O'Neill knows more about football than you and Defoe will never come to Villa

we only believe he has people lined up because of rumour spreaders like yourself. It's obvious he hasn't and always was. Listen to MON's words "we are going to try and strengthen further" were comments before and after the Harewood signing. All this nonsense about "big signings already lined up" was tripe fuelled by articles like the one you were spewing out 2 or 3 weeks ago.

well cheers Steve. I assume you mean something I or Doc wrote because Kevin usually writes about something that has happened

you've made my monday ..

This kind of thinking is really starting to annoy me.
People act as though buying a player is as simple as phoning the manager, offering a fee, and then running the fella off to a medical and trotting him out to the press conference..
It just isn't that black and white.
Firstly , by your argument why didn't man utd or chelsea buy the players liverpool bought? maybe because their managers didnt think the players were what they needed? maybe they couldnt offer the same contracts and money? maybe they didnt think the players were worth the fees? maybe the players didnt fit the systems that the teams play? maybe there is more to getting players than football manager pc games show?
Secondly, we are not in the position to attract players in the same way that the top four, and really, the other european qualified teams are. this is just a fact. we aren't in europe, we aren't in london, and we have a reputation from the prior regime.
Thirdly, It seems that everyone wants to buy every player going, but then with the next breath say that Luke Moore et al need to be given a chance. you can't have it both ways. there's only 11 players out there...
Finally, everyone needs to calm down. As everyone involved in the club has said, this isn't an overnight project, We are building a team for the next five years. We have _several_ young international players. would you rather be like the blues - buying players who openly admit they are just moving as a stepping stone to something better? Bruce buys 10 players to have 2 pay off. that's just why he aint 1/10th the manager O'neill is.
there. my 2 pence stirling ($0.04us, $.06 nz)

Maybe, us fans are mistaking the 5 YEAR Plan. After all, what does this mean. Loosely, it could mean that by 2010, we would have a team challenging for trophies and if we get there by buying 2 or 3 players per season, then so be it and it means that we should be patient.

In my opinion we now have a few players that will still be here 2010 and they are:
1. Cahill
2. Gardner
3. Agbonlahor
4. Young
5. Reo-Coker
6. Moore
7. Maloney
8. 2008 signing (SWP)
9. 2008 signing (Defoe)
10. 2009 signing (??)
11. 2009 signing (??)
12. 2010 signing (??)
13. 2010 signing (??)

kevin has only ever commented on one article so i'm here to defend him ..

while i agree its not all black and white other teams don't appear to have had a problem signing players however kevin isn't really commenting on that he's commenting on what tony cascarino has said .. its tony cascarino that is saying martin o'neill shoudl be moving heaven and earth for players like defoe

i also agree with you. we're building a team ... but people are starting to wonder though and for that they cant be blamed

I think with the football season over we are suffering from lack of football syndrome. Minutes feel like hours and hours feel like days. We have as fans been ancipating this Lerner/O'Neill spending spree and are expecting world stars to flock in on a conveyor belt. I dare say some of O'Neills top targets may not of materialized for various reasons or they maybe yet to come. I am for one frustrated because we have never had it it so 'prospectively' good and of course unlike how we were treated in the past we want action to speak louder than words. The only ones that are putting the pressure on Villas lack of transfer activity is the media. Even if we were to start tomorrow we would be ok. Trust in MON, even if he feels he has lost on players or he is not prepared to pay upteen million for Bent, he is MON he is our manager, this is a new era and we will not be let down. Claret n Blue of Brum is gonna bring back the glory days and it starts with the fans support. Up the Villa

I've never actually read an article by MON saying he's going for defoe, lahm, or any big name player. He's always said he expects big things in the future for this club on & off the pitch. Problem with having a cash riddled ower is people expect instant 50mil investment or more! Villa don't have enough income to spend X amounts of money, do yous honestly think spurs would spend like that if they weren't guaranteed european football this season ?. MON is building us a team to get into europe then once we're there we should expect some big signings.

to be fair - why isnt tony cascarino a manager?
anyone can be a pundit. it's the easiest job in the world because there is never any consequences. 'you'll never win anything with kids' anyone? managers careers are defined by their decisions. i think martin has done enough to be given benefit of the doubt.

what has lerner ever won with his team in the US? nothing

has his team every come close to winning something? no

why have we all fallen for it?

