There is an inevitability that when you start to get better, the bigger clubs will come looking for some of the players that made you better and the rumour at the weekend that Chelsea were interested in our Ashley Young, while probably pure speculation, does make you think a little.

I mean no disrespect to Spurs when I say this, but the rumour about them wanting Ashley Young doesn't worry me and as such, when we start up a very special rumour box, some day soon, it won't even get put in.

There is no doubt that Young is one of our better players, excellent in a five man midfield and very industrious in a four man midfield, but why would he want to go to Spurs, when everything they can potentially offer him, he already has and a little bit more?

If Chelsea or United come knocking then you'd accept that his head might get turned and it would be difficult to hold on to him, but Spurs came in for him once before and he picked us over them - I don't see what is different now?

There is no doubt, Spurs are on the up with Harry Redknapp and along with Manchester City and Everton it will be us four fighting it out for the scraps next season and who knows maybe even one of us might make it to the big table. One thing is for sure, it will be one of us four that breaks the dominance, but that is exactly why I can't see Young leaving.

If it was a race, you'd say that right now we were fairly level with Everton and that Manchester City are expected to make a big push very soon, but Spurs led this race a few seasons ago and they've dropped off. It simply can't just happen overnight that they regain the lead, although it might not be that long.

Like I've said, they'll come back and probably next season - there won't be a long building process with Redknapp, but ask any football pundit and they'll say the best Spurs can hope for next season is much like I've said above; they'll be one of four teams fighting it out for the scraps.

Now, if we do that thing where we fly into the future for a minute, things could be very different at this stage next season, but right now, Young isn't going to leave us for Spurs, but Spurs with Harry are going to be a team to reckon with next season.

Rumour likelihood: one out of five.

Comments (68)

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Michael said:

... just harry being a c**t as usual, trying to unsettle teams, but when it happens to him he'll cry like a little baby. used to like him as a manager untill he went to spurs.

Comment 1, made on March 30, 2009 at 10.48 am

Duzspur said:

... I think you'll find pretty much any spurs fan with a drop of common sense knows that as things are there is no way Ashley Young would even consider this move, and I also think that everyone inside spurs knows this too, including HR, its just stupid media mongering cos they haven't got anything else to write about...as much as I'd love AY at Spurs it ain;t gonna happen, not for a couple of years and only then if we turn things around in a big way.

Comment 2, made on March 30, 2009 at 11.00 am

HardcorePrawn said:

... Harry being a c***, or the papers making up their usual pre transfer window bs? Any Spurs fan with half a brain will realise we're not after Young. He's a great player, but Villa aren't gonna want to sell him and he's clearly very happy playing for you. He's not gonna want to move club, specially not us right now.

Comment 3, made on March 30, 2009 at 11.01 am

I hate idiots said:

... 'just harry being a c**t as usual' are you stupid? You must be. Show me the quote from harry where he mentions his intention to buy Ashley Young? This is just idle paper talk filling column inches and people like you are unbelievably stupid to believe that this came from anywhere near an official club source.

Comment 4, made on March 30, 2009 at 11.02 am

I hate idiots said:

... p.s that was aimed at Mickey86...

Comment 5, made on March 30, 2009 at 11.04 am

addiyo said:

... Morning fella's. I am a spurs fan and although i am in "enemy territory" here i thought i would chip in. I agree with this article - i cant see why 1) ashley would want to come to spurs at the moment when Villa are doing so well and 2) why Villa would want to sell him. I saw this article in the Mirror and one thing stuck out for me - there was no quote and no indication of where this story has come from. It also mentioned we would also be after Roque Santa Cruz. Both i think could do a job but i just dont see where this "fact" has come from. Just Journo trying to wind things up a bit. I disagree with Micky86 comments about Harry trying to unsettle teams - he is honest and if asked a question he will give an honest answer, just media taking things out of proportion - i presume this is where this story has come from journo asked "what do you think of Ashley young"? He cant say hes rubbish especially after the season he and you guys have had. Good luck for the remainder of the season though Villains.

