Odense tonight, a bit of a go at Martin O'Neill and win another DVD

Bentley is a chance missed.

Best post you have written for ages Damo. I have a feeling you will get stick from the misty eyed brigade but I think this time next year after our lucky season last season ( no bad injuries, glut of goals from set pieces that teams will now be wise too)people will really be calling for MON or RL ' heads. This game is like a cup final today it is more important than any game last season and I don't care what the quality of the opposition is if he hasn't got a recognise RB this is seriously mickey mouse and shows no signs of professionalism. I mean can you really imagine Ferguson, Wenger, Mourinho not having a RB and being happy? In MON we trust? In my arse I trust!!!! 8)

bentley is the perfect right mid for us. come on MON. just give blackburn the 17 mil they want!

give us a rb at least
nrc should not be a rb
anyways guzan can easily handle epl
americans have a great record

Yup, one goalkeeper who knows he's goona be 3rd choice so how motivated will he be? No RB, one half fit LB, Zat Knight, one RM who hasn't played Prem football for 3 years, Salifou, our new CM who had a bit of a stinker against the mighty Lincoln!
Looking good MON. Looks like GB is right about you!

I am one of the people who has backed both Randy and Martin to the hilt, however I am begining to feel that because Martin is trying to do it all he has to carry the can.
To go in to this game with only 1 addition to the squad is IMO a very serious mistake. The first thing that Martin should have done is buy a right back and a goalkeeper. We have neither,there is a youth team player on the bench to night as cover for Taylor, who if you look at the way things have gone since Martin came here,he has no faith in.
The gaps in the squad have been covered by youth team palyers, this is not good enough. I know there is over a month left of the window and that in that time we could have 6 or more new players, the fact of the matter is that the season for us has started and we are more devoid of players now than at the end of last season.

I hate posts like this. You start of with a good point - we are not ready for the season and do not have the players in that we should have. Going on to slag off everyone running in the club is going way too far. What do you want, Doug and his gang back. I would like more players in (but also looking forward to seeing the likes of Bannan, Delfunsco etc) this season, but I have never been prouder of how the club in being run off the pitch (over the summer we have been principled about Barry, introduce Acorn instead of running for the cash with online betting company). It is article like this that will drive O'Neill/Learner away from Villa.

Maybe you are suffering from pre-match nerves - if so, I am with you on there!

I truely beleave that MON will strengthen before Man City at home . But Before he can he needs to be able to offer them a little bit more than intertoto football .
He knows what he's doing , yes its a big gamble today and next week but once we are in the uefa cup proper the signings will come .
0-1 villa today .

I am sorry people but i totally disagree with everyone about David Bentley!!!
He is the most over-rated player 0f the last 10 years, has a stinking attitude, and is one of the latest string of players only interested in how much money he earns in a week.

If he was the messiah that all you think he is, then why can he not keep out an has been in the England side? Why is he not picked over David Beckham? I'll tell you why, because he's not good enough.

I've watched Bentley and for this matter, Shaun Wright-Philips in the last year, and each time wondered what all the fuss is about!
Yes, if MON could get them at the right price then fair enough, but 17million, no chance!

Trust in MON he'll bring in the players!

Damien, i'm very dissappointed. Here's to egg on your face!!

up the villa

I disagree.

We may not be ready.. yet. I too will be cacking myself over tonight's game. But we will soon have two new keepers come in and im sure a right back will soon follow.

I can also see us at least bringing in another central defender and another midfielder before the transfer window is out. Im sure Delfouneso will also feature up front at times if they dont bring in another striker.

Trust the MON! He's got it right so far in terms of results and building an excellent young team? ;)

ANO

First - I'm not slagging everyone off

Krulak is there for PR purposes - accept that and you'll understand.

O'Neill - I've explained myself about that and if you read this site you'll know I'm his biggest fan. But that excuse about 'offering a fair price' is absolute bollox.

I'm nervous about tonight but probably for completely different reasons to you.

Agree with Ron. I was at Wembley for Eng-Switz and thought Bentley was average at best, didn't seem to have pace to get around Swiss defence. I would have like to see ashley young given the chance. Couldn't believe it when I heard that BBC coverage had bentley down as one of the better players. I would say 12m fine, any more isn't great value. also, he seems to have a bit of dodgy attitude (remember he walked out on England U21 last summer).

SWP seems to have lost all confidence and then ambition since joining Chelsea. Steer well clear.

i have every confidence that we'll win over the two legs, but Damo your right, if we fcuk this up and don't qualify for the UEFA Cup MON has to be accountable for it. To not sign a RB is a fcuking joke, he's had since Bardsley to do it..It gets my goat when teams like Pompey get all these players in..MON is not a big name outside these shores, he cannot attract big name players and we have zero ambition to take this club forward. Look at WBA..its took them about lets say 3 days to get in a goalkeeper...they've signed 7 players since they've come up....

Let's have some support then Damien if your his biggest fan. Don't jump ship too early!!

Dunk

I want to be wrong ... I want to see the signings and I want to see us finish 6th or better next season - so at least we can say we're moving in the right direction, but even Martin O'Neill knows he needs the players and when we walk away from targets because the 'fair' price wasn't accepted - that's just not how business in the game is conducted these days - he should know it, because £10mn. is a fair price for Barry!

Hope we can win tonight its a big game 4 us i wanted to see some new players tho coz we was really bad last week playing lincoln but Laursen did not play so i hope he can sort the back 4 out

We should have to much for them going forward i think

Damian,

I do read your posts and I like the banter they stir up. I wouldn't have said you were MoN biggest fan.

Anyway, I am nervous about us slipping out against a team I really feel we should beat if we weren't playing them so early in pre-season. How about you?

Sorry Damian, i keep spelling your name wrong for some reason. I'm thinking your french 'Damien'

Ron

I'll support Martin O'Neill for the next five years no problem - but if he's going to say something stupid then I have no problem criticising him.

I'm also certainly not jumping ship.

Barry is same age as Hargreaves and Carrick and 6 months younger than Gerrard. So how is he only worth 10m?

Even Liverpool have offered 15m.

Every word u speak is true. I am sick and tired of the PR crap that the club and MON in particular go on with. MON gets quoted everywhere saying "we will bring in reinforcements,i wasnt happy with the size of the squad and intend changing it, we are actively in the market" etc etc but the fact remians we have known when this game has been on pretty much since the end of the season and so far we got sidwell and a yank keeper who's work permit hasnt been approved yet.( i dont count curtis as he was already here)
GET ON WITH IT ALREADY MON
Exactly as u said Damo. if we dont get to UEFA there is one man and one man only to blame. OUR MANAGER.
Dont stuff around. we need players and plenty of them. Yes we need quality but we also need numbers. why have this whole protracted crap of we bid this then they reject it etc Bid what will get the player to our club
If we fail over the next two weeks there are gonna be some very angry fans and rightly so. And i dont wanna hear the same crap from MON.
In saying that Up The Villa!!!!!

ANO

Maybe I'm not actually his biggest fan - but I fully support him and think what he did last season was fantastic considering the squad we had. I think if he strengthen properly in January we could have done better - but he didn't.

I think it was an error sure, but he got 6th and you have to be ahppy with that.

