Aston Villa and the January transfer window rumours begin
Saturday, 27 December 08, 06:24 AM · Comments (52)
First out of the hat this weekend is ex Tottenham and current Pompey striker Jermain Defoe and while I'd love it to be true and there is every possibility that it could happen, I just can't see it happening, even though I fancy he'd help us get top four.
I can't see it, because there was talk that we wouldn't pay his wage demands last time there was talk of this player coming to us, so while I fancy Martin O'Neill would love him at Villa Park, has anything really changed?
I mean, let's say he wants £70,000 a week, which if you look at his goal scoring record, he would be entitled to ask for, is Martin O'Neill going to pay it? Like I've said, I'm not convinced Martin O'Neill will, even though I'd love him to.
Moving on to players closer to home, but sort of linked with the arrival of a striker coming in. The departure of Marlon Harewood surely rests on a new striker coming in and if your name is John Carew, you might also be a little concerned too. Will the big Norwegian be playing for us next season?
There is also talk that Wayne Routledge will also be off after it appears he has found his level playing for Cardiff. Routledge won't be missed and out of the three, while some will likely be upset to see Carew and Harewood leave, I think if we can land a player like Defoe, most will ultimately be happy.
That really is it in terms of rumours but the bad news from this weekend is that Martin Laursen is likely to be out for three or four weeks and the concern must surely be that this could turn out to be more serious that first thought.
I for one hope not, he has had a great season for us and to lose him now would just be horrible. Still, plenty of time for him to get better and in case you didn't expect it or know that it was coming; expect at least one rumour a day between now and when the window closes.
Before I go, click here to read what Bill Howell thought of the game yesterday.
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52 Comments · Add yours
get rid of Harewood and bring in Defoe. i think we would meet his wage demands because he is the type of striker we need - a 20 goal per season striker and i think MON knows that. Maybe with the likes of Young and Milner supplying him from the wings he could even pass that goal total....
Bring him in Martin, him and Gabby together would be brilliant!
Damian, have done a post about some of this, if it helps:
LINK
why do you think carew is off????????he's just injured isnt he? im hoping carew will be a abig boost when he returns for the later stage of the season
After yesterdays game I'm sure you will all agree that we are all extremilly proud to call ourselves villa fans. We have come so far in such a short space of time and I for one am loving it .
I think this January transfer window is going to be so so important for Aston Vill football club , we need two or three decent squad players . The sort of players that we can trust to come on and do a job .
Fact - Harewood , Salifue , knight are not up to the standard . Randy learner please if your out there , thank you so much for what you have done for our great club , but please sir we'd like some more!
Personally I'd like to see Defoe, Bullard + someone with a little bit of european flare / inventivness , not sure who though .
Anyway UP THE VILLA !
Where's this banter about Big John going coming from? Gabby's playing brilliantly on his own, yes, but we really do miss him at times - I could picture him knocking in about 5 of those nearly-goals in the first half yesterday and he's a genuine powerhouse. When he's back to full fitness we'd be stupid to even think about not having him in the squad.
Plus, he's cool.
what about Joleon Lescott??? like Altan said - Knight isnt up to standard which means we need another center half.
Lescott is a lifelong Villa supporter, hes English and in all fairness a great defender who scores goals too! I think he would jump at the chance to join Villa and im sure Everton need the money for January spending.
In my opinion, he would be an ideal signing!
UTV
i think we need a defender whos half decent to cover for laursen becoz hes injury prone and can fill the gaps if there injured and like wot otha people hav sed knights rubbish
and i think we cud do wiv anotha striker
bellamy anyone?
in all fairness knight isnt rubbish as he would most likely be 1st team player at a lower club just as we have improved as a club so do the players and unfortanetly knight will not be able to compete with the other quality defenders we will be able to bring in. No question though he has full commitment to the club and it is sad to hear people talking shit about a lifelong villa supporter who has tryed his hardest and come up with 2 important goals. As long as hes a villa player i will have his full backing.
jermain defoe please.... no heskey no doyle just defoe. proven quality
im not trying to talk shit about Knight anyway... i dont think hes rubbish, i 100% agree with you avfc-anthony that he has full commitment etc. Im just saying he isnt good enough for a team thats challenging for a Champions League spot and we need a more reliable defender.
Despite this, i will always respect him, Villa player or not for the two priceless goals hes scored for us and when hes on the pitch he will always have my backing too!
UTV
I DIDN'T THINK MON COULD TAKE US TO THE PROMISED LAND AS GOOD AS HE IS, AND ADVOCATED A CHANGE AFTER THIS SEASON,I HAVE NOW CHANGED MY MIND AND APOLOGIZE TO MON,I NOW THINK WE ARE ON THE CUSP OF GREATNESS AND HE'S THE MAN TO TAKE US THERE,BE PATIENT ALL WILL COME AND IN QUANTITY,PLAYERS,TITLES AND GLORY.
