Aston Villa Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

Neil3030

Ah right, the magazine, got it. What's your connection with it?

'Arry just announced on SSN that nobody at Aston Villa has approached the club about Jenas.

Time Magazine

Neil3030 wrote: »

Ah right, the magazine, got it. What's your connection with it?

I enjoy it reading it

'Arry just announced on SSN that nobody at Aston Villa has approached the club about Jenas.

Not surprised. I didn't think he was the MON sort.

DSB

The Economist wrote: »

Not surprised. I didn't think he was the MON sort.

Is anyone the MON sort at this stage?

Neil3030

Man I would love us to make a move for KJ Huntelar.

Esse85

Was there really ever gonna be a signing before we left for the peace cup??

Neil3030

I doubt there'll be another signing until August now at this stage, though I'll gladly be proven wrong.

DSB

Negligence at its worst.

Esse85

So annoying like, £12m player in and £12m player out. The player in wont be fit till 2 months into the season.

And the rumours we've to go on lately are Distin and Jenas then!

Bounty Hunter

seems todays stories are reporting that Pompey are putting a 5m price tag on Distin and that Southgate has admitted both Mido and more interestingly Tuncay are going to leave.

orourkeda

Mido = Mehdo

He's got talent but questionable commitment

Bounty Hunter

orourkeda wrote: »

Mido = Mehdo

He's got talent but questionable commitment

well it was the Tuncay part of that story that id assume the Villa focus would be on.

and the distin thing you gotta think is just a negotiating thing seing as he wasnt for sale a day ago. Time for MON to decide how much he wants him (if indeed he does) and prob go to around 3.5m+

orourkeda

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

well it was the Tuncay part of that story that id assume the Villa focus would be on.

and the distin thing you gotta think is just a negotiating thing seing as he wasnt for sale a day ago. Time for MON to decide how much he wants him (if indeed he does) and prob go to around 3.5m+

I would hope so too. £3.5 million probably wont be enough for Distin

Helix

£3.5m is more than enough for a bloke close to 32 years of age

orourkeda

Helix wrote: »

£3.5m is more than enough for a bloke close to 32 years of age

I Know that. Doesnt look like Portsmouth will accept it though. Maybe they will we'll just have to wait and see

Helix

tbh i think £2m-2.5m is just about right, any more for whats essentially a backup player and we should tell them to keep him

i hope we're one of the clubs after young turner at hull, if it looks like theres a few in for him we should drop the distin chase and throw the extra £2.5m onto the bid for him

orourkeda

Do you go for experience or potential?

Neil3030

Well there's experience and there's age. They go hand in hand obviously, but there reaches a stage where the drawbacks of the latter outweigh the benefits of the former. Further, just because you have the latter doesn't mean you have the former.

At the moment, personally, I'd favour experience, seeing as we supposedly have 2 CBs with potential to become great. But that doesn't just come as a consequence of signing an older player.

Helix

if we're going to have to pay over the odds id rather we do it for someone who doesnt only have a handful of seasons in the tank. distin would be grand for the original figures mooted, but any more is taking the piss. still think we shouldve brought ollie back for the £2m

death1234567

Helix wrote: »

£3.5m is more than enough for a bloke close to 32 years of age

And with only 1 year left on his contract.
The fear that we are going to start the season with the same team as last year minus Barry and Laursen is now very real. If MON doesn't get his finger out then a season of stagnation/regression lies ahead. Super

Neil3030

Decent post this morning from Doc Bowles on VillaBlog:

I share the growing frustration of many Villans at the apparent lack of transfer activity at Bodymoor Heath. We have lost two of our best four players from the past couple of seasons, and it's hard to see signs of any urgency in replacing them.

I don't share the view that Martin O'Neill has a poor record in the transfer window. I think in terms of hits and misses his school report probably compares like-for-like with the managers of most of our rival clubs.

But I do think it's worth looking at this particular window as a basket case. A number of highly unusual situations have arisen which have distorted, stalled and confused the market for players. And it's not just Villa who have been affected: Liverpool (Glen Johnson), and Arsenal (Thomas Vermaelen) have both been undynamic so far, and so have our closest rivals Spurs and Everton. Spurs may have nicked a couple of kids from the Blades, and Everton may have re-signed Jo on loan, but that's not exactly setting the heather on fire, is it?

I think there are four massive factors at play in holding up the transfer market.

Firstly, Manchester City's bottomless pockets for both fees and wages is screwing things up. Agents representing top players will hold out for the merest whiff of interest from the Sheiks of Eastlands, and until Mark Hughes confirms that the sky blue spending is over for the summer, it's difficult to see a lot moving at the top end.