When I say biggest fan, I hope you understand that I don't actually mean that I am, because that is too difficult to prove and a wild statement. I really mean that I think Martin O'Neill is a fantastic manager and I fully support him as a manager.

I just think that he's got his hands tied at the moment ...

we are certainly moving in the right direction but i agree on the signings front. this barry saga is dragging on and i know he is making a point but if its over one million, just back down. we don't want to be left with dead wood as no one will pay for him and his fee will be half that next year at least. just look at lampard.
there are also no excuses for some of the cover we need. we need 2 rb's, one would be nice and a left back especially as bouma had an extended holiday. he has had till 1st february to think about this but i feel like mon gets to the end of the season and scratches his head and wonders what to do next.
the constant pr bullshit is getting on my nerves. either say something and back it with substance or say nothing. what we get is mon saying how we need quality signings for a small squad and how they are needed to be blooded in pre season. that hasnt happended except sidwell.
we are have a depleted squad to the one mon moaned about last year. so far we have lost berger/cahill/sorenson/carson/barry(we know he's gone) and maybe more. so on those calculations, we are -3 to an already tiny squad.
i agree that the club isnt interested in paying money. look at barry. we are asking an unreasonable 18 million and when another club want 17 million (bentley) for a younger palyer with higher prospects, we ain't interested. hypocritical.

anyway rant over. the club is moving in the right direction but this transfer bullshit has to stop. bring in a director of football and leave mon to do what he is good at!!!

I can honestly say I don't know what to think. There's plenty of ammo for both sides of the argument, hence the big debate. there seems little doubt that we're running a pretty strict policy on transfer values, in and out. That makes sense if i) there's a limited pot, or ii) there are several options, or iii) the need isn't great. The biggst unknown is the second one and we won't know the full story until the window closes. The market has been slow generally so partly its our early start that is making the nerves jangle However I don't want us to buy players for the next couple of games, I want them for the next 5 years. A win in the Intertoto won't be luck - we have some great players already. To go into the season proper with a very understrength squad would be impossible to justify though, sometimes something IS better than nothing. So, transfer jury's out for me still, in a positive way. It's just a bit uncomfortable.

ANO

this is my last response in the comments, just so you know, but in response to:
[quote]Barry is same age as Hargreaves and Carrick and 6 months younger than Gerrard. So how is he only worth 10m?

Even Liverpool have offered 15m.[/quote]
i think £10mn. would have been a fair price, considering those players you mentioned, because i think those players are far better - my opinion

even liverpool offered more - again, thats my point. they want barry so they're offering more. not just walking away from their initial offer of what no doubt they considered fair

but i will say this ANO - i want to be wrong and I want egg on my face - i've no issues with that

Totally agree with ths article and I have been eching these sentiments for a long time. We are two thirds of the way through anothe three year cycle of new manager, false promises, limited sucess followed by a decline resulting in a new manager. I am fed up with people who get shirty when anyone dares to question Lerner or MONs actions. Deja Vu is spot on.

Don't like to be negative but i think your right to be worried.No r/b only one l/b and c/d till davies is ready :'( Can only hope MON has others lined up we dont know anything about otherwise we are in deep s%&t.
1-0 to the villa tonight ;)

What a load of tosh! The only real change in the team from last season is the loss of Melberg, and Carson who was such a liability its untrue! There's more than 6 weeks left to sign players and its not like there's been much transfer activity ANYWHERE is there? A few players here and there but most teams desperate for signings are in the same boat. Go and read Newcastle boards etc - transfers for GOOD players take time.

Also do you suggest we bid unlimited ammounts for each player? And do you suggest the mamanger has no say in how much? ie he puts on his list 'Sidwell' and Lerner goes away does the deal and says 'suprise I bought him' '£65m!'

Honestly rather than moan try and think a little.

taglor: I mean can you really imagine Ferguson, Wenger, Mourinho not having a RB and being happy?

Mourinho played Essien at RB for MOST of the last season he was there and he's done so since. Ferguson played Brown a CB there all last season... maybe they don't have the money to sign players either...

honestly get a grip!

If we loose today - well we loose, Chelsea & Liverpool both lost to Div2 sides last season in the FA Cup - it happens.

Judge the manager on results over a season... so far he's done pretty well.

I can honestly say I don't know what to think. There's plenty of ammo for both sides of the argument, hence the big debate. there seems little doubt that we're running a pretty strict policy on transfer values, in and out. That makes sense if i) there's a limited pot, or ii) there are several options, or iii) the need isn't great. The biggst unknown is the second one and we won't know the full story until the window closes. The market has been slow generally so partly its our early start that is making the nerves jangle However I don't want us to buy players for the next couple of games, I want them for the next 5 years. A win in the Intertoto won't be luck - we have some great players already. To go into the season proper with a very understrength squad would be impossible to justify though, sometimes something IS better than nothing. So, transfer jury's out for me still, in a positive way. It's just a bit uncomfortable.

I can honestly say I don't know what to think. There's plenty of ammo for both sides of the argument, hence the big debate. there seems little doubt that we're running a pretty strict policy on transfer values, in and out. That makes sense if i) there's a limited pot, or ii) there are several options, or iii) the need isn't great. The biggst unknown is the second one and we won't know the full story until the window closes. The market has been slow generally so partly its our early start that is making the nerves jangle However I don't want us to buy players for the next couple of games, I want them for the next 5 years. A win in the Intertoto won't be luck - we have some great players already. To go into the season proper with a very understrength squad would be impossible to justify though, sometimes something IS better than nothing. So, transfer jury's out for me still, in a positive way. It's just a bit uncomfortable.

I couldnt agree more. Doug Ellis all over again. Apparently money to spend, but we dont spend it. Pay for Bentley. Take the £15 odd million for Barry, maybe even take Hoyte in exchange too. But DO SOMETHING M.O.N!!!!!!!!!!!!

firstly with regards to wba signing players, its a lot easier bringing in players of a lesser quality than the targets we are supposed to be looking to get in!
but i have to say with regards to the bentley thing I'm very disappointed! how can we put one bid in and say that's are bid take it or leave it? its starting to feel to me like O'Neil is a bit stubborn & childish about things.
and you can say bentley isnt that good bla bla bla, but he was our number one target in that position! so i dont buy into that.
i wouldnt be suprised now if we get someone like milner in now, who is noway near as good as bentley and cant deliver a ball to save his life.
why does it always semm to go like this??

I think MON is overated, he's resume is not that good. I support the Villa first and foremost, and like MON cause theirs an entertainment factor to him. As a manager he is no good, as a coach he is brilliant.

well it is starting time in the league again and really no where near as many purchases as hoped. Sidwell is a quality signing, but we need another 5 like that.

Fingers crossed tonight

Woahhhh!!!
Damien, i had no idea you were that close to the club that you were party to the meetings that have taken place with prospective transfer targets!

Truth is you weren't and like the rest of us you have to rely on snippets coming second or third hand. Ok maybe MON hasn't managed to get the first choice players and sometimes he has a brain fart and say something dumb. But for F**ks sake, give the guy a break.

