Michael Owen set to leave Newcastle for Aston Villa?
Thursday, 13 November 08, 03:12 AM · Comments (112)
It's a rumour that has surfaced in The Sun today, so you take it however you want to take it. There are no quotes and it would be like you reading, Liverpool are going to win the league, on some football rumour site.
But it's a nice one and if he did come to us he'd be making huge sums of cash and will probably only play a few games before picking up an injury for the rest of his career with us, at least in those few games, he'll get a few goals.
Now, it used to be that I was always looking for a value in a player but when you go out and pay £12mn. for Milner and you won't accept £18mn. for Barry you've finally got got to accept that there is a bottomless pit of money - what other reason can you come up with not accepting that huge smum of cash for Barry and paying that amount for James Milner?
So, if Michael Owen was available, which he probably is and you could get him for say £50k a week, you've got welcome him with open arms, hope he doesn't get injured too quickly and just watch the goals get scored, because his record speaks for itself; he scores plenty of goals.
But remember; it's in The Sun and as such there is more chance you'll find an American politician able to read a speech without a teleprompter.
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112 Comments · Add yours
I for one would welcome him with open arms. We need a big name and someone who is a proven goalscorer in my opinion. I wouldn't mind his team mate either...Martins.
Like you said though Damian, its the Sun so it probably best to take it with a pinch of salt. I do hope MON invests in a player that is actually playing at present, and is showing form, instead of someone who he thinks can be re-juvinated to the form they have previously shown. E.g Harewood, Shorey, Sidwell (even though he's showing signs of a class act).
Reply to Villa_Chris:
"I for one would welcome him with open arms" - Is Michael Owen gay too Chris?
more like double 50k pw i would rather have martins he showed how good he is against us last week.
I dont think Owen will leave us, there was all this speculation last year too, never happened though, but if he does leave us I'd rather he goto you guys than Chelsea lol.
Anyway, good luck, cya.
Seeing as how we were linked with well over 100 players this summer and ended up with tat, it is pointless speculating until transfer windows are over. Although saying that will anybody bet against me saying we will get Heskey?
I made a prediction on avfcforums after the summer window closed that Villa would snap up both Heskey and Owen, if not in January then in the summer, not a bad double act that would work well too with Gabby and Big John!
Well hello Villans. I'm back from galavanting round the world. While away it seems we destroyed everyone - convincingly. I get back looking forward to two straightforward wins and bugger me...(not really Chris)
I've been saying for a while I think Martins would go down a storm in the Villa squad. Owen undoubtedly has more class and would fit the squad but it's that old injury thing and we just can't afford it. Look what happens when we have to rely on Gabby to deliver - he just doesn't.
Having said that, I'd take kevin Doyle if the situation is like this come late January. Marlon, for all his cult status and effort just doesn't seem up to it and if we're not going to use The Fonz we need someone else.
Martins or Owen anyone?
You're probably right Taglor... but so??
Heskey will do a better job then most people so go bak to yur hole yu pessimistic fool.
I don't think we'll get Owen. As James_Villa mentioned, he will blow our wage structure and unless Young has been offered £70k a week i don't Owen will be wearing the claret and blue of Villa coming the new year.
Wouldn't mind him though. Great player, and would add a much needed dimension to our attacking play. Hear Carew is struggling to get fit for the Arsenal game so we could realy struggle on the weekend.
Anyway gottr stay positive, but I doubt Owen will be at the Villa. Unless of course, part of the deal is sealing the move of Heskey... Might happen.
Owen would be a good signing but with his proness to injury we would also need another striker or else we could be left with just 2 strikers until the end of the season. Appartently Zaki is available for £7m in Jan. He would prob be more MON style of footballer with his size and high work rate.
we shouldn't right off an injury prone player.
laursen looked like he would never play again now look at him.
Reply to Ugly_Betty:
You can take Owen for me but leave us with Martins who rarely gets injured and works for the cause unlike Owen who is always injured and looks like he couldn't care less. I'd take £5m just like we took £12m for Milner which is a lot for him.
What do you guys think of Milner
milner is getting better he looks confident on the ball but he is taking time to settle in.
i think he will be a good player for us in the future.
Damian, it would be an absolute treat to read an article from you that doesn't mention Milner's pricetag.
