Aston Villa Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

internelligent

x in the city wrote: »

Alan I dont know what your on about, This is Mon's finest season with Villa he screwed up big time by not signing anyone (but a striker past his sell by date) and by not treating the UEFA cup with more respect that it was due.

Since Villa were dumped out of the cup at goodison they are on a freefall, the wrong way...

Everton have consistently been up in or around the top alot more than Villa in recent years

saying Moyes has peaked at Everton is just LOL really.
Everton are just sitting beside Villa despite having a shagged squad pretty all season. We had to play for months with no fit striker in our squad, its a testiment to Moyes qualities to even have Everton in such a lofty position and saying he peaked 4 years ago is the biggest load of nonsense only a pool fan could possible say.

I think you need to dump that raffa worship picture of yours and replace it with a mirror and have a good look at it tbh.

Very few teams 'freefall' to the top of the table.:)

Helix

x in the city wrote: »

Everton are just sitting beside Villa despite having a shagged squad pretty all season.

you seem to neglect to mention that we've had the same problems

x in the city

Right but Everton's is (was) far more profound, besides Villa have the money to have done something about it.

Evertons injury list 08/09

Yaka
Vaughin
Jacobsen
Arteta
Valente
Cahill
Anichebe
Saha (ahem)

umm Van Der Meyde but he is less important

One Cold Hand

x in the city,

To suggest that MON should leave is ridiculous. He's brought us from 16th to challenging for the CL in 3 years. I don't know who else could have done that.

You constantly mention O'Neill's stance on the UEFA Cup, but put Everton in the same situation. We had a good chance of getting 4th, but the chances of winning the UEFA cup were pretty slim, especially considering we were going to CKSA with nothing to defend after the first leg. Our squad is very small, and it was fatigued and injury hit, and trying to be compeditive in 2 competitions just wasn't feasible. What choice would you have made, CL qualification or UEFA Cup?

One Cold Hand

x in the city wrote: »

Right but Everton's is (was) far more profound, besides Villa have the money to have done something about it.

Evertons injury list 08/09

Yaka
Vaughin
Jacobsen
Arteta
Valente
Cahill
Anichebe
Saha (ahem)

umm Van Der Meyde but he is less important

Sidwell
Reo-Coker
Cuellar
Bouma
Carew
Laursen
Heskey

So not too many more, and, at a guess, Villas squad is smaller. Don't know what you mean by 'far more profound'.
And don't forget Villa have played 10 games in Europe, Everton have played 2.

x in the city

One Cold Hand wrote: »

x in the city,

To suggest that MON should leave is ridiculous. He's brought us from 16th to challenging for the CL in 3 years. I don't know who else could have done that.

You constantly mention O'Neill's stance on the UEFA Cup, but put Everton in the same situation. We had a good chance of getting 4th, but the chances of winning the UEFA cup were pretty slim, especially considering we were going to CKSA with nothing to defend after the first leg. Our squad is very small, and it was fatigued and injury hit, and trying to be compeditive in 2 competitions just wasn't feasible. What choice would you have made, CL qualification or UEFA Cup?

I was a bit sarcastic but MON has to take responsibility for Villas alarming slide.

>
We had a good chance of getting 4th, but the chances of winning the UEFA cup were pretty slim, especially considering we were going to CKSA with nothing to defend after the first leg

This is juts BS really. Villa had every chance of doing well in the UEFA cup, if MON had balls to bring a full squad, that game against CSKA was never over.

As for 4th, Villa were lucky in a lot of results this season., now it seems they are being found out and they are stuck in a rut. Concentrating on 4th spot was pretty crazy decision!

Evertons injury problems have been the worst of any side in the top flight, which teams have had to play midfielders up front for about 3 months at end..?

I don't hate Villa at all and I don't care if Everton finish above or below Villa.

A lot of Villa fans thought 4th was in the bag a few months ago but it was never going to be that easy.

This goes to show just how well Moyes did to get Everton 4th.

MON has done well for Villa but he does seem to have lost the plot since the turn of the year..

One Cold Hand

I was a bit sarcastic but MON has to take responsibility for Villas alarming slide.

So you don't think O'Neill should go?!? Well thanks for clearing that one up!

x in the city wrote: »

This is juts BS really. Villa had every chance of doing well in the UEFA cup, if MON had balls to bring a full squad, that game against CSKA was never over.