He can't be god and please everyone all of the time, don't judge him until its time to be judged not while he is striving to give you what you want. IMO Bentley is overrated and i have not been that impressed when i have seen him play.

I think MON has got this one right, Bentley probably gave the impression that he was a mercenary and put MON off. There could be hundreds of reasons MON has pulled the plug. Don't crucify the geezer on thought up reasons.

If he is sitting with his cup of coffee reading this blog, he's probably wandering why he's gettin grief on hearsay. Villa will win today i have no doubt and i have put my shillings on a silverware win this season at Mr Hill's.

Grow a bit of faith!!!

There is nothing fair in professional sport, fair is something that you do when you play a match with your mates, Football is big money, the big clubs get bigger because they don't play fair, ie Liverpool with Barry & Keane, Man U with Berbatov, Real with Ronaldo etc.
If we want to be a big club lets start acting big not fair. How many big clubs do not have a right back or a reserve keeper going into competitive matches. we might find out the hard way tonight about being a big club.

Everthing will be fine. Stop worrying.

I liked the comment someone made about the moaners being wrong last season and the season before.

I guess if you keep throwing more and more chips on black eventually you'll be able to shout 'Yehay, I was right.'

don't worry Salifou for premier league top scorer ;D ;D

Bentley would have been the perfect signing for us. He is young talented and ambitious. Signing him would attract other players that we need too. Chance missed and unless this is some ploy to try to get Bentley to ask Ince for a transfer then I'm very disappointed. I couldn't believe MON saying he'd offered a "fair price", he won't accept £15m for Barry but won't pay more for Bentley. PATHETIC!
Good to see Spurs reported Liverpool to FA for illegal approach. Nice one!

Well said Ron couldnt agree more about Bentley.

As for tonight game we should hammer these if we are to push on to try to break the top 4 as Mon and the players seem to be saying.Then these should be walk over. I couldnt see the top 4 being worried or being outplayed be these so why should we. come on they finished 5th in the Danish league none of there players would grace the claret and blue shirt prob not even our bench,there best player is 37/38 yr old Helveg so if we cant beat this lot then we aint got a cat in hells chance of breaking top 6 never mind 4.

come on you lions for tonight

RSamVillaFan

Sorry, I said I wasn't going to comment any more but I am this last time.

This is the quote from O'Neill:
[quote]I will tell you we put an offer in for Bentley which we thought was fair but it was rejected. This was a long time ago and we’ve not pursued that since so we’re moving on. We’ve got other people we would be very keen to bring to the football club, all pretty decent players.[/quote]
It's not hearsay or opinion based on snippets of information I'm basing this on, it's what Martin O'Neill told us.

If he wanted Bentley, as it appears he did, then in the modern game you don't walk away after one bid.

Everything else you've suggested in your comment is actually what you accused me of. You don't know what O'Neill thought of Bentley or what impression he gave to O'Neill.

What you actually know is what we've been told by O'Neill above and that is what I'm using for my suggestion that you don't offer fair prices then walk away - football isn't fair!

Damian mate, you are totally spot on about everything you say!
I have been going on about not signing top players for a while, ive also said that i dont think we've got big money to spend and thats exactly how it looks, MON has gone mad, the Bentley situation is crazy, we should be paying the market price, the market, the merket whatever to make sure we get him, this is s total disaster in my books, if we dont qualify for the Uefa cup then only MON is to blame, he's had enough time to sign players but instead he has chosen to be at some jolly in Austria!!
I am im wrong but its not looking good at all, i just hope we dont get any similar signings to Knight and Harewood! This is going pear shaped guys, what does the "in MON we trust" lot say to all this??

why we all so worried? because we lost a couple of friendlies? we will get players in WHEN we qualify for the eufa cup. MON will have better bargaining tool then!!! and when we win 2-0 tonight the players will start coming in!! UP THE VILLA!

Jesus christ I've read it all now... we have no money and proof of that is we are 'holding out' for £18m for Barry?

Hey lets let him go for £10m to show how much money we have right? Really! Hey lets make it £3m.

In fact lets let him go for free - or lets pay them £5m to take him? That would show them eh!

The reason the Barry deal is protracted is Rafe & Liverpool pissed MON & our board off - thats it. Just like Spurs have got pissed off and now they will demand *unreasonable* fee's and hold out for the highest buck possible. Just like Blackburn are asking £17m for Bentley who isn't worth anything like that.

You guys have seriously no idea how to run a business.

Also on the Bentley front I have a feeling its PR from MON so we don't get dragged into a bidding war - I would expect him to match other accepted bids as long as they're reasonable.

And whilst I'm at it in your 1st post Damien you suggest we throw money at players to join the club - is that the type of player you REALLY want?

Think about what your saying guys - the club who did what your suggesting last year was West Ham, and its normally Newcastle.. Hardly clubs we want to copy surely?

I'll take the Everton approach of good management, commited players & sensible growth any time over your boom & bust crap.

Ok here is how is see. Damian i normally agree with your posts however i think the nerves of tonight's game is getting to you and your having a bad day, which your allowed every once in a while. Everybody is nervous about tonight, hell I'm crapping myself but lets look at it from MON point of view.

At the moment he may be having trouble attracting the QUALITY he wants. If he was to fill all the necessary positions now we would get the likes of Chimbonda, Milner etc. Average players at best. As somebody mentioned above, MON is not recognized abroad. If, over the two legs, we get into the UEFA cup he will be able to dangle the lure of that competition in front of better quality players. Is it a gamble, YES, but thats what leaders are meant to do, make decisions and take risks. Let say then we don't qualify for the UEFA cup, we can still lure the likes of Chimbonda, Milner so you can conclude that its the right decision to wait until we qualify.

With regards Bentley, i would have really loved him to join but if MON has been told that he is only willing to leave to go to a top four club or a club in London then thats a public humiliation that MON, RL and Aston Villa as a whole can do without. I personally believe this is the case.

So try and keep the faith and when the transfers window closes, we are still in the same boat then i will be the first to criticize.

Keep fingers and legs crossed for tonight :)

Madladdy, for a start, manure had a cb at the club and chelsea had rb's, they had to play other players there because of injuries, now if you want to compare us with them, tell me who is our rb..... exactly we haven't got one and we haven't had one for 2 seasons now, MON is crap in the transfer windows, end of. Even if we go and buy 6 new players in the last week it's not good enough we need them in sooner to gel with the team, the same as we needed to buy in Jan to push on but all we got was that tit from spuds. To get any better we need to buy quality and they cost so MON just bloody spend some cash you tight arse!!!!! UTV

Put your dummy back in Damian. Let me put this scenario to you.

MON finds out Bentley doesn't want to join Villa, in fact he would rather stay than move here. He fancies Tottenham or a top four move. Why enter a bidding race in those circumstances where we show everyone else the colour of our money and inflate the fees for our next target?

I'm disappointed like everyone and as I've said before I think MON is in for a stinker but unlike you I actually am a fan and will back him the season after to come good.

I think there is a bit of panicking going on here. If we bid over the odds and pay over the odds wages then we may just well end up in the situation West Ham are in having to sell to buy. It is right to be cautious in transfers, yet agree the odd signing should be made paying over the odds as that is the market nowadays.

