Aston Villa Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

Villain

Savman wrote: »

It's all over SSN. Statement from Barry's agent blah blah blah.

His agent??? Doesn't even bother to make a statment himself?? ummm

spiderdan

Mr Alan wrote: »

dan: pavlychecnko is a far far far better player than Doyle, and is a great signing for Spurs, not one of desperation.

I agree that he is a far better player then Doyle, what I'm saying is that he wasn't Spurs first choice at all and they desperately need to buy a sticker so they've gone and bought him. He has a good record but I wouldn't be so convinced he'll be a success, it is Spurs after all. Interesting to see what they pay for him.

The more I think about it the more I think Doyle would be a waste of 8m. We should hold out till Feb and invest the 8m in a much higher caliber of sticker if things aren't working out. He's not good enough to replace Carew or Gabby if both are fit.

Neil3030

Villain wrote: »

His agent??? Doesn't even bother to make a statment himself?? ummm

I reckon we'll see an interview on the OS by this evening, maybe.

Savman

Villain wrote: »

His agent??? Doesn't even bother to make a statment himself?? ummm

Hence why I'm skeptical/indifferent to the whole affair. We all expected an empty statement like this and here it is.

Nothing in there suggests to me the player sees himself as anything other than trapped at Villa Park, not being able to leave for reasons beyond his control. Hardly encouraging.

invincibleirish

Very true Savman but lets be honest any declaration of loyalty to Villa now would reflect badly on him anyway and expose him as a janus faced liar.

GB will never ever be held in the same affection again by Villa fans, but the priority back in May was to keep him as he is just too good a player to lose at such a critical time in Villa's development under MON & RL.

If anything i feel sorry for GB.

~Rebel~

spiderdan wrote: »

We should hold out till Feb and invest the 8m in a much higher caliber of sticker if things aren't working out.

Jeez man, i know there's a bit of a dearth of real players, but i don't think there's much cause to go dropping down to the level of panini's!

spiderdan

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Jeez man, i know there's a bit of a dearth of real players, but i don't think there's much cause to go dropping down to the level of panini's!

LOL- Well spotted! at least MON has got the finger or else we'd have fook all other option

Necronomicon

I was surprised to read about Milner's transfer request, given his performance last night. He played a blinder, best player on the pitch. Says a lot about him really. Carew would be in dreamland if he had Young on one side of him and Milner on the other.

shoutman

Fantastic news today for Villa fans.

Delighted that the Barry debacle seems to be over, once and for all (untill next summer anyway.)

Milner would be quality, and it seems that SWP is not held in much regard by MON as there has not been any mention to Villa being linked with him anyway.

Still would be great to see another striker in at some point.

Also I think given time our defensive problems wil be sorted, its a new backline playing together and they just need to settle in imo.

Hopefully a lot of youngins will get a run out tommorrow so we can see what the Fonz etc are up to.

Neil3030

Intweeging....

SSN just read a release from the PFA, announcing Milner handed in his request on the 20th more here...

SSN also report the Newcastle Chronicle claim there is already a £9m bid on the table from Villa. Can't find any link to this online though.

Neil3030

Well it didn't take long, but still no confirmed bid.

James Milner set for £10m move to Aston Villa

From The Times
August 28, 2008
George Caulkin

James Milner is expected to join Aston Villa before the transfer window closes on Monday after another day of confusion and mixed messages at Newcastle United concluded with doubts being raised again about the club’s acquisition and contract policy.

Milner’s agent expressed incredulity last night that Newcastle had chosen to publicise the midfield player’s transfer request on their official website a full week after it had been submitted and on the morning of a pivotal meeting between Kevin Keegan and the club’s directors, in which it was due to be discussed.

In a statement, Mick McGuire, the player’s representative and deputy chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association, praised Milner for his professionalism in “keeping the matter quiet”, a pointed reference to Newcastle’s failure to do likewise. It was in deference to the wishes of the club that Milner did not originally go public on the issue.
Now there are TWO ways to feed your fantasy

We have built on last year's success of PlayTheGame by offering fantasy football managers double the fun this coming season
Related Links

While Villa’s interest in the England Under-21 midfield player is longstanding — he spent the 2005-06 season on loan in the West Midlands and was on the verge of joining on a permanent basis before Newcastle called him back — Milner, 22, has not been eager to leave St James’ Park. His demand to move came after repeated attempts to renegotiate his contract, which has three years to run, were rebuffed by Dennis Wise, the Newcastle executive director. While Milner signed an enhanced deal only last summer, McGuire claimed that “this agreement was reached with the club nearly 12 months previously”, when Newcastle reneged on their decision to sell him.

