The £12m MUST be used to replace Laursen moreso than Barry
Villa’s cash from the sale of Gareth Barry to Man City has sparked rucks of rumours about players we will be bringing in to fill the void Barry has left in the centre of our midfield. But surely the more important thing is to use it to replace Martin Laursen as the primary objective.
In one fell swoop, the last few months have taken our captain and our ‘back up’ captain from us, never to return. But of the 2 positions I feel it is far more important that we concentrate on securing an inspirational, influential defender first. Martin Laursen was fundamental to the side and without him we failed to defendc strongly and there was no commanding presence in our box.
The loss of Laursen was catastrophic for us at the back. We have Curtis Davies, Zat Knight and Carlos Cuellar all available to play there, as well as Eric Lichaj and Ciaran Clarke if he wants to promote some of the youngsters, but of those we don’t have a leader. Martin Laursen was our captain and also a figure that lifted the other defenders along side him and in his absence we have suffered severely from this lacking.
In midfield we can fill Barry’s boots without having to shop around if the situation forced it and MON has dropped hints that this may be the case. Sidwell and NRC are both eager to take on the role and it is possible we will do just that.
Joleon Lescott appears to be the most mentioned name and personally I would be happy with that. The other name appearing to have some possibility is Thomas Vermaelen.
The important thing though is that a centre defender is brought in this summer and sooner rather than later. If push came to shove and we could only buy ONE player then it would have to be a centre back.
What’s new rumour-cat? Tuesday’s latest Villa transfer gossip
Martin O'Neill has an itchy-biro-finger over Randy Lerner's cheque book
The transfer window is so close that you can feel it’s smelly breath on the back of your neck. So it’s no surprise that there are loads of rumours around linking us to all and sundry. Some will come true, some will nearly happen and some are just made up by someone wishing to shift papers or get pageviews 
Here at AVB we like to go through them all and try to give a little info on a player and open it up to debate on whether you want them at Villa or not. Yesterday we saw a nice response in agreement with me that Senderos would be a poor signing, or to correctly quote what is one of the funniest comments we’ve had on here for a while:
As for Senderos, I’d rather have sex with a lawnmower than sign him
And on that bombshell, let’s dive into today’s bunch:
- Giles Barnes is a young pacy winger for Derby County, who has been on an unsuccessful loan to Fulham for part of this season. I say unsuccessful because he hasn’t made a single appearance. Roy Hodgson either doesn’t think he is cut out for the Prem or doesn’t see a way to fit him into his team. Now, I’m a big fan of Roy Hodgson, I think he’s doing a great job at Fulham, but I must admit that when I first saw him interviewed I judged the book by it’s cover and said “What’s that old fanny gonna do with Fulham?”. He proved me wrong and I respect that. Anyway, we’re talking about Barnes, not licking Hodgson’s bum-ring, so back to the matter at hand; we are more suited to Barnes’s style and he may well go fairly cheap, so don’t rule him out but he’s not going to set the club on fire and may well prove to be another Wayne Routledge.
- Fulham’s keeper Mark Schwarzer is next up, having been mentioned as someone we have been sniffing around, but I can’t really see O’Neill buying another aging keeper when we still have Friedel. I think MON will keep his faith in Friedel for at very least one more season, so I can’t see where this rumour has come from. A younger keeper maybe, but I just can’t see it with Schwarzer.
- Stewart Downing looks destined to get relegated with Boro so will almost definitely be moving on this summer. He will be far from cheap though and isn’t an area of urgency (like centre back and centre forward are) so I don’t see this happening either. It may do, he is certainly a talented player, but I doubt it. If it does tho, I’m going to take a positive stance and say that if we spend big on a midfielder/winger, we also plan to spend big up front and at the back too. Cuz if he splashes £12m+ on a winger and gets some mediocre centre back then I’m right on that O’Neill-hating bandwagon. And I don’t want to get on that wagon. I like O’Neill.
- Man City’s Joe Hart is again being linked with us and if we do buy a keeper I fancy him as the favourite. He will very likely move on after having had his progress disturbed by the arrival of Given. The lad is definitely a big prospect and may well go on to be a regular England keeper if he finds a team where he’s number one choice. He probably needs to learn to make ridiculous mistakes if he wants to play for England tho
- Along similar lines to Downing is David Bentley. He is also a talented player but he has gone seriously off the boil. He never plays for Tottenham so will most likely move on in the summer but they will want to recoup as much of the £16m they wasted on him as possible. Again, it’s not an area we are screaming out for new players in but if we do make the step up to serious European contention, then we need some rotationability (<– nah, it’s probly not a real word!).
- A quick note on Thomas Vermaelen, who we have been linked with; apparently Arsenal are now interested too.
- Finally, Rabiu Afolabi of FC Sochaux is on our radar. He is a tall central defender with plenty experience but like many of the rumours that are now surfacing, he is unlikely to be of the mould we need to replace a player as influential and significant as Laursen.