I think Milner looks sharper than Young to be honest Kevin. He really lacks that last ball/end product in his game. For intance, he had 4 chances to put Gabby through against Boro but passed it straight to the defenders feet. Once he makes good progress on this, I think he'll be top class in the coming years.
Ramonicus....'get back in yur hole'....'fool'
Bang out of order pal. By all means disagree with someone, but you will show yourself to be no better than taglor. In fact possibly worse because although he may be conraversial and hold views not in keeping with the majority I don't recall seeing him insult people dirctly..!
Anyway onto the Owen and now Heskey thing...Do you all see these two coming in and replacing Gabby/John or just as squad reserve/sub players. THey will be getting a lot of money to be on the bench, so does that mean we instantly drop Gabby and John. If that's the case, then should we actually be looking at players with a longer term future at the club. I just don't see that these two can add anything to the building plan of Aston Villa..?!
Martins is quality & Owen would do a job if you could keep him fit. Not sure Doyle could bring anything to the team and I definitely don't buy into the Heskey hype, average player & doesn't score enough.
Has anyone heard any developments on Huntelaar?
You are spot on Martin, I am sick to the back teeth of Damian stating in every blog that Milner was over priced!!
Damian,
Don't get me wrong, Milner at 12 million is alot of money. However, he is young and is still developing as a player. He could have at least 10 years ahead of him at the club, he is now under MON's wing and as lots of people have stated on this site has played better than Ashley Young in the last few games. And more importantly will give it 100% every week for villa, unlike others.
Give him a break until later on in the season and then judge the price tag. If you still think he is under-performing then fair enough. Just give him a break for now mate and give him a chance. He could well be worth the money in the long run!
I personally would love Owen to come to VP. Villa need to someone who can put the ball in the net with such ease. I really did want Huntelaar, but in answer to your question Huntellar is out for between 3 and 5 months after ankle ligament damage. I still want him here though!
Positive points:
would score a bagfull of goals, is a great player.
raise profile of the club.
would be cheap to buy.
Would be a great tutor to Gabby and Delf.
Negatives:
Injury prone.
Crazy high wage, would ruin the structure.
3 Strikers would be demanding a starting place.
Based on those, it could go either way, but i think i would jump for joy just because its michael owen. But i can understand why people wouldnt want him, he could unsettle the dressing room for example by high wage and wanting a starting place, but the FACT is he will score at least 1 in 2, just depends how many sets of 2 he gets.
Damien - When did we not accept £18mn for Barry? And who offered that amount? NOBODY DID. Arsenal offered £13m and Liverpool less.
ak_27 - leave the gay Chris jibes to me please, thankyou.
Taglor - Sidwell is tat is he. I agree with Andy and we shouldn't insult people directly but I also agree with Ramonicus and you should go back to your hole you pessimistic fool!
_AA_ - I think signing Owen would be great. Just think of all the shirt sales! He wouldn't replace Gabby/John or just be a squad reserve/sub player, but would compete for a first team place. I believe it is called having a squad. Don't remember Villa trying this tactic before but it is an idea.
Chris - nothing to say to you but didn't want to leave you out
"We have Marlon Harewood and young Nathan Delfouneso, who I think will become a really good player.
"But, without naming names, it is fair to say we are looking to see if we can bring someone in to get a bit of extra strength in that department."
These are comments from MON off Sky sports website....looks like he'll be going for someone with quality and of a high status...really cant wait!
Reply to keefvilla:
Ha ha cheers Keef!
I think Owen would be a class signing!
keefvilla
okay, i accept that we don't know what liverpool offered but we also don't know what arsenal offered, unless you're going to show me a link?
ronvilla
he could be worth the money one day and you cant doubt his work rate but for every good cross he's made i've seen 10 that are shit - i want someone that puts in consistently good crosses not bad ones - isn't that why you pay £12mn.?
but he's getting time. what i'm writing about him now is just what a lot are thinking
Frankly. I don't want owen.
Too old. Not enough goal. Too injury prone. No more than a super sub to get you a last minute winner and for the wages he demands, that's not good enough.
I'd rather Martins, or heskey. The reason i'd rather heskey before everyone gets on my back is because villa look much much better when we have a player who can hold up the ball. When big john is injured we look soft. Buying owen doesn't sort that out.
My ideal purchases for strikers in the summer would be Zaki and Doyle. Power and poach. Thats make 2 with power, 2 with poach, and 1 young talent. All with plenty years left in the tank and all on decent wages. Sorted.
