Fee agreed with Glasgow Rangers for Carlos Cuellar

This lad is top quality, trust me!

Cuellar and Laursen .. awesome partnership.

I can't believe its all happened so quick, im over the moon? It makes the kaboul deal look like a joke ;D

Sweet ;D

thats the defence sorted then

time for the right midfielder & striker

I'm absolutely made up at this news, I really am. Including Curtis Davies who's transfer was officially concluded this summer, we have now signed a world class back line and two international keepers this close season.

MON is a legend and all credit to Randy who is putting his money where his villa tattoo is. Legends, the pair of them and with this pair at the helm we are going places. One of these places is called the Champions League.

UP THE VILLA!

anyone for a straight swap Gareth barry for alonso?

i was told this the other day by my informant as i stated in a previous post, i actually thought it was a joke as he said it was along the lines of 10-15mil

never mind pushing for a starting place, this bloke will be a first team regular, guaranteed

It's a disgrace.

We should be signing players like Rio Ferdinand not SPL failures.

I've said all along we wouldn't sign any players and that we'd continue on our annual slide towards relegation, unless someone has the balls to get rid of MON and send that tight bastard Randy back to the states.

Great to hear. Quality defender. Definitely a better signing than Kaboul would have been.

Get in !
Great signing - well done MON.

HAPPY DAYS :D :D

7 in, another 2-3 and were laughing ;D
i see no. 8 is still up for grabs, a nice attacking midfielder. : )

UTV

I actually genuinely want to hurt that "nan was a fan".

We have 3 quality CB's, anyone else getting bloody excited about this season?

Cannot wait...

I've seen him a couple of times and have been very, very impressed..composed, technical..perfect complement for Laursen's aggressive approach..well done Martin, continue this way and I'll have to prepare a seriously complex and long apology - and I couldn't be happier if I'll have to :)

nan was a fan..are you on drugs?

As much as it pains me to say it, me being a celtic fan you are getting a very good player thats why i'm sooooooo glad he is leaving them......ha ha ha.

Cuellar is a very good player, and I'm glad we've gone in for him rather than Kaboul. Cuellar is on the fringes of the Spain squad and he'll more than likely get called up in the world cup qualifiers.

Well, at least that's defence sorted out. Now for a midfielder and a striker!

What happened to de la red then damian?

are u off ur rocker??? how is randy tight,he's spent loads on the villa this season and MON is building a solid unit at Villa Park. Lerner has spent loads on our top drawer training facilities too! we're moving in the right direction...im sorry but ur all wrong slating MON and Randy, they are villa legends.

cueller is a quality centre half!!! awesome business again O'Neill

nan was a fan - you got to be a bluenose unless your just late taking your anti depressants today! great signing keep up the good work MON looking more like a top 4 team now!

very exciting signing.
its all coming together nicely.

I think you'll find that nan was a fan is trying his best to wind a few people up ..

nan was a fan, you need to note that championship manager is alot different to real life. you cant add yourself on the other team and accept transfers. MON and lerner know what there doing, and you calling his an SPL failure just shows that you know f*ck all

Nan was a fan's post is a joke fellas, it has to be. Please confirm this nan was a fan so we don't have another unnecessary row on our hands!

Mick70, I think Nanwasafan is taking a gentle rise out of the MON haters. All last month there were people on this site slating MON, RL, the General and all the sheep-like fans who go on about the 5 year plan etc. OK, I know we haven't got the £30m player (yet), but this is certainly better then some people predicted.

You just got yourselves Spain's next Centre Back.

Sorry all, Vogra stole my laptop.

Great signing.
In MON we trust.

Mick70 (and others),

[b]nan was a fan..are you on drugs?[/b]

You'll find this is taking the piss out of certain muppets who think we're doomed. Some of these fools actually wany MON sacked.

Great news. A very poor defence massively strengthened by 5 quality signings and another one back from injury.

i am so pleased that we got the spl player of the year and not kaboul, i dont know much about kaboul but from what ashton from one of the daily's said on radion a couple of weeks ago said he was an accident waiting to happen another boomsong i really didnt want the guy but this is great news, and will i also say that good teams we had in the past the managers always got in a good defense first, well after 70 goals last season and now what looks like a great defence im a lot happier today than with the squad we had for odense

Nan,is this what your saying?

Verbal irony is a disparity of expression and intention: when a speaker says one thing but means another, or when a literal meaning is contrary to its intended effect. An example of this is sarcasm.

nice one its looking good now at the back i hope we can have one or two more before the man city game does anyone no if he will be ok 4 us in uefa cup did he play 4 Rangers last week

nan was a fan, who of? birmingham city by the look of your comment! f!*@ off back to your own site, if ya have one! ya blue nosed bastard!
great signing, thank god that kaboul rumour was wide of the mark, he's bloody useless!

nanwasataglor ;D

as a rangers fan i am gutted to see him go. he will be a terrific signing and for 7.8 milliom believe me you have got a steal. he would use kaboul to wipe his arse with. Cuellar got rangers to the uefa cup final on his own. All the best "King Cuellar".

Andy5759 - There's no such thing as Mon haters on here as far as I know.

There was a (increasingly large) pocket of people nervously questioning MON's ability on the transfer market due to recent inactivity.

Based on the lethargic summer 07 and January 08 transfer windows and since up to 5 days ago we seemed to be following a similar pattern, I was growing very concerned.

Happy to see I was wrong and we're almost there, a quality striker and winger would complete the squad nicely :)

He looks like a bit of a bruiser!!
Well done MON, now see if you can get a couple more in.

i think this guy must be good.
have you seen how delighted the celtic fans are that he is leaving rangers?

Top signing - How much exactly has Mr Lerner actually spent now Damon? Seems to be mounting up. and can we still afford the likes of Joe Cole I wonder??

woohoo!

Let's hope our attack is as good as last year, because our defence is now fantastic, I'm glad I've got Friedel in my fantasy team!

Nanwasafan, this should all be about our new signing, but everyone's talking about you. Congratulations - you're famous (have some K).

Would Ceullar want some spannish speaking company in midfield?

just listened to the game podcast and what is marcotti's problem with o'neill? this guy is a tool! i believe he has had a disagreement with o'neill in the past so now takes every opportunity to to take a pop at him! can anyone else shed any light on this?

If we had that defence last season we would seriously have had a shout at 4th place. If we could score as many goals again this season, or even (please, please, please) add an exciting right winger and an out-and-out goal scorer and get a few more, then we are going to be very competitive!

Personally I felt my comment was quite subtle in comparison to some of the crap that has been spewed in MON's direction on here of late.

Let's hope we've seen the last of that sort of drivel.

All the aston villa fans u are gettin cuellar he is a legend and he was brilliant for the gers and u should be well happy..... who is this nan was a fan wat is he talkin about SPL rejects we got to the uefa cup final so naw nan was a fan!!!!! >:( any way MON THE GERS!!!! and Cum'on the villa ;)

Rangers fans seem to like to sing these words to the tune of "Can't take my Eyes off you"...(the "i love you baby" bit !)

Oh Carlos Cuellar
You are the love of my life
Oh Carlos Cuellar
I'd let you sh@g my wife
Oh Carlos Cuellar
We want curly hair too

Theres also another one but i don't know the tune yet. Something like:

He's six foot three with curly hair
His teeth are f****d but we don't care

Laughed my ass off. Will we be nicking them for down Villa Park ?

UP THE VILLA - HAPPY DAYS :D :D

im so happy.



our defence is immense

It's alright for you lot iv'e got to go to work tommorow and my boss is a Rangers fan,they were assured last week at a club/supporters club meeting that he would not be sold.
Great player to get,watched him lot's last season head and shoulders above the the usual dross that comes out of the SPL.
Guess i shouldn't go to work with a smile tommorow,but a great signing.
UTV

This is a top signing, he gets stuck in, the type of cb i like, laursen and cuellar will be the top pairing in the premiership! now we need a right sided midfielder and a striker, the champions league here we come!!

nan was a fan pmsl

people look up the word sarcastic

k awaiting in forum alomst as funny as the salifou page ;D ;D ;D ;D

I hear that he's very good friends with Ruben De La Red and Joaquin.....just a thought

great signing now all we need is swp/milner/antonio valencia and ashton/podolski/santa cruz... well done martin and randy keep up the excellent work

villa4life

I also heard Marcotti - The game has always been a liverpool centric podcast (informed but very much Rafa's mates). GM cannot acknowledge that his mates mate did anything wrong - so they just skirted over it with a cheap jibe at MON. Grow up GM.

It is the Euro-centric polemic from press hacks like GM that makes people believe that the grass is always greener and because English is not your mother tongue then you are a poor manager. This is why the EPL seem focused on signing a manager because they are exotic, unknown at club level etc. GM likes to be outspoken and in confident of his own opinion. MON comes across as being respectful but expects this to be reciprocated and does not suffer fools - maybe a bit of Cloughie there.

On the Cuellar developments, Rangers fans seem to rate him highly and hopefully he can achieve his dream in the EPL. Setanta just commented...saying it was a steal and when Villa sell him next season for 20mill we will be laughing. No...if Cuella becomes a 20million CH we will be happy to keep him. RL, MON have shown that Villa are not a selling club. on a little point is he cup tied for europe?

Hopefully, SWP/Cole/De la Red will join soon and then (if his stand-over man will let him) Gerrard can play with Barry at Bodymoor come January.

***Also a little thank you to Mr Ellis for only selling the club to someone who seems to have its best interests at heart and not a corrupt ex-prime-minister, a geordie t-shirt salesman or some debt shovellers from Florida and Texas. RL must be loving it at the moment the Browns are on the up and so are Villa

Won't be long before Villa fans know why he was called 'Ugly Betty'
He is no better than Boumsong who went from the huns to Newcastle for big money.

Looks like Laursen might get the occasional well earned rest!! Thank God his knee held out for us!! There'll be enough games for everyone next season but right now, i couldn't pick a favorite centre back pairing! Not to ignore Zat Knight too. He'll be 4th choice, but its great to have Villa fans in there too.

i seem to have a growing respect for rangers fans

great steal fantastic can't wait for next season if we can get cole and cruz we will be formidable cuellar looks like the other steal of the summer after friedel . Perhaps cuellar is gonna persuade de la red could be a link there . Great can't wait Mon legend

Why do Celtic fans call him Ugly Betty?

Vital_Loans I like your thinking... Del La Red.. Alonso..

I mentioned Cuellar going back on this site,asking for opinion. Absolutely awesome for rangers n Uefa cup run. Absolutely agree now need Spanish speaking company.fantastic sighing, well done MON.Kabwhoooooo at 6mil ,what a joke!!!
Also mentioned santa Cruz and SWP at same time, so come on martin and make me 'Mystic Johno'. Having said that, have also shouted for David Villa and Robhino after one too many Carlos Stellas. UTV Very Happy.

how do you do the fantasy football

I think this could be a very good signing.He has been to a UEFA cup final and that experience should prove valuable for us this season.Thats three very good centre backs we have now and Zat Knight if he's needed.

NOW BRING IN A WINGER!!!Preferably Dario Srna, Joe Cole or Morten Gamst Pedersen.Then finalise a deal for De la Red and bring in a top striker.

Villa Mick.

This will explain all LINK

Carlos is a top class player and Villa fans will be as delighted as we were when they see how solid the big man is. By the way, we are the original bluenoses so can u tell those bcfc fans to think up an original name. p.s. to the tune of - the animals went in two by two - " he is the rock in our back four, cuellar, cuellar, the opposition score no more, cuellar, cuellar, he's six feet two with curly hair, he's got bucked teeth but we dont care, carlos cuellar Rangers centre half " Obviously u guys will substitute Rangers for " Villa".
God bless our beloved Glasgow Rangers.

LINK

the guy is overated the only reason he looked good last season was because rangers were so negative and the midfield gave him so much protection. He is one of the the slowest centre halfs i have ever seen, his only strong point is his heading ability. 5 million to much.

