Aston Villa Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

homah_7ft

At least the timing isn't as bad as it could have been. MON can bring in an extra CB if he feels more cover is needed. I have a feeling Emile could bring some more stability to our clearances from defence corners too, which would be a major area we'd miss Laursen in.

JPA

Neil3030 wrote: »

ITSOTP:

He's not in the shirt or on the pitch!

Time Magazine

JPA wrote: »

He's not in the shirt or on the pitch!

Does anyone know where that is btw? I've never gone on that VP tour, but is that the place near the tunnel where the post-match interviews are given?

Savman

Fascinating signing tbh, 31yo experienced international. Doesn't seem like a billy big bollocks either, good head on his shoulders. Gives us something slightly different to Carew IMHO.

Savman

The Economist wrote: »

Does anyone know where that is btw? I've never gone on that VP tour, but is that the place near the tunnel where the post-match interviews are given?

Press conference room I'd say, its in there somewhere.

Savman

lol @ the description of Heskey as being like Socks - exactly what you need, but not what you wanted :D:D

invincibleirish

The pieces are slowly falling into place. Good work MON. now to fill that tricky full back spot til Bouma comes back.

JPA

We must have the strongest frontline in the league now.
And by strongest I mean they could pull trucks with their teeth.

Except Gabby of course!

Villain

Great signing imo he will create more goal scoring chances and others have said he seems a top bloke so will boost moral, I would still like another signing or two

Neil3030

JPA wrote: »

He's not in the shirt or on the pitch!

Whatever man. Done deal... job done.... boxed off.... pick a phrase you're happy with literally and figuratively and kindly go **** yourself.

Savman

Neil3030 wrote: »

Whatever man. Done deal... job done.... boxed off.... pick a phrase you're happy with literally and figuratively and kindly go **** yourself.

:eek:

And you were such a good kid.

Neil3030

JPA wrote: »

We must have the strongest frontline in the league now.
And by strongest I mean they could pull trucks with their teeth.

Teams aren't exactly going to be queuing up to start barneys with us in the tunnel that's for sure!!

Savman

SSN just did a quick stat, he's scored 101 goals in 424 games, not sure where the idea comes from he doesn't score enough. Not that I'm trying to justify the signing, but didn't he score 20+ in one season for Liverpool once upon a time?

Double figures would do us

Neil3030

Savman wrote: »

:eek:

And you were such a good kid.

LOL, thanks man. (I'm in two minds as to whether I should add this to my sig :P)

Savman

Neil3030 wrote: »

LOL, thanks man. (I'm in two minds as to whether I should add this to my sig :P)

At the risk of sounding greedy....one wonders what's in store for Bent?

Neil3030

Formation ideas for the weekend?


I'm thinkin:

---

Friedel

---

Reo-C

---

Cuellar

---

Davies

---

Young

Agbonlahor--Sidwell--Petrov--Barry--Milner

---

Heskey

---

Neil3030

Savman wrote: »

At the risk of sounding greedy....one wonders what's in store for Bent?

I heard talk of a swap between him and Carlton Cole at West Ham... personally I'd take Sturridge over Bent now that we have Heskey.

Helix

The Economist wrote: »

Does anyone know where that is btw? I've never gone on that VP tour, but is that the place near the tunnel where the post-match interviews are given?

bodymoore id imagine

spiderdan

I'm pretty happy with this- MON is really starting to bring his plans together, its beginning to make sense, lets not forget that there was a strong indication from Villa Pk he had 30m to spend this window, one thing I've never really checked up is Mr Lerner's commercial interests and how badly effected he's been with the crisis. Still 26.5m to spend wouldn't be bad would it!! I reckon MON would happily not spend the money if he had it rather then go out and waste 20m on some flop. I tell one thing if I had the option of signing Heskey for 3.5 or R Keane for 20 I know which one I'd go for!!

Smegball

Villa won't spend 30m in this transfer window, MON is too shrewd more often than not, and will generally be perceived as stubborn with his budget, bit like Wenger but I would honestly trust the players he buys, he won't blow the budget on some big name player who will never live up to the fee.

