Written by Matt Sunday, 09 August 2009 11:33
Football. A sport once played by English players who would earn the same amount of money as you or I, just by doing a different kind of job. A sport once dominated by English teams even as recently as the early 80s when Nottingham Forest and our own boys were winning the European Cup.
Football has changed, and so has our standing as a nation.
Nowadays, we are used to footballers earning a hundred or two hundred grand for the pleasure of being a footballer. We’re used to hearing about their antics – fighting in bars, crashing massively expensive cars, and spit roasting girls with their team mates in lavish hotel rooms. If nothing else it brings a whole meaning to the term “box to box midfielder”.
I say we, and by that I mean people of this fine country of England. We are in a time where money is splashed around with wanton abandon like it’s going out of fashion. Sure these players bring in revenue (we all pay out for season tickets, shirts and merchandise) but we’re seeing capitalism gone mad currently.
We have the majority of the Premier League now owned by foreign investors with billions in the bank and a hawk eye for either making money off the peak of football’s indulgence, or being a sugar daddy buying the latest “must have toy” for the super rich oligarchs, sheiks, or finance barons.
Amidst all of that, one thing never fails to surprise me about the economics of the game. That particular issue is why English players are quoted as being so expensive. The relevance of this particular point? Well our own trusted captain of the ship, Martin O'Neill, is a big fan of English players. So much so that (for the majority of his purchases) he buys English.
So let’s look at history. When was the last time an English team won anything? Before anyone reels off the 2007/2008 European Cup by Manchester United, just how many of those players were English? So why in God’s name are English players valued so highly?
We haven’t won a tournament as a nation since 1966.
Look through the names of English players we have playing here in the Premier League or abroad. How many of those players are truly world class? Probably Steven Gerrard, and that’s about it.
The sad reality is that the star studded top 4 are dominated by foreign players, and are all managed by foreign managers (Ferguson is Scottish). The players we have playing abroad? Pretty much every one of them from recent years has returned tail between their legs because they simply couldn’t cut it elsewhere (Beckham at Madrid aside – who was a brand purchase, not a football purchase).
So why do we rate English players so highly? Sure they speak the language so they are “more at home” in England, but most of Europe speak English after learning it at school and the weather, of say Scandinavia, is not really much different to the dreary cloudy skies of Manchester.
It’s understandable that a citizen of southern Spain is probably not going to be interested in the climate of our nation, but I’m sure people from France, Norway, Germany, Holland, or most of the northern parts of Europe would have no problem being here.
You have to question the logic when Darren Bent costs more to Tottenham than Cristiano Ronaldo did to Manchester United. Only a fool would say Bent was the better deal.
So what is it specifically? Our so called “graft”? Our spirit? Our love for the sport? Our penchant for small fast strikers who nip in and score like Michael Owen? In reality, many players we see playing for Premier League teams are English. However (for the most part) they are also in the bottom half of the table, and focussing more on finishing 16th than winning the league.
Successful English players are renowned for pace as a primary attribute. That’s great and makes the Premier League “the most exciting league in the world” (words attributed more to marketers and spin doctors than my own personal opinion). However if you slowed down the Premier League, do you really think you’d win against the solid defending of the Italians, the flair of the Spanish or Portuguese, or the resolute clinical nature of the Germans?
I would say we’d be trounced. Hell, it’s taken an Italian to re-educate our own national team how to play against people who are foreign without the benefit of having a Portuguese flair player crossing and scoring for fun.
So we buy English. We’ve bought some very good English players – Ashley Young is perceived as good value whether we keep or sell him, and James Milner is a relatively astute buy in today’s money. Stewart Downing will be an asset when he finally recuperates and Fabian Delph is yet to prove himself at this level, but the investment is a good one.
However three of those players have one thing in common. They have all broken our transfer record and are (relatively speaking in our terms) expensive players. Of those three, probably only Ashley Young would get into a top four squad, let alone the first team.
Three English players at the cost of over £35m. These are all first team players and probably astute buys but who else have we purchased who is English? Marlon Harewood. Zat Knight. Nigel Reo-Coker. Steve Sidwell. Around £20m worth of players, none of which would get in a top four starting XI. Sidwell may come good this season but the rest definitely wouldn’t get in a top four squad.
Twenty million pounds. That amount would have bought you Fernando Torres. Who would you rather have? We’ve had resolute defenders (the legendary Mellbergs and Laursens) and solid midfielders (like Barry) but we’ve lacked flair. No point having an engine if you have no spark to start the system going.
Taking a gamble on foreign talent is a risk Martin, but it’s a risk you have to take. We don’t mean the Petrovs (who admittedly matured well last season but is now a defensive midfielder who was bought as an attacking midfielder) or the Cuellars (hardly a star signing), we mean the Ronaldo, the Torres type players who bring something else to the table besides running around with bundles of energy.
There is no team above us Martin who have as many English players. We need some flair. If you are sensible with your money, then do the sensible thing – buy us a play maker. Please. Who isn’t English.
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Steve903
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... Lets try the full Irish and sign Richard Dunne, he's just the leader we need in our defence. |
Kevin Curtis
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... i am glad some has started another blog after those sad yids leaving messages this morning, i have heard chinnese wispers that there is going to be another dutch defender signing very soon, i havent got the proof to back it up, so watch this spare |
Mike Carter
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... I'm sorry but this has come up time and time again, and each time I don't believe anybody has put up a good enough argument to suggest we should do anything differently. Matt, you say "There is no team above us Martin who have as many English players". This is irrelevant - there aren't any teams below us either! There aren't any teams in the Premiership who have as many English players as we do, not teams capable of making a serious challenge anyway. I can't help think that last season proves this wrong anyway. Our nearly full English team almost broke into the top 4, and only fell because we were low on numbers. I'm going to put it out there - who would you have bought from the continent with that £35m? I want specific names, tell me who you think we could bring in who would do a better job for a lower price. |
Vijay Daryanani
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... It isnt only about wanting to sign some top foreinger, its whether the player will want to come to Villa in the first place, we wont pay the wages some other teams pay either |
NewDaySam
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... Don't agree. Really enjoyed the article and think that you are right about needing extra flare, but I think having a solid group of players who understand each other and can play as an actual team, without the distractions of translators etc, is way more important. We already have a alot of quality players from abroad, Carew/Cuellar/Freidel, and I would much rather us build a team that will play for the badge and earn success the right way, than just buy big name foreigners. I don't mind where a player is from as long as they want to work for the club and us lot who put some much emotional and physical time into our beloved Villa. |
mikey18
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... I think the england team would probably win the premierleague! You say what english players are world class...but i think you would struggle to find a better left back than ashley cole, and Centre backs better than Rio Ferdinand and John terry even ledley king woodgate were world beaters in their prime! Lampard is also world class! the goals he scores from midfield is up there with the best CM's in the world! finally rooney, his goal ratio isn't up there but he is definatley technically one of the best players in the world! I think that if english players and managers were given a chacne to shine at the highest level they would...i.e carrick, rooney we'll c how glen johnson gets on. I think we should buy players that will move us forward regardless of nationality! |
Mike Carter
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... Another thing - "Successful English players are renowned for pace as a primary attribute". That's a bit of a big generalisation isn't it? If you're looking at the Wright-Phillips and Walcott types then yeah sure, but none of these kind of players are top English players. Look at the cream of the crop - Gerrard, Lampard, Joe Cole, Scholes, Gary Neville, even go back to the best English player in recent times Alan Shearer. None of these types of players rely on pace and they are some of the most successful English players of all time, with a proven track record against European teams. I'd even go as far as to say Wayne Rooney fits in that bracket. I understand what you're trying to say but I you're only focusing on a small percentage of English players, and to make the suggestion that they can't cope against European teams in my opinion is ludicrous. In recent years teams like Liverpool, Chelsea and United have had massive success in the Champions League and they all have a strong contingent of English in them (not so much in terms of numbers for Liverpool, but most of their play revolves around Gerrard). |
Matt T
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... Thanks for publishing the article Damian.  What I am saying is that there is an abundance of over priced "talent" about who's primary selling point is that they are English and nothing more. You only have to look at the prices bandied about when people talk about buying English to see that they don't always offer best value in terms of price. That said I am glad we've purchased Delph and Downing and yes the Cuellars/Petrovs/Carews of the club also have a great impact for us. What I am eluding to mainly is that I would love to see us get a real flair player in the mould of the Sneijder/van der Vaarts, but I also understand that up until now we have been building foundations to push on. I am a realist at the end of the day - I know we are not going to be buying full blown world class players every time, but a little bit of attacking flair would help out a lot. I wrote the article before we signed Delph - and off the back of the performance yesterday, I imagine he will be in the starting XI faster than I thought he would manage... |
VillaNick
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... I know waht your saying Matt, but introducing continental flair doesn't mean it would make us any better. Carbone was good to watch and on occasions produced some sparkling stuff. It did make us any better or worse over the corse of the season really, and he did go missing at times. Just a bit more pleasing on the eye, 1 game in 3. |
Dof74
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... Good article interesting points. Think the buy British policy will pay dividends 2010-2012 seasons but we should applaud MON's approach and the face it's the right thing to do. Last time we were top for about 2-3 months under John Gregory I can only remember there being English players in the side!! |
Matt T
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... vivavilla I said we wasted the £20m on squad players, not the £35m we spent on the Downing/Milner/Young combination. The problem was that the Knights and the Harewoods were never really up to scratch in my opinion. As for who I'd spend the £20m on, I'd rather push it on someone like Veloso and Moutinho from Sporting, or someone like Vermaelen (obviously before Arsenal signed him up), on Hangeland, on several of the Real cast-offs... PS The bit about pace is more down to the style that English players tend to play with - we all know that our national game is based on pace and that we use it to our advantage. It's a pity because I think if we spent more time with smaller balls and pitches when our kids are growing up, rather than pitching them into a full size pitch at 11-12, then I think we would be significantly better technically both at pace and at a slower tempo... |
