Maybe not the most prolific of midfielders, but Perdo Mendes does have something special

squad player.nothing more and i wouldnt put him in front of barry,petrov, reo coker or gardener we need someone new and exciting in the middle if barry leaves.anyone see sean scannell last night wouldnt mind him?

id rather ben watson than mendes aswell!! ;D

Mendes is a very tricky and clever player. Like you say, not sure if were looking at him but he's got a very quick footballing brain and a great passing ability. His goal return is dross but his is a very creative midfielder! Would add depth and competition imo

I'm not going to pass judgement on Mendes personally, he might very well do a job for us, I just worry that we're falling back into bad old habits. Picking up experienced journeymen for a season or two (Hadji, Steve Stone, Leonhardsen for crying out loud) is not really what we want to see is it? Sure, he might be able to do a job for us but I thought this was all about getting in quality to build a squad and not just making up the numbers.

Give us a player to be excited about. Excitement rating for Mendes 2/10

Mendes is a quality player.

If he comes to the Villa along with a couple of big signings to make up the squad I am all for it.

We need players who can pass the killer ball from the middle of the field, not just crosses from Ash.

Got to agree to disagree with you Damian on this. Let's get in some quality to start with, to show our aspirations and maybe others (quality players) may just think if that guys going to Villa then it may just be he place for me. Let's get a big draw signing first and put the cat amongst the pigeons. That would rattle the likes of Rafa. Also GB may just start to be convinced that MON means business at the sharp end?! UTV

He scored 2 goals for Spurs. Remember the one at Old Trafford :P

LINK

Well this is a little dissapointing...Mendes was a bit part player(even less than that) for Tottenham and is now a bit part player for Portsmouth. These are two direct competitors - if he was not good enough for the two of them then surely it stands to reason that he is not good enough for us. Would he improve the first 11 - definitely not. However, I also understand our 'numbers' situation so can see the logic behind it.

But surely right now at the start of the transfer window is the time to make a statement. Signing bit part squad players like Mendes and Bullard is fine but does it make a statement and will it show ambition and attract more big name signings???

Ye Ben watson looks handy

Swissvillan,

We need 8-10 players if we're playing Europe. You don't get quality for less than 10M these days unless you're really lucky. MON isn't going to spend 80-100M this window! Mendes represents a v.good quality player at affordable price. Lets get the likes of Gera, Stearman, etc. as well as 2-3 real quality, more expensive signings

First post guys, but I've been reading the blog and comments for a while now.... ;)

I think we need players like Mendes to add strength in depth. With a potential additional half season to reach the Eufa Cup Final next year we desperately need to add numbers to the squad.

I think some of you are forgetting the incredible ability that MON has in getting the best of players, especially experienced pros that have been in the game for some time and have gone a bit off the boil. Look at what he has already done with Carew, Harewood and Gareth Barry in his short time as manager.

I think if we can get Mendes for the cut price deal that is being quoted, he will be an excellent signing.

It's quite clear that this is not the quality big summer signing we are all expecting, but I have the utmost confidence those signings are coming.

Mendes would come as a quality squad player, and a much needed one too.

'Perdo' Mendes eh? ;)

this is a seemingly typical MON signing, i wish just for once it was us buying the class player rather than waiting for the others to be pushed out (ie looking for the muntaris rather than the mendes')

hopefully MON will take a look at Kameni, who is leaving espanyol, rather than letting him join another prem club and then buying their 2nd choice

would rather see some of the academy players brought into the 1st team squad then signing van der vaart/Bentley as the "big name" midfielder. defence is where we really need to splash out though bringing in a 1st choice keeper!!!

we need a keeper, 1 RB, a creative midfielder and a 20 goal a season striker plus a few squaad players like a rb, lb, winger not sure about mendes thou not what i was hoping for,

Does anyone else think that Mendes looks like Angel's brother?!

Mendes can play, but I only hope that he won't be one of our "big signings"......I see that Barry has been given time to "mull over" the chat with MoN and RL....Does not look good from where I am sitting.

Not whats needed. He adds nothing to our midfield. We have 5 central midfielders(Barry, Reo-Coker, Petrov, Gardner, Osbourne) so he would add nothing. We could bulk up with journeyman defenders of mendes class as I see it, only Laursen knight and Bouma are only fit defenders for the start of the new season, so why waste time adding numbers to the strongest part of the squad, unless its a CM of real class why bother as other areas need strengthening first(GK, RB*2, CB, LB, RM and possibly a striker are needed).

P.M. is quite a good player, he has been injured and then compeat with Muntari, Diarra (on a 80k a week wages) and N. Krancar? for the inner midfield role. Quite tuff, considering their season. I would like to see him at Villa, transfer rateing 6/10..

Damian, I'm very surprised you'd be happy with the signing of someone like Mendes while at the same time you've made your thoughts on Jimmy Bullard clear.

Mendes would be nothing but a backup to our squad and with other signings in the summer would probably end up playing even less for us than he has for Portsmouth this season.

Bullard on the other hand could bring a lot to the team straight away and would probably be frequently rotated into it. No doubt in my mind he'd be a better buy for us.