We must win today for Laursen – Boro match preview
With the sad news of Martin Laursen’s retirement from football yesterday, today’s game must be won as a tribute to him. Since he went out injured we have not managed to maintain the great form we were having. Whether things would’ve been different with him fit is something we can never know, but you can’t help but fancy that he wouldn’t have allowed such a slide on his watch. The Dane was an inspirational captain and was greatly missed from our backline, that has been a source of much frustration for Villa fans of late.
A win today would confirm our opponents’s relegation to the Championship, and probably cost their manager, another former Villa captain and centre-back, Gareth Southgate, his job. But it will definitely not be our fault if you see Southgate up the Job Centre, he has done a very poor job managing Boro and should never have been allowed to get them this far into the mire.
Onto the game, both sides are in their own battle so it may well be a scrappy affair. We are fighting for 5th place and they are fighting in desperate hope of avoiding relegation. They need wins and also results elsewhere, whereas we only need to rely on our own results if we get 2 wins. If we beat Boro and Newcastle we finish 5th, but if we fail to win either we will be watching and hoping that Everton drop points.
I’m going to draw it to a close there with the preview cuz I typed out shedloads more and it came up with some BS ‘nodes’ error message and lost most of the post, which has p1ssed me clean off! Hopefully it won’t be a persisting problem. See you tomorrow.
Absolutely gutted. Even though we knew it was coming.
Martin Laursen has officially announced his retirement from football this morning.
We all knew it was coming but for some reason it still hit like a hammer blow. I’m gutted and feeling very down about next season right now.
Later I’ll do more of a tribute post for him, but for now I’m gonna crack open a can of Carling Premier and drown my sorrows. Either join me in the same or get over to the Official Site and send in your tributes to the great man.
The central defence conundrum
Super Skipper
Without Martin Laursen there is no doubt that Villa are leaky at the back. Brad Friedel, whilst still very capable and with some very valuable experience, needs a little more protection than Knight and Davies offer. Carlos Cuellar is injured almost as often as Laursen and when he is fit he is often played out of position.
So what is the answer to Villa’s defensive riddle?
There’s no two ways about it; Villa miss Laursen MASSIVELY. We are dangerously reliant on the injury prone skipper and while he has been out we have seen our first bad run this season, with goals leaking in far more than any challenge on the top four can sustain.
The partnership of Curtis Davies and Zat Knight initially looked like it was capable of being solid, with a couple of good games where they played with confidence but it soon deteriorated and now they just look shaky and like they don’t trust each other or even sometimes; like they don’t want to be there. The job of a central defender is an often thankless task, but it is also a VERY important cog in a winning machine. Our cog is looking very rusty and it is showing in the results.
Carlos Cuellar has spent far too much of his Villa spell so far on the sidelines or at full back. He initially looked like he has potential but has struggled to adjust fully and is still a long way from the quality we need at the back. I think if he and Laursen were fully fit they could forge a great partnership, but that doesn’t look likely at all. In fact, we Villans may have to accept that Martin Laursen will never return to full fitness. There have even been suggestions that his career is over.
Come the summer we will definitely need to purchase at least one centre back. We need a proven, reliable, solid player. Not a youngster hoping to come good or a player who used to be good (I’ll let you assign names there).
If we want to mount a better challenge next season, then we need new defensive signings to make sure the wheels don’t come off mid-flow again.
Laursen return on-again again, Mellberg may play against us in the summer and transfer rumours
Filed under: Aston Villa, Injury News, Transfer News
It’s becoming a real on-again off-again affair, but now Laursen’s return date is being re-suggested as the Man Utd trip. I’m not sure whether Setanta Sports are simply out of date or if Laursen now re-plans to be back by that game. It had originally been pencilled in for him to return then, but after a training setback it looked to be delayed till the Everton game of the following Sunday.
Hopefully Laursen isn’t rushing back because of the panic that is growing at the club. I’d really hate to see him rush back and then end up going straight back out injured again as a result. If we are to mount any kind of challenge on 4th place, I see Laursen as a figurehead of it. He gives us a lot more stability and confidence when he’s on the pitch.
Peace Cup
Never heard of it? You can be forgiven for that because it has only taken place 3 times before, every two years since 2003. Tottenham have won it in the past, along with PSV and Lyon.
The competition will be druing this summer’s close season break and the confirmed teams so far are: Real Madrid, Sevilla, Juventus, Ajax, Porto, Lyon and us. So there are decent chances of Mellberg playing against his former club, which will mean a lot to him as he still holds us in very high regard, as do we him.
The tournament will be a decent chance for us to get used to playing high quality European teams, preparing us for our goal of reaching the Champions League.
Transfer rumours
Villa are rumoured to be interested in Bosnia and Herzegovina international striker; Edin Dzeko. The striker is also believed to be on the radar of Arsenal and Valencia, after a successful couple of seasons for Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga and a near 1-in-2 goals ratio for his country.
Also on the rumour mill is Portugal defender Miguel, who could fill our problem position of right back. The player is currently out of form, so unless O’Neill feels he can get him back to his best, I don’t see this one as that likely. We have Luke Young, who has fit into the team as well as can be expected for someone playing out of position, so hoepfully we will look more eagerly for a left back than right.