MON says there are additional targets so we should trust that. If Villa get stuffed 3-4 nil then we can come back and complain. Until then results speak for themselves and the Villa board and manager have done well to date.

Hairy H: Not true Essien played at right back as he was *prefered* as the backup they had was crap. Through TWO transfer windows. The fact Essien played there and not in CM was touted as a reason they didn't win anything in fact! Don't tell me they don't have the money to buy someone decent for a year!! And didn't the media/fans say the manager was told he had no money for a new RB? And they all moaned.

Man U only had Neville injured so they had no backup RB and again this is through TWO or more transfer windows.

Man U havn't brought in anyone to cover/replace an aging Neville. For about 2 years now Man U fans have been asking for Richard from Man C to be bought in etc. So they all moan.

It's easy to moan I guess..

Anyhows I'm off to thank to lord I'm not as downbeat and negative as half the people on here!

Your spot on AVMark, totally agree. Someone sensible enough to understand how football and business works.

I wouldn't be surprised with all the rumours if Bentley hinted he wasn't going to come to Villa and wanted to go to Spurs.

MON's disclosure is to apease the fans that bids are being made but obviously he can't say some targets don't want to come to us. If he did more targets might reply the same.

madladdy....

"I'll take the Everton approach of good management, commited players & sensible growth any time over your boom & bust crap."

Do Everton have the smallest squad in Premiership history? Do they have 1 goalkeeper who only made 4 appearances last season, only 4 defenders with league experience, one of whom is Zat Knight, no right back at all, 10 midfielders, two who have never started a match for us and two (Barry and Maloney) who want to leave, and only 3 strikers? No they bloody don't!!! Sensible growth we would all like.
Get as much money for Barry as possible but pay as much as you have to, to get the players he wants and needs. Our season starts today and we don't have a squad at all.

we need to get bentley,milner or SWP. i dont think were going to get SWP and as weve for some reason pulled out of the race for bentley we need to get milner, if weve bid for bentley and it got knocked back then we need to bid higher its not rocket science. either you want him or you dont theres no in between.im starting to get pi$$ed off with lerner and MON over transfers,i gave them the bendefit of the doubt but it seems now that their not willing to spend.lets just settle for mid table then...

Damian - I could not agree more.

The fact is MoN obviously identified Bentley as his first choice RW, whether people rate Bentley or not is irrelevant. If MoN wants him he pays the money. As for people who say that Bentley would not have come - Blackburn rejected the bid so nobody has had the opportunity to sell villa to him.

In my opinion, considering our squad right now - we are one month away from being a club in crises. The club motto of 'Prepared' makes me laugh. In one of your reply post Damian you said ' considering the squad we had' - and this is my biggest issue with MoN and it pi##es me off every time I hear somebody saying it - squad size and quality is 100% his responsibility and can never be used to pat him on the back if itsnot what it should be. Not buying quality players seems to save him from criticism.

My concern is that MON doesn't like using players that have missed out on a full pre season with the club (as shown by Salifou, Routledge and Davies last year) he would much rather use the lads that have played the most time together and only change things if he gets an injury/suspension to deal with. So it's getting a bit late for him to sign any first team starters by his own standards.

Are we going to end up next year with the same staring 11 and then 5 new, talented players sat on the bench just because we get lucky with injuries again!

If you’re required to fill a spot daily it’s inevitable that some of the prose will become a bit fevered but today’s stuff is typical of what ‘s becoming a trend: something along the lines of ‘the club must buy or the club will die. Buy NOW. Buy Anybody’
Successful businesses and football clubs aren’t built like that. It takes experience, dedication, focus and discipline. And it takes time. But we knew that didn’t we? O’Neill told us that when he came; he said it would take five years at least. The manager has been here two years, taken the Villa to sixth and already Damian wants to apportion blame. Somebody has to be blamed AND THE SEASON HASN’T STARTED YET!
If O’Neill doesn’t buy any more players before the deadline I shan’t worry about it. The smallest squad in the known universe? Who cares? The manager has made it plain that he will only buy players who fit the bill. The criteria include Price, Salary, Skill, Attitude and Availability.
How lucky we are to have a manager who has principles and, furthermore, sticks to them. Chelsea’s new manager has said he cannot work with a squad of more than 23/24 players and is disposing of several very good players who were hanging around to no purpose. We’ve picked up one of the discards. Scolari, like O’Neill, knows that you can buy who you may but you can only put eleven on the pitch.
Damian, be patient. When you had breakfast yesterday morning you trusted O’Neill and Learner and when he guides us to the top 4 you’ll trust them again.

Damian, lets face it m8 i really dont think there's much chance of you getting egg on your face.We have been fed the same lines over and over again so i dont bother raising my expectation levels anymore its just easier that way

AT LAST someone else has come out and said what we all already know!!

Remember the artical from Anthony "The Missing Millions Of Aston Villa"?? Ok so maybe I would be biased because Anthony is a friend of mine but every single word of that artical was true and correct and now we are seeing it.

Lerner has been taking us for a ride, putting on the free buses to chelsea etc is all just a cover up for the fact he doesnt care less about Villa and is just here to make money.

This club we all love im sorry to say is going down hill fast.

keef: "10 midfielders" - seems two more than we need to me! ;p

"3 strikers" - so the same as Man U (one of which is 99% injured) or one more than Chelsea have you mean? :)

And we have Carew, Harwood, Gaby, Young & Maloney who can play up front so we're not really short there.

I'm not saying we don't need players we obviously do - mostly in defence and GK and it looks like both keepers will be sorted next week.

What I'm saying is I don't belive we don't have 7 new world class players due to incompetance as is suggested.

Also your early posts:

"he won't accept £15m for Barry"

"Get as much money for Barry as possible"

Don't you think your contradicting yourself a little?

What we're willing to pay and what we want for players has NOTHING to do with each other. If it did and we showed parity - well that would be FAIR - and the original post and several posters have all gone on about football not been fair.. except it seems unless you want us to be?

Or is it just another excuse to moan?

I swear half of you would love us to loose tonight - I bet Damien already has the "I told you so" - "MON to blame" - "The board are liars" - post half written!

demonstrative of o'neills transfer ambition:

agathe, routeledge, harewood, knight, sutton, bardsley, maloney,

at the same time getting rid of young promise: steve davis, cahill, luke moore.

can't wait for our new signings like heskey, bobo balde, teemu taino, lee cattermole, what about gavin mccann?

I also am a bit bemused that we make 1 bid (even though this is an assumption i have made from O'Neill's comments) and then when this is rejected we pull out... Unless the price we were quoted was ridiculous (over £20mil) surely we should have upped our bid to ensure we got our man. I agree Damian that we are told we have the cash, but i would like to see a few risks taken. I also agree that there is a fair bit of PR going on and im starting to believe that we really dont have as much money as we all thought. If i am wrong, why are we signing Brad Friedel can i ask?

Jimbo there's one very big flaw in you argument. If Lerner is here for the money why is Barry still here?

More crap from the fair weather fan Damian. Get back to Sweeden you silly little boy.

And for that matter why did we offer £10 million?