Agree completely nzvilla. There are some simple minded people around who think that buying a player is like picking a tin of beans off the supermarket shelf. I wish they'd wake up and realise that it isn't. Maybe they should put themselves in the position of the players and work out why they *would* sign for Villa and try to imagine that they had no previous link to the club.

So, if I'm Jermain Defoe, for example, have a nice lifestyle in London and enjoy the social scene and lifestyle, have a well paid contract and the opportunity to play European football and genuinely think I'm good enough to fight for a regular place in the Spurs team, why would I want to move to Birmingham and domestic-only football?

Hooray the moaning has started already, that’s what I love about being a Villa fan, supporting a team that has such high expectations from its supporters (rightly so but lets also be realistic) However Cas did make some good points but they were all very short sighted. For example according to Cas, John Carew is not a world-class player and together with Ashley Young they won't strike fear into any defence. I beg to differ, if Cas had half the quality of Carew, we may have won the league back in 1990. And its quite simple to see what MON is doing, filling a team with young hungry players who all have electric pace, why buy a player who does not fit that mould? If Defoe and SWP don't want to come or the clubs won't sell then we have to put it down to the fact its because we can't offer European football. Its not a flimsy excuse. Its blatantly obvious, MON has a terrific reputation, Villa are a big club with a great stadium and now superb training facilities so what other reason could it be? It has to be Europe doesn't it? Or maybe they just don't like the city or the fans... Surely not?

Pinky - because success in sports isn't as simple as paying out money?
How much have Boro paid out in the last few years? or Everton,
or Newcastle for goodness sake? and their success is?
I can't believe anyone is criticising Randy after the good he has done in the incredibly short time he has been at the club.
would anyone want us pissing away that kind of money on Bent?
I know we Brummies are a pessimistic bunch, but Jeezus....

at AVFCNeil

thats when we find out how good our manager and board are. they have to sell the club/the mission/5 year plan to the player

a managers job isn't just about coaching, or match day, or picking players, or deciding who gets promoted from reserves. it's about talking to the players before they even come to convince them ... the board also have a responsibility in this

so if you are jermain defoe or anyone else for that matter why should you move to villa? ask the people at the club that are responsible for selling it to the player.

the club has to be sold to everyone. even manchester united has to be sold .. its easier to sell a player to united than villa but its still got to be done

Pinky ... please dont do it ... you're going to get it now ;)

and while i'm ranting. Half the links to players in the media come from agents trying to generate interest in their players, or from selling clubs trying to drive up prices... hence Man City's 'interest' in reo coker before they had a new manager, or new owners.

I'm sorry Damian but before the kit unveiling you promised that Kevin knew something about some big names and he couldnt give you any more info until he was off of a train.

So what was this?

LINK

at steve m
i didn't say anythign like that, but i'll go look. i know i didn't because kevin doesn't know anything. i know what he does for a living and we talk quite a bit .. he has nothing to do with villa or players or any dealings that are connected with villa whatsoever

of course the club has to be sold to the player, and that is the managers job. I think he did well to sell it to Carew, Young, Reo-coker et al.
but, with mr 10% talking in the players ear about how he can get another 10 grand a week at west ham, it must be pretty hard work convincing these kids to come. they are usually not the brightest lights on the tree. eg. Sidwell, how many games is he gonna play?

steve
i've just found that ... kevin isn't saying new knows anything he says he believes the club and has hope. he's saying he's optimistic because the club have promised money that the players will come ... he's basing his article on what the club have led us to believe ... i dont blame him

to be honest i am really optimistic about the future of villa, okay we maybe have not got the quality of english players SPURS - YES SPURS, i am startin to hate saying the name, at the moment but look at the future of out team and if we got the proposed signings of wright-phillips, carson , luke young and we add them to reo-coker and harewood the avarage age of those players is still young and ther ENGLISH where as teams like arsenal, bolton , manchester united, liverpool, chelsea and many other teams will find it very dificult to supply any english players in htere teams for the furture.