Why is it BS? Did you think we we're favourites against CSKA? I agree that it was never over, no game ever is, but you've got to be realistic, the chances of going through we're very slim after the first leg, I think nearly every Villa fan on here said as much. And my point as much to do with later in the comp. Even if we got through that one, there are some really good teams in it. We'd have been playing Shaktar if we beat CSKA (i think).

Concentrating on 4th spot was pretty crazy decision!

As I said, I disagree, but that's what makes football interesting!

A lot of Villa fans thought 4th was in the bag a few months ago but it was never going to be that easy.

I don't think there was many that thought that...I certainly didn't

Bounty Hunter

x in the city wrote: »

I was a bit sarcastic but MON has to take responsibility for Villas alarming slide.

>
We had a good chance of getting 4th, but the chances of winning the UEFA cup were pretty slim, especially considering we were going to CKSA with nothing to defend after the first leg

This is juts BS really. Villa had every chance of doing well in the UEFA cup, if MON had balls to bring a full squad, that game against CSKA was never over.

As for 4th, Villa were lucky in a lot of results this season., now it seems they are being found out and they are stuck in a rut. Concentrating on 4th spot was pretty crazy decision!

Evertons injury problems have been the worst of any side in the top flight, which teams have had to play midfielders up front for about 3 months at end..?

I don't hate Villa at all and I don't care if Everton finish above or below Villa.

A lot of Villa fans thought 4th was in the bag a few months ago but it was never going to be that easy.

This goes to show just how well Moyes did to get Everton 4th.

MON has done well for Villa but he does seem to have lost the plot since the turn of the year..

Are you saying if you were a Villa fan you would want MON gone?

...the way you answer that will probably make a lot of people judge your opinions overall

L'prof

Martin O Neill and to a lesser extent Randy Lerner are the driving force behind Villas success, I fully expect continual improvement while both remain at the club. I genuinely hope Villa are pushing for the Champions League spots next season, but that we're a bit higher up the table and it won't be at our expense. Whatever about Everton next year, I'm not really sure if they're strong enough to seriously challenge for them, but I'd expect City to be in a much better position too!

monkey9

I'm sure X in the City is right. C'mon Villa fans, you just know that you's all pine for the O' Leary glory years. Ah...good times!!!!

villains77

the sooner laursen and bouma gat back the better for the team. mon should have kept up with the 4 5 1 formation when it was working for so long. if the slump continues we be lucky to get the europa cup. hope the villa prove me wrong and start winning starting at old trafford in 2 wks.

x in the city

And my point as much to do with later in the comp. Even if we got through that one, there are some really good teams in it. We'd have been playing Shaktar if we beat CSKA (i think).

So, the CL (Villas aspirations, at the time) would be easier than the UEFA cup.?

I disagree, you gotta take the rough with the smooth, the UEFA cup is a great breeding ground. the teams in that ARE the next teams which will be in the CL, you cant just go, ahh screw this lets move onto the CL proper.!

Look at city, everyone was raggin their balls and taking the piss out of them but they got the bit between their teeth and are doing well in the UEFA cup.

I think Bremen will win it outright and take their place in the CL next year.

As for letting MON go, if I was a Villan, umm I havent really thought about it, I was taking the mickey, but I am surprised they way teams are beating ye lately

wynters

Mr Alan wrote: »

The two penos weren't lucky... find it hard how they dont really count for some reason?!

I never said anything about being 'lucky', I said the scoreline flattered Liverpool.

... versus Villa. The 5 goals were;
- 2 penos & 1 free kick from Gerrard
- a route-1 punt from Reina followed by a good volley from Riera
- and a rebound from Kuyt after another Gerrard free kick hit the crossbar.
= 4 set-pieces and one route 1... playing against 10 men after Friedel sent off.

Incidentally, versus United ... 4 goals were;
- 1 peno from Gerrard
- 1 free-kick from Aurelio
- a route one punt from Reina / good lob from Dossena.
- bad mistake from Vidic that Torres latched onto and finished well.
= 2 set-pieces, a route one, and a bad defensive mistake from Vidic.... playing against 10 men after Vidic sent off.

and while I'm at it, versus Madrid...
That was a very good performance, granted. But of their goals in that one;
- 1 peno from Gerrard.
- 1 route one long ball from Carragher that Pepe made a hames of & Kuyt squared for Torres to tap in.