Secondly, Alex Ferguson is sitting on a cash mountain too. Nobody is fooled by his suggestion that his spending may be over having lost out on long-term target Benzema. And David Gill has now confirmed as much. The Ronaldo deal was pure cash, and United are in the box seats for anyone they want. That will also have a delaying effect on movements further down the food chain.

Thirdly, it isn't yet clear who the big spenders - City and Real Madrid - are going to let go. The vultures are circling over a number of top players, but anyone interested is going to have to pay well over normal odds and foot massive salaries to get their hands not only on a Wesley Sneijder or Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, but even a Michael Johnson or Nedum Onuoha.

Fourthly - and this is very much just a UK effect - a couple of clubs with attractive players are not in a sufficiently stable financial situation to sell. Newcastle cannot sanction the huge pay-offs they would need to offer departing players until their ownership and financial structure is resolved. Portsmouth can't really do serious business, likewise, until the FA gives the green light to their new owners - they too have been paying daft wages and will need to buy players out of top-heavy contracts. It seems Everton, too, are in deep uncertainty over their ownership and available funds.

Put all this together, and I think you have a unique stalemate in the transfer window. That's not O'Neill's fault - and the irony is, the higher the quality you want to bring in, the more complicated it is going to be,

Bill Howell spouted an awful lot of mealy-mouthed tosh in his recent "web chat". But one sensible thing he did say was that he thought the big deals may happen very late in this window.

There, for once, I agree with him. Until the big guns are done and the market stabilises - until we know who's available and who's in for them at reasonable prices - very little is going to happen.

Sure, I want exciting signings and I want them tomorrow. But I also think the market has been changed beyond all recognition, and I wonder if we won't be starting the season with a squad which doesn't look very much different from the one we have now. We all hope for great developments - but this is one weird, weird window.

matrim

Good News

He said: "Freddy is back training. He is pretty happy with proceedings and it's just taking a bit more time. He had that setback but seems to have recovered from that.

"I reckon he might be back some time in August, but please don't hold me to that."

Bad News

Villa were today rocked by the news £12m winger Stewart Downing could have to wait until Christmas to make his debut.

It was initially thought the foot injury sustained against Villa in May would keep the former Middlesbrough man sidelined until October.

But the 25-year-old England star, Villa’s only summer signing to date, has admitted he may be forced to wait until December to make his claret and blue bow.

“The injury is a bit of a strange one,” said Downing. “It’s not a break but there’s a fracture there. I’ve had to have it pinned and that should come out in September. Then it’s a case of building it up.

“The target is early December. If I’m ready before then that’s a bonus, if it’s after it just needs time to heal.

“I’m sure I will play before Christmas. The manager wants me 100 per cent right and is prepared to give me extra time to do it.”

wynters

What time is the kit being unveiled??? Or do we have to wait for those saps driving to Malaga to make a presentation???

JPA

wynters wrote: »

What time is the kit being unveiled??? Or do we have to wait for those saps driving to get to Malaga and make a presentation???

Yes, we have to wait for the lovely gentlemen to arrive.
They're actually quite funny I think.

I think they hope to get there around 3 so expect unveil between 3 and 4 or thereabouts.

Helix

downing wont likely play til december now

Raekwon

How come Villa aren't in for Christian Poulsen? He seems to be linked with alot of Premier League clubs and Juventus seem keep to get rid of him. He would be a good replacement for Garth Barry IMO.

JPA

He's too defensive I would think, not a Barry replacement.

matrim

JPA wrote: »

Yes, we have to wait for the lovely gentlemen to arrive.
They're actually quite funny I think.

I think they hope to get there around 3 so expect unveil between 3 and 4 or thereabouts.

From the blog on the OS

"new pix of the kit will be on the OS at 4.15 GMT."

orourkeda

Neil3030 wrote: »

Decent post this morning from Doc Bowles on VillaBlog:

This is the whole issue. There's still 5 weeks to go. Certainly its not time to panic. Its all about value in the current climate. We can start panicking at 9pm on the 31st of August if no new signings transpire

orourkeda

matrim wrote: »

Good News



Bad News

Isnt that why he was sent on a medical?

Esse85

orourkeda wrote: »

This is the whole issue. There's still 5 weeks to go. Certainly its not time to panic. Its all about value in the current climate. We can start panicking at 9pm on the 31st of August if no new signings transpire

But there'll be 3 league games played by then.

orourkeda

35 Remaining

shoutman

I'm not a fan of last minute signings, obviously they are better then no signings, but it can't be stated enough how beneficial it is to a player to have playing or at the very least training time with the rest of the team.