A NEW ORDER IS COMING IN THE PREMIER AND VILLA ARE THE NEW SETTLERS IN THE TOP FOUR. IN WITH WITH THE NEW OUT WITH THE OLD
VILLA ARE ARE COMING TO GET YOU.
Carew? Where has this come from. He's a great player when he's 100% fit. I know for a fact we would miss him. He's a great finisher of the ball and like Fordster said above, I too could of seen him banging in those chances we had yesterday.
If signing Jermain Defoe means we won't have to sign Emile Heskey then I'm all for that. What is O'Neil thinking? Emile Heskey has played 81 games for Wigan and he's scored something like 15 goals. Not the best is it? He's nearly 31 too, he's past it. When O'Neil was at Leicester City with him, yeah he might have been great? But that was 1998/99 not 2008/9. We need fresh legs that are scoring regularly. Maybe Defoe is our man?
I love Carew, but he's injury prone, obviously, and bringing in another striker would certainly create competition there. He's an athletic Peter Crouch. Someone who can convert more frequently will win the spot. Gabby's certainly not going to be warming the bench. What terror Defoe, Gabby, and Young would cause defenses, running at them, ovelapping.
And to be honest, we've played as well or better without Big John in the lineup. Like I say I love him, but there are better players out there.
It's a shame about Shorey, but MON seems obviously to know he got that wrong. NRC and Ugly Betty have done rather well at RB, all things considered, but it would be nice for LYoung to be on his natural foot and a real LB on the pitch.
Carew on his day is most definately better then crouch he can rip into defences the way drogba does on his day.I think Defoe is deadly in front of goal but to be honest he's greedy in every sense of the word.You have to build your team around him you cant just plonk him in.And 70k a week ?? im sorry but no chance not considering how well our lads have already done and alot of them dont get paid nowhere near that.I think MON made the right choice in not bringing him here.dont get me wrong i like the guy he just isnt right for our team.The rumour that intrigued me the most was the David Suazo one.Ive seen this guy play quite a few times in his inter days and the guy has pace and + power in abundance.He was being kept out the team by ibrahimovic + adriano and still manage to do some damage with cameo appearences.I think he would fit perfectly into the 'mould' of the team.He may take time adapting to the premier leauge unlike Defoe obviously but in the long run he has the characteristics to fit into our team.His wages would be in the 30-50k margin also .
Maybe someone near the end of his prime, on the cheap, looking for his last big club. Someone class who can just sustain the push for forth. The summer will bring the right payers and not emergency signings.
If MoN is serious about playing 4-5-1, then buying Defoe would be idiocy. It's bad enough seeing Gabby struggle manfully (and admittedly, sometimes successfully), but having Defoe up there would be a joke. He certainly can't play out wide, as Gabby can, so he'd only play when we played 4-4-2, and even then I'm not convinced that he'd be the best partner for Gabby. Defoe is surely not in MoN's thinking. Crouch would be a far better signing in my opinion. Perhaps not quite as good as Defoe, but the type of striker that could play in a 4-5-1. Even Bellamy would be a better option than Defoe, because at least he could play out wide in a 4-5-1, though there are numerous reasons why he wouldn't be a good signing.
We have three out of the four strikers we need in Gabby, Carew and Delfouneso. Someone to do Carew's job when he's unavailable is what we need, as Delfouneso is a suitable understudy for Gabby. Heskey would be terrible, especially given the wages he's apparently looking for. Whether MoN has someone else up his sleeve who knows, but of players in the Premiership, I can't see anyone better suited for us than Crouch.
Reply to avfc-anthony:
well said young man
got to agree, Lescott sounds like a quality addition to the Villa squad!
Reply to littlevillan:
did you watch the game yesterday? Still think Knight is rubbish?
Bellamy is a bell end and will destroy dressing room morale
Reply to avfc-anthony:
Couldn't agree more - I have yet to be convinced Cuellar is better than Knight and yet he's some sort of cult hero. Zat was definitely better than Carlos against Hamburg - but this is not saying much
Dean Ashton is also out of the question, BIG SURPRISE he's been ruled out till the end of the season.
ssn have just said pompey have recieved a big offer for defoe and rednapp says he's not going back to spurs because he doesn't want to pay over the odds???
Its got to be villa we always pay over the odds for players
just in now
Knight aint good enough. Yes he scored a great equalizer, loves Villa etc.. But their 2nd goal, he went to ground so easily. Whenever Knight's at the back we look like we're gonna get carved open. I have seen Cuellar play in UEFA, he lacks pace but has Laursen qualities when he jumps for the ball. He needs regular footie at CB, but a CB needs a decent partner. I'm sorry but Knight is not a CB partner you want.