Mike Carter
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... We can't attract world class players full stop at the moment. If we did happen to buy somebody who rose to that level over the course of a season or two - they'd be off in a flash unless we broke the top 4. Just ask Spurs and West Ham etc on how that works. |
NewDaySam
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... Fair point Matt, you are right alot of English players are over priced. But I will say Milner, Young, Delph, Agbonlahor, Downing, and Davies, in my opinion can all be world class. I think Davies doesn't get the credit he deserves either, a good genuine lad who is finding his way, he is not Rio Ferdinand yet but I think he can be better and he isn't a massive arsehole. |
VillaNick
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... MON doesn't trust overseas players, unless they have proven themselves in the Prem or the Scottish league. Thats why we will never get players like VDV or Snijder. Apart from the wages issue, if O'Neill bought players like this and it backfired, he would come under critisism and I for one can see him stressing out and quitting if things like that got too heavy in that department. Maybe it a self presivation thing. |
Matt T
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... I certainly agree the English foundation is what we should build on - what I would like to see is what Petrov was originally brought in to do... be a creative attack minded midfielder who operates from the centre of the pitch. That said I firmly believe Ashley Young could make that role his own if he is given chance by MON in a 4-5-1. vivavilla If we did happen to buy somebody who rose to that level over the course of a season or two - they'd be off in a flash unless we broke the top 4. Isn't this why Chelsea were reportedly after Ashley? Depends on the motivation of the player at the end of the day. van der Vaart would definitely be a good player as he turned down Real Madrid initially and went to Hamburg out of choice. I think money grabbing players exist who are both world class and rubbish - just because you become world class, doesn't mean you then void any type of loyalty to the club... |
Matt T
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... NewDaySam Fair point Matt, you are right alot of English players are over priced. But I will say Milner, Young, Delph, Agbonlahor, Downing, and Davies, in my opinion can all be world class. Totally agree with perhaps the exception of Gabby until he drops the believing in his own hype attitude. I certainly believe that we are better off buying younger and English than buying English players at the end of their career. That said MON had to use stop gaps to help us build further and further up so I imagine that's why he brought in the Knights/Harewoods/Heskeys. They wouldn't really do the job for the top 4, but then we weren't (and still aren't) in the top 4 just yet... |
Matt T
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... VillaNick I agree it wouldn't necessarily make us better, but Carbone did work wonders in my opinion in terms of skill. When he used to be playing with Merson, I thought it was great football to watch. |
Leroy
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... In the end it doesnt matter where the player is from. Yes, different continents play different styles of football, which is arguably more easier on the eye (South America etc) but the important issue is the fact that english players just cost more. Take a look at what Wenger has brought in from France. He is the best at bringing in players that have great potential. Unfortunately for him, they have this great big shiny new stadium to pay for. My point is, Arsenal have had a reasonably low transfer budget (substantially less than Villa) but yet remain in the top 4 (for now). If Randy only has a certain amount of money to spend, wouldnt it be better to scout for some of these international prospects where you could get three or four of them for the price of a Milner? That being said, i think it is a positive thing to have the spine of the team as englishmen and if thats how MON wants to do it then i support that (however frustrating it can be at times) |
Mike Carter
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... Matt I agree but then I don't think Ashley Young is world class. Not close at the moment. |
Matt T
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... What I also am suggesting is that there really deserves to be a market correction in English player prices, moreso than O'Neill needs to give up the English foundation of the team. You really have to question a world when one Glen Johnson costs about the same as Cuellar and Vermaelen put together... |
Matt T
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... vivavilla I agree re: Ashley. I'd only say we as a country only have one English world class player and that's Steven Gerrard. |
Mike Carter
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... At the end of the day, a player is worth whatever the two teams agree he is worth. Supply and demand. Liverpool agreed to pay £17m for Johnson so they obviously thought he is worth it. Perhaps then, the issue is not that English players are overpriced, but that there is simply far too much money in the English game compared to the other leagues. |
Matt T
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... Leroy Yes I would definitely put some money in a scouting network. Unless I'm missing something, I seem to believe that we go less on scouting a lot of foreign players, and more on MON alone. |
Eoin Greene
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... Matt - I thought that was an excellent article and I agree with the majority of it. At the end of the day - i dont care if we have 25 englishmen in our squad or 25 faroe islanders! All I want is villa to chalenge for top honours - the same as everyone on here. I think its fair to say that IN GENERAL - english players are HUGELY overpriced - Milner, Johnson, Bent, Reo-Coker even Delph and Young. Now I am not saying that most of these players wont/have not gone on to prove their value - merely that when they were signed their prices did not reflect what they had done. If you bought the Italian/Dutch/French/Portugeese/German/South American equivalents (based on potential and what they had previously done in the game) - they would have been 1/2 the price. So as a club who apparently dont have that much money - why do we continue to buy overpriced english players? Schenider and Van Der Vaart are both technically gifted players, with huge reputations based largly on what they had done at their previous clubs and with Holland. I think we are crying out for this type of player and they really could make the difference. They are both young and both are available for under 20m. If they were English - they would be worth 35m. Sad but true. Finally, I know it was only a friendly, and I know I just said we paid over the odds, but I haven't been as excited in a long time about a villa player as I am about Delph. I think this guy could be playing for England at the world cup and in the team too! |
mikey18
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... I think that 10mil seems to be the price for a english striker Bent, Defoe, Crouch do you think we could get a better striker from abroad for cheaper...and if so who? |
testie
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... I agree with Pete Griffin, well said my chubby friend. I think we are building a squad that we can be proud of that can win things. Think about the age of many of the young English players we currently have, they are bound to develop further under the correct management which we certainly have got with MON. Nationality is irrelevant in terms of talent just because a player comes from Spain, Italy, Portugal or wherever does not necessarily mean they will be better players. I agree with you Matt that sometimes English players can be overpriced and many over rated. However, in terms of our team i think we will eventually see he benefit of paying what some considered over the odds for Ashley Young, Milner, Davies even Delph.Yes there have been some flops in Harewood and Knight, although both these players did a job (especially Zat) and we even made a profit on Knight. I get why MON buys English, the team can have a certain unity with their nationality and backgrounds and will work hard for each other. This is not to say that foreign players would not fit in and work well as we currently do have some foreign lads in Carew and Stan who are well respected members of the Squad. I think its a balancing act, i do believe that we should have a team that is predominantly full of English players because we are an English team (Sorry Arsenal) , add to our English backbone a little Forign flare i will be well happy. |
Matt T
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... vivavilla A fair point re: the money and that pushes up what people will pay but surely that has global effects? A lot of today's Premier League money is spent on foreign players, yet English players are still overpriced. So if it was just money, surely all purchases going to/between English clubs would be over priced? Whereas the reality is it's generally only the English players (or the ones Man City buy) that have higher priced tags on them. Do people think the bubble will burst in the near future in the same way as the housing market did? |
Matt T
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... Mikey18 Do we really need another striker if we play 4-5-1? Arsenal bought Arshavin for around that sort of price and who would you rather have? Him or Bent? |
BenitoCarbonePleaseComeBack
said:
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... Benny was and still IS class - i refer to the masters league in which he scored for fun and was the player of the tournament. I actually would take him back for a season based on what i saw! Ha Ha! On the subject of English players..... I would agree that we need a good playmaker, but nationality is not important! If we could have Gerrard (as an example) I would take him, and he's English! Aside from this issue, I actually enjoy the fact that our team is mainly English. We are an example to the rest of the league. Managers who don't believe in English talent like Benitez and have given up on them now have no excuse for not buying English. MON has shown that a team can be constructed that will challenge at the top. Nice article (and I can read between the lines) but ultimately, I disagree! |
Matt T
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... And let's be honest, Arshavin was hardly uncovered by Wenger... eoin1981 I totally agree - I wouldn't care if we won the title with a completely Spanish team so long as we did win it. That said, I would obviously prefer if it was English, but I wouldn't say no to the title at the expense of having to play English. Let's hope we can do both although we are realistically 5-10 years away from even challenging for the title (assuming MON stays on board) |
Matt T
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... BenitoCarbonePleaseComeBack Glad you do disagree - was hoping to provoke some good solid debate about our club, if only to stop some of the doom mongers wailing on about us getting relegated with our current squad... I'd be happy with top 6 this season but fifth should probably be our (realistic) aim... |
dreddian
said:
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... I think O'neill is doing the right thing. Aston Villa is better than they have been for years. Since the new owner and management have arrived your team has steadily improved. O'neill will be with you for years to come, so he has a long term plan. Building a close knit team carefully and patiently is the way to go. When not if Villa break into the Champions league money train then he can start looking at the big name stars. He is from the Brian Clough school of thought which has shown success so far. Damn right they should be English. We are in England are we not? The only way for our players to improve is to play against these so called foreign maestros week in week out and carve out our own identity which Villa seem to be doing quite well. I am hoping that in the future other teams will follow suit and gain success however unlikely. Forest fan in peace. |
mikey18
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... no i don't think villa needs a new striker! i was just sayin that it is said that english players are over priced but 10mil for those strikers is good value when you compare them to their international counter parts. Arshavin is an attacking midfield player! |
BenitoCarbonePleaseComeBack
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... Matt T - 5th would be an improvement would it not? I'd be happy with that considering what an unpredictable season we appear to have ahead of us! We need some defenders in, a midfielder who has flair, and possibly a striker (we all know this). Then we can look at 5th upwards. |
Matt T
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... PS for a good striker Carlos Vela - £125k for Arsenal. Wenger openly admits he will be in his first team plans this season... |
Mike Carter