In the wake of Tuesday night’s Carling Cup victory over Coventry City, after which Keegan had a brief conversation with Derek Llambias, the Newcastle managing director, the manager talked of his deep reluctance to lose Milner from a first-team squad that is down in numbers from last season as well as lacking senior players because of injury. “I don’t even want to talk about losing James Milner,” Keegan said. “He’s a very important player for us and I think he’s worthy of a call-up to the senior [England] side. He’s the right age, he’s one for the future and he’s getting better every game.”

Keegan was due to meet Wise, Llambias and Mike Ashley, the owner, last night to discuss, among other things, Milner, progress in the transfer market and the state of Michael Owen’s contract negotiations. As things stand, Owen, the Newcastle captain, would be entitled to leave on a free transfer next summer.

Newcastle’s conduct regarding Milner would suggest that Keegan’s wishes have been overruled in favour of eking out a fee from Villa that could be as high as £10 million. A bid of £9 million is already understood to have been rejected. The manager will expect that money to be reinvested in his squad, although attracting players to Tyneside has proved difficult during the close season.

Villain

Milner for 10 million? umm I like Milner he's got ability and works very hard but you'd have to think if SWP would be worth a few million more?

Helix

milner is 22, and loves villa

swp is 27, has barely played in 3 years, and is clearly only interested in money

milner all the way

Neil3030

Agreed, I've warmed to Milner over SWP, and even if his price tag is a little high, when you consider Ferdinand to Sunderland for £8m it's pretty good value in the current market.

Savman

Helix wrote: »

milner is 22, and loves villa

swp is 27, has barely played in 3 years, and is clearly only interested in money

milner all the way

Yep. Gimme gimme gimme.

Villain

Gerrard is out for 3 weeks so he won't be able to dive and get a free to get a result this season

Villain

O'Neill on Milner:

The Villa boss would only say: "I will tell you that we are very keen to try to strengthen our side between now and transfer deadline day.

"I am sure I could get one or two in anyway but it is just adding the sort of quality that I would want - and that is exactly what I will be trying to do.

"Am I a fan of Milner? He was nearly here two years ago. He nearly signed two years ago but it didn't materialise. But I never think anything is done and dusted until anything happens.

"So many things have happened to me as a player and as a manager that I would never take anything for granted. It was disappointing at the time but it was two years ago."

shoutman

Didn't realise SWP was 27. Probably just cause he is so small you expect him to still be 19.

Milner would be great.

Any plausable transfer links to strikers?

Charlie

Just to give a Newcastle fan's perspective on the whole Milner saga.

As much as I love having Milner in the squad, there are a fair few of us Toon fans, who are flabbergasted at how highly some people rate him, and how much Villa are reported to be willing to pay for him.

James is a terrific workhorse, given a start, he will run the bollix out of himself, and that is something that made him standout from alot of the others last season when the chips were down. However, his end product is shockingly bad. Despite what I have heard some users on both this and the pool thread say, he cannot cross the ball for love nor money. Trust me, I have been frustrated for years now watching his balloon the ball every which way. This is evidenced by the fact that he only had one assist last season, and a donkey like Geremi raked up 6 in comparison.

Further, I am not sure exactly where James will fit in to the squad once we get a few back off the injured the list. Spiderman seems destined to play down the right, and Duff and N'zogbia will probably be competing for the left flank, with Charlie looking a very good bet on recent performances. Nicky Butt and Guthrie have been super in the middle and they won't be shifting. KK likes to play 442 so I imagine once Oba, Viduka, or even our rumoured new striker arrives back, they will be partnering St. Michael.

However, there is one reason why I would like to keep Jambo (apart from the fact that he is a great squad asset to have) and that's because KK rates him and wants to keep him. Our squad is thin as things presently stand, and KK has been trying to bolster it, so to lose a player would be a blow, not only to the numbers, but also to KK's position within the club.

Finally, the lads over at NUFC.com (not the official club site btw) have compiled an interesting piece on the situation which I think is a worthwile read for all those interested to see whether he will move.

NUFC.com wrote:

A club statement on Wednesday confirmed that James Milner had submitted a transfer request - less than a week before the closing of the current transfer window:

"Newcastle United can confirm that it has received a written transfer request from James Milner.

