Bids in for Dean Ashton and Anton Ferdinand from West Ham

Blimey...!

thats 5 down then and 2 to go for the 7 in 1 day, its all exciting now!! 9 days to go (10 for us) ;D

Im crapping my self

HAPPY DAYS!!

[ if we add these two (Dean Ashton and Anton Ferdinand ) to Shorey and Young, along with my fella, which I'm hoping to tell you about later, we could very well see the seven players in one day Martin O'Neill spoke about a while ago. ]

Something tells me that Maths wasn't your strongest subject at school Damo! ;)

There is a God. O'Neill be thy name. I hope Ashton does away with the dodgy hairdo, though.

Amazing, MON really is working in the transfer market at last!

In Young and Shorey we'll have two good full backs - many Boro fans say Young was one of their best, most consistent players last season!

Ashton is a very good striker and Ferdinand should provide good cover.

Now lets hope the other mystery player comes too, as he sounds exciting!

Stop being such a c**ktease and tell us >:(

Was this THE RUMOUR

ive never been more excited in my entire life

am i the only person in the world who doesnt like dean ashton??

Has the RUMOURED player got english football expoerience

and 'arry says we are still in pole position for kaboul aswell... mental, we'll have a squad of 30 or something ridiculous! lol

If he pulls this out of the bag, I reckon we'd be seriously considering a top 4 finish. We could still do with a right winger though.

Wouldnt mind Ferdinand think MON could improve him. Ashton however i dont think will every be as good as everyone thought. Seems to have put on alot of weight, just my opinion though, could be totally wrong.

Ill support andy signings MON makes, He did after all change my mind about Harewood (no easy task).

Bloody hell, I'm almost excited now..keep going Damian.. ;)

please god let this all be true.

This is more like it! Ashton is real quality. Does that mean mystery man is a midfield play maker then?

djongrass

what i mean is if we get these 4 plus the other .. whats to say another 2 are not lined up also ..

the player i've been told about doesn't have premier league experience

You must be joking? If Gareth Barry is worth £18mil as a 28 year old midfielder, then Ashton is worth £36mil as a 24 year old goalscorer, and Ferdinand as a 23 year old Premiership experienced centre back is worth twice that Argie fellow Newcastle have just spent....it makes no sense.

Why would two up and coming stars move from one mid-size Prem club to another now and blow their chances of a big money move to Man U/L'pool/Chelski...? in a couple of years.

Martin O'Neill? Spend £35m in 48 hrs? Jesus-titty-fu**in-Christ!

I'm sorry but I'm missing something here - why would 2 fine players like this pair want to follow Nigel Real Joker to a 2nd rate bunch of brummie under achievers like Villa? Get real boys!

Damo Just give us the position son!

Sorry boy's but i can tell you know that neither Ashton Or Ferdinand will be a Villa Player.
Only a Rumour nothing more.

:D :D

I don't want Ferdinand - too much of a rude bwoi

Damian,
Done the olf Ctrl F5 thing but still not seeing more than 3 comments. Anything you can check your end??

Listening to the media writing tosh again? Ashton has just signed a new 5-year deal on 65k a week, which completely breaks the Villa wage structure.... do you think he would sign for Villa for less? Ferdinand is over-rated and for 10m you can have him. But I don't understand why you need to add a very average centre half to your squad?

We are all whores to the media and they can write what they like to sell papers and 90% of the time its complete tosh...! As a West Ham fan we do need to trim our squad, but not by getting rid of our best player.... Deano will have a massive season this year... and for those who think he is fat... he's below 9% body fat..... explain that?

Is the player your on about Rueben De La Red?? We need some flair!

I knwo you wont tell us Damien but can you at least say whether we have been linked with him before???? This wont expose your source will it....pwetty pwease with sugar on top hahaha

If We get Ashton, we only need the Spanish Villa!

West Ham will never sell Ashton. They already dislike Curbishley down there and if sells Ashton I swear the Hammers fans will get Frodo and his motley crew to sort the blinker out.

We really are becoming the Little England club, though id like to see us bring in some foreign talent.

£25m?? The price for Ferdy before was £8m. That I have no problem with.

So that means £17m for Ashton??? Jaysus. I think he's as exciting as the next Villa fan, but £17m is FAR too much for Dean Ashton.

Ashton and Ferdinand are more like it!!Things are sounding a bit brighter than this mornings Luke Young news.

What position is the mystery man then Damian???

damian can you tell us who the player is yet or give us a clue? i think im gonna burst!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, After searching the web, like everyone else for the last 3 months, I decide to have a lye in, get up and we are on the brink og signing 2 full backs, linked with a superb forward and a good young english CB!! And Damien getting us all excited about another quality? player!!! Ikeep pinching myself! If we sign Them all i am booking the rest of the month off!!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

I can see west ham selling Ferdinand as hes not needed but I doubt west ham will sell Ashton seeing how hes just signed a brand new contract only in the last couple of weeks. But stranger things have happened.

ha ha you Villa Supporters do make me laugh, Dean Ashton has signed a new 5 year contract and anton ferdinand is set to sign an extension of 3 years on his current 3 year deal...

you do have a really good squad and young and shorey would definatly accomodate your team... but you guys are deluded in thinking you are getting deano and anton, its laughable.

ferdinand maybee but west ham aint gonna sell their prize asset ashton for this to a club of similar stature, ok ok villa are a bigger club but they simply aint top 4.

Just imagine you are playing football manager as west ham. you get this offer for your best striker who has just signed for 5 years. your club has already announced that hell will freeze over before you sell him to a rival club. there is no one available on the market to replace him and you dont need the money. your other main striker has just got injured and your fully aware of interest from teams that can afford 30 million for a player.

what would you do?

Has the romoured guy played in English football before

Damian lets say the likes of Kaka can be identified as '1' and Emile Heskey as '5'. What number will this rumoured player be at if he signs

Calm down!! It simply isnt going to happen. West Ham have already turned down two bids for Ashton from Spurs... what makes you think they would now accept one from Villa. And even if they did do you seriously think the player would take Villa over Spurs given the choice, and he would have the choice. Reo Coker and Marleen were unwanted baggage but there is no way Villa could prise away players West Ham want to hold on to.

Ashton's too good to join a rubbish club like Villa. you lot are deluded.

how true is the dean ashton rumour , would they really sell him for 15 mil, maybe they would curbs went mad the first season

Schweinsteiger? Damien?

My birthday keeps getting better and better! :) . The number 8 position is still vacant so unless that is for Ashton, maybe this mystery man is a creative midfielder. So maybe its de la red. :)

wouldnt mind nelson exciting but not as exciting as diego or falcao.
But we still need the signings

UP THE VILLA!

I know who this mystery player is too..I've received a text about an hour ago from my friends down at the Sunday Mercury. But because I'm on a placement there, I can't reveal.

If Ashton is that good his goal scoring record certainly doesn't back it up. 17 goals in 51 games for West Ham? You can keep him, not good enough for us!

Damien, i think you should go for your daily pint or two now...tat way you might get a little loose lipped and let us know who the mystery player is!

Same as usual... west ham fans are still a bunch f p****s. What happened to you lot hanging onto Tevez and Maschareno? Thumbs up fellas! :D

If we spend £25 million on this pair, it will be the biggest waste of money i can think of. I'm sorry but Ashton is a gamble, and you don't pay £10 million for a back up centre half. We need some guile up front, a play-maker, someone with good feet.

I am not thrilled at the prospect of this pair, especially at the price quoted.

You Villa fans must wake up if you think we are going to sell Deano to you or anyone. He's just signed an improved 5 yr deal!!! Carry on wishing and keep on waiting for the mystery man who's gonna change your season.............oh and thanks for the money for the donkeys Harewood and NRC

Come on, stop teasing.

Is this mystery player one we have already been linked with (as per the official site)?

Damian, at least tell us the position this secret player plays in..please ;)

All this transfer stuff's easy!!!. Whey were we worrying.
No but seriously. Young and Shorey are good signings. Think Ashton may be a bit of a pipe dream though. Can't see the cockney's letting him go. Ferdinand maybe.

I knew it would always be alright. Faith in MON.

Hammers All day: the "donkeys" you mention ended up ABOVE the rusty hammers last season, I wouldn't be that cocky when you end up spending the money on the likes of Bellamy and Dyer - you fool!

Damian,

Falcao by any chance??

Ferdinand would probably be back up this season but he is young and a signing for the future. Also if Laursen or Davies out would you prefer Knight or Ferdinand for £10m?
Tommy....HAPPY BIRTHDAY.
West Ham fans......You need the money to pay off Ljungberg don't you? ;D

you may get Ferdinand, but probably not, but you definitely have no chance of getting Dean Ashton.

Hammers all day .... is that the same donkeys playing in europe this season?

c`mon i think nicky shorey and luke young are great signings and both english fantastic! more reasons why we should get more attention from capello and his gang.As for ashton and ferdinand i just really can`t c this happening as much as i would love these pair added to our pre european campaign i dont think curbishly would let two young english players leave without a fight especially as west ham are struggling to attract players.So i don`t mean to ruin peoples dreams on this blog by being pessimistic about these signings but i do try being a realist.I hope i am wrong and i am eating my hat!! c`mon o`neil prove me wrong???? AVFC4LIFE

Wouldn't you guys love it if FIFA enforced the 6 5 rule now? We'd be one of only about 3 Premiership teams that could field a team week in week out! ;D

Could also potentially turn us into a pretty rich club too. With big clubs desperately needing English talent we could offload players like Gabby for huge sums of money.

Would love to see Ashton playing for Villa, but don't really rate Anton. I understood West Ham were looking for 18 million for Ashton, so that ultimately means paying 7 million for Anton, which I personally consider a poor move. For 7 million, I think there are better alternatives.

Where are the coments list Damian???

Well i'm in London today, meeting a mate for a pint. Anyway the bloke i'm meeting is a West Ham fan (who is intelligent) and he thinks Ashton will go if the price is right 15-17 mill. The Hammers are desperate for cash, after last seasons crazy shopping spree...! Also Ashton has signed a new contract at 50k a week with a big signing on fee..!!

Do u reckon this signing is worth the alleged 30 million for player 'X'

red

the offer isn't £30mn. but factor in salary over 3, 4 or 5 seasons then i suppose this could be the £30mn. player

All brilliant signings... If these links are true then keep up the good work MON!

Jaf, suggest you're talking to a Spurs fan as there is no way West Ham will be selling Ashton for a number of reasons:
1. He has just signed a 5 year deal
2. He is the mainstay of our forward line
3. Villa are a direct rival for us with our ambition and we ain't about to strenghten you to weaken ourselves
4. We have NO financial problems, so the wage issue is a non-issue
5. It would spark a massive rift between club and fans, unless there was a ready made replacement better than Ashton who was cmong to UP, and with season tickets sales down, the club need to reassure the fans not alienate them.

Anton could be surplus to requirement but Ashton is most definitely not and going nowhere.

Why would Ashton go if he has just signed a 5 year contract and West Ham have strikers injured? I am a WHU fan and I think it is paper talk, plus you won't pay £20M. Why would Ferdinand go? He is worth more than £6M, he wants to stay and WHU don't want to sell. We don't need the money any more. That doesn't mean to say that we won't sell if the price is right..........

Forget Anton, we should get in for Carlos Cuellar! He'd be available for the same, if not less, and he's much better than Anton. Plus Rangers are desperate for the dosh after losing out on however many millions for hilariously failing to qualify for the Champs League.

there is no way that we have offered near 25 million for ashton and Ferdinand there just not worth that much money! doesnt sound like a rumour its only a rumour! offer if anything would be in the region of 15-18 mill. west ham have money probs to a certain extent so that valuation is far too high

The Ashton Rumour has got to be complete rubbish - at the end of the day the only mention of this I can tell is from a Norwich blog "Canary Corner" hardly conclusive.

Would love to be wrong tho.

As for this secret sms guy...Is this a signing or a rumour (can't find the original statement)

Would he be from Madrid and his first name Ruben???

Both of these rumours are a load of cock! Mr. Rednapp has been shooting hid mouth off again about us getting Kaboul so i doubt we are going to sign Ferd' too.

I think Asthon is slightly over rated but still a very good striker. We'll have to wait and see.

What position does this mystery player play ? ;)Give us a clue mate !!
Hope we sign Ashton,quality player with a bit more guille than gabby,would also help Gabby and give him a breather,he may also partner him in the future as Big John has only got a couple of top seasons left.

its de la red

Damian, just one question which wouldnt give much away? If we did sign this 'SMS' player would it be a villa transfer record?

to be honest, if Damian is getting this excited about the rumoured player. He has got to be good :D
If this mystery player is not English he has got to be an undiscovered gem for MON to even be interested ;)

would u be happy with your rumoured signing damian?

Damien surely you do not belive the west ham rumour as a few days ago you were promoting we have no money?

Which i was against.

I would like to see both Ferdinand and Ashton.

Excited to see Young and Shorey coming.

All these players are top quality who can give us a good future.

Is this a big name signing or a future hit or both!!!!

Please reply Damian

Does 'exciting player' mean big name plAYER

guys anyone heard from
woodinho? Hairy H? Taglor? Zidave? AK27? Stig?

I HAVE DECIDED TO START A NAME AND SHAME WALL. ANY FURTHER IMPUT WOULD BE APPRECIATED. LETS FILTER OUT THE BADDENS

Mick 70 has changed his tune. a week ago he said
'I am amazed we still have to read of people trusting MON blindly, if it wasn't so depressing it would really be a laughing matter. '

somerset villa
'should have NUTS on our shirts this season,wouldnt be far wrong. '

Anthony daventry
'this is geting embarracing - Wake up - We have no money to invest in team building, horrible thought isnt it... '

goldie
'We all know we need players? but villa are the tightest club around'

awwww bless, dirty cockneys are a bit upset that they sold us one of the best central midfielders in the prem. awwww dont worry, ashton may stay another year to try and help stear u from relegation, but when it fails, we will get him on a nice cut price, or maybe u will ven pay him to leave ure club haha funny times at west ham, unlucky boys, unlucky. maybe you could sign some good english talent, instead of buying about 20 injury prone old men like solano lol lol.

Rob H - It was Damian was saying that we had no money at the start of the week.

just heard a text message on this but he was right on the rb and lb last night. Is it that porto winger quasima or what ever is name is. :D

Rob H: Firstly, we've so far only signed Luke Young after 2 years of searching, hardly Cafu and hardly the masterstroke of the century given the bloke was at Middlesbrough and is 29. Took us 2 years to spot him and sign him?

As for the realist brigade jumping on the blind faithfuls' bandwagon, I'd like to point out I've always maintained that - should MON suddenly wake up from his transfer letargy - I would have been the 1st to be delighted.

Mine was concern, not pessimism for the hell of it so please abandon the righeous path, mate.

[b]Taddy[/b]

Show me where I've said we have no money please ..

ferdinand maybe... ashton i cant see happening and for 18mil ???? why didnt we jus pay that much for bentley???
is the mystery man diego?
please be either diego van de vaart or schweinstieger....
utv 8)

btw damien do you really think dean ashton is a real step in the right direction??

Some people are easily sucked in aint they. Why does the transfer window have to be on when all the kids are off school and looking at their team forums thinking there playing champ manager.

gabbyaggy1on1 - its hardly van der vaart as he just signed for Real madrid. And even if he didnt i would seriously doubt this 'sms' player is of that calibre. We are simply not big enough yet. Just wait and see if damo will tell us?

Rob H - Ill nominate myself, if we sign any of the mentioned or un mentioned players.......As it stands we have signed Luke Young for double the price he was worth last year. He had an average season, so Boro have done good business there. My biggest argument is why didnt we start bidding earlier, it would have shown Barry our intention and ambition. However it now looks like it is a good thing that GB is leaving, as MON has been forced to pull the finger out. But as i said, i will state that i am wrong in blasting MON IF and only IF we sign better players than Luke Young. Nothing has happened yet.........this could be the ultimate let down again, worse than any other......lets see

Rob H- go ahead and start a list.

Is it so wrong of people to voice concerns?

damien has already said that this guy if he signs is a replacement for gareth barry. so we know hes an attacking midfielder........

ashton would be a good signing but not more than 15m but please not anton, never worth 8 million, resigned cahill!!!

we have signed luke young big deal!! he was average last year for boro and we could of had him a year ago but oneil didnt want him. says a lot really. he didnt rate him that highly then.
as for shorey he'll do but again hardly a signing that will improve us or take us to the next step.
we need to sign foreign talent. we are buying players that occassionally have got a cap for england. and that is an england squad that cant qualify for euro 2008.

heard it could be eto

wow how very very.... boring. Well done MON people seem happy to take anyone as long as it's a signing. How come Young wasn't good enough last year? Is this the player you have been holding out for for 2 years? I reckon our surprise is SANTA CRUZ then I will eat my hat and the egg on my face but if it's just all filler and no killer I will scream

Hi,

Anybody know how I update the comments made? It says 98 have been made on this thread but only 42 at the top of this page.

Cheers.
UTV.

So Young and Shorey are about to sign, this is great news and English to boot.Long suffering Villa fans under Deadly Doug should now realize that Martin O'Neil ,Randy Lerner and The General are far wiser than us and are keeping to their word.I am very proud to be a supporter and will be happy with a good run in Europe and a top 6 finish.Well done with the Acorns deal and keep up the good work.

Damien Just tell us mate! What posistion does he play in???

Well it does seem to be a little far-fetched but West Ham are skint aren't they so i wouldn't rule it out!

It could be a case where norwich fans have just got bored and made things up on their rivals.net site!

Still, if we did get ashton then that would mean that we'd only need a right winger and I think ashton would flourish at B6! He'd get nuff goals!

i thonk i no who it could be either antonio valencia, jaou moutinho or carlos cuellor.

i no who oneil will go for now after shorey and young he will go for both ashton and ferdinand wether he will get them i dunno but next it will be moutinho kevin doyle maybe he wont go for arshavin over priced. he will also go for de la red again but he reli does think that routledge will come good.

could it be that jaoquin is this mystery player?

At last some signings. Decent enough pair of full backs, good standard of players, chuffed with two in one day too!

Not gonna bother commenting on the "sms" player or the two cockneys but at least the two full backs are a good start!

Ha ha, just noticed I've been named and shamed too, loving that, as if people are that sad.

ok you dont have to tell me who it is Damian just the following

1. When will you tell us

2. Is he a Barry replacement

3. Has the bid been accepted


Surely I am entiled to this vital information

Plus you wont bem giving away much if you answer one or two of my quiries

Hey to all the WHU fans i think you need to realize something about football. First of all west ham are not our direct rivals that would be teams such as Everton and Spurs (maybe even man city and Portsmouth). Your direct rivals are teams such as Fulham, Bolton, Newcastle and Sunderland. I think most of you are forgetting that you are only in this league due to the corruption in the FA and Premier League and really sheffield united got S*it on big time. Anyway as we have found with our best player who plays regularly and is club captain and had the chance to sign a 70K a week contract etc etc, A player we don't want to sell and we don't need the money for and have no direct replacement for. when a BIGGER club comes in that are playing in a better european cup competition (in your case any european cup competition) then there is no keeping that player at your club, even if that player will spend half his time picking splinters out of his arse and warming up at half time. Every player has their price it's just up to the buying club to actually put their money where their big fat american and greasy spanish mouths are.
Young and shorey are perfect signings for us and ashton would be good cover for carew but i believe Ferdinand is a liability like zat knight

Taglor- Firstly if you were paying attention Damian said that it's not a prem player. So its def not Santa!
Secondly - we have now got a left back and right back so stop trying to be negative yet again and at least give them both a chance.

tONEBONE- What's with you wanting to be the new Taglor. They are not bad signings.

I also believe the player Damian is talking about is de la Red. It kind of makes sense as Villa are out in Spain at the moment. If this is true i might just kiss Damian if i see him at Villa park in a couple of weeks!

its DIEGO COMING AFTER OLYMPICS !!!!

My guess is that we'll get De La Red - but only on loan.

Young and Shorey are solid, honest players, we shall see if that's enough to compete with the top teams.

As for Ashton and Ferdinand..unsure on both (especially Ferdinand)..can anyone buy O'Neill an Atlas of Europe? The bloke seems hell bent on ignoring there may be talent beyond Dover.

Damian,

Your comments to Darryl last week

"Martin O'Neill must be the only manager in the world who won't spend money that is available to him - that is if you believe he has money available to him. I'm sure he has, but I'm also fairly sure it's not very much - certainly not as much as we need to break into the top four.

Football is all PR these days. Sometimes you've got to dismiss the PR, try to figure out the most likely reason for something and it usually is the right reason.

Actually - there is a theory: The most obvious answer is usually the right one"

You will try and fudge this - but the line of your comments was that there was in your own words "not very much"

Why are no posts coming up!

Is anyone else having this problem

Ashton ran us ragged last season, I aint too bothered he was shite v Trinidad & Tobago it's in the premiership where it matters and he could be awesome...
not to keen on Fairyhand but he is a better option than Zat..
why oh why did we sell Gary Cahill ?
If we sign the two full backs & finally shut arry gog S*ite Redknapp up all the btter

[b]Taddy[/b], You said above
[quote]It was Damian was saying that we had no money at the start of the week.[/quote]
I never actually said that. I even said in what you are quoting above that there is money - just not enough to break into the top four. It's you that is fudging it Taddy, not me.