Comment 6, made on March 30, 2009 at 11.11 am

Jeff said:

... No offense to Villa fans but why would we want Ashley Young? We have Modric on the left and Lennon on the right. We don't need him.

Comment 7, made on March 30, 2009 at 11.12 am

FatK said:

... The problem is Harry can attract players. He may be stuggling with a team of hissey players Mon I just do not know why we have to get the likes of Sidwell shorey & hesky

Comment 8, made on March 30, 2009 at 11.12 am

Izzy said:

... Quite right, but any chance he could be home sick, considering all his family are 50 miles down the road, you know how possessive these footballers are. I like him as a player, and he would be a good additions to the Spurs team, but would he be happy playing LW week in week out

Comment 9, made on March 30, 2009 at 11.13 am

ken barker said:

... mickey86 what a wanker

Comment 10, made on March 30, 2009 at 11.13 am

lee said:

... You stated that Young chose villa over spurs. That is complete nonsense. Young was desperate for the move to spurs but we were stupidly unwilling to pay the £10m fee for a watford player which was risky at the time but O'Neill has got it spot on. But he wanted the move and because we didnt pay the fee because Levy is a tight a*se, villa came in and got him. Im a spurs fan and i cant see him coming spurs, maybe man united if ronaldo goes but i think he will likely stay at villa. On another note i could see gareth barry heading to spurs as he is a spurs fan and is desperate to move. With alonso playing so well he will end up left back or on the bench.

Comment 11, made on March 30, 2009 at 11.14 am

spurs fan said:

... in point of fact, the reason young joined villa over spurs was that we didnt offer watford enough money for him (about £4m i believe) so watford rejected our offer and villa stepped in for £8m. not the shrewdest bit of business in the transfer market by ourselves, and i agree, he aint gonna come now. as for whether harry did or didnt say anything about young, wel you wouldnt put it past him would you, but this is the first ive heard of it, sounds like tabloid talk to me.

Comment 12, made on March 30, 2009 at 11.17 am

Sidders said:

... Its gutter press skulduggery engineered to get fans going, Spurs fans no longer believe any of it so why should anyone else.

Comment 13, made on March 30, 2009 at 11.18 am

Marcus Smith said:

... Barry is less likely to go to Spurs than Young, LMAO. Barry is not desperate to move on at all. He just wants CL football.

Comment 14, made on March 30, 2009 at 11.18 am

carteltheyid said:

... "now spurs think they can have ashley young"....erm, no we dont! i think you will find this is a bullshit story by the daily mirror....it is well known after our jan bid for stewart downing, if we go for anyone to play on our left wing, it will be him. but with the way modric and lennon are playing at the moment, i honestly dont think we need downing or young. were playing some great football and its a shame the season is coming to and end!

Comment 15, made on March 30, 2009 at 11.19 am

Mart said:

... His from the Hertfordshire area which is one reason he might want to make the move...Lets be honest tho, the title of this article is very unfair to Spurs. We have not said anything about going in for him. You Villa fans have been sucked in by the daily rags!

Comment 16, made on March 30, 2009 at 11.20 am

Jack Villan 1985 said:

... He supports Arsenal ffs!

Comment 17, made on March 30, 2009 at 11.21 am | url

Ron Flowerday said:

... Personally as a Spurs fan I am not interested in AY. I remember him turning Zokora inside out recently, and then after HR put on Corluca (who is actually a centre back who can also do a good job defensively) at RB, then he did not have a sniff. Shut down by our second best full back. No I think we would be looking for someone a little bit better than that. No not Downing either

Comment 18, made on March 30, 2009 at 11.25 am

Nick said:

... Come on, its typical Daily Mail drivel mean't to sell papers and annoy Villa fans. I expect Redknapp would love to have Young in his squad, and sometime between now and September 1st Harry Redknapp will say "of course Young is a quality player and i'd love to have him in my squad", or something of the sort, but the chances of Redknapp putting in a bid or Young actually moving to a club outside the 'big four' are zero, not even 1 out of 5.