Damian
Fair play mate. Lets just hope he comes good and puts in a few good crosses in the UEFA final.
Up the Villa!
Oh and before someone mentions that owen is not actually that old. We all know he reached his peak a long time ago. In footballing years starting at 16 means he is actually well in to his 30's....
in my eyes
Reply to AVFCBlog:
We dont even know if arsenal offered! All we were told is that they wer interested!
The fact is we will probably be selling Harewood in Jan so that leaves us with 3 strikers (1 who has played about 20mins 1st team football) so if MON has any kop on he will have to bring in at least 2 strikers. I would like one of those to be a striker that can come deep and get on the ball and make stuff happen on their own if necessary, someone with a bit of guile and intelligence. Gudjohnson doesn't seem to getting a game at now so maybe try and get him on loan for remainder of the season along with Zaki or Qwen. Chances are though that Heskey will be at VP next Jan.
If you think we are going to get Zaki on loan you don't understand that he is already on contract to loan out for the entire season. There is no possibility of that. Next summer is the earliest anyone can go in for him.
UTV
I meant to add also that Owen really wouldn't be too much use to us if we continue to just lauch missles up to the front 2. A playmaker would also be required to supply him or Gabby with through balls for them to run onto.
Why is Oneil coming out ans saying we need a striker now. We all know that and we all knew it last season and over the summer. It appears the only person that didnt is him! He had 3 months over the summer to get someone in so we would have sufficent cover. He clearly doesnt have enough faith to play either Harewood or the fonz in the premiership so why didnt he sign someone. he has taken us into a season with only 2 strikers he is willing to start! Again a decision that has already cost us and will continue to do so!
milner!70% shit 30% good!
i think his crossing has got worse when he went back to newcastle but thats not a suprise considering they rarely get into the opposition's half!
Reply to Zidave:
There is talk of his club in Egypt are going to cash in on him in Jan window for £7m. Wigan would not be able to afford that.
Owen won't come to Villa park.
Reply to Arrlui:
How do you know? You have mystic powers or summink?
Course he'd come! We're as big now as Newcastle were when they signed him.
And, we wont pay 17million like those mugs did!
damian one question did we have anyone better on the right before we got him?
Zidave,
Your right we are unlikely to get him on loan, unless we offered a loan deal to his owners that was worth a lot more money. Remember that he is on loan to Wigan but that gives Wigan no rights whatsoever! His owners can pull him back when ever they want, just like if I loaned you my car, and wanted it back to sell it.
I'm a contractor, and I know, as most people do in the footballing industry a contract is worth f'all. All it really says is, if I work, i get paid.
Newcastle will only sell Owen if they feel he has no chance of playing regularly. Therefore if they want to sell him don't buy him. He was a world class striker though.
Reply to AVFCBlog:
If Villa received a bid of £18m they would have accepted it. If not Barry would have been in the papers again moaning about MON.
StickyAV - You say Owen doesn't get enough goals then say you want Heskey. Bonkers!!!!
philbob - I was told by a work mate who is member of same golf club as Barry that Arsenal offered £13 and that was highest bid Villa got. Barry also told him he would be leaving in January.
Tonebone - maybe the striker he wanted wasn't available then.
DeGough - Owen out of contract at end of season. He could leave for nothing then or they could sell him in January and get a few million for him. If you were Mike Ashley wahat would you do?
Villa_Chris - still not leaving you out.
Owen would be a terrific signing for many reasons, not least he is a proven goal scorer at all levels. He is a big name which would help boost morale all over AVFC. He has a tremendous attitude and is Lineker-esque in his professionalism.
It would be great to see GABBY as a similar kind of player taking master classes, and observing from the dug out from time to time. This would be a great coup for MON, and more importantly; AVFC.
It's not actually bonkers at all Keef. And I gave my reason.
Owen scores goals. that is it. Heskey offers strength, pace and assists. When we don't have John up front, to hold it up - we lack in the possesion stats in a big way!
Anyone who looks at heskey's goal record, is looking in the wrong place. Did anyone care when rooney wasn't scoring? It's not all about goals but what they offer.
Would you play owen and gabby. No. Would you play Owen and Del. No. So that means John has to play every game?????
