How many Aston Villa players can we expect to see playing for England this season?

I'm hoping a few make the step up - certainly Young and Curtis. I wouldnt' be surprised to see the likes of Young and Shorey in and around also.

But look at the non English players - Petrov, Carew and Cuellar - they'll also all be playing for their countries. A strong squad is slowly getting built.

A big player in the middle will be the icing for me.

I would hope to see the following pull on an england shirt this season:

Davies
L. Young
Shorey
A. Young
Sidwell
Reo-Coker
Agbonlahor

Young,young,shorey,gabby,davies,barry ;),sidwell,reo-coker,

and if Gabby get's his finger out he could figure too. Maybe he needs some competition for his place up front/ Over to you MON

In todays times from Martin Samuel, Chief Football Writer!

At the weekend, Rick Parry, the Liverpool chief executive, said that Aston Villa's asking price of £18 million for Barry was too high. It is not. It is the going rate for an England central midfield player, as indicated by the fees paid by Manchester United for Michael Carrick (between £14 million and £18.6 million depending on success) and Owen Hargreaves (£17 million). Indeed, Barry is an England regular at present; Hargreaves and Carrick are not. Nor is age an issue, because Carrick, Barry and Hargreaves were all born in 1981. Barry is 34 days younger than Hargreaves and 155 days older than Carrick and Villa's valuation, for a player under contract, the captain and an important member of their team, is entirely reasonable.

The only risk with relying on purely english talent is that if they were to compete in a major summer tournament then fatigue will be a major issue.

For example, if we would have qualified for the Euro's this summer, many of our reliant players would not have been able to meet the sufficent demands to mount a serious challenge in the intertoto cup and pre season friendlies respectively.

Sorry but Reo-Coker and Gardner stand absolutely no chance whatsoever of playing for England this season. They just aren't good enough. It would take monumental performances for Sidwell to break in as well.

Davies will break in when he's fit and playing, but otherwise, who's really going to get picked? Shorey only played because Ashley Cole and Bridge couldn't, Luke Young will struggle big time with Gary Neville and Wes Brown ahead of him and Gabby I'm afraid is not England material yet.

That leaves just Ashley Young and Barry.

To be fair, For England's sake, You'd like to think with World Cup Qualifiers approaching, Capello now has a good idea what he wants. Ok, certain players may enter the fold on form but i cant see Reo-Coker, Sidwell L.Young or Shorey getting a look in.

Neville's back from injury, along with Micah Richards, thats the right hand side pretty much sorted.
Cashley and Bridge seem to have the left hand side under lock and key. Barry, Gerrard, Lampard, Hargreaves and Carrick in the middle. So unless there are any dramtic injuries, I think serious contenders are Davies, A. Young, Barry And Gabby

Ashley Young should be a first teamer right now.
Davies has the potential, but for now a squad player at best and may even be a back up for villa's first 11.
Shorey - potentially a back up for Cole at best.
Agbonlahor - potentially a starter and it all depends on his form as there are not too many outstanding english forwards at present.
Central midfield - england really are spoiled for choice so cant see any of Villa's players getting a look in here:
Sidwell - possibly get a squad call up
Reo-Coker has big limitations which mean he will never make the england team.
Gardner - I have to say that I think this guy is a terrible player - lots of effort but just no quality or pace.

Delfonso is not an also ran - he hasn't even played for us yet!! But looks a great prospect.

Knight, Harewood and Routhledge - LOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO

big up the english players. arsenal, liverpool, man utd an chelsea take note.

I think salifou should change his nationality to english! That way we'd win everything!

Can't really see anyone bar the usual suspects i.e A Young, Gabby and Davies.

To be honest once the real games come around for England the only players I would say have any hopes of making the starting 11 would be Barry and Ashley Young. Davies might just make the squad but i feel that would be it. Capello will revert to his trusted players from the top 4 once the group stages kick off.

How many Villa players in the Spanish team next season?

