Whats new rumour-cat? This week’s Villa transfer gossip
"Let go Randy, I need this cheque book. Come on, I promise not to write too many zeros." MON
I’m back, with the latest Villa shenanigans and I’m going to go through some of the most exciting rumours that are floating around. I haven’t just been a lazy scoundrel mind you, I’ve been blogging over at Footbo on footy in general and yesterday I did an interview/blogpost for a *spit* Birmingham City blog, and he’s doing a return one for us next week.
But anyway, there has been so many rumours that I have had to ignore some of the obviously made up ones, otherwise you’d never get any work done for reading about all the players who are coming to Villa this summer. And I know how much time you all already spend reading Villa blogs and other websites when you should be working. I still need to get one of those ‘Quick the boss is coming’ buttons installed on this website 
The biggest transfer rumbling around is Randy Lerner’s comments that there won’t be as much available to spend as last year. Now this could be mind games or it could be the truth, but either way it’s not all bad news. What we need to do is buy better, not buy dearer. For what we have spent in the last few years, we could’ve vastly improved our team, but many of the signings have not been great. I won’t go into who right now (maybe another day) but it is obvious to most that we haven’t been particularly shrewd with all our signings of late.
Enough of all that though, let’s get down to business, there’s gossip out there that won’t spread itself;
- An interesting rumour doing the rounds at the minute is that we are interested in Liverpool’s young striker; Ryan Babel. I love the sound of this for a number of reasons; first off I like that we are being linked with players from the team that finished 2nd in the Prem. Much better than Scottish or Championship clubs if you ask me. Babel will also not come cheap, so if we are to sign him then we know that the club is not going to scrimp and save to a detrimental extent. It’s not all sunshine and roses though, Babel suffers from a problem we are not already short of; he doesn’t score enough. He is more of a winger-cum-striker so maybe he could help us to create more chances, but in reality, is he something we need? I feel we already have what he can offer, so whilst I wouldn’t mind the extra strength, we need a goal scorer and a commanding centre back more.
- A big rumour around is that we have already began inquiries leading to us signing David Bentley from Spurs. I’ve already said my bit on him and my opinion is still the same so rather than repeat myself, I’ll just link back for you: http://astonvillablog.com/whats-new-rumour-cat-latest-villa-transfer-gossip/ It does seem odd as our first priority to be a winger (see above) but there is no shortage of wingerumours (<– d’ya like what I did there? I made up a word…. hmmm nah it’s crap, it will never catch on)
- Michael Owen. Another I’ve covered before and another that will be both good and bad. Owen is a great talent and he is EXACTLY what we need up front. Now I don’t know if everyone agrees with me on this but I feel that if we had a player who did nothing else all game but poach, we would score twice the amount of goals. We create chance after chance after chance (even during our off spell we still created a fair bit) but don’t convert enough. The big problem with Owen though is his injuries. He makes Darren Anderton look good! If he could stay fit, and come to an agreement on wages, he’d be perfect. Thats a big IF though.
I’ll cut it there and pick up where I left off tomorrow. I know I only covered 3 people so far but i don’t want you all getting sacked for reading super-long Villa rumour blogs! So check back tomorrow for another bunch. There’s no shortage I assure you
What’s new rumour-cat? Latest Aston Villa transfer rumours
They’re thick and fast still, as you’d expect, and they’re maybe getting a little more desperate every transfer window. We are being linked with players we didn’t end up securing in January and some players you just can’t see us ever buying. Next thing you know we’ll be linked with Masal Bugduv!
See what you make of the recent ones:
- I’ll start lightly, not with a new incomer but with a stayer. Stiliyan Petrov is on the verge of signing for longer with the Villans. I’m sure we all remember the time when we just wished he’d eff off back to Celtic, but Petrov has won over even the most hardened fan with a class season in our central midfield. He has teamed up well with Barry and formed a good partnership. Having Petrov there next season, and on song, means (if he leaves of course) we can replace Barry with an exciting, attacking central midfielder. Unfortunatley, Frank Lampard doesn’t seem interested though.
- We didn’t sign him in January and he still doesn’t seem to be that settled at Man City anymore, so it was inevitable that the Micah Richards rumour would resurface. It would be a gamble if we bought him as he may well be no better than Zat Knight nowadays. When we signed Knight he was a former England defender that had lost his way and Richards is the same. Many believe O’Neill could restore his confidence and get him back to his best, but can we afford to take that chance? We are pretty desperate for solidity at the back.
