The Emile Heskey experiment

I'm sorry but you are talking rubbish. I am sure that the vast majority of fans will agree, it as added quality that Villa need, not a donkey. Heskey should be a reasonable player and still could be ok, in the Championship. He is definitely past it. Put it this way; as a centre half if you had a choice of defending against Gabby or Heskey, who are you going to choose, Heskey every time! Even if we did choose to buy Heskey, we still need to wait$ until January, in which time we will have plenty of opportunity to decide upon a top class striker to bring to Villa, and hopefully someone with a few years of playing left in them. If Gabby does need more pressure to fight for a first team place, MON should invest some faith in Delfouneso who i am sure has the capability and will perform well if not only out of determination and hard effort, something Agbonlahor could learn from.

Please god no let this be a rumour. His first touch is poor. How has he got back in the england squad he is poor.

damo
stay off the drugs there no good

Does the experiment involve somebody standing on the holte with a gun and trying to spot heskey?

Can i be the one with the gun? I'd like to get a Joey Barton voodoo doll and maybe burn an effergy of him too!

Chill out Jay_Villafan, his first touch isn't that bad!

Heskey aint a bad player, he does the job for Wigan, but is this what sort of player we should be aiming for? There is better out there.
Who would you choose to play up front for England? Heskey, Crouch, Defoe or Owen? Which brings me to the point... We missed out on Crouch and Defoe, why weren't we bidding for Owen in the window!? Quality english player, we've got the money..

Good god - Damian you have lost it!! Next we will hear somebody say that he is a MoN type of player and he can make good players great......

This guy is an absolute donkey and never in a million years should be at villa park. This guy is a goal scorer in the same class as Brad Friedel but he probably is in the right place at the right time less than Friedel.

Can we all agree not to accept mediocrity or in this case 40 shades of sheeeeite

I'd have Heskey Barton and Ashton tomorrow, despite the consensus against.

I'm sorry to break this to everyone, but when you look at all the English strikers playing in the Premiership, Heskey is currently playing as one of the best of them. I don't care what kind of assumptions you've made about him, I don't care what his goalscoring record is like, and I don't care he used to play for the scum.

Where on Earth does this reputation of being a "donkey" come from? If you actually watch him play instead of going on stereotypical views, he's one of the hardest working strikers around. He holds up the ball better than anyone, far better than Carew, and has great vision for passing and finding free space. His goalscoring record, believe it or not, is actually comparable to the likes of Dean Ashton. Maybe some of you guys should actually watch him playing these days instead of working on expired stereotpyical views. He's certainly no worse than what we've already got.

Heskey could do a major job for us - not long term but provide a wake up call for Carew especially. Why does Michael Owen specifically request he is licked for England? Because he scores more goals with him along side him. MON knows him better than anyone and we could see the best of him yet at villa - a very shrewd purchase if we get him.

Heskey is better than anything we have got up front. He is not the star player we need to kick on but he is still better than the rubbish we have got up front. Carew would not get in any other premisership team ( top half) and gabby is not a striker, more like a winger. I wont even bother discussing marlon.

damian mate i as much as i don't want to think this i think that you could be right he could do the business

I actually think Heskey would do a decent job but the one problem I see is that he is a very similar type of player to Harewood.

Both strong, fairly quick, not the most accurate of finishers and game revolves around holding the ball up.

The type of striekr we need is the one that can finish the chances in the box.

Carew can't finish, Gabby is improving but stil wastes enough chances and I haven't seen enough of Delf to comment on him.

As much as i think Doyle was overpriced and originally I was against the signing, the more more I think about it the more I believe he may have been this type of striker.

Hopefully though by January another striker of this kind will be available who is more proven than Doyle

Damian you are mad! Heskey is pants!

Reply to Villa_Chris:

Chill out Jay_Villafan, his first touch isn't that bad!

His first touch isn't that bad? you've all seen it his first touch is that bad half the time it counts as a shot on goal it bounces off him that much.

tom sexton - are you from swindon?

1 Gabriel Agbonlahor Aston Villa 3
2 Blumer Elano Manchester City 3
3 Amr Zaki Wigan Athletic 3
4 Dean Ashton West Ham Utd 2
5 John Carew Aston Villa 2
6 Deco Chelsea 2
7 Jermain Defoe Portsmouth 2
8 Darren Fletcher Man Utd 2
9 Ricardo Fuller Stoke City 2
10 Mido Middlesbrough 2
11 Jason Roberts Blackburn 2

premier league top scorers so far...and its still early!!!!

