Aston Villa Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

Helix

x in the city wrote: »

LOL

we didnt take the competition seriously and got further than everton... imagine what will happen next season if we bother

mirwillbeback

x in the city wrote: »

:rolleyes:

Yet another great post from " X ". I always thought this was a Villa thread, so why a so called Toffee spends as much time on here I'll never know.

I suppose it's because his so called " football " team needed to

1) kick Ashley Young off the ball every time he got it as they didn't have anyone with defensive capabilites to stop him legally
2) have their lynchpin midfielder commit GBH twice with elbows when he couldn't do it legally
3) score a goal from Tim Cahill shoving the defender with both hands while all the time doing his stupid hide behind Fellaini crap
4) have their manager whinging about a pen given for a kick to the face

I'm sick of his trolling on this board, and wish a mod would prevent him from doing so - but with the money worries Everton will have in the summer, maybe he'll be on the Stoke / Birmingham / Sheff Utd forums next season when they're his nearest challengers.

Lads did well enough today, look tired, season's more or less over now for us ( 5th / 6th doesn't really matter ) and hopefully they can get well rested in the summer and be back with renewed confidence next season, with new faces to replace the dead wood.

Savman

x in the city wrote: »

LOL

Well, you didn't disappoint...

Savman

mirwillbeback wrote: »

Lads did well enough today, look tired, season's more or less over now for us ( 5th / 6th doesn't really matter )

Actually 5th enters the tournament later wheras 6th has to play an extra game or two (I think).

mirwillbeback wrote: »

and hopefully they can get well rested in the summer and be back with renewed confidence next season, with new faces to replace the dead wood.

Hear, f*cking hear

MementoMori

Savman wrote: »

Actually 5th enters the tournament later wheras 6th has to play an extra game or two (I think).

6th enters one round ahead of 5th - not sure if it's one game or a two-legged tie.

Savman

MementoMori wrote: »

6th enters one round ahead of 5th - not sure if it's one game or a two-legged tie.

Yeah that's what I'm saying

5th would still be marginally better than 6th. I'm sure there's a coupla hundred thousand quid in the prize money too.

matrim

So it looks like 5th now. If we had of won today I'd think we still have a small chance for 4th but with the draw I don't think there's any way for us to make up the points.

5th is still a good season and an improvement from last year. If we can improve the squad for next season (both in quality and strength in depth) then we can try improve again in the league, and also go for a cup.

MementoMori

Savman wrote: »

Yeah that's what I'm saying

5th would still be marginally better than 6th. I'm sure there's a coupla hundred thousand quid in the prize money too.

Sorry read your post wrong

I'd say on the basis of Villa's remaining fixtures and their performance today, they'd have to be favourites for fifth now.

Villa
West Ham (h)
Bolton (a)
Hull (h)
Fulham (a)
Boro (a)
Newcastle (h)

Everton
Chelsea (a)
Man City (h)
Sunderland (a)
Spurs (h)
West Ham (h)
Fulham (a)

matrim

I re-did the BBC predictor thing. I did it optimistically and also with what I expect.

Optimistically we ended on the same points as Arsenal but lost out on goal difference.
Doing what I expect ended with us 3 behind Arsenal and I think it was 2 ahead of Everton

Bounty Hunter

whats encouraging is atleast we are starting to play decent (Man Utd, Everton) as our hard games have ended, hopefully we can continue our upform of on pitch form into the "easier" fixtures

wynters

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

whats encouraging is atleast we are starting to play decent (Man Utd, Everton) as our hard games have ended, hopefully we can continue our upform of on pitch form into the "easier" fixtures

Agreed. Our front-line looks much more dangerous now with Carew in there. He makes us a more attacking side and seems to make Young and Gabby better players too. Let's hope that keeps up...

... We had the chance to go 8 points clear of Arsenal in that Stoke game. That was 6 PL games ago, and since then, Arsenal have gone 8 points ahead of us!!! So that's been a 16 point swing over 6 games. So why can't it go the other way in the final 6 games!???

We're 8 points behind. If we take maximum points from our remaining 6 games and Arsenal lose against the top 3 - then we're 4th. Simple as that.

Unlikely? Yes. But it's not as dead or far-fetched as some people are making it out to be...