- Next up, still at the back, is Gael Givet. He is a Frenchman who plays for Marseille but is currently on loan at Blackburn Rovers. From what I’ve seen of him he is half-decent but prone to make the odd error. Once again I question; do we need more of what we already have?
- Up front there has been suggestions of Mevlut Erdinc. “Who the hell is that?” Well he’s a Turkish international striker who plays in France for FC Sochaux and has a prolific score rate of 27 in 55. It’s impressive and someone who can get the ball in the net would be perfect for us, but could he do the same in the Premier League? He’s only scored one in 8 at international level. So, not one to be written off, but he remains an unknown quantity and is only the most tenuous of links anyway.
- He’s been mentioned before and he’ll be mentioned again; Raul Albiol. He’s a centre half at Valencia who is apparently on the radar of us and Liverpool. It is suggested he would be more interested in us for the higher chance of regular first team action. Myself, I think Cuellar could come good next season (remember the delayed reaction of Petrov), so maybe the 2 could work together, Cuellar mopping up and Albiol just in front. MON will also be keen as he can cover for Petrov in the holding midfield role if he gets injured.
So… anything there that interests you? Want them all? None of them?
Or are there other players around that you wish we were linked with? I’m still keen on Tevez. Am I dreaming?
How did we become such LOSERS and is 4-5-1 the only way to bring it to an END?
Not too long ago, though it’s beginning to feel like a lifetime, Aston Villa were winning games left right and centre. We were 4th in the Premier League, well ahead of Arsenal, and coasting towards the Champions League qualification spot. Villa press was more about whether they had a chance of catching 3rd placed Chelsea, than whether Arsenal could overtake us.
We broke the clubs all-time record for away wins on the bounce and we were all on cloud 9 and loving every minute of the best season to be a Villa fan for far too long.
Villa went on an unbeaten league run from 15th Nov, when we beat the aforementioned Arsenal at their own ground, until 21st Feb when we hosted a rejuvinated Chelsea and gave them a damn good run for their money.
But since the victory at Ewood Park, Villa have seen a dramatic downturn in fortunes; losing to Everton to fall out of the FA Cup, losing to CSKA Moscow to fall out of the UEFA Cup and losing to Man City, Chelsea and Tottenham in the league, dropping us below Arsenal and out of the Champions League spot we’ve strived for.
We had become losers. Losing was something we had begun to forget the feeling of. And we liked it that way thank you very much. But now the losing feeling has well and truly set itself back in and is showing no signs of going just yet. We don’t like it!
Then it all culminated in a humiliating thrashing at the hands of Liverpool on Sunday. A 5-0 beating is not the kind of result you expect a team to get who are supposed to be challenging to break into the top four.
Will Villa bounce back from it? With the next 2 games being a trip to the league leaders and then a tough clash against Everton, it doesn’t look all that rosy. We can take solace in the fact that they both lost this weekend so wins are possible, but a huge attitude change is required by Villa.
Many (me included) will be screaming out for a 4-5-1 formation in both those games, as midfield domination and counter attacks have proved to be the winning formula for Villa. Yes, teams have ‘figured us out’ but even if they have sussed us, that doesn’t make them able to contain us. Do people really think that all the teams we beat were stupid enough not to know our formula? Of course they knew our strengths, just the same as every team that faces Man Utd et al knows their strengths, they just aren’t able to do much about it.
It wasn’t until Villa changed the formula and stopped playing to our strengths, that we stopped winning.
I’m calling for MON to bring back the old style. Bring back the 5-4-1. Bring back the confidence. And bring back the wins. There’s still plenty time.
Who is with me?
Up the Villa.
Or maybe we’ll get thrashed 5-0 (plus Fabio Capello’s Villans)
Yesterday was the first game of the season I haven’t watched (I took my dear old mom out for Mother’s Day) and I think I’m actually glad I missed it! Now I normally will re-arrange almost anything to make time to watch the boys (me and the wife even planned the date of our wedding around football fixtures!) but my brother booked the table and I could hardly say “Nah mom, I won’t be there cuz I wanna watch my crap-form team in a game they’ll most likely lose”. So I had my mates get on the text-case to keep me updated with the game. My battery almost died from the amount of dismal texts I got!
