Aston Villa Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

Helix

in mons defence (that must be a first), all he said was he wouldnt rule it out when he was asked it there might be new players in before the game

Savman

Piss poor tonight, not gonna hit panic button but we need some quality.

Neil3030

The signings will come.....
The signings will come.....
The signings will come.....

*Rocks back and forth in corner of room.

wynters

Some transfer speculation - of the spurious Sunday-redtop variety... Nicola Zigic, Paul Scharner, Man Utd full back Danny Simpson, James Milner and more links to French midfielder Nicolas Marin...

VILLA £5m BID FOR ZIGIC
NOTW, July 20th

ASTON VILLA have tabled a £5million bid for giant Serb striker Nikola Zigic.

Valencia have confirmed they have received an offer from an English club for the 6ft 7in marksman, who has been told he is not part of new coach Unai Emery’s plans.

Sporting director Juan Sanchez said: “The player and his agent know about the offer and we expect them to make a decision in the coming days.”

Zigic has also attracted interest from clubs in France and Greece but is thought to favour a move to the Premier League.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MARTIN'S CASE FOR DEFENCE
Sunday Mirror, July 20th

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill is planning a double deal to shore up his defence.

He is chasing Wigan's Austrian star Paul Scharner and a loan move for Manchester United youngster Danny Simpson after a frustrating summer in the transfer market.

Centre-half Scharner, rated at £3million, is refusing to sign a new contract at Steve Bruce's club after demanding £40,000 a week.

O'Neill has also started negotiations to sign Simpson on loan, who was on loan at Ipswich last year.

Simpson can play on either flank but is better in the right - a problem position for O'Neill, who would be willing to take the United reserve on loan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

VILLA MIL POWER
Sunday People, July 20th

Newcastle have told Aston Villa that James Milner IS available for sale - but only if Martin O'Neill stumps up £10million.

Villa were reported to have eased their interest in Milner, 22, but sources revealed manager O'Neill is still keen.

Toon chief Kevin Keegan would prefer to keep him, but United have told the Villans they would sell if a £10m bid came in.

That would represent a tidy profit for the Magpies, who paid Leeds £3.6m - rising to £5m on appearances - for Milner four years ago.

Liverpool have cooled on the winger so O'Neill is leading the chase for his signature.

DSB

I wouldn't believe too many rumours today, its inevitable they'll be linking us with people after last night.

Esse85

I was watching SSN there and just saw Juan Pablo Angel score a great goal from the weekend against Beckhams LA Galaxy.

Helix

if weve been told £10m for milner, then mon needs to put in a £10m bid, no messing or pricking round, and have the player in training asap

Esse85

Yeah its nearly too late signing someone at the end of August as they'll have no time to settle in and gel with the players.

Helix

of course tho we both know thats exactly whatll happen

Bounty Hunter

I actually wouldent mind Simpson on loan if another right back signs permantley as he could be backup for the new ghuy and Bouma. Of course id prefer we actually signed people at this stage

Raekwon

Esse85 wrote: »

Whether we qualify for the Uefa cup or not i cant see this having too much bearing on the caliber of player we sign. Nowadays it seem to be the CL or nothing.

I'm not totally convinced that being in Europe will bring us any better quality players, if that was in fact the case then the vast majority of players would be queuing up to sign for big teams in crap leagues like Celtic, Benifca, Galatasaray, Panathinaikos etc. just so they could play in Europe each season. Just to highlight this point, we signed Milan Baros four months after he lifted the Champions League trophy, Freddy Bouma four mouths after he narrowly missed out on reaching the same final with PSV Eindhoven & John Carew, a player who has played Champions League football for every single club he has played for before he came to Villa Park and that includes playing in the final it's self with Valencia.

I think the biggest factor for a player signing (aside from money obviously) is the statues of the league he will be playing in and the ambition of the club that he signs for. So looking at Villa from an outside prospective they would be very appealing; Top 6 team in arguably the best league in Europe, great management team & ambitious chairman, big stadium with passionate fans & a squad so small that decent new signings with be nearly automatically guaranteed a first team place.

I think the whole 'we HAVE to be in Europe to sign decent players' is a total cop out. Okay we are never going to able to attract the really world class players like Kaka, Eto'o or Ribery but there are thousands of top quality players out there that Villa could easily attract but for some reason it doesn't seem to be happening. An example of this would be Paulo Aimar signing for Benfica last week from relegated Real Zaragoza for £6m...........why were Villa not interested in him? It's not like we don't need an attacking midfield play maker. The whole thing is quite baffling tbh

Helix

i doubt we even knew aimar was available

the whole scouting system at the club seems to be non existant

leninbenjamin

Helix wrote: »

the whole scouting system at the club seems to be non existant

in fairness this is an ailment of almost all British clubs, not exclusively a villa problem. again it seems more a cultural thing, and the work permit situation doesn't help. you've touched on something though I always find odd. to see the same few familiar faces being constantly traded around in the hope 'this time' might be the time... when it's obvious they are muck.