Who is this player? So funny so many all claiming they know him well and that he is amazing. I'm not saying he is bad I'm just saying I've never heard of him.

taglor look at it this way he won the spl player of the year and the writers player of the year.not only this but i have seen him play setanta do tend to show a lot of spl matches and i can genuinely say he is an excellent player he wont let us down m8

villa4life

anyone else seen the video of him stopping the ball with his hand, hilarious

no he's not cup tied as he was "injured" in training before the match rangers got knocked out of

Celtic fans call him ugly betty because of his braces!

Christ, I've not seen him and I'm a cynical bastard but now I'm excited after reading the comments.
He looks a bit like Martin Keown so no being distracted by the ladies.
It's all gone quiet on the De la Red front I notice.
You weren't getting confused were you Damian ?

Yea, most ppl do have a lot to say on him - but mainly because ppl on here have a bit of a wider knowledge of the game than just in the league there team plays!
For those who dont know him, you will soon get to see first hand what a top player this bloke is! He's never going to dazzle but what you can be sure of that we wont be conceding 50 goals again this year with him, Laursen and Davies doing the business!

Its also a big indication when you've got Rangers fans on here bemoaning the sale and celtic fans seeming very pleased with it!

Roll on Sunday!

(Still think we need 2 more in)

Taglor - I have been anto MON for a while and questioned his dealings in the transfer market but this is a seriously good signing!! I have seen Cuellar play at least 10 times and he is a class act. Better than both Davies and Laursen IMO. I suggested on here we bid for him 2/3 weeks ago along with a couple of other people.
If oneil goes all out and signs SWP now who is obtainable and we are apparently in for again then i will start to tsake back a lot of what i have said.

gr8 signing. not!!!! zenith tore him apart in that final, awful signing!!!

we mite aswell get megrath out of retirement!!!

only joking,

wat a gr8 signing

joe cole or de la red will do nicely and santa cruz!!! trust me guys if we get these lot then we will beat liverpool to the 4th spot without doubt!!!

come on mr horny lerner and mon and ron atkinson and gregory and lttle.!!!

And maybe the biggest plus of this signing is the fact he is a class spanish/foreign player. this will def help in attracting others.

WTF LULU????????
alot of what you have said makes no sense

Yeah i saw that video yesterday 8) It made me think he would do anything to make sure his team didn't lose! Great but he got banned for it. we'll leave that one for the rangers memories

Big Game on Thursday shame most the signings can't play?

I think Milner we be next because its very possibe, Joe Cole is my prefered choice but for 80 grand a week he can stay put!

No:8/6 are still vacant????? Can't villa just sort out some sort of deal with either pool or arsenal for barry we don't want deadwood holding us back

Great signing! We scored 3rd highest goals in the Prem last season, but couldn't keep a clean sheet, now we've got a great keeper and some real quality in defence. Nan was a fan is a clear piss take, proberbly one of the many plastic scousers that spend more time on this site than their own, even tho they say they don't want Barry, really looking forward to the new season (sorry Zat, your times up!!) UP THE VILLA

well happy with this one, havnt seen him play to be honest but after reading 300 posts on here, celtic and rangers sites looks like he is a rock. looking forward to seeing who else mon brings in, i personally hope gabby gets moved to the right this season, far far too good for the bench but we need a top striker knocking 20 plus in. Hope barry stays and makes a BIG Apology quick. Being a Villa fan is fooking exciting right now, cant wait till the end of August when we smash 6 part scumpool p.s nan was a fan, the first post had me laughing! :D

I feel so good for keeping the faith in MON. Not to gloat, but the money evidently is there, and he hasn't even started on the forward line yet!

Excellent signing. Rangers may have been negative, but I will happily accept getting to the UEFA cup final by being negative, and this bloke was their star man.

Excellent.

I'm not gonna pretend to be an expert on him but from what I've read this could well be a fantastic signing. Although I do feel a little mixed about it because I'd hate to see Davies overshadowed by him but likewise I dont want to see 10 million euros wasted ...

Ah, who am I kidding, bring on that Rafa Rotation!

If anyone has any doubts about this guy, go and check out the Rangers forums, they are sick as parrots about this, he was pretty much universally regarded as their best player. The fact that he's been bought by MON must be salt in the wounds.

Hello guys, can you please help me out, i need to now who scored against Valur from Iceland in the uefa cup when it was played and are there any photos anywhere from the game, i need this for the icelendic villa website. if you now anything please e-mail me at gulliht@internet.is
thanx

what a signing, by far the best player in the spl. and for all those who disapprove, a little word of advice....... you want squad players......well sorry, you have no squad players today, you now have players in defence now who will fight for the starting line up, not just the bench. our problem last season was goals against......this is better than a 20 goal a season striker and if you have half a brain and a little faith you will know exactly what i am talking about.

welldone to all those who kept faith. it was hard at times i know but we were promised big things and boy we are getting big things. 2 more players..........a right winger(milner)and a striker(santa cruz) and we are there.

its not a case of who can we get but, who wants to be part of this, if you are being chased by the villa, you must be special.

top 4......................we are on you like white on rice

Very funny nan was a fan , ok, EVEN Im happy with this signing, although please fans show caution with Cuellar, lets not praise him up to be a world beater just yet,Does anybody know if he's this good why he never made the Spanish squad for the Euro's, he did win Player of the Year in Scotland, hmmm thats difficult, didn't Maloney do the same, or was that young player of the year??.
I just hope we don't have another Boumsong on our hands from Rangers. BUT..over all im happy and at least Zat Knight gets further relegated down the starting eleven, Whats the bet Laursen gets another injury JUST as we've sorted out our defence..

Damn, i can need to insult MON........i can't write a post without doing it....Why the hell could'nt he have signed Luke Young a year ago and saved us 3.5million....(deep breaths....thats better)....

This signing has even managed to placate Tonebone a little. Never thought I'd hear the day.

Really would like a decent RM now to really give us some width - I'd prefer Milner but think SWP is more likely. I think Routledge is going to play a bigger part this coming season and might just surprise us.