And while I'm on the subject - how about a cheeky punt for Sebatian Larsson? Yes, yes, I know he plays for a clown team, but anybody who's seen him play has to admit he's a very talented player and I think he'd fit our team perfectly being so attacking minded.

we are just over 2 days into the transfer window and its started already. Newspapers guessing our targets cos they haven't actually got a clue who we are after. remember that mon keeps his cards close to his chest.
However if i had a choice i would have bullard ahead of mendes.
Do agree with most though that a BIG signing is needed first to show we mean business, not just to us fans, but to other teams and most importantly to barry. (don't forget we have salifou in midfield aswell).
scannel did look good last night. have we been linked with him yet? worth a punt at 17 imo. UTV

I think we need to bear in mind the reasons why MON has either held back or been unable to offer us top transfers... I disagree that he never buys top players. Look at Petrov, Young, Carew and Davies. All on their day, excellent players. He's also had to sign squad players. He hasn't signed the world class players we were promised because we weren't in a position to attract them.

Now two seasons down the line, villa are an attacking football team who score a lot of goals; a team people will want to play for. We've got a top manager, good stadium with top training facilities with money to spend on players. I really think we need to judge MON at the end of august and not before. I am one of those who has been saying hold off on judgements during transfer windows but recognise the need to spend is absolute this window...

Lets get this straight. In order to improve WE DO NOT NEED squad players! For crying out loud we didn't have significant team disruption this last season. Therefore our present players are not good enough. What we need is for some of the current first team to become our squad players. THEREORE WE DON'T NEED ANY MORE SQUAD PLAYERS GEDDITT?!!!

I agree that we could use him the squad. And if you also consider Patrik Berger immanent leave, he really is a perfect replacment for him. However, if you want to set a message for your summer signings... Pedro Mendez is not the way to do it. It's not as if we have to fight anyone off him either, save him for the tail end or suffer the consequences when we approach the Miguels and Nelsons and they look at who we have signed.

i'd rather have Bullard then Mendes

To say that we don’t need squad players is an absolute joke.

To do as some suggested and replace the current squad with a team of so called 'quality players' would be completely pointless and is also unrealistic.

Liverpool try to do it ever year and end up screwing up the first half of every season as the team is so disjointed and the players can’t read each other.

We need to add some real quality to the first team in a couple of positions (goalkeeper, striker, right back and maybe even central midfield) but we also must add to the squad with a mix of experienced and youthful players, especially if we are to embark on a European Campaign and have a better crack at the cups next season .

The fact is that we simply DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH PLAYERS!

Bearing this in mind, what's the harm in getting an experienced squad player with proven premiership experience and good technical ability on the cheap?

i would take bullard, mendes and larson as squad players for defo

Apparently, everyone thinks we need 8-10 Van Der Vaarts in order to push forward . . .

Ben Watson has been mentioned.. if we are buying young english players then forget Watson and think about Sean Scannell and Victor Moses!! Bring them in and they will end up like Ash Young has!

mon is a great manager but he is not going to buy big players because he simply will not pay the wages.he needs to get with the times.what everyone is saying are squad players ARE the big signings we can hope for.i afraid barry will leave which i think will not help him.i just hope he gets davies and gets rid of carson.maybe in jan he might get whats going on and try and move the club futher forward by signing decent players instead of cast offs that our rivals do not want! any thoughts on that?

Anyone seen a link to a player called Michael Bradley from Heerenveen. Looks like a player who'd be a very good signing if we wanted extra cover in midfield. Aged 20, 19 goals in 59 games(15 goals this season) in Dutch league, he could be a real gem

Spurs are linked with Bentley, Anelka and Eto, we are linked with Mendes, exciting stuff boys!

Vijayd - I know yeah and Tottenham will no doubt be pushing on top 4 next season. Sucks to be us!

to AZ_

Everyone thought the same about Spurs last season, and look where they finished.....

It sucks to be Spurs! ;)

Come on guys, I can't belive so many of you are being so negative after the fantastic season we've had and less than one week of the transfer window! :o

he reminds you of patrick berger, why?? hes nothing like him as a player just because of his silly hair?!!!

Im starting to think you know nothing about football. You slate Jimmy Bullard basically calling him average and then in the next breath you say Mendes would be a good signing. Mendes is nothing special, if he was he would play regularly. We are better than Portsmouth, therefore it begs the question, why would we sign this guy?

All of Villa's 'big players' are already here, so don't get over-excited that we will sign a couple of (or even one) big names...it ain't gonna happen! I gave up hoping for big names after previous transfer windows. We will get some quality 'good' players - MoM can make them better.
We need squad players to back up our stars.

good but i prefer someone who has experience and quality
ummm let me think...

uefa cup next season can attract quality player to us maybe van der vaart and someone at Celtic

please believe me one thing.. BARRY will not move.. 100 per cent..

why??


if u are Captain and your team go to the rjght direction your tram mate love you your manager your fan love you.... You want to go, don't you?

kingswood prc

he reminds of berger for his deft little touches and ability to see and execute a good pass

pedro mendes (according to the match attax cards) is only 3star (out of 5 star) and the majority of villas are three star so, pretty average 4 us; considerin that we have improved since the cards were realeased.

Interesting to see the Tottenham snapping up Modric for 15million, and we are linked with players like Sidwell (who is demanding silly wages) and Mendes (who cant get into the Portsmouth team)...True, we do need squad players though, as we are in the Intertoto cup now and all that entails. I dont think the signing of either of those players would push us forward, but as i repeat our squad does need filling.