Esse85

leninbenjamin wrote: »

you've touched on something though I always find odd. to see the same few familiar faces being constantly traded around in the hope 'this time' might be the time... when it's obvious they are muck.

E.g Routledge

It seems to be the case that MON and his staff are completely unaware that a league other than the EPL exists. I ve never been in favour of a director of football as i always believed that they cause too much interference, however i could warm to the idea of getting one in as the current set up just seems to be a joke.

Im aware MON wants to have the final say in every matter concerned with the club, but surely someone could be employed by the club to make recommendations about transfers and work with MON (not against).

Helix

defintely

its been something ive been calling for for the last 18 months for villa. it has a stigma because it has never been done right in england. what we need isnt a director of football in the usual sense, well not the usual english sense

what we need is someone who heads the scouting network, working extremely closely with mon, and who has the business nous to be able to go and tie up deals as and when greenlighted by o'neill

it wouldnt be bypassing mon at all, hed still have the exact same sway as always in terms of transfers, but hed also have another head to work on things with him. if the manager doesnt want a player, the player isnt signed. simple as that

leninbenjamin

Helix wrote: »

it has a stigma because it has never been done right in england.

exactly.

the irony is that Jose has walked into almost exactly the same setup at Inter as he complained so furiously about at Chelsea. while he makes recommendations, ultimately transfers at Inter are conducted by others. It's daft in a way.

it's strange, that while the PL is the money maker of the big leagues these days, some of the set ups are far from the professional ideal.

realistically if Villa are serious about making the step up they need to be a lot more adventurous in their club set up and transfers. the likes of Bently, good player no doubt, but vastly over priced. surely there are alternatives out there available for much less?

Helix

it just gets better! stroke of genius from martin o'neill

he decides that the team was ok as it was for the first leg of the intertoto, but claims he hopes to get a few new faces in for the second leg.. BUT WAIT:

17.14 List A has to be submitted by 10 June 2008 (24.00 hours CET).
17.15 For the three rounds of the competition, List A may be amended at any time
until 24.00 CET on the day before the relevant first-leg match, provided that the club’s national association confirms in writing that the new players are eligible to play at domestic level at this time.

we are in VERY real trouble of going out if last night is anything to go by

absolutely torn to shreds down our right ever time odense got the ball. there were over 25 crosses put in from our right

thats now lincoln and odense whove absolutely destroyed us down there, and still no right sided signings

no first choice goalkeeper, no right back, no right sided midfielder, only 2 fit center backs, no cover for left back or left midfield, and no new signings can play on saturday

amazing, absolutely amazing

DSB

Helix wrote: »

it just gets better! stroke of genius from martin o'neill

he decides that the team was ok as it was for the first leg of the intertoto, but claims he hopes to get a few new faces in for the second leg.. BUT WAIT:



we are in VERY real trouble of going out if last night is anything to go by

absolutely torn to shreds down our right ever time odense got the ball. there were over 25 crosses put in from our right

thats now lincoln and odense whove absolutely destroyed us down there, and still no right sided signings

no first choice goalkeeper, no right back, no right sided midfielder, only 2 fit center backs, no cover for left back or left midfield, and no new signings can play on saturday

amazing, absolutely amazing

We'll go through without much problem.

Raekwon

Helix wrote: »

what we need is someone who heads the scouting network, working extremely closely with mon, and who has the business nous to be able to go and tie up deals as and when greenlighted by o'neill

We already have one. Ian Storey-Moore is Villa's Chief Scout and works along side MON to source talent from home and abroad. So far all he seems to have attached has been Moustapha Salifou...........which was hardly the transfer coup of the century in fairness. Seems like we need to pay Mr Storey-Moore in commission.......the more players he brings in the more money he gets because for the last 2 years he has done shag all!

Charlie

Esse85 wrote: »

E.g Routledge

It seems to be the case that MON and his staff are completely unaware that a league other than the EPL exists. I ve never been in favour of a director of football as i always believed that they cause too much interference, however i could warm to the idea of getting one in as the current set up just seems to be a joke.

Im aware MON wants to have the final say in every matter concerned with the club, but surely someone could be employed by the club to make recommendations about transfers and work with MON (not against).