"The Club is very disappointed that James sees his footballing future as being away from St. James' Park. He is a valued member of the squad and it is only a year ago that he signed an improved long-term contract.

"We have yet to receive an offer for James that has matched our valuation of him. However, should such an offer be received then the Club would be reluctantly forced to consider it, given James' apparent desire to leave."

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill was at our Coventry cup tie on Tuesday night but given O'Neill's moral outrage at the alleged tapping up of Gareth Barry, we're sure that must just be a coincidence....

On a serious note, were Milner to have been lured away, then he would be in the minority by formally asking to move - and therefore missing out financially on payments from his present club.

Therefore the transfer request can be seen as an attempt to provoke public debate and pressurise Newcastle into reaching an agreement to keep the player in Toon.

If another club wanted him - and he wanted to go - then he'd already be gone, subject to a fee being agreed. That's not the case - yet.

Update 1: The Professional Footballers Association released their own statement later on Wednesday:

"The PFA, who represent James Milner, are disappointed that information regarding James' request for a move, and the circumstances surrounding it, have come to the public's attention, and we feel we have no option but to respond.

"The facts are that James' transfer request was actually handed in on Wednesday August 20, at which point it was asked by Newcastle United to keep the matter private.

"The request was given because the player was looking for an improvement on his contract that reflected his development and his value to the club. There is a meeting between the owner and all relevant people at the club today [Wednesday] when we believed James' request was to be discussed.

"To clarify the situation, James did sign a contract 12 months ago. However this agreement was reached with the club nearly 12 months previous at the point in which Newcastle had agreed to sell James to Aston Villa on transfer deadline day 2006 before canceling the agreement at the 11th hour.

"Since then he has played over 80 games for Newcastle United. All James wanted was a deal that reflected his development and that was in line with Newcastle United's transfer valuation of him."

Update 2: some interesting comments came from Ken Bates - Chairman of Leeds United - on Tuesday:

"We have a sell-on clause on a player in demand at another club. We were approached to take a figure to buy out the rights which suggests he may be set to move on.

"We're happy to ride with it, see what happens and take our share."

We can only think this is a reference to Milner.

Update 3: From what we can glean, the player isn't particularly mad about moving to Aston Villa - unlike when he was there on loan under former Leeds boss O'Leary.

And while the lure of Champions League football (at the moment anyway) is an obvious reason to fancy life at Liverpool, Milner is said to be happy playing at SJP.

The success of the public and private campaign to get Milner's contemporary Steven Taylor an improved contract seems to have been the trigger for this discontentment.

It's just over a month since Milner's fellow England U21 international was awarded a new £35K a week three-year deal, after Mike Ashley's intervention.

That was seen partly as a reward for services rendered to date and also as an investment in the club's future by securing talent that had begun to develop here.

The argument appears to be that Milner matches Taylor in those respects, but signed a contract in 2007 that was equal only to that which Taylor was already on - and the hoped-for parity has not been forthcoming.

There's also a realisation that Milner's departure would see him replaced by an unknown quantity, with no track record at this club - or maybe even in this league, country or continent - but who would command the level of wages Milner is seeking.

Under those circumstances, the question is being asked of Newcastle, why take the risk and end up with another Emre or Luque etc. etc.

spiderdan

he ticks all the MON box's young loads of potential hungry etc- if there's a manager that can extract the best from these types of players its MON, plus anyone is better then Rio Coker playing on the right.

I'm a little disappointed nothing came of the Joaquin rumor. He'd be my choice if available.

Esse85

SWP has joined City again, so i feel MON will fully concentrate on Milner now. I can see what Charlie is saying about Milner and regard to crossing, but im sure this will improve in time, there;s not many youngsters that are capable of crossing the ball consistently well.

There's definately room for improvement from Milner, but people seem to forget that he's still only 22. Im hoping he'll have looked to how MON helped Ashley Young transform his game and become a full England international.

Away from that, is the game on tv tonight or will we have to watch it on a live stream.

Villain

Has to be Milner then, I would have liked SWP on one side with Ashley Young on the other but .....

Mr Alan

That article from the Newcastle fansite touches on it, but O'Neills hypocrisy has appeared again by being at the Newcastle/Coventry game and talking about another clubs player publically.

i'm sure this will go totally un-noticed by villa fans again though where will continue to claim some sort of false moral higher ground.

