Aston Villa Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

JPA

Like he said he been there the longest and who else is there?

Neil3030

Anyone else think the 2nd half plummet in form could have been a backlash (either intentional or otherwise) to Gaz being made captain again?

shoutman

Neil3030 wrote: »

Anyone else think the 2nd half plummet in form could have been a backlash (either intentional or otherwise) to Gaz being made captain again?

Not in the slightest...

invincibleirish

Well besides Barrys summer shenanigans there's murmurs around Carew & NRC falling out with MON during last season. Who knows what happened in the second half of last season. Heskey, 442, injuries and whatever else could account for it but i think a tired small squad on the go since mid July was ultimatley responsible for the decline.

Although the Intertoto knackered the team, i really enjoyed the mid july & August games in the afternoon. Good times.

Neil3030

invincibleirish wrote: »

Well besides Barrys summer shenanigans there's murmurs around Carew & NRC falling out with MON during last season. Who knows what happened in the second half of last season. Heskey, 442, injuries and whatever else could account for it but i think a tired small squad on the go since mid July was ultimatley responsible for the decline.

Although the Intertoto knackered the team, i really enjoyed the mid july & August games in the afternoon. Good times.

Ah yeah there was a fair few factors, maybe I oversold my theory. In addition to the tactics blunder, fatigue, injuries, fallings out and so forth, I can't help but feel reinstating Barry as captain also damaged morale. You don't want players feeling "who the hell is this guy to tell me what to do" about your captain.

EDIT: And above all else, he was a fairly bad captain to begin with by all accounts.

JPA

Villa winning 3-0.

Esse85

JPA wrote: »

Villa winning 3-0.

Who scored?

Neil3030

Esse85 wrote: »

Who scored?

Weimann, Davies and Sidwell. In that order.

invincibleirish

Win number 7 for Villa in the calender year 2009. Well done guys.

MementoMori

invincibleirish wrote: »

Win number 7 for Villa in the calender year 2009. Well done guys.

Saucer of milk for invincible:)

I lol'd

matrim

Davies's goal was supposed to be a cracker

Helix

wynters wrote: »

He's playing 3 at the back with two wing backs. I've always wondered why he hasn't tried this formation before?

coz its not 1995

Helix

Neil3030 wrote: »

Anyone else think the 2nd half plummet in form could have been a backlash (either intentional or otherwise) to Gaz being made captain again?

nope

Time Magazine

Neil3030 wrote: »

Weimann

Good to see another reserve doing well. He was born in 1991. I'm getting old.

Reading the report on the official site, seems like we were played off the pitch in the first half.

flahavaj

The Economist wrote: »

Good to see another reserve doing well. He was born in 1991. I'm getting old.

Reading the report on the official site, seems like we were played off the pitch in the first half.

Scares me.:eek:

Bounty Hunter

flahavaj wrote: »

Scares me.:eek:

used to Scare me seing how good Rooney was as I once played against the fella and hes slightly younger than me but to think 1991 is now prob the norm D.O.B wise for players making the step up into the senior setup for clubs really really does make me feel old

Helix

the fonz was born in 1991

Neil3030

It's when guys start getting born after the year you joined boards, THAT'S when you're old!

JPA

When a player like Macheda says Rooney was his hero growing up, THEN you feel old.

wynters

Helix wrote: »

coz its not 1995

Would you object to trying a back 3?

JPA

wynters wrote: »

Would you object to trying a back 3?

Seriously? That won't happen.
I think today was about picking a formation around the players rather than the other way around.

wynters

Not talking about today... I mean in general...

Answer me Helix you cnut!

Helix

wynters wrote: »

Would you object to trying a back 3?

yes

considering we only actually have 3 center backs and one of them is zat knight lol

tbh i dont think that a back 3 has any real place in football at the minute

wynters

Dear Helix,

I harbour no great desire to unnecessarily expose you for the charlatan you are... However, you frequently call MON "tactically inept", yet if he was to attempt using the formation that brought him relative success at Leicester and Celtic, you'd object to that too??????????????????????

How can MON win?

