Aston Villa Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

Bounty Hunter

its official Nickey Shorey has signed a three year contractr for Villa

Savman

wynters

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

Think its bollocks myself (hope im wrong) and if not the only person i see atm fitting the bill is Moutinho

Quaresma? Simao? Could even be someone else who's played IN Spain or Portugal - Saviola?? Riquelme...?? (just a few random names that spring to mind).

I've been tuning into the various Villa forums today aswell and there seems to be something going on alright... lads who don't normally put themselves out there with this kinda thing at all.

Something concrete at least with Shorey thank God.

invincibleirish

If Moutinho signs for Villa i'd **** myself. Doubt it'll happen but heres hoping.

Shorey & Young are decent signings and bolster the squad.

Töpher

Shorey (and Young, if he signs) are great signings for Villa. It was defensive frailties that really hampered them last year, and they should provide some good options for MON.

Be interesting to see who this unmentionable player is? Didn't Villa look at Saviola before last summer?

eirebhoy

Shorey's a good player. Not sure about Young.

Töpher

Think he could be an "O'Neill" type of player though, I'd say he can get him playing well.

Only time will tell though!

Neil3030

Look, I wouldn't be too worried about Young doing a job for us at RB. The last few years our coaching staff have been working with Centre-Halfs, Midfielders, Wingers, Bus-Drivers, Tea-Ladies and whoever else turned up for a game. Imagine what they can do with someone with even the most basic specialist right-back capabilities? Luke Young to be Fifa World Player of the Year next year - put money on it.

Villain

Young and Shorey would be/are great signings imo.

You see I told you all complaining to wait and see what happens, give MON time and if after the transfer window closes we haven't signed enough players then complain away but complaining before then is just wasting energy imo

Bounty Hunter

Young is a good signing cos he's a RB simple as that even though I dont think he is the best out there by far, Shorey is also very good but you are very much so right people started freaking out about signing far too early, i just said im willing to wait.

in: Friedel, Guzan, Young, Shorey, Sidwell

and we are most certainly not finished.

Savman

glenjamin

FFS Southgate is ruining us. You've got a quality RB there in Young. He was our best player last season ahead of Downing.

Damn you Southgate!!!!!!!!!!

Bounty Hunter

strange how all the outfield players we have signed were signed when MON was out of the country

Villain

any word on transfer fee's?

Young confirmed ends a good day and interesting that both players said it happened quickly, young's transfer certainly seemed to pass below the tabloid radar

Savman

Villain wrote: »

any word on transfer fee's?

Well depending on which reports you believe, £3.5m for Shorey and £4.5m (ish) for Young, give or take half a mil.

One Cold Hand

Fair play to O'Neill. Starting to get the finger out now. Shorey will be good cover for Bouma when he comes back. Also as we're still a bit light in the centre, it means that Bouma can now be cover in the centre if need be. Young obviously isn't the best player in the world, but hes better than all the other right backs we have! I'm just delighted we didn't sign Justin Hoyte! Also there's still time for Martin to sign a second RB! No?!

Concentration should now be on a right winger.

Ashton would be an excellent signing. Would allow us to use Gabby from the bench, where I think he would be more effective. Ferdinand I'm not sure about. He may prove to be very good, but I don't rate him too highly at the minute.
We still need:
A striker
A right winger
A centre back
A right back
An good attacking mid

Obviously I'd be fairly surprised if we signed all those, but would be quite happy with a good striker and a good right winger.

Neil3030

Savman wrote: »

...

Holy Crap we just signed Johnny Sack!

PHB

Seems like things are starting to move quickly now for Villa. Let's see if they can maintain this momentum. I like how MON likes to keep a strong English core like Fergie.

One Cold Hand

PHB wrote: »

I like how MON likes to keep a strong English core like Fergie.

Ronaldo's not English!;)

Bounty Hunter

the Sun (I know) saying our defensive spending isnt over yet...

MARTIN O’NEILL is planning to snap up his THIRD defender in 24 hours.

The Aston Villa boss has offered Spurs £4million for Younes Kaboul, 22.