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... Matt True, but a lot more English players go between English clubs than foreign ones do. Other than United buying Valencia I can't think of any other important ones off the top of my head. |
testie
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... Matt T - how much do you thin Juan Pablo Angel would have cost in today's current market? |
Matt T
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... BenitoCarbonePleaseComeBack I agree and yes fifth would be an improvement I would be glad to take. Whether we finish sixth or higher this year I think has a lot to do with how Man City gel as a team as I think the top 4 plus Everton will be there or thereabouts again... |
Matt T
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... testie Probably about £16-17m at a guess but it's hard to say. Arshavin came in for £12m and he's a player of a similar calibre (albeit as a second striker/attacking midfielder than a dedicated forward) |
testie
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... Matt T i'm not sure if Man City will gel and even if they do i still think how well we do will be down to how well we play. If we can sustain a winning run i think with the current team and a few arrivals we can push top 4 regardless of the teams around us. |
BenitoCarbonePleaseComeBack
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... Matt T - I agree. Man City, Everton, Spurs, will be around the top this season. Liverpool and Arsenal may not have the season they would like. I could be very interesting! I sense some mind games coming from Benitez etc. At least we know Martin is capable of psyching out opposing managers based on some of his comments recently! Can't wait now lads. Life has been a bit empty! |
Matt T
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... testie I think Man City will do one of the following: A) Gel well then fall apart at the end of the season due to the dressing room B) Fail to gel, Hughes sacked, then they get a decent manager who pulls them up the table C) Manage to keep it together and break the top 6 To be honest I see A or B as more realistic an option. I think with the addition of a centre back or two (Campbell and a 26 or so year old) and a player like van der Vaart, we will manage 6th. |
Mike Carter
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... The Richard Dunne rumour seems to be gathering pace now. For £5m, that's not a bad deal if you ask me. |
Matt T
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... Re: The O'Leary to Newcastle story http://www.guardian.co.uk/foot...ley-oleary Who's for bets that they'll be in League One if he does take over...  |
Matt T
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... vivavilla I'd take him for £5m to be honest. Would provide Curtis with some solid competition as I think Cuellar will come good this season... |
r0bb0
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... The question here is not whether foreign players are more creative than British ones. Mikey18 and vivavilla have both mentioned a number of creative British players who would enhance any premiership team. The real question is why do you have to pay more for British players and is it worth paying this premium? For every Torres who has proved to be good value, there's a Shevchenko or Pavlyuchenko who has all the skills but has struggled in the premiership. If you accept this point, then it seems perfectly reasonable to pay a premium for a player who has already shown that he can make it in English football. European players (particularly Northern European ones) probably can speak English, but speaking English is not the same as being English. It's not just German humour that's different from ours! Having a significant British core can bring real benefits in team spirit and results on the pitch. I'd love to see someone like Sneijder in the team, but let's not assume that he because he looks great on you tube, he will necessarily make it in the premiership, particularly in his first season! |
Greg1981
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... If you lined up the premier players and could pick any 3 for the Villa I would take Gerrard and Rooney and maybe Terry. So for me the best 3 players are English. But yes, MON needs to buy overseas. However, I don't think he knows them well enough. If it's not seen on Match of the Day we're historically clueless. Ashley is am immense talent; our best for many years. If we don't build now he'll be gone too, so what's the point of having him? Why did we keep Barry for another year just to lose 6 million? MON thought he had a winning combination. Most Villa fans knew he didn't, hence the impatience of many of us. This has all gone on too long. It's now or never. If any one says again on this site 'he'll be a good addition to the squad' or 'he will be good cover' I'm going to scream. Quality is lacking. Keep asking how many would get into any of the top five teams. Just Ashley Young. Last year it was 3 players now it's one. Delph was great yesterday. But I'm still dreading the Wigan game etc. |
Matt T
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... r0bb0 Re: premium prices for people who don't always perform but don't have the "I'm foreign excuse" David Bentley? |
clarkamus
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... richard dunne worth a shout in my eyes scores a few to many own goals though still would be a decent signing at 5m add distan 5m, sniejder 17m and tuncay 8m with harewood 2m leaving a net spend of 40m and a good summer in the market i reckon?? |
Matt T
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... clarkamus I imagine van der Vaart as more likely than Sneijder but yes the signings you mention would be good... |
jk92923
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... ok, so he likes english players but why the hell is there so much focus on this??? |
Eoin Greene
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... But Robbo - for every Shevchenko and Pavlychenko there is a Bent, Jeffers and Sutton. The creative Brittish players, who others suggest are Gerrard, Cole and Rooney - 50m, 25m and 35m (guestimates) - and then Van Der Vaart and Sneijder for 16m ish. I think Sneijder is a lot more than one of these Youtube sensations and his record alone proves that. As you say Robbo, the main question is why are English players so expensive? To me its a lot to do with media hype and the frenzy about the english national team and u21 team for that matter. English players take all the plaudits but for every Terry - there is an outstanding Carvalho. |
Matt T
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... Greg1981? Not Torres? I really don't think Rooney is as good as some people seem to think. He's certainly not been prolific for his club - I think this season will be a defining one for him. Gerrard and Terry would be worth additions but obviously wouldn't happen in a month of Sundays. |
r0bb0
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... Matt T. Yes, but at least MoN has been able to see how Bentley has performed in the premiership and it's beginning to look as if he has decided he's not worth what was being asked for him. I agree though that having seen a player do well for one premiership team is no guarantee that he'll do well for another...it just improves the odds in your favour. You'll always come across someone like Bentley who seems to have the attributes, but lacks the attitude. I think MoN is pretty good at sussing out the character as well as the skills of players and that is one of the vital skills in getting good value for money from your signings |
Matt T
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... I agree r0bb0 MON is the man for our club. People saying he should be sacked now are clearly insane. See how he is doing in 5 years time and ask those people if we would have been wise to sack him. eoin1981 Have to say I agree with you there... Although I'd probably swap Fabregas for Gerrard... |
Greg1981
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... I'm not talking about them coming to the Villa. But just saying there is still some good English talent. And yes I'd take Rooney over Torres any day but yes, none would come to the Villa so it's all academic. I'm saying I don't mind where they come from but at present it's an irrelevant question because we are not looking to buy at that level. If MON apes his mentor Cloughie someone needs to remind him the game has moved on since those roll your sleeves up days. |
Matt T
said:
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... Greg1981 Totally agree - sadly Cloughie himself would not succeed in the current climate due to how football has changed. However I don't think MON is going to be like Brian long term... What he is currently doing though is putting together a team that will provide a foundation to put the big names into when we're 2 or 3 years down the line and can attract those players. I think the sad reality is that even the thought of Villa buying Sneijder and van der Vaart are (for the most part) more of a daydream than a reality. Of course I'd like to be proven wrong, but I think that is where my current expectation level sits. That is we will be finishing 5th or 6th for the next few seasons at least while we build the squad. I am personally happy with that. |
Ferdinand the imposter
said:
 |
... You have to ask yourself with all the influx of so called foreign stars how many have been real star quality? There have been a number of signings of top class foreign players who just don’t fit into the English system - great in Spain or Italy but in England just not cut the mustard. I personally would like to see the quota system whereby a good percentage of the team were English nationals; I would find it difficult to support teams like Arsenal or Liverpool where the majority of players were either French or Spanish and only there for the money - mercenary players who have no affiliation to the club at all. |
Matt T
said:
|
... Ok... here's one for you. Imagine it's 2015 and we have built a club that can attract any England international, and have the ability to buy them. Do you think the contemporary equivalents of Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard etc would be able to win the Premier League with an all English team? Realistically come 5 years from now, we could probably have most of the England first XI in our squad given how MON is currently building our team... PS Excellent performance from Delph yesterday - I am genuinely excited about him as a prospect at Villa  |
parisianrob
said:
 |
... I disagree about big names coming now here are my reasons 1 there are no big name stars for the galactico's to worry about 2 coming into a side that has so much young talent and to be the conerstone to build around is great 3 They would be mobbed on arrival and receive god like status from day one 4 great press coverage each week in all global news all tha has to happen is villa need to stump up the cash and wages in either loan or buy deal. If what i think is happening and perez is asking for ashley i would say this Given the talent we have who would provide more goals young or sneijder? + if we would be able to swap young for wesley and vander whats his name i would take it up the villa cannot wait until saturday |
Leroy
said:
|
... Hope you didnt have anything planned today Matt!!! Busy day! eoin has made some really good points today. I think at the end of the day, MON wants to have total control of player transfers, so he does most of the ground work himself. He is very considerate as to who he signs and certainly takes every aspect of a player into consideration. This is the reason we dont appera to have so much scouting going on, but it is also a big reason as to why MON has a great relationship (seemingly) with all of the players in the side. We have a close knit team that has no real arrogance and the majority of the team have reasonable aspirations of achieving on the international level. Its not so inconceivable however, that MON could also instill the same mentality in a few foreign players too though |
Richard
said:
 |
... As if things weren't bad enough for Newcastle it now looks like they could have none other than the great David O'Dearme installed as their new manager. Now that's funny!!! I thik Mr Ashley must hate Newcastle and is trying to take them to non-league fotball fast. |
r0bb0
said:
|
... Matt, Delph did have a great debut. I just hope we don't build him up so much that others on here (naming no names) will look for the first oportunity to knock him down. Sadly some fans seem to enjoy criticising their own...and I picked the word 'enjoy' deliberately. Just look at the way some 'fans' seemed to almost hate Petrov and now love to knock Gabby and Heskey. Even though Delph clearly has the attributes, no player can play well in every single game and we need to give him the space to develop at his own pace. |
Matt T
said:
|
... r0bb0 I agree and we shouldn't knock people quickly. I think Delph will be a great acquisition but he will need the benefit of the doubt on the days he doesn't play that well too. Either way I need to go out to go and have some time with the in laws so I will check back later on. Thanks to everyone for taking time to post comments whether they agreed or disagreed with the original post. |
churchill.
