds, but at some stage you have to buy first team players from other teams. youre not brian clough.

Those all seem like Valid points. Would a director of football responsible for transfers be a solution instead of a new manager? Has O'Neill got an ego that wouldn't allow that?

Helix

id love a director of football at b6, but no, mons ego would go into meltdown at the very suggestion of it unfortunately

Raekwon

Villa have again been linked with River Plates' top scorer striker Radamel Falcao. The 22 year old Colombian International is available for around the £5m mark.

I don't think that he is the sort of player MON is looking for and I personally think the tabloids are only linking him to us because of his similarities with a certain JP Angel :cool: