All quiet on the Western Midlands front

what i dont understand is why wont mon play maloney on the right wing in stead of reo. i cant remeber him ever doing much wrong.

We could really do without these pointless England friendlies, especially now GB has got his head down and is back doing what he does best. You watch, that Scouse stoat Gerrard will be whispering sweet nothings in his ear again tonight before Capello tucks them both in, and the whole thing's sure to blow up again.

UTV.

Reo is a tackler and Maloney isn't

Maloney has been given a decent crack, he's just not lit the prem up like we'd expect. I don't think he fits into the team as well when we've got the likes of young who takes the left side by storm. Maybe maloney just isn't any kinda effective on the right, though i'd like to see him stay and fight his place.

great website for footy highlights is www.footytube.com has the motd2 coverage in full of villas win on sunday.

Leroy,
This is a response to something that you posted yesterday on another article. It refers to your comments about sheep.

No-one said you weren’t entitled to your opinions. Furthermore no-one has said you cannot express those opinions on this blog. What you have to accept is that we’re entitled to our own opinions about the things you write.

Let me be candid. You do not have a clue what you are talking about. You, and others, seem to think that that acquiring good team is simply a matter of raising the money and then spending it. What? Like you win the lottery and now you can drive a Ferrari? What we should all be thankful for is that we have an owner and a manager who understand what it takes to build a Top Four side. It takes experience. It takes commitment. It takes years.

One of the great pleasures for us Villa fans should not be seeing overnight success. The great pleasure is witnessing the slow and steady emergence of a great team. The drama engulfs us. We suffer with O’Neill as he fails, for reasons we understand, to acquire his targets. We rejoice with him when he succeeds. We share his passions and his disappointments. We feel his love for his players and we love them too. His intense devotion to keeping Gareth Barry has ennobled him and it ennobles us.

Sometimes I wonder why God has so blessed us. Can’t you feel it? We into our third year of the re-birth and the world has paused to observe the inevitability of O’Neill’s success. How envious they are. Liverpool fans, if the truth be told, aren’t sure about this Barry saga; Barry for Alonso – will that work? Who knows? Try this on: float a rumour that O’Neill is about to replace the fat waiter as manager and see how excited they get over that. Hicks and Gillett would break the bank.

The start to this season has been good and we’re happy. We know that defeats will come and we’ll feel gutted, but when those defeats come, hold fast. Be resolute. The elite are looking over their shoulders now because they know that one of them has to give up their place to us. It’s been foretold in the stars. Nothing can stop it. And we were there, at the birth. O happy day.

Moloney is small fat gifted and lonely, only gifted is a requisite at Aston Villa. A fine lad and I hope he has a great career but it wont be here, Sunderland or Celtic Id say. We ll Sign Doyle According to Irish Media, Cork City who formally owned him are in 800k of debt but they have a sell on clause of 10% on Doyle which will save them "When" he moves to Villa. Thats how its reported.

The reason Maloney doesn't play is because he's not good enough - simple. All he does when he plays is try and cut inside and shoot from 25 yards. Most times he misses the target or gets tackled. It's rare that he will beat a man and put a cross in and it's rare that he will keep a swift counter-attacking move going instead of holding the ball up and trying a few fancy turns. The amount of times he slows the play up by being greedy is ridiculous and that ruins our entire playing style.

He's not a bad player, but not good enough for our level. If anything I'd try him up front, but is he going to play instead of Carew or Gabby? No. So it leaves midfield, where he will never displace Young and isn't defensive enough to play the other positions (NRC does a lot of defensive work from right-mid hence why he plays, leaving Ashley Young with a pretty free role on the other side).

Good luck to him wherever he goes though - it was a shame for him that he couldn't settle and he'll probably be much happier back home in Glasgow where family are and where his football style is more suited.

Or you could check out the goals in the top-right-hand corner. ;D

ropey source perhaps... but Balague says that Joaquin has no interest in playing abroad for those hoping we'd look to him as a target (includes me) :(


LINK

Churchil and any others that's going to come on and hijack this thread into another 'sheep and moaners' debate stop it now. Play nicely and let's discuss Lukes article (even if there's not much to say). Visit the Forum under Pure Banter and look for the 'Sheep or moaners and whingers' thread to discuss such issues.

