Sunday rumours: Two from Pompey
Sunday, 21 December 08, 08:26 AM · Comments (35)
The interesting thing about today is that we're 3rd and if Arsenal win or draw then we are all of a sudden within reasonable distance of 2nd. That is based on the assumption that Chelsea will win at Everton tomorrow and move back to 7 points ahead of us.
Isn't it exciting! We've got Arsenal at home on Friday and then Hull away - a Hull side who are very very poor at home at the moment. After Gillingham it's the Baggies and Sunderland. We might be even closer to 1st by the end of January than we are now... only time will tell.
Anyway, I'm getting carried away with some good results. What I wanted to discuss was 2 rumours emanating from today's press: Jermaine Defoe and James Hurst.
It's pretty safe to say our scouts have been spotted at Pompey and the press reckon we want Defoe or James Hurst. We all know about Defoe so it is the Hurst rumour that interests me. According to the uber-reliable Daily Mirror the England u-17 captain is a target for O'Neill because he's not convinced by our current right-back Luke Young.
Young is reliable while not brilliant but I know little about Hurst. What I do know you can thank the Portsmouth News for: he's from Sutton Coldfield and was on the Baggies books in July before turning down a number of clubs - including Arsenal, Man Utd and Villa - for the chance of playing first-team football at Pompey.
Now to Defoe. The People reckon we're going to bid £10m in January and Pompey will accept because they need the case - even with the sale of Diarra to Madrid for around £20m.
I think he'd be a decent signing but he's not the cleverest lad around and I'm nor sure how he'd click with the other players. He likes a bit of bling so he might fit in with Gabby and Webcam. However, I think there are better players out there, it just depends whether they are available on January or not.
Right, I'm off to watch Arsenal v Liverpool knowing that any outcome is a good outcome for Aston Villa.
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35 Comments · Add yours
Don't know anything about HURST, but, firstly I hope he can actually defend and secondly he's a fast as a greased pig. DEFOE would be a good signing, although there will be a toughh competition with JOKER as to who can sulk the most.
hurst only joined pompey in the summer? and turned us down? so now we will pay 3-4 million for a lad we should have tried a bit harder to sign in the summer.
defoe=def-o-no would love to see podolski for half the price
We were alo linked with Fster today now that must be bull as we just signed 2 keepers
LOL. Charles N'ZOGBIA (another rumoured target) has just scored for the barcodes. That should pump his price up another £5mil
Forget Defoe lets go and get Owen, same type of player but 100 times better, lets go for it and get players of this calibre and achieve something.
Luke, if MON is so unconvinces about L. Young, then why is he starting almost every match. It's wee Shorey who warms MON's seat every game. He wants Hurst to play with Young as a wide back and let the Spaniard, Davies, Thor and dare I say Zat Knight to tussle for the centre back positions.
Cesc and Adebayor out for Friday? Lets hope so!!
ooo rumors about fottball(sccer) there is alot starting from the player to the coaches
When I tell my friends I'll be sorry not to be able to watch Fabregas and Adebayor at Villa Park on Friday...will I be telling the truth?
Ade for sure is out due to his red... but fab? how bad is the injury?
no you sodding won't.
If we're gonna go for 2 from Portsmouth, I'd go for Defoe and Glen Johnson. Thought we should have signed em both before Pompey snapped em up.
Agree with you Ghosthunter on Defoe. I don't think he brings enough to the table as a player and definitely as a person. Would love to see Heskey come as cover for Ashley Young particularly but not sure about Doyle. Santa Cruz surely? He's on the move and I think it's between us and Man City.
Wouldnt it be amazing if by the end of january, we are still third in the league with Owen, Defoe, Valncia, glen johnson and Freddy Bouma all in our squad list!!!!!!!!!
It is very possible!
hurst is an awesome talent i've seen him play many times before when he was a young lad n when at albion!! agree wiv _AP68_ tho we shud have tried harder to purchase him in the summer! defoe for 10m wud b a brilliant buy however i think were lookin for a player up top like john carew! ashton or heskey r the first players wot come 2 mind.
luke young is a really good player, why would o'neill be worried about him?
I cant wait to see Bouma back in a claret and blue shirt.. that will be like a new signing!
Reply to maindog:
No it isn't. We won't buy Owen, Defoe, Valencia and Glen Johnson. We will be lucky to land 2 of those. First, I don't think that MON would buy Johnson because Young has played decent enough. Second, no way would we splash the 20 million or so necessary to get both Owen AND Defoe.
Owen would sit top on my wish list but for his propensity to get injured. I reckon he would spend more time off than on the pitch. I wouldn't mind seeing N'Zogbia in the squad--he could give us an option at left back and, when Webcam picks up a knock or needs a rest, on the left wing.