Villain

He's handed in a transfer request or did you miss that part Mr Alan

Mr Alan

thats totally irrelevant.
the rules dont change once someone has handed in a transfer request.

but now that you mention it Villian, if that had any bearing on it, how would o'neill know he handed in a transfer request when it wasnt made public until the day after? are you implying that MON was in communication with Milner while he was contracted to another club? tut tut

Doodee

maybe Rafa told him?

Esse85

Mr Alan wrote: »

That article from the Newcastle fansite touches on it, but O'Neills hypocrisy has appeared again by being at the Newcastle/Coventry game and talking about another clubs player publically.

i'm sure this will go totally un-noticed by villa fans again though where will continue to claim some sort of false moral higher ground.

A transfer request was handed in over a week ago.

Is MON not allowed to watch a football match now?

He could of been at that game for any number of reasons, maybe he was checking out Clinton Morrison:D

Thats not like you to behave like a troll:rolleyes:

Esse85

Mr Alan wrote: »

thats totally irrelevant.
the rules dont change once someone has handed in a transfer request.

but now that you mention it Villian, if that had any bearing on it, how would o'neill know he handed in a transfer request when it wasnt made public until the day after? are you implying that MON was in communication with Milner while he was contracted to another club? tut tut

Maybe Milner sent him a "come get me" tex message:p

Your clearly trying to spark off a feud again even though you have no evidence.

invincibleirish

We're Milners plan B, he wants a big new contract, preferably at NUFC, if he doesnt get it there he gets it at VP.

Its hardly decent to suggest MON is acting in an underhand way when its pretty obvious its Milner orchestrating this whole situation anyway with or without the PFAs help.

whatever grudge you have with MON forget about it, he won, it isnt MON looking ridiculous in the press this morning.

Mr Alan

Esse85 wrote: »

A transfer request was handed in over a week ago.

Is MON not allowed to watch a football match now?

The transfer request isnt part of the issue.

Esse85 wrote: »

Maybe Milner sent him a "come get me" tex message:p

Your clearly trying to spark off a feud again even though you have no evidence.

O'Neill has commented on the possibility of signing Milner, who is currently a Newcastle player. The same act that had Villa fans crying all summer. Also O'Neill went to a match the player was playing in....would you look have been happy if Rafa did the same thing over the summer? dont think so.

Your manager is exactly like the vast majority of others, a decent bloke in general, but willing to bend the rules a little in pursuit of his goals-which wouldnt merit a mention usually, but considering the attitude displayed to Liverpool and Mr Benitez over the summer for near identical actions and the professing of MON as whiter than white, i thought it worth pointing out.

invincibleirish

Mr Alan its a beautiful day out, im just finished my repeats, EP is happening and Villa are gonna beat Pool at the weekend after strolling past the icelandic part timers tonight why you gotta come in here stirring? can you not at least wait for the weekend match thread? Milner is the one doing all the talking here stop trying to infer that MON is something he's not.

Villain

Milner handed in his transfer request 2 weeks ago, do you think his he didn't make sure that information went back to Villa?

I love the way Mr Alan thinks something only happens if its in the public domain, MON was aked about Milner and he said "I will tell you that we are very keen to try to strengthen our side between now and transfer deadline day.

"I am sure I could get one or two in anyway but it is just adding the sort of quality that I would want - and that is exactly what I will be trying to do.

"Am I a fan of Milner? He was nearly here two years ago. He nearly signed two years ago but it didn't materialise. But I never think anything is done and dusted until anything happens.

"So many things have happened to me as a player and as a manager that I would never take anything for granted. It was disappointing at the time but it was two years ago"

Now where does he tap up the player or even say he's trying to sign the player???

Charlie

Just a little bit more information from The Chronicle's Alan Oliver

My information is that when Aston Villa slapped in an £8m bid for Milner a couple of weeks ago, the player asked Keegan if this was his valuation and if so would United have a look at his contract.

Keegan agreed, but I’m told the United hierarchy insisted Milner stuck to his original deal, which still has three years to run.

Oliver can be hit and miss with his stories, but this one kinda makes sense given the sequence of events. I still think that it is in Newcastle's hands whether James stays or not (by that I mean give him a new contract, obvioulsy we could refuse to sell him), and I have a feeling this could be a real test of Keegan's pull at the club.