ShanghaiVillain - 3 Cuellarm, De la Red and Joaquin :)

Cuellarm, lol!
I think Young and Barry would be able to walk into the squad really. Although Joe Cole's form at left-wing may force Young out onto the right where he'd be in competition with a certain David Bentley, so he will have to produce another quality season to keep up, but i have faith that he will. Davies has Rio, Terry, Brown, Richards, Campbell (?) in front of him so he has quite a bit of competition but i think Neville will struggle to regain full fitness over the course of this season with Wes Brown doing very well at right back for Man U, so might leave just Richards in the way of right back, so a possibility for Luke Young?
Shorey, unless Bridge/Cole get injured, doesn't have much of a choice, although if Bridge doesn't get played at Chelsea i can see him being Cole's back-up.

You guys seen this?

[quote]After the revelations of Carlos Cuellar’s sale had been announced the Rangers support went into full scale mutiny. Disgusted fans labelled the sale of Cuellar as the final straw after their elimination in Europe, and many have exercised an option to cancel their season tickets - paying a £20 cancellation fee.

A spokesman for the club said: “What these fans are doing is covered by the terms and conditions of their season-ticket purchase. We were contacted by some fans after the sale of Carlos Cuellar and we have agreed to take back season books in return for a cancellation fee.”

Supporters’ Chiefs are upset by the decision of some of their fellow Rangers fans. Jim Templeton, from the Supporters Assembly, said: “A ball has hardly been kicked this season and sending tickets back is not the right way forward for Rangers supporters.”[/quote]

;D ;D ;D

Here's a question: Should MON play Barry tomorrow?

If he doesn't, things stay pretty much as they are - this just being another overt sign that liverpool continue to dictate (albeit indirectly) how we use OUR best player, who WE pay a huge amount of money.

If he does, things change rather dramatically... and rather intriguingly. All of a sudden, with nothing more than walking over the line in Iceland tomorrow, it looks as though no Champions League side is going to be bidding for Barry (until January at least). As a result, Barry would surely stay with no other reason to leave and give a huge boost to a squad that is shaping up rather nicely right now.

However... before we get carried away with the excitement of it all... If he does play, liverpool, as a buying club will be in a position to say that despite our valuation of him, Barry is no longer worth that value to them because he is ineligible for the group stages of the CL. Therefore, MON will have actually devalued him in the market that he, Barry, wants to be available to - CL sides, particularly liverpool. If Barry is still keen to join them (for the sake of future CL football), then what is to stop liverpool coming in with a bid of around 12-14mil. sighting his ineligibility for the CL, Barry putting pressure on from the other side and MON not wanting to disrupt his eager young squad, selling his (former) captain?

If this happens liverpool will be laughing. While they will try to succeed in the CL, they will be pulling out all the stops to be in the race for the Premiership come April/May. A class player that will not have the extra rigour of European mid-week football may be just what the doctor ordered.

In my opinion, Barry won't be allowed to leave unless the club are compensated appropriately and if they believe that's 18mil. (as has been rumoured), then i think that's what they'll hold for. Moreover, I don't think he will play tomorrow unless an agreement has been made between himself and MON. Disrupting the squad at this stage could cause long-term harm and while i don't think underestimating any team is a good idea, i would hope that we can get past these 2 qualifying games without the need for Barry.

UTV!

Will Barry want to play tomorrow? He's been acting like such a little **** recently it wouldn't surprise me if he refused to play.

One thing is clear - if he does play, he will not be going to Liverpool. 100% Guaranteed.

I say leave him out. So long as he's not playing in Europe, there is still a chance Liverpool pay £18m for him. I'd rather have the cash and invest it elsewhere.

why hasnt barry put in a transfer request in thought it wasnt about money i think this is harming his england career and any possible chancs of captaining them again

Will Barry play tomorrow?

I think MON's intentions were quite clear when he dropped him the trip to Spain. I expect that everyone who's been following the nightmare saga would of thought it would of been done and dusted last week.