Every player is accustomed to things, for example we know that NRC rarely passes the ball further then five yards, his playing partner in the middle (presuming he is playing there) will realise that he must stay close to pick up the ball from NRC, if we were to sign a new mid I can't see the first thing NRC saying to him is "Hey I'm Nigel and I don't pass the ball further then five yards, so stay close".

That might be a terrible example but you get what i'm saying.

wynters

Esse85 wrote: »

But there'll be 3 league games played by then.

Exactly. The season doesn't start on September 1st.

The squad should be hitting the ground running on August 15th. Not 3 Saturdays later. If you're sacrificing the possible points from the first 3 games for a better total in the remaining 35 (depending on the quality of signings) that's a gamble. And an unecessary one. We were ahead of Everton until the last game of the season. Every game matters.

orourkeda

wynters wrote: »

Exactly. The season doesn't start on September 1st.

The squad should be hitting the ground running on August 15th. Not 3 Saturdays later. If you're sacrificing the possible points from the first 3 games for a better total in the remaining 35 (depending on the quality of signings) that's a gamble. And an unecessary one. We were ahead of Everton until the last game of the season. Every game matters.

Neither does it finish on September 1st. You seem to be assuming that We'll have no points by September 1st. This may not be the case. Liverpool away over the last few seasons hasnt been a good fixture for us and doesnt throw up many points but the other 2 fixtures are eminently winnable.

Besides theres still 105 points to play for after that and to suggest that any teams season is cant improve after three games is ludicrous

Villain

New Kit will be on OS at 4:15pm nit much different if the leaks are true

orourkeda

shoutman wrote: »

I'm not a fan of last minute signings, obviously they are better then no signings, but it can't be stated enough how beneficial it is to a player to have playing or at the very least training time with the rest of the team.

Every player is accustomed to things, for example we know that NRC rarely passes the ball further then five yards, his playing partner in the middle (presuming he is playing there) will realise that he must stay close to pick up the ball from NRC, if we were to sign a new mid I can't see the first thing NRC saying to him is "Hey I'm Nigel and I don't pass the ball further then five yards, so stay close".

That might be a terrible example but you get what i'm saying.

This is important. Of course it is but by the same token Isnt it better that the club use the entire window to maximise their chances of improving the squad as best they can. Even Manchester United do this (Berbatov etc). Besides there's a round of world cup fixtures in early september

Neil3030

orourkeda wrote: »

This is important. Of course it is but by the same token Isnt it better that the club use the entire window to maximise their chances of improving the squad as best they can. Even Manchester United do this (Berbatov etc). Besides there's a round of world cup fixtures in early september

Do you mean to tell us though, that if Fergie was in MON's position, i.e., with our squad of players, he'd leave things until the last minute?

orourkeda

Neil3030 wrote: »

Do you mean to tell us though, that if Fergie was in MON's position, i.e., with our squad of players, he'd leave things until the last minute?

Who says he leaving it until the last minute. Its unfair to suggest that nothings being done to try to improve the squad

Doyler92

Jst to let you's know we are 9/4 to finish in the top 6 and 6/1 to win without the big 4

Helix

new jersey unveiled in 4 minutes

orourkeda

Doyler92 wrote: »

Jst to let you's know we are 9/4 to finish in the top 6 and 6/1 to win without the big 4

Thats fair. Who else is any better? Fifth place last season were only 2 points better off and they havent exactly set the world alight with their transfer dealings.

Man City are Just Throwing Money Away

Esse85

Doyler92 wrote: »

Jst to let you's know we are 9/4 to finish in the top 6 and 6/1 to win without the big 4

I wont be having a bet at them odds.

orourkeda

Esse85 wrote: »

I wont be having a bet at them odds.

Who would you bet on?

Esse85

orourkeda wrote: »

Who would you bet on?

Nobody.

Helix

Helix wrote: »

new jersey unveiled in 4 minutes

apparently not

when they said 4.15 they actualyl meant 4.15gmt

which is a poxy hour behind in summer

JPA

http://www.astonvilladirect.com/stores/astonvilla/products/kit_selector.aspx?selector=224&portal=GC956RES

mirwillbeback

new kit almost identical

Helix

its the same jersey

again

urgh

not buying it, tho i do like the collar

Raekwon

Yep looks like the same jersey alright I prefer last seasons one to be honest so won't be getting this one.

Esse85

What a disappointment.

Im not buying it.