Still can't argue with his goal or his tackle on RVP, but I felt he owed us a goal after his stupid attempted tackle on Eboue.
I would def have Knight in my squad as a 4th choice CB, but fact is he if I supported another PL team I'd also want him to be my 4th choice CB.
MON will look for a big athletic striker. Defoe doesnt fit the bill. We need another carew type. I hate seeing all of those beautiful young crosses not be converted.
Carew is pure class when fit. Would absolutely hate to see him go, and I cant see why he would. He recently came out and said he wanted to finish his career at villa. I think some people are forgetting how good he is and how important he is to our team.
Someone similar would be great just to push john and cover for him when injured, or so we would have a useful late attacking substitution.
Who said Carew was leaving were is that from .
Were a top four squad now we should buy Heskey , Defoe , Lescott , Bridge , Upson , and a few younger players such as mattock and we would still have less players than chelsea or man u and they can fight for there spots . But definalety get rid of harewood , hes a striker and somehow finds a way to gift the opponents a goal every game he plays .
Get a player like Mark Viduka he will make any other striker a 20 goal a season player at a good team !
i agree widavfc-anthony i think knight is a good player trying 2 break in2 a team with defenders better than him. but still i like having a player like knight sitting on the bench and coming in 4 injuries. if he is just happy 2 b a fill in playa then we dnt need 2 sell him or bring another central defender in my opion. if u disagree then let me here wot ur thoughts r
and sorry if this is true about carew going that would b abit of a step back. Aston Villa need carew he is a top player and every villa fan no's this. his ability 2 push of defenders with his strength and his strenghth in the air is second 2 none. yes he has been injured but i feel when he gets himself fit he will dominate again like he did b4 his injury. but dnt get me wrong if tha hulk gets hit next season with alot of injuries then maybe i expect the rumour but right now this is just rubbish. carew is just as valuable 2 villa making the top 4 as ashley young. ALL OF THE VILLA BOYS R VALUABLE 2 VILLA MAKING THE TOP 4. GO VILLA
sorry aussie villan mark viduka wouldnt make the squad he is far 2 slow MON is building a team of speed and is doing a great job and if we picked up viduka it would b disapointing. viduka is a hasbeen and is finished. his biggest mistake was leaving southgates team. in the end viduka has 2 b fed the ball and would just get in the way of our players. waste of time and money
sorry ausie but mark viduka wtf. i think too much all aus and beutiful there mate.
would love to see big john fit and then i wonder if mon would have to jump into the transfer market and pay 15 for a 6-7 million player or we could wait untill the summer and see how many contracts have finished as there will be players who will be entering into their last year of their contracts and so on.
if we are in the champions league look at the bargains we can pick up
I don't want to become known as the Knight Defender (thought it's not bad, hmmm..) but to be fair it was an error by Davies for the second goal and possibly L Young because God knows where he was?
I think we are missing the point a bit. Who says he is 4th choice? I don't agree and there isn't any evidence to back it up. Forget who is 4th choice I the think a) the problem is who is 1st choice because defensively we aint that good and b) who is replacement for Larsson as your defensive rock. At the moment all footballing logic would ditate that that replacement is Knight.
Previously I mentioned Distain at Portsmouth because he is getting on a bit and would add a bit of experience. Another less experienced but similar player might be Hangeland at Fulham.
hello all havent been on for a while, first off the arsenal game great display by the boys and very unfortunate not to come away with a walk over!!! i was at the game and they really didnt want to be there. it's fair to say they were shittin it!!! great to see
.
On to the transfer market, i agree with the lescott option would be a great buy for us. anyone else fancy Martins from the geordies and a left winger?? krankjar?? also i heard the other day miguel is after a move to the prem and we all know how much mon likes him, could be a shock jan move?? but i think if we got martins ok not the tallest player but he's big strong and fast and would be a real threat with aggy? i'd also like to see mon experiment with ash young further up front on his day he's got henry like finishing?? krankjar then coming in and keeping the balance? i'm sure you'd all agree these additions would be great if not a little too much to ask for in january alone. UP THE VILLA.
Also hope Arsenal struggle against pompey after wengers child like wimpering in the papers!!
Reply to Aero-4-Villa:
You're not wrong Aero-4-Villa!!
He still has a house in Bournville and my mate lives next door to him.
He asked him about a year ago if he would consider moving to the Villa and he said he wouldn't even have to think about it, he'd be there.
The only reason he didn't join when he left the Wolves was because Doug was too tight and wouldn't stump up the transfer fee.
Hi Guys,
The Prospect of Lescott would be awesome...could free up L.Young(my new fav player) at LB and could also help out the CBs if there is some injuries..