Excellent signing MoN. One of those defenders who doesn't look like he's done anything and then he has the ball at his feet and you wonder how he has done it. watched his numerous times on Setanta and he is most definitely a replacement for Laursen, as Laursen is another year older etc etc. Very happy!!

well im just happy Zat Knight is going to stay out the starting 11 the lad is a joke with cofidence in defence leaving the work load to Laursen. not really heard of this player Cuellar but anythin with a bit of ability is better then Zat Knight

Nan was a fan, you cant have your laptop back, just sold it for 50notes so i can buy some crack..

Goldie 7 - finally we agree! This signing does put the Kaboul signing to shame! A couple million quid more for a vastly superior player who is ready to go straight away. Great bit of business by O'Neill, we really are building from the back strongly.

All you moaners and whingers have been shown up now, we've been one of the most active teams in the transfer window in the Premiership!

What a great signing and Cuellar can play in Europe as he missed the Rangers game through injury. MON saying that he is after yet more players this window. The thought that the Spaniard could influence De La Red and perhaps Alonso in a Barry swap would be perfect. Great Stuff.

god we've spent a lot now. not entirely sure but
2m Freidel
650k (according to wiki) Guzan
9m Davies
9m Shorey and young
5m (I think) Sidwell
and now another heft 8m for this guy!!!!

A very good player and the kind we need - Looks like centre back is sorted so now - a young up and coming right back as cover ..... A Play maker in the middle, a right winger and 20 goal striker and job done!!!

Well it sounds great so as I don't know the player I am really excited by what eveybody else is saying, wicked.

Ric55 - You are totally right and hopefully with Phil Jupitus in charge things may change a little. GB & GM did my head in, and in the end in stopped listening as it was just a liverpool podcast, i know this is the reason GM was sacked as host. The Times got a bucket load of complaints each week so they have acted, but GM shouldnt be allowed on anything. He's such an arrogant, ignorant T**T!

Just like a bit of Joe Cole, topped off with a sprinkling of James Milner. Add to that a dash of De La Red, Miguel and Santa Cruz and you have a top 4 meal!

As the league is about to start any predictions?
I think we'll push for fourth, but will be too much for spurs as they have too many players without english league experience. Sunderland, Wigan & Fulham will improve dramatically on their performances last season, with sunderland the most imporved. Boro, Blackburn & Bolton will come close to being relegated, but it will be the promoted 3 that go down.

joaquin is for sale!!!!!!!!

excellent far better than the grasping carthorse kaboul,quality signing

vogra- maloney won player andyoyng player of year in spl

Top quality signing! saw lots of him last season and he's the sort of quality that will really improve our team this season. More of those type signings will be fantastic!

I'm a gutted rangers fan. Well done on signing in my opinion the best rangers center half ive ever seen. He is up there with Terry butcher and richard gough, 6'2 , Strong, immense in the air and decebtivly fast, Reminds me of rio ferdinand. After his performances in europe last year eurosport put him in the european team of the year alongside rio ferdinand. Only Player who played in the uefa cup that made the team, the rest of the team was champions league player. Ive only seen 1 player get the better of him at that was benzema, And wen u think who he faced last year, henry, etoo, messi, ronaldinho, In a friendly against chelsea he has drogba in his pocket. The guy is a class act, at 7.8 million he will prove to be the signing of the summer. If o'neil wasn't your manager id be buying a villa top and getting king carlos on the back.

im so excited and i just cant hide it...i hold my hands up i WAS a little worried...just that majic man in the midfield would put the icing on the cake....

I can just hear the sound of money hitting the tills as more Villa fans purchase more season tickets. Cuellar is another first class signing and 'no' need for any Barry money just as MON said.
;D

It's not over yet...

LINK

Fantastic signing - and there are some people on here who should be ashamed of themselves......slating MON, RL and all the people who tried to have faith...and now we are seeing the fruits of that faith

If only there was time, and I had the slightest inclination to pull together some of the comments from people - outrageous

Great signing, hope he settles in the Prem and performs as well as he can. 2 more singings would be delightful!!

Liverpool want Joe Cole too...

Ah well, there go our chances.

surely Liverpool want Cole if they can't get Barry. I'd rather keep Barry.

AV33 - Absolutely got to keep Cuellar's song at the Holte.

I'd replace Barry with Cole in a heartbeat personally.

redknapp baught a dolly in kaboul. the guy is a whinger and a lazy frog. we get cruella deville. well done mon. i think you deserve a pat on the back. please can everyone agree that if we don't sign anyone in january there will be no repeat of the slating and barracking that some of you dealt out this last few weeks.

there will be another three and these three will be the big money, high profile, big name and stand out players. mon leaves it to the last minute for these players cuz big teams srengthen then know they need to release a couple to balance the books.

remember weeks back mon said we would be signing top players from top clubs who are key players for their clubs.

the scouser and rafa must be bricking it! as for barry, well he probably wants to stay now. think he will appolgoies on thursday when he plays and scores

nan was a fan is a muppet!!!!!

Vogra

I'm happy with the exchange - my laptop to see you happy.

Now Taglor, I've got a 40" widescreen, you can have it if you stay positive until December.

(Oh dear just realised those people on here with under developed reading skills are getting more clues to make them think that I'm a scouser - they're not robbed, and I'm not scouse.)

Great signing, our defeence looks really solid now i dont know who is gonna be at the centre of defence coz both laursen and davies are class but thats what you want all over the pitch healthy competition know we need a class right winger like j.Cole orSWP tomake our midfield uality and a 20 goal a season striker for big John Crew and Ganbby to fight it out with. It always seems like we never get going in the transfer market but we actually always sign quality i know that Sidwell will be a great addition to the team. Top 4 here e come. UTV ;D

Well the way MON's talking it could be more than a couple more coming in!

I think Goalkeeping and Defence is covered now, i'd like to see a rightsided player come in a good ball player in the centre of midfield!

I think we still need a really good striker, dont think Agbonlahor will ever make the grade season after season, maybe moving him out wide to utilise his pace!

Has anyone heard of anymore class signings be they just rumpurs or otherwise

It wud be tempting to pull out a lot of the negative insulting stuff posted over the last few months and ram it down a few throats.

No we haven't spent £100m or anything but I think the idea that RL is some cash strapped geezer somehow here to make a quick buck is starting to look at bit churlish.