From The Times
April 13, 2009

Martin O'Neill hopes top three can slow down Arsenal
Peter Lansley
Martin O’Neill has challenged his Aston Villa players to win their remaining games in the hope that Arsenal, who have the advanced stages of the Champions League and FA Cup to deal with, lose their games against the three teams above them in the Barclays Premier League.

After yesterday’s 3-3 draw with Villa, David Moyes, the Everton manager, accepted that Arsène Wenger’s side, having won 4-1 away to Wigan Athletic on Saturday to move eight points clear in fourth place, will clinch qualification for the Champions League. “I think probably Arsenal’s result made it difficult for us,” Moyes said. “You don’t give up the chase until it’s mathematically impossible, but you have to be realistic here.

“Both of us [Villa and Everton] are in a very good position to qualify for the Europa League, although we can’t be careless, and if you had offered me that at the start of the season, would I have taken that? Yes, especially with the people we’ve had missing [notably Mikel Arteta, Yakubu Ayegbeni and Louis Saha].”

The Villa manager concurred initially with Moyes’s assessment of the chase for Europe. “I wouldn’t disagree,” O’Neill said. “One of the two of us had to win today to keep it alive. It’s a result that definitely suits Arsenal. From that viewpoint, it’s disappointing not to win, especially when we had the late chances to win the game.”

Arsenal, who face Villarreal at home in the Champions League quarter-final second leg on Wednesday and Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday, travel to play Liverpool a week tomorrow and Manchester United next month. They also have Chelsea to play at home in the league. Everton play Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday and finish their league schedule against Chelsea, Manchester City, Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Fulham.

Villa, with two points from their past seven games, play West Ham, Bolton Wanderers, Hull City, Fulham, Middlesbrough and Newcastle United. So O’Neill’s men need only to win all their games and hope Arsenal lose to the top three. “And then we’re there,” the Villa manager said, smiling. “So I’ve not given up.”

DSB

Yeah I think thats a fair assessment, its pretty much dead now, it'd take a complete Arsenal collapse, and monster form from Villa to make it happen, so in reality its dead, but if you read everything you hear in a church mass sheet this weekend, these things do have a way of reviving themselves.

Savman

Let's put Arsenal aside for a moment and talk about us. Win 7 games? Ha!

wynters

I'd 'like to think'! we're coming OUT of that bad run of form... performances have definitely improved in the last 2 games - against good opposition too!

We've nothing to fear from any of the remaining fixtures. We've beaten our next 3 opponents already this season - West Ham, Bolton & Hull. If we can repeat that and win those 3 games (building confidence) and Liverpool beat Arsenal, the gap will be 5 points at worst with Arsenal then facing back-to-back games against Chelsea & United.

Also, Gabby might miss the next few games so there could be a return to 4-5-1, "which is nice!" And maybe now that CL football is not expected and the pressure is off the players, they might loosen up a bit and play like they can!

'If's and buts' maybe, but I think it'll finish much closer than it looks now.

invincibleirish

"I love it here, I feel it on the pitch," - Big John

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_5187141,00.html

He was back to his best on Saturday and last weekend, its great to have him back. Between him, Laursen & Bouma missing all or large parts of the season through injury and the like perhaps our dive in form since February can be put into context.

rgiller

invincibleirish wrote: »

"I love it here, I feel it on the pitch," - Big John

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_5187141,00.html

He was back to his best on Saturday and last weekend, its great to have him back. Between him, Laursen & Bouma missing all or large parts of the season through injury and the like perhaps our dive in form since February can be put into context.

Perhaps but it also shows how susceptible we are to injuries to a few key players. Moral is: we need better strength in depth. Get the cheque book out Randy...

invincibleirish

No surprises here, anyone not wanting bad news better look away now:


http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/apr/15/martin-laursen-aston-villa-heskey

Laursen out for rest of season and Heskeys back for West Ham game

Neil3030

If Heskey starts ahead of Big John I will, for the first time, call MON's managerial ability into question. Any news on Gabby's hamstring?