Luke..I posted it on the last topic, but that probably won't get read now there's a new topic, but the FA have extended the tranfer window by 24 hours, because it ended on Sunday evening before. So it's extended to midnight on Monday 1st September mow.

On your subject of watching the football on the internet...Does anyone know of an internet site that broadcasts live feeds or coverage soon after the match has finished? I did have one until recently but that finished or moved!

i think we will see one or two more come in before deadline day at least i really hope that is the case as i believe we are two or three quality players away from a realistic top 4 challange

I am afraid you are dead on odyssey. It's too bad $tevie MBE can't be sanctioned for what he is doing because he's at the heart of this whole mess. Of course if Gerrard gets himself crocked during the friendly and they Standard Liege dumps Littlepool out of Champions League that might take care of the whole problem (I won't hold my breath for that!).

Agreed, isn't there a thread in the forum where we can all debate how I've got the best opinion about the Villa and why don't you all agree? Oh, but then you'd be sheep and I don't like them either. Doh.

Help! I'm stuck in a claret and blue paradox..

Can I be Sean the Sheep in this rather sheepish pantomime?

whats all this talk of us being sheep as far as im concerned man utd fans are sheep as they all support united because of their success despite living miles away

i may not live near aston or birmingham i live in ireland but i support aston villa im surrounded by man utd fans and liverpool and not to mention the recent growth of chelsea fans which i just cant put my finger on at the moment for some strange reason and unlike those fans i genuinely love the club i support

for one i have been to villa park twice not a lot it may seem but i do intend on becoming a season ticket holder when i become a bit older i know the history and tradition of the clum i visit the numerous villa websites every minute of every day something i know for a fact my fellow chelsea liverpool and utd fans certanily dony do and never will do

also unlike those gloryhunter fans i have been through the bad times at villa and now the good times are slowly starting to occur and i feel the pepole who made those sheep comments are just full of shit to be honest

my love for this club will never die yet we all know that the sheep who support the top 4 teams that the love isnt really there

villa4life

George Templeton,

I actually found myself watching the first leg of that tie as I thought the Reds might trip up. I wasn't far wrong. Standard were far from Standard, they actually looked pretty damn fine. Hopefully they'll put on a similar display at Anfield and put the whole GB saga to bed.

By the way, amidst all the negativity on these boards lately, has nobody even noticed that we've actually cracked the top four? And they all said it couldn't be done.

andyanarchist

O.K. boss. Point taken.

and my apologies to Leroy

routledge i think really impressed in pre season and i think he should b given a chance on the right until we sign 1 if we do and i wont mind im maloney gos because for a winger he doesnt cross enough he just cuts in and takes wild shots but does have great free kicks

andyanarchist...theres a plug-in you can download (its called soccerplug, or soccerstream or something)....you download the plug-in onto your pc and you can watch pretty much any game,anywhere,anytime!!even saturday 3'0clock kick offs are streamed live on there!the quality is not great and its illeagal as but its kind of cool.

i quite like maloney and feel he has been hard done by with the lack of chances he has had.he has got a great kick and a little inconsistant but when hes on his game, he looks really good...

if he goes then at least that should make way for a new forward to put the willys up gabby and carew.....

wow its such a slow and boring day today transfer wise aahhhhhh come on i need some transfer gossip

what happened to de la red signing??

MALONEY PLAYS BEST BEHIND THE FRONT TWO, BUT WE WILL NEVER PLAYER 4-3-1-2 SO HE HAS TO GO, SORRY TO SAY THIS BECAUSE HE IS A GREAT PLAYER.
LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK BUT I WOULD PLAY BARRY ON THE LEFT AND YOUNG ON THE RIGHT. WITHOUT BARRY WE HAVE 6 CENTRAL MIDFIELDERS NRC, PETROV, SIDWELL, GARDNER, SALIFOU, OSBOURNE.

villaboy its not gonna happen he plays cm we already have 6 and there's been no talk about it for weeks now

why dun we just swap Maloney for Alonso, i hear liverpool need some 1 on left and WE all know Alonso dun wanna play for them,
Maybe if we mention it now parry could get the deal sorted for them by the august 31st deadline 2009

Fitsy, unless you remember the relegation to the 3rd division you don't remember the bad times. Believe it ir not the bad times were BEFORE the Ellis years.