Someone like heskey ALONGSIDE a goal scorer is what you want. That's why i said I would buy him, and the slight doyle who is a 6 yard box player. To be honest i have not rated Owen since he left LV. The Real fans didn't either. And lets be honest, for what the barcodes have spent on him, he offered poor value for money there too.
james_villa
maybe - but for £12mn we could have got better - but that is just opinion
Reply to __AA__:
Point taken AA. Out of line and for that I do apologise.
Jus gettin a wee bit tired of hearing these end of the world cries. I'm one for different opinons, grew up that way, by reading some comments honestly makes my blood boil. I know most, if not all the lads on this page have been Villa supporters for decades and they are eager to win the title, I am jus gettin sick and tired of the same cries from the same people.
Onto Owen and Heskey, I don't think they'd necessarily need to jump into the first team, but after all, most of the top teams in the league have 3 or 4 quality strikers to rely on anyway. The problem is however, MON doesn't like to tinker with his formations or the players he chooses, so the purchases of Owen adn Heskey would bring about that problem AA. But I mean at the present, we could probably do with both seeing as how Gabby has been hot-cold - very cold when a lone striker and Carew is injured. Owen would walk right into the time right now, as to would Heskey, or Doyle, or Hunteelar. I still can't see why Delfouneso hasn't got a decent run yet.
A couple of people here have mentione Amr Zaki, an if anyone thinks, hes going at £7mill, you're having a laugh. With all due respect, he is I think, the leading goalscorer at the moment, and I hear a while back that since Wigan did not have a first buy preference that his team would be looking to sell him for something closer to £15mill. A gamble, but one I wouldn't mind seeing MON take. I think at £7mill, youd see a bidding war either way. So many teams will look at £7mill as nothing.
For the record boys, I doubt Hunteelar would move in January. Hes more a summer move.
rumour is we are going to make big money bids for the moore brothers Luke & Stefan as mon believes letting them go was the biggest mastake Aston villa have ever made!
What's this Adriano of Inter Milan moving to Villa rumour thats just started flying about?!
Ram - your right mate. 7mil is stupidly under valued. I think he'd go for much more. I also think some top 4 clubs would be interested. That's why he was in my 'ideal' purchase list and not my 'realistic' purchase list. I think as close as we would get to Zaki in the next year, is heskey.
We were in talks with Adriano but choose to go blues for cut price 2million!
Rambo, for the record, Nicholas Anelka is top scorer!
Reply to Van_Dutch:
bull shit probabley
Reply to StickyAV:
Your original post said "Too old. Not enough goal" So Owen not enough goals but there is with Heskey? "No more than a super sub to get you a last minute winner" instead of a bloke who wouldn't score a last minute winner or score anytime actually?
You want someone to hold the ball up then Villa should sign Owen plus a replacement for Harewood.
Reply to AVFCBlog:
Like who?
Reply to StickyAV:
It is being reported that £7m is the price his parent club (by the sun so prob wrong) but you have to realise that £7m to an African club is the equilivant of probably £50m in europe. Is he worth £14m? No. He started well but has fallen away lately but IMO he offers a better package of skills to both Heskey and Owen as he is strong, good finisher plus a really good worker. As for the top 4 clubs being interested the sun say Liverpool and Man City are interested but i can't see how liverpool can buy anyone in Jan if the stories about their financial situation are true which they probably are.
Reply to keefvilla:
'maybe the striker he wanted wasn't available then' - This is IMO MON's mains problem. You make the sriker you want available by paying what it takes to make him available. Was Berbatov available this summer? No. Still went to Utd, Same for Keane going to Liverpool and Robinho going to Man City.
the owen thing just is'nt gunna happen cos we dont pay silly wage's,doyle at best is a championship striker he's had a crack at the premier league once and been found wanting just like rob earnshaw did, the 12 million payed for milner was a bit to much but he will come good in time, MON has said we need a striker but we also need a creative midfielder to feed the strikers, someone like Richardson from sunderland also think aruna kone would fit in at villa park,bring on arsenal.up the villa.
Reply to ak_27:
He did that with Milner and look at what shit he has taken! Especially from some people on this site.
Damo,
Re MILNER. £12m is about right in todays market. Speculate to accumulate. A regular U21 who is rated by many managers and fellow pros, and has steadily improved his game. I would like to see MON put a bid in for McGEADY to give ASH a rest on the left. Going on MON's principle of buying home grown talent, who would you get for £12m on the right wing?