Helix

invincibleirish wrote: »

No surprises here, anyone not wanting bad news better look away now:


http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/apr/15/martin-laursen-aston-villa-heskey

Laursen out for rest of season and Heskeys back for West Ham game

laursens career is over

theyll announce it in the summer

invincibleirish

Surely we'd hear about it now if he's retiring? what does it mean for the defence? I'd like to see Hangeland come in whether Laursen retires or not, but i think he's caught the eye of the big spenders so its unlikely to come to Villa given the latest noises out of VP.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11677_5190723,00.html

(credit VT for the link)

Neil3030

We need, we need, we need.... Hmmmm... going on Davies' recent performances I would suggest at least 2 top centre backs and a young RB for cover. We simply can't risk signing one solid CB and hoping he'll stay fit all year.

I think LB is solid enough with Bouma returning to fitness and a revitalised Shorey, provided he stays. That leaves our needs as a slightly more creative/attacking minded replacement for the inevitably departing Barry and a poachy striker.

5 players? Doubt we'll see it tbh, but it is what we need to kick on. I think in A. Young, Milner, Carew, Petrov, Bouma and L. Young we have a very promising core of players around which to build a team to mount a challenge for the top 4 next year. I know some consider Cuellar to be a hot prospect too but I'd hold off on including him in the 'safe' list so to speak.

Helix

invincibleirish wrote: »

Surely we'd hear about it now if he's retiring? what does it mean for the defence? I'd like to see Hangeland come in whether Laursen retires or not, but i think he's caught the eye of the big spenders so its unlikely to come to Villa given the latest noises out of VP.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11677_5190723,00.html

(credit VT for the link)

club will announce it at the end of the season, not 100% confirmed yet but looks like hes never gonna be able to play again apparently. he cant get past a certain point in training without breaking down

source for that is mysteryman on villatalk, a journo whos tight with a lot of the back room staff and is spot on about 80% of the time. he also posted up our shopping list (according to tony morley in march) which consists of warnock, hangeland, sneijder, sturridge and downing

Esse85

I dunno if i've anymore cofidence in MON making signings anymore.

He spent close to £35m on the following last summer to stop conceding goals, yet we've the worst defense in the top 10.

Guzan £3m
Friedal £2.5m
Young £5.5m
Shorey £4.5m
Cuellar £8m
Davies £10m

Not good enough really.

Neil3030

warnock, hangeland, sneijder, sturridge and downing

Warnock - meh
Hangeland - yes please
Sneijder - no chance
Sturridge - prospect
Downing - meh

Helix

warnock is a fantastic player to be fair

and sneijder wont happen without a guarantee of champions league footie, so its a non runner

the downing thing comes from us apparently wanting to move ash into the hole to be our creative man in the center. which could work pretty well imo

Esse85

Warnock and fantastic in the one sentence is a more than generous.

Id rather see us sort out an attacking midfield position firstly. I really hope MON doesn't end up wasting more money on over rated and over priced English players. He really should look at other european leagues for talent.

Bounty Hunter

maybe Sneijder isnt Wesley but his younger bro Rodney who is still at Ajax and supposed to be a younger carbon copy of his brother but is only 18 i think atm. I doubt MON thinks Wesley Sneijder is gonna leave CL & Madrid for sunny B6

Helix

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

maybe Sneijder isnt Wesley but his younger bro Rodney who is still at Ajax and supposed to be a younger carbon copy of his brother but is only 18 i think atm. I doubt MON thinks Wesley Sneijder is gonna leave CL & Madrid for sunny B6

its wesley

Villain

10,000th post for me and I'm going to keep it short and simple:

UP THE VILLA

invincibleirish

Congrats Villain, in the days before i had access to this forum (but still browsed it) i recall you were one of the few keeping the candle lit and the Villa thread alive in the dark times.

Neil3030

This made me lol. Topic on Villatalk about Luke Young's potential weakness when players cut in onto his weak side, Macheda and Pinear both doing it recently:

Luke Young has played most of the season at left back, and has been terrific, so it wouldn't surprise me if he takes a few games to readjust. He also has to cover for Tweedledum and Tweedledee going AWOL in the centre of defence, so that isn't going to help his confidence either.

Overall he's been in our top 3 players all season, and is one of the few players bought in the summer to justify the money spent on him.

invincibleirish

Yes the Villa defence is certainly as shaky as it was last season. We can explain this away by Laursens absence, but can they get their act together before the end of the season?

tomred1

Apart from laursen, i think L Young has been our best defender and our best buy for this season.Just unlucky in the last 2 games with those very good goals.

invincibleirish

More good news!