So of their 13 goals in those last 3 games. There's been 4 penos, 3 route ones & 3 goals from set-pieces.

Liverpool are certainly defending well, but those 3 scorelines are flattering. It's not good passing PLAY Liverpool are getting results from, it's good PRESSURE. Liverpool are not playing like Barcelona... Outclassing teams. They're out-muscling them. I never said it was anything to do with luck, but you're not the 1970 Brazil team all of a sudden so take the smugness down a notch or two...

But hats-off to Liverpool on a great result yesterday, credit where it's due.

Mr Alan

if you watched the Utd/Real or Villa game and are genuinely saying the score line flattered us in any of them....well, i disagree very strongly & think you will find you're in the minority.

my feet are very much on the ground Wynters, if i'm not mistaken was it you claiming that Villa are a better side than Liverpool in this very thread in the last few weeks? Maybe its not me who should get a grip of themselves. it is also you trying to say that Liverpools performances have been fortunate/down to hoofing the ball....so maybe you should tone down the bitterness just a tad.

L'prof

Mr Alan wrote: »

if you watched the Utd/Real or Villa game and are genuinely saying the score line flattered us in any of them....well, i disagree very strongly & think you will find you're in the minority.

my feet are very much on the ground Wynters, if i'm not mistaken was it you claiming that Villa are a better side than Liverpool in this very thread in the last few weeks? Maybe its not me who should get a grip of themselves. it is also you trying to say that Liverpools performances have been fortunate/down to hoofing the ball....so maybe you should tone down the bitterness just a tad.

In fairness, Liverpool did deserve those wins, but the margin of the wins was flattering, you don't agree?

Mr Alan

jasonorr wrote: »

In fairness, Liverpool did deserve those wins, but the margin of the wins was flattering, you don't agree?

no i disagree totally. I thought Real were extremely lucky not to 6-7 down by half time and only for a super human performance from Casillias prevented a absolute embarrasment for them.

Utd i thought the result was about right, we missed a couple of great chances in that match. a sitter for gerrard springs to mind.

villa i feel the same about the Utd game, Arbeloa & Gerrard missed absolute sitters.

the results didnt flatter at all.

rgiller

Mr Alan wrote: »

no i disagree totally. I thought Real were extremely lucky not to 6-7 down by half time and only for a super human performance from Casillias prevented a absolute embarrasment for them.

Utd i thought the result was about right, we missed a couple of great chances in that match. a sitter for gerrard springs to mind.

villa i feel the same about the Utd game, Arbeloa & Gerrard missed absolute sitters.

the results didnt flatter at all.

Typical gloating fan response: Liverpool did not suddenly become a 4 or 5 goal-a-game team overnight, and they certainly haven't been gradually building up the scores over the season. It's a patch of good luck, good form, good finishing, call it what you will. They're scoring their chances and the winning margins of these games have been flattering. I'm not saying ill-deserved, but flattering.

Teams have their ups and downs every season. We're in a slump at the moment but coming off an unbelievable high: 13 games undefeated was it? Up to 3rd in the table? It was MON that got us there: why anyone would even consider getting another manager in is ridiculous. Look at Liverpool for a good example of this: a few weeks ago they were slipping up, giving away their lead at the top, drawing a lot and losing to Middlesborough. The scouse brigade were calling for Rafa's head then as well, but now he's the messiah. Seasons ebb and flow like this, get used to it.

We're two teams who overachieved early this season (us to go top 4, scousers to go top) and the weight of expectation that goes with this means that slumps are almost inevitable. We'll come out of it and finish where we should this season

Mr Alan

jesus H christ, saying i dont think a scoreline flattered is gloating?

some very over sensitive people in here.

Find a post from me where i ever called for Rafas head & i'll buy you a house. Liverpool are performing this season as i expected them to, not overperforming at all imo. Granted we've had three massive results in the last couple of weeks which i wouldnt have expected to come together, but i always expect to hammer a few teams every year.

invincibleirish

Only GB & Heskey make it into the England squad this time round. I'm surprised that they were considered.