I remember reading that defoe didnt want to come here because he wanted a guaranteed first team spot. So nothing has really changed on that front. He is definitely not getting in before either gabby or big john. I think defoe is a quality striker, but its not worth it if he is going to bitch and moan on our bench. Which he would surely do.
Santa Cruz or Owen please
valencia or nZogbia for the wing, also :]
Defoe -
No kthx. He played poorly with Gabby in England and we need a striker with a bigger build. That's also forgetting to mention he has turned us down twice already. Have some dignity and tell him to piss off with the pompy's and let's buy some class.
has anyone seen the Craig Bellamy stories? Apparantly O'Neill is intersted in bringin him to Villa Park. Also heard Harewood could go the other way?!?
Who knows, he was O'Neill's last signing in charge of Celtic (I think) and scored 9 goals in his first 15 games.....did O'neill think he was a genious then??
OR, is it a rumour just because he played against us this weekend?? We'll see.
genius*
can't think why we'd need a right back, Luke Young has been excellent and when Freddie comes back Luke will revert to his best position.
Bellamy would be excellent, fast and direct, he was superb on Saturday.
For God's sake people why on earth are some of you saying Heskey would be ok, DON'T BUY PLAYERS FOR COVER (Harewood, Routledge, Salifou, etc, etc) It doesn't work, he's to old doesn't score and nobody at VP likes him starting with his skittle impressions for Leicester.
Santa Cruz is due for showdown talks and anyman and his dog can see Hughes won't be at Man C next season so who knows? Ghosthunter I take on board your comments about Cruz but sometimes you have to gamble. The guy has great touch, can hold the ball up and is a good header of the ball. I would prefer him to Crouch or Ashton, two others that get mentioned a lot for that role.
Yes £18m is a hell of a lot but if MON wants him he won't care about the price tag.
Agree with the most part Ghosthunter.
.
I wouldn't like to see Defoe come to VP simply because, whilst he is undoubtedly a gifted player he has rejected us twice already, and since then, we have progressed quite well so I don't think we need him
Wouldn't like to see Doyle or Heskey. I think Villa are too good for these players, and if we honestly want to challenge the top4 come the end of the season then we need better quality then what we currently have. That's probably the difficult part I think - we have very good players.
I agree that I'd rather a good player who fits into the team then an expensive high profile player who comes in, makes a big fuss and fails to deliever.
Agree with the sentiments about MON. Fantastic manager who has proved he is extremely gifted and capable of delievering. I will admit at times I got frustated at some of his acquistions but I mean we are in 3rd, outright top 4, and are ON FIREEEEEEEEE !!
Onto Hurst, and I think this is a MON signing - altho he may be a little to young. We need depth and I think looking to the future is a strong policy of MON - But with that said, we have some very talented individuals in our youth academy who I think could be capable of making a huge impact in the coming years - Banan, Steibler, Herd, et al. And I don't really like going for players who have previously rejected us - altho L Young has proved to be a fine acquisition.
Luke, you might be getting a little carried away with where we may be come the end of January. But it does make yu feel good knowing that we are looking up at the teams above us challenging for europe, rather then looking down below us at the relegation zone, or up at how many pts we are away from safety.
We are thinking along the same lines.
I think we have our key players. We need some strength now. Something to bulk the side out a bit. I'm not bothered by all this world class bullshit. Strength in depth is what we need. The ability to hold the ball up. Most of all, playeers happy to come off the bench and not start.
Heskey and Doyle good shout.
Agreed again. Also would get pissed off if on the bench
L young has been quality for us, i dont see why Oneil would want to replace him, but a bit of healthy competition is good if we did sign hurst
Defoe is the man 4 villa!!
hes the best poacher around
15 goals in 28 games for pompey it ses it all
defoe is perfect for villa!
Defoe turned you down twice before, what makes you think he'd change his mind now. Its pretty well known he wont move north on london anyway...hes too devoted to the Laaahdaaan lifestyle.
I think both of them would be good, but they would be excellent! Adriano on the other hand or Podolski!
only one player to buy to make this side complete,mr d drogba.break the bank and link him up with gabby and young.makes me drool just writing this..
Reply to Eli:
Spot on about young, i dont under stand how shorey can go from being a good player to now be playing like big zat[shit] all in the space of half a season up the villa
Dean Ashton is unfortunately injury prone.Emile Heskey doesn't score enough.The same for Robbie Keane,I believe his strike rate is 1 in 6,over his career so far,as a set up man he really can open up a defense.Someone to take the Carew role,I'd look at Bobby Zamorra at Fulham.He's proven he can lead the line and set up chances in the box but doesn't start too many games at present.Owen would be ideal in the summer if we manage to get CL for next season.He'd be great for the young lads like Nathan and even Gabby to learn from.