Just for the record we will NOT buy Joe Cole - anyone with a brain can see that's rubbish. I also doubt very much whether reports that we are seeking a "marquee signing" are true. Stand by either for a gamble on an up and coming prospect or an older player in the twilight of their career.

LINK

take a look at the link. Its not the article that caught my eye it was the 4 team tops that were being displayed under the UK Soccer shop. A look in to the future to come, top 4 teams next season?

we are now linked with alan smith from newcastle, i do hope not

great signing cause i watched the uefa cup last year and looked absolutely class against sporting. only worry is that when newcastle payed similar amount of money for boumsong, they thought they'd signed a world beater!! oh well, he's gotta be better than boumsong!

great signing, he was quality when i saw him play.

liverpool are now interested in cole, but i would still go after him and if not him then SWP or milner.

santa cruz would be a good buy, i think if we get 2 of those players then we will nock liverpool out of there favoured 4th spot.

its been strongly rumoured were being linked for a 4 mill move for alan smith, whats everyones view on smith?

prash

just went on the link, and think your right, it could be this season if we bring in a striker and right mid.

Finchy-
Supposedly were going for Alan Smith from Newcastle (4m).

Personnally i don't really like the sound of this one though.I know the influence MON can have on a decent player who's carreer seems to be stalling, but after the Santa Cruz rumours this one fails to excite me.
Hopefully Cuellar signs on the dotted line today!!

Im betting money we get:

Sebastian Larsson

;)

Mark those words peeps

Prash, I'm afraid I think the advert shows a Villa top as the article is about Villa..

Goldie - I certainly hope so, I genuinely believe Larsson will be a class player. Far too good for the scum, he needs to come to us!

Alan Smith links appearing, christ I can't think of anything worse. Don't even consider it Martin!

vallasimmo, in mons latest interview he says 'some more new arrivals' not a couple so ithink there will be three or four.

finchy - i made a post yesterday about gamst pedersen that someone who works at walsall fc told me so don't know how they would know.

heres a theory re future signings tho

friedel was signed to help guzan settle in
shorey is bum chums with sidwell so they both settle
cuella to help .. .. ... settle in? spaniards?
miguel will sign to help ..... diego (both speak portugese)
just a theory with a little bit of length.

I still think barry will go to liverpool if he still wants to.
mon will drop the asking price in retunr for an extra player like pennant etc.

but i could also see barry saying 'i love you mon you know your the best i should never have doubted you i wanna show the villa fans that I have been super retarded and that gerrard is a puppet to rafa and the dark side of the american investers. take me back big boy. i will do any position you want. just give me your balls and i will dribble with them all day. you know i can be really creative with your balls and i will tkae you to places you have bnever been before. i just want us to have a foursome season and finish on top of gerrard. we can then play with the big boys next season and hopefully eventually togther we can climax and achieve our goal'

or something like that anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Just read an article in the Birmingham Mail in which Martin O'Neill said,
“I know you can never cover every eventuality – we could get another three, four or five players in but get a couple of injuries like West Ham did last season.

I feel another 4 players would leave our squad at a healthy size to compete in all competitons.
.Miguel
.De la Red
.Cole/Srna/Pedersen/Valencia/Joaquin??
.Santa Cruz

please not alan smith - dont want scum like him near our club

If MON goes for SMITH, it's probably because he knows somethung we don't. His position at Newcastle looks disjointed and has never really looked settled. Only good enough to be a squad player at this stage. The COLE story just seems to be tabloid spin, but I still reckon there's a big signing to come. If Spurs don't want to sell Berbatov, why not try an audacious bid for him as well. It wont happen but it will let our competitors know our immediate intentions.

Alan Smith is useless, im so happy we didnt get Kaboul....pure and utter garbage..If we could sign just one more quality signing it would have to be Santa Cruz..Id love Joe Cole but thats not gonna happen, i think if we put in a 15mill bid for Cruz that may be enough

LOL nan was a fan I bought a 37" lcd last week! It's 1080p and full hd so the 40" had better be good. By the way i'm all smiles today and hope that there really is a plan, just a couple of midfeilders and a striker and I will believe anything Villa have to say, it's wicked.

taglor. i have just choked on by sandwich.

While I agree Smith isn't the big deal we'd all been waiting for, isn't £4m not a bad price for someone with, at least, some big game experience? We paid the same for Marleen and everyone was slating that decision but for impact he's become dependable under MoN.

i think our spending may well hit the 60m mark this summer....:-)

I agree with TT77. 4 million for Smith is not bad at all. It was only two years ago Sir Alex was trusting him in a holding midfield role in the Champions league (remember 7-1 Roma??), which I would guess is one of a number of roles that MON could use him in.

I think it would be a canny bit of business. Alan Smith is still only 27! He has had one bad season and totally fits the MON remit.

Hungry, English, versatile. Sign him up. Next!

I have always loved Smith's passion, but it can get the better of him.
I would welcome him very much so.

Fantasy football?
10pm?
Did you mean tonight Damian, or last night?

Good luck with it, should be fun.

alan smith is a great player he has been linked with us so many times before aswell but i really feel we don't need another striker we have:
carew
gabby
harewood
plus maloney and young can play upfront too.

SpuddyBoy

I meant last night - just had a few issues with it ... I'm hoping very soon, but I'm working with people in New Zealand on it .. so not sure exactly when.

Sorry, did someone just describe Alan Smith as a "great" player?

no need for alan smith no thank you what we do need is swp/milner antonio valencia and ashton/santa cruz/podolski

alan smith no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no

utv

Villa after smith from newcastle ? please please please no

this is a moment i can cry in happiness :'(

That's about £33 million so far plus the wages - No wonder my Villa credit card has such high interest!

LINK

Cuellar in action

What does anybody know about Jaroslav Plasil? He's a versatile Czech midfielder we're being linked with from Ossasuna. I was quite hopeful but then saw Fulham are also being linked which made me think maybe he's not that good. Anyone seen him play?

If we get Alan Smith, might as well bring in Robbie Savage for his like commitment... I don't rate Alan Smith, he's never done anything note worthy. I'm amazed he lasted at man utd as long as he did.

Cheers Damian.