Savman

So if Villa do sign Milner, theoretically that'll be 2 players at Villa Park that Liverpool were after and couldn't get

invincibleirish

charlie mchugh wrote: »

I still think that it is in Newcastle's hands whether James stays or not

I agree, some seem to think its a done deal to Villa given the noises coming out of Milner and his agents, he is just a footballer looking for more money, surely Mr Ashley can see this is the kind of thing KK can get emotional over?

Charlie

invincibleirish wrote: »

I agree, some seem to think its a done deal to Villa given the noises coming out of Milner and his agents, he is just a footballer looking for more money, surely Mr Ashley can see this is the kind of thing KK can get emotional over?

Indeed. As much as I feel that KK can't afford financially to leave the job, if he is not backed (which at the moment is only hearsay so I will give Ashley the benefit of the doubt) in situations such as these, than out of principal, he could say good bye and good luck. I can guarantee you that should that happen, Dennis Wise and Mike Ashley would be on a deathwish to step foot anywhere near St. James.

Hence, why I think a deal of some sort will be done, as I think that's all Milner is looking for, and not an actual move away.

eagle eye

Mr Alan wrote: »

That article from the Newcastle fansite touches on it, but O'Neills hypocrisy has appeared again by being at the Newcastle/Coventry game and talking about another clubs player publically.

i'm sure this will go totally un-noticed by villa fans again though where will continue to claim some sort of false moral higher ground.

Get real man, every club in the PL is at this. It only becomes a big issue when a club that don't want to lose the player decide to go down the official path to make as much as they can from it.

wynters

Savman wrote: »

So if Villa do sign Milner, theoretically that'll be 2 players at Villa Park that Liverpool were after and couldn't get

3 if you include Freddie Bouma! Who chose to sign for us over Liverpool back in the David O'Leary days...

JPA

wynters wrote: »

3 if you include Freddie Bouma! Who chose to sign for us over Liverpool back in the David O'Leary days...

Lets not be petty lads.

Neil3030

Ladies and gents I've just been diagnosed with arthritis in my right hand so needless to say my participation on these here boards will be somewhat reduced.

So just to give my tuppance worth on recent discussions:

• Milner -Yes please
• Newcastle - Always had a soft spot, really don't want to see Ashley bring them down the jacks.
• Mr Alan - Get a life

P.S. No **** jokes please.

matrim

is the game on tv anywhere tonight?

Villain

http://www.wheresthematch.com/tv/home.asp

Its on Channel 5

or http://www.justin.tv/widgets/jtv_live.r8713.swf?channel=coxie82

Mr Alan

invincibleirish wrote: »

why you gotta come in here stirring? can you not at least wait for the weekend match thread? Milner is the one doing all the talking here stop trying to infer that MON is something he's not.

first off-Milner has not said one single word.
second-posting wat i posted is hideously OT for the match thread.
third-MON and Aston Villa are hypocrites, all clubs are. All i am trying to point out to yous is that ye are seriously misinformed to think anything else.

Savman wrote: »

So if Villa do sign Milner, theoretically that'll be 2 players at Villa Park that Liverpool were after and couldn't get

wat a stupid point, both Milner and Barry would choose Liverpool over Villa every day of the week. I know thats petty to say, but it is true and yous were the ones who brought it down to this level.

Villain

Just like any glory hunting Fan would have chosen to Support Liverpool rather than Villa but hey you already know that

So anyway show me what MON said about Milner, or are you only talking about what I posted where he responded to a question and said nothing about want to sign Milner??

Esse85

He'll show a picture of MON at the Coventry Newcastle game:D

mike65

moved to Wafer Cup thread

Mr Alan

i'll admit, that MONs comments arent nearly as bad as i thought they were.

but they are about as bad as anything Rafa ever said about Barry until MON told the world we were signing him.

doesnt change my point though, the comments rafa made had AV fans wanting him hung drawn and quartered, whereas o'neill makes similar comments and not an eyelid is raised.

combined with The General & Gardner commenting on Bentley, it just shows how your club is just like all others, despite wat you think.

You also never responded to how you would have reacted to Rafa attending a AV game when we were in the hunt for barry. wouldnt have gone too well i wouldnt have imagined. but of course its perfectly acceptable for o'neill

(invincible:hope the repeats went well)

DarenO

anybody watching the game, its not broadcasting on justin.tv

Esse85

Cant find a link either

JPA

DarenO wrote: »

anybody watching the game, its not broadcasting on justin.tv

http://www.justin.tv/world2008