Re ZAKI - He is 2 goals behind ANELKA, and only 3 in front of the likes of FULLER and GEOVANI. Hats off to him if he continues to rattle them in over the winter, but, at present he's a one hit wonder in our league. Bear in mind, he works off HESKEY, who likes to donate his share of goals to his playing partner.
GABBY has been allowed to play too many games and I guess is fairly complacent about being selected. He knows there is nobody to challenge him. I agree with comments giving DELFO a run until we invest in new strikers. OWEN and HESKEY. Yes please!
Reply to philbob88:
Sorry PB. Not having a good day am I??
Well, hes up there!! I think he faded after the VIIIIIIIILLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAA GAME ??
Yeah, I understand where you're coming from ak_27 concerning the economic climate of Africa, but you have to remember, that Africa is the new South America. The talent is coming out of Africa at a very quick rate, and whilst I do not doubt that £7mill would be a ''base'' offer, as soon as the club would get an idea of a couple of interested teams that price will go up. Jus because there an African team doesn't mean they won't conduct good business.
In terms of interest from the Bg 4. If the price is at £7mill then Arsenal would def make bids I reckon. I doubt ManUtd would go for him, considering Tevez's future is now up in the air following the arrival of Berbatov - £30mill for Tevez anyone? - and Liverpool now have Torres, and Keano. Chelski are reportedly interested in Owen and Fabiano from Sev I think. If the price exceeds £14mil as it might, I think Arsenal would back off as to would Chelski, as talk is that Scolari doesn't have much that money to spend - hence the Owen interest at £5mill.
Reply to keefvilla:
The problem with that keef is most people on here knew that Milner is at best an above average player. I know people say he is still young but he has been playing since he was 16 in the premier league so his experience of prem league football is beyond his age. What exactly did MON see from his perfomances last year to make him say i'll pay what they want for him. His stats for Newcastle didn't warrant that price tag. Im sure Milner will give us some good days and we all be thinking that hey maybe it was money well spent but i think he will also give us a lot of days when we will be saying what the hell is doing on the pitch. Personally i feel if you can't cross a ball at the age of 21 you won't be any better at 22 or 23. I would like to see Bannan been given 10 or 15 mins as Milners replacement at the end of games in the near future.
Reply to keefvilla:
SWP ?
Lennon ?
Reira ?
Bentley ?
I could go on - Not really I'm running out but yu get the point...
Everyone's entitled to their opinons, and I tend to agree with Damo in that he was over-priced. BUT, in this day and age, a lot of players are over-priced and over-paid. Thats just the way it is. And as AK mentioned in his last post, yu have to pay the price. I think thats why we missed out on a couple of potential targets last summer.
Reply to keefvilla:
Keef, you are still obviously not getting my first post...
The I'd rather heskey comment was when we were talking about buying Owen. That's 1 person, and if we are buying 1 striker, i'd rather have heskey than owen. Yes - I am saying if we buy one striker, i'd rather have someone to hold it up as a backup to john (not with a primary role to score goals), than a backup to gabby - I think Del is a prospect for this.
Then i went on to say ideally 2.
You can't compare heskey to owen. On a striker type chart they are at different ends. But you can buy one over the other! Hopefully that is clearer now!!!?
Rambo
Lennon can't cross the road.
Reira, you having a laugh mate.
Bentley, has he done anything at Spurs?
SWP, good player and I can understand why rated highly. But he is 27 and should be in his prime. I'm confident that Milner will prove to be better value at £12m than SWP at £9m.
As you say - game of opinions.
i agree best available
Reply to ak_27:
Most people. You mean you and Damien?
Milner was Villa's player of the year when on loan here and under MON he will fulfill that potential.
no he hasn't been crossing well but it takes time to settle all the new signings have found it hard.
aparently curtis' wag had a baby on saturday before the game do you reckon the wet the babies head on saturday night carew style.
it would explain the mistakes.
Reply to keefvilla:
Like you said Keef it is a game of opinions and i respect yours on Milner. I guess why i really never wanted us to sign him is that he really isn't outstanding at anything. He has got average pace, average skills to beat a man and so far his crossing has been really average. So IMO we have paid a lot of money for someone with a lot of average attributes. He does have a good attaitude and work rate whcih he cannot be faulted for.