IVE JUST GOT A TEXT FROM MY MATE IN SCOTLAND WHO HAS CLOSE CONTACT WITH MALONEY AND HAS SAID THAT HE IS GOING NOWHERE.BUT MIGHT MOVE IF HE DOESNT FEATURE MUCH,BUT WANTS TO STAY IN PREMIERSHIP.

You are correct Odyssey Standard Liege looked good, but they should've scored and not doing so will probably be fatal. My worry is that Liverpool in the second leg will do exactly what they did vs. Sunderland, look like crap for 90 minutes, but one one moment of magic from Torres saves there hides.
I hope Standard Liege go there and try to take the game to Liverpool esp. early and get that away goal. I am afraid they may try to go to Anfield, defend for 120 minutes and paly for penalties.

spike i may not have been alive during those years but my uncle surely was and he had many stories to tell of those bad times however at least he got to witness villa becoming european champions something i dont think i will ever get to see i can still hope though

dont start knocking me because im only 17 and i dont live in birmingham because i can assure u my passion for the club is as good as anyones if not better

Churchil:

How many years did it take it Abramovich to make Chelsea successful?

It's you who talks garbage. The game has moved on and the reason why the top 4 are always the same is because they buy the best players. If we don't do the same we will never compete with them no matter how many "years of experience and commitment" you believe it takes, end of story.

Churchill, apart from the reference to the Leroy conversation which I haven't followed, I agree with your sentiments completely. References to Abromovich';s Chelsea are a bit silly. It was funny to see a W. Ham quoting AVFC as the model to follow a couple of weeks ago and the debts incurred by Liverpool, Man U and others are very risky in the current economic climate. Ours truly is the best run club in the premiership and I for one will enjoy our year on year growth.

Maloney will play this season; MON has made it clear that we need a squad for the league and 3 cup competitions; all our squad will play and have a chance to force their way into the League team.

The constant criticism of Reocoker is really starting to irritate me; he is a tackler - he is not a glam player he is a hard working ball winner. Every team needs them - did you see how Spurs struggled with all their pretty players but no possession. If u haven't noticed this yet, watch him throughout a game and educate yourselves. He wins the ball and turns defence into attack time and time again. Other aspects of his game can improve but what he does is priceless.

pancovilla fair play couldnt of said wat u said bout hokey pokey any better

nhuggy - you can't look at Chelsea as a comparison. Their situation is fairly unique. There are probably only five people in the world that would spend the kind of money he has on a football team and one of them looks like he's gonna be in prison fairly soon. If Abramovich decided he'd had enough Chelsea would wither away. Wise men don't build their houses on sand!!

Mmm. nhuggy - Ghosthunter is spot on - Abramovich is unique in that he has shedloads of money and is daft enough to throw it at a football club - a surefire pointer to the fact that his wealth is at least dubious, probably dodgy.

LINK

It's bascially the equivalent of winning about £10bn on the lottery - you would undoubtedly spend a shedload on Villa. Most people who actually 'earn' their money - Bill Gates et al invest it more philanthropic projects rather than a hedonistic £500m spree just to not win the CL.

This is part of the reason the current Villa story is so great. It doesn't subscribe to the norm of pure cash injection, and by its very nature it has to be slow-ish. Judge RL and MON after the 5 year plan.

up the Villa.

Fitzy.. Fair play to you mate for supportin The Villa living in Ireland. Stay loyal and always get behind the team and no-one can possibley question your "right" to support the club!

UTV!

Ashley Young said today on the subject of a possible renewed contract..

"I've got this season and two more years left. I'm happy, really happy with how things are going, happy here at Aston Villa.

"I am just looking to build on the performances of last season during this season and I'm glad we got off to a good start at the weekend against Manchester City.

"Would I like to commit to a new contract? Of course. It is a fantastic club. I am delighted I'm playing here."


Makes me feel well proud when one of our stars comes out with stuff like this. It also send out a clear message to other players that it's a great place to be these days. Not that Villa Park itself has ever been a bad place that is!