I'll go even further now, just so you can quote me next week, I think maybe after this season, if we do bring in the right players that we can do as well if not better than last season and hell, if we do bring in the right players this season, I'll say that there will be a very good chance of breaking the top four next season - if we do it again.

A lot of ifs but never did I say what you are saying I said.

i no wot player he is on about.. think his name is falcao?? is it damian??

This is a long shot with this player but me mate told me about luke, and nicky shorey last night, is this player that porto winger he told me his name Qusama or something like that

hey maybe if we get these signings barry could possibly stay?

I hope that it is david Villa lmao.. I mean it would be brilliant to have villa on the back of your aston villa shirt lmao...
Hope you are not leading us on Damian and that your person pulls through. give us some tips on the X player.

Damo mate - take a chill pill. The slant of what you was saying is that we dont have money and you know it. Then you looked daft cause the General came out and said Lerner would spend £30 m on a player if O'Neill really wanted him. I dont think you could call in your words £30 m "not very much" money do you?

Anyway who is this blessed player is it de la red? or is it even better than that?? Remember we dont have much money to spend ;) ;) ;)

The slant is, our net spend isn't going to be as much as most would like (I'm saying net, assuming Barry goes for £18mn.).

As for what Krulak said, it's only what Doug used to say. It's taken with a pinch of salt and I really didn't look daft.

The BIG player will be Riquelme (or somebody else) ;D

If Kaka is a number 1 dream transfer and Heskey is number 5.

Where would the mystery man in question go

Why don't we put in a cheeky bid for Cristiano Ronaldo? The dude is clearly conflicted. He wants to move to Spain but also knows that he's thriving in the England. We're the most Spanish-sounding club in England so I reckon we'd be in with a shout. Hell, let's take a punt on David Villa while we're at it.

????? please reply Damian

I mentioned Cuellar Thurs10/7, as think he would be fantastic with either Laursen or davies. Great now appear to have some full backs, obviously prompted by 'MON tel. age concern'post.
As for player X,hope it comes off, but as for who I don't know? de le Red we've been linked with alot. So give a guess at Robhino or Villa(longshots). Others have mentioned Sweinsteiger, would be awesome! Let's hope something happens today!!

chris kane - If w get Dean Ashton and David Villa, you could have "Ashton Villa" on the back of your shirt............

.....I'll get me coat......

:D

i swear man we are going to end up being aengland team b

I still reckon we might end up with one of Finnan/Kuyt/Alonso

Somebody above asked why they would want to join Villa? Well, West Ham will finish 10th next season, that's why! Ashton is pretty overrated tho.

Just found it on another site! Joaquin`s agent is in talks with a prem manager in spain

ashton is shite...and a nob!!

Damo thanks for the tip i won't post it on the blog. how much convincing does he need? hemust know the premier league? oh well i will wait to see if he signs. weren't liverpool supposed to be after him last year? oh well stuff them scousers. quality

rob h

cheers for that.

he's winding you all up

sorry damo meant to put that in our private chat box.

Its joaquin from valencia

HA HA, named and shamed eh rob... shame, poor bloke!

;) :D >:( ;D :o ;D :D ;) :) ;D ;D ;D
good signings if true

If this is true and if it happens il stop moaning :D

I am guilty of it myself now I know but Why do villa fans give a shit about the opinions of these people. Because they host fan sites they have set themselves up as demigods with a self belief that they dictate the mood of everyone who supports the club. I have seen their posts to be consistently self serving. The latest example here of the pretence that they know who is coming and when..the subtext being a pretence that 'damian is in the know'. Can't wait for the post from damian after we sign another player stating 'I said such and such would be joining' nonsense. Well spotted taddy ... what he printed last week is now reinterpreted to fit the fact, as ever.

Maybe Ferdinand but not Ashton. Ashton is good but he's a lot like Carew (power without pace) so I don't see how he'd play them together. I actually don't think we need a striker, what we want is another midfielder. I think this is tabloid crap because apparently we've offered £15 million for Ashton but West Sham turned down a bid of the same amount recently for him from someone else - can't remember who it was now, probably Spurs!!!!

Why does everyone keep slagging Damo off? He is just expressing his opinion (which he is perfectly entitled to) and he gives us the info as he gets it (apart from the secret player, which is because his source would obviously dry up if he divulged it). Obviously every player linked isn't going to sign, even if we have a bid accepted and speak to the player (which could have happened 10 times this week for all we know). A lot of people were doubting how much money was available - why weren't we in for players like Modric and why did we get out-bid for Bentley - so it's a fairly common concern. I think there is a lot of money available, but am frustrated as anyone at the lack of signings which is putting doubts into my mind about the money situation. Only slight doubts though!

Damo - I don't think you can compare Lerner to Ellis though. We all remember Doug's famous list (with Batistuta and co on) and the endless spin about competing with the big boys on transfers, but everything Lerner has done has been spot on. True, I don't think we will get a £30m player, but I wouldn't be surprised to see us sign a few for £15-£20m over the next year or so, maybe even over the next 3 weeks.

Signings will come. It looks like two today, maybe a few more over the next few days. I would have loved to get some players in before now, but as long as they are in by the start of the season then great. Even if we get some in after the season starts it will be fine, as our initial first XI is now strong (assuming the full-backs sign).

Keep the faith!

Has this guy been nlinked with any other premier league clubs

why am i only getting 2 comments when there is over 100

25m for the two is a bit high isn't it ? Aston give him his due is worth about 18m depends on who you listen to, but Anton for 7m..... Anyway i don't mind as long as we get them in.