On top of the game sucking, the restaurant was freaking boiling and my little daughter cried almost the entire time, so all in all yesterday afternoon sucked big time! I’ve been told by my wife enough times that my mood is too heavily affected by Aston Villa, but a long face at a Mother’s Day meal was maybe a bridge too far! Oops. Sorry Mom.
I watched the highlights (make that lowlights) on MOTD and it looked like we gave a fair push in the first half but let ourselves down with poor mistakes; Nigel Reo-Coker being the main culprit. I was actually hoping he’d get a start, but not at right back. I was delighted to hear Carew got a start and it looks like he posed the most threat and will hopefully now start more. But I would’ve preferred to see him alone up top with NRC in a 5-man midfield. Surely MON knows that Liverpool are excellent in the middle and the only way we could even try to match them would be to outnumber them. Obviously not.
Heads down
We got thumped. We know. I’m sure that during the course of the day I will be reminded many times of this fact too. And now we go to Old Trafford with our heads well and truly down. The only comfort we can take there is that they are off form too. But before that…
Fabio Capello’s Villans
As would be expected, the England squad for the upcoming games is low on Villa players. With 6-7 of them having got in contention during Capello’s reign, he now overlooks almost all of them… and I can’t say I blame him. There’s no point taking players who are very low on confidence. Unfortunately it will only serve to kick them while they’re down, but Capello isn’t an Aston Villa motivational speaker, he’s an England manager.
Gareth Barry is in the squad which I fully agree with and right now he must be thinking that he can’t wait to get out of the Midlands. It will get better for Villa again Bazza, it may not be the next game but after that I expect normal service to be resumed. It won’t make any difference though, he’s as good as gone in my opinion. Only time will tell but I believe he’ll be a Liverpool player not long after the window opens.
The surprise in the England squad is Emile Heskey. Most Villa fans can’t see why he still gets in the Villa team, never mind play for his country. But I suppose, as I’ve said, it’s not that I think Heskey isn’t a good player, he just doesn’t fit into the Villa team. Maybe Capello has a plan to utilise his potential better than we do.
Heads up
But try to take defeat graciously Villa fans, this glitch won’t last forever. And even if we end up 5th it’s still a step forward from last season. Even 6th wouldn’t be a step backwards, though it will definitely feel like one after flying so high at points.
So heads up Villans, we have achieved a lot to be able to disappointed at being 5th.
Arsenal the only top 6 team to win yesterday, Bye bye Marlon and guess what? Arsene didn’t see anything wrong for the penalty
It was a strange day yesterday for top 6 teams. Man Utd lost to Fulham, and by all accounts were outclassed too, Chelsea lost to London rivals Tottenham (but sometimes even the very best teams lose to Tottenham) and Everton, despite taking the lead in the first five minutes, lost to struggling Portsmouth.
Villa now find themselves being only concerned with Everton and Arsenal in the short term, so the results were 50/50 for us, as Arsenal won 3-1 at St James’s Park . If we wish to remain on level points with the Gunners, we need to win this afternoon at Anfield. That’s going to be a very big ask for a team very low on confidence to beat another so high on confidence after putting 4 past both Man Utd and Real Madrid.
I won’t say we haven’t a chance today, because not only would that be defeatist but I also don’t believe it. Villa are one of those weird teams that pull it out for the bigger occasions and it wouldn’t be totally shocking if we won. I don’t fancy our chances, but I am not writing us off.
The Hare becomes a Wolf
Marlon Harewood was apparently on the brink of joining Nottingham Forest on loan this week but rejected the chance in favour of a loan to Wolves. This way he won’t have to move house and he joins a team who currently look likely to be Premiership next season. The rumour seems pretty solid and also implies that he will join them proper in the summer.
Well I say “Good luck to you Marlon”. He hasn’t really been given enough opportunities at Villa and on some of the occasionshe has played he’s scored good goals. Whether he is cut out for a team chasing Champions League though, well I can’t say he is. But he can be a good player for a team like Wolves so I wish him well.
Arsene disagree’s with a decision that went against Arsenal!
Finally, nothing to do with Villa but I was watching the game on Setanta last night and Arsene Wenger said at the end of the match that the penalty Newcastle won and wasted, should never have been awarded because he saw nothing wrong. Well, whether it was or whether it wasn’t I couldn’t help thinking what his comments would’ve been if it had been the exact same incident but at the other end and the ref had not given a penalty. Then it would miraculously have been a clear penalty that the ref is a fool for not giving!