we have also added that forrester to the team, who is a young english player with a lot of promise, if u take this kid and the squad we have know, and the proposed signings, that are english-

carson
taylor
l.young
cahill
ridgewell
a.young
reo-coker
barry- he is still mid tewnties
gardner
moore
agbonalhor
harewood
forrester
wright-phillips.
williams
stieber- looks quality and a prospect

and still take the young players that are young players that may not be english, but still part of the uk - maloney and o'halloran players like that.

in a few years we will be a good club to come to for the english national side, as we will have the top quality endlish players along with spurs, and thats where teams like the big 4 will come unstuck.

and the age of the players will be very beneficial to us in the future, and its the future MON has said we should look forward to, so with the players i have mentioned, why does any villa fan nnot feel optimistic about are future as ASTON VILLA and ENGLAND, we will beome a top ENGLISH side, and i think MON sees this.

so lets all stay optimistic and look forward to the bright future of the great ASTON VILLA!!!

UP THE VILLA!!!!

We will sign 4 or 5 more. As the window moves closer to shut, clubs selling will have to take it or leave it so to speak when it comes to transfer fees, the ability to hold us to ransom will diminish. Thats when we will do our business. I think a RB a Goalie and SWP will join before 30th of August. As Roy Keane says "TOny CAscarino is a spoofer".

Damian - it's all about opinion and I believe that some people have read the club's statements in the wrong context. The fact that people have read them in this way is the club's fault for not communicating themselves properly. I will look for your comments about what Kevin said - it was in a posted message - could be anywhere! i apologise if I got it mixed up with somebody else but am sure it was from you about Kevin. Oh well.

steve m

thats the beauty of the internet though .. 20 years ago we only had the pub to discuss our opinions about villa now we've got this .. and no doubt people have taken what the club have said or to some extent havent said and made it there own ...

having the right message is great. saying the right things is great but the only thing that will keep us all happy is winning matches ...

On a similar note this article is on the official site. Although it is seems nothing at first glance the comments from Oneill are the first I have seen directly from him linking us with players that are a league above the type of player Harewood is. For me, words like that from Oneil can only be a good thing as we all know he speaks his mind.

LINK

my biggest problem with our transfer dealings, is the reason we can't sign anyone is all the clubs are hanging on to their players until they get new ones in so we can't get them ie SWP won't move until chelsea know whats going on with robben! so why do villa get rid of 8 players from a small squad to only have 2 new ones to start playing pre season friendlies!!! we are doing something wrong cause if it goes on much longer we either have to start the season low on numbers or get some panic buys in which are no better than what we sold!!! i am a bit worried now as nothing seems to be happening!

God help us if either MON or Randy read this blog! They'll think we're the most fickle bunch of fans since.....well, since O'Dreary labelled us that! We've not kicked a ball this season and already some fans are on the manager and board's back.

Well, I think (I hope) I speak for 90% of fans when I say we're moving in the right direction and the new management have my full support and I have complete confidence in what they are trying to do. 2 senior players in, some not so good players gone, the training complex complete, the Holte pub refurbished, Nike kit deal and incentives such as the scarves and buses last year - I say roll-on 2007-08!

"what has lerner ever won with his team in the US? nothing. has his team every come close to winning something? no. why have we all fallen for it?"

Pinky, how much American football do you watch? How much do you know really know about the Cleveland Browns? Unless you answer "yes" to either question, don't pretend that the Browns provide any insight into Lerner's ability to achieve success with Aston Villa.