JPA

spiderdan wrote: »

I'm pretty happy with this- MON is really starting to bring his plans together, its beginning to make sense, lets not forget that there was a strong indication from Villa Pk he had 30m to spend this window, one thing I've never really checked up is Mr Lerner's commercial interests and how badly effected he's been with the crisis. Still 26.5m to spend wouldn't be bad would it!! I reckon MON would happily not spend the money if he had it rather then go out and waste 20m on some flop. I tell one thing if I had the option of signing Heskey for 3.5 or R Keane for 20 I know which one I'd go for!!

I really really don't think there are budgets set like we see in the papers at Villa Park.
If MON wanted 6 players this window and none the next he could do it.
But with MON and Lerner being on the same wavelength he knows how to be sensible and restrain himself without being told to.
What MON has at Villa is what Rafa and others crave. Complete control to do things his way.

Neil3030

spiderdan wrote: »

I'm pretty happy with this- MON is really starting to bring his plans together, its beginning to make sense, lets not forget that there was a strong indication from Villa Pk he had 30m to spend this window, one thing I've never really checked up is Mr Lerner's commercial interests and how badly effected he's been with the crisis. Still 26.5m to spend wouldn't be bad would it!! I reckon MON would happily not spend the money if he had it rather then go out and waste 20m on some flop. I tell one thing if I had the option of signing Heskey for 3.5 or R Keane for 20 I know which one I'd go for!!

Coincidentally there was an entry on the AVFC Blog this morning on this very issue. Long and the short of it, the weakening pound against the dollar has increased Lerner's net wealth in the British market by £400m in the last six months:

What does that mean to Randy Lerner though? Well, according to Forbes he has a net worth of $1.9 billion which is now (using xe.com for accuracy) just over £1.4 billion. Go back to August and that figure would only be £1 billion. Basically his net worth in the UK has increased by £400mn. in the past few months.

Mr Alan

JPA wrote: »

What MON has at Villa is what Rafa and others crave. Complete control to do things his way.

Spot on.

Which is why Villa are so well placed to break into the top 4.

Good players, Good manager, Good owner = Great combination.

GuanYin

I think Heskey is a good buy for Villa.

I do wonder will the team now struggle with Young and Laursen injured.


Is Young injured for long? He is most of Villas pace in attack.

Helix

GuanYin wrote: »

I think Heskey is a good buy for Villa.

I do wonder will the team now struggle with Young and Laursen injured.


Is Young injured for long? He is most of Villas pace in attack.

young isnt injured

hes suspended for 3 games

also, we've been without laursen for 5 our of our last 6 iirc, and we've been just fine

next matches will see milner on the left, gabby on the right, and heskey up top

no change of system, just personnel

Bounty Hunter

I reckon Gardner will go RM tommorow or Gabby will with the Fonz/Hare upront though as apparently Heskey had to have his deal done by 12 today or he couldent be registerd for the FA cup squad, he will start imo against Pompey tho with Young suspended. Davies and Cuellar are still two of the better Prem defenders around imo, so despite the Laursen blow id say we should be alright.

Samurai

I remember last time young was out(last season?) we were awful, total lack of creativity, I just hope we can get lucky (again) in our next two prem games, feck the cup!

Neil3030

According to this article in the Mail, MON has refused to rule out a move for Owen. Unless he was quoted wildly out of context, this is surely a sign that we are working to sign him, seeing as MON usually doesn't hesitate to rubbish any false rumours.

Then, when asked about re-uniting Heskey with his former Liverpool and England team-mate, O'Neill said: 'We would see. Like everything else, football is evolving all the time. I don't know. That's not to say Michael Owen is not a terrific footballer.

'Gabby Agbonlahor has been incredible for us this season. He's been fantastic. What happens in the future, I don't know.'

O'Neill is not slow to dismiss speculation if it is wide of the mark and, with Owen's deal running down at Newcastle, he is an attractive proposition if Villa do not have to pay a fee.