said:
 |
... Spanishjon Went to the game earlier - a lot have people have mentioned that Delph wasn't very big, which is true. But he's about the same size as Gerrard. I always thought he was big(ish) because of his tough tackling, but after seeing him live he's small and very slim. Your comment was on an earlier thread (fiorentina-fantasy-football - 262) but that’s unread now so I’m posting here. Is Gerrard really that small? Amazing. Jon, you thought you had gone on too long but I have to say I enjoyed your comment enormously. Re-read it two or three times. Everyone who went to the match says how impressed they were with Delph and it seems we were quite lucky to sign him. You know the football gods are smiling on you when you get that kind if good fortune. Keep it coming, mate. Matt Your article started off in a philosophical mood and I was interested to learn what the premise would be. In the end it seemed to be nothing more than: ‘Would O’Neill please find us a quality midfield general even if he’s not English’. Mate, just so you know, every club is looking for one and the one most likely to be successful is the one with the most money and/or CL status. If O’Neill can pull off the Sneijder signing – a player in whom he has declared an interest - it will be a major coup for a non-top 4 club without Middle East oil money. Sneijder is not English. So, based on this, we’re entitled to think O’Neill can be pragmatic when necessary and look for his raw materials wherever he might find them. “So why in God’s name are English players valued so highly?” Gerrard is often touted as the most complete player in the world and I agree. He’s English. His Spanish manager, if he lost him to another club, would have to return to waiting tables at The Barcelona Tapas Bar Y Restaurante in Lime St, London (reviews here: http://www.london-eating.co.uk/5752.htm) . As an aside, if Benitez ever gets the tin-tac from Liverpool FC, I, and others, will fill this, and other, blogs up with merciless satire. What fun will be had. It should become a national holiday. To be fair to The Barcelona Tapas Bar Y Restaurante, they have gone on record stating they will not re-employ him. As I have previously noted The Gunner’s Grill, 256 Holloway Road, North London has said he can have a job as kitchen porter at their salubrious eatery near The Emirates (no reviews). I digress. ...but we’re seeing capitalism gone mad currently. How so? It’s the function of capitalism to reconcile supply and demand and that’s what it’s doing. Moreover, what’s wrong with working class lads becoming millionaires at sport. People don’t complain about McCartney and Lennon or Mick Jagger doing it through music. Good Luck to them. If you think you’re paying through the nose, don’t go. We have the majority of the Premier League now owned by foreign investors with billions in the bank and a hawk eye for either making money off the peak of football’s indulgence, or being a sugar daddy buying the latest “must have toy” for the super rich oligarchs, sheiks, or finance barons. Again, I have to ask ‘What’s your complaint?’ The wealthy among us have always owned football clubs. So now, some of them are foreigners. Let them invest their money for our pleasure. Seems like a good idea to me. To become philosophical myself for a moment: we should enjoy the football for what it is and observe the commercial activity with a snigger. It’s Shakespearean Drama. Roman Abramovich and the rich Arabs court the attention and goodwill of the hoi-polloi – us, the great unwashed - to demonstrate the common touch. The potential for them to become mad or skint, or both, is high. They pay for our football and we can watch them disembowel themselves. It’s delicious. |
PaulMcGrathsGoneAWOL
said:
 |
... So all English players are rubbish and not wanted by the top four? Heres a team that's do OK. Foster, Ferdinand, Terry, A Cole, Johnson, J Cole, Lampard, Gerrard, Carrick, Walcott, Rooney I have to say thats the dumbest article Ive ever read on here. The point surely is we need the best players that we can buy. That means until we get champions league football or until a oil barron takes over its likely to be English players that know about what Villa are, what we stand for, what we're about and our history. Id take a Delph, Young, Milner anyday over a foreign player who knows nothing of Villa but will play because it means a big pay day and the chance to play at OT, Anfield or the Bridge. |
Rich
said:
 |
... Leicestershire AVFC Do you not mean midfielder? Can't think of any Dutch defender who would benefit us. |
Rich
said:
|
... Sneijder is a more complete footballer than Ashley Young ON HIS OWN. If we can come up with a deal for Sneijder that (for example) includes Robben as well to replace Ash the left hand side and no cash exchanged then we really need to think about it. I really like Ashley, but sometimes there is a deal which would substantially improve the team as a whole. Of course I'd just rather give them the cash but if Madrid want Ash and this is the only way they are prepared to negotiate then....... |
rob hathaway
said:
 |
... what a complete pile of shite!!!! no team these days has all english players but how many were in the united side that won the champs league against bayern? if villa break the top 4 this season and say liverpool drop out does that mean english players are better than spanish? The points you raise are vague, generalisation, assumption, crap. I would also add that if you ask the top managers in the world to pick a select 11 i would bet that a fair few you pick either terry or ferdinand as their cb, ash cole as a full back, gerrard or lamps as their cm, rooney, joe cole etc etc the reason no english players play abroad is because they are too expensive as you mention so the abroad clubs go for cheaper options. the reason english players ares o expensive is because you need at least some top english players in a succesful pre team. this is because they add heart, drive, desire and pace. to get all this and top quality is tough so the price is raised. Mon is building a team with these attributes and will eventually look abroad but right now mon is doing it his way and the right way. give him a break oh and by the way our english team just turned over porto juve foirentina and won a competition with real madrid in it so therefore by way of your arguments english players are bettert han portugese spanish and italians |
Rich
said:
|
... Where's Keefvilla. I thought he'd be on here celebrating the possiblility of bidding for Dunne. Should make his summer if we can get him |
jerry
said:
|
...what a complete pile of shite!!!! Rob, could I offer a word of advice. Come off the fence, buddy. Don't be afraid to speak your mind. Up the Villa |
bobvillian
said:
 |
... i will say it again tuncay is our man; a player with vison and workrate for 6-8million a steal.cant believe no bids for him yet.as for dunne to slow and passed it.hows about nelson from blackburn very impressive for past 3years.delph fantastic prospect reminds me of a young gerrard?must bring in fox in the box to put chances. away.my man is vagner love whats your view. |
Leroy
said:
|
...Gerrard is often touted as the most complete player in the world and I agree. He’s English. His Spanish manager, if he lost him to another club, would have to return to waiting tables at The Barcelona Tapas Bar Y Restaurante in Lime St, London (reviews here: http://www.london-eating.co.uk/5752.htm) Again nice to hear from you Churchill! Mate, just so you know, every club is looking for one and the one most likely to be successful is the one with the most money and/or CL status. If O’Neill can pull off the Sneijder signing – a player in whom he has declared an interest - it will be a major coup for a non-top 4 club without Middle East oil money. Sneijder is not English. So, based on this, we’re entitled to think O’Neill can be pragmatic when necessary and look for his raw materials wherever he might find them. Also i think this is a key point. Are we ever seriously going to be able to attract these foreign names if we create this "english club", it might make players feel intimidated and make Villa an unlikely destination even if we do crack the top 4? The other point is, do we really need the big name? Can we just not nurture and grow our own big names? |
Martin Clabon
said:
 |
... Matt, goood articale but not completely convinced. Obviously I would prefer Torres to those English player you mention but he would not have come. There are plenty of examples of foreign players who have failed spectacularly. Top foreign players cost a lot of monet (as do English ones)and only the real top ones are low risk |
BrooksterMax
said:
 |
... The £ is a cheap currency right now, so it is more expensive than before to buy foreign players particularly in the Euro-zone. English based players are therefore a little better value than ever before. Not much, a little. |
Steve Badger
said:
 |
... Churchill, As I have previously noted The Gunner’s Grill, 256 Holloway Road, North London has said he can have a job as kitchen porter at their salubrious eatery near The Emirates (no reviews). I used to park next door to there when I worked at London Met Uni a few months back. In an area where the food is surprisingly good wherever you go, that place was awful 1 out of 5 for me. It's now closed. HTH I agree with Matt about Capitalism gone mad and I've said before I think it'll lead to the ruination of a major club imo. Not that I want to argue about it though, it's just my view. |
Steve Badger
said:
|
... Good article by Staunton in the Mirror; "That's why I think it's a time for the club - and Villa fans are great supporters - to really back the manager and the youngsters and trust that things will happen." http://www.mirrorfootball.co.u...06769.html |
Rich
said:
|
... rob H Not going to side either way in the debate (more interested in AVFC to be honest)but couldn't you choose better examples; who in their right mind would pick Ashley Cole in a world 11??????? Also there is a distinct split of opinion as to whether Frank L should be included in an England team, let alone a World 11. Riquelme, Iniesta, Xavi to named a few without thinking very hard. |
Martin Clabon
said:
|