Take your time, sure it's gonna be fun.

TT77

ive seen that plasil play and he is a talented player, ive seen him play twice and he scored a good goal. i believe he would make a great signing for villa because he can play attacking mid a right mid, wich seems to fit into MON plans.

and if we do go for hiom we would definelty beat fulham to get his signiture

Alan Smith is a donkey, he was rubbish for utd thats why he was sold???

He was even worse for crapcastle

Please Don't Sign Him! His injury messed him right up. The only one from that leeds team who is still relevant is Keane and he's already been bought????

Forget about Smith, Villa the man is a watse of 4m Like Knight

There's no truth in the Smith or Cole links - MON is happily putting up smokescreens while chasing completely different targets. He was happy for Redknapp to go on constantly (as he does) about Villa chasing Kaboul, and that meant no-one relaised he was actually chasing or competed with him for Cuellar. He'll let the papers talk about him signing Cole and Smith while he gets whoever else unchallenged (Gudjohnsen and Quaresma would be my bet).

im hopin this signing wil lead to joaquin an de la red comin to vp!!!!! forget liverpools spanish armada, villa all the way!!

gulliht@internet.is:
from:
LINK#cc

Round 1
16-09-81 Aston Villa (Eng)5-0 Valur Reykjavik (Isl)
[Anthony Morley 6, Peter Withe 37, 68, Terence Donovan 40, 69]
30-09-81 Valur Reykjavik (Isl) 0-2 Aston Villa (Eng)
[Gary Shaw 25, 70]

Last time Villa started the European campaign in Iceland.... They ended up winning the whole thing. Must be a sign or what?

hi peeps!! since the year i was erasmus student in bham (almost 3 years ago), im a villan more. its my favourite english team, and my second team (after real madrid). im always trying to defend aston villa colours in spain, even if 99% of spanish ppl dont even know which city is the team from, or if they prefer lvpool or man utd. IM A REAL VILLA FAN, and try to watch all the matches in a big english pub in granada city centre (im from granada). and NOW im really really happy, cos signing cuellas has been such a great thing for the club. aston villa appears in almost every sport newspaper in spain today, because it can be heared these days that spanish manager vicente del bosque is thiking about him for next national team friendly matches. cuellar its (probably) gonna be an important player, and he'll help villa as much as villa will help him to improve. IM ReALLY HAPPY!!!!!!!

now we have to sign 1 attack player and lets dream about assaulting the top4 teams =)

Well its certaily more upbeat in here...Loving the positive vibe around VP.

I think we have a top notch defence now, I defo think a right sided player and a striker - and if barry go's a creative mid.

I see us getting some up and coming signings in to pad out - maybe right back/wing.

What happened to De La Red???? Looks like that never took of which is a shame as I think he could of been what we need to have a serious chance of pushing the top 4.

Wish list - Jaquion, De la Red and Santa Cruz

There is no way cole is coming and to be honest I'd take a younger player anyway for the kind of money!

Exciting times! well done Mon

P.S do you think Kaboul suddenly went Pompey when we dropped interest as we knew we would get "ugly Betty" - after all Harry was saying he was joining us????
UTV

Is there any talk of De La Red over there alejandro? Would be interesting to hear of spanish connection and see if he'd be likely to come here...

I've not seen him play but his stats at Getafe speak for themselves last season.

As I mentioned on the previous thread concerning Cuellar before we agreed a fee for him, half my family are Rangers season ticket holders and I've just had a call from my brother to inform me that Shaun Maloney is 100% up at Ibrox as I type this.

Looks as though he may well be heading the other way, especially if he's been made aware that O'Neill is still looking to bring some more faces in, meaning his chances will be even more limited. This is all quite likely, considering he's made no secret of his homesickness and that Rangers first team coach Kenny McDowall was across the reserve and youth teams at Celtic when Maloney was breaking through there.

Also, I have it good authority that Ally McCoist stormed out of a meeting with the Rangers directors after the club accepted our offer for Cuellar. Things are not right there at the moment, the fans are up in arms and what better way to placate them than bringing in an ex-Celtic hero who won both player of the tear AND young player of the year whilst playing for the hoops? He's too good a player for that league but if he isn't determined enough to give it a go down here then see you later Shaun...

I'm another pi55ed off Rangers fan. Well done on signing King Carlos. The guy is a class act and will prove to be a good buy for Villa. He just about won 4 trophies himself last season by keeping us in game after game. If you look at the clean sheets we had last year (esp in Europe) most of them were down to Carlos.

Great signin,really push the boat out now,go get joe cole and gareth to stay and watch out scousers champions league here we come ;D ;D ;D

VanVillaIce if you believe in little things like that here is another omen for you. On the previous 2 occasions that Odense met English teams in Europe (Liverpool and Arsenal) they lost and both English teams went on to win the European cup and cup winners cup respectively. Here's hoping.

I think we all dream of assaulting at least one team in the current Top 4 Alejandro.

In my favourite dream I pick up Rafa by the ankles and then use his funny little bearded face to hammer Gerrard into the turf at the Kop End.

Is this wrong?

quality signing!!!
any news on Joe Cole... is it true???!

I've just been too the Real Madrid web site.

De la Red is not listed under first team players. I thought I looked last week (when Damo broke the story) and his profile was listed.

Perhaps I am getting confused with all the transfer excitement or just too much beer!

Just realised how much I will miss our bearded wonder Melbberg my namesake atwork as sometimes I have a beard and sometimes not, just like action man.

The best feedback you can get about a new signing is if the fans of his former team are sad to see him leave. That certainly seems the case with Cuellar, I've seen nothing but glowing reviews from pretty much all the Rangers fans who have commented on his departure. It's very reassuring to hear we're buying a player who his fans consider to be genuine quality.

I don't believe for a second Maloney will be going to Rangers though.

Mick70 bang on mate, I think the people like me who were moaning about MONs transfer strategy have been put in the "we hate MON" club... even though it's total nonsense and none of us actually hate him or want him out! Still people will jump on the bandwagon wont they!

MON has done some great business now and although I wont take back what I've said over the last few weeks (and if anyone wants to take me up on that I'll be happy to argue my case) I'll say this - I'm so excited about the new season I could pee! Happy Days!

