Villa Signings and General Rumours Thread

Neil3030

What evidence has anyone to suggest MON is the one dropping the ball in our transfer activity? He says "the money is there", but how much? He says "money is not an issue", this could easily be interpreted to mean "we can spend whatever we want", but it could just as easily mean "we don't need to sell anyone right now to remain solvent".

Wake up people: We are not Chelsea. I simply do not believe that if MON leaves the new manager will splash 30m+ a window on players. Doubt MON's transfer ability all you want, but that is taking the easy route out. IMO it's unfair to look at that without also considering the overall economic structure of the club.

If the deluded nay-sayers get their wish and MON is replaced by some wheeler-dealer journeyman, who is only good at spending money, I'm telling you, you'll be brought crashing back down to reality - fast.

Neil3030

Raekwon wrote: »

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:

Strong burst of pace....can finish with both feet...dynamic.....5"9

Seems the perfect compliment to Big John

Helix

Neil3030 wrote: »

What evidence has anyone to suggest MON is the one dropping the ball in our transfer activity? He says "the money is there", but how much? He says "money is not an issue", this could easily be interpreted to mean "we can spend whatever we want", but it could just as easily mean "we don't need to sell anyone right now to remain solvent".

Wake up people: We are not Chelsea. I simply do not believe that if MON leaves the new manager will splash 30m+ a window on players. Doubt MON's transfer ability all you want, but that is taking the easy route out. IMO it's unfair to look at that without also considering the overall economic structure of the club.

If the deluded nay-sayers get their wish and MON is replaced by some wheeler-dealer journeyman, who is only good at spending money, I'm telling you, you'll be brought crashing back down to reality - fast.

nobodys expecting us to spend hundreds of millions, what we do expect are DECENT signings. knight + harewood cost us £8m. we couldve got far better for that money

its not the amount of money we're spending, its the players we're spending it on

and nobody mentioned replacing him with a wheeler dealer journeyman either. did you just read the first line and make up the rest in your head or something? i sugged you read through my post again, and look at it objectively, thinking of examples that apply to each case, and ask yourself if its a fair analysis on o'neill or not. i think youll find it is.

and in future i would offer the suggestion of reading posts properly before ranting about them

Raekwon

Neil3030 wrote: »

Seems the perfect compliment to Big John

Yeah he does, plus at £5m he could be worth a gamble. Pity it will never happen though.

Neil3030

Helix wrote: »

nobodys expecting us to spend hundreds of millions, what we do expect are DECENT signings. knight + harewood cost us £8m. we couldve got far better for that money

its not the amount of money we're spending, its the players we're spending it on

and nobody mentioned replacing him with a wheeler dealer journeyman either. did you just read the first line and make up the rest in your head or something? i sugged you read through my post again, and look at it objectively, thinking of examples that apply to each case, and ask yourself if its a fair analysis on o'neill or not. i think youll find it is.

and in future i would offer the suggestion of reading posts properly before ranting about them

Hold on a second, there's no need to get ratty with me here. You're the one calling this MON's make or break window, accusing him of being nothing more than a turd polisher, saying fans are buying into a myth - the burden of proof is on you.

Because the last time I checked, he’s taken us from 16th -11th - 6th and any opinion poll will show fans’ firm support for a manager who is doing a damn good job.

If you’re not patient enough to wait and let our renaissance be built in a realistic methodical fashion, that’s your problem. We will not be challenging for Champion’s League football next season, and it is completely unreasonable to criticise O’Neill for not signing the players this window that will get us there.

Now you address some of my issues with your scepticism:

Do you know how much money O'Neill has to spend?
What managers out there are better than O'Neill that would come to Villa?

Neil3030

Raekwon wrote: »

Yeah he does, plus at £5m he could be worth a gamble. Pity it will never happen though.

Yeah, with Real and United supposedly interested I doubt we'd have been in with a shout anyway.

Shame, looks the biz:

Savman

Neil3030 wrote: »

Hold on a second, there's no need to get ratty with me here. You're the one calling this MON's make or break window, accusing him of being nothing more than a turd polisher, saying fans are buying into a myth - the burden of proof is on you.