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11677_5200622,00.html

Still suppose you can't miss what you didn't have this season etc....

Neil3030

My good god I just did a back track: on the 7th February we had 51 points, on the 17th of April we have 53...

Regardless of fixtures, 2 points in 2 and a half months is the stuff of relegation fodder.

Really need a win tomorrow, COME ON THE VILLA!!

invincibleirish

Yep, no win in 10 games, but the real stat is only 1 win at VP in 2009 in the PL and only 4 home league wins all season, what a disappointment.

This is why for every Villa home game, inc. tomorrow i say Draw.

villains77

is it true that bouma has to go for an op. a mate of mine said he read it on teletext. nothing on the villa website bout it. really hope laursen is back next season. he would be a big loss if he did retire. is it certain he is gone or is just rumour mill We really need to finish the season on a high and start rebuilding for next season. hope randy gets the cheque book out and rebuilds for next season. reckon we need another attacking midfielder and some new defenders to keep the others on there toes some of the goals we have conceded were very very poor. and one or two strikers it be good to see the squad have competition for places all over the squad so at leaszt the players cna fight for their places and it can only improve the results i hope.


COME ON THE VILLA!!!!!!

V1llianous

villains77 wrote: »

is it true that bouma has to go for an op. a mate of mine said he read it on teletext.

That's the link posted earlier http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11677_5200622,00.html

homah_7ft

invincibleirish wrote: »

Yep, no win in 10 games, but the real stat is only 1 win at VP in 2009 in the PL and only 4 home league wins all season, what a disappointment.

This is why for every Villa home game, inc. tomorrow i say Draw.

They better win tomorrow seeing as I've made the trip

shoutman

Very disappointing injury news coming out of VP.
I'd be surprised if Laursen DIDN'T retire at the end of the season. It must be so frustrating to constantly be in rehabilitation.

We have been playing well recently and I think Villa will produce the goods to rally for the end of the season.

Esse85

I fancy us to win 2:1.

With the likelyhood of Laursen retiring and Barry leaving, that leaves us without a captain and vice captain as well.

invincibleirish

Spent all my money getting to Everton last week, couldn't afford a 2nd trip to VP in a week:(.

I'm going to go 1-1 in this, Zola has certainly made West Ham a tough nut to crack, and lets not forget the fragile Villa backline.

When you put in those terms Esse85, losing our Captain & Vice captain, it certainly doesn't sit comfortably does it?, its going to be an interesting summer.

Martin Laursen will meet the manager, Martin O'Neill, on Monday to discuss his future after fresh doubts surfaced as to whether the central defender will make a full recovery from his latest knee injury. Laursen is contemplating his next move after learning that he is likely to face an extended spell on the sidelines. O'Neill said Laursen, who signed a new contract last year that runs until the end of next season, was "pretty down" after his latest setback, which occurred during rehabilitation work in Dubai last month.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/apr/18/aston-villa-premierleague

UTV

DSB

Barry should never have been made captain anyway. I'd give it to Reo Coker or Friedel.

Esse85

I disagree on NRC as he's not even a regular starter.

Id choose Petrov as captain and L.Young as vice captain from the current crop of players.

invincibleirish

Yeah i'd go for Stan too, i'd say if he signs a new contract & GB goes in the summer he'll get it next season.

matrim

Esse85 wrote: »

I disagree on NRC as he's not even a regular starter.

Id choose Petrov as captain and L.Young as vice captain from the current crop of players.

Personally I don't see Petrov as captain material. I don't know why just think he wouldn't make a great one.

I'd say the best options would be Luke Young or Friedal. I also think Milner has the right attitude for being a captain.

invincibleirish

Nah i don't think Friedal should get it, imo keepers don't make great captains anyway(bar Zoff of course), and the jury is still out on Brad. He is certainly not had the kind of impact this season in terms of performances that he had at Blackburn. Still better then Carson mind.

Kinetic^

Barry or Petrov for captain, I can't really see anyone else getting it.

JPA

VILLA: Friedel; L Young, Cuellar, Davies, Shorey, Milner, Barry, Petrov, A Young, Carew, Heskey.

Subs: Guzan, Sidwell, Knight, Salifou, Gardner, Reo-Coker, Delfouneso.

sternn

stream anyone?