Helix wrote: »

defintely

its been something ive been calling for for the last 18 months for villa. it has a stigma because it has never been done right in england. what we need isnt a director of football in the usual sense, well not the usual english sense

what we need is someone who heads the scouting network, working extremely closely with mon, and who has the business nous to be able to go and tie up deals as and when greenlighted by o'neill

it wouldnt be bypassing mon at all, hed still have the exact same sway as always in terms of transfers, but hed also have another head to work on things with him. if the manager doesnt want a player, the player isnt signed. simple as that

Lads, what you're describing is exactly what Mike Ashley has put in place at Newcastle with Dennis Wise, Tony Jimenez, and Jeff Vetere.

We've yet to see a flourishing of signings, but they did nab us the highly promising Spiderman, and if word is to be believed, Tony Jimenez is currently based in South America trying to recruit from there.

I guess only time will tell if such a system works.

DSB

Bouhlarouz joining Stuttgart.

death1234567

DSB wrote: »

Bouhlarouz joining Stuttgart.

How is that Villa related?

DSB

death1234567 wrote: »

How is that Villa related?

Alot of people in the thread were putting him forward as a player Villa should be going for.

death1234567

DSB wrote: »

Alot of people in the thread were putting him forward as a player Villa should be going for.

Oh, They were not correct. Very poor player. IMO.

Bounty Hunter

supposidly signed for 4m. Villa were never in for him but thats what 3m less than what Anton Ferdinand would cost.

you a Villa fan death1234567?

death1234567

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

you a Villa fan death1234567?

Yep. Hardcore villa fan since birth :pac:. Sir Tony Daley is my fav player ever.

Neil3030

Spurs are now apparently in for Arshavin, with Blackburn slapping an 18m price-tag on Bentley. I doubt he'll go anywhere for that price, or anything near. My hunch is he'll be a Blackburn player next year.

Helix

anyone get their intertwobob ticket out yet? im a bit concerned

sitout

I heard today that villa were in for andy johnston (everton), and are preparing a 11million pound bid for him!

Bounty Hunter

death1234567 wrote: »

Yep. Hardcore villa fan since birth :pac:. Sir Tony Daley is my fav player ever.

good stuff there arent many of us but in general there is some very good contribution from all posters on this thread and obviously more are welcome.

Harry redknapp seems to think we are going to sign Younes Kaboul, he was very highly rated before he signed for Spurs and was (i think) France U-21 captain before the 8.5m move, however he has been far from a hit at WHL and has most recently been linked as part of the four spurs players to Sunderland. Have to say I wouldent go for him but would prefer himself to Knight as backup for Davies and Laursen.

"But the only thing which scares me is I think we are a little short on numbers in one or two areas. With the amount of games we have coming up it is going to be hard.

"It is hard for me to see somebody like Sol Campbell playing Saturday-Thursday-Sunday. I can't imagine him flying all around Europe in midweek and then playing at Old Trafford at the weekend.

"I think we have 20 good players here. And even though we've now also got Crouchie, a top signing, I think we still need two or three more. We haven't got any young players."

He told the Portsmouth News: "Nicky Shorey at Reading is someone who I like, but he isn't going to come cheaply. And I like Shaun Wright-Phillips.

"I know Shaun and his dad (former Arsenal and England ace Ian Wright) think Portsmouth would be a good move for him.

"And I would like a centre-half. Younes Kaboul wants to come here, but I heard Kaboul is going to Villa. I don't think there is anything he can do about it."

And Redknapp admitted: "If Villa are in for him he may have to go there. We made an offer with what we thought was a fair valuation but if we want some (new) players in we also need to sell a few.

Esse85

Esse85 wrote: »

I was watching SSN there and just saw Juan Pablo Angel score a great goal from the weekend against Beckhams LA Galaxy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRiGoVLTVfY

About 3 minutes in:D

sitout

sweet goal to be fair

One Cold Hand

sitout wrote: »

I heard today that villa were in for andy johnston (everton), and are preparing a 11million pound bid for him!

Source?

Bounty Hunter

I saw that Fulham/Wigan were after johnson for £10-£11m but nothing about Villa

Charlie

Johnson would be a smashing buy for Villa, really give them a proper balance.

Neil3030

Surprising there's been less comment here about 'Arry's remarks. What y'all reckon about Kaboul?

tomred1

Kaboul didn't play much for spurs last season and seen that they let in siht load of goals, i wouldn't rate him.

Neil3030

But surely those two negatives could contribute to a positive?

wynters

Nothing doing with that Zigic fellow anyway... Deffo looks like there's something going on with Kaboul alright according to 'Arry Redknapp... and there's rumours in Birmingham of us making an offer for Louis Saha...