I Agree with alfred. Come the start of the season we'll all be cheering on the Villa! even if we don't add anymore by the 11th of august theres still 2 weeks of the window after that. but i'm not worried by the lack of signings i'd rather MON took his time got the right players in rather than go spend 10 - 15 mil on defoe then he'd score 15 odd goals then would want to leave the season after for a top 4 club.

most believe the club is moving in the right direction

but some of not most area also wanting a few more players in and they're only thinking like that because of what the club (o'neil and fitzgerald) have said:

significant funds and more players than last season

people have a right to be a little nervous, shall we say and they only want the best for villa ...

I'm sorry but that articule in the Times is a big load of rubbish. He complains about reo cocker, "How come none of the big boys wanted to buy him?" well if they did we wouldn't have got him!!!! we have to get the next level down, and he's young. He says "he will never score the goals that a player such as Frank Lampard can get you!" well he's a defensive minded player, why compair him with lampard??? compair him to makelele and see how his goal ratio compairs!!! then he says "But what is the point of selling Steven Davis to Fulham and replacing him with Reo-Coker?" because davis can't defend very well, thats, by his own admission, why MON didn't play him, and he didn't even want to sell him, he was unhappy!!! what a rubbish ill thought out, knee jerkn articule, thats the sort of thing id expect in the Mirror!!

oh and one extra comment on the article "Are top-flight defenders going to quake in their boots at the prospect of facing Harewood, John Carew and Ashley Young? I don’t think so. " well do defends quake at the though of playing bolton, yes, Arsenal everytime, and who do they have, Davis!! I think there are a lot of defenders who would hate to play carew, power, strength, size and pace!! including a certain cannavaro in the champions league, who was give the run around. Ashley young is a winger!!!! but did terrorise defends in the U21, and Harewood is awkward for anyone. Defoe just hits it from 30 yards it either goes in or doesn't, not much defending to do. he never passes, hence the reason he isn't first choice, hes not a team player, keane is!

every day i get more anxious about the signings(lack of)! at the start of the transfer window i was not worried at all. i agree we all have the right to worry but some people that say martin and randy might come in for some stick next season are crazy! what you have to remember is that we have players that nobody speaks about that adds to our squad, maloney, gardener, cahill, moore, taylor, delany, osbourne these all can do a job and add depth to our squad... Note: cahill is a class act

I dont think anyone can blame any villans for being a little edgy with the lack of activity in the market, when doug sold up we were all getting exicted about what sort of class we would get in the summer, thats not to say that will not be the case before we kick off against liverpool, but there is no doult we could do with someone in the class of SWP to improve the strength rather than just depth of the playing staff.

I admit it! I am worried about the lack of transfer activity compared to the amount of players we appear to have been linked to! However, i believe that MON and Randy Lerner will prevail. Jermaine Defoe will not be the be-all end-all for villa even if he does sign! When Cascarino said that "we should move heaven and earth to get him" if that means paying over the odds for him i dont feel that its in the best interests of the club to do so! Its every Villa fans right to whine and moan around this time of year but if we'd have signed 6 new players in the opening week of the transfer window these same fans (including myself) would be moaning that MON had rushed into signing them! Trust in MON and RL . ;D

Why does everyone see SWP as a great signing? he's done nothing at chelsea to suggest he's great! he was the star at Man City because they were crap so a good player like SWP was obviously going to shine there, But for England & Chelsea he's never shown what he did at Man City i don't think he's any better than players we have now he just offers more tricks down the right.

SWP has got pace and erm........ hes fast and erm.....has a famous dad! thats about all you can say about him! :'(

Lol exactly and we've got gabby who's full of pace. We need a winger whos going to pepper the box with crosses for the strikers, not a player who runs at players cuts inside (like SWP does) and shoots at corner flag cause he's impress McClaren with something spectacular.

I think majority of us Villa Fans are patient and willing to give MON till deadline day before even thinking of judging him or Lerner. I feel the moaners are a minority bunch.

I'm satisfied with what MON has done this transfer window and I beleive more transfers will arrive late in the window as usual with MON.

Relax. Its like evolution, slowly but surely we'll evolve into a quality side.