Goal keepers - Friedel / Guzan / Taylor
RB - Young / Gardner
LB - Bouma / Shorley / O'Halloran
CH - Laursen / Knight
CH - Davies / Ferdinand
RM - Petrov / Routledge
LW - Young / Maloney
CM - Reo Coker / Salifuo / Osbourne
CM - Sidwell / Stieber / Herd
ST - Agbonlahor / Delfonso
ST - Ashton / Carew / Harewood

I would Rather see Kaboul at Villa than Ferdinand and i still think we need another attacking Midfielder.

who the hell are the west ham fans who think their club is ona par with villa!
we are the top club in the midlands, your not even the top club in your district, villa fans deluded! its you guys that live in a dream, cockney idiots!
as for signings, thank god! finally a right back, just like we always dreamed of!

Ashton when healthy is a capable Prem scorer and he certainly has looked good in preseason for WHU so far, so I don't see what the problem is with him or Anton Ferdinand. We need depth in defense and he can help.

Off topic. Brad Guzan kept a clean sheet in the 1-0 win for the U.S. over Japan in the Olympics today. Had some shaky moments that were in part caused by the back 4 in front of him. Seemed more confident the further out he had to go to claim a ball. Guzan's reflexes are pretty good and he is quick to snuff out danger, but he was twice fortunate that Japan didn't score on crosses from near a corner flag (this where Guzan had the most trouble particularly when they weren't high crosses). Japan had two pretty good penalty shouts turned down. Overall I give Guzan a B- for his performance. He will have to be better for the U.S. to get anything against Nigeria or the Netherlands (although them both getting a draw was a good result for the Yanks) and get through.

is the sms player falcao and if it wasn't him would you class him as better?

Haha you lot are raving mad. You can have Ferdinand, he really isn't half the player his brother is and had some poor performances throughout last season. But to think Ashton would leave West Ham and come to Villa after just signing a new five year deal......................you've lost the plot!

If a top four side came in for him, then maybe he'd consider it. But not to go to Vile.

Shorey signed, 3 year deal.

5 more please :D

I really hope it is this guy...

LINK

shorey confirmed

I think £25m or Ferdinand and Ashton is a bit of a joke to be honest. If you factor in that Anton is maybe worth £8m at most in the current climate, that would mean £17m for Ashton !! He's good but nowhere near that good. I personally wouldn't like to see Villa spend this kind of money on these two, although they are pretty good players, maybe worth £16m for the pair maximum IMO.

Im pretty pleased with the signings of Shorey and Luke Young. We may have ended up paying a little over the odds, but I thnk they will be worth it. Although not what some had hoped for, I reckon they will do a good job for us and all of a sudden our defence doesn't look as bad does it? You never know, we may end up with another one or two defenders yet...(Kaboul, Miguel?...then we'd be smokin'.

As for the mystery player, it's a Barry replacement who has not played in the Prem. The Spain link with Joaquin and De La Red make a bit of sense and I really do hope it will be that quality of player.
However, i've been banging the drum for Diego of Werder Bremen for some time now and if it's him, i'm gonna get mullered and scoff one of those cold sausage and mint sauce sandwiches that seem to be popular amongst some members !

Here's hoping for some news...and soon !

UP THE VILLA ;)

DIEGO....DIEGO....DIEGO....DIEGO (to the tune of Tom Hark)

shorey has signed

Im still excited!

Joaquin would be mint!!
Damian- Could you tell us b4 7:30 cus i've got my eye on going the pub 2nyt. Please mate

unfortunately i dont think we will hear anything else on this site tonight

Craigy...i think you're right mate...all gone a bit quiet hasn't it ?

UP THE VILLA ;)

DIEGO...DIEGO...DIEGO...DIEGO ! (I'm practising writing it!)

;D ;D im peeing my pants

got a mate from cheltenham who is a west ham supporter and a season ticket holder and he reckons that when fit dean aston is more than a handfull for any defender and if we do sign him he will be a great asset and a great lose to west ham, only trouble is we got to keep him fit, 20 goal a season man.

OOh we signed shorey, excitment rating 2/10

Yesssssss Luke Young....wow......what excitement..talk about taking the cheap option, why wasn't he good enough last season..excitement value 0.5/10 ...

What the hell is going on? I mean it doesnt make sense bidding for Bentley 7mil under the asking price, now were bidding 25mil for Ashton and Ferdinand and signing Young at double the price he was signed for last year. Crazy stuff. It seems that there has been somewhat of a green light given or finally RL has realised that his investment isnt worth quite as much in the fizzy league....

I am happy with them both but it shows how slow Mon is, he could have had him for half that price last season!

what a good day for the transfers nickey shorey a done deal and luke young set to agree personal terms . what we need is to get rid of negative gareth barry cash in and buy a very good striker , i would love ashton but i think hes going now where at west ham

it's getting late, think it about time you named your man?!?

Now you're being quoted over on Villa Talk, Damian, about the "mystery man". And I'm getting very little work done.

Pleased with Shorey and Young. Not the most exciting signings, but known commodities who will do a job. The defense is looking much more solid.

Ashton? Yes please. Natural goalscorer.

Then if it's Diego or someone of that quality...Well, even Taglor might have to crack a smile. In private.

Who is it???? Please!

the player is ruud gullit!!!!

I think its Riqulme .