... Churchill, while always a mistake to disagree with you I am going to on the subject of capialism. Your comments reflect a classical, Adam Smith view of capitalism which assumes a closed market. Football is more like the western economies of frequent years where capaitalism has not been allowed to work because Central Banks have inflated money supply to stimulate consumption by old fashioned Keynsian means and modern off balance sheet operations. These have led to bubbles and other long tail events which while a natural consequence of capitalism have been made much more frequent by this perversion of markets. A similiar thing is happenng in football with new and borrowed money causing massive inflation of fees and wages beyond the likely future income associated with these assets. This is already "crashing" in S. America where Argentinian, Chilean, Brazilian etc teams reliant on selling multiple players in Europe are unable to do so. Also over here in the lower leagues things are very tough with many established payers unable to pick up any type of contract. Even AC Milan are struggling/ having to sell and not replace with the same quality. I have little doubt something similiar will happen in Premier League especially if foreign money takes a walk Your waiter comments are very funny though! |
kohoutek, home now and name still not working properly
said:
 |
...Leroy said: I think this is the way of the future for clubs like us, Leroy. Or at least I would hope it is. I liked the way the youngsters played together. You could see some good work being done by our coaching staff bringing these players along. |
Martin Clabon
said:
|
... Kohoutek, but why not 1 Wes Sneijder (Spelling?) for each Delph, Fonzi, Albrighton and Clarke? |
keithj
said:
 |
... surely the asking price for sneijder is not unreasonable, eg darren bent + delph, but it is the wages that will be the stumbling block ( pay him 100k/week i hear people say) now comes the dressing room unrest, the problem is players would be happy for villa to buy him for 20-25 million as long as his wages were on par. |
clarkamus
said:
|
... sneijder himself is more driven by football than money and admires the premier league wouldnt it be nice to see a high profile player like that join an aspiring team like ourselves for less money and for football reasons? not saying it will happen but it would certainly be refreshing in the game |
kohoutek, home now and name still not working properly
said:
|
...SidCowanslovechild said: Oh, i'd love it, Sid. I think there's MON's English core thing going on, and also I get the sense that RL may just be waiting out all this recession and debt, etc., and seeing what happens to other sides more highly leveraged. And I would bet that what you say is what we'll end up seeing over time, one big signing every year or two. I see almost exactly that mix being RL's model. It's just getting them in right now, I think. And that's what MON was telling us. I'm still hoping he can manage to pull off Sneijder, VDV, anyone with a real name, just for the psychology of it. But I do think he's trying, and I took his comments about 'interest being reciprocated' to mean that money wasn't really the issue. Maybe something will get done as the window closes. It could be really interesting musical chairs. |
Rich
said:
|
... Include the extra wages in an 'undisclosed signing on fee' Seriously though, I know players have big ego's but to have the opportunity to play alongside someone of the likes of Sneijder, would they really object to him being on higher wages. Is it too simplistic to suggest that this is the same in all walks of life. Some people in an institution are paid more than others. Isn't Sneijder as the better, more complete player expected to be on more money? Granted, he would have to perform! |
football shirts
said:
 |
... This is the reason we dont appera to have so much scouting going on, but it is also a big reason as to why MON has a great relationship (seemingly) with all of the players in the side. We have a close knit team that has no real arrogance and the majority of the team have reasonable aspirations of achieving on the international level. Its not so inconceivable however, that MON could also instill the same mentality in a few foreign players too though |
Martin Clabon
said:
|
... Sign a Dutch and he will partner Delph in midfield with no room for Petrv, assuming 4 in midfield??????? |
kohoutek, home now and name still not working properly
said:
|
... ^^ i guess I contradict myself. I took MON's comments to mean that he was trying, and that it was a question of convincing the player, not whether we had the money. But, one could also imagine RL wanting to wait things out. It just seems like this chase says MON will look abroad to bring in proven quality, and I don't think the move is foundering because of money. I'm curious about Veloso, that supposed deadline, etc. Seems to have gone oddly quiet. |
Rich
said:
|
... Would hopefully play a 5 man midfield with plenty of attacking options Reo Coker(Delph in time), Petrov Milner, Sneijder/VDV, Ash |
kohoutek, home now and name still not working properly
said:
|
... Sid, five men with Sneijder, Delph, Petrov, Albrighton and Young is something I'd like to see tried out, leaving out Milner, and I think he'd be good in the middle. |
kohoutek, home now and name still not working properly
said:
|
... but for £12m, I guess you can't just leave out Milner. |
Dema
said:
 |
... Foreigners like Habib Beye? This Sneijder thing has got out of hand too. There's no way he'd want to come to us and there's no way we'd pay him anything close to what he's on now or someone like Man City could. Yes, MO'N would like Sneijder at Villa Park. But only in the same way Exeter City's manager would like him to play for them. |
Martin Clabon
said:
|
... It's nice to be talking about who we can't afford to leave out rather than if we've got enough cover, in midfield at least |
Martin Clabon
said:
|
... Dema, very poor analogy, Sneijder to Villa is a long shot but not impossible. Exeter City???? |
Shauny B
said:
 |
... Hang on hang on! This MON English player preference debate is nonsense. Has anyone actually looked at the so called first team squad of 27 names on the official website. At least 12 of them are foreign nationals. Isn't it more a case of the Villa not having the scouting teams to look further afield? |
Leroy
said:
|
...kohoutek says Yeah id love to see that also. I think the biggest potential "loser" of all this is Reo. I feel sorry for him in many ways, we all saw how excited he was to have led the boys to victory in the peace cup, plus he was pretty good himself during the tournament. I dont know what to make of MON´s comments about Downing though. Is it conceivable that he would try and groom him the way he did Barry? I have a small feeling that it may be the case....if its true we wont be signing another midfielder |
tobinho
said:
 |
... interesting comments/article i think comparing prices too much is a waste of time. for example 'arsenal got these players for a low price and villa paid more for players who are not as good'. even with the very young players arsenal are usually going to win in attracting the best because of there current status in the game. im really happy with whats going on at the villa at the moment - its a team I really want to get behind and support. i completely disagree with the people who start slating local lads like agbonlahor - and are asking the manager to go out and get foriegners to replace him straight away. Why do these people even support there team ? i dont want to be one of those premeirship clubs that is just a mess of foreign players like many of the other prem teams outside the top group of teams. |
clarkamus
said:
|
... i am certain that we do have scout abroad consistently, i dont think oneill will ever sign a player that cannot speak good english for 1 as its bound to take twice as long to settle if you cant communicate with others his policy of buying british based players is working at the end of the day and although i would like to see him take a chance on a defour for example there is no guarantee that he will cut it in england at least his way the majority are already tried and tested |
Matt
said:
 |
... Evening all, not posted for a while. Sneijder while i would love to see him at VP, part of me just doubts that it will happen. Swapping Madrid for the Midlands when the maybe CL footy on offer elsewhere? Not many footballers in todays game of his age move from clubs as big as Real to clubs building on their ambitions like us. Not to say that we cant attract players, but MoN has yet to make a move for that standard of player, he hasnt tested the waters on so called big name signings. Im keeping the faith but i think it might be a season to soon before we see a signing like Sneijder. Fingers crossed though, |
Matt
said:
|
... Also see that the Wheater links are being made again after MON went to the Boro-Blades game? Tuncay maybe? |
r0bb0
said:
|
... If we are going to try and compete in the premiership AND Europe then we NEED to find it hard to accomodate all our best players in the one team. |
r0bb0
said:
|
... Matroshkin. Last year we ran out of steam because we didn't have enough good players in order to rotate the squad and when MoN used the back up players in Europe he came in for huge criticism because we were using players that weren't quite up to it. This year we need back up players who we would be happy to see in the full squad. The fact that we beat Juventus and Fiorentina with starting line ups that only had 4 players in common suggests that we may be better equiped to handle both the premiership and Europa league campaigns this year |
TomHanks
said:
 |
... I reckon we should sign that up and coming wonderkid called Purton, then our team will be complete i reckon.... let me know what you think guys?? |
Matt
said:
|
... Well it's not like we are packed with big names and egos,and up until the Moscow game we were competeing inthe league and Europe it was only down to lack of numbers that we slid off our peak.It'll be a mixture of experience and youngsters. The likes of Albrighton who played the Moscow game and has had some vital experience in the Peace Cup. What we need is numbers coz with Barry,Taylor,Knight and the Legend Laursen out in three in we are not much up on last term. Only difference this time is some of the Academy kids look like getting a chance in the league and the seniors who's heads dropped 2nd half of last season will hopefully have learn't from it and be mentally prepared for things not to slip this time out. UTV |
Matt
said:
|
... r)bb0, sorry, i just mis-read your post, now ive turned my brain on and got it. Bit slow today. I agree mate, competition for places is a must, it breeds drive and hunger and pride for the shirt and keeps everyone on their toes. |
r0bb0! god i cant spell as well as read!