*he's trying to impress McClaren* ;D Whoops sorry about the typo

at Villain

for what its worth MON has all of this season coming up and January and the next summer window for me ... and maybe even longer. he has to be given a proper chance ...

and while the moaners are in the minority and people say us villa fans moan ... most football fans like a good moan .. its in our nature

i cant believe that anyone cannot see the SWP would easily be villa's most talented cutting edge player if we were lucky enough to get him, he has not been a success at chelski but scored the winner at wembley for them and the only reason he is at that club is due to them offering city £10 mil {power buying} more than the clubs that really needed him at the time ie the gooners who's manager knows a class player when he see's one, there is currently no attacking midfielder at our club thats as good as SWP please get him martin

I agree Damian. Its every fan's right to moan about the club they love but every season i get worse and worse! I'm starting to get on my own nerves!lol :D

All of a sudden we have a new owner(with some money) and a manager with a good reputation, and us fans overnight have elavated Aston Villa to the likes of the top four teams. As much as we want to be there we are going to have to be patient. If we, the fans and supporters of Villa bitch and moan that we don't get instant success or have to wait a bit longer than we want, we will lose a good manager. It seems to me most Villa fans have a short memory, not long ago staying in the premiership was the goal. For christ sake give MON & Mr lerner the time to do what they want. We suffered Doug for how long, and within less than a year of Randy taking over people are moaning, and most of the moaners have never experianced the depths of the Third Division. I've supported Villa since we were in the Third division and apart from winning the league and the european cup this moment in time is the most exciting time I can remember. So on conclusion, support MON, Mr Lerner any player that comes in and wear's the shirt and stop bitching.

SWP cant cross a ball to save his life! yes he's got pace but if you cant do the fundamental job of a winger whats the point!

i really want shaun wright-philips at the villa, we need tht right-sided midfielder to allow agbonlahor to remain up front, and not play out on the wing which isn't his strongest position!!

why don't most of you want him?????????

id like wright philips but not defoe well over rated

Damian - was that a moan about football fans moaning? ;)

i would love SWP!! gabby terrorised teams in the last couple of games when he played up top!!i.e blackburn away!!!!
SWP has undoubted quality !!!

We don't need players like Defoe who only care about themselves rather than the club they play for. He won't leave the beloved London for a club in a different place in england, especially to the un trendy Birmingham, which everybody for some reason hates! maybe it's because everybody is jelous of the midlands proud history. Anyway Villa need to really start pushing to buy more players, especially a new goalkeeper. I'm looking forward to seeing whether Zoltan Steiber will prove to be a good player for us.

i can only speak for myself but i would not say i was moaning about the villa, i have strong opinions and i care about what we do and where we are going but i am only voicing concerns not moaning! i think we are going in the right direction but our transfer policy seems to be a bit strange. i think SWP would be a great buy for us for the record it would be nice to have the cutting edge!

another comment addressing pinky's question about lerner's lack of success with the browns. the nfl has a hard salary cap. bill gates could by an nfl club & still they couldn't spend any more on players than the other clubs.

apples & oranges, really.

why's everybody going on about swp, if anybody knew anything about the squad weve got theyd realise that shaun maloney is just as good if not better than swp. we need a top class keeper as priority, and build from there on.

"shaun maloney is just as good if not better than swp. we need a top class keeper as priority, and build from there on"

ridiculous statement. Maloney looks a good player but he aint a patch on SWP

i'd have maloney over SWP any day of the week ... sure they play a different game but you dont win young and player of the season in any league if you're not good enough

To Say that shaun maloney isn't a patch on SWP is an insult Shaun Maloney when he's clearly a much better player and if you read the facts you'll see my point. LINK < Check that then check this LINK now i know people will say he's been playing in a lesser league that's no excuse cause alot of his stat's come from european games aswell. Then there's the international starts and goals.