I'm starting to get ever so slightly excited about the season now. If we buy De La Red or the likes I may just start to get really excited!

can any1 tell me when the next round of the uefa is and if the sunderland match on 27th is likely to be changed to the sunday? i was going to book flights for the saturday from ireland but thought of the uefa cup on the thursday???

david oleary stated that you couldnt buy the premiership but a season after chelsea DID, they bought the right manager ( which we have also done) but they bought over £100mil worth of players and won it. i dont see why MoN doesnt spend £80mil and crack int the top 4. all we need is a world class striker. i know people say they wont come to villa, but if you offer somebody more money (which the club state we have) then why would they say no, at the end of the day this is only a job to some of these people. i'm not having a go at MoN but i think that maybe we should be aiming a little bit higher when signing people instead of signing players like shorey and young and being linked with players like doyle, when we could be signing world beaters like David Villa if we offered the right money

I WAS AT THE ARSENAL GAME TO CELEBRATE MY 50TH IN 2007. MY SON, BEN AND 2 OTHER DADS AND SONS DID THE CORPORATE HOSPITALITY IN THE N STAND. IT WAS GR8. THAT SHY BOY, LUKE MOORE SPOKE TO US AS DID MY HERO PETER MCPARLAND, WHO SCORED IN THE FA CUP FINAL OF 1957, WHEN I WAS STILL IN THE PRAM !!! I WITNESSED THAT FREE KICK BY THIERRY HENRY. HE DID VERY LITTLR IN THAT MATCH BUT STILL WAS MOTM. THEY HAD 4 WORLD CLASS PLAYERS WE HAD GARETH BARRY ! I REMEMBER ANDY LOCHEAD SCORING LOTS OF GOALS IN FRONT OF OVER 30000 FANS WHEN WE WON OLD 3RD DIV. LEEDS WERE KINGS THEN. TEAMS HAD V SMALL SQUADS THEN. BACK TO NOW , MON HAS TRANSFORMED VILLA WITH GOOD ACQUISITIONS AND A 1ST CLASS ACADEMY . THROUGH MY CLARET AND BLUE TINTED SPECS , I SEE GR8 TIMES AHEAD . TORRES DID 0 FOR 80 MINS YET HIS CLASS WON THE GAME, JAMMY SOD. IF WE HOLD ON TO G B IN THE NEXT 2 WEEKS , I FIRMLY BELIEVE HE WILL REMAIN AT VILLA . THAT WOULD BE LIKE A SUPERB SIGNING . I PLAN TO COME OVER 2 OR 3 TIMES THIS YEAR . I THINK THIS BLOG IS ONE OF THE BEST AROUND . THE SCOUSERS AND THE BARCODERS REALLY LET THEMSELVES RECENTLY . I PRAY THAT WE BEAT SCUMPOOL SAT WEEK . A LAST MIN FREE KICK BY YOUNG WOULD BE NICE . KEEP UP THE BANTER UTV

[quote]david oleary stated that you couldnt buy the premiership but a season after chelsea DID, they bought the right manager ( which we have also done) but they bought over £100mil worth of players and won it. i dont see why MoN doesnt spend £80mil and crack int the top 4. all we need is a world class striker.[/quote]

Leeds tried that, look where they ended up. Man City tried that look at the mess they are in.

Chelsea are millions in debt, they have an owner with more money than sense who will probably get bored and bugger off in a couple of seasons if they keep finishing behind Man U, when that happens they are finished. Its also worth remembering (some people tend to forget) Chelsea in the season before he took over finished 4th, before that they finished 6th for two seasons and before that 5th. So even before he arrived they werent doing too bad

@ Andyanarchist:

Sometimes you can catch premiership games on www.channelsurfing.net I have used it a few times when I didn't have satellite available to see the game.

The thing I wonder about Abramovich is this. If Chelsea won the Champions League would he get bored and go back to Russia to live off the largesse of Putin and the Russian government?

No. I think he's in it for the long haul. He's just completed on the purchase of the final flat in a great big block in Knightsbridge. he bought the first one in 1990 and has been waiting for them all to come to the market and bought the lot 1 by 1. He now has a house that needs doing up that cost him over £120m!! Show's he doesn't mind waiting.

striker hernan crespo ;) FREE
rm milner cause of his cross. i would say shaun wright philipps cause he gets a few goals tho. I dnt really mind.

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