mr villa
said:
 |
... MON should sighn sneijder because he has got us al exited and pleased about a player that good coming to villa. He cant not get him now |
Rich
said:
|
... May as well try same tactics as with Sneijder. Seems like (considering his present treatment at Real) he may respond to 'being wanted'. worth a go, the guy is class. http://www.vandervaartofficial.com/en/contact_me.asp |
mr villa
said:
|
... Petrov, sneidjer,sidwell,delph. Thats a center mids. Are wingers r young, jay and stew. Leave it at that. |
mr villa
said:
|
... People, are team in center md would be sneijder,sidwell,delph,petrov. THAT R OPTIONS. WOW.lets get another striker and play 4 4 2 |
mr villa
said:
|
... MON has been a great fan of SNEIJDER. He wanted him at Ajax. Sneijders career has gone down hill. He knows that MON is a great manager. He knows his career will light up again if he comes to villa. |
Matt
said:
|
... Nice to see Rednapp's come out and finally admitted that he wont be gettin A.Young because we dont want to sell. Maybe that will quiet down all these Jonny big Spuds fans?? Probably not though. |
mr villa
said:
|
... READ I have just red that today on radio madrid, sneijder could be on a loan deal to a prem team that have been linked with him for while. VILLA |
Daniel Wilson
said:
 |
...Nice to see Rednapp's come out and finally admitted that he wont be gettin A.Young because we dont want to sell. Maybe that will quiet down all these Jonny big Spuds fans?? Probably not though. Unfortunatly that just means Redknapp is definatly after him. Same every time, talk about the player in public, say how much he likes them, says he knows they are not for sale, waits for said player to take the bait. 1 problem Mr Redknapp, Ashley doesn't want to play for anyone other than the Villa, he told me himself over a pint of John Smiths and a packet of Pork Scratchings. |
Daniel Wilson
said:
|
...Sneijder starts for real 2nite Guess were just going to have to wait and see with this one, something is definatly going on behind the scenes, weather it comes off or not I think we will only ever know if he ends up joining us. I wouldn't take the fact he is starting tonight as a bad thing though, didn't Delph play for Leeds a couple of days before joining us? Until a player moves the clubs fully within rights to field them. Hoping for a deal tomorrow! |
Tim
said:
 |
... I thought Milner was Fab Yesterday !! I'd like to see across the middle of the park : Milner, Petrov, Sneijder, Delph, Young Or alternativley Defour, Reo Coker, Tuncay, Veloso, Downing Plus , you have Albrighton, Bannan, Gardner etc. Defenders: Luke Young, Cuellar, Davies, Bouma Plus, Lichaj, Shorey, Forwards: Carew, Agbonlahor or Heskey, Delfouneso I think with the addition of say Distin, Campbell or Haangeland we would havea pretty decent squard to see us through to January at least when i would hope for 2 more quality signings. We could have many more permutations within this squad to cover for injuries throuhout the season. |
Steve Badger
said:
|
..."Everybody would like to have him but I don't think there is a chance we would get him. He's a fantastic player and Aston Villa do not want to sell him, I don't think he's available," Bastard!! I hate melted welly face even more than FSW  Fortunately MON won't roll over for him and he'll hopefully tell him to do one. |
jerry
said:
|
... Badger In an area where the food is surprisingly good wherever you go, that place was awful 1 out of 5 for me. It's now closed. Fantastic. Thank you for lending a touch of authenticity to my satire. The waiter will have to look elsewhere. I agree about a major club going pop, by the way, and it will be tremendous fun when it happens. Nil desperandum. It won’t be the Villa. Junior “classical Adam Smith”, “inflated money supply”, “stimulate consumption” “old fashioned Keynsian” and “off balance sheet operations” all in the first two sentences. What a cerebral place this blog is becoming. Don’t worry, I don’t think we would necessarily disagree. Free market, Adam Smith capitalism has been corrupted by a distorted money supply and professional football has inevitably followed down the primrose path. Classical Keynsian inflation is the inevitable result. It will end in tears and Nemesis waits patiently in a dark place reserved for the foolish. If Liverpool fall out of the top 4, there will be a gnashing of teeth accompanied by instant calls on the overdraught. It will be enormously entertaining. We have already seen the dress rehearsal up on Tyneside. Glad you were amused by the other stuff. This may be the most prescient thing I've read here today. From kohoutec: and also I get the sense that RL may just be waiting out all this recession and debt, etc., and seeing what happens to other sides more highly leveraged. |
paul villa
said:
 |
... thing is the team madrid have chose for tonight looks like there idea of there first team no van der vaart tho |
Daniel Wilson
said:
|
... Has mon EVER talked about a player he wanted to sign before the other day? and if so what happened? I can't remember it happening? I just think something must be going on behind closed doors and weather mon said what he said because a deal was being wrapped up, or because he was making a sly did at Madrid or a player or whatever I just don't know! |
limerick villan
said:
 |
... did any1 watch the charity sheild? i think utd cud be in trouble this season |
Richard J
said:
 |
... I dont see sneijder coming to us i still think he is part of Madrid's plans Van Der Vaart - He has come out and said he has been told he has NO future at Real Madrid. He wants t leave, they want him to leave. But where hes going to end up? who knows. |
clarkamus
said:
|
... sneijder played first half for a fairly strong real madrid side hope he dosent come out second half and gets on a plane to birmingham!!! |
whitey
said:
 |
... Ashley Young is an Arsenal fan and Spurs is a step down so why the hell would he move there? |
Villa man
said:
 |
... Lads lets calm down. Even though I would love to have Wesley at the villa! It ain't gonna happen. I went to the villa village today to get sone tickets and I was asking sone of the ticket officers and they were saying that mon ain't got a clue. They seemed pissed off aswell! I am pretty happy, look at our front line, Milner downing (wen fit) petrov young Gabby and Carew! With delph, reo, sidders, fonzy, albrighton on bench. Now u tell me apart from the top 5, who the f**k has a better front line? This lineup will cause every team in the league probs! We will finish 5th with the carling cup in the bag! I think we will also get alot of points of te big boys aswell. Chelsae and man u look shite! I would start Beye dunne carlos shorey at the back. Solid. I think beye is so much better composed on the ball than lukey young. I also belive tht thi season curly carlos will break into the Spanish national team! He looks awesome so far! On FIFA 09 he is amazing! Anyway guys please keep the faith we have only spent around 8m net spend so far, there must be at least another £20m left.!! I am sure of it. I have faith in this team because of the team spirit and because we haven't changed it too much. The players have already gelled so I think this is our biggest secret and weapon of mass destruction! Do u agree guys and gals? |
limerick villan
said:
|
... if AY goes to spuds ill....... Look theres more chance of messi playing for limerick 37 jesus has this turned into an under 12`s post?? |
Rich
said:
|
... Dan Wilson. Perhaps MON is being extra canny and trying to put people off the scent. Didn't his quote say something like 'players LIKE Sneijder'!!!! Could therfore, be after VDV, who in my opinion is absolute top drawer. Could get him for around £8 million. An absolute snip if compared to the prices players like Bent Naughton and Crouch etc have gone for. VDV is in another league to the likes of these. |
Paul Theiss
said:
 |
... Sneijder is probably still a part of Real's plans, but he won't start them. The lineup out there today against D.C. United certainly won't be Real's starting lineup. Benzema isn't out there, Granero won't start, Ramos will start over Arbeloa, Marcelo will probably start over Drenthe, etc. |
Daniel Wilson
said:
|
... Spud, any inside info or just a guess? Rich, you could be right if thats what he said, I can't remember it word for word, somethings up either way, I could smell it getting off the elevator. Villa man - I agree our lineup is now looking top notch, I was getting panicky but then the kids showed us what they are made of and Albrighton, Lichaj and Guzan look really reliable - like a new top drawer signing in the case of Albrighton and I'm chuffed with Downing and Delph. I honestly think another assault on the top 4 is on and I wasn't impressed with Chelsea and United today, why shouldn't we be pushing them even if were not quite ready to finnish above them yet not that I wouldn't love it. Think the blokes at Villa Village were having a laugh with you though mate unless they were on day release work experience from the sty. |
paul villa
said:
|
... i think martin oneill has got a couple tricks up his sleeve but not sure what they will be i think he has got to find a top class defender more then another midfielder i would rather spend 20 mil on a defender we always score are prob is leaking goals and we scored hell of alot of goals from set plays when laursen was playing but in the second half of last season that dried up as well hopefully cuellar may be decent off set plays this year |
Rich
said:
|
... Dan Wilson 'And O'Neill admits he needs to be interested in players of the calibre of Sneijder.' Well thats definately VDV!! |
Spud
said:
 |
... From Spurs 'ITK' (hmmm) Something's happening. JJ transfer request in pipeline. Villa getting Tuncay tomorrow £7m |
Rich
said:
|
... paul villa £20 million seems a 'tad' high for a defender. This is the kind of money I'd be looking to spend on a top class midfielder creating further up the park. They are at a premium and therefore likely to cost more (i.e the sort of figure you quoted). I believe we can get excellent quality at the back for far less than this. Lescott's price is a red herring as highly inflated by Citeh's millions. In the real world a player of his ability on the fringes of the national team wouldn't fetch more than say £10million tops. Crikey, you could possibly get VDV for less than this! |
Rich
said:
|
... Spud I sincerely hope Villa don't go for JJ. This would be really deflating compared to the possible midfield alternatives we have been heavily linked with the last couple of days. Not fit to lace their boots IMO |
Jonesy2k8
said:
 |
... I'd love to see Tuncay at Villa, but I think if we were to sign Tuncay then thats any move for someone like Sneidjer, or Vaart out the equation. Because isen't Tuncay a attacking mid, so if there is anything going on with any of those behind the scenes then I would not want Tuncay. But either of those players I would love at Villa. I think we will sign atleast one player this week UTV. |
paul villa
said:
|
... i just dont see how they are all going to fit into the villa at the moment in midfield we have a young sidwell reo coker petrov gardener delph milner allbrighton gardener osbourne and downing in bout 8 wks thats 11 midfielders i know we have alot of games but u need toi play your strongest 11 as often as possible rotation doesnt work and i forget salifou |
Daniel Wilson
said:
|
... Not sure I'd be happy with jenas anymore, I was well up for it at the start of the window but looking back that was just impatience. He's a good player but wouldn't be any better than what we have unless mon could work wonders. My opinions have done a 180 in the last month, I think i'm going to rejoin the yes we can camp |
limerick villan
said:
|
... BOYS! cheer up!! Sunday, Monday, Habib Beye! Tuesday, Wednesday, Habib Beye! Thursday, Friday, Habib Beye! Saturday! Habib Beye! Rocking all week with you! |