Helix

you may perhaps have noticed that the game has changed ever so slightly since martin o'neill was in charge of leicester

a 3 man defence heralded success then because other teams played differently. there is most definitely a reason that more tactically aware minds than mr "lets play everyone in the team at right back, apart from the right back coz he'll do at left back" havent tried to bring that system back to life

but hey, since we're going for relics, why not give 2-4-4 a go again

Savman

"Players lose you games, not tactics. There's so much crap talked about tactics by people who barely know how to win at dominoes"

wynters

So you're basically saying that O'Neill has been using the correct formation at Villa to date???

DSB

Well he was, til he brought Heskey in and changed it, destroying the good work he'd done.

Bounty Hunter

really looks like Villa will be taking a large number of kids with them to the peace cup, considering the current size of our squad and that the U-21 players wont be taking part nor will any new signings we make (not that Downing would have).

"Each participating team shall submit the official list of 23 players including their photos and profiles, three of whom shall be goalkeepers to the organizer 15 days before the opening match. The 23 official players should all be registered with their national associations 10 days before the opening. All participating players shall have the same shirt number that the participating team habitually uses."

Gabriel Agbonlahor, James Milner and Craig Gardner will not represent Aston Villa in the Peace Cup as they continue to recover from England U21 duty.

The Young Lions trio will not fly out to Spain on Thursday, though John Carew, Ashley Young, Stliyan Petrov and Emile Heskey will all be available.

Boss Martin O'Neill said: "Other clubs have brought players back earlier but this is the way we've planned it."

JPA

Looks like MON is giving Gabby and Milner the absolute max recovery time he can. Gabby had been on the go for close to 11 months straight.

matrim

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

really looks like Villa will be taking a large number of kids with them to the peace cup, considering the current size of our squad and that the U-21 players wont be taking part nor will any new signings we make (not that Downing would have).

Wait for a load of people to now said we're not bringing them because we're going to sell them :rolleyes:

Hopefully this will give some of the youngsters a chance to make a good impression for the upcoming season

orourkeda

Yes. Its about time some of them got a chance. Let them show what they can do

Neil3030

How could Gardner (22), Gabby (22) and Milner (23) have been playing in the U-21 World Cup??

Is it the U-21* World Cup or something??











*Or whatever you're having yourself...

Helix

Neil3030 wrote: »

How could Gardner (22), Gabby (22) and Milner (23) have been playing in the U-21 World Cup??

once youre under 21 when the qualifying campaign starts you can play in the finals

and it was the euros, not the world cup iirc

Bounty Hunter

I wouldent usually quote goal.com but the quotes from MON are interesting ones here.

Aston Villa Boss Martin O'Neill: Liverpool Never Made A Bid For Gareth Barry
'MON' is not sure why Rafa Benitez is complaining about Barry's move, given that Villa never received a bid from the Reds...
20 Jul 2009 00:58:40

Martin O'Neill, the Aston Villa manager, has claimed that Liverpool lost out on Gareth Barry because they were too complacent in their bid to sign him him.

Rafa Benitez hit out at Barry for being 'greedy' after he chose to join Manchester City, but O'Neill saw things differently.

He told The Daily Express, "Did Liverpool take it for granted that Gareth Barry would sign for them? They may well have done.

"And they missed out on Barry for that reason? They may well have done.

"All I will say is that I said to Barry’s agent for us not to have the same debacle as last year, that they were perfectly at liberty to speak, I assumed to the top four teams. Liverpool were aware of the price we were asking if that was the case.

"Liverpool did not contact us directly at all in this matter and never offered any money for him.

"So the impression I got was that eventually it was a straight choice."

O'Neill then admitted that Barry's decision had taken him by surprise, continuing, "I am not protecting anyone here because it doesn’t really matter.

"I said I was a bit surprised because Barry had mentioned playing in the Champions League as a reason for going, that’s a person’s prerogative, but Liverpool had not put a bid in."