However, he hasn't gone. Parry has stated that 18 Mil is too much and they won't pay it.

Interestingly from our point of view is that Shorey will start tomorrow at Left back meaning Barry is only in contention for central midfield. I honestly believe that if Sidwell was fit, Barry wouldn't travel to Iceland, but I'd put my money on Barry traveling and starting tomorrow night. Lets face it, who else are we going to play in that role in such an important game? The serious alternative is to play petrov and NRC in the middle with young and maloney outwide.

Tonight and tomorrow night are going to let us know whether or not barry stays or goes before the transfer window.

Pi - this is what i was saying yesterday. I think we should take 15mil and send him packing. We need an attacking midfielder, End of story. Barry is a very good player, but for us to take it to the next level a creative playmaker is a must. Or, we could just sign a DLR type and keep Barry. Personally, i think MON would have targeted tomorrow as a milestone, in keeping Barry this long. He doesnt want to sell him simple. Im past the point of caring wether he stays or goes, i just dont want his stay to end our pursuit of a quality AMF, DLR or anyone else for that matter

Just seen on skysports that chelsea are making a major announcement at 5pm. Could this be Robinho signing opening up a Villa move for Joe Cole?? ;)

A. young and barry will be the only people from our squad to be in the england team realistically. yes it would be nice to see more of them.

What would happen if Liverpool where beaten over the two legs of there C.L.Q ,would Brookside Barry still want to go,if there is no C.L. Football why would he want to leave ? money ?

For the record... (because i didn't state it above) i think Gareth Barry is the best player at our club by some distance. There are one or two others not far behind and some heading in the right direction, but he is head and shoulders above them all. He's getting into his peak years over the next three/four seasons, if he's with Villa... there's no stopping us.

For those who don't think he's too shit hot and that you'd sell him for anything less than 18mil.... you're mad. He plays the quality of football i have only dreamt of seeing at villa since i started supporting them all those many moons ago. Passing, tactical awareness, creating time on the ball, pacing of the game, positional sense - he's top class. Now that we have an England manager who recognises and appreciates the importance of technical excellence, he's playing in the centre of the park every game - enough said.

Fingers, toes, legs, arms, eyes and nostrils are all crossed that he stays... but i think he'll go.

that major announcement seems to be frank lampards new contract

For England - Barry only is good enough as yet.
Young will be soon but has had stinkers when he has played for the senior team so far. Gabby will probably get in the squad due to lack of competition but needs to score more regularly to hold down a starting place.
In them, we have a lot of young talented English players (Inc. Davies) and but they need more time and to prove themselves over several seasons. - or like Reo_coker - gardner _ Shorey - great players but probably never going to be more than fringe for England- but thats still good enough for me.

Regards liverpool and Barry: if he wants to go that badly he'll refuse to play.He would be an idiot to cup tie himself.
If he considers playing and does - that shows a change of heart and we should welcome him back cos the Poo'l won't buy him.
Either way we'l know by Thursday night.

One other point about Barry - he is irreplaceble at Villa - thats why O'Neil hasn't backed down over the price. At the moment - he's worth every penny of 18 mill in the present market and we don't AS YET have a big enough profile to attract the same quality of player - we'll have 18 mill but will have to spend it on 2/3 players that we can attract- has to be bad business as they won't be as good.

Pi - Barry is absolutely not worth 18mil. MON has proved this by placing the 18mil price tag on him,the act of "pricing out", which is a method of discouraging other teams coming in for a player. Its not MONs fault if a team follows up on it. Now im interested to know if you would actually take Barry ahead of De la Red or a similar player. I strongly believe that Barry is not the right player to have as our attacking midfielder and should be replaced (or moved to another position) or sold. I decided this about half way through last season. My reasons for coming to this conclusion are:

1. He has peaked
2. He is too slow for that role
3. He doesnt come forward and score (only pens)
4. Despite not being worth 18mil, he is worth more than ever before and if we were to get anything above 13mil it should be considered great business.

