Bellamy joins West Ham, surely Defoe is last candidate?

I agree we need a striker and think we should go for defoe. 10 days ago i said i wasnt worrying about the lack of signings and the lack of numbers in the squad. I am now beginning to worry. The squad leaves for the pre season tour on Monday i think it is? I dont think we will be making any signings whilst Oneil is over the atlantic, and when they return the season will be almost upon us.
At present we have 16/17 1st team players - 7 players less than we finished last season with and Oneil by his own admission stated we did not have a big enough squad then. We need a right back, a centre back, a goalie, a striker minimum and these players should be going on the pre season tour with us. I know people on here are saying have faith in MON and be patient but if we dont get these players in this week things have gone wrong. MON 100% would have wanted all signings done and all his players in prior to the tour.

HAHAHA

Why would Defoe move from a top 5 club to someone at the bottom of the league....??

Me thinks not.

I think we should go all out to try and sign defoe although i dont think he's worth anymore than about 10 million!defoe and carew up front would be a dream partnership with gabby and moore in reserve,i say open the cheque book and bring him to villa park tomorrow!!

As we've seen with Young and Reo-Coker, as well as the prices we have been getting for the likes of McCann and Davis - players who are proven in the EPL are well overpriced. Defoe will be the same. O'Neill needs to widen his net, quality players can be had at a fraction of the price in Europe.

who ever we get at least it wont be golf crazy bellamy

What we have to remember as well is even if portsmouth are in the running to sign him and are willing to pay 12 million. defoe may not want to go to portsmouth he may want to go to Villa.

I think he would quite gladly join us. With the 4 strikers spurs have, he will get games, but not as many as berbatov and bent.

And to MCS...if thats the case, why did beckham leave arguably the biggest club in the world for a team relatively unheard of? So me thinks so

We've lost 8 players and gained 1, the figures dont add up when you consider we dont have the biggest squad or the greatest depth, plus is it me or are we leaving a little late all the talent on the market is being snapped up, even Koumas has gone to Wigan!

Apparently we've bif £8mn for Defoe, this is according to TheSpursWeb.com so there must be a large possibility it's true if it's written by the apparently selling club. But it also says Spurs are holding out for £10mn. and Defoe isn't worth that. We're trying to strengthen most positions and £18.5mn for 2 players isn't going to leave much for the desperately needed right-back and left-back cover. Perhaps even right-winger cover too, Gabi is no winger.

id prefer owen for 9million

Actually, forget the Premiership all together, let's get ourselves some South American talent, most underated players in the World are in South America.

Let's not get on MON's back just yet... he's got a few days left. Afterall, saying you've got faith in the man isn't worth a damn if you start having a moan when things get a little tight. This is when he needs our backing, not our doubting.

what's happening with swp i thought we was going to bid for him at 1 point now does'nt look likley... defoe i think we should buy then up front we have little and large i think that will make a good partnership

why would you prefer Owen for 9 million?? Might as well p&ss the 9m down the drain along with the 90k a week wages. The guy could not care less about any club side once he is fit for England

Any word on Lahm or Sneijder? Or are we agreed that it was all waffle?

the problem with most players now is 'do they really give a toss?'

when they are 22/23 years old and already millionaires picking up £40k a week do they really care for any club they join?

owen would rather just play for england 10 times a year than play for any club team apart from maybe liverpool

its just a risk you have to take ..

Last season it was only our lack of depth in our squad that was the reason we didn't finish much higher that and our inability to score goals.

Everyone says we need to replace Sorensen, why? Only Everton and the top four conceded less goals than us last season! Yes he does make the occasional blunder, but, take Kiraly vs Manure in the cup, it is built in tradition that our keepers have the occasional mad-moment!!

Personally I think we need a player up front who is like Carew cos we've got Agy, Luke and Ashley who are quick and can play there, we loose Carew who replaces him?

Right-back necessity, left-back not so, why? Bouma, Barry and O'Halloran (this guy has been picked by Stan to play for the Republic of Ireland, in my view there ain't many better at knowing what a left-back should be)!!

We need wingers, SWP would be perfect, free Agy for a more central role, that's where he can score us the 20 goals a season we need, he can and has scored against the top teams.

All my trust is in O'Neill, he knows what he wants, that's good enough for me.

I agree with Pongo1981, that we need a striker who is similar to Carew. If Carew gets injured, we won't have anyone to provide the flick-ons for the quicker players to run onto, or anyone to provide an aerial threat.