Because the last time I checked, he’s taken us from 16th -11th - 6th and any opinion poll will show fans’ firm support for a manager who is doing a damn good job.

If you’re not patient enough to wait and let our renaissance be built in a realistic methodical fashion, that’s your problem. We will not be challenging for Champion’s League football next season, and it is completely unreasonable to criticise O’Neill for not signing the players this window that will get us there.

He has a point here Helix...

So far the deal the club gave to MON to orchestrate things as he sees fit has only yielded excellent results. You can't argue against solid logic and concrete results. A little perspective wouldn't go astray before we start second guessing the man...again.

Helix

i never said it didnt bring excellent results so far. but is there a single one among you who thinks we can go any further than 6th with the standard of signings mon tends to bring in?

if youre all happy to settle for 6-9th place finishes then yeah fair enough, hes the man for the job going on current transfer policy. but if like me you want to see the club continue to climb, then he either needs to sort things out in the transfer market, or he needs to be replaced

i dont see why this is such a touchy subject among villa fans. mon came in and has done the job brilliantly so far, if and when we reach the point where he cannot take us any further (which i suspect will be the end of the season) then he absolutely must be replaced with someone who can or all the hard work is for nothing

if you all want to settle thats fine. i dont, i want a team who are getting strengthened by quite a bit every single transfer window and who are improving all the time and always looking beyond current accomplishments

we finished 6th in the premiership last season, now mon has to buy players befitting of a club of that stature. not lee bloody naylor and paul robinson. we seem to deal exclusively in other clubs castoffs. that may well be good enough for a team who finished 16th, and 11th in the premiership but it wont cut it for a team who finished 6th if they have any intention of improving

Helix

Neil3030 wrote: »

You're the one calling this MON's make or break window, accusing him of being nothing more than a turd polisher, saying fans are buying into a myth - the burden of proof is on you.

this is the summer where o'neill shows whether he can continue the improvement, or whether he cannot. this improvement will come from the transfer market, coz last time i checked we only had 15 first team players in our squad.

Neil3030 wrote: »

Because the last time I checked, he’s taken us from 16th -11th - 6th and any opinion poll will show fans’ firm support for a manager who is doing a damn good job.

i never said he hadnt done a great job, im saying if it doesnt continue the he needs to go. everyone seems fine and dandy with an "oh sure hes deadly is martin" approach, and be happy to have him at villa park forever. im happy to have him forever if he continues the improvement in the team and i dont think he can do that without changing a transfer policy which is essentially the same policy as your run of the mill lower mid table team

Neil3030 wrote: »

If you’re not patient enough to wait and let our renaissance be built in a realistic methodical fashion, that’s your problem. We will not be challenging for Champion’s League football next season, and it is completely unreasonable to criticise O’Neill for not signing the players this window that will get us there.

i never mentioned champions league football next season. what i want is an improvement in our playing staff befitting of a team who finished in 6th place in the premiership

Neil3030 wrote: »

Do you know how much money O'Neill has to spend?
What managers out there are better than O'Neill that would come to Villa?

1) no, of course i dont. but i DO want to see the money we have spent in a better fashion, and not on rubbish, especially if its at a premium. why do people think asking for good players means wanting superstars? it means wanting good first team players, simple as that

2) thats up to the board to decide isnt it. its where the interview process comes in. but put it this way, if the improvements stop, and we start going backwards while people keep showing loyalty to a regieme that has proven inability to buy players of the required standard, itll be bloody hard to get anyone in, which is why it has to be done before any slip in standards.

if next summer rolls around and we still have a ludacrisly small squad, and we've finished in 8th or 9th place, aston villa will be a less attractive proposition to any manager

Raekwon

Lads would it be worth booking a flight for Saturday the 30th of August to see the game against Liverpool? I have a sneaky suspicion that it could be changed for a Sunday instead.

If I don’t book it soon the price of the flight will probably treble! :mad:

Helix

the game is a 1.30 on the sunday apparently

booked my flights today

Raekwon

Yeah I knew they would change it from 3pm on Saturday to sometime on Sunday, but are you 100% sure about the time? If so I'm going to book my flight right now :cool:

Helix

actually hang on til i check i cant remember lol

yeh 1.30 apparently

flights are only €25 return at teh minute like, so book now and you might save a few bob, if you dont sure its only 25 blips

estebancambias

Hang on Helix. You said ''we shouldn't be goin after players like Naylor''...but do you know anything about him? Would you not want players being bought based on form rather than names?