But some people still manage to moan about gabby and carew!

main dog - there has only been 3 games you muppet

GOOD NEWS FREDDY HAS SIGNED A TWO YEAR EXTENSION ON HIS CONTRACT.

Main dog,

gabby is a prick anyway!

I SEEM TO BE ONE OF THE FEW PEOPLE THAT THINK HESKEY WOULD BE AN EXECELLENT SIGNING HE IS STRONG WILLING AND A GREAT TEAM PLAYER

wheelo...exactly my point you muppet

Gabby is very lazy, probably down to his off field antics.... It's hard work keeping 3 birds on the go at the same time....


I went down against Liverpool and he looked like he couldnt be bothered..

Heskey isnt the answer, too similar to Harewood, so unless we sell him.....

Also, for the scum and Wigan, they play the ball up to him for flick ons etc.. Isnt that what John Carew does....?

We need a poacher, a huntelaar style striker.. Who will get 20 + goals a season by being in the right place and following things up.....

I dont think Owen would be a bad signing for the right price

we already have harewood as our talentless battering ram, why would we want another. i may be wrong, but this goal to game ratio was poor at pool aswell? hope it desnt happen, but wouldnt be shocked. barton would be a total scock on the other hand. i honestly cant think of a player mon is less likely to buy, who the hell dremt that one up, he should be fired!

Instead of paying £5million for Heskey, maybe we should pay £5million for a donkeys arse and a banjo for Harewood! And he'd still miss!

6 years at leicester 40 goals
4 years at pool 39 goals
2 years at s**t 14 goals
2 years so far at wigan 13 goals


Harewood

7 years at forest 51 goals
4 years at west ham 47 goals

neither goalscoring records are great are they.

I really rate Heskey and like to see him in the England team alongside Owen. Heskey is not a selfish striker always looking to score at all costs (like that lanky pratt Crouch always does !) He looks to lay the ball off to a goal poacher, and is happy to be the feeder of the glory goals.

He'd be a great short term signing for us - especially if we could combine his acquisition with Owen (injury probs aside.)

And who knows - MON may get a few more years out of them when they're happy at a club with a good set up, manager, and owner .... just like we have at Villa !!

:-)

Have all you people that say Carew can't finish or isn't good enough gone off your rocker?!? what, because he missed one opportunity to score a goal against Liverpool!?

Carew is a great player.....FAR better than Heskey!

to be fair gabby and carew have scored 5 goals between them in the first 3 games!wich is very good!dont get me wrong i get annoyed with gabby as much as the next bloke but i dont belive heskey is the sort of the player we should be going for!ASHTON would be an amazing signing for villa, strong, great touch, good in the air and a poacher! get him in!

MAINDOG - So you agree then that your table was pretty pointless.

Carew and Gabby are not good enough. Heskey is better than both of them. I can name 10 teams in the prem who have a bteer stike force than us.

MAINDOG - So you agree your table is pretty pointless??

Gabby and Carew are simply not good enough, i can name 10 prem teams with beter forward lines than us.

Villa_Chris - I could not agree more. John Carew is an outstanding player and leader - when you consider the type of ball he has to deal with he does a collosal job.

To compare Heskey to him is frankly laughable. Heskey is nothing more than a workhorse - vision and passing - are people having a laugh or what. The man couldn't pass wind and with regard to shooting - he wouldn't hit sand if he fell off a camel.

The fact that Heskey is one of the best english strikers in the premiership really is a damning enditement of english strikers. The fact of the matter is - there are NO good english strikers at the moment - barring a few up and coming players who show potential. Rooney threatened to be a megastar a few years ago and it could still happen but right now - does he even know what position he plays himself and soon will struggle for a start at united? Other than him - no top clubs have english strikers

NO TO HESKEY & BARTON
YES TO FALCOA & DEL A RED

In Reply to joebooth "Put it this way; as a centre half if you had a choice of defending against Gabby or Heskey, who are you going to choose, Heskey every time!" I think you will find most defenders hate playing against Heskey - he is strong and fast and have heard numerous comments from Premiership defenders that he is a nightmare to play against....Gabby is fast and that is it, and a defender with good positional sense can easily keep him quiet during a game........Gabby is another Vassell, when is pace goes he will have nothing!

Cant believe how much people dislike our current players....this is a very strong squad, one that will be quite successful. Get behind the lads instead of putting them down.