I actually think Luke Moore will be our top scorer next year - he's one of the most natural finishers in the Premiership at the moment. Just look at those goals he scored when he came back from his shoulder op (against Boro and Sheff Utd). Neither of those were clear-cut chances, but he tucked them away superbly. But, he needs someone like Carew to play off, and if Carew gets injured it will be difficult for him if we don't have a Carew-like replacement.

Also, remember that we started playing well last season when McCann was dropped for Berger and Barry moved into the middle of midfield. The opposition ware backing off Berger because they were scared of his flair and creativity, giving us space and goalscoring opportunities. This makes me think a Berger-like player (maybe 10 years younger!) is needed, as we can't rely on Berger to stay injury free or on form, and we'll only have him for another season. Sneijder would be a dream, but a younger player who can learn from Berger may also be useful.

Of course, we need 1 or 2 full backs and better competition at goalkeeper, but I don't think we need much more than that. I wouldn't worry about the '8 players out, only 1 player in' statistic. Remember, Olejnik never played (even when our 2 keepers were injured) whilst Hendrie and Samuel were so poor that we may as well have given a youth player a chance. That leaves 5 players to replace.

Also, its a matter of quality, not quantity. We can afford to play the odd youth player occasionally if the rest of the side is strong enough and we draw fewer games.

I forgot to add, I don't think Defoe is the one for us! He would be a good addition, but maybe a bit of a luxury if it means we can't afford get someone to cover for Carew.

Paul E,
the Berger replacement could have been De Ridder, but we let Birmingham have snap him up!!!
I watched him in the u-21 championship and he was the classiest player in the tournament, the guys range of passing was unreal!!

Only time will tell if he reaches his full potential though, and at Villa he would have had a better chance!!

I really think we should just start signing, because all the other teams have started and I know our squad was a million times better than West Ham, but they are signing players, we are not. I really hope we sign a Gem. As we need to, I still think we are very thin when it comes to Quality in the team.

Seriously, Defoe is not better than Luke Moore. He has just been given more chances, no pun intended. If we are to buy a striker it must be Fred or Kone. Would there be any problems with us making a bid for Riquelme who has been carving up copa america?

i think i'm going to agree with most and Leroy

defoe isn't better than luke moore ...

i dont think we will get defoe not after he relased that statment saying he wants to stay with SPURS and is lookin forward to the new season you should all give up hopeing for defoe cause it aint guna happen i think its going to be someone from abroad and maybe someone none of us have heard off

Still think and hope that we sign defoe, my choice of a replacement is kim kallstrom, i've said it before he is class and should be cheap. I agree to a certain point that we need a replacement for carew if he's injured, but sometimes that can make a team to predictable playing the same way all the time and if carew is out then we need to learn how to play to our other strengths, our pace up front.

Also I know people are getting twitchy about new signings and yes it would be nice to have them with the team for the tour of the usa, but i'm also sure that MON knows exactly who he wants and can trust the board to make these signings even if he is 4000 miles away, not ideal I know but i'm staying positive!!

Maybe i was being a little hasty with Riquelme talk, hopefully Petrov can find his feet early and produce from the midfield. I was gutted a few weeks ago when i heard talk of Boro enquiring about Luke Moore. He was on form early and it may come as no surprise to see that we were up in the top four until he had to undergo surgery on his troublesome shoulder,that and we still had Baros....

one name that hasd dissapeared that i would bet on seeing again is

diego forlan

personally i think 4 players are needed to make us a team to challenge the top 6.
i think thos 4 players are - carson, neil, bridge, and defoe.

if you add that with the players we have already got then

carson
neil mellberg laursen bridge
young petrov reo-coker barry[c]
defoe carew.
subs- sorensen,cahill,gardner,maloney/l.moore,agbonlahor. 4-4-2.

that should be enough to challenge the top six and try to push the top 4, but certanley enough to push the top 6, wich is wot MON will be aiming for!!!

and for those 4 players we would have to spend about 26m - 27m, which is almost all of the 30m we suposidley have left. and with the rest of the 3m 0r 4m a few squad players could be brought in.

defoe - 12m

bridge - 6m

neil- 5m

carson- 3.5m

then we could have a villa team challenging!!!

UP THE VILLA!!!!!!!!!!!