If MON used your logic you wouldn't have got Young.

I'm not saying he's done good in the transfer market, but who do you want MON to bring in? Maby Aston Villa isn't an attractive option.

Helix

estebancambias wrote: »

Hang on Helix. You said ''we shouldn't be goin after players like Naylor''...but do you know anything about him??

yeah me mate in work is a celtic season ticket holder who reliably informs me that apart from a great first season, the bloke is a complete and utter mule

Raekwon

Booked it (It was actually €32 including handling fees). All I need is a ticket now................any spare ones knocking about Helix?

Neil3030

Helix, I obviously accept that 15 players in a squad is nowhere near enough, but I'd have a hunch MON is also aware of this. But it's worth noting that it isn't just the transfer market where our first-team will be strengthened, we have a promising, vibrant youth academy and a reserve team that came runner-up in the overall Reserve Premier League, with players who could, and I stress, could, make the step-up some day (Bannan, Delfouneso...). Farming and developing players is as important a component in long-lasting success as buying top players and the proof there-in will be manifest if/when Abramovic decides he's bored with Chelsea and pulls out (they're f**ked). Problem is, of course, this takes a while.

On the subject of transfers, for a start it's completely unfair to criticise MON for the players we are linked with. And secondly, you can't argue that MON has brought in quality players - Young, Davies, Reo-Coker. At the same time I can't deny he's overspent on flops like Petrov (until the latter half of this season at least) and Knight. Harewood I'd cut some slack, to be fair. But again it's worth pointing out that with no european football, our wage structure, the dump that is Birmingham and the fact that we were battling for relegation 2 seasons ago, the vast majority of first team players would opt for somewhere else. So has his activity been that bad?

As usual the truth will lie somewhere in the middle of two completely opposing views, so I offer we call this a day until the 31st of August, when at least we will have his transfer activity to use as evidence for or against his performance.

Villain

Its so funny when you see Liverpool fans slagging the General and Randy off, have they not seen who owns their club and the mess the two of them are in.

Anyway, I also only thought we'd sign 4 playes who would be first choice players straight off, I'd imagine we will sign some young players with potential who MON will try and bring them on, I don't think we should be expecting to break the top 4 in the next two seasons, its better to build slowly and steadily, I mean look at Liverpool and the money they have spent and they are no closer to getting 1st or 2nd we don't want to be the same in trying to get 4th, build slowly and sign a small number of quality players each year.

Villain

I make that 15 players at our first team training today!

Edit: 15 one hiding at the top right, Delfonso is training with the 1st team from the off, be nice to see him get a few games early on and make a good impact

Helix

Raekwon wrote: »

Booked it (It was actually €32 including handling fees). All I need is a ticket now................any spare ones knocking about Helix?

aye ill sort you out if you want

Helix

Neil3030 wrote: »

Helix, I obviously accept that 15 players in a squad is nowhere near enough, but I'd have a hunch MON is also aware of this. But it's worth noting that it isn't just the transfer market where our first-team will be strengthened, we have a promising, vibrant youth academy and a reserve team that came runner-up in the overall Reserve Premier League, with players who could, and I stress, could, make the step-up some day (Bannan, Delfouneso...). Farming and developing players is as important a component in long-lasting success as buying top players and the proof there-in will be manifest if/when Abramovic decides he's bored with Chelsea and pulls out (they're f**ked). Problem is, of course, this takes a while.

i know all about the kids. fonzy is the only one nearly ready, he'll start appearing around march or april id say. bannan and forrester are about a season off, and need to bulk up a bit in terms of upper body. albrighton will be bloody good, but again hes probably 2 years away. clark might only be a year or 18 months.

there are only 4 who are definitely, cast iron certaintys to feature in the first team squad in future tho and thats delfouneso, bannan, forrester and albrighton. we cant be hanging hopes on them just yet

Neil3030 wrote: »