Martin Clabon
said:
|
... If someone at Villa Village is saying MON hasn't got a clue he wants saking. Like he'd know what the boss was saying Chelsea and Utd will be very strong again this season, we shouldn't kid ourselves Don't want Jenas, should be a top quality midfielder or nothing. CD should be a much higher priority |
Daniel Wilson
said:
|
... What about a new song for Harry Redknapp - Young boy get out of my mind, my love for you is way outa line, you better run boy, your much too Young boy! |
Rich
said:
|
... paul villa but none of those listed are 'creative' (what is needed for us to push on) They all have their own attributes (well some of them do)but we should be looking for the next level. Jonesy2k8. Agree that if Tuncay signs then there is likely to be no Sneijder or VDV. As you probably can gather from my posts I too would much rather have one of the Dutchmen. .......However I believe Tuncay is the next best option. Much better than the likes of J.J. Been reading some of the Boro blog and they all absolutely adore him as you can see from the 'non selective' quotes pasted below when discussing the possibility of Tuncay playing on Saturday. "Absolutely fantastic,I aslo hope he is still here in January. Even if this is his last game at the Riverside, the guy has been class and given his all. I hope everyone in the crowd give him the standing ovation he deserves" "It would be great to see him play for the Boro again, even if it is only for a few games. Had Gareth made him captain last season and played him in the advanced central midfield role in which he plays for Turkey then I think we would probably still be up there so I hope he uses him there rather than stuck out on the right or as the out and out striker that he is not. He should be motivated because he has until the end of August to attract a new club and will almost certainly do so from one that makes a bad start. Either that or Liverpool will spoil the party on Friday by taking him if Alonso goes. At £6m – 8m he would be a great addition to any squad in the Premiership but were he to stay that would be fantastic. Whatever happens I am sure all Boro supporters wish him well." |
clarkamus
said:
|
... tuncay can play either in midfield or up front would be great options for us at fair price of say 7m he works his bollocks off aswell and he played well against us last year and scored both times i think it is a certainty that we will sign him up |
Jonesy2k8
said:
|
... Rich Defo agree that Tuncay is prob the next best option after the likes of VDV. If anyone needs convincing about Tuncay, they have just got to look what he did against us he tore us to bits. So he would be a very good signing if it ever came off. |
avfc1983
said:
 |
... Just watched match from yesterday delph looked good just wait until he gets comfortable with the team he looks cheap at 8 million UTV well done MON |
Steve Badger
said:
|
...and I was asking sone of the ticket officers and they were saying that mon ain't got a clue. He ain't got a clue in what he's doing or who he's buying? Either way, wtf do ticket officers know? I very much respect people who do lesser jobs, np, but you don't exactly need brains to do that job, do you? I'd rather ask Gladys the tea lady's opinion. At least she might get near MON and actually hear something. |
Jonesy2k8
said:
|
... It's interesting whats on Delph's wikipedia page. Someone may of placed this on there themselves, but it says that Delph will be wearing number 6 this year even though he was wearing 16 on sat. |
avfc1983
said:
|
... Churchhill AVTV 3.99 a month but you get interview etc aswell as match hightlights |
limerick villan
said:
|
... Badger dont go getting upset dude..we all love and the villa close your eyes now and sing cum by ya...lol |
Scrumpy
said:
 |
... Best quote of the weekend from MON was about Delph "Is he an immediate replacement for Gareth Barry? Hold on. That would be asking a lot", so if MON doesn't see him as a immediate Barry replacement and he knows Downing is out til December, that might indicate that another Midfielder could be in the pipeline. Wouldn't it be an interesting start to the season (even if it was a loan deal) for a headline signing like a Sneider or similar, add to that one or preferably two experienced CBs (Distin, Dunne, Campbell), use the youngsters to make a full squad league (and use them in cups and europe) and I would be very happy to see how that squad does.... |
keithj
said:
|
... reason not to dismiss sneijder real have to trim to 25 players so obviously try to get rid of worst players BUT if nobody comes in for the ones they want rid of others HAVE to go |
Scrumpy
said:
|
... All I'm hoping for now is for MON to play a young team agaist Wigan for the starter (maybe resting some of the England squad members or dropping them to bench as they haven't had full pre-season and may not be fully fit) and then Hansen says on MOTD the immortal line "You aint gonna win anything with kids".... |
macca
said:
 |
... hEADLINE NEWS!! VILLA WILL GET TUNCAY!! sorry boys do my work late at night! he will sign this week after spurs got knocked back!!! JJ to hand in transfer request at spuds!!! |
macca
said:
|
... yes macca he is coming to villa this week! also knew about delph before it happened!! |
Steve Badger
said:
|
... Limerick, I'm chilled mate I just thought it was a daft comment. I know Villa man is proper though, so no worries. Churchill, Nil desperandum. It won’t be the Villa. More like nil illegitimi carborundum, especially when it comes to Uefa. Macca, Any source? |
Doc
said:
 |
... I'd never dismiss someone else's opinion as tosh, but this is as close as I would get. O'Neill is NO transfer idiot. He's made some mistakes, but at least they'be been cheap. O'Neill is working a clearly defined strategy, as far as I can see - and the very expensive signing of Fabian Delph only confirms it. Martin O'Neill quite obviously has an agreement with Randy Lerner that the club will beat all-comers for the signings of top English talent. He persuaded Lerner to spend the best part of £10m on a then unproven Ashley Young, and he's done it again with Delph. It's already looking like Delph might be a steal: and if you look at it from Lerner's perspective, O'Neill has already made him £20m on Young and the portents are that it may be even more for Fab. Not just kids, though. O'Neill's been prepared to shell out £12m each on James Milner and Stewart Downing, in both cases beating off opposition from our rival clubs. It's easy for the cynics to focus on the signings of Knight, Harewood, Salifou and Routledge - too easy. As those same cynics well know, every top 4 manager has had an equal - and perhaps higher - number of turkeys. Ashley Young, Luke Young, James Milner, Fabian Delph, Curtis Davies - these will all be key names in the England set-up in the next two seasons. Nicky Shorey, Steve Sidwell, Nigel Reo-Coker, Gabby Agbonlahor -these are top, capped players with something to prove who may well regain their top form as the momentum at Villa park builds and the youngsters set the pace. And I haven't even mentioned Marc, Eric and Nathan. It's a really, really crap time to be a cynic - because cynics hate bright futures. Bring it on Taglor, Jinksy, Somersetvilla and Eoin |
limerick villan
said:
|
... Doc excuse my french... But you know your shit!! as in wat ur talking bout i thinks a bit of MON is rubbing onto you good post mate! UTV |
Steve Badger
said:
|
... Doc, I like it. The cynics have been pretty quiet since the signing of Delph Not sure about LY though. Glen Johnson's pretty good and will keep him out imo, as much as I like him. |
r0bb0
said:
|
... Doc...you missed Guzan. We've also brought in a few to the youth set up who will hopefully come good over the next few years |
hando2a
said:
 |
... anyone seen this yet? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1205396/Aston-Villa-beat-Spurs-Middlesbrough-striker-Tuncay-Sanli-7m-deal.html?ITO=1490 |
IrishVillan
said:
 |
... yes I've just seen that Tuncay story too! Hope it's true, it was the same with Beye, reported on some crap little sites saying that a deal was done for him, and then Boom! it actually was! I hope it's the same for Tuncay, I will be expecting confirmation from SSN first thing in the morning!! |
jerry
said:
|
... Doc Bring it on Taglor, Jinksy, Somersetvilla and Eoin Doc, you're sexy when you're roused O'Neill is NO transfer idiot. He's made some mistakes, but at least they'be been cheap. Undeniably true. Your hypothesis on the Lerner, O'Neill relationship is interesting. Today's whole thread here has been thoughtful and stimulating. |
Vijay Daryanani
said:
|
... Yes hando2a mate, thats sniejder or VDV out ! but i think this is a better deal, who can you buy nowadays for £5 million quid?? Tuncay will do a good job for 2 or 3 years, he can play i various attacking positions too, different payer to what we have, i just hope we dont sell any players now, we ned to keep the depth |
villainseattle
said:
 |
... In any of MON's prior teams has he always been as resident to use subs as he was last year? it didn't seem that our bench was so weak as to not merrit 20 minutes here and there to change momentum or rest an over worked player or two. |
Steve Badger
said:
|
... The best thing about that Tuncay article? We've done melted welly face again. PMSL |
Paul Theiss
said:
|
... Yup. The Daily Mail says that we've agreed a 7M fee for Tuncay. Guess that means no Sneijder or van der Vaart, as if we ever really had a chance. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1205396/Aston-Villa-beat-Spurs-Middlesbrough-striker-Tuncay-Sanli-7m-deal.html?ITO=1490 |
jerry
said:
|
... Badger "Illegitimi non carborundum" Amen. My favorite piece of dog-latin and a motto for life. avfc1983. Thanks for the info. |
Vijay Daryanani
said:
|
... looks like its true! he could be an interesting signing and not very expensive, we dont have bg money |
Daniel Wilson
said:
|
... My guess is that mon spoke to Soutgate or whoever does the business at Middlesbrough when he was up there and that Tuncay will be in for talks tomorrow (along with possibly Wheater??) because we know Sunday is a day of rest at Villa Park. |
Paul Theiss
said:
|
... I must admit that, if we land Tuncay, I'll feel great about our signings: Downing, Delph, Beye, and Tuncay. Obviously, they don't possess the quality of a player like Sneijder. But they all make us a better team; they'll give us more options and make us less predictable than last season. I'm particularly excited about Downing. Although he won't play for some time, he is a cracking player that will prove his worth as soon as he gets into the squad. Bring in at least one more center back, and we'll be ready. |
Vijay Daryanani
said:
|
... Dan mate, i think they met Tuncay there as he wasnt playing and stayed to watch Wheater, or maybe just the game, the Dunnne rumour is gathering pace...... |
spanish villan
said:
 |
... lads i dont think this is true for some reason. its a bit unusual, biggest rule is not to believe the media. especially the written press. but i hope it is. |
Steve Badger
said:
|
...Badger I thought you'd got it wrong, but it seems there are about 15 different ways of saying it I bow to you though, as I never studied Estonian  |
Steve Badger
said:
|
... Ah balls. That looks daft when I included your "dog-latin" part. Ah well Another signing maybe Decent one too, imo. |
limerick villan
said:
|
... vijay your my brother from an other mother and she was seaoson ticket holder too!! |
Vijay Daryanani
said:
|
... see this guys! http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/119577/Villa-sweat-over-Distin |
limerick villan
said:
|
... as for dunne i already had an argument bout this(check previous posts) but i still think he cud do a job for us,,i know hes slow had bad last season but with backing from MON he wud be a good squad at the least! |
AA.