The Villa boss would have to avoid breaking the club's wage structure, but Owen is likely to be enticed by the prospect of Champions League football next season and the chance to win back his England place in time for next year'sWorld Cup finals.

Helix

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

I reckon Gardner will go RM tommorow or Gabby will with the Fonz/Hare upront though as apparently Heskey had to have his deal done by 12 today or he couldent be registerd for the FA cup squad, he will start imo against Pompey tho with Young suspended. Davies and Cuellar are still two of the better Prem defenders around imo, so despite the Laursen blow id say we should be alright.

fonz will play up front id say with gabby on the right

the hare prob on the bench and wont play unless necessary. no point cup-tying him for someone

Mr Alan

i'd read that thing about Owen as MON saying he wasnt interested in him, trying not to offend Owen

Neil3030

Mr Alan wrote: »

i'd read that thing about Owen as MON saying he wasnt interested in him, trying not to offend Owen

Well we'll soon see. The title of the article makes a clear suggestion, so I would have no doubts we'll see MON release a clarifying statement if his words were spun.

redout

23/01/2009 18:07
Gareth Barry Regains Aston Villa Captaincy

Following the injury to talismanic Danish defender Martin Laursen, Gareth Barry has once again been handed the Aston Villa captain's armband.

galleria zoom





Martin Laursen was ruled out of action for eight weeks today after undergoing surgery in his troublesome right knee. In his absence, Gareth Barry will once again captain Aston Villa, starting with the FA Cup fourth round tie at Championship outfit Doncaster Rovers tomorrow.

Barry had been stripped of the captaincy following the protracted saga surrounding his potential move to Liverpool last summer; a transfer that never materialised.

"To lose Martin is a real bad blow for us and a real big blow for him," Villa boss Martin O'Neill told The Birmingham Mail earlier.

"He missed a couple of games before coming back for the West Brom match, when he felt pretty good. We felt that, with a bit of man-management, we could tide things over until the summer in terms of avoiding surgery, but he has had a reaction.

"He has needed an operation and we are now looking at eight weeks on the sidelines, which is a long, long time.

"He has been brilliant for us, terrific for the last couple of years since coming back from a serious injury.

"It is a major loss but it's something we will have to deal with."
The Villa manager is also aware of the significance of the FA Cup tie, in a week that saw the passing of the last Aston Villa skipper to lift the famous old trophy, Johnny Dixon, who captained the Villans to victory over Manchester United in the 1957 final.

"It is a long time since we won the cup. That is a fact, but we can't be thinking of things like that because we face a difficult game," O'Neill added.

"Doncaster are a fine footballing side and were well worth their win over Cheltenham.

"It is going to be tough for us and they will fancy their chances after beating Villa two or three years ago in the League Cup."

Barry will be one of only two survivors from the last time Villa faced Doncaster in a cup tie: a 3-0 defeat in the Carling Cup three years ago. He will hope for a very different outcome this time out.



http://www.goal.com/en/news/737/aston-villa/2009/01/23/1074680/gareth-barry-regains-aston-villa-captaincy

JPA

It's completely open to interpretation really.
The way I see it is if Owen was available at a reasonable price and wanted to come for reasonable wages then MON would give some serious thought to bringing him in. But if he wasn't I don't think he'd mind too much as the Owen type of player is on the wane.
But I don't think he wants to pay a big lump for him as his contract is expiring.

Bounty Hunter

well i do remember Owen saying his prefered strike partner was Emile Heskey

sternn

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

well i do remember Owen saying his prefered strike partner was Emile Heskey

And what do you know, rumors in todays newspapers are saying O'Neill is interested in Owen! Journalists looking for a story I say.

Kinetic^

I think owen is good but by god is he injury prone so I'm not sure if it would be the best buy tbh.

JPA

Doncaster - Villa is on Setanta Ireland today.

