Sidwell pay-off, Bentley bid rejected and Andy Johnson
Tuesday, 24 June 08, 04:16 AM · Comments (36)
I'm doing nothing this morning but looking at the speculation because there is a little bit of it about and it's quite interesting.
According to the Mirror, the Sidwell deal is verbally agreed with Chelsea but Sidwell, who is taking a a £15,000 a week pay cut to join us, wants a £2mn. pay-off.
If I'm honest, I'd probably want a pay-off too and while this probably won't break the deal it probably will slow things down for a while, if it's true that is.
On the same page at the Mirror, they're also reporting that we're going to make a bid for Andy Johnson. The Daily Star are running with the headline of 'Aston Villa are keen on out-of-favour Everton striker Andy Johnson'.
Johnson had a fantastic goal scoring record for Crystal Palace and did a fine job when they came up to the Premier League, so fine in fact that Everton got involved in a bidding war with Wigan and Bolton and paid just over £8.5mn. for him.
Now, the rumour has it we're 'keen on him' for £7mn. After Everton paid so much and he returned 17 gaols for them, I'm not convinced that he's worth £7mn. at 27 years old and again, I wouldn't be calling him a 'key player' at Everton.
Last, but my no means least, the one I'd really like to see Villa wrap up; David Bentley. According to the Daily Mail, the deal broke down late last night when Blackburn rejected a £15mn. bid for the player. If it's just about a million quid or two and Martin O'Neill definitely wants him - I don't see what the problem is and would expect to see this happen fairly soon.
So, that's about it at the moment. I'd love Bentley and Sidwell, I really would and can see them both happening - which has put me in a good mood - especailly if the other six players we get are of the same stature or better.
The Andy Johnson thing, I hope is just a rumour, but that's just me, some might like him playing at Aston Villa.
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36 Comments · Add yours
Lets buy them all. Itll be like a football sticker collection
can we get ice cream here?
One thing I've noticed about MON's transfers is that they're either very protracted and the worlds worst kept secret, or else they come like a bolt out of the blue.
Signings like Petrov, Carson, Davis and NRC all seemed to have a lot of speculation before they happened. They were rumours that never went away. A lot of MONs signings are seem to be quite obvious and 'leaked'.
Some of the others are quite surprising, like Marlon and Zat.
The Sidwell and Bentley stories are starting to feel like NRC/Davis transfers to me. I think Sidwell is a dead cert and will be the first signing. I think there's definitely truth in the Bentley story too - it just depends on whether Bentley wants to come, and whether or not MON is willing to pay.
But two more quality Englishmen does very nicely for me too....
i wouldnt want an ex blue nose Johnson playing for us, not after that celebration that fatefull afternoon in front of the Holte end. the other two? i would be well happy with that !!!! ;)
I would love all 3 of these if im honest. I think Sidwell and Bentley will add real quality and johnson Would help Gabby out alot as the 'quick' striker role can be shared a bit more so Gabby won't have to play as many games. And he had a decent goalscoring record.
I'd agree with you on the Sidwell and Bentley rumours! If Bentley is a slightest possibility then i think we should be moving heaven and earth to get him at B6 and we should pay whatever Ince wants for him!
I don't think i'd like AJ either! He's quick and can take a penalty but apart from that i dont rate him! But it seems to be floating around with intent the past couple of days, so i reckon it could happen!
By the way Damian, when Palace were in't premiership, wasn't 16 of his 21 goals penalties? Because i seem to remember something along those lines!
Andy Johnson sucks balls.
Even if you think he is ok, here is some food for thought. We need to be better than Everton in order to leap frog them in places. If we are signing a striker from them with a piss scoring record for them... how is that going to be progress what-so-ever? So we can buy a striker not good enough for our rivals and provide them with funds to purchase one better?
Much as I would like Bently I think he will end up at Man City. There is the Hughes connection, he lives in the North West, and City pay the kind of stupid wages he will be expecting.
But we live in hope!