O’Neill agreed a £9m double deal for Reading’s Nicky Shorey and Middlesbrough’s Luke Young yesterday.


Shorey, 27, said: “I’ve spoken to Steve Sidwell and he’s only had positive things to say about Villa.


“It will be great to link up with him again because we’re really good mates.”


Meanwhile, Boro are closing in on a £2.5m swoop for Arsenal’s Justin Hoyte, 24.


Boss Gareth Southgate wants the former England Under-21 star to replace Young.

and

HARRY REDKNAPP admits a lack of cash will see Portsmouth miss out on two of their top summer transfer targets.

The Pompey boss has been chasing Reading full-back Nicky Shorey and Tottenham defender Younes Kaboul but he has conceded the pair will not move to Fratton Park.


Aston Villa have snapped up Shorey and have also been strongly linked with Kaboul as boss Martin O’Neill looks to strengthen his squad.


Redknapp said: “Villa are in front for Kaboul.

"I was also interested in Shorey, so I’m disappointed.


“We are going to have to sell one or two to do something. It’s not a bottomless pit after all.


“You need to sell to bring someone in. That is how it is and that is how it should be, it’s not a problem.


“That’s the name of the game. We have to sell one or maybe two to bring someone else in and I accept that."

Redknapp is willing to listen to offers for David Nugent and Sean Davis.

being unable to sleep i also just had a read of a WHU message board to see if there was any truth in the Ashton thing and they are not happy at all with how their biscuit tycoon is running the club, they are having financial difficulties and the fans wouldent be shocked (tho they be pissed) if Ashton left, they are very hopefull however that he wont go to spurs after Curbs made some statement about not selling him to their Rivals recentley.

One Cold Hand

So the squad is starting to improve a bit:
Friedel/Taylor/Guzan
Young
Laursen/Davies/Knight
Bouma/Shorey
Routledge/Salifou
Barry/Sidwell/NRC/Petrov/Gardner/Osbourne
Young/Maloney
Carew/Gabby/Harewood
Also some youngsters to come through.

Was thinking about the starting 11. Not so sure about Gabby. He looked very tired for the second half of last season. Would like to see Martin try the old 4-2-3-1 formation, but not really sure how it would work, in terms of the '3'. Would allow Barry and Sidwell to play, with one staying deep and one pushing up. Not sure which though! If we could sign another attacking wide player it'd be great. Also A. Young and Maloney/Newbie could switch side and/or rove around a bit.

---

Friedel

---

----Young--Davies-- Laursen--Bouma (when he's fit!)

---

NRC----Barry/Sidwell

---

Young

---

Barry/Sidwell

---

Maloney

---

Carew

---

Bench:
Taylor/Guzan
Knight
Gardner
The Hare
Gabby
Petrov
Shorey

Would allow us to change to a more regular 4-4-2, and bring Gabby off the bench.

What say ye?

PHB

One Cold Hand wrote: »

Ronaldo's not English!;)

Rooney, Carrick, Hargreaves, Scholes, Ferdinand, Neville/Brown all in the first team :?

---

Kaboul could be a decent player, if you added him, I'd say in terms of defence you're fine. Then you gotta look at the more difficult areas, SWP would be ideal. Personally I can't see Barry staying, I think he'll move to Liverpool still, and as such I think that money will be reinvested
RW
CM
Striker
are the 3 key positions left to fill.

One Cold Hand

PHB wrote: »

Rooney, Carrick, Hargreaves, Scholes, Ferdinand, Neville/Brown all in the first team :?

Never heard of him!

PHB wrote: »

Kaboul could be a decent player, if you added him, I'd say in terms of defence you're fine. Then you gotta look at the more difficult areas, SWP would be ideal. Personally I can't see Barry staying, I think he'll move to Liverpool still, and as such I think that money will be reinvested
RW
CM
Striker
are the 3 key positions left to fill.

As every day goes by I'm more confident of Barry staying.

But if he goes, yeah, you're right about the positions to be filled.

rgiller

Neil3030 wrote: »

Holy Crap we just signed Johnny Sack!