His attitude during all of this has been awful and he clearly would rather be somewhere else. De la Red is a future star and if keeping Barry prevented us from obtaining his services that would just be a sin. In a perfect world MON would have bid for DLR early and this would have convinced Barry of our ambition and everyone would be happy. As we know this is far from the case. If we fail with our bid for DLR, then we still need to address this attacking midfielder position, in my opinion and certainly in many other peoples opinion too, i know this as we have had many discussions about it previously. After sitting through this painfully boring and long winded ordeal involving Liverpool i would much rather Barry moved on and let us attempt to crack the top four with out him. Again, ive got no idea of the method behind MONs madness, but it seems after Bouma was injured and after he told Barry he was free to go, MON kind of shit himself, or saw the light (sounds nicer that way perhaps) and began bidding for players. I can only assume that he would prefer to have both Barry and DLR but i cant help thinking that he made the DLR bid thinking that Barry was headed elsewhere.

Anyway, tomorrow is d-day, and if Barry plays he will be with us til January then Liverpool will be more inclined to take him for presumably a fee far less than 18mil the same price we could have got if we extended the deadline for 17minutes......

You dont have to agree with what ive said but you certainly cant rule it out either

Off topic. Despite the USA's 2-1 defeat Brad Guzan actually had a decent game in goal. Guzan was under the cosh constantly because the Americans had a defender sent off in the 4th minute and two of their better players were suspended for two yellows. Guzan made three top class saves and on each of the goals, Guzan was left stranded by his defense. The U.S. finish 1-1-1 and are out of the Olympic competition.
Guzan's grade for the Nigeria game: B
Guzan's grade for the tournament: B-

It may sound barmy but the more the days go by the more I think Barry will end up staying at the Villa this season..MON could wrap up the issue and infuriate the scousers by playing him in the Uefa Cup - now that would be enjoyable to watch.

If Barry stays it would represent a clear shift upwards in terms of our club's weight, presence and assertiveness in world football and would send a clear signal to the big 4.

This showing of strenght and the stubborn resistance to the usual bully-boy tactics associated with "big" clubs ("big" despite the fact that Chelsea and Arsenal have never won the Holy Grail - i.e. the European Cup - and Villa have) have not been witnessed at Villa Park since..well let's face it, not in our lifetime to a degree.

UTV and a big wave to all scousers, this season we're gonna kick your polyester arse ;)

p.s. come on Standard Liege!

i just wish barry would speak out to the fans that have watched him week in week out and actually explain the real reason why he wants to go i think we desevre that much is it money is it CL so many storie flying around it would be nice to hear it from his own mouth

Barry's playin 2mos

[url]LINK[/url]

So expect a last bid in from now til 6:50pm 2mos

Whats the chances

I think it is right that Barry travels to Iceland - and that it's right that he DOESN'T play, unless Barry is himself keen to do it.

By being on the plane, 2 things happen a) Liverpool get a prompt to act and b) Barry is with the squad, just in case he stays. I think MON will avoid playing him if he can but with the injury to Sidwell, he might not feel that he can.

I agree with Pi... class player but I don't want him to stay just because he's played this match against his will. i think that Liverpool's dithering, their fans' chants and MON's signings mean there's now a 10% chance that Barry himself will want to recommit. A week ago that was approximately zero. If he does, I won't just support him, I'll be ecstatic. Barry saying that on reflection he believes he can achieve his ambitions with Villa would be as strong a message as signing DLR!

£18million is the highest justified fee, I think. £25million would have been a 'blow out' valuation.

Barry's playin 2mos

[url]LINK[/url]

So expect a last bid in from now til 6:50pm 2mos

Whats the chances ;)

p.s Don't let the barcodes wind you up?? They will we fighting for relegation next season.

Ah, I'll get my coat! Shows what I know. Mind you, although it is relayed, it does sound as if it is Barry's wish too.