Martin has ponced about on TV when he should have been securing players & showing the fans & Gareth that the Club is still about football & not Just PR.
Where was the PR when they kicked out 400fans to shove in the cooperate seats, I am sure business people will be clamouring for those seats next year after another season of no trophys.
We cannot even beat the stiffs we have played in friendly’s GB still desperate to leave What international players will want to come to Villa Park

I agree on the whole and disagree with certain points. but to be honest thats irrelevant. What is SO important, and something that has been stressed to us is reinforcements,not just from the manager but from the players. It is unbelievable to go into a game without a right back. Gardner has been injured so hes less fit, NRC doesnt and shouldnt be playing RB. It should have been sorted, we need 2 RB, it would be nice to have one. Or am i asking for to much??Not being fair??

utv

AvfcPaul - you might want to see the Blackburn Rovers Blogs where almost all of em don't give a toss about Bentley but are up in arms about Friedel.

Madladdy you are missing the point totally. I agree that MON should get as much money for Barry as possible, that's obvious. What I am saying is that if MON wants to make Liverpool pay the "going rate" then he will have to accept that he must do the same. MON is person who is contradicting themselves.
Also, Man U have Tevez, Rooney and Saha and will probably sign Berbatov. Chelsea have Anelka, Drogba, Pizarro and Shevchenko so they have 1 more than us! ;D
MON is person who mentioned the word FAIR not me. If £18m is a fair price for Barry then it's a fair price for Bentley too.

I ve been reading the articles and postson this website for nearly two years and decided time had come to say something

I dont understand why martin o neil and villa find it so hard to bring some quality players into the club if you look at what sven did when he arrived at the city he brought in a fair few quality players in a short time e.g elano, petrov, that striker that is injured.

I think the time is over when you could pay a fair price for a quality player and get him, i think martin o neil and villa have got to accept that youve got to literally splash the cash to get your men (if we have the so called money).

Fair enough MON has brought in a number of good players such as ashley young, john carew, hopefully NRC and petrov this season. However I think to miss out signing defoe or crouch or both was a crime.

MON has litterally just wittled our squad down to paper thin, yes he has got rid of dead wood, but he just hasnt replaced them i really find it hard to believe that a good manager can do this and then enter the premier league season with f**k all players. If we enter this seaon with virtually no more players than we have now we will certainaly not finish in the top ten.

I really hope MON can sign about another 6-8 players including a new quality rb, another two defenders, attacking mid(playermaker), right winger, the two brads and a quality striker. However the chances of this happening are ever so slim.

I could not agree more keef about the state of our squad.
The fans with the Goggles on can never see the whole picture, we cannot think everthing is great just because we want it to be.
I admit i have a bad taste in my mouth the way the club has treated a few fans
Martin is a good manager but i do not think it is worthwhile sacrificing the Club just because he wants to control everything.
His man management skills must now be put under the spolight with the GB Affair
His activtiy in the transfer market has infuriated most of us so Randy must for the good of the club act now & bring in the Board that can run this football club unless he has just lost initerest already

Another thing madladdy......... We have 10 midfielders with first team experience, two will be sold this summer (Barry and Maloney) and two have never started a match for us (Salifou and Routledge). Where will the competition for places come from?

Having read all the arguments on here I am torn as to what my opinion is. When i first read that MON had offered what he thought was a fair price for Bentley i was quite pleased that our manager had principles and would only pay what he thought a player is worth. After reading the thoughts of people on this site it got me thinking. Do we really want a manager with such principles?? Look at Liverpool their board and manager certainly have no principles when it comes to transfers and look where its got them a soon to be improved squad with club captains Barry and Keene possibly playing for them. I don't think there is any room in football for stubborn principles. I back MON and the team we put out whatever happens, but i don't want Villa to set themselves up for a fall by not getting in the right players. Come on the Villa tonight!!!

Contrary to another post, Villa have a new Chief Operating Officer a guy called Paul Faulkner, Randy's right hand man. MON controls everything from the football side, the players, the training ground and all transfers. He does take a strong line on value for money and wage demands. as he said on the recent BBC Euro panel 'the players have all the power nowadays' referring to GB. His stance on Barry is to be applauded, I admire him for sticking it out asking for £18M from Liverpool, they clearly tapped him up last season, and disrupted our plans. The players voted him their 'player of the season' and clearly looked up to him, but it happens, we've seen it before with Yorkie. To a fan, whether he's worth £18M, whether we buy Bentley for £17M the money is irrelevant because although we pay our £400 - £500 each season, we have no say over how that money is spent, so I honestly I don't look at Villa from a business point of view. If a top player costs X and we want him we have to pay it. I have no problem if GB stays in the stands, 're-iterating' everyday he wants to play for Liverpool. It's going to be an interesting few weeks, we need some new players, we all know it and MON and Randy know it. Villa feels a different club to the miserable O'Dreary days and even if Randy was in it for the money (and I really don't think he is, otherwise he would have taken the electronics money on the table from a new sponsor), he knows that if he was looking to sell in a couple of years he needs to have a successful club which would then be worth a lot of money, so he needs to invest. If Newcastle is worth £420M then who knows what Villa's 'perceived' value could be in the next few years. And I bet old Doug has thought that a few times! So let's stick together, be positive, wipe out Man City on Aug 16th and then GB's bedroom poster team at the end of August. We've a manager who could walk into a job with any Premier League team and an owner lots of fans would love to have, including all of our Small Heath Alliance friends.

i cant think of one football club thats succseful that pays a "fair price" for players, im sure mr. mourinho would agree, look at the money wasted at chelsea, but look at the success and publicity making up for it

Well anyway, the proof is here this morning. The thicker you are the more you moan.

The proof is here this morning. When you've lost the argument you revert to insults. ;)

Keef: "Man U have Tevez, Rooney and Saha" = As I said they have three strikers, Saha was injured 95% of the time so they have two. Whats your point? Man U won the CL & League with only TWO recognised strikers - neither of which are out and out strikers at that.. and you want to sack our board/manager for having three?? How many strikers do/did Arsenal have? Again whats your point - what would having another striker do *exactly* - baring in mind Arsenal & Man U above us have less?

Keef: "We have 10 midfielders with first team experience..." = Well your moaning about things which have NOT happened yet, talking about players who MAY be sold well I presume they will be replaced by other players we MAY buy.. Stop moaning about things which may or may *not* happen. You have enough to moan about already it seems!

Keef: "I agree that MON should get as much money for Barry as possible, that's obvious. What I am saying is that if MON wants to make Liverpool pay the "going rate" then he will have to accept that he must do the same."

'Going rate' debatable - and even so *why* [b]must[/b] he? I wouldn't if I were him. I'd want to pay as little as possible and get in as much in as possible. I guessing you don't run or have never run you own business have you?!

Josh: "i cant think of one football club thats succseful that pays a "fair price" for players" = Arsenal?

And to sum it all up!

AVMark: Couldn't agree more!

AVMARK, maybe because Liverpool have only offered 14m so far and he's holding out for 18m?.

I see your argument but when Lerner took over was we not promised a huge amount of cash to buy players? And what have we spent? We have made one big signing in the entire time he's been here in Young.

I dont like being negative about us, trust me no one loves Villa any more than I do but isnt it time the board and manager starting backing up these promises?