Comment 19, made on March 30, 2009 at 11.32 am

CSM said:

... Blimey! Has this turned into a Spurs blog? AY will not go to Spurs as you don't really need him. However I think we might put in a cheeky bid for Bentley!

Comment 20, made on March 30, 2009 at 11.55 am

The Mighty Steve said:

... Any Spurs fan with half a brain will realise we're not after Young. Hard to find any Spurs fans with half a brain though. @Ron Flowerday: Yeah I'm sure you wouldn't all jump at the chance to take him if the rumour turned out to be true.

Comment 21, made on March 30, 2009 at 12.01 pm | url

Leroy said:

... I actually agree with the spurs fans on here today. I think it is refreshing to see opposing fans with well written comments that take a somewhat neutral perspective. Then again we have gotten used to pathetic scousers and the arses finest speaking absolute tripe....it is obviously bad journalism and to be honest i dont even know why this has been posted on here today. We might as well be talking about Ruben De la Red again...is there nothing else in football worth talking about today?

Comment 22, made on March 30, 2009 at 12.01 pm

The Mighty Steve said:

... Yeah, I actually agree with Leroy, I couldn't resist a dig but suprisingly sober and insightful comments from the Spurs fans compared to what we usually get on here (or the old site).

Comment 23, made on March 30, 2009 at 12.07 pm | url

Mike said:

... Young set his heart on joining Tottenham when he was at Watford but stupid Spurs didn't think he was worth £9.5million would you believe! He's doing great at Villa and I as a Spurs fan wish him every success. But he did NOT reject us for Villa, thats not correct. He wanted to stay in London but we didnt put the money up. He even said in an article recently that Tottenham pulled out of the race so he joined Villa and good luck to him.

Comment 24, made on March 30, 2009 at 12.08 pm

sarah said:

... Your soooo wrong. He didnt pick you over us, we wouldnt pay what his old team wanted. We had 1st refuseal, so yes he would of been with us if we accepted the deal!

Comment 25, made on March 30, 2009 at 12.19 pm

spud62 said:

... We dont need the lad but with Arry you never know, best of luck to Villa for the rest of the season, beat the scum to the CL lads

Comment 26, made on March 30, 2009 at 12.30 pm

COME ON YOU SPURS said:

... We all know its tabloid rubbish having said that Ashyley Young is a fantastic talent but I don`t think he would have progressed as well at Spurs as he has with Villa. Tabloids with nothing better to do really I mean they were linking David Bentley to Villa last week but I can`t see Martin Oneil being stupid enough to take him off our hands especially with Milner playing the same position very well. I like Martin Oneil and Villa my only critism of Oneil would be he should have strengthend his squad in Jan still hope you guys get 4th above the Arse. Good Luck Villa COME ON YOU SPURS!

Comment 27, made on March 30, 2009 at 12.37 pm

thfc said:

... i must say what a silly debate. you read a little section in a red top newspaper and believe it. Then attack us over it. Mental villa fan. Don't believe everything you read mate Honestly though, we are bigger than you boys though lol. Your only now starting to fill your stadium on a regular basis whereas before all i saw was empty seats with miserable brummies moping about. Martin O'Neil is a great manager as he has somehow got success out of a pile crap, who said you can't polish a turd? Nonsense

Comment 28, made on March 30, 2009 at 12.50 pm

CSM said:

... who said you can't polish a turd? Don't know why you had to bring the Poles into this debate!

Comment 29, made on March 30, 2009 at 1.17 pm

andrew said:

... reply to Ron Fowler.i also saw young rip lennon to bits in that game.