Owen, a great player with his future behind him. Might sell a few shirts but otherwise would not want.. unless he was taken on a paid-as-you-play basis (not likely). I have this horrible vision of Gabby getting crocked and us taking Kevin Philips back on loan
Reply to keefvilla:
True True, He fulfilled some sort of potential under O'Leary for fuck sake!!!
MON must be able to do double that!!! He needs to get an extended run of games under his belt and get used to this system that we now play!
I don't care how much we pay for a player really. If we want a player lets buy him. I think Milner was a good purchase for adding something to the squad. Even if I think he has yet to make a huge impact.
However I'd rather have a few others in that list above than Milner. Namely Bentley & SWP. When Milner starts beating these guys in to the senior england squad, i'll stand corrected.
Reply to StickyAV:
He will
sticky thats a bit harsh you know that a villa player needs to play like god would to get ahead of a cockney in the england team
James - it's true, as proved by Ash.
Maybe it is harsh, but I don't see it happening in the near future (in competitive games).
When bentley has played in position this year, which is the last week or so, he's been pretty f'in good. A wonder goal and a couple of assists in the last couple of games?
I hate him, but he's a good player.
does he work as hard defensively?
My point earlier is that Heskey and Owen would be quick fixes. O'Dreary and the likes could go out and buy them. If MOn is true to his building a team policy then we need your strikers that can get better. THere's plenty that are about as good as Owen and Heskey, but have the potential to improve. That's what we need. If we are buying the like of Heskey and Owen then we may al well have any old manager. It's the future we are looking at, not the here and now. We also need to look outside the UK for players. That's why Pool, Manure, Arse and Chelski have better teams than we have! That is a fact that noone can argue with..enough said..!
Probably not. He works no where near as hard as milner. Looks arogant on the field. But then he does a lot more going forward. Last season I think bentley got like 6 goals and 10+ assists. Milner had 2 and 2.
I know, not as good team, still young etc etc etc. But Bentley is still developing too. Truth is if we had bentley in our squad milner would be on the bench.
He may have been our best player under O'dreary, but come on now, were aiming higher these days aren't we?
if we had bentley luke young would have his work cut out
i notice we are being linked with a left back to but i have no idea who he is some spanish under 21.
i think that area would be just as good a signing as a forward.
Milner WAS overpriced. He might be young but I'd bet a substantial amount of money that he's not going to get a lot better than he already is. I'm certain he's almost hit his potential already. Don't get me wrong he's a good player, he's just not that good.
heheh all this hot air and BS and it won't change the fact we will win notthing AGAIN.
cue the special needs asbo kids sending sweary messages, lol the more you send the more I laugh as i know I am light years ahead of you in evolution
When i first started using this site, you used to proper p*ss me off. Now it cracks me up...
Reply to StickyAV:
So you would rather have Downing at Villa than Ashley Young. Downing gets into the England squad ahead of Young so he must be better.
Maybe the England manager gets it wrong!!!
Reply to taglor:
You are still dragging your knuckles on the ground as you walk
lol That's it more like keef please
Jeez keef!!! Read my post properly?
I said - 'When Milner starts beating them to the england squad I will stand corrected'. He is still quite young, that's why I didn't say 'this is prooved by the fact he is not in the england team'. Ashley Young is also young. But he will replace Downing, or another midfielder in the England team if he continues his development. That is my opinion.
Milner won't.
And anyway, a man who has managed the players and won the trophies capello has, knows a lot more about football than we do. Otherwise we'd be on several million a year. There is no 'right' england team. Only an interpretation.
Can we read posts properly so i don't have to type it twice, or 3 times?
Taglor,
We're rubbish and we've got a rubbish manager and rubbish players and even rubbisher fans that don't know what they're talking about cos they're rubbish. Bring on the championship next season!
StickyAV,
So what are you saying? ASH is rubbish or MILNER is rubbish. Or are they both rubbish?
"When Milner starts beating these guys in to the senior england squad, i'll stand corrected."
Reading that it seems to me that you don't think that he will be in the England squad ahead of players mentioned. I was just pointing out that Ash Young isn't in the squad either and he is better than Downing and a few others. And I don't care how much Capello is paid or what he has won, if he thinks Downing is better than Young he has obviously lost the plot.
Milner was the best right sided midfielder available.
Reply to taglor:
Oh my God Taglors got a sense of humour.
signing owen would be a big step forward and show mon's ambitions but i will watch this space very half heartedly
but end up with 1 goal in 5 heskey whoop whoop
Hi lads!