AJ had a poor season with everton, not too keen on him plus his ex small heath. sidwell would be a good signing and i would love it if MON signed bentley, would be a great addition to the squad and perhaps make barry think twice about his future. Another rumour this morning in a few papers is anton ferdinand, i think he could be a good addition to the squad and he is very young still and MON could work wonders with him and he could develop into the same class player as his bro. but if that happens no doubt some top 4 team will come and take him off our hands!!!!
Andy Johnson - no thanks.
He is no better than what we've got and that isn't progress. There are better forwards that would cost about the same or less that may be available.
Bentley and Sidwell are more like it - hope they're signed up soon! Then we just need a goalkeeper, rightback, centre-half, forward and replacement for Barry.
andy johnson sums up why MON occasionally needs to look abroad! £7m for him? we could get prob get podolski for that, who has an equally poor scoring record but at least his problems are confidence not being shit
as for bentley i agree, f we want him we should set a ceiling of around £20m and then go all out with clauses (like ash young)
as for sidwell, if he wants £2m to join us then i say dont buy him, let him rot at chelsea, we should be after players that get excited about playing for us
i really hope the bentley deal happens. as far as AJ goes, im really not a fan.i was more excited with the bent link.
I dont know the truth in this so please dont get too excited but a friend of mine says that his mate, who works for a big property company in the midlands, has heard storys of the company finding a suitable property for a german international footballer in birmingham? maybe padolski or Kloser?or maybe even a return for the hammer!!!!...this could all be a load of bull crap tho.
bent not johnson, 7m far to much more like 4m as a squad player like he is at Everton
as for sidwell, if he wants £2m to join us then i say dont buy him, let him rot at chelsea, we should be after players that get excited about playing for us
This is owed to him by Chelsea, to pay off the remainder of his contract.
i dont think sidwell wants £2mn. from us .. but chelsea did get him for nothing and he's still got a few years of his deal to run so he could in theory just sit there and probably make £5mn.
i think what he's asking for is fair ... if chelsea are going to make £5mn from the sale and have only paid him £2.6mn. - why cant sidwell make on the deal too?
im havin a bit of trouble belivin the bentley story. wud be a massive coup for us if we got him, but just cannot see him joinin us. maybe im tryin to play down my expectations but i will always hope!!
fuck Andy Johnson, he's the biggest blue nose there is. I can't stand that bloke hopefully this is not true
i think we have definetly got sidwell now no matter what the "pay-off" is.
i want bently more than joey the ak wants to play footie. and thats saying something!
UTV ;D
im keepin my fingers crossed for bentley. do dreams come true?
I agree with Zidave about AJ. If a team only one place above us rejected him, why should we be interested? He hasnt played well at Everton, and he had his chances for England and wasn't good enough.
As regards Bentley, I hope we get him, but only if he wants to come and for the right reasons. Who does he think he is Ronaldo? He is no better than Ashley Young IMO and he is happy enough at Villa. We should only want players who are hungrey to work here and get the club in a European Club position. Why does Bentley think he deserves that already on a plate?
As regards Sidwell, I hope this comes off! I think he is the right kind of player for us at the right time!
Andy Johnson...no way!How are we going to catch Everton by signing one of their rejects?! His goalscoring record of late is pretty poor and he's no better than Carew or Gabby. I'd even prefer marvelous Marlon ahead of him!
I'm sure there aren't many supporters who would want Johnson at the Villa.
Really can't believe this Dammo, but i would like them both at this stage
maybe even Aj (Forget bout Blues their finished) FOR ME
Boruc
??????-Davies-Laursen-Bouma
Young-Sidwell-Barry-Bentley
Carew-Johnson
2nd Squad
Taylor
Garderner-Ferdinand-Knight-??????
S.W.P-Coker-Petrov-Lennon
Harewood-Gabby
Players need competition (its healthy) But not to much the best players at the time get selected, not the best names like england
Brett, Podolski for £7mn?! What planet do you live on?
Typical of some of the fans on here who think MON is stupid for not assembling a team of Henry, Podolski, Sneijder and Van Der Vaart.
Sidwell is entitled to compensation from Chelsea as he did not request a transfer. Also he will be on far less at Villa than he is now so it is fair that he asks for a large settlement figure to move, plus Chelsea got him on a free and will make £5m profit for just one seasons wage.
