Early signings and lots of them please, Mr O'Neill
Friday, 04 July 08, 10:13 AM · Comments (44)
It is almost a year to the day that MON made his earliest summer transfer in Nigel Reo-Coker and we have finally confirmed the inevitable permanent transfer of Curtis Davies from West Brom.
In the past two summer transfer windows only NRC and Marlon were signed before the 29th August so we shouldn't be surprised at the lack of activity so far, but I can understand everyone's frustration because we start our games a lot earlier than the previous seasons under O'Neill and need to get moving.
However, looking on the bright side, Martin O'Neill has acknowledged that a lot needs to be done if we are to kick on from last seasons 6th place with the smallest squad in the league.
He is quoted as saying "We're hoping to try to add to the squad. The players did fantastically last season but we had the smallest squad in the Premier League.
"We wouldn't want that to happen this season so we're going to address it. Even if Gareth had decided to stay, we were still going to address it.
"But now it's even more important to do it than ever. It's the time for anticipation now. Players are back for pre-season training and, with the European Championships out of the way, it's obviously all systems go for everyone."
Reports today suggest that bids are to be made for Bentley, Sidwell, Ferdinand and Robinson totalling just over £30 million and that would be a good start, however as this is more speculation we'll have to wait and see.
The above are all realistic targets and fit the 'O'Neill mould' but we need a lot more than this. I'd say on top of those we need at least another keeper a good striker, a right back and at least another 4/5 decent squad players minimum. Which when we've let Mellberg, Berger, Sorenson, Moore, Carson and obviously Barry leave it is only 6 or 7 more players than last season.
As for pre-season we kick things off on Thursday against Salifou's old club FC Wil and follow that up 48 hours later against Zurich with the Intertoto Cup matches kicking off a week later, and O'Neill believes we have the personnel in place to get on with things straight away.
He said: "My normal build-up would be a wee bit more leisurely, getting players into it and building into it. But here we have to try and get into competitive mode very early on.
"Now we've got to get ourselves together, get our preparation ready for the Intertoto."
As for his work with the BBC instead of working on some new signings MON assures us he has got plenty of work done and the signings shouldn't be too far away.
He said: "I went out and did some games for the BBC. I was working there for two or three days in the week but then coming back and working here.
"It was not as if I spent three weeks out in Austria - not that I should have to explain myself to anyone other than one person at this football club (owner Randy Lerner)."
Fingers crossed then that we move things on and get Barry sold, preferably to Arsenal, and bring in some fresh faces in time for the Intertoto game in two weeks time.
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44 Comments · Add yours
I don't want to sound ungrateful for the update Chris as most of my days now are spent frantically checking this site for new news... but hasn't pretty much all of this been summed up in recent posts by Damian? :S
Lets hope they are on the way! Otherwise we'll need a miricle to match last season!
I just think it's good to see O'Neill's veiw on the situation and see he is working on something or someone.
MON is not renowned for his ultra big money signings, but I feel a BIG signing coming on. Someone like Henry or Ronaldo (the Brazilian one).
Chris, I hope we do manage to offload GB to Arsenal, that would make my year! I have heard that any deal could include Senderos coming this way, he's a bit inconsistent at times but would be a reasonable acquisition.
Ill rip my testicles off with my bare hands if we manage to get Bentley..in three words, NO FCUKING CHANCE, the only Bentley down Villa Park will be driven by a player
With your 'bare hands', do you mean without gloves vogra? Anyway, I've been told Fernando Gago is a £12 million Barry replacement target (an insider) ;)
I've been told Martin O'Neill has got in touch with Real Madrid about the availibility of Fernando Gago as a Gareth Barry replacement off an insider.
i hear MON reads this wee blog...if so!!
your a good man martin,i'd give you all my eggs to put in any basket you picked.i think we sould sign a novelty player!!!DEL PIERO SPINGS TO MIND!!
please martin,please martin can we get him..
peace...........
either sell barry to arsenal for £14mil or sell him to liverpool for £18mil, teach them not to tap up players and get away with it
Does anyone know if Barry has a 3 mill loyalty clause in his contract?