If loving aston villa is wrong i dont want to be right














damn wrong post does this still count ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

I agree with AVMark. I think Bentley didn't want to come, and this is MON's way of keeping positive and not showing his hand.

I am worried though. I have no doubts that while MON was away at the Euro's he was speaking with people, and I have no doubt that he understands the urgency with which we need to add to the squad. My worry is that his this caution will eventually blow up in his face.

MON appears to like to play the waiting game, and it wouldn't surprise me if he pulls a few names from Europe out of the bag. I just hope these are contenders, not filler.

Fully sympathise Jimbo as well. Don't you think it's a bit ironic though that the only fact that has come out is that we actually bid £10m for a player and now everyone is screaming about it? Now if we had mought Carlos Kickaball for £8m, everyone would be purring. It's a funny old game as they say.

Oh and Jimbo, you don't think buying an up and coming untested young centre half (who is wanted by Tottenham) for £9m counts then?

Bentley is overrated for sure. AVFC not ready, we'll see tonight... Don't be so negative before it starts. Lerner and MON are doing the best job at Villa since 1982 and results are the best over 10 years. People who are moaning now are just frustrated because you think that only big names can make a team win. Even with little but good additions (Sidwell, Friedel), Villa have young talents that will shine with the first team from this year on. A right back and it will be ok, be confident. 8)

I think Mon needs to just start splashing the cash. Bentley would be a fantastic addition to our squad so buy him. It's simple. Why are people so worried about money. It's not like it's your money, its our Billionaire chairmans money. If they want 17 mill give them it and then see if the player wants to come. I dont understand what the fuss is about. Damian is right.. if we play 'fair' then we miss out. If we miss out our competition buy the player and we are worse off. Its not just about getting good players for our squad. Its getting the good players so they dont join clubs around us. I think Randy needs to have a word with MOn and tell him to stop shopping like a bargain hunter and to just get the players that he wants and any cost.
Take care all and hope we pull off a result tonight :/

Madladdy... when did I say sack the manager or board???? NEVER!
I see you admit that Chelsea have more strikers now, and as previously stated Man U will sign Berbatov making 4. Arsenal currently have Adebayor, Van Persie, Walcott, Bendtner, Eduardo and Vela. DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM COUNTING? I would have another striker compete for first team place. Is that wrong?

Mon must pay the "going rate" in order to get the players he wants, he must want Bentley or why bid? If he doesn't there will not be any signings.

"Josh: "i cant think of one football club that's successful that pays a "fair price" for players" = Arsenal?" When did Arsenal last win anything?

If supporting Villa is wrong then madladdy must be a fan - he's not right!

I couldn't agee more (well, I suppose I could jump up and down and agree)
After our inactivity in January, MON sad we would be on a huge recruiting drive in the summer(I recall him saying something similar the previous August).Why the hell wait so long !
Tottenham did the deal for Modric before the transfer window opened.Juventus started their draft of a new centre back for this season back in October/November of last year.I don't need to remind you who they gave the job to !
MON is complaining about how difficult it is to get new players.Well Marin, it would have helped if you'd done a bit of preparation.I can see this transfer window closing with O'neill saying "we'll have a lot to do in January" then setting a reminder on his mobile for 31st December.

déjà vu.

i expect we'll go through this every summer and hopefully at the end of every season MON will deliver the results. so far that's been the pattern.

isn't the definition of madness to keep repeating the same behaviour, but to somehow expect different results??

Ive heard about this but dont know the player.. but for us just to stand still we have got to sign another 4 players just to make up the numbers, I can see it now we will leave it till the last minute as usual then sign 3 or 4 average players that we all hope MON will turn good.

Sorry but we should be signing very good players that he can make great, Sidwell may fall into that category but one or even two is not enough.

Id love us to go out and sign 4 or 5 quality players next week and make Damian, myself and all the other negatives on here look a right bunch of prats but hand on heart can you honestly see it happening?

All a bit negative in here! Just think where we were a few seasons back. Have faith in MON, tonight will be the start of a very good season!

Get behind the boys!!!

I'm going to be known as optimistic Ron from now on, now come on you villa fan's and get behind the team for tonights game. Lets see some messages of support and sing proud and loud.

Holte enders in the sky......

whats wrong with offering barry as part of a deal for bentley. im sure they would accept it greatly.

what do you think damian?

UTV ;D

Optimistic Ron

I with you, come on the villa ,will be right behind the team. At the moment winning tonight is what's important today not transfers as we certainly wont be signing anyone today. Or probably tomorrow , or the day after that, or the day after that, or the day after that........ and so on.

UTV

i think they must be running out of tinfoil hats in daventry.

"every single word of that artical was true and correct"?!?!?!

:D :D :D :D :D

At last people are finally waking up to the farce that we have surrounding AVFC....

About time too!

Am ok with Lerner still at the moment but I admit I am getting very angry with Martin O'Neill who it seems wont spend over £10m on a player and is letting the spuds get him. were on the up and should do what it takes and we should not give up after just one bid. What if the other people MON are looking at aint as good

1. About the intertoto match; we HAVE the team to beat them every day (even with several juniors), its just about attitude.. MoN can instill that in players, so I'm not worried.
2. Preseason is about testing the upcoming junior players as much as get the rest matchfit.. The future is bright, IF "IT" is allowed to shine.. otherwise they will rot in the reserves. Bentley/Seb Larsson must be a fine example of talented players need first team experience (regulary) to blossom, on the other hand we have Routhleg, SWP, Lennon, and so on, that have rotten on the bench and lost their touch,
3. No other club has been very active in the transfer market so far, so we shouldn't be to carried away,yet.. although, that we dont have any RB or RM is almost scandalus, given the time we have had that problem.

In MON we trust (as long as we wins tonight)

We've still a month to go, I hope you get the egg on yer face.

We've signed more players than any other season at this point of the transfer market

It will be seen tonight at Denmark, MON knows who he wants and I believe the money is there, We did buy a winger from Watford for over 9m and judged on that price, well what a buy, Perhaps MON has a set price for Bentley? Gone in with a starting bid, Ince has then told Spurs via the media, we are bidding for Bentley hoping Spuds come back with higher offer, MON thinks *uck you Ince we don't want him AND this is made known again via the media. Its all mind games, MON could be waiting for the right opportunity to strike for Bentley. All is not lost, Bentley hasn't signed for anyone has he?

"we offered a fair price for Bentley"

not meaning to sound synical... but...

i think MON may well have put that bid in ages ago in a vein attempt to capture gareth barry's signature on a new contract by showing Lerners bullshit ambition..

of course now that barry wont stay. they dont have to worry about bentley.

Tight penny pinching mo fo's.

anyone know if its gonna be possible to listen to the game today on internet?

Bid for [b]DOWNING[/b]The man is class, i've met him personally he's got a good attitude and scored some class goals last season, S.W.P is bound to come villa if we made a bid for him?

But villa dont like paying big wages so then again, lets all watch how we do tonight without Barry?

I think we'll draw today maybe 0-0 or 1-1

why is every transfer villa have been involved since MONs arrival seam to be a long drawn out saga. the barry issue is boring the life out of me. accept 15m for 'Mr Average'.