Comment 30, made on March 30, 2009 at 1.20 pm

tom said:

... I know this is slightly irrelevant, and for that i apologise, but i hate spurs. appreciate all the good wishes tho chaps, tho i also realise its only cos its arsenal in 4th

Comment 31, made on March 30, 2009 at 1.28 pm

Exchange & Mart said:

... For sale: Gents Bicycle £20

Comment 32, made on March 30, 2009 at 1.29 pm

meesterlee said:

... It's international week, which makes sports pages dull indeed. Why wouldn't tabloids spark a bit of interest by generating unsubstantiated gossip? Gerrard to Man City will be next on the agenda, to be replaced by Tevez...Or some such nonsense....

Comment 33, made on March 30, 2009 at 1.39 pm

Whitehartlad said:

... You Villa fans have got to be having a laugh..of course he would come to Spurs if Harry went for him. As we showed when we spanked your lot the other week..Spurs are in the ascension Villa are on the way down. Villa were always going to be a flash in the pan and they have proven to be. Spurs are a multi-million pound Glamour club..the 12th richest in the world(and thats before we the asset value of our new 60'000 seater stadium and also what is going to be one of the most state of that art training grounds in the world according to all the reports!) The pundits are saying the season is ending too soon for Spurs as we are now on fire and haven't lost to a top 4 team all season. With an addtion or two Spurs will be challenging for top 4 next season. And THAT is why Ashley Young would Love to join the Spurs!

Comment 34, made on March 30, 2009 at 1.44 pm

Royce Spacie said:

... Ashley is a top player and I'd love him at Spurs with a swap deal for Bentley but the likelihood of that isn't great. Villa have a great young squad but they need to up the quality of their squad otherwise they could well lose their top players just as Spurs found out when they achieved a little success when finishing 5th twice in a row. We lost Carrick, Berbatov, Keane & Defoe subsequently we bought back Defoe & Keane but there's no doubt for one reason or another, either not enough playing time in Defoe's case or simply got their heads turned by bigger clubs. This is just media speculation but I bet Villa have their eyes on a couple of Spurs players like Bent or a proper right back perhaps? We have a few of those, maybe Hutton takes your fancy?

Comment 35, made on March 30, 2009 at 1.46 pm

sarah said:

... HOOLY - You should of gone to spec savers, in no means did Young rip Lennon to pieces.

Comment 36, made on March 30, 2009 at 1.52 pm

oldun said:

... Could someone explain in words of one syllable to the itellectually challenged Hooley that Lennon is a winger or attcking wide player not a defender so how did Young rip lennon to bits? perhaps Hooley might try the reverse to his moronic logic. Did lennon create a goal for Spurs? Even a rabid Spurs fan wouldn't blame Young for the goal. Some really well thought out comments then along comes Hooley in the break for playtime. Proves that it's compulsory for every club to have an obligatory pillock.

Comment 37, made on March 30, 2009 at 1.56 pm

Milk said:

... Young isnt going anywhere, he has a 4 year contract doesnt he? Can you honestly see MON selling him even if he wanted to go to chelsea? Didnt he recently say that he is worth £76 mil? That was a huge "fu*ck off, he's mine" to any of the bigger clubs coming sniffing around.

Comment 38, made on March 30, 2009 at 1.57 pm

andrew said:

... @ sarah (in a poloite voice)watch the game if you can 1st, half you will see what i mean.@witehartlad we already have 1 of the best training facilities in the world,hope to see yours in 4 yrs time though.

Comment 39, made on March 30, 2009 at 2.27 pm

andrew said:

... not a link......lol

Comment 40, made on March 30, 2009 at 2.28 pm

CSM said:

... As we showed when we spanked your lot the other week..Spurs are in the ascension Villa are on the way down. Villa were always going to be a flash in the pan and they have proven to be. Spurs are a multi-million pound Glamour club.. Ha ha, I love deluded Spurs Fans!!! Why come on a Villa blog and spout a load of rubbish! A flash in the pan??? Mate get a grip. At least most of the other Spurs fans have come on here and given a sensible comment, then you get stupid people like yourself come on and add a comment just to get a reaction! Idiot!!!