SMS PLAYER = JAVIER PEDRO SAVIOLA FROM REAL MADRID AGE 26 PRIMARY POSITON STRIKER BUT CAN PLAY MANY A POSITION. NOW WE HAVE EUROPEAN FOOTGBALL AND THE FACT THAT HE ONLY PLAYED 9 GAMES LAST SEASON FOR MADRID (SCORING 3 GOALS) MEANS HE NOW FANCIES A LUCRATIVE PREMIERSHIP CONTRACT...30 MILLION PLAYER MAYBE NOT BUT WILL BECOME A VILLA FAVOURATE

Could it be Luis Fabiano ? Saw this on a rumour site. 15 million transfer plus 65 grand a week = around 30 million pound investment... DAMIAN??

Aston Villa could bid £15 million for Luis Fabiano. The Brazilian who starred at Sevilla last season, becoming second highest scorer in the Primera Liga, has been linked with a move away from Sevilla since the departure of Juande Ramos.

also from a rumours site. I would take both!

Rumours of a mystery signing at Villa to replace Barry, who is gone by tomorrow. The mystery signing will exceed all expectations. Cannot reveal sources, but the replacement will be Riquelme in a massive statemennt of intent from Villa.

I think Taglor and Vogra are secret scum fans

Ron, how very original.

Damian: Hello?

MON: Damian, it's Martin.

Dam: Martin? As in O'Neill???

MON: Yes Damian, I have to ask you to stop suggesting I may be able to buy a player with flair - and foreign at that - you're creating unnecessary expectations and piling on the pressure on me and the club.

Dam: Martin, I was informed you may be able to sign a quality player so I felt it'd be good to...

MON: Please stop there, Damian. I am aware of you fans wanting a player able to go past the man, a player who can spot a pass, a player who can understand the movement of the ball a second ahead of his opponent, a skilful operator who will open up any defence with a single touch of the ball, a master of passing who...

Dam: Ohhh hmmm ahhh..

MON: Damian? Are you alright there lad?

Dam: I'm fine Martin, I just had a small accident imagining a Villa side with flair.

MON: I understand Damian. But I cannot sign a player like that because they have an ego, a dodgy tan and usually dare challenging me. And say that Birmingham's Bull Ring smells of tacos and armpits. I need hardworking warriors able to break legs if necessary, rough passers who will fight to protect our lone skilful treasure Ashley Young, bless the gifted little bugger. That's why I need Reo-Coker, Young, Knight, Shorey, Harewood, Petrov, Sidwell, Osbourne...no more flair Damian, do you understand?

Dam: Yes, yes of course. I will say it was all a false alarm on my blog.

MON: There's a good lad, I wouldn't wanna send The General to see you now, wouldn't I? Goodbye, Damian.

Dam: Er..goodbye Martin.

Fuck me Taglor you've managed to reply to one of my posts, hit a nerve have i?!

No seriously Taglor, it would make my day if just once, i repeat, just once you could post something positive about the football club you love. ;D

milly this maqkes a bit of sense but i have a gut feeling if we could get aston a big hit sum thing about the man and make r forwards relise that they r not first choice compotition is wot we wont things r stating 2 move

Joaquin is likely Valencia are in debt so they are selling. Diego would be amazing signing. Its most likely De La Red tho we have been linked alot. Whoever it is i hope it is true and we get them.

Happy with a few numbers coming in. Shorey is a good addition and a proper pro. Young not to sure about but will give benefit of the doubt. However these aren't going to set the Holte on fire.
In regards all these rumours of Ashton (Would be good but he's not worth half that money)Rio's brother no thanks - don't need any wannabe gangster rubbish at the Villa!
Also if any of these links from Spain come true I'd be more than happy. But come on people you think these kind of people would come to the Villa? Maybe its 2 players from the same team????

any news on the transfer front mon signs a couple and i cant cope with the imminent arrivals

Ron, sometimes you have to get off your high horse and realise just because someone has a different view to you it doesn't mean they support the blues!!!

Damian i know that u will not reveal the players name, club he plays for etc, but could you confirm that if the player does decide to come would it be on loan to view of a permanent signing or would it be a permanent signing.

It's annoying me that i cant see the rest of the comments on this thread.

I know everyone is sort of split on the signings of Young and Shorey, but imo i think its a good piece of business. Like myself i do hope Villa sign some real fantastic players, sort of like Spurs and modric. Imo though the signings of Sidwell and Shorey ect could really improve Villa. Because to me teams that really succeed have a combination of experince, youth, battlers, hungry players plus that bit of quality. We have everything in place minus that bit of quality which hope will come now. So everyone we all should get firmly behind MON and look forward to the coming season.

Come on where is this news - i am impatient - can you not give us little hints at least. Also how solid is this rumour

[quote]we could very well see the seven players in one day Martin O'Neill spoke about a while ago.[/quote]

One year too late though yeah?

Great news though if all goes ahead.

Young signing to be announced tomorrow (according to my source - who got it right yesterday). Also, I'm led to beleive that Damians mystery man is David Villa though I think we'd be going some to get him to be honest. Here's hoping. I've also heard that SWP is back on the radar. Now [i]that[/i] would be a decent transfer season but I think I might be running ahead of myself a bit.

Young has joined Shorey in signing... that could give us one of the best defences in the Prem
Friedel
Young Davies Laursen Shorey

I'd be very happy with that starting against Man City, now all we need defensivley is a back-up cb Ferdinand / Kaboul would do me. Playing with Laursen will improve anybody!

As for Midfield i'd like to see what Salifou and Routledge can do and for Maloney to be given a chance. I know we'd all love Diego in there but maybe a bid for del la Red now that van der Vaart has joined Real.