I know it’s not Villa-related but the guy does my head in sometimes with his bias. Whenever a player of his does something wrong; he didn’t see it, but when it’s against him he suddenly has eyes in the back of his head!
Carrroooooooooooooooooooo is gonna start & Barry will be on his best behaviour
Villa travel to Merseyside on Sunday for a 4pm kick off with the Reds and we go into it with confidence on the floor. But 2 boosts come ahead of the game to give us Villa fans a little hope; John Carew looks set to be handed a start and Gareth Barry will be out to impress.
Carew first
Martin O’Neill has been interviewed and if you read between the lines, it surely means that he intends to get Carew off the bench and onto the pitch, hopefully in place of Heskey, who has not yet found a way to fit in with our team and seems to have hindered us by changing or our style of play. Maybe during the summer we can find a place for Heskey, as he gets used to us, but for the remainder of the season, I’d be happy not to see him start another game. We need to get back to winning ways.
Here’s what MON said, and unless I’m just taking from it what I want to hear then it sounds like he’s suggesting Carew will start:
“The great thing about it is that John Carew now is getting really properly fit. He played nearly a full game up at Everton in the absence of Emile Heskey in the FA Cup. Now, in the little training sessions that he has been doing recently, he has been really sharp. He is really raring to go, which is great.
“The two goals he has got after coming on as a substitute will also have given him a big boost of confidence. It is great to see him back when, in actual fact, you probably thought that it might have been really hard work coming back from the injury.
“John coming back and firing and going well with confidence high is great. I think that will be a major boost to us. Now Emile Heskey has come in and started very brightly at Portsmouth. Yes, he is feeling his way a little bit but that is not a problem.
“To have the three centre forwards there and available can only boost us from now until the end of the season – if they stay fit.”
Four. Five. One.
Still on Carew, I’d like to see him start as the lone striker on Sunday. Two reasons why; firstly, that was the formation that worked for us, we got great results with it and even ground out wins when we weren’t having a good day and secondly, because it can’t do any harm against a team like Liverpool to have plenty of bodies in the middle of the park.
Whether Sidwell gets back into the team or Reo-Coker or Gardner gets the place, I don’t really mind which (probably leaning slightly towards Coker), just so long as we see the 4-5-1 again. Come on Marty, read this blog and trust the author, not your own years of experience.
Gareth Barry
The rumours are (as we expected) already rife about Rafa coming back in for Barry this summer, and with Villa very unlikely to do as well in the Champions League as ‘Pool if we qualify, Barry is very likely to have his heart set back on the move he wanted last summer. The word on the street is that Rafa will be given the funds to secure Barry this time around so I doubt he will be a Villa player in 6 months time and this game he will see as his chance to show his new fans what he’s made of.
It’ll be a very sad day (for me and a large proportion of Villa fans) when Barry goes, but I think we need to start accepting it now, otherwise we’ll have to set up helplines, like when Take That split up
Predictions
I honestly think we can come away with a point. I won’t be so daring to suggest we’ll win, but I think we’ll up our game against the big teams in these next 3 games and I see Sunday as a 1-1. Anyone else wanna venture a prediction? Or don’t you dare tempt fate!
‘The Gareth Barry Saga – Part 2′ is set to be even bigger than the first one
Where does the future lie for Gareth Barry?
It’s no secret that Villa will lose Gareth Barry at the end of the season if we don’t make it into the Champions League and now as the shadows of doubt appear on our chances, the rumours begin to fly around.
The new addition to the fray this summer will be Manchester City, with Mark Hughes naming Bazza and John Terry as his main targets. Myself I can’t see him getting either. Terry seems happy at Chelsea and even if he did move I can’t see it being to a club that are yet to qualify for the Champions League. The same condition would apply for Barry.
Barry made it very clear that he wanted to join Liverpool for their Champions League status and if we can secure that this season that he’ll stay with us. I honestly think he secretly hopes we don’t make it.
Not that I think Barry dislikes us, I think he has enjoyed the time he’s spent with us but now that he has improved so much and become recognised as a quality player he has raised his ambitions and wants to play for a Champions League side that will compete to win the competition. Which he doesn’t see us as.