Finally on my transfer rumour radar is Tom Huddlestone. The Tottenham youngster is proving himself to be full of potential and ability and may well have a promising career ahead of him. He has been mentioned as a £6m target, but whether he is ready yet to fill Barry’s boots is unclear.
Laursen return off-again, Milner in the Middle, transfer target and Spurs star jibe
First and foremost it’s bad news today, with yesterday’s training setback for Martin Laursen. The captain had been planned to make his comeback for the Man Utd away game and a very welcome addition he would’ve been too, but he has suffered a small reaction in training and will now be looking to the Everton game at Villa Park the following weekend. This is another game that Laursen’s presence will be helpful in but it now means that we have to go to Old Trafford as well as Anfield without him.
In the thick of it
James Milner has spoken of his desire to play a less wide role for Villa, and get involved in the game more by being in the middle of the park. The position switch doesn’t seem too likely when we have so many central midfielders and so few right midfielders, but it would be interesting to see what he’s like there. I love seeing players play in a different position, to see how versatile their game is, trouble is, the majority of the time it turns out to be a mistake, with the player drifting into their usual role subconsciously.
Here’s what he had to say to the Birmingham Mail on the issue:
“I’ve played there before. I played there a few times for England Under-21s, Newcastle and Leeds,”
“When we might have had injuries I’ve filled in there. I don’t see that as too much of a problem. I grew up playing there quite a lot, so I enjoy the centre midfield role. You seem to be able to get involved in games more sometimes, whereas playing wide you might not be able to get yourself into the game.”
“It’s very tough [playing wide], you have to keep your discipline and stay wide, keep your shape and give the team an outlet when you might not be getting the ball, and you’ve got to wait for people to bring you in, in the middle you can get it yourself and really take the game by the scruff of the neck.”
Good to see your desire to get involved James.
Southampton’s saviour
Down on the south coast, there is a very familiar name, that to us means little, but in the summer it may well become more well known. Andrew Surman is almost single handedly attempting to keep the Saints out of the drop zone of the Championship. The las is a midfielder who was born in South Africa but has played for the England U21s and has scored for them too.
Everton are reported to be in the battle for his signature too, so come the summer it is looking very likely he will become a Premiership player.
“Villa are not a top four side”
Jamie O’Hara’s words, not mine!
The Spurs star has spoken to the Tottenham Journal, saying:
“They’ve had a great season so they’ve done well, but I wouldn’t class them as a top four side just yet because obviously they’ve got to do that on a consistent basis.
“You’ve got to do that for two or three seasons on the spin to be classed as a top four side. Being consistent in the Premiership is the main thing”
It’s not unknown for players to stir things up a little prior to games, and hopefully the players will read O’Hara’s words and be deternined to prove him
Martin Laursen: Yo, tell my girl yo I’ll be Gone ‘Til United
Wyclef Jean was Gone Til November, but much closer to our hearts; Martin Laursen is pencilled in to be back by the Man Utd game. As is always the case with injury return prediction dates, it’s not guaranteed, but what a great bonus it would be to have him back in the side for that tough game. We will be gunning to get a long awaited victory against our bogey side in April, so all the quality we can muster will be accepted.
Transfer rumblings
Just a quick note on the minor rumours around, Kevin Doyle’s name has popped back up again but if we make the top four this season I doubt O’Neill will look to the Championship for his new recruits.
The other one is Michael Owen, but I really can’t see O’Neill paying his wages when he has such a torrid time with injuries. Cut price and he’d be a maybe.
Laursen and Bouma on road to recovery, Carew heading for the door? and Birmingham City get Useless
"Yessss! I'm nearly fit"
Laursen and Bouma are both recovering well and could be back in action for the first team in a few matches time. Skipper Laursen is pencilled in for the Man Utd game, and what a welcome addition he would be for that game at Old Trafford and the next, at Anfield. The solidity that Laursen brings has been sorely missed in his absence.
Onto Freddie
Bouma has completed a game for the reserves and looks to be doing well after such a horrific injury. Getting back to match fitness and sharpness will be difficult for him but the Villa fans are all behind him and hoping he can rediscover the form he was in when he got injured.
Carew heading for the door?
Many papers and blogs are reporting tales of Carew leaving at the end of the season after another supposed falling out with the manager. I am hoping that it is utter BS as right now he looks to me to be the only avenue in which we can find goals. Fingers crossed he is happy at Villa and going to pop a bunch of goals in in the next few weeks.
Birmingham City get Useless
Remember Useless (as he was affectionately known by his own fans!) De La Cruz? Well, he is now teaming up with our local rivals to help them out for numbers as injuries hit them hard. He’ no spring chicken, at 35, and wasn’t exactly great in his younger years, so it shows you how desperate for cover Alex McLeish is.
Injuries mount up ahead of the visit of the Ruskies
With the UEFA Cup knockout round against CSKA Moscow now upon us, Villa are feeling the pinch of our small squad as the number of injuries stack up in our physio room. In the Premier League, Villa have so far only fielded 19 different players, 10 less than the league leaders, a sign of the slimness of our numbers.
The injury concerns on MON’s plate for tonight are as follows Read more
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