I think that forlan went to athletico madrid to replace torres, I hope i'm right with that 1 as I personally would not want to see forlan in a villa shirt especially at that price!! Also I dont think we have realistic chance of bridge, carson and defoe yep definately, sorry I might just be having a slow moment but you've lost me on the neil 1, which neil are you are about?

lucas neil, reports suggest he is unhappy there, and has family in the midlands anyway!!

jesse_mccartney_villa4lyf how on earth could u even think of leaving GABRIEL AGBONLAHOR on the bench cleary our best player last season to me anyway and i cant see M.O.N leaving him on the bench either i do think tho we will see him as a sub more often as we will have a bigger squad and M.O.N did want to play him less last season but had no choice but to let him carry on i think gabby this season is going to be brillaint lookin forward to seeing him this season Gabby for england is what i say

Really would not want lucas neil at villa park this is the player who turned down playing for liverpool and the possibilities of actually winning things and going to west ham who were staring at relegation just so he could be on massive wages, sorry not the player for me, but hey thats only my opinion!!

As for gabby I do think we will see him more from the bench next season, he is only young and has a lot to learn but you are right he is a massive talent and bringing in an established striker I think can only improve his game.

We couldnt afford Neills wages for one,but i totally agree with MON New Villa, we want players who want to win. I think we should sort out right back, get two midfielders, at least one with playmaking ability and a strong striker, somone said we were looking at Fred of Lyon for 12mil and that in my opinion would be great,ifthey actually did let him go. It would have to be a striker of this sort of quality to push Gabby or Moore to the bench.

Just wondering what other people think to the fact i cant see any big star names coming to Villa. We don’t offer the big wages (ie Bellamy £70k a wk) I think Carew is villas highest paid player on 50k and he took a pay cut to come to villa and the fact we can’t offer european football.

Defoe would be a good signing but somehow i cant see him playing in a villa shirt, Birmingham as not quite got the same appeal as the bright lights of London. (That's no disrespect to the good people of Birmingham)

I think we need 4 or 5 players in and my selection would be:

Ben Foster (injured), Curtis Davies, Drenthe, Riquelme & Huntelaar

But will probably end up with:

Jaaskelainen, Luke Young, Hangeland, SWP & Alan smith (still very good players)

I say "Probably end up with" but really i cant see us signing anymore than 2 more players, partly due to the fact, although it is nice to have a big squad, were not in europe so why waste the money, lets put it to good use in january, when and if we are doing well in the league it might encourage the top players to come to villa with the hope that we might qualify for europe.

I know the problem we had last season was the size of the squad but also i think was due to the fact that the players that were left out or were injured have come back more stronger than ever. Laarson was excellent, so was berger, add to the fact luke moore came back stronger, young looked more settled & the chance Delaney might be back, things don’t look that bad. If & that's a big if, Delaney, Laarson & berger can stay fit, that's like having three great signings who already know their way around villa park. Also lets not forget the great signing of Reo Coker, the amount of work this guy gets through it's almost like signing two players.

I would rather wait for the right player to come along than settle for second best, i'm quite glad we didn’t get Bellamy & koumas because i don’t think their any better than what we have got. I think we definitely need to sign a right back though, just incase delaney doesn’t sign a new contract or gets injured and a striker incase Carew gets injured.

MON is slowly bringing in young English talent which i beleive is the right way forward, one or two every six months so that they can feel their way into the villa side, that with seasoned proffesionals i can now see the way MON mind is working & now understand why he was interviewed for the England managers job. This man is building a team which i beleive will come good in a couple of seasons if not sooner, so villa fans lets be a bit more patient and hopefully the football that we were playing in the early eighties might not be that far ahead.

AV4EVA, i think we all want big name signings and success( Top 6) but we cant expect this to happen this season or next. It would obviously be great if it did, but there is a reason MON is looking at young players, its because this is going to take a couple of years. I, like most other Villa fans want all these signings now, its hard to be patient especially as 6 or 7 players have been let go and we have 30mil to spend but we need the right players brought in to help us be a force in a couple of seasons and to help keep us at the top aswell. We are on the way up but keep the faith, it may not happen this year....

....and as long as we keep signing the right players,eventually Villa will become a more desirable place for players to come.I really hope we can challenge for a place in the top six, but the most important thing is to make Villa an attractive team for players to come. Most younger players know one another through various representative or youth cup comps anyway sometimes they persuade others to come join, much like Keane at Sunderland and how is linked with most Man U players(Scholes now!)

Quite a few sites repoting that M.O.N is making a 4.5million pound move for luke young

luke young for 4.5 mil. 's so good.
(in my opinion)

In answer to MCS, you sound like a blue nose mate, if your not happy with your webb site, stay off ours.!!! You lot make me sick, you all seem to know more about our club and what is going on at Villa park than you do about whats going on in your own back yard.
Jane