If (and that is still a big task) we qualify, we will really struggle to get far in the competition in our first season in there. O’Neill’s plans are not to win the Champions League next season but simply to qualify for it. By qualifying we can build the squad and then aim to be successful in it a few seasons in. It’s a long term plan is O’Neill’s.
But Barry is thinking shorter term.
The clock is ticking for Barry and he doesn’t have as much time to spare as MON, which will most likely see him join Liverpool (or Arsenal if they come back in for him) this summer.
Barry leaving would really throw a spanner on the works for us, as he will be very difficult to replace. Even if we do manage to entice a player of equal quality as Barry, he won’t know how to play with us like Barry does. Barry has been with us so long that he is part of the furniture on the pitch. New players come in and play around him moreso than he learns to play with them, so a newcomer may well get to grips over time but we won’t be as good without Barry for a few months at the very least.
It’s also a bit of a catch-22 because CL football is about the only way we could entice a player of Barry’s class but it’s also the only yardstick by which he’ll commit to stay.
This is only the beginning of this one. It’s going to roll and roll, you watch.
Gareth Barry – Do Villa fans want him to stay at all costs or move along?
Happy B-day Bazza
Gareth Barry is celebrating his 28th birthday today, so first of all; Happy Birthday Gareth (I wonder what present you buy for someone on his wages?!).
The News Of The World yesterday ran a story of how Barry will stay at the Villa… IF we qualify for Champions League (Isn’t this story seven months old?). We have known for ages that Barry is only willing to commit to us if we make the holy grail of Champions League football and we are also aware of the unrelenting rumour that Benitez will be back for him in the summer (that’s if Rafa still has a job at Liverpool!).
So what do we think? Do we want to keep Bazza at all costs? Or would we rather see the back of him?
Barry has been a sensational player for Villa for a number of years now and has been a huge part of why we have been as successful as we have. Last season he was of monumental importance to our league position and whilst we had many good players, Barry was the key man who held us together as a team. It was no surprise that a top four side wanted him, and that Villa wanted big money. The biggest surprise for me was that Liverpool didn’t cough up and pay the asking price. If you ask me, he was worth every penny (in today’s market).
Barry was in phenomenal form at the time and as Liverpool were willing to meet Keane’s price, why the hell not Barry’s? Barry would’ve been a much better investment for them, especially with how the whole Keane fiasco eventually panned out.
At Villa, he is an integral cog of the machine, a backbone to our team (particularly alongside Stiliyan Petrov), whereas at a team like Liverpool he would be just a squad player. But he would be more guaranteed Champions League on Merseyside. So there’s pros and cons from his point of view.
The big question of replacing him
Who could fill his boots? Steve Sidwell was brought in as his replacement last summer but then Barry ended up staying and Sidwell’s Villa career was hindered somewhat by that, but could he step in if Barry leaves? Or do Villa need to look into the market? Who do you feel could do Barry’s job and would want to come to Villa Park?
It just keeps getting better and better for Villa
Villa fans - happy as a pig in sh.... errr.... errr..... excrement!
Twice Liverpool got our hopes up that we would finish the weekend level on points with them but eventually took a little of the shine off Saturday night by winning in the final minutes and Man Utd gave glimmers of hope by taking an hour to score, but the most important game to Villa fans (other than our own, of course!) was the North London derby and that turned out pretty nice.
Arsenal went into the weekend 5 points south of us but we will still be looking over our shoulders all the way as the Gunners are reknowned for going the distance, and we are still considered the new boys, punching above our weight.
Villa 3-1 Donny – Everton next, anyone for a repeat of the dramatic 3-2 win?
Villa last night booked themsleves a place in the fifth round of the FA Cup, a televised grudge match with Everton, by beating Doncaster 3-1 at Villa Park. Martin O’Neill fielded the team we had expected in the game up in Yorkshire, with no fewer than 7 changes to the line-up that began the Wigan game.
Craig Gardner retained his starting position and it didn’t take him long to justify it. Some very slack marking from Donny allowed him space to shoot on 15 minutes. The shot was stopped by Neil Sullivan, Doncaster’s hero from the initial match, but all he could manage was to parry it into the path of the equally slackly marked Steve Sidwell. Sidders made no mistake with the tap in and we were ahead.
Within 5 minutes we’d doubled Read more
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