Holte1970 neither is Van Der Vaart, as they are both recent signings i would imagine this is the reason

Nan that was a great post earlier mocking the anti-MON, anti-Lerner forces that blathered on and on during the previous few weeks. And thanks to that blog with all the videos of Cuellar (include the hilarious one with the Celtic fan and the sending off of Cuellar for the handball). The Rangers fan on the football show I listen to in America was gutted when the prospect that Cuellar might leave came up yesterday. I can't imagine how he will feel today. Thanks Rangers fans for the classy words about Cuellar. Nineteen days to get the striker and midfielder we need (are you watching Gareth Barry). Nineteen day until we stuff Littlepool into the Villa Park turf!
Up the Villa, come on Standard Liege! ;D ;D ;D

A class signing. Well done

Just wish that now we know though it wouldnt be on Newsnow every second...

dont get me wrong i like to see it but it gets me all excited on a different level that then turns to dissapointment... as my eyes play tricks on me if you see what i mean below....


Cuellar fee agreed

Cole fee agreed :P

nikk0

Thanks - glad one of us is awake.

Cuellar signs! Official site!

kerrrching! one more in the bag! get in!!

he is now signed and waving his shiny new shirt outside vila park on
LINK

Great signing. A good defence now which should also be able to play out fron the back rather than lump it for Gabby to chase or Big John to head. So we need balance and creativity as Ashley cant do it all and he'll be a marked man this year - literally. So, do we hate Jermaine Pennant? OK he played for the other lot, and is a bit of a prat, but I reckon he might have grown up as he sees his once promising career rotating itself round Benitez's U-bend? It seems to me that we can break the Barry impasse, and solve our right side creativity problem (I'm not sure at all about Routledge) by agreeing to Pennant as a make-weight in the deal. No?

cuéllar has signed

HOLTE ADE

de la red said he wanted to stay at real madrid.

UTV ;D ;D ;D

p.s. wooooooooooooooooooooh!!!!!!!!!!!!! we hav signed carlos cuellar!
i can also imagine cuellar and laursen in defence with davies comin on in the second half! and then let knight rot in thr reserves! bwahhahhahhahhah!

UTV :D ;D (again!) :D

It looks like the good times could suddenly becoming to villa park just spoke to my mate in glasgow and apparently theres uproar about as getting carlos he is the nuts apparently happy times ahead.Does anyone think we have a chance with cole or just random speculation?????And what the hell is talk of smith

I think that this signing could well have just secured us fourth place next season. We really need to sort out the Barry situation one way or another. I think we are going to be really solid at the back.

Woodinho - argue away!!

3 great Centre halves, one has to be left out, this could be difficult.

The best problem we have had for a good time.

UTV! Not long left till FH.

Mike S - wouldn't you, as a Villa fan, rather see Zat Knight suddenly improve and give the other three competition for CD? I know it's about as likely as Gordon Brown coming out the closet but still, he maybe shite but he is one of us, no? Let's face it, he's not good enough, but he is a Villa fan. Am I being too generous here? I know he is shite but hey ho, he's claret and blue.. I don't want to see him 'rot' anywhere.

GREAT WORK MON I JUST WISH YOU WOULDNT PUT US VILLA FANS THROUGH SUCH STRESS WAITING FOR SIGNINGS ALTHOUGH IT HAS BEEN WORTH IT UP TO NOW

Well, well. All starting to get rather interesting now isn't it?

Good solid signings all round so far - if we can bring in one or two "big hitters" now before September I think we can look at the season with some real optimism.

Amazing what a difference a week (or so)and three good signings can make.

Woodinho - Im also in that group. I was getting worried thats for sure. But it still remains fact that MON has not (up until now) had a great track record in the transfer market. Also it remains fact that we have had a poor showing in our friendlies and a poor lead up to the start of our eufa campaign, also it did appear that MON was kind of waiting on the "waiter" Rafa and his pursuit of Barry. As soon as Bouma was injured and Barry was told he could leave (if the asking price was matched) it seems MON jumped into action and has bought in players each one more exciting than the last. I also will not apologize for previous comments, but i will say that MON has really started to make it happen in the last week. I wish he could have made these signings a little earlier to aid our preparation, but that is being a little too harsh perhaps. Well done so far MON we are shaping up to be really competitive and now have a team that should be great to watch also. Hopefully we have a 20 goal man to be added and an attacking option in midfield, that would definately lead me to believe anything MON, Lerner or lord Krulak himself have to say in the future

come on up the villa

what a signing cuellar could turn out to be, a great bit of buisness by MON yet again....all we need to do now is resolve the barry situation, bring in a right winger maybe Jauquin, a striker hopefully santa cruz or dean ashton and christmas has come early!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D come on the villa!!!!!!!!!

Great signing. Cuéllar is the best spanish centre half by far... Is incredible why Real Madrid and FCBarcelona didn't caught him!Better than the centrals at national team (Marchena, Puyol,Albiol..)but criminally ignored by exspanish coach Luis Aragonés(Thank God there was a recent substitution in charge:Vicente del Bosque).
Martin O'Neill is an intelligent and astute manager.
Congratulations to Aston Villa from Spain. 8)

On the Official Site MON is saying that he will forgive all his doubters as long as they say sorry and promise not to sin again.

Spanish media say this bloke should be puyols partner in there defence,Great signing mon .UP THE VILLA

I'm sorry and promise not to sin again after just 2 more signings.

TAGLOR WHY DON'T I BELIVE YOU

This is just superb... look at this thread. It's like a trolly dash with us all just putting our wish-list in the mix. Here you go, Martin, run down the Offie and pick me up a bottle of De La Red.

Roll your mind back to 3 years ago, when players certainly saw our inevitable destination as downward and we pretty much all expected the worst. Thank you Martin, Thank you Randy. And thank you to all the players that have played their part in the last two seasons... ALL of them. Some will move on, some will play less but they've all played their part. Gareth, clearly is in that. Zat too... 4th choice CD isn't going to play much, picking a Villa fan to accept that might just be a shrewd move.