Damian your comments on here just get better and better. If i ever have the misfortune of meeting I would kick f**k [edited] out you. You are an embarrasment to Villa fans.

just publishing this last comment below so people can see what type of idiot we get sometimes - all because i disagreed with his view on SWP and opted for maloney instead

The Cas ... i'll be at the Liverpool game and by all means if you find me you'll have your opportunity, which now that everyone knows and we've got your IP address, will be quite interesting.

the cas- no offence mate, were all for the villa here, but your exactly the person im on about, who only wants top class players, theres no point on splashing 10m on swp when maloney is just as good, you have clearley not seen him play for celtic, look him up on youtube then comment on how good of a kid he is.

to the Cas

what sort of idiot gets aggressive when the publisher of this brilliant website puts on a couple of comments you disagree with.

whats all that about

sure we dont all agree on certain topics, i.e, Damians thoughts on Lightning Liam Ridgewell being an England international, but that aside hes spot on most of the time and fair too.

Do yourself a favour mate and grow up

Damien Best of it is he's probably a 15 year old kid or some one who loves the power of a keyboard cause there can be no action taken against him lol

HAHA WHAT A MUPPET!!!IS THIS CAS A NOSE? sounds like something them lot would say lol

Well seen it all now, The Cas.. dont tell me you named yourself after Tony..! Prat.!

Interesting article in the Guardian: LINK

Argues that wee Gordie at Celtic could be better than MON. One reference--which worries me--is to MON's "panic buys." Wonder if we'll see those? Don't know enough about his time at Celtic to be sure.

It aint over until the fat lady sings...she sings on August 31 2007. Come on fellow Villa fans, at least give MON and the board a chance to fail before you shoot them. Kevin, I think you have some good points, however I sense a bit of wavering in your article regarding the lack of activity. Lets stay positive and wait for the fat lady, otherwise there may be a lot of egg flying around come the transfer deadline! :D

Erm... nice one Cas you stupid little idiot. We all think Cas has got to be a kid but looking at some football fans i think otherwise. Oh, and saying he is a bluenose is a bit of an insult to the majority of Bluenoses. They're not the brightest bunch for supporting the Blues ;) but the thugs amongst them are the minority and we have just as many as them which is proven by Cas the A1 Muppet

Now this is a good topic i like it
Anyways as iv allways said villa are a SNAIL when it comes to signing people we have allways been like this and seems like we allways will stay like this i thought it might have changed when randy took over and when M.O.N was put in charge the club is quite aswell they want us to buy season tickets,shirts,even flammin dvds just so they can get all our money of us yet give us jack shit in return.Its about time someone came out from the club and told us whats happening and tell us why things are going so slow and not fitzgerald either cause i dont belive that nob or trust him.

Why is it M.O.N is scared to speand the money all he keeps saying is got to make sure its the right one i wont be held to ransom everytime i here this same old shit same old villa

Quite a lot of banter today (take no notice Damian).
Please correct me if i'm wrong here but are people saying don't buy SWP because we already have Shaun Maloney ?
I thought we were looking for a right winger and SWP would obviously do a job here for us. However, i was under the impression that Maloney is best deployed cutting in from left sided or central positions onto his right foot. I've never seen him on the right wing ??
If i'm right, surely all the unnecessary stuff on here today was over nothing. I'm puzzled.
Have i got this wrong ? :'(

You are right AV33, i'm absolutely with you on what you say. I think your observations are correct regards Maloney and SWP :)

I've done the fantasy league for years...The one that's on line at www.fantasyleague.com. We have a competition going at work and unlike some similar versions that papers run were you can earn points if your player gets his boots on the right feet (not to mention tying his laces) strikers only score 3 points for a goal and 2 for an assist. Season on season Defoe's player stats are never very good (actually little more over the last 2 years than Bobby Zamora and I haven't seen a clamour to sign him). But what is also significant is how few players break the 50 point total. This year Benni McCarthy, Didier Drogba, Mark Viduka, Wayne Rooney and Berbatov. Honoury mentions go to Henry, Bent (close last season did it before), Yakubu (consistently there abouts) and Johnson. The truth is the 20 goal player is hard to find. Mc Carthy and Berbatov were the exceptional debutants last season, proving there is still talent out there. I think we need to be fishing somewhere other than London if we want to find a really potent goal threat.