Villain

The scoreline yesterday did certainly flatter Pool, the 1st goal was a lucky bounce, the ball hit the crossbar and could have gone anywhere but it dropped for the pool. Then after that Reina made 2 very good saves and Villa looked dangerous when they crossed the ball. Then the defence made bad mistakes and gave away 2 penalties and a free kick that resulted in 3 goals and failed to defend a simple goalkeeper kick out over the top.

Liverpool deserved the win no doubt but the scoreline on a different day could have been different, the goals were down to Villa defending poorly and making bad mistakes rather than excellent play from Liverpool.

The only thing yesterday did was prove Barry wouldn't improve the Pool team.

MON's biggest mistake was Shorey he was bad buy and having to play Young Left Back meant we didn't have a Right Back and NRC was caught badly yesterday and obviously loosing Laursen was the biggest problem, he is a class above the rest and we need him back asap.

Mr Alan

young didnt look like he would improve the Liverpool team either yesterday. he must be ****e so.

bit harsh on aul gaz baz lads.

Samurai

invincibleirish wrote: »

Only GB & Heskey make it into the England squad this time round. I'm surprised that they were considered.

defo suprised at heskey, but no young?! fabio really needs to give him a chance

Villain

Mr Alan wrote: »

young didnt look like he would improve the Liverpool team either yesterday. he must be ****e so.

bit harsh on aul gaz baz lads.

Young delivered some good balls and considering what Pool have for wingers he certainly would improve the side, Barry on the other hand is not any better than Mascherano, Alonso or Gerrard. Petrov in fact has looked better than Barry, and I always said during the Barry saga that he would be on the pool bench and isn't better than what Pool already have.

rgiller

Mr Alan wrote: »

jesus H christ, saying i dont think a scoreline flattered is gloating?

some very over sensitive people in here.

Find a post from me where i ever called for Rafas head & i'll buy you a house. Liverpool are performing this season as i expected them to, not overperforming at all imo. Granted we've had three massive results in the last couple of weeks which i wouldnt have expected to come together, but i always expect to hammer a few teams every year.

So hammering Utd, Villa and Madrid was expected this year? Oh of course, I forgot: it was "your" season this year. Just like every other one :rolleyes:

Now back on topic for a Villa forum: how do we think MON is going to react in the game against Utd? Changed formation, play more defensively?

shoutman

I would like to see 4-5-1 bring back shorey stick NRC in midfield, Carew up front.

invincibleirish

Villain wrote: »

MON's biggest mistake was Shorey he was bad buy and having to play Young Left Back meant we didn't have a Right Back and NRC was caught badly yesterday and obviously loosing Laursen was the biggest problem, he is a class above the rest and we need him back asap.

using this as a basis to analyse MONs recent signings:

Shorey - Bench warmer
Cuellar - consistently anonymous, played out of position often to be fair, but when he plays cb Villa tend to concede
Young - good, but being played out of position means he is getting caught out.
Sidwell - not in squad yesterday
Milner - ok, can be decent, is record signing.
Heskey - :rolleyes:
Friedel - sometimes can look his age.

Fills me with confidence for summer.

Ash has blown hot & cold since his sending off at S'land, no real surprise Capello does not rate him.

I think its clear this Villa team needs to return to 451. Although i think NRC can do still do a job at RB, particularly against MU, we're gonna get hammered again if we go to OT playing 442.

L'prof

Mr Alan wrote: »

no i disagree totally. I thought Real were extremely lucky not to 6-7 down by half time and only for a super human performance from Casillias prevented a absolute embarrasment for them.

Utd i thought the result was about right, we missed a couple of great chances in that match. a sitter for gerrard springs to mind.

villa i feel the same about the Utd game, Arbeloa & Gerrard missed absolute sitters.

the results didnt flatter at all.

You're absolutely 100% right!

You're not, but that's what you wanted to hear right?

Savman

The scoreline yesterday flatters Villa if anybody. Apart from Carew and Petrov, the rest were abysmal.

I didnt see Pool V Man U but I did watch Real make a show of themselves at Anfield last week. I'll give Liverpool their dues here, they aren't world class by any means but they punished weak teams which is all you can do in this game.

Back to Villa, where do we start :rolleyes:

invincibleirish

Savman wrote: »

Back to Villa, where do we start :rolleyes:

Better dust off the infamous 5 year plan and see where the 5-0 defeat leaves us.