And so good to see the 'half-empty' guys totally true to their words. Taglor - you are a star. Your change in tune is as remarkable as it is welcome and as it is justified. I know the same's true for many others, you're just the icon in my eyes ;)

I have to say on a final note, thank you for some classy posts from the Rangers fans. Your grace in losing a quality player says much about you and the player you are wishing well for the future.

UTV!

great player and great songs to go with it check out youtube cueller will be villa legend,my mates a chelski fan and swp is wanting a out and were favourites

Exciting times !!

Even Taglor has not been winding everyone up !

I hear the biggest spending spree in villa history? With more to come !! come on MON, SWP for the right and SANTA CRUZ up front....then we would get some respect in the Prem. Sick of Spurs and Man City gettin all the headlines for nothing, about time Villa had a bit of repect in the Prem, 6th last year, who knows in 2007/8????

im stil want us to sign de la red, an joaquin!!!!

Even if Barry stays, we have to buy a creative midfielder there is no point having a great defense when we car't pass the ball to Carew and Gabby..! I for one hope Barry goes, 18 mill goes a long way...
Tomorow is D Day, i think Liverpool will make one last ditch effort because of the chance MON will play Barry in Iceland.

Milner for £6m too, according to the Daily Mail? Would be an excellent acquisition and just what we need!

Taglor

MON has forgiven you my son. Ask and it shall be given unto you. Go forth and spread the word and remember MON works in mysterious ways.

Milner, SWP DLR!? I'm not sure I can handle the excitem.......

To all the villa fans never let the faith die. We've had our false dawns so we understand the doubters but MON backed by Lerner is a legend and so in time will be our players. Everything this summer has been class not least saving our club from the reptiles who were attacking it.
MON your class
Can't wait for the season.

UP THE VILLA

delighted about this signing!!

any update on Ruben De la red??

It is great too see the optimism but we have to be realistic. We finished 6th last year and were probably a little lucky. Everton have bought nobody so we will finis ahead of them but Liverpool have improved their aquad and Keane could prove to be a good buy. Spurs have bought big and look like spending more and I cant help but think that Crouch & Defoe will score a bag load of goals. And if we are honest Pompey would have finished ahead of us last year if they hadnt of been side tracked with the FA cup. I think MON has done a reallt great job so far but we do need a 20 goal striker, to keep Barry and to get a right winger. When we do that we can then push for 4th.

UP the Villa

great signing get in a striker an winger and we should have a very good season exciting times

utv

oh by the way im getting my leaving cert results tomorrow so wish me luck

utv......again

Dave T-Solihull...couldn't have put it better myself mate...nice post.

Tags and Leroy...good comments tonight lads. It's lookin' good at last isn't it.

What a great time it is to be a Villa fan. Its 5 in the morning, just finished work and i'm ready for me bed but I couldn't help checking the blog first and making a comment.

We just got ourselves a really good defence in a matter of days and MON reckons theres more to come (quite a bit more was seemingly intimated).
Cuellar is quality...i've watched quite a few Rangers games on Setanta and he has stood out often.

It's been especially nice to read some really nice comments from Rangers fans saying how good Cuellar is and wishing us luck and also those from other parts of the world especially CharlieSepulvada. Incidentally, i think Spanish Charlie (that's the user name i'm proposing for him) should join our site and blog on a regular basis giving us the low down on the Villa's growing familiarity in Spain. Just a thought.

I reckon MON is really gonna splash the cash in the coming days and I still have faith in Damo's De La Red thing...he'd be ideal to replace Barry who will leave tomorrow if he's going to go at all. Sidwell is injured so there is a chance that MON will want to play him on Thursday leaving him cup tied for Pool's CL campaign ?

I'm so looking forward to Thursday's game. Live on C5, six cans of wife beater and a ruby after...yum yum

All in all, Wednesday could end up a very interesting day indeed (i hope !)

UP THE VILLA ;)

He's six foot three with curly hair
His teeth are f****d but we don't care.....

Fitzy - good luck from a fellow irish villan :)

Fitzy all the best mate hope you do well. :)

definetley an excellent signing,young strong and hes got teeth that will scare strikers s,less.....he will be missed king carlos

im spanish (from granada) and cuellas is a really really good signing for villa. i support villa since i was erasmus student in bham 3 years ago. im rally happy uve got this player, he sounds for being in spanish national team soon.

well done villans! =)

cuellar* really* sorry ;)

Thanks so much AV33 for your amability.


Let me point some aspects about Carlos Cuéllar. He needs to be integrated and committed to AV. So...:

A).He must improve his pedestrian english. Think that at Rangers
took lessons from the worst teacher in Glasgow!. This is fundamental, especially for a defender at the pitch, for sport press conferences,for understanding well MON instructions, spread friendship with brummies...for all!!!
Club must put him a good teacher demanding discipline in study.

B). He must be comfortable and cosy at Birmingham, better than at hometown Madrid.He is worried and sad because hasn't got permit to carry his mascot to England. "Titán" is his mascot, a python snake.Know there aren't rules of movement for these species. The European Comission have not yet been set the regulation. Once he'll get his lovely reptile he'll be settled and happier. Fernando Torres, in few days had permit to take his bunch of dogs to Liverpool...Think that if Carlos won't get this exotic pet near future, this could be a grievance in comparison.

C). He needs to know about the prestige and history of AV. In Spain there is few respect and historic memory about the past.
Even in relationship with recent triumphs. In Great Britain if you are truly committed to a club, if you give your all playing,you are a legend never forgotten. This fidelity and treat for players is practically inexistent in Spain. Is really
fascinatng how english supporters have this sense of historic memory, making continuous recognition for their players during decades. He must learn that AV represents the essence of british football.

Well mates,more to come next future!

Bright and winning season at Villa Park!

CharlieSepulveda...really nice to read your comments, it gives a different perspective. I think it's great that fans from all over the world comment on this site.

Please keep up with the comments...have you joined as a member yet? I'd love it if your user name was Spanish Charlie as i suggested !

UP THE VILLA ;)

"Fernando Torres, in few days had permit to take his bunch of dogs to Liverpool..."

That made me laugh til I cried, brilliant stuff!