Gabby is young and learning the trade. Give him time. He has huge potential (hense the hype over the past tw seasons).
Played well for Under 21's too!

Went to the reserve game last night and I must say we've got some great youngsters coming through.
Carlos Cuellar looked solid and a 'no nonsense' type of defender. Very impressed with him. As for the youngsters, I thought Chris Herd and Eric Lichaj did very well. It bodes well for the future.
As far as the strikers are concerned, we really do need another one, and a very good one to work alongside Big John and Gabby, or at least keep them on their toes! Both strikers are automatic first picks and they know it, this has to change.
Even though Delfoneso is now in the squad, he is far too lightweight and inexperienced to make an impact just now. He is quick though. With Harewood and Delfoneso as back up, that's not enough. We need more quality in that area, and I hope this will be rectified in January.
BUT NOT WITH HESKEY!!! That's a step in the wrong direction if we're pushing for Europe again, and indeed competing in Europe this season.
Bring in Saviola!!

wheelo...i was using the tale to proove that bothg of our best strikers have started the season well by scoring goals!!!!thats what strikers do.if by christmas, their goal tally is poor, then i feel they deserve criticism.Not now, when they are doing their jobs....by scoring goals!i know gabby, can be lazy at times, but he probably gets told to stand around in certain positions and wait for feeds and second balls.did you see his goal for the under 21's the other day?his whole performance was amazing...and apparently he had a sickness bug too!!with regards to carew, i feel he is going to have his best season this year, he does alot for the team in the final third and he has started his goal tally well with 2 goals in 3 games...not bad!im not saying i dislike heskey...if he is cheap enuf then get him in...a bit of competition would just make our strikers hungrier!!

delfoneso will grow into a top striker once given his chance,he has a better touch than gabbi and his movement is much better i think its called a brain,as for barton i would love him at villa park,if you watched him when he played for man city against us he dominated the park and ran the show on his own,a bit of agression in a midfield player is ideal and mon is the man to make him a top player again...

I would swap Gabby for Delfouneso in the last 1/4 of a match if we need goals. Agreed he doesn't appear to have the full strength at the moment but as an impact player I think he'd have more than Marlon.

Great - Sidwell's injured again.

Maindog,

Gabby has played 1 good game out of 3 possible against city! Yeah so what he got a hat-trick, does he want a blue peter badge? His goal record so far looks all good and well but he aint turned up for the last two games!

The point wheelo is trying to make is that strikers have to the business on a consistent basis, not when they can be arsed!

Carew is ok dont get me wrong i like him and that, i like his work rate too, but he makes us look a bit one-dimensional at times, not all the time, but in parts!

Maindog,

Gabby has played 1 good game out of 3 possible against city! Yeah so what he got a hat-trick, does he want a blue peter badge? His goal record so far looks all good and well on your table but he aint turned up for the last two games!

The point wheelo is trying to make is that strikers have to the business on a consistent basis, not when they can be arsed!

Carew is ok dont get me wrong i like him and that, i like his work rate too, but he makes us look a bit one-dimensional at times, not all the time, but in parts

drop this crap idea,we need strikers which are world class not this sh*t about heskey.HES A GORILLA!

vivavilla 86 are you heskey in disguise?????

I am not a big Heskey fan, but he has played well this season. It seems he would be redundant on a squad that already has Harewood and Carew in it. I've slagged selecting him for England, but Michael Owen seems the most realistic striker we can get and exactly the sort of person we need. Newcastle will be looking to sell him in January and if Villa is still in Europe and still within shouting distance of the top 4, then he might
And I like hearing the good news about Cuellar abz, will he play this weekend against Spurs so we can finally get a look at a first-choice back line (at least until Bouma comes back). If Cuellar plays, Villa might tonk Spurs (like they should have last year!!!!!!!!)

congrats to bouma abd his new deal!

sorry i ment congrats to bouma and his new deal!
I hope u all agree!
UTV

Sorry to move away from the original Heskey debate (never particularly rated him but sign him if he is avaialable - the more the merrier) but it says on the AVFC website that Sidwell has a knee injury but the details are very vague and confusing. The story was put on this afternoon and states that he has had the injury since the Stoke friendly. The final line of the story states:

He is now looking to shake off his latest knock as he hopes to figure in Villa's first team in the coming months.

How can it be considered just a knock and then they mention 'months' rather than 'weeks'. There seems to be no timeframe on how long he is likely to be out.