JPA

VILLA: Friedel; Cuellar, Davies, Knight, Shorey; Milner, Petrov, Sidwell, Barry, Reo-Coker; Agbonlahor. Subs: Guzan, Delfouneso, Salifou, Gardner, Osbourne, Clark. Harewood.

invincibleirish

Only managed to catch last 15mins, disappointing result, disappointing to see so many first teamers look knackered.

Villain

That game was a disaster played bad looked tired and now the bloody replay to come, only thing is perhaps MON might look to the transfer market again

Neil3030

Chins up lads,we started Shorey and Knight without conceding, and we rattled the woodwork without Young (and Carew, though that's not unusual lately). We've played a heck of a lot worse than we did today and won a fair few games recently - had we have scored that performance would have been heralded as clinical, job done etc. Replay we should stuff them.

Helix

in work so didnt see it, but we should thump them at villa park. as a rule (tho i know well there are exceptions) lower teams only ever really get one chance to beat premiership teams, and more often than not are beaten comfortably in the return leg

another silver lining is that young will be back for the replay, meaning hes not going into the chelsea match cold

jesus_thats_gre

Kinetic^ wrote: »

I think owen is good but by god is he injury prone so I'm not sure if it would be the best buy tbh.

Adding Owen to the Villa ranks would, in my opinion anyway, massively boost your chances for CL qualification next season. Agbonlahor would also massively benefit from Owen's experience too I think.

JPA

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

Adding Owen to the Villa ranks would, in my opinion anyway, massively boost your chances for CL qualification next season. Agbonlahor would also massively benefit from Owen's experience too I think.

Doesn't seem to be available until the summer though. And reports say he wants £150,000 a week. Which couldn't possibly be true.

One Cold Hand

Disappointing result. Worst thing we now have an extra game. We'd have been argueably better off losing and concentrating on CL qualification/UEFA Cup.

homah_7ft

Any news on Reo Coker injury?

Bounty Hunter

According to an interview Charles N'Zogbia gave to Foot Mercato - a regular read in this household - he would prefer a move to Villa.

In the interview quoted from Setnata Sports, he says he would be happy with a move to either Villa or Arsenal, but he does a preference for us as we have been improving over the last few years.

"I`m still in stand-by, waiting for the club to make a decision. We did everything to put the club that are interested in contact with Newcastle.

"But it seems that something is frozen on Newcastle`s part. They have the cards in their hands. It`s just about a good offer being made.

"The club is asking for too much money. All we can do is wait and see.

'The clubs that are interested remain the same, but it`s tough because they are asking for a ridiculous sum of money.

'Arsenal and Aston Villa are top teams in the English league, so I`d be happy to join them.

"I don`t have a priority. Both are good clubs, but I have a little preference for Aston Villa. They have been improving as a team in the last few years, which proves that they can do well.

"I don`t think (that being in Villa`s starting XI is easier than in Arsenal`s), and it`s a young team. Aston Villa`s manager is a good coach, according to my friends. I think he could make me better."

Commented on his previous little preference, Lyon he said:

"The door is not closed to Olympique Lyonnais. Perhaps after speaking to Newcastle their interest was not as strong as it used to be. I don`t know what happened, but the door remains open.

"I`m not upset. If a transfer is meant to be, that`s good news."

The remainder of the interview is him moaning about Newcastle's lack of progress since he joined the club, and that he doesn't believe he can improve as a player whilst with them. Pointing to what I assume are broken promises and saying that halfway through each season for the past four years the situation is always the same

he 100% seems to want out of Newcastle and has made a number of come and get me plea's to Arsenal, Lyon and now Aston Villa. He seems to tal too much but does indicate he would be happy to be a squad player and not demand first team football (although I thought that was his orignal problem at Newcastle). He has been played at LB and so could provide cover there or for Ashley Young if he signed, but i dont know he seemed more of a prospect a few years ago (but thats normal for Newcastle players i guess).

Villain

Away to Pool or Everton if we win!!!

Helix

hes to mouthy

we wont sign him

Bounty Hunter

the tie and draw were a dissapointment the only positive from the fa cup weekend is that Arsenal, Everton & Liverpool all have to play replays also.