Mr Alan

Savman wrote: »

but they punished weak teams which is all you can do in this game.

he he he he you called Utd, Real Madrid & Aston Villa, "weak teams" :p:pac:

yahoo_moe

jasonorr wrote: »

You're absolutely 100% right!

In fairness, whatever you say about overall level of performance or how much better or worse they are than Real or Utd or Villa over the course of a season, Liverpool have taken their chances at a very high rate in the last few games.

That's not really flattering them, if you ask me - they've just taken more chances than they (or most teams) normally would. When Arsenal win 2-1, but miss three easy chances, I'll always think "it should have been easier... they should have won 5-1" - the last few games, Liverpool have just taken those chances they've created (however they've created them).

wynters

For me;

Shorey - Don't quite understand what's happened to this guy. Signing made sense at the time (after Bouma's injury) but he's fallen away. Expect him to leave during the summer.

Cuellar - I think has been OK tbh. Centre-halves need to work in pairs - One who goes and attacks things, the other sits and mops up - a la Terry/Carvalho, Vidic/Ferdinand respectively. Cuellar, like Davies is more suited to the 'sitting' role, with Laursen doing the attacking. But without Laursen in there, there's no real leader in the defence. A good player though.

Luke Young - I think has been very good. And for a month or two, he was probably the most in-form full back in the league.

Sidwell - I like him. Good all round box-to-box player. He started nearly all of the games in that 14 match unbeaten run. Would have him in the starting XI when fit.

Milner - Good. No BS. Nice and direct. Can't fault his attitude.

Heskey - Don't even get me started on this guy. Disasterous.

Friedel - bad mistake yesterday but still a very, VERY good keeper.

Ash Young has two markers on him more often than not these days. It's harder for him.

GuanYin

Why are people discussing matches here?

MementoMori

I really don't think MON can be excused on the small squad/injuries thing given that there was apparently no shortage of money last summer.

It was blatantly obvious that Villa's squad wasn't going to be anyhere near stong enough in terms of depth to challenge for fourth and compete in Europe. There is also the fact that every side will pick up injuries - as a manager you know this will happen and have to make preparations in advance to allow for this. Sometimes a team with be more strongly affected than others but it is an inevital fact of life that players will get injured and you have to take this into account.

On the squad size thing MON has used 20 players so far in the league this season which is joint bottom with Fulham and Wigan. If it was a case of there not being money for players and wages they you could make some allowance. As it is this has to fall under the category of being MON's fault and the blame has to be laid at his door.

invincibleirish

Smaller squad now, Harewood to Wolves on loan according to SSN

yahoo_moe

wynters wrote: »

For me;

Shorey - Don't quite understand what's happened to this guy. Signing made sense at the time (after Bouma's injury) but he's fallen away. Expect him to leave during the summer.

Remember how Leighton Baines' Everton career has gone though - not a great first season and no real form but this season he's really stepped up and is now in the most recent England squad (albeit as a Wayne Bridge replacement but it still wouldn't have happened last year).

He was at Reading for a long time - ditching him after only giving him one season to adjust would be harsh if you ask me.

mirwillbeback

All this downbeat talk, it's not like we were hammered. : )

MementoMori

Surely has to be a very good chance of getting it overturned?

Villa to fight Friedel red card

Goalkeeper Friedel was furious at his second-half dismissal
Aston Villa will make an appeal against the red card shown to goalkeeper Brad Friedel during Sunday's 5-0 hammering at Liverpool.

The visitors were already down 4-0 when Friedel was dismissed by referee Martin Atkinson for bringing down Fernando Torres after 65 minutes.

However, the American argued he went for a 50-50 ball and had nowhere else to go after Torres got to it first.

The club expect to hear a decision from the Football Association on Tuesday.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/aston_villa/7959829.stm

shoutman

GuanYin, in an Aston Villa thread its hardly surprising that after a 5-0 possibly season changing defeat there is going to be some talk about it. Leave it be there is no harm being done.

MON is, has and will always be a manager who will not sign players for the sake of it, he won't do it so that people wont give out to him about having a small squad etc.

He has made mistakes, but none the less will remain as one of the best managers in the premiership, he has signed both good and bad players.

Shorey - has looked great at times and has looked brutal at times, hopefully he will improve and become a good squad LB, I'm disappointed that he isn't getting more of a look in at the moment but that said if he was playing and making mistakes i'd probably complain that we didn't have Young LB and Reo-Coker RB.