He does look a bit on the chubby side. Too many pies over the summer hols or maybe just a bad camera angle for the portrait?

MementoMori

Fair play to MON for getting the finger out - any RB or LF is better than no RB or LB, and he has picked up two decent players - one of the things I've held against MON has been the lack of a proper RB - even playing Mellberg there last year was poor form imo - I wonder if this was a factor in him moving on?

I'd rate Shorey as better than Young but they both fit bang into the MON class of player and I can see them doing well for Villa. Could well see Bouma having a battle to get his place back at LB. Also I know that their age is probaby against them in a sell-on sense but the rumoured fees are definately reasonable enough looking. Sign Kaboul as reported and the defence looks a hell of a lot more impressive especially when you consider the new keepers.

Now all he needs to do is sort midfield and attack.:p

Add two or three more players and I think European qualification would have to be considered a realistic goal - Can't see you breaking the top four but can see you battling Porstmouth and Spurs for fifth.

Can see a battle between Portsmouth and Villa for SWP esp if Chelsea sign Robinho - can see it being a tight one as to where he ends up

As to Barry - don't know how/if things are ever going to end up

therecklessone

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

they are very hopefull however that he wont go to spurs after Curbs made some statement about not selling him to their Rivals recentley.

Gotta love the Bingo Club, we've not been their rivals since Bobby Moore's days. They used to be our feeder club, but now they haven't got anything worth pinching, and none of our cast offs are desperate enough to go to them...:D

They won the World Cup though...

JPA

rgiller wrote: »

He does look a bit on the chubby side. Too many pies over the summer hols or maybe just a bad camera angle for the portrait?

Bit harsh, he's fat like Bouma is fat i.e. not. Just got a square face.

DSB

Fair play to MON on the signings, 3 more and we could really be a force to be reckoned with for 5th place. Chuffed we've finally got a right-back.

Neil3030

I'd love to see the following 4-3-3- at Villa next season:

---

Friedel

---

---

Young

---

Davies

---

Laursen

---

Bouma-

---

---

Sidwell---Reo-Coker---Barry

---

---

-SWP

---

Young-

---

Carew

---

Subs: Guzan, Kaboul, Shorey, Gardner, Maloney, Agbonlahor, Harewood


Then with half an hour to go if need be:

---

Friedel

---

---

Young

---

Davies

---

Laursen

---

Shorey-

---

---

Sidwell

---

Barry

---

-SWP

---

Young-

---

---

Carew

---

Aggy

---

Assuming Barry stays, we are an RM away from a darn good side. We'll cross the bridge his leaving would build if he leaves.

Villain

We paid £6 million for Young, not a bad bit of business for Boro, they paid 2.5m for last summer and according to his statment on the official site he said something along the lines that we nearly signed him last year, can't help but be a small bit annoyed at that, we could have saved 3.5 million and had a proper RB last season????

JPA

^^
Makes you wonder why we didn't get him last year alright.
I reckon MON had someone else planned that fell through.
But the price doesn't really matter anyway.

matrim

Even if we don't sign another RB, when Bouma comes back, if we're stuck either himself or Shorey could probably slot into RB for a game or two.

Savman

rgiller wrote: »

He does look a bit on the chubby side.

:rolleyes:

tomred1

Villain wrote: »

We paid £6 million for Young, not a bad bit of business for Boro, they paid 2.5m for last summer and according to his statment on the official site he said something along the lines that we nearly signed him last year, can't help but be a small bit annoyed at that, we could have saved 3.5 million and had a proper RB last season????

Where did the £6 million figure come from?

Villain

tomred1 wrote: »

Where did the £6 million figure come from?

Boro Chairman said it in a press release any of the major sports sites have it

rgiller

MementoMori wrote: »

Now all he needs to do is sort midfield and attack.:p

In fairness, we had a pretty decent attacking line last year and haven't lost anyone from it (unless GB goes). Maybe not the greatest on paper, and lacking a 20 goals a season striker, but we were still something like the 3rd highest scoring team in the league and had a great away goals record. Our problem was in defence: too many leaked goals and points lost from winning positions. I think we're doing well to sort the defence, and anything else is a bonus (GB replacement aside, if he goes).