First time on so go easy on me!! Its about opinions!
Owen will be looking for a club in Jan, he will have the World Cup on his mind and of course the chance, in that time, to get his way back into the England squad.Capello doesnt fancy him at all (Madrid!)so he will want to change that!.A year or so rejuvinated and scoring at a new club might just give him a chance to add to his England tally.Lets face it, he didnt want to end up at Newcastle, but had no choice.I think as soon as a bid is made, he will be off!.I think he'd be great at the Villa,playing off Big John or Heskey, but then i also think sticking Gabby out on the right with Ash on the left with JC/EH and Owen in the middle looks good.But its down to Owen himself.
Michael Owen is finished, it would be a move back for Villa. I think we need a couple of big names though to compete with the top four
Chater, I just love hat avatar.
Owen? Ok then, but no more than £65,000 per week (did I just write that? 65?)
Reply to taglor:
tuglor take some happy pills you miserable old scroat we will get heskey and owen,and there was also speculation you might turn up to villa park (which is in birmingham)to CHEER and SUPPORT the lads.
,i dont think i should of mixed happy pills with stella 
Has anyone else heard the story about John Carew? A very reliable source has told me that trouble is on the horizon but I hope Carew stays.
Reply to Abz:
That's hardly a story mate.
Hi mate,
There's more to Carew's absence than meets the eye. A lot of things have been discussed in the press box recently that made me think that something isn't right. I could be wrong though. Hope so.
Damien,
I'm still waiting on your reply about whether you'd consider using my upcoming interview with Petrov. I'm doing it very soon
Reply to AVFCBlog:
who?
I wouldn't mind Elano
I have to agree, signing Owen and Heskey would be a big statement of intent......intent to drop quicker than a mince pie from a drunkards party plate.
FFS, if this is the sum of our ambitions then i'm off to support rugby instead. Owen, as Damian says has a few games in him before injury, and Heskey well he's Heskey and we would need paying to take him, both winners in their day but now are losers and past it!!
If we are gonna pay someone silly money then please let it be Thierry Pleeeeeeaaaaasssseeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!
UTV!!
Imagine Henry and Carew!! Gabby on theh right and Young Ashley on the left!!!
UTV!!!
Reply to Abz:
I have heard the same as this Abz. I have a feeling Carew may not be here come Jan and Oneil is actually looking for a striker to replace him.
im sick of people going on about milner being great when he was on loan for us...he was playing in an AVERAGE side!!!! we were playing the likes of berson, samuel, mccann, moore, and wasnt bardsley on loan that season too??
not exactly world beaters are they...hence why it made milner look better, and i dont see the problem with going abroad for players every once in a while.
if MON buys doyle in jan then im not going to another game this season.
i mean show some godamn ambition for once ffs!
didn't we spend the same on milner that man u spent on ronaldo and valencia on joaquin. I know we couldnt have got the manure player but surely it would have been worthwile going for joaquin.
Rich Clark - isn't it harder to play well when you are playing with average players? And are you calling Barry, Hitzlsperger, Angel, Mellberg, Laursen just average? And Bardsley wasn't on loan that season, he was loaned during MON's first season.
villa_tommy - we aren't playing in the champions league so no chance of attracting that type of player, yet.
petrov s back!!!
we are saved.
Whats these rumours about carew and where have they come from??
Abz . The Carew thing was obvious when he played against Prague he was struggling so all this talk of him maybe leaving is 2+2 = 5 Carew wont be going anywhere and talk of him going is just because we are getting closer to the window opening
Reply to Ugly_Betty:
You couldnt afford either, 50k a week for owen, i dont think so, try doubling it, and adding a bit more. As for martin your lookin at 15 plus million and £90k a week wage, for some reason i dont think your backers would go for that sort of cost and investment.
keep searchin you villians coz your dreaming if you think either would be intrested in villa.
ps thnks for the 12 million for milner you are so welcome to him. Bet he is miffed he got stuffed upon his return. ahaha
nufc 4 life,
OWEN would only be a fringe player at Villa as we already have better strikers. The question is whether we really need to sign him, not whether he'd be interested in coming. Of course he would. We have a proud history, presently we are fighting for a champions league spot having anhilated Arsenal away (not scrapping down the bottom like you). Our future, and the only future is claret and blue. Why don't you fire your minging shirt in to the TYNE like some of the sensible fans you have?