Defoe gee i dunno not for 10mill....is Gabby better?...would rather see someone with a bigger physical presence up front..Crouch would be nice
I'm very impressed with this side though...some of those summer buys were just great purchases....
I was scared when we went for Luke Young instead of the likes of Miguel, Finnan and Ferreria but he has been great...awesome at RB..moved him to LB and he been just as good..
Steve Sidwell has been another good buy..his first 30 mins were awesome he was by far the best on the park for me..till Knight took over...
i thnk MON should start rotating though so we dont burn out...give barry or petrov a rest and play NRC in the middle...give shorey a run and play luke young at RB...against sides such as Wigan/Bolton/Blackburn/Sunderland etc
all in all im loving watching the high flying Aston Thrilla really pushing the likes of Arsenal to their limits...
Hope to see some movement in the transfer market..until then...
Up The Villa!
are you bloody mad? i would be soooo annoyed if carew left. i wouldnt go to villa park for the rest of the season if he left. the best striker we have had in years. he works amaziingly with agbonlahor. wins the flick-ons. an abosolute joke. i'd rather have carew than defoe. because defoe and agbonalhor are both pacey players. defoe would work well with carew, because defoe is a goal poacher and carew can give defoe the flick-on's etc.
Defoe coming to Villa is bollocks in my opinion. Damian finds it an attractive thought but advocates 4-5-1 - it's just not joined up thinking.
Claretboy_brad I'm with you 100%. Get Carew fit ASAP and get in a proper alternative who can also play wide - is there anyone OTHER than Heskey who fits that bill?
Depending on how much £ we have to spend in jan I think to secure that 4th spot we need 4 quality player 2 strikers a right back and center back!and if one pops up a promising young winger for squad depth.
I would love to see Defoe (as he will score loads of goals playing villa style football), Podolski (as i miss that German flair that Hitz gave us), Glen Johnson (if Liverpool or spurs dont bump the price up to much), Lescott (as he is of the perfect Laursen Mould), Valencia (from wigan just because he is so promising)!
UP THE VILLA!
I would love to see Podolski, Lescott and Valencia too, that would give us some good depth. Not bothered about Defoe to be honest and wouldn't Podolski be a cheaper/better option anyway?
Turbofatty, thats great to know - that he would join us because hes quality! Lets just hope MON reads the Villa Blog...
UTV
Defoe on the bench today for the game at Arsenal in place of Nugent.
Interesting... !
Nice to see Podolski has already signed according to good old Wikipedia
if only...
Reply to Wardy:
I noticed that as well.
Could be villa bound soon, but i don't mind, he is a proven goal scorer.
Now get Lescott, he can be CB or LB or even a striker.
I agree that defoe would be a good signing and maybe heskey as well we certainly need to strengthen the squad what is the story with carew saw MON talking about laursen being out for a month but nothing about big john
We are still pretty vulnerable at the back, and have conceded too many soft goals as a result of this. Matty UPSON would be my first choice at CB, and would rate Glen JOHNSON as one of the best full backs in the Europe.
DEFOE would be an immense signing. I think his overall game is better than GABBY's. Break the bank for SANTA CRUZ, and try for DERBYSHIRE from BLACKBURN. MON would get the best out of him for sure.
Damian,
Are you aware of any 'official' reports linking us to Sergio AGUERO. This would be a 'sexy' signing, usurping JPA.
Reply to SidCowanslovechild:
hav u seen the defending he has been playing in uefa cup
shocking
and bellamy is the first striker i thort of from some rumours i heard
Reply to Ipbopmalik:
You are entitled to your view but I have to disagree. He has been no worse than Cuellar when given a chance and is after only our 4th choice centre half. He is very big and strong and excellent on ball - better than even our full backs in the most part. If MON could solve his positional shortcoming and stop him making the odd dozy mistake he would be a top class defender. Your right about strikers - hard to come by and even harder to work out who will do well at Villa
Reply to SidCowanslovechild:
Sorry Ipbopmalik, this was supposed to be a response to littlevillain. Your views were as ever spot on with the possible concern on how to fit in Defoe with Gabby and whether he could play as lone striker (abd Upson is an ex bluenose)
47. SidCowanslovechild
No worries!!
i think we got 2 great strikers so no great need for defoe
narhhh ur all wrong just get christiano ronaldo and kaka derrr
lol up the villa!!!
only joking i think we should buy pennant from liverpool just to add depth to the squad
Martin O'Neil should sell -Marlon Harewood
Try and buy in -Aaron Lennon, John Arne Riise, Eider Gudjohnsen, Ledley King/ Sol Campbell/ matthew Upson(?)
Any of the above would make a good impact to the team, in my opinion.