said:
 |
... hang on a sec vijay...where are these signings you mentioned last week! Why did MON not get Tuncay when he went in for Downing? Is it he had someone higher on the list and now has to settle for Tuncay? Not that thats bad, just wonder if he was after someone else? |
jerry
said:
|
...Ah balls. Pilgrim, it's all good. Well into some California white wine. Nicely oiled and looking forward to comfirmation of the Tuncay thing. And Wheater or Distin. O'Neill is busy. Up the Villa |
Billy Villa Banbury
said:
 |
... If we look at Laursen going anyway......we have lost GB and ZK...Brought in Delph, Downing, Beye, and now hopefully Tuncay, fair exchange imo. So a centreback to replace Laurson and im quite happy, we have gone forward.....Would need to be a Wheater not a Distin. |
Steve Badger
said:
|
... Churchill, O'Neill is busy. No he's not mate. There are loads of people telling us MON is sat with his finger up his arse. Please get it right! |
djongrass2
said:
 |
... This from today's Mail Aston Villa have agreed a £7million deal with Middlesbrough for striker Tuncay Sanli. Villa made their move after increased interest from Tottenham and offers from German clubs Stuttgart and Cologne. |
jk92923
said:
|
... sunday mail or not,it would still be nice... http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/sport/football/article-1205396/Aston-Villa-beat-Spurs-Middlesbrough-striker-Tuncay-Sanli-7m-deal.html |
Rich
said:
|
... AA Yes I believe MON was in for someone else (at Madrid!) but we tried and look like we failed. However Tuncay is the next best thing. I'm pretty excited about this one as he offers something completely different from what we have. Also (and it would have gone a long way with O'Neill) the work he puts in and his attitude are first rate. We will love him for this alone. Lets hope he plays just behind the front man (not as a winger or an out and out forward)- Read post 171. Just the middle of defence to sort now. Lets go for a real top centre half and Dunne. Please NO SOL. He is NOT good enough anymore and being 4th choice will only hinder opportunities for the likes of Clarke. |
Rich
said:
|
... Doc Bowles - great post. The ONLY thing I dont 100% agree with is tat certainly at the momment the jury is still out on Sidwell (and possibly still on Davies). |
Mike Carter
said:
|
... Harry Redknapp just doesn't know how to keep his big goddamn mouth shut does he? I'm sorry but publically talking about what players you want is unnecessary and totally underhanded. Yes matey we all know how much you want Ashley Young, doesn't mean you need to tell you press though. Really hate that man. |
Juan Pablo Angel
said:
 |
... As with the Beye deal and the Distin deal MON likes to declare his interest early and be quoted a price for a player and then if it's a little too high he sits back and waits for another club to make an offer and if an offer by another club is enough to get accepted and still low enough for MON to deem a bargain, he'll jump in too. If no other offers come in he goes back and hauls the price down! We heard back in June about Tuncay and one of the stories said that MoN had asked to be kept informed, hence interest from Germany and Melted Wellie face and now MoN joins the race. I wouldn't be suprised that Southgate has been a bit of an ally in this whole thing being an ex villa player. I'd love to see Wheater come in and i think this is a last ditch effort by MoN and if he doesn't come Dunne will be plan B. MoN enquired about him prior to going to Boro to use the fact he's interested in another player as leverage. I think we'll do three deals this week. Tuncay, Distin and Wheater/Dunne. I really don't see why Distin would go to Liverpool to play second fiddle to Agger, Carra and Skrtl, Man City are a threat to this deal but only if they don't get Lescott. Still hopeful about either Wes or VDV, i'm starting to really believe we might get one of these lads. UTV |
bluey from great barr
said:
 |
... tuncay would be a great signing,but sad that cahill has agreed a new contract with bolton  |
Villa man
said:
|
... Can't wait for melt face to come to villa this season, he is gonna get it so bad!!! Hopefully someone throws s brick at him |
ak_27
said:
 |
... Doc none of Nicky Shorey, Steve Sidwell, Nigel Reo-Coker, Gabby Agbonlahor are top players. They are average players who on their day can be good players but consisitantly they are not top players. And this cynic remark is a bit much also. You make it out that people on here want Villa to fail when all they are doing is questioning our past transfer policys which over all i would argue has been poor. Saying that before i get shot i am actually very happy with this summers deals so far as the quality of our targets seems to have improved. Beye ive been informed by a newcastle fan is a good player is a position we need back up for. Downing will be a very useful player when he gets back to fitness and Delph will hopefully be the player ive been waiting to sort out our CM for the last 15years. Tuncay is exactly the striker we need in and if MON can bring Dunne, Warnock i would be very hopeful for us this season. Add one of Van der Vaart and Sneider and i would probably get too hopeful and expect us to challenge for the title. |
Phil Colley
said:
 |
... I'm more than happy with our 'Full English' policy. When you look at the BIG 4 teams, their foreign stars are always whinging about our weather, tax etc.. and hinting they want to move on. If you watched the Charity Shield yesterday, when Evra was 'body-checked' he rolled around holding his face, then when he tackled Ballack back, the German rolled around holding his stomach like he'd been shot! Against Fiorentina on Saturday (and during the Peace Cup) I was proud how even our young English Lions stood up to a top 4 Italian side who's takles wouldn't have looked out of place at Twickenham. Last season (before we burned out!), we were the talk and toast of the Premiership. Yes, we need a bigger squad but with the likes of Albrighton, Lichaj & Clark coming through, I don't want MON rushing out and buying the likes of Hassan Kachloul or Bosco Ballaban! Up the Villa! |
Eoin Greene
said:
|
... The good Doctor - for the first time ever I will try and not talk just about Aston Villa which I always try to do as this is a Villa blog - not one of these social networking bebo teenage contraptions where people can say what they had for breakfeast, what their favourite colour is and how many 'friends' they have. The reason I come onto this blog almost every day is that its the best gathering of villa fans with, for the most part, good reasoned opinions on all thing villa. Because I dare to question some of Mon's transfer activity and the ability of some of our players - does not make me any less of a fan that those who do not question ANYTHING that Mon does. I respect everyones opinion on here - doesn't mean I agree with all of them. In fact I generally never post UNLESS i have something that I disagree with. Its the difference of opinions on here that make this blog and sport in general interesting. Maybe Damian should write articles where 300 people can respond with 'I agree'. My main point I am trying to make is - just cause you and 70% of people on here believe in absolutely EVERYTHING that Mon and Lerner do - doesn't make you bigger fans or make you want villa to win more than the 30% who dont accept everything, and question things. For the record - I do think we pay too much for mediocre english players - Sidwell, Davies, Reo-Coker, Harewood, Knight, Heskey, Shorey. I think Curtis Davies is a shambles and I see little hope that he will be any good in the future - because I dont see anything he is good at - other than being young, english and a dab hand at getting his mug in front of a microphone. I think Delph and Downing will prove to be excellent signings. I have never been as excited about a siging as I am about Delph. I think Beye is a 'smacks of desperation' signing. I think we hoof the ball too much. I think Gabby, after Rooney, is the best English striker, and I would have him ahead of Crouch, Defoe, Bent and the other cronies. I think Heskey is not fit to lace Carew's boots and think Carew is a top4 player. I think Mon can get better 5m players abroad than he will in the UK. I think Man City will possibly challenge for the title this season and would be suprised if they are not top 4. I think Stephen Gerrard is not a midfielder. These are my opinions and no matter what you say - I will still think that. If the players, despite all evidence that I have seen so far, change - then so will my opinions. Finally - Taglor - the guy who gets most abuse on this blog and I bet the guy who most frequently writes stuff just to get a response - I bet he sings and shouts just at loudly at matches as you do Doc, and I bet he is just as pissed off when we loose. |
Eoin Greene
said:
|
... PC 67 - I have no problem with a full English policy either - providing they are the best players we can get. But I dont agree on your opinion on foreign stars. Stephen Gerrard never dives?? Mr Chelsea behaved like a loyal captain fantastic this summer?? Ashley Cole shows model behaviour to referees?? Kachlool or Balaban - what about Laursen and Carew?? |
jimmyv1234
said:
 |
... i have to start by saying this is a very good read, but i dont agree. i like the fact that we buy mainly english and i do concede that we sould buy abroad, there is a happy medium, likes of arteta was cheap and worked out great. but in your article you have made a very biased view. you have used the top buys from abroad as examples, torres and ronaldo. first of all i will even it up a bit by saying balaban, veron, shevchenko, rebrov, brolin.....the list goes on. it is down to the player whether or not they become a success, the reason why i say that buying english is a good thing is because there is little or no settling down time. i will leave you with some of these examples of players that are or were at the same level as some of our players that are english: -A. Young or n'zogbia -L. Young or beye (i know we have both. but who would you choose 1st??) - shorey or enrique/dossena -davies or boumsong/bramble -delph or mediera(arsenal youngster, next fabregas) -milner or van der meyde -aghbonalor or pizzaro/voronin/bojinov/luque buying english base is the best way to success |
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