When ever villa need to make step up we dont. rememberf being top at xmas and messed it up and finished 6th. we have to accept we're a mediocre club and always will be.

oh and whos captain tonight?

I agree what u are saying about us not being ready for next season, and that we need to spend more than we have in the last couple of seasons
(every season under Doug Ellis) in other words

If were not going to get Bentley then why don't we sign Milner
he's just as good as Bentley in my eyes.

for a striker what about Darren Bent from tottenham
he's a good striker

we have been linked with miguel from valencia and he good enough for champions league.

i also think guzan would be a great signing and friedel

The match is on setanta and as a result u can watch it free online if u know where to look (google live footy doctor ...hint hint).

The failure to sign bentley, I feel in itself is not too bad because I think, although he is a good player, there are alternatives nearly as good for less and with better egos. However, I hope we will go about trying to sign other players with more determination.

Lerner, where's the money..WHERE'S THE MONEY LERNER?????? >:(

I believe bentley would be a perfect addition for villa him and ashyley young supplying quality balls to Carew! I believe martin does have targets in mind but he is not will to spen too much over what there worth, and if the clubs dont want to sell, then there defonatly not guna sell for what there worth there guna want at least another 20% of what there worth. prediction for tonight 2-1 to villa. Carew and Laurson the goals

Dear oh dear, Damian...Have a couple pints.

You can't tell me MON would be crazy for thinking that the side that finished sixth in the EPL would be adequate for playing Odense. Just because Villa have this Intertoto silliness to deal with, making an early start to the season, doesn't mean that the transfer market is going to oblige Villa's needs. Very few others have any sense of urgency at this stage. And if MON was willing to slot in players that just got in, then he'll be willing to put quality players in the starting 11 on opening day, regardless of how long they've been with the club. The players he's sat (Salifou, Routledge) he's done so because they're squad players and MON didn't need them on the pitch. They're getting their fitness and improving their games, and MON had the luxury, obviously, of seeing how they progress.

People want to parse every word MON utters...All we know is that we had a bid for Bentley in some time ago, and it was rejected. Why did MON not come back with more? We don't know. Perhaps he doesn't rate him that highly. Perhaps there are foreign players just as good that are cheaper. Perhaps he feels there are other English options. Perhaps Bentley just doesn't want to come.

Everyone seems to think if you just offer enough money you get the player. That's not how it works if the player doesn't want to come, or the team doesn't want to sell. And MON doesn't try to unsettle players. Obviously if we had a bid in for Bentley some time ago, and are just hearing about it, MON has been working on transfers all along, contrary to what many here seem to think. And even if we did stump up £17m for Bentley, it's no good getting him if he just gave in but doesn't want to be at Villa.

Transfers aren't always easy, and MON is damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. Signing players he may not be particularly excited about just to add numbers before the Intertoto would be panic buying. We don't know whether a RB is coming from Liverpool (or Arsenal). We don't know what's holding up Nelson, Miguel, or whomever the Portuguese flavor of the month is. But if Gardner has played RB quite a bit at the EPL level, surely he's adequate for this tie. And Stuart Taylor. So many were saying he's better than Carson, make him the number one. Now it's a crisis. Meanwhile, MON has the keeper of the future lined up in Guzan for a steal, and apparently an excellent veteran coming in to fill the gap and show him the ropes, all for about £7m less than what Carson would've cost. What a dope MON is!

My only concern about tonight is fitness, not the players we have.

MON knows more about football than any of us, and it's his reputation on the line. He obviously is extremely competitive, and has a burning desire to win. Just watch him on the touchline. So many are making him out to be a moron, or a stubborn old goat. I'm sure he is stubborn, but I admire him for sticking to his guns and doing things his way, just like with the Barry nonsense. Spurs are reporting Liverpool for the same tactics, so MON is not crazy in holding out and making Rafa pay through the nose. If Rafa had handled himself properly, MON might very well have taken less money. And MON is thinking ahead to Young, making a big fuss now to show that he won't be bullied into selling, both for the top4 clubs and his own players.

And nothing RL has done makes me think he's a liar, of all things. Even if he's in it just to make money, he obviously makes more money the more successful Villa are. The two go hand in hand. I would think he knows a fair bit more about business than any of us. "Hmmm...If I don't spend any money on players, and the team are mid-table or get relegated, the fans are upset, the money I've sunk in so far goes to waste, and media are all over our lack of ambition: that's going to add up to a tidy profit!" How about, "I'd like some of that CL money, and the worldwide fan and marketing base that goes with being a CL team. Meanwhile, I've given the reins to a man who knows football and wants to win, so I'm going to stay out of his way and let him get on with it."

We have a solid, well-respected manager with class and principles, a quiet, rich owner who doesn't meddle and lets him get on with the job and is investing in Villa's infrastructure, community presence, and overall image, an exciting young squad that's only going to get better. Man, it sucks to be a Villa fan.

If Villa don't progress past Odense, you can only point the finger at the players, because they simply didn't want UEFA football enough.

And as for finishing better in the league if MON had spent more in January...I blame the players for not getting a result against Wigan at home, for coasting against Fulham, etc., not MON. The talent was there for the points, and in many of those games, Mr. Barry didn't contribute terribly much.

Please, please, everyone stop your moaning. What is wrong with you all?

Just think back a couple of years and remember how bad things were. MON is the right man and we should all back him.
OK, we wont get Bentley, he doesn't want to play for villa. Dont care, he is average.
Every Villa fan is aware of what areas need strengthening, so why keep moaning about it. MON will be looking, why would he want to start this season with the squad he has now??? He wouldn't want to.
Some of you are calling for MON to be sacked. UNBELIEVABLE. Who would you have instead????
I think that some of you are those fans that just moan whatever, Win a game 3-0, you say it should have been 4-0 and so on.
STOP YOUR MOANING.

to be honest, i agree with o'neill for giving up on bentley...i dont want to be a team who throws 18mil on a player and hope he turns out to be good...i think 17mil for bentley is ALOT, i think its a lot for barry and he has worn the england armband!!!i would actually fell humiliated if we did a spurs or sunderland and spend shit loads of cash and end up bottom half of the league!!!...you dont always need to spend big to get a good team together...just look at wenger...

prediction for tonights game: 3-1 villa with young,laursen and an own goal(by them)

This is the most optimistic I have seen this blog in ages! Well played Damo.


UTV

okay, have 3 strikers we need more and better quality ones than we alreay have.

we dont have "one winger", we have ashley young, shuan maloney, routlege

i agree we need to strengthen the squad but why are you gettin so worked up, we have a month or so till the premier league achually starts

we have good enough players to get us through the inter-toto, so stop worrying and be optermistic for once!

Anyone know if the game is on the radio/net??

We might not have 11 first team players in the right positions but lets get behind them and hope we can get that Euefa place. It's so close i can almost taste it.

Good article Damian, agree with what you posted, Martin O'Neil needs to start splashing the cash and buy some real quality!

Fuck me i despaire of us villa fans at times. we have steadily improved over the last 2 years and are 2 games away from getting into europe for the first time in years, and all we do is focus on the negative. Miserable bunch of gits some of you!