Aston Villa target Younes Kaboul but rule out Nikola Zigic
Birmingham Mail, July 22 2008 By Bill Howell

VILLA boss Martin O’Neill is thought to be lining up a late bid for Spurs centre-back Younes Kaboul after Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp revealed the French defender was already Villa bound.

Sunderland were believed to be heading the chase for the 22-year-old former Auxerre and France under-21 international.

Roy Keane has held talks with Kaboul and three other Tottenham players after having had a fee agreed.

Redknapp has publicly stated his intention to take him to Fratton Park but has now revealed Villa are favourites.

O’Neill needs a centre-back with Curtis Davies out until September and he has no cover in the meantime for Martin Laursen and Zat Knight.

Spurs need money to finance a move for David Bentley with Villa now looking elsewhere for a right-winger. James Milner, Aaron Lennon and Jermaine Pennant are all possibilities.

Redknapp has already agreed to wages of around £60,000-a-week to beat Villa to French midfielder Lassana Diarra, and even larger amounts to lure Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch.

However, Redknapp said: “Kaboul wants to come here but I heard he is going to Villa. I don’t think there is anything he (Peter Storrie) can do about it.”

Spurs paid Auxerre in the region of £8million for Kaboul a year ago only for new boss Juande Ramos to largely leave him out of the side.

And Redknapp admitted: “If Villa are in for him he may have to go there.

‘‘We made an offer with what we thought was a fair valuation.”

Sunderland boss Keane was late arriving at the Black Cats’ training camp in Portugal because he was busy trying to persuade Kaboul, Steed Malbranque, Pascal Chimbonda and Teemu Tainio to sign.

Kaboul’s agent last week ridiculed the possibility of a move to Sunderland. Rudy Raba said: “Younes wouldn’t join Sunderland even if there was an earthquake. We have more interesting options than Sunderland.”

Meanwhile, Martin O'Neill today rubbished any interest in Valencia's beanpole striker Nikola Zigic amid widespread reports of Villa having made a £5million bid.

"There is not a grain of truth in the story whatsoever and I have no idea where it started", he said.

The Serbian forward has failed to make an impact at the Mestalla since moving from Racing Santander and Valencia coach Unai Emery is thought to be open for offers for the 6.7" player.

O'Neill added: "We have not put in an offer, in fact I do not know his agent. "Generally speaking I do not comment on speculation, but as people have already been quoted on this it is only right to put the record straight."

Eire-Dearg

Andy Johnson would be a great player for Villa if the rumours were true.

Anyway where are Wigan/Fulham getting £11m to spend on him?

Charlie

Eire-Dearg wrote: »

Anyway where are Wigan/Fulham getting £11m to spend on him?

Dave Whelan and Mo Fayed have a shilling or two in their respective bank accounts.

Sure the summer Owen was bought by Newcastle, Dave Whelan was on SSN pleading with him to sign for Wigan, they had offered Real something like £15 million for him.

JPA

Would you really want Johnson? An ex bluenoser? sorry but no.

tomred1

I think our money could be spent better than on Johnson.

death1234567

tomred1 wrote: »

I think our money could be spent better than on Johnson.

Me too, and on better than Younes Kaboul.

JPA

death1234567 wrote: »

Me too, and on better than Younes Kaboul.

Burning it would be better than spending it on Kaboul.
At least you'd be warm for a minute.

Helix

JPA wrote: »

Would you really want Johnson? An ex bluenoser? sorry but no.

i dont care if he used to play with hitler youths, hes a bloody good player whod add a lot to us

Mr Alan

would think that Villa would be aiming for higher than Johnson myself.

everton are the club closest to Villa in pecking order at the moment, and they dont view Johnson as being good enough to bring them to the next level.

Yet MON does? strange.

Helix

Mr Alan wrote: »

Yet MON does? strange.

martin o'neill thinks kaboul and knight were good enough to improve us

say what you want about him in terms of results, but in the transfer market the chap is a moron

MementoMori

I was just wondering if any of the Villa fans have posted anything to the General about concerns about MON's abilities in the transfer market?

Perhaps it might be a bit early still but you could ask him about him how much value MON puts on pre-season training?

You could pass on the titbit that apparently Reading have said that the price of buying any of their players will go up as the end of transfer window approaches as it will be more difficult to bring in replacements.

Helix

the general pretty much never comments on mons transfer dealings (bentley gaffe aside)

whispers coming out of villa park that lerner is losing patience with o'neills transfer abilities tho, seeing as poor randy is getting the blame in a lot of places, with questions being raised as to whether hes backing the manager or not

if mon doesnt deliver this summer, and we dont get top 7 in the league, mon is gone