I was told that this is the reason that they are holding out for 18 mill cos MON valued Barry at 15 and he refuses to pay the loyalty, so he's sticking out for the full 18.
Anyway, they say that no news is good news....well that boll**ks, cos this speculation is doin my ead in!!!!
i CAN see us getting bentley cos Sir O'neill will work his magic,he'll see that were a club on the rise and were gonna be challenging for 4th this season or higher!!!
good luck with the ripping off of the old testicles vogra mate...
that's got to hurt.
UTV
GB joining would me just fantastic! really shove it up the scouse knobs! All Liverpool fans that i know have all said that he's not worth £18m and it really gets to me because all they want to see is some young FOREIGN player who Rafa will pay loads for and turn out to be crap. (e.g Babel) I mean yeah, he's good but he aint excactly C Ronaldo. Hate Liverpool fans so much!!! >:(
GB, Go down to London!!!
I feel frustrated for everyone.
It's a real shame that Barry's ended up looking like a greedy tit.
It seems that he's been manipulated from several angles, Gerrard massaging his ego etc. agent with 'cerching' £ signs in his eyes. 10 or so 'cosy' years at one club leave a player naive and out of touch. It's hard to blame him lashing out in the press.
However...
MON is only to be congratulated for weathering the BS and having the balls to hopefully get 'his' asking price.
The lack of info. from the club as far as getting 10(?) new players in...(that's what we need when it comes down to it), is making us all jittery.
I'm still holding out for the '7 in a day' idea...
This is my first post.
I'm a life long Villa fan in hostile territory and can see Millwall from me window.
The Villa are on the up.
Keep the faith!!
Just a point regarding the Bentley rumours. I heard on talk-sport that he had already purchased a new pad in London, so surely he must be going to spurs!?
Good signing if we could get him though.
Anyone come up with any songs for Barrys trip to Villa next season yet? Got to get some stick from the mighty Holte End!
Up the Villa!
Just a point about the Bentley transfer. I hard on talk sport that he had purchased a bad in London, so surelt that means he is going to Spurs!?
Hope O'neil can pursuade him otherwise, would be a good signing.
Has anyone come up with any Barry taughnts for the Holte End yet?
Up the Villa!
That message was supposed to say i heard on talk sport of him purchasing a pad in London. Sorry eating my toast at the same time
Ron
why do my messages keep going missing? Help!!!!!
wdssdsdsdssssssssssssssssss sssssssssss ssssssss
bentley getting pad in London if you are to believe reports!? :'(
I love MON's quote in the paper "we're hoping to bring in some players" ....no no no ...there's no fcuking HOPE about it...you need 10 players you stupid cnut..
if we don't don't bring in quality like Geoff Horsefield,Titus Bramble,Scott Carson,Bobba Fett,Bryan Small,Earl "fcuking" Barrett,Desmond Tutu,Eddie "that stupid 4 eyed cnut"Edwards,Pat Butcher,Eddie Hitler,one off them small cnut womble things..you know the one...unkle hungary or is it holland...one off them slapper barmaids from eastenders........MON pull your hands out your ass and lets sign some of these cnuts
i am sick to death of mon always telling us that 'he is trying to sign players', why doesnt he ever say that WE WILL SIGN PLAYERS!!! even though he has done a gr8 job at the villa, but he just cant attract quality players!!!! i gurantee that if we had another manager here then we would have easily signed defoe!
i am going to give mon another chance this season, if he fails then i want him out, bring in slaven bilic!!!
He's gonna sign someone and he'll play football, perhaps even on the right of defence, I can feel it in my rectum, mainly because I can't be arsed (rectum -> arsed, see?) to wait for MON to make his move or I'll be here until the 31st of August crying in front of Sky Sports at midnight.
So I'm off to the pub instead. Cheerio.
i am telling u guys that mon is a fucking joke!!! he aint going to sign no 1!!!! i am die die hard villa fan and it almost makes me cry like a bitch that we cant seem to buy any players!!! the bastard blues and hull are signing more players than us!!!