On the subject of transfers, for a start it's completely unfair to criticise MON for the players we are linked with. And secondly, you can't argue that MON has brought in quality players - Young, Davies, Reo-Coker. At the same time I can't deny he's overspent on flops like Petrov (until the latter half of this season at least) and Knight. Harewood I'd cut some slack, to be fair. But again it's worth pointing out that with no european football, our wage structure, the dump that is Birmingham and the fact that we were battling for relegation 2 seasons ago, the vast majority of first team players would opt for somewhere else. So has his activity been that bad?

yeh, i do think its been pretty bad. there have been good signings, namely young and nrc. davies was potentially an amazing signing, potentially a shockingly poor one. only time will tell, lets hope for the former. youre pretty much agreeing with one of my main points tho when you list what we have now that we didnt have before, this is why im saying we need a higher calibre of player, and its why im saying if we dont get it, mon needs to take a look at his position.

im not saying he needs to take a look at it now, simply that if he doesnt deliver this summer its something that will need to be addressed

Raekwon

Helix wrote: »

aye ill sort you out if you want

That would be great! PM me when the tickets become available and we can sort something out.

Helix

will do man, no bother

Raekwon

Helix wrote: »

will do man, no bother

Cheers!

Time Magazine

Helix wrote: »

aye ill sort you out if you want

That's very decent of you. Fair play.

Savman

Don't think I could sit beside Helix for 90mins without getting into a MON debate :D

Helix

nah ye wouldnt be sittin beside me

id be up in my magical season ticket seat, wheras you feckers will just be getting whatever tickets they have for sale, could be anywhere lol

~Rebel~

Villain wrote: »

Its so funny when you see Liverpool fans slagging the General and Randy off, have they not seen who owns their club and the mess the two of them are in.

Ah come off it now Villain, either you didn't actually read the posts or you're just having a cheap shot where one isn't even warranted.

It was very very plainly put that your lads in charge are great, and that they're far better then ours - but that you still shouldn't believe everything they say as they obviously have their own agenda, same as every clubs chairman.

Helix

Antithetic wrote: »

That's very decent of you. Fair play.

ah sure ive no bother sorting anyone here out for tickets if theyre looking

Mr Alan

Helix wrote: »

ah sure ive no bother sorting anyone here out for tickets if theyre looking

cheers :P

Helix

i told you the conditions lol

tomred1

Villa boss Martin O'Neill will use the Barry cash to help fund moves for David Bentley, Steve Sidwell and Anton Ferdinand as well as a keeper. (Daily Star)

I would want 2 of those.We dont need A Ferdinand,we need full backs. we haven't been linked with decent RB in a while (including naylor).I didn't see ant RB shine at Euro2008. Were we going to get one from?

One Cold Hand

Wow! That's brilliant fooking journalism by the Star!! Fooks sake! How much to those guys get paid. How about they print something original.

As for RB's. I've an idea. Straight swap: Barry for Justin Hoyte!!! How much would that p!ss Liverpool off!!

rgiller

One Cold Hand wrote: »

Wow! That's brilliant fooking journalism by the Star!! Fooks sake! How much to those guys get paid. How about they print something original.

As for RB's. I've an idea. Straight swap: Barry for Justin Hoyte!!! How much would that p!ss Liverpool off!!

Probably piss us off more. Last I heard, he's garbage

Helix

Helix

tomred1 wrote: »

Villa boss Martin O'Neill will use the Barry cash to help fund moves for David Bentley, Steve Sidwell and Anton Ferdinand as well as a keeper. (Daily Star)

I would want 2 of those.We dont need A Ferdinand,we need full backs. we haven't been linked with decent RB in a while (including naylor).I didn't see ant RB shine at Euro2008. Were we going to get one from?

we defo need a center back in as well

knight is poison

Raekwon

Hmmmm, I'm not really blown away by the new jersey, the v-neck style is cack. I also think the sponsor looks very bland, I would have preferred to see this version on our jersey (p.s.: I know the pic I am posting is a photoshop job).





Regarding the CB back situation I agree, Knight shouldn't even be considered as a first team option so MON would really need to strengthen especially considering that Laursen is/was injury prone and Davies won't be back until autumn and even then might not be 100%. I'd personally like MON to go after somebody like David Wheater or Per Mertesacker but players like that wouldn't come cheap and would be hard to get anyway.