I think Pi (in an excellent post) is right about the potential impact in value but equally I also agree that he's irreplaceable right now so it's worth the gamble on losing a few million. (hey, it's not mine!)

I'm lucky enough to be there (well, here actually) and I'll be giving him my support

The England Squad this year? In good form Young, Barry, Agbonlahor, Sidwell, Davis, Shorey and Luke Young are all worthy of the squad, the first two being first choice for me. The likes of Reo Coker, King Carlos, Maloney and Delfouneso can all push for international call ups with good performances for the Villa. MON's building wisely with hungry players and buiding around proven internationals like Carew, Larson and Friedel. Youth, experience and hunger, a good mix. We'll give Rafa a run for his money this year. Big up the Randy Revolution. One or two more personel and fourth spot and above is there for taking. In MON and the boys we trust.

bit of the subject i know... but does anyone know of any supporters clubs in south wales.....

Liverpool have just been absolutely dicked by Standard Liege. They should have won the game by 2 or 3 nad Liverpool did'nt even have a shot on goal. Come on Standard Liege!!!!!!!!!!

how much of a dick would barry look like if liverpool dont qualify.... i will luagh my socks off

I can see Ashley Young becoming an England regular very soon. Curtis, Sidwell and NRC will have to go some to get in IMO but Luke Young and Shorey must be good for full back cover at least.
I think Villa's defence will be great now the new lads have arrived.

It looks like MON has confirmed tonight that he wants Barry to stay and I reckon he will play him tomorrow night as a sign of defiance to Rafa. At least we'll then be able to keep Barry until February at least.
Barry should take note that Liverpool were shit tonight and could have easily got done but then again he could look at it in a way that if he had been playing for Pool tonight, he'd have changed the game for them (and he'd have been right !)

Tonight the scouse were very poor and i thought that if they'd had someone to put their foot on the ball and play the simple pass, they may have got somewhere.
Alonso was cack, wouldn't want him as a replacement for Barry on tonight's performance. Rafa even put an injured Gerrard on towards the end and he was crap as well.
Villa would have smashed em tonight.

I can't wait for the live game tomorrow night.
COME ON THE VILLA ;) :D :D :D

im so exited bout tomorrow liverpool were crap tonight hope mon plays barry tomorrow last minute sub would be funny utv

I can see Barry playing tomorrow night, I think at this point even he must be sick of the most boring on/off transfer saga in the history of football. Liverpool aren't going to pay the asking price and if I were GAZ BAZ and was watching that shite against the Belgians this eve I would probably be in 2 minds… It's funny Benitez coming out and saying they need a few more players what is that bloke on? You'd expect a top 4 team to come out and at least compete against a pork pie team from Belgium. I think Benitez will beat Keegan to being the first manager sacked in the prem this season.

Well Liverpool might have been rubbish but they got 0-0 and frankly if the Scouse show pony (Gerrard) is playing next week they will probably get through.
If Barry was 100% committed to hitting the exit door would he be going to Iceland? No. I think maybe some of the signings have started to change Barry's mind. If Villa can get Milner and Santa Cruz in then the team's statement of intent will be crystal clear and Barry will see that Champions League is a realistic possibility! And thusly he may stay maybe even for good.

I sincerely hope MON doesn't get Milner - not at anything like £7m anyway. Every now and then a manager makes a COMFORT SIGNING and this would be one of them.

It's hard to find any sentence describing Milner's attributes without also finding in there the words YOUNG or HONEST or 100%. What you don't find are the words GOALS or ASSISTS or PACE or DRIBBLES.

If I was an opposition leftback the prospect of facing Luke Young and James Milner would have me reaching for my slippers- good, solid workers with no danger of me having to turn around.

Please Martin if we have all this money save it until you can find a better player next season if necessary.

rumours in papers, villa have put in bid for milner today 7m.

get him mon

With Milner and Johnson possibly coming in, we will be a very hard team to beat this season. i reckon, young, barry, shorey, abonglahor, davies.