Hurrah!!! people are seeing through the Villa Park PR bullshit at last and are realising RL is just using us as a cash cow, just enough investment to make a profit and not enough to win things, more mid table boredom to come. PS I really do think we will see our first new signings this MONDAY. Please quote me on this if we fail to and rub my nose in it lol
Shut up bhurji, you can't be doubting the legend that is Martin O'neil. Do you honestly think he won't make some descent signings before the season kicks off?
Your not a true Villa fan, you can come back on here and say you were right in 2 weeks time but i very much doubt it.
up the villa
MON is in this for long haul. He's not going to bring in anyone that he doesn't think will fit in to his plans. There's no point signing players just because thay happen to be on the market.I have every faith that MON will come out of this summer smelling of roses rather than the horse shit that he smells of right now!
The 1 exception to signing players that happen to be on the market would be a right back, amazing that we have gone so long without 1. It must have cost us 9 points minimum last season!
Barry...Shmarry!!!
It's disappointing when your club are not linked to world class players, it proves a point really, you can see why Barry Fancy's a move away, were linked to Tottenham or West ham rejects.
Is MON signing English players to prove a point!
we are not going to conquer Europe with a majority of English based players, we couldn't even qualify for the European championships with the cream of England. After watching how the Dutch & Spanish play their football, we should be trying to introduce that style of football at villa.
Please sign quality...........
I think MON is not just holding out for a bit more cash from the Barry saga, I think it is more.
Villa unfortunately have became a smaller club than the Man Utd's of this world who think they can walk along and have our best players on the cheap. Barrypool the perfect example.
But MON is saying no if you want our players then you cant just walk up and take them, and if the player does want to go then you will have to pay for them.
He is obviously building a reputation that Villa are no pushovers and that we are on the way.
Come on the Villa.
Come on MON.
[quote]bhurji said:
i am going to give mon another chance this season, if he fails then i want him out, bring in slaven bilic!!!
[/quote]
By that statement I guess you already think he's failed at least once!!! If that's the case I think your expectations need a reality check. MON knows what he needs to do to break into the top four and if you think Slaven Bilic could do a better job then, in my opinnion, you're a little deluded.
Taglor - as you were obviously away during last season I'll bring you up to speed. I'm delighted to tell you we finished sixth and played some exciting football, at times I even dared to feel a little pride at supporting Villa - crazy!!
Leenus
MON is in this for long haul eh, tell me why you think this? has MON communicated that this is his transfer policy to only sign the right players for the club, where do you feel Salifou, Harewood, Routledge and Maloney fitted on the radar exactly apart from the fact that they were cheap?
For everyone who keeps talkig about this MON transfer policy crap - it is a complete F*cking farce and if this were the way to manage then why do I not see this with all the top coaches throughout the world???? Umm - weird eh....
Ghosthunter
Stop talking like a child and look at the bigger picture, our captain has walked out on us and we are a couple of injuries away from a total disaster, based upon your logic I assume that you backed Greece to retain the Euro Champs this year and feel that Stuart Pearce should be the England coach based upon the U 21's...
i am with ghosthunter and ron.
All the doom and gloom merchants who have witnessed the last two seasons were we went from 16th to 11th to 6th need to think before they speak. You people are just like the portugese gready little winker, Deluded, gready, self opinionated numptees. You guys will NEVER be proud or happy.
The figues don't lie. climbed 10 places and finished well above all the teams that everyone syas are signing loads of players!
MON is trusted, proven, legendary. Who are you to doubt him?
I personally think mon has done an unbelievably good job. Villa finished 6th last season. outplayed some of the very best at times and i am proud of the lads and managers efforts.
MON will sign the right players as and when. We don't want squad fillers, that is what the academy is for. MON will only sign quality new people and probably only five or six. the squad players will be delfouneso, clarke, forrester, steiber and brannan. And for those who don't know about the academy these guys are very good.
Rant over
Anthony - Daventry
MON has always done his transfers in this way, even before he came to us. Get used to it, it won't change. I do look at the big picture and I like what I see happening at the club. I judge people on their actions and results and both RL and MON have, so far, greatly improved this club. So long as it continues, they will have my full support.
Don't think that squad numbers don't worry me or that I wouldn't like to see some top quality players. I just know that MON is well aware of this also and if you think he doesn't care then you've misjudged him. I also know that none of us are going to see eye to eye with who we should bring in.
