An exchange of treatment tables for Downing!!

July 15, 2009 by Steve Orchard
Filed under: Aston Villa 

They say a change is as good as a rest!! In Stuart Downing’s case this couldn’t be more accurate. Currently winging his way to Villa Park for transfer talks after Villa agree a £12m fee with Middlesbrough, it will be some time before we get to see him action. Future Villa captain Stilian Petrov was the cause for the damage to Downing’s ankle. Stan probably saw this transfer coming and didn’t want the extra competition!!

Personally, I see this as good business . I rate Downing very highly. Fabio Capello recently came out and said that this player was the one who impressed him most of all after becoming the England coach and having had time to work with his players. That’s good enough for me. Yes, Downing might be injured at the present time but it shows us that MON will take a bit of a gamble by putting in an offer. Hopefully, this will all be done and dusted in the next couple of days rather than drag on over the rest of the summer like the NRC and Sidwell moves seemed to.

Other links are still coming and going. John Robertson denies any interest in Miguel Veloso. Distan is still being linked fairly regularly. This would be a cheap, two year contract type of answer to losing Martin Laursen and another that I’d like to see get done, particularly as Distan can play on the left side of defence. Darren Bent has been linked this week and many people feel that he has spurned a move to Sunderland because he may be moving to Villa. We’ll see!! The newspapers seem to have gone a little quiet about Villa’s intended targets recently. I think that there are only a handful of people who know about MON’s targets, papers make it up, as to many of the so-called “in the know” people who’s best mate once spoke to an ex-Villa players Aunty’s sisters dog etc etc etc. The Kyle Naughton transfer seems to be rumbling on as well. I can’t see why there are suggestions that we buy him and then loan him back? Good player, but he’ll learn more from being here for the 12 months than he would by being back at the Blades on loan. All press talk though and I’m not even sure we’re in for him.

Villa are fast approaching their first pre-season game of the new season. I hope that we have a couple of press conferences booked in in between time!!

Players supposedly moving on. Salifou, Harewood, Knight are all expected to have gone by the end of the summer, if Salifou hasn’t already. I’m fairly sure that they won’t move until such time that we have replacements in place. Ashley Young’s proposed move to Tottenham, because they are a much bigger and better place to play football than us, hasn’t seemed to have happened just yet (and won’t!! Please note, I am being sarcastic, why the hell leave Villa for them?). The only way Young will leave Villa park is if we get offered obscene money for him. Manchester City would have to offer us at least 40mill before MON would think about it. Personally, I can’t see Young moving in the near future.

MON stated that he wants to improve the squad over the next couple of weeks. Hopefully that will be the case.

Who would you like to see at Villa Park?


Comments

5 Comments on An exchange of treatment tables for Downing!!

  1. Sean on Wed, 15th Jul 2009 14:13

    2. Interesting post Steven.

    I’d like to see Delph, Ozil and Berg come in as we need to buy talented young players because trying to compete for established ’stars’ is hopeless vs the top 4 and now Man City.

    If Knight is leaving then Davies and Cuellar plus 2 from Dunne, Distin, Hangeland, Bassong and S Taylor would be good.

    Adam Johnson hasn’t been mentioned very much but I think he looks very classy, perhaps in a similar situation as Young when we signed him, raw but with a lot of potential. A third left winger may be a little extravagant but MON may see Downing as a replacement for Barry, and use Young in a more central position where he excelled at the end of the 2007/08 season.

  2. Si on Wed, 15th Jul 2009 14:14

    3. Way hey, we’ve signed……….a f****n cripple!

    MON needs to do better than this to stop AY getting cold feet. Agreed, there’s no way he’d go to Shiteheart Lane, but he’ll be expecting to see some quality coming in, and soon at that. At this rate it’ll be bloody 5-a-side next season! MON just hasn’t got the stones for good transfer dealings; yes he can pick some beauties, but also some total poopers (Hesley, Zat Shite, Harewood, Shorey, Moustafa work permit, hokey cokey). At the moment though ihe’s doing nothing. Ever get the feeling that Villa is the sort of club that, under O’Neills watch, needs a director of football?

  3. Steven Orchard on Thu, 16th Jul 2009 16:24

    4. Are we not in danger of getting carried away with only looking at players who perform well in a single tournament (Ozil and Berg)? Would you be sure that they can meet up to the challenges of the Premier League. These are always issues that buying managers have to consider.

  4. Steven Orchard on Thu, 16th Jul 2009 16:24

    5. I’ll carry on with the day job then, cheers!!

  5. Sean on Mon, 20th Jul 2009 11:07

    6. Hi Steven, re: Ozil and Berg, they have performed well in the U21 tourno and have done well for their club sides but by the very nature of buying young players before they hit the big time and become out of Villa’s reach, it is risky. For every Gareth Barry there’s a Michael Standing. But copying the Wenger policy of buying unheralded players will be our best chance of getting into that Top 4. Just look at Adebayor this week, £22 million net gain in 3 years!

Tell me what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!