Damian......That is the biggest load of correct post I have seen you write. I could not have put it better. I too am willing to take a bucket load of egg on my face if I'm wrong. I am sick and tired of being called a moaner, when I point out the inadequacies of the squad. All I get is...'But, we have gone from 16th to 6th and we should be happy'...Well I'm not, so all you that are happy with mid table mediocracy can bugger off. I'm going to watch the match now..Rant over and goodbye!

I could not agree more that things were baq a few years ago, but how long do we have to use that as an excuse. The club was up for sale a new man came in took our shares away & our trust has been put in him.
I love the things he has done to Bodymore & hotel but i hate that he moved my seats without giving me a seconds consideration.
This is not about money to him as he has more than enough. Its all about PR thats why we do not have a sponsor a great gesture but i am sure this has affected our transfer budgets.
We were told to expect exciting times in the transfer market. We have endured nothing but dissapointment.
No wonder our captain is leaving.
The team is not moving forward
Randy should tell us the truth then our expectations can be managed. At least we new we were going nowhere with Doug

Thank you graymo for the tip, I really appreciate it ;D ;D ;D Glad to see the season going again. I just have to ask, we've seen teams far below us bring in players, but the teams around us haven't done much yet, so I am not sure we ought to be too concerned.
I am an American so I am a bit biased in Randy Lerner's favour, I believe that he wants to take our team where we all think it can go. The signings are coming (I hope).

There we go looking comfortable, no right back or even right side
Advantage Lost

i want that dvd

66 mins into the game and we look fucking awful, 7 mins of the first half and we looked like a team and after that we made them look like Barcelona. This is the equivalent of a division 2 side and we are appalling… 

Martin O'Neill clearly wants value for money in the players he purchases but he's got to realise that if he wants real quality he has to pay over the fair price for a player. I agree with everything you've said Damian, we clearly needed to add some depth for our squad before our intertoto campaign started and O'Neill hasn't added enogh depth. We are in desperate need of a right-back and although Brad Friedel is a good goalkeeper he is certainlly not someone we should be purchasing, we need to build a squad for years to come not for just next season.

We did not deserve the lead but we thrown it Away.
Deano said it right
RANDY WAS COMING IN WITH A BOTTOMLESS PIT
We have not seen it just a reluctance to pay the rate.
MON you are doing us no favours watching the pennies.
Get in the Team to thrill & Challenge the the club will make money

where did my earlier post go?

Villa were lucky tonight. We were terribly out of shape and why MON didn't pull NRC at the half is beyond me. He gave Gardner no help whatsoever. Hopefully we do better at VP. AND, I agree Damian, if we're to be taken seriously at all, we need some high caliber players NOW.

I agree in part with what you say, Damian. It is frustrating that the squad has not increased. It is clear that O'Neill only wants quality players and, as he has said, that means players who are in the first team elsewhere. So, as he admits, it won't be easy or cheap to prize them away from their club. This policy, though, is most likely to mean that we start and maybe even end the season with a very small squad unless O'Neill's policy changes. Maybe to avoid our feeling of frustration we need to accept this distinct possibility.

But I think you're wrong about Bentley - I don't think this is about money. I can't say I completely understand the transfer system or rules. I had thought a club could not approach a player unless they had permission from the owning club. Yet how often do we read that players have agreed terms prior to the clubs agreeing fees? With Bentley, I wonder if O'Neill has spoken to the guy's agent after making a bid and been told that he's wasting his time pursuing Bentley; that even if a fee could be agreed Bentley still wouldn't go? Perhaps I'm clutching at straws but I genuinely believe that O'Neill would pay silly money - as he did with Young, Reo and Petrov - if he really wanted the player and he knew the player wanted to come. If Bentley wanted to come I think O'Neill would devote the time to negotiating - not just with Blackburn but with Lerner, financiers, agents, etc, etc, etc, - but if not, why bother? Consequently, I think your criticism of O'Neill might be a little off but I say that as someone who is, I think, just as frustrated about transfer as you are!

Paul MW - i think it's absolutely all about money and the fact that we don't have any for players.

Like you suggest, deals are usually done a long time before the clubs actually speak. Did you think it was a surprise to Barry that Liverpool made an offer?

I don't think it's a surprise that we made an offer for Bentley but I suspect that Martin O'Neill doesn't have much money - I suspect he's got whatever the club can give him or borrow from the bank or borrow from Lerner (it is borrowing from Lerner - nothing more) and he's probably on a very tight budget.

If Martin O'Neill is doing it the old fashioned way however, then he's way out of his depth because that's not how it's done anymore.

Thanks for the response but I can't agree with you. I think we do have money for players otherwise the old O'Leary 'small and honest' squad nonsense would be trotted out. O'Neill isn't saying that. He's not saying 'times are tight, we have to manage with what we have and maybe bring in some loanees'. He's saying that he will be increasing the squad if he can - that to me says he has finance if he needs it.

My point about Bentley is I don't think he wants to come to Villa, simple as that. For O'Neill to be put off after one bid seems uncharacteristic and I think the reason for that is he knows Bentley would turn us down - our lights just aren't bright enough. I think that explains why O'Neill has tamely ended his interest. But, as has been said by others, if Bentley is looking for bright lights then he's not the player for us anyway.

I didn't see the game yesterday, but will be at the home leg. Let's get real, there are some decent sides in the Intertoto, we should not expect to win, especially as we have lost Mellberg, Carson, Sorensen, Berger, Moore and others during the summer and we are a Barry down too. These players must be repalced and added to if we are going to finish top six again. O'Neill cannot just rely on his motivational skills, it won't work if we are putting out a side like last night for the rest of the season. I know he pledges patience, but it's no good getting in players on 31.08.08. Players need time to assimilate themselves into the club, the team, the area etc. Let's get the players in now, let's redouble the efforts and show the rest of the Premiership we mean business. We can improve, we can get better, but we will need some extra personnel.

Paul MW

Re. the money - we wouldn't hear those excuses if O'Neill had agreed to all this from the beginning or agreed to the budget for the summer.

Re. Bentley - we'll probably never know why - but clubs don't make offers these days unless they've got a pretty good idea about things. IN the 80's maybe .. but not anymore.

I see what you're saying but what about Marcus Bent? He pulled out of the Cardiff deal when he learned of interest from the bluenoses. I'm sure there are other examples. Maybe Bentley did something similar? I can agree with the idea that clubs don't go to the trouble of finding then allocating vast sums of money to projects unless they are confident but players are still people prone to doubt (and every now and then the influence of their wife poor sense of geography a la Unsworth) so I can't agree with the implication that a bid means a player will move in principle if it is accepted.

But I can see that the difference between our perspectives is your view that we don't have the money and my view that we don't have the influence. Either way, the outlook seems a bit gloomy. Maybe a couple of decent signings this week might brighten the place up?

A signing or two would be good; if they were of the right quality and not the likes of Routledge, Maloney, Petrov .. dare I say it even Carew.

But we need four or five really good signings and a few of those if we are to move forward this season and I know that's not easy, but maybe we shouldn't have waited two seasons before we started buying real quality.

There was real impetus when Lerner and O'Neill came in to take advantage of a few things. The longer it goes on, the harder it could become to attract some real talent.