By the way - I didn't back Greece for this tournament because I didn't beleive they'd be able to win it. Then again, I thought exactly the same the tournament before!!! Clearly you should take up gambling because with your infallible knowledge and foresight of the game you'd soon be a millionaire!!! Tell me, where do you think we're going to finish this season???
the thing for what people are saying about the english players.
look at what it could do for the national squad if they are all playing together
but i still think we should get van der vaart
We won't get Bentley because he is wanted. He is wanted because he is good. He scores, he assists, he beats players, he provides good crosses. Milner - none of the above but covers a lots of miles reliably.
So we will get Milner - Mondeo Man!
I'm with Anthony, he makes a great point -- we are a couple of injuries away from a total disaster -- if we were put in the same position that West Ham found themselves in last season then we would have be fcuked, they had 10 first team players out for a part of there season but they had a big squad to cope, now we only had Curtis Davies, who IMO affected us badly, Could you see us coping with that?? imagine Laursen,Davies,Barry,Young,Bouma,Gabby,Reo-Coker and Carew out?? we would have been scrapping round the bottom, simple fact is we lucked out big time with injuries, MON did a great job getting us 6th and why we are all moaning is the fact that he seems to hang around for the cheap bargains instead of going for the big players..you surely can't maybe apart from Davies and Young and say he's good in the market because fact is he's appalling..
Appalling in the transfer market vogra!!?
I agree we need to get some players and numbers in fast, but MON is one of the best in the business at getting in cheap average players and turning them into much better ones. Lets face it we havnt got the money of the top four and we need to support MON in the building process, so maybe one day we can compete.
Now stop questioning MON until the end of the season.
Up the Villa!
Just apoint about Milner as well. I'd personally love to see him back at the villa, thought he did a cracking job when he was on loan. Works his bollocks off and has a footballing brain. Would add much needed options on the right.
Midfield four of:
Young Sidwell Reo-Coker Millner
looks good to me, what does everyone else think?
up the villa
ron
I agree with what you said regarding Milner, i really liked him at Villa Park and him and young on the wings are an exciting prospect.
I would love it if Barry went to the Ars0 instead, but he needn to do one thing 1st & put in a Transfer request. He can at least hold his head up again to prove that it not just about money. It would be a Joke if he & his agent get a tranfer loyalty fee off us, after the way he handled himself in the press forcing the move.
It is time for Randy to splash his cash, he has improved the facilities yes bit that is his investement & he is now making us fans pat for that. The Club should make millions thro sky & sponsorship if he does his Job correctly to fund the transfers. why do we have to sell players before we can buy?
Re Milner i think he is well overpriced, yes the lad works hard but i do not believe his delivers the end produce often enough
hey guys i told u there wont be any signings today at the kit launch!!! mon is a joke, i want him out now!!!
i am not sure if u agree with me fellow villa fans, but i am sure that villa dont have that much money to spend!!! i think we are relying the sale of barry for us to buy other players!!!
its been a big pr stunt from the start.
they have led us down the muddy pathway!!! how the heck can clubs like portsmouth be linked to players like crouch? he should be linked with us at least. i honestly think that players would love to join us but mon just hasn't the money to spend, if we are to ever fucking get into the top 4 then we should be fucking bidding for 1 of liverpool's players not the other way round.!!!! i think mon should say to liverpool fuck ur offer for barry, i want mascherano instead!!!! now a bid like that will tell the world that we mean business, not fucking putting bids in for naylor (from wolves), or a player from the championship. i really do think we need a old legend in our team just to get us rolling like a gullit type player (this is wat started chelsea off).
so go on mon get ur finger out of randy lerners ass and put a big bid in for a world class player (toni from bayern munich)
You have got more chance going to your local pub and bumping into elvis presley than you have seeing martin make early signings
I Ask why do people think this transfer window will be diffrent to the rest ???
Milner is quality and i dont seem to remember his crossing being that bad . Didnt he used to take corners for us nd the odd free kick? I say get him and bentley (easier said than done) I think we will need another central midfielder even if we get sidwell