L Young has been a good signing for us, still no Mellberg (how we could of used him this season), but none the less a good solid rb.

Milner is a good player, just unfortunate he doesn't take on fullbacks, he seems to be there to put crosses in when he gets the chance and just pass the ball back in field when confronted with defenders, still will be a great player for us.

Sidwell has played poorly at times, made some inexcusable mistakes but when we bought him I thought he would be great, hopefully he'll do a Petrov on it and come back next year as a great player.

Friedal is a great signing, he has definitely saved us points this season. He is a short term signing though due to his age and I'm not sure if Guzan is the natural replacement for when he retires.

Ash Young has been great, admittedly he has not been playing well at all at the moment. Set pieces have been particularly disappointing, when was the last time we scored an important goal from a corner or free kick, we seemed to have been doing it all the time earlier in the season, surely its not just the lack of Laursen to aim at.

End of the day should Villa finish fifth this season it will be disappointing, purely because of the attitude we displayed towards the UEFA cup, at the time I felt it was not a bad decision, hindsight is 20/20 and i'm sure MON would change things given the chance.
At the start of the season Villa fans would of taken fifth, we have pretty much cemented ourselves as a top 6 club, and from now on we would feel that if Villa did not get into Europe it would be a very bad season, and rightly so.
Villa are still improving, we still have possibly the best chairman/Manager combo in the league, we have not made any backward steps since Lerner has come on board. So once again I would urge everyone to just relax the cax, sit back and enjoy the fact that we are supporting a team that has come on leaps and bounds, we are the envy of many a football fan and we are supporting a club whose ambitions are higher then they have been for twenty years and who have the financial and personal backing of a man who can make it happen.

Mr Alan

shoutman wrote: »

MON is, has and will always be a manager who will not sign players for the sake of it, he won't do it so that people wont give out to him about having a small squad etc.

In fairness, people aren't asking him to sign players "for the sake of it", they're asking him to sign them so Villa can continue their puch for the CL & also compete in the Uefa Cup (a trophy they had every chance of winning).

When you look at his signings, people like davies,cuellar,young,milner,shorey,Heskey, sidwell its not as if he is signing the creme de la creme of European talent when he does go into the transfer market....why he couldnt sign more players of this or similar quality when there is plently available is a mystery, it would allow yous to be more competitive in the run, it is undoubtadly a massive failing of his.

BUT

although I dont like MON, anyone suggesting he should leave or watever is insane, over all he is still doing excellent work & Villa are most certainly moving in the right direction under his stewardship. you will never have a manager who doesnt sometimes frustrate or that you agree with everything they do.

shoutman

What players should MON have signed then Mr Alan?

Mr Alan

I dont know, i aint a manager.

but are you seriously trying to tell me there wasn't players of the calibre of Shorey,Young,Harewood,Sidwell etc available around Europe over the last 18 months?

People at the calibre of Defoe,Bent,Finnan,Pennant,Doyle,Bentley,Nzogbia,Hunt etc have all been available of the last 12 months-all would be massive assets to your squad.

shoutman

You are saying that Hunt is capable of playing in Europe?
MON was reportedly interested in signing Doyle. I don't think Pennant or Bentley would have gone to Villa. Nzogbia appears to have character flaws. I would of liked Finnan to come but don't think he is any better then Young.

Mr Alan

yea i think Hunt is capable of being a squad player for a team playing in Europe.

We aint talking abotu signing a load of first team stars Shoutman, wat Villa are lacking is depth at the minute. A blind man can see it.

shoutman

I'm not doubting that for a minute, but Villa can hardly go out and sign two players for each position. MON doesn't want that, I don't want that.

invincibleirish

I don't think squad depth was the problem on Saturday. Tactics & team selection were. Liverpool are in form and Villa are woefully out of form. But 10 of Sundays team were moderately priced/expensive MON signings, the one who wasn't had a value of £18m.

I expected better then a 5-0 mauling, god knows its not the first time in recent memory its happened but no longer the excuse of no money or ambition can be used.

Could Villa have done any worse on Sunday having played in the UEFA Cup on the Thursday before?