Comment 41, made on March 30, 2009 at 2.33 pm

andrew said:

... intellectually challanged ,and you cant get my user name correct. Did lennon create a goal for spurs?with the help of friedel i supose he did. nice to see you using your thesaurus app on your phone.

Comment 42, made on March 30, 2009 at 2.36 pm

Daniel Wilson said:

... Just paper talk. It's most probably rubbish. Spurs can go for whoever they want, they are on the up and like Damian said next year they will be challenging but to be honest I think Young would be making a mistake leaving right now. We are making huge strides forward. Yes were in a big dip right now but it won't last, were a permanent top 6 fixture and pushing for top 4. I think a move to Spurs would depend on if your attracted to the big money and the flashing lights or just want to play football and advance your career. Possibly why spurs with all the big names fell short while our grafters have got on with the job at hand and sit well up the table. No offence to spurs here, but move all those players to the midlands for a season and I bet they would have challenged top 4 too, maybe a few less late drunken nights at strip bars (go on quote John Carew at me )

Comment 43, made on March 30, 2009 at 3.10 pm

Mike Carter said:

... Spurs not good enough. Simple as.

Comment 44, made on March 30, 2009 at 3.56 pm

jeremy hatton said:

... i'm new to the site, but have been following it for a while now (as avfcblog.com). glad to see this is up. As for spurs, no way, not at all. why would he go to a team who are around 2 seasons behind us development wise? if he'd been offered villa or spurs before that dodgy curry, he might have said spurs, but not now, not at all.

Comment 45, made on March 30, 2009 at 4.09 pm

The Mighty Steve said:

... Spurs are in the ascension Villa are on the way down After what? A month! Get a grip and get some context. I do like the reference to spurs as a glamour club though. Sort of in the same vain as glamour modelling is to fashion modelling.

Comment 46, made on March 30, 2009 at 5.12 pm | url

Daniel Wilson said:

... Just read that Villa reserves could pretty much wrap up the southern reserves title tonight with victory over spurs! Good luck to the boys, hope they win and give us something to cheer about!

Comment 47, made on March 30, 2009 at 6.01 pm

James said:

... Damian posts news of rumour. Fans from another club offer mixed bag. Villa fans get called stupid. Leroy slags Damian and mentions De La Red. Nan posts inanities. Another day at the office.

Comment 48, made on March 30, 2009 at 6.29 pm

adam said:

... villa have had a better season than spurs this year spurs have been better previously blah blah blah blah We're about the same when we get it right so everyone get iver it

Comment 49, made on March 30, 2009 at 6.31 pm

adam curley said:

... im iver it

Comment 50, made on March 30, 2009 at 6.59 pm

Leroy said:

... Spurs - No they cant!

Comment 51, made on March 30, 2009 at 7.19 pm

Leroy said:

... By the way nan, i only mentioned DLR because i cant find out where this rumour came from about Young to Spurs. Maybe from the same place as the DLR rumour? Plus it is has been the most boring week as far as football is concerned then this post here today...

Comment 52, made on March 30, 2009 at 7.28 pm

Adey Stuttard said:

... And prick of the week goes to...... Whitehartlad As far as I am concerned, Villa fans can spout as much shit as they want on here, but for Spurs fans to do it.... f'cough back to your own blog!

Comment 53, made on March 30, 2009 at 7.50 pm

Nick said:

... Who takes these things seriously? MON values A Young at 75 million MON does not give in to pressure and lower his expectation MON already said A Young is absolutely not for sale Ashley signed a new deal saying he was very happy at the club The papers simply make this stuff up, and most of the time their rumors make absolutely no sense, like this one. So no reason to get excited. Anyway I dont get involved in the my club is better/bigger than your club. I like spurs (As much as I can like another PL team) because they will challenge the top 4. I like any team that will challenge the top 4 actually, even if that means we are in direct competition. It will be interesting to see what HR can do with a full season. Anyway utv and stop reading the tabloids

Comment 54, made on March 30, 2009 at 10.04 pm

Daniel Wilson said:

... Leroy, It's stated here - http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/...uz--report quoting the sunday mail which I can't find a link to.