I'm not saying I wouldn't like more decent attacking players to come in, but rather that defence was our priority and it's good that we're trying to sort that out first

Neil3030

Express and Star:

Villa are rumoured to have entered the race to sign Blues midfielder Sebastian Larsson.

.

tomred1

Villain wrote: »

Boro Chairman said it in a press release any of the major sports sites have it

That is really a bad buy then. He is not worth it espeecially since we could of got him last year for 2.5 million.

Davey Devil

I know Randy has a few quid but 6 mill for L.Young is crazy money. In a way I'm quite impressed. MON must have decided enough is enough and he's gonna get players in no matter what the cost. Bodes well for the rest of the transfer window.

http://www.mfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,1~1361177,00.html

Middlesbrough wrote:

STEVE GIBSON today assured fans that his decision to sanction a £6m deal for Luke Young was right for Middlesbrough Football Club - and that a suitable replacement will be found.

Aston Villa will pay an initial £5.5m fee for the right-back plus a further £250,000 after 30 appearances and another £250,000 after 60 games.

And the chairman says he would only have agreed to the transfer if it was in the club's best interests.

"The fans need to know that we will only do what's right for the football club in the short term, medium term and the long term," he told mfc.co.uk.

"Selling a 29-year-old full-back for £6m a year after we bought him for £2.5m, and doing so in the knowledge that we will replace him, is right for the football club in the short term, medium term and the long term.

"We're already busy working on bringing in a replacement."

The fee will be the fourth biggest Boro have ever disclosed as receiving for a player behind only Juninho to Atletico Madrid (£12m), Yakubu to Everton (£11.25m) and Paul Merson, also to Villa (£7m).

The fee for Jonathan Woodgate's move to Spurs was not revealed.

Savman

"Martin go and spend Randy's millions and get us some players ffs!"

"No not them ones they're too dear!"

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Villain

I don't have a problem with the signing, we needed a right back and Young is good, 6 million isn't a huge fee, I was simply pointing out the fact that the player stated he nearly came last year and I just think its a pity we didn't get him for the two reasons I mentioned.

I am glad he signed even at 6 million a season later.

shoutman

Yes we paid over the odds for Young, there is no winning for some of you guys, we cant hang around and wait for bargain buys. 6m isn't a crazy amount of money and if he is an above average wing back then I am happy.

Bounty Hunter

nothing may come of it but MON is in spain atm and Damian has revealed who the player he was on about is as he believe the story might break anyway.

The mystery player is Ruben de la Red. I've held off saying anything until either I was allowed to say something or it broke.

The story is clearly breaking so I'm telling you now, rather than waiting for the morning when everyone else has it.

Also, this would normally be filed under speculation, it's not tonight, mostly because our man in Birmingham told us about this on Wedensday night, which led to our post yesterday. It's getting filed under news.

Now, there is still a little bit that isn't out that we are aware of, so until it's out we're not going to say much else, but rest assured this is something that has been going on for a while - it's not a recent fancy.

Now, you have the name, no more hassling me and I hope you all agree, that this really will be an exciting player to have at Villa Park, if we can do the deal.

I say if, becasue there is still a bit of work to do, but if Martin and Randy can convince him to come, he'll light up Villa park next season, I promise.

Bounty Hunter

Villa 2 - Marbella 0

(Delfouneso 37min Gardner 42min)
Team: Taylor, Salifou, Steiber, Knight, Laursen, Routledge, Osbourne, Gardner, Maloney, Carew, Delfouneso (The Fonz)

from Guillem Balague

MARCA - Aston Villa prepare bid for De la Red. The Premiership club will hold talks with Madrid officials later today and have prepared an €8 million bid for the versatile midfielder. The player has previously been valued at around €12 million - by Marca - and is also said to be attracting interest from Arsenal.
http://www.guillembalague.com/rumores_desp.php?id=50

One Cold Hand

6mil is expensive, but so is every single player being sold these days. We sold Gary Cahill for 5mil for christs sake. Young is an england international and very experinced. And we've had no RB for 2 years. Fair play to O'neill for biting the bullet paying over the odds, I know it's not in his character.