It is just a matter of waiting till financial agreement reached between Chelsea and Sidders.
Not really interested in Johnson, though I would like the other two to come to Villa. Podolski wants out of Bayern, so he might be a possibility, though I'd expect he'd cost more in the 15-20 million range and would probably want to start. But, you know, he's about 3 times as good as Gabby, so I'd be OK with that.
Goldie 7, no way will we get both Bentley and Lennon. They're either/or options.
Who would people rather have: (1) Bentley and Johnson or (2) Lennon and Bent? I don't have a strong preference one way or another. Say we land Bentley/Lennon, Johnson/Bent, Sidwell, a solid RB, a solid keeper, and some squad players to round out the numbers. Either way you slice it, that's a hell of a summer.
Mike s
same here!!! ;D ;D
UTV
AJ? No way. Not because of the Blues connection, but because of the above comments from Zidave and Villa_de. MON might make him a better player, like Marlon, but I think the risk would be too great. We have some fair talent coming through, we have JC, Gabby & Marlon. Bent would be a better option, but I would have my concerns there too.
Sidwell could be a fantastic signing for us, I'd mostly forgotten about him during his disapppearence into the Chelsea hinterland.
Bentley; I just don't know about him. He was full of promise at Arse - learning his craft from Bergkamp et al, he had a tremendous opportunity at Rovers but just hasn'y [i]really[/i] shone (yet). I suppose I would trust MON on this one.
Just fucking sign someone
goldie 7-- im loving the teams hopefully it is like that when the season starts
i see why people are gettin annoyed with the lack of transfers atm but i do think MON will come up with the goods....jus give him some time...im thinkin, team for next season,which i think is also quite realistic..
Boruc/guzan/robbo
nelson/hoyte/miguel laursen davies freddy
bentley/swp/milner reo-cocker sidwell young
carew bent
subs: taylor,gabby,ferdinand,lennon,knight,harewood,petrov
Robinson/Boruc
miguel/chimbonda
laursen/davies
ferdinand/knight
bouma/shorey
bentley/routledge
sidwell/reo-coker
barry/salifou
young/mcgeady
carew/pavlyuchenko
gabby/harewood
That is the sort of squad we should have down VP with a world class manager and billionaire owner
Sidwell looks nailed on and will be a good signing. However,m i've changed my views on Bentley now that it looks like it may cost more than £15m and there has been so much talent on offer at Euro 08 for instance, i really dont think he's worth it.
The house for the German player as mentioned above could be Podolkski, but i think its more likely Mertesacker...or my choice Sweinsteiger if theres any truth in it, quality and just what we need on the right.
UP THE VILLA ;)
By the way, i read the other day that Arshavin wants to leave his club and play in England or Spain.
Wouldn't the Bentley money be better put on getting hold of this geezer ? The bright lights of London etc and other excuses shouldn't come into it if he's willing to come and live in England for the first time. Just a thought...but god help the poor get !
Sorry but it seems like lately i've been getting the 33rd comment of most threads which is a bit spookjy considering my user name.
So this time i hope i've made sure...
ANDY JOHNSON IS CRAP...there you go, i thank you !
UP THE VILLA ;)
I dont why you all have Barry in your mock line ups. Get real even if he stays at Villa I wouldnt want him in my squad. he has told MON he wants out, so let him out. He wont play his best if he is forced to play here.
I would also love to see some sort of a playmaker in the midfield with Ash, like quaresma or of his type. Sidwell and Bentley would be good fits here. MON needs to go out and spend the money and stop holding back.
Hello, talking from being a blue nose I believe AJ would be a good deal for you guys. Looks like AJ is of to fulham but no confirmation has come as of yet after his medical. AJ is a grafter and will work for any team that he is playing for. To be truthful, I don't understand why Moyes wants to let him go when we have already got a small squad as it is. I wouldn't rate him as a squad player, more of a key player as the team seems to kick thenselves into gear when he is on. With teams like Spurs and Man city spending lots of money, its going to be hard for Everton and Villa to stay in the top 5/6.
Andy