Comment 55, made on March 30, 2009 at 10.05 pm

Daniel Wilson said:

... Oh and this would be nice - http://www.setanta.com//uk/Art...nid-46413/

Comment 56, made on March 30, 2009 at 10.07 pm

gingervilla said:

... Why would AY leave the villa to go to spurs well he wouldn’t, 1 he is an Arsenal fan, 2 Villa are a better club than spurs. Why do spurs fans think spurs are a better club than the Villa just look at last season’s final league table and this season’s table it shows Villa finished above the spurs last season and are above spurs this season the league tables do not lie lets look at facts and not fiction. Don’t get me wrong spurs are a good club but until they can finish above the Villa in the league you cannot claim to be better than us, this is the whole point of league tables to see who is best over 38 games.

Comment 57, made on March 30, 2009 at 10.11 pm

Michael panizza said:

... It's not April the 1st yet.

Comment 58, made on March 31, 2009 at 12.34 am

James said:

... For all those interested, our very own 'primeminister' is now a dad. (Not the dour Scottish tit, the Villa Blog One) Who says it's a quiet week?

Comment 59, made on March 31, 2009 at 7.43 am

sarah said:

... Hooly - You are obviously still very bitter at the fact we beat you, trying to come up with rubbish like Young ripped Lennon to pieces and Fridel helped with are goal. Its turely pathetic and sad and about time you get over it! 1874AVFC - When you write sh*t on your blog about any team your gonna get alot of replies. If you dont like it dont write such rubbish. DanWilson82 - We soon put that title to bed hahaha, beat you again.

Comment 60, made on March 31, 2009 at 9.05 am

sarah said:

... gingervilla - Players dont go im not going to that club cos I support so and so ffs you muppet. Defoe = Scum fan, Bent = scum fan. O'Hara = Tottenham fan but was a youthy at the scumanal same with Bentley. When money is involved players dont give a flying crap if they play for a rival team.

Comment 61, made on March 31, 2009 at 9.08 am

sarah said:

... gingervilla - Also why leave out the season before the last 2 seasons? Do they lie? Yes we had a bad 2 season, this season getting better. But thats down to selling players and managers willy nilly. We keep this squad, maybe make it abit stronger we will be better next season.

Comment 62, made on March 31, 2009 at 9.10 am

Michael said:

... why are spurs fans banging on about them beting us the other week, didnt we beat them by the same score-line early on in the season? next they will bring up coming back from 4-1. whilst were talking about the past, anyone remember bosnich and his salute to the spurs fans? lol

Comment 63, made on March 31, 2009 at 11.16 am

sarah said:

... mickey86 - maybe its cos you lot are acting like your not over us beating you.

Comment 64, made on March 31, 2009 at 3.54 pm

steven haynes said:

... sarah grow some bollocks and then come back,its hard to take football matters seriously coming from a bird

Comment 65, made on March 31, 2009 at 7.00 pm | url

steven haynes said:

... sorry,remove the bird bit it sounds sexist.insert splitarse instead

Comment 66, made on March 31, 2009 at 7.19 pm | url

LordLord said:

... Just the thought of off loading our best players makes me sick. How on earth are we supposed to progress? Taking a gamble on these foreign players nobody as ever heard of is dumb. I guarantee next season we will be a plain old top 10 team again.

Comment 67, made on March 31, 2009 at 8.09 pm

gingervilla said:

... Sarah can you please tell me Saturdays lottery numbers as you think you can see into the future. Like i said you are below villa for the last two seasons so fact villa are the better team.

Comment 68, made on March 31, 2009 at 10.36 pm