Obviously De la Red would be great signing. No offence BH, but I always ignore rumours like that. I've seen so much crap posted in the past.

Bounty Hunter

no offense taken tbh I started the first post on the subject saying that I was reluctant to report it as it was prob just a rumour with nothing behind it but seing as Neil had already referenced Damian post on AVFCBlog. As ive said a few times i still think its bollocks but Marca are once again running the story according to Guillem Balague's website.

Neil3030

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

Aston Villa.... have prepared an €8 million bid ... The player has been valued at around €12 million....

It's true! We DID bid!

Bit it's very interesting to see the recent twist in the Barry saga, the Liverpool owners now apparently not seeing his aquisition as either financially viable or vital for Liverpool and don't appear to be ready to cough up the pounds. I now wonder, did MON know this? Was he tipped off? Did he get a hunch after meeting with Liverpool officials that this could be how things would turn out? Or did they simply voice concerns to him directly? Many were slagging him over his deflated interview where he gave pool 'all the time in the world' but I wonder did he have an idea this could be the way things would play out...

Savman

Neil3030 wrote: »

Many were slagging him over his deflated interview where he gave pool 'all the time in the world' but I wonder did he have an idea this could be the way things would play out...

I'm thinking it could have been a possibility, calling Liverpool's bluff so to speak. It was clear that interview he was unhappy about the chain of events but it was a very simple "come and get him" to Anfield. If that falls thru now, one really has to wonder what's going on between Rafa and his employers.

Bounty Hunter

atleast we seem to be planning for life without him, (Villa are in Spain he's at home hoping someone from Pool rings Villa). He might play in the Uefa though as we can only make one change to the squad registerd on the 4th of Aug so maybe add L.Young and play Barry at LB, as ive been told that 1 player who has played in the Uefa can be added to a CL line-up, so his move iif it actually happened wouldent ba affected.

You snooze, you lose in big twos bid to sign Roque Santa Cruz


By Sportsmail Reporter Last updated at 11:45 PM on 08th August 2008

Manchester City and Aston Villa each want to sign striker Roque Santa Cruz from Blackburn.

City boss Mark Hughes is now understood to have put Santa Cruz at the top of his wish-list but must wait for the funds from defender Vedran Corluka’s stalled £7million move to Tottenham.

Santa Cruz could become a pricey Paraguayan as Hughes and O'Neill aim to sign the Blackburn striker

Villa boss O'Neill set to pounce for Spurs' in-demand £4m defender Kaboul
Rovers hope to hold on to Roque as another Santa cruises into Blackburn
Man City make a sensational swoop for Ronaldo - the tubby Brazilian striker, that is...

Corluka has not been able to agree an increase on his City wage of £45,000 a week.

Villa boss Martin O’Neill has also prioritised Santa Cruz and, if they are forced to sell, then Blackburn would rather the player head to the Midlands than join up with his old Rovers manager at City.

Villa are believed to have had an initial offer of around £10m turned down.

Meanwhile, Blackburn striker Maceo Rigters is heading to Barnsley on loan. The 24-year-old Dutchman has flopped at Rovers despite winning the Golden Boot at the
2007 European Under-21 Championship.

doubt anything at all will happen with this one but nice to be getting linked to decent players again.

Raekwon

The media have a few players linked with moves to Villa Park today.

Firstly according to the Mirror & Sunday Mercury MON is looking at an audacious £17.5million bid to lure Joe Cole from Chelsea now that they have signed Deco & are looking to sign Robinho.

Secondly Rangers CB Carlos Cuellar has been linked to us after the Scottish club crashed out of Europe at the first hurdle.

Lastly Villa have targeted £2.5m-rated Czech midfielder Jaroslav Plasil from Osasuna.

Hopefully it will be a busy few weeks