Ashton up front with Carew could be scary for any opposition, I thing gabby needs more competition and a little inconsistency has appeared in his game. But of all strikers we've been linked with i think Falcao could be a 20 goal a season man and would love to see him in the claret and blue... but then again anyone wearing the colours will be cheered and applauded... except maybe the once great Gareth!

Thanks Hairy H. OK something positive Ron? well we have now signed as many players that left our small squad at the close of season. Is that positive or sarcy? You decide.

luke young signs, left bk nd ryt bk sort of coverd, lets move on for a ryt mid and attackin mid fielder

news says david Villa close to signng improved contract with Valencia,but i am still hoping he is X man. Any chance of any clues B4 bedtime. I am getting on a bit now and need good nites sleep. luke Young signed, need centre half back up now and with quality right side midfield and 20 a seasoon stiker, won't b far away.

Still no news on the mystery man then ?!
I've really got my hopes up and i hope i'm not in for a fall !!
Damo said most of us would be excited, so he must be good
UP THE VILLA ;)

Damian - when is the fantasy football likely to be up and running? Sorry if you have posted this elsewhere and i havent read it.

Moutinho is the mystery player.
He can play in the centre and gives villa a more of an attacking threat. Also the fact that was willing to join Everton is further evidence that he would also want to join Aston Villa, a club that will do well in the UEFA cup...


...AC MILAN VS ASTON VILLA UEFA CUP FINAL PLZ :D:P

hey!steady on TrueVillan. Some of us live here now and support the Villa.
Stop watching East Enders they aren't Cockneys. ;D

They are staying put!!!!!! Better and bigger club. come on you Irons

I'd like to see signings like villa, joaquin, moutinho,falcao however these things i just dont see happening, villa been linked with a host of top european clubs and would want champs league, joaquin i guess a similar situation, however this is far more likely. Moutinho possibly but many other big clubs would want him and im sure he'd go to a top 4 club before us. Also falcao has been linked with the likes of Real and they were warned off him, so dont think that will happen!!

Any big signing would be brilliant. I wont be disappointed if we dont sign anyone its just our situation, its hard for us to attract the type of player that would help us crack the top 4 as well as really excite the fans.

Just hope we sign a few more players at least.

The player is Paulo Renato Rebocho Ferreira

Martin O'Neill expects to seal a second transfer victory over Portsmouth rival Harry Redknapp in 24 hours by signing Spurs defender Younes Kaboul for £6million after the £4m capture of Reading’s Nicky Shorey last night.

It's blatantly obvious that Villa will not sign Joaquin, Villa or Diego this season... Come on! It just wont happen. That's not negativity, it's plain old fact. SWP would be interesting but concerned about his inability to cross... Gabby already likes running full-pelt with his head down... I don't know, call me old-fashioned - I'm happy with the signings already - Full-backs dont have to be world beaters, just unlikely to cock up in the big games - but please gives us some tapdancer with foreign flair - Scandinavians, as great as they are, seem more British than we are!! De la Red, he may come on loan, and surely we can charm him into staying in the midlands...

It's blatantly obvious that Villa will not sign Joaquin, Villa or Diego this season... Come on! It just wont happen. That's not negativity, it's plain old fact. SWP would be interesting but concerned about his inability to cross... Gabby already likes running full-pelt with his head down... I don't know, call me old-fashioned - I'm happy with the signings already - Full-backs dont have to be world beaters, just unlikely to cock up in the big games - but please gives us some tapdancer with foreign flair - Scandinavians, as great as they are, seem more British than we are!! De la Red, he may come on loan, and surely we can charm him into staying in the midlands...

another day lets see what today will bring us . it looks like we will get younes kaboul ahead of pompey brill , and all im hearing out of fratton park is harry moaning about funds . now we have two complete full backs now all we need is a midfielder right sided and a proven goal scorer ashton would be great

I throw another name in the hat: Reyes.

The spaniard wasn't included in Atletico Madrid's Champions League list of players, confirming rumours he's on his way out of the club.

Benfica are favourites, according to an Italian website but..could he be the Villa mistery man?

its Rueben De La Red villa in talks and a permanent deal around 11 mil

There won't be anymore signings and if damion has any bottle he will tell you he made it up.. Its sad that someone has to make up lies just to get hits on a website to make money out of villas name. Oh well. another one to add to the Bullshit files.

Colinfishfromcheltenham

It would be wonderful to live in your world but why call yourself Colin from Cheltenham but be sitting in Royal Leamington Spa?

Strange that .. and you'll just have to wait and see.

its gona be alonso

2 great signings in Young and Shorey in my opinion! 2 solid full backs and a RB at last!!!

I couldn't wait to look on the blog today to find out who the mystery man is but still no news......its killing me!!

Please Damian, be a legend n give us a hint....is he on the new Adidas advert by any chance? ;D

Is he that excited it affected your sleep?? :)

Missed all the excitement yesterday as was at the cricket seeing Harmie work his magic.

So any news on this mystery man yet?

Think Shorey and YOung are good solid signings, is better than no left back or right back! ;D

is micheal bradley coming

Ashton- Not a chance.
Ferdinand - We will get Kaboul instead.
Mystery man- Joaquin to sign on Monday.

Damian, would we call Joaquin a hard worker and a MON type of signing? :P

GATTUSO IS THE MAN

I'd pay the money just to get Ashton, Ferdinand would come good under O'Neil, West Ham is a "NOTHING CLUB"