Neil3030

Obviously he means there were no bids for him from Liverpool this window. There were definitely bids from pool last Summer window.

wynters

There's a slightly extended version of the same interview in today's Guardian.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jul/20/martin-oneill-rafael-benitez-gareth-barry-transfer

"We are looking for immediate replacements for the likes of Martin Laursen and Gareth and we're pressing on with that," he added. "We have inquired about quite a number of people and, of the ones that we would like in, I couldn't tell you that we would have anybody in by Thursday. It would be fantastic to have somebody by Thursday, but if not, it doesn't mean that I can't travel back and sort things out. In an ideal world I would like people in at least fortnight before the Premiership. But a week in advance would be no major problem."

Time Magazine

Home kit is unveiled today apparently.

Tomthepost

The Economist wrote: »

Home kit is unveiled today apparently.

Lets Up Someone Like Wagner Love will be modelling it:D

JPA

Tomthepost wrote: »

Lets Up Someone Like Wagner Love will be modelling it:D

Or Vagner Love. I'm not sure if it is being unveiled. Just something that was mentioned in the text comentary for the match but I think it might just be details of the launch rather than the launch.

matrim

JPA wrote: »

Or Vagner Love. I'm not sure if it is being unveiled. Just something that was mentioned in the text comentary for the match but I think it might just be details of the launch rather than the launch.

The story I read said it was going to be announced, and was hopeful for a picture of it.

JPA

matrim wrote: »

The story I read said it was going to be announced, and was hopeful for a picture of it.

Any Link?

matrim

JPA wrote: »

Any Link?

http://www.thevillablog.co.uk/aston-villa-blog/avfc-news/new-aston-villa-shirt-today-new-players-this-week-and-a-trip-to-spain/

Esse85

Martin O'Neill has insisted he will not rush into making signings this summer, although he is keen to bolster his squad considerably.

The Aston Villa manager will take his players to Spain for the Peace Cup on Thursday, although Gabriel Agbonlahor, James Milner and Craig Gardner will stay at home to rest.

O'Neill is keen to bring in some new faces as quickly as possible but maintains that he would be prepared to bide his time if necessary.

"Will we have players in by Thursday? I don't know is the answer," O'Neill told the Birmingham Mail.

"We want to try and strengthen the side and we will do our very best to do so but whether there's anybody in before Thursday or not I can't tell you.

"I don't get anxious. These things take time, like everything else, and you want to try and be as right as possible.

"If you are looking for immediate replacements for Martin Laursen and Gareth Barry, we are pressing on with that.

"We have enquired about quite a number of people and the ones we would like in I couldn't tell you that we would have anyone in by Thursday."

O'Neill feels he needs five new players and is not planning to let anybody leave until reinforcements have arrived.

He explained: "I think that if you have five quality players in that would be excellent. You're talking about players that could immediately take their place in a decent Premier League side.

"I would be hoping for everyone that goes out that we would be having at least somebody else coming back in again.

"Don't hold me to this, but I really probably wouldn't want to be losing players until we get some in.

"Do I want to end the window with bigger squad than last year? Without doubt."
http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_5444714,00.html

invincibleirish

Latest VT ITK saying Jenas & Distin soon. Whatever about Distin i think Jenas would be a class signing to replace Barry.

JPA

Slightly more positive from MON then usual.

Bounty Hunter

nice to see MON actually talking about 5 players in. As im sure we all would say a similar number is needed

Esse85

invincibleirish wrote: »

Latest VT ITK saying Jenas & Distin soon. Whatever about Distin i think Jenas would be a class signing to replace Barry.

Im not convinced about either to be honest. I could understand the inclusion of Distin if Knight is to be sold but id rather give Sidwell and NRC a chance before wasting money on Jenas.

invincibleirish

Jenas has the lazy London wideboy thing going on, but i do think with a bit of MON style discipline there is a decent player in there. I think NRC deserves a run of games, not Sidwell though. One ok season in the PL with reading does not make a good player.

Neil3030

I assume that's 5 including Downing?

If Jenas came in I'd be pretty pleased but it's very hard to see spuds offloading their vice captain to a team they'd see as being in direct competition with them for European places or to sneak a CL spot.