Other positions that worry me (apart from our famous right-back' situation obviously) is right-midfield. I know Bentley's name has been doing the rounds but I can't see him signing for Villa mainly because of his ego. Decent foreign players like Valon Behrami & Ivan Rakitic would also be good options IMO. They are both around the same age as Bentley and would cost a faction of his price tag.

It's going to be an interesting few weeks! (déjà vu anyone? )

Helix

we've been linked with metersacker before actually

Neil3030

B0ll0x to that, get in Metzelder. What a beard:

Bounty Hunter

even though i think he's a tosser I wouldent mind too much if Anton was signed, that is if he was only going to initially play while Curtis is out, then replace Knight as backup CB and maybe getting earmarked as a long term Laursen replacement.

Sidwell, im really not sure what is holding this deal up and expect him to be signed the day after Barry leaves officially.

Bentley is the one im not sure we will sign but I think there is a distinct possibility as hopefully he has burnt his bridges with blackburn (tho i dont think hes a Barry lenghts just yet) while not attracting one of the big 4 as he hoped. We would probably be he most attractive other option as im not sure are Spurs actually in for him, afterall they like us are linked to everyone and have already spent quite a bit on midfield. as suggested though there are v.good foreign alternatives available in players like Valon Behrami & Ivan Rakitic.

Then we need/will get a GK with Robinson/Guzan or both seeming the most likely atm and a RB. if say Miguel (who has oft been linked) signed aswell as the above mentioned I think most Villa fans would be happy with the Summer spending especially if one or two of the previously linked youngsters join i.e mattock and Scannell.

....................Robinson/guzan

miguel.....Davies/Ferdinand...laursen..Bouma

Bentley....NRC/Petrov......Sidwell.....Young

.............G.Agbonlahor....Carew

Subs: Guzan/Taylor, Ferdinand/Knight, Mattock, Gardner/Petrov, Maloney, Scanell, Harewood
Backup: Defounso, Osbourne, Salifou, Routledge

In: Robinson (£5m), Guzan (£2.5m), Ferdinand (£6.5m), Mattock (£1.7m) Miguel (£7m, Bentley (£13m +2m add ons), Sidwell (£4.75m), Scanell (£2.5m)

Out: Berger (free), Mellberg (free), Moore (£3m), Barry (£16m+ £2m add on's)

IN: almost £46m :eek:
Out: £21m
Net: £25m

Mr Alan

Bentley will got for about 20m in my opinion.

Blackburn dont want to sell. Sill young.

England international and all that.

invincibleirish

Still no one signed, bah humbag!, i like the new shirt if it is the real deal, sponsor logo looks big but it seems simple & plain nothing fancy.

Raekwon

I see Mauro Zarate is in Rome signing for Lazio for £2.4m loan deal. Too bad Villa didn't try to snare him, especially for that sort of money! (although the price will probably double)

Neil3030

Is it tradition for Villa/Premiership clubs to give discounts to armed forces, or is that something The General has brought in?

Helix

nah we always did it afaik

Helix

a lot of people expecting a keeper to be unveiled at the kit launch tomorrow

the os lists the players who will be modelling the jerseys, and taylor isnt mentioned, so youd have to assume that SOMEONE is going to have to model the keeper jersey

rob green please martin

One Cold Hand

Helix wrote: »

so youd have to assume that SOMEONE is going to have to model the keeper jersey

I'd say Deadly Doug has been brought back on a short term modelling contract!

Raekwon

Raekwon

The kits aren't too bad actually (apart from the v-neck), I particulary like the away one. I wonder if there will be a third kit (like last seasons unused black one) or will we just use the old away white one with Acorns on it?

In transfer news Villa are apparently looking to take Man Utd's Ben Foster on a season long loan to help ease our goalkeeping crisis. Also Valencia's right back Miguel has been mentioned again today although his Spanish club are looking for around £11m for him. Another rightback on MON's radar is Sheffield Wednesday's American defender Frank Simek & Spurs French midfielder Steed Malbranque has also been mentioned.

Villain

Laursen looks like he's getting ready for a boxing match.

I like the Jersey except for the V neck, Think I might go for the away jersey for a change