The strange thing is, yesterday there was an indepth story on there titled 'More determined than ever' where it states Sidwell can't wait to get back into action and was set to play for the reserves at Spurs last night. There's no mention of the injury suffered last week so I am confused as to whats going on.

I heard a rumour (admittedly on a notoriously unreliable website) that Sidwell was set to do an Unsworth and had asked to be moved on after a few weeks at the club which was a very unusual rumour to post if it was completely false.

Can anyone shed any light on the injury and how long he is expected to be out?

any1 heard the rumour about milito on loan kcik gabs up the arse

Reply to Villa_Chris:

Have all you people that say Carew can't finish or isn't good enough gone off your rocker?!? what, because he missed one opportunity to score a goal against Liverpool!?

Carew is a great player.....FAR better than Heskey!

Agree 100% with you Chris - everyone must be overdoing the illegal substances.

Heskey couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo. He had one good season at Liverpool and the rest of the time he hasn't scored enough. We want better than him.

heskey is absolute crap and i think we shud put ashton in and drop carew
carew and gabby dont work togetha
i havent heard tha rumour about milito but i think he wud be a great signing
if we sign heskey ill kill myself hes a right donkey
we shud maybe sign zaki hes a good player

Reply to joebooth12:

I'm sorry but you are talking rubbish. I am sure that the vast majority of fans will agree, it as added quality that Villa need, not a donkey. Heskey should be a reasonable player and still could be ok, in the Championship. He is definitely past it. Put it this way; as a centre half if you had a...

if villa buy heskey it just shows a complete lack of vision, and ambition. never been fit t wear the villa colours.

The answer to this experiment is (drum roll).......No..!

Damian..Do I actually win the DVD now for the correct answer..?

hasnt milito just moved to another team in spain?
Ashton and a really creative play maker needed!!!!

That Sidwell story doesn't surprsie me. there is definately something going on.
Heskey for the squad would be OK.

As for all this tripe about strikers having to be good week in week out, which striker who performed week in week out last season in the Prem would you like us to sign.

Oh and by the way if you find one,the club won't sell him , because those boys are pretty hard to find.

Any clown can put the ball in the net. I'm more concerned about the creators. Gabby, Carew and yes even Marlon will stick it in if we can keep the opportunities coming.

how do, nan? (in a deep gravelly welcoming Yorkshire accent)

I hear Ronald McDonald's available on a free transfer to fill the void in attack..!

I am really convinced martin has not got a clue. All the maney at his disposal & he keeps chasing over priced average players. We may as well get in Denis Wise

Could we look a bit furthur afield that the british Isles for talent...because im pretty sure its out there.

John Terry was once quoted as saying that Heskey was the most difficult striker in the Prem to play against.

I agree with nan. Who are we to rely on in midfield for creativity and good service to CArew and Gabby? Petrov? Reo? haha. Sidwell, bubble boy, hasnt played. Barry is a pin point passer, yes, and crafty too, but he cant beat his man. Milner doesnt have the best record as far as assists go, that leaves web cam. More pressure on him. Ok, Milner will learn in time, hopefully, but i still have little idea why we didnt really aggressively recruit De la Red. Or if we want to spend 18mil on Ashton, lets spend that money on Diego. Striker is not the issue here.

what a load of rubbish, im getting sick and tired of villa being linked with players who simply are sh*t, and no way are they going to take us forward.
heskey,doyle, barton do me a favour.
del la red, falcao, diego, more like it.
trouble is, you need to leave britain to look at these players.

I think you've got to accept that we will sign Celtic/Rangers players or Bristish end of story, get over it.
If you want foreign go watch City or Chelski.

Well after his performance tonight I'd deffo take him.

Reply to Marcus1725:

Gabby is very lazy, probably down to his off field antics.... It's hard work keeping 3 birds on the go at the same time....


I went down against Liverpool and he looked like he couldnt be bothered..

Heskey isnt the answer, too similar to Harewood, so unless we sell...

the thing is with owen is that he no longer plays the role of the goal scoring poacher in the 6yard box, he has dropped back to play as a more creative foward, he is by no means as effective as he once was. We have the ability in the midfield to get the ball in there, we just need someone to get on the end of it. I agree Huntelaar would be an excellent signing!!!

You need a stiffer drink Daiman!

[quote]
Naturally, I could be completely wrong
[/quote]

Your wrong experiment failed.

Why would we have Heskey or some thug? Get a grip!