Helix

Mr Alan wrote: »

When you look at his signings, people like davies,cuellar,young,milner,shorey,Heskey, sidwell its not as if he is signing the creme de la creme of European talent when he does go into the transfer market....why he couldnt sign more players of this or similar quality when there is plently available is a mystery, it would allow yous to be more competitive in the run, it is undoubtadly a massive failing of his.

another issue with mon is that he doesnt tend to replace players unless he's selling them

its rare he'll go out and buy a player he sees as a step up from someone already in the squad. instead he buys a player a step down as backup

surely the aim of transfers is to gradually improve your squad by bringing in better than you already have in the first team before you sell them

MementoMori

shoutman wrote: »

I'm not doubting that for a minute, but Villa can hardly go out and sign two players for each position. MON doesn't want that, I don't want that.

If you want to be in the "big four" two players of quality for each position would seem to be a basic requirement.

Just out of interest what would you like to see in the summer regarding transfers? Are there any players you think should move on? Where are the most important areas to focus on? How many players would you envision MON signing?

I know it can be tricky to predict and a lot can depend on whether or not players leave {Barry being the obvious example} but a lot of the squad are pretty recent signings so I can't see a whole raft of departures.

I don't think anyone is suggesting buying 22 players, but unless some decent quality is added to the squad in the summer, I could easily imagine a repeat of the UEFA Cup situation where the lack of squad depth fouls things up.

invincibleirish wrote: »

I don't think squad depth was the problem on Saturday. Tactics & team selection were. Liverpool are in form and Villa are woefully out of form. But 10 of Sundays team were moderately priced/expensive MON signings, the one who wasn't had a value of £18m.

That's true actually - it was a team massively on-form meeting a team massively off-form. After about ten minutes I figured out that NRC v Riera was a massive mismatch. In fairness to NRC he is quite clearly not a RB and I don't think anyone can argue that playing him there was anything but a mistake.

However it does raise questions about the squad depth regarding the RB and LB spots which look like they need addressing. You would have to imagine that MON has lost faith in Shorey, given he is playing a LB ahead of him, even at the cost of playing a midfielder at RB. You would alo imagine that O'Halloran doesn't have much of a future at Villa when he doesn't look to even be in the reckoning in the LB equation.

Between the LB and RB spots you could say that only Bouma and L Young would be of the required standard to be in a squad challenging for top honours. If I were MON I'd be looking to bring in one quality LB and one quality RB which would improve things immensely. When you haveplayers of quality competing for the one spot it forces the players to up their game, which can only benefit the team overall.

Esse85

Harewood, Knight, Reo Coker, Sidwell, Milner, Shorey, Davies, Heskey and Cuellar have all been a waste of money so far

If each were sold in the summer, not one of them would recoup the amount paid for them. All would be sold at a loss.
Apart from Cuellar, whats the common denominator with them??
Their all expensive English over hyped players.

Compare Vidic(£7m) with Davies(£10m) or Cuellar(£7.8m)
Compare Evra(£5.5m)/Clichy with Shorey(£4.5m)
Compare Santa Cruz(3.5m) with Harewood(£4m), Heskey(3.5m)
Compare Diarra(£6m) to Reo Coker(£8.5)
Compare Ronaldo(£12m) to Milner(£12)

Now granted most of these players wouldnt of considered joining Villa in the first place, it just goes to show how Randy Lerner is getting raped in the transfer market by MON's inability to identify a players potential. The above players all bar Diarra came to their club via a foreign league.

I feel its time for MON to start utilising his scouting networks across the globe or continue to be short changed by expensive over rated young English players.

Just my opinion...

wynters

MementoMori wrote: »

That's true actually - it was a team massively on-form meeting a team massively off-form. After about ten minutes I figured out that NRC v Riera was a massive mismatch. In fairness to NRC he is quite clearly not a RB and I don't think anyone can argue that playing him there was anything but a mistake.

You would alo imagine that O'Halloran doesn't have much of a future at Villa when he doesn't look to even be in the reckoning in the LB equation.

NRC did a decent job at right full against big teams, he had Ronaldo in his pocket against United which is no mean feat. I think he just lacked some match sharpness yesterday. He was a yard off the pace. I do think however that he could be one of the best holding midfielders in the league if given a run in that position.

I think O'Neill rates O'Halloran, he went on loan to Leeds and did his knee ligaments in his first game or something didn't he?