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Transfer Window Perils: Two Realistic Targets and One Promising Youngster for £16m
Monday, 01 June 09, 02:38 AM · Comments (29)
Every transfer window we expect too much
It is pretty exciting how many players we are being linked with -
especially seeing as how many are in Europe. That's said I am trying
to ignore the hype as most of it is painfully lazy journalism. I think
players like Bentley and Owen have an air of realism about them, both
O'Neill has been linked to before and both are the type of core
English players he loves to sign, I can't take any of the overseas
links seriously though and that's not to say they won't happen, just
that majority will inevitably be dobbins. Kyle Naughton is a
possibility - although us having a 2mil bid turned down smells
seriously of haddock. I know it is a pretty dumb rumour but i would
love to see Mellberg back - hell why stop there get Vassell, Boateng
and any other old skool Villains back.
Uncle Randy has pretty much made it clear he will back O'Neill again
this summer, but he won't confirm how much he will spend and is being
cautious about what he says and promises (he's hardly likely to say he
has 100mil in loose change when he knows agents and selling clubs will
take advantage gleefully of such a disclosure), yes there is
definitely more hints that he will take a prudent approach but I don't
for one minute think he won't back O'Neill to the hilt if necessary.
Now if O'Neill has a fault (and though he is great, the man is only
human) then maybe his transfer dealings haven't always set the world
alight, YES he has brought in quality and stability but not the
numbers needed - but that is easier said than done!
Successful transfers:
Luke Young: 8 - Consistent and a quality defender
Ashley Young: 9 - O'Neills most important signing
James Milner: 7 - Just scrapes in - yes he is quality player but i'm
not sure he has done enough yet - and many don't see him as a winger.
I personally like him but for 12mil he has more to do yet.
Carew: 8 - The big man is international class and really loves the
club (and i don't mean the lap dancing club).
The Not Sures:
Carlos Cuellar: 6 - I personally think he is a good signing and has
shown at times what he can do - but I realise he hasn't won over all
the fans yet and needs another season to do so. Cost way too much.
Steve Sidwell: 5 - Burst in with all kinds of blunders, amazing goals,
disappearing acts in midfield. Was integral to the team when we played
4:5:1 then he vanished under a cloud of no confidence - and
considering how bad we have played at times i really wanted to see him
get another chance. There is hope for him next season though.
Curtis Davies: 6 - Has done more than enough to prove he isn't a flop,
but somehow without Laursen he has looked pretty average at times - I
think he has all the attributes though and hope that next season he
will prove that.
The Flops
Nicky Shorey: 4 - Started poorly - was axed for almost half the season
then suddenly brought back, hasn't done badly since but I don't think
many fans will think he will be our first choice left back next
season.
NRC: 5 - I don't think Nigel is a bad player - but i have no idea why
O'Neill bought him, he's barely played and when he does it's any
position but the central midfield role he's actually good at (actually
i cant remember what is his best position anymore it's been that
long). I think he will leave - and i don't blame him.
Maloney: 5 - Quite talented, but O'Neill never knew where and when to
play him and he rarely made an impact.
Salifou: 4 - If he is any good play him.......but he isn't so let the
poor guy go.
The why the hell did he sell them?
Cahill: 7 - I'll never forget the goal he scored against the Blues -
and he was a better defender than Knight and just as good as Davies
Steven Davies - 6 - Great player - great engine and before O'Neill
arrived one of our best players - really don't know why he was sold.
Milan Baros: Kidding i'm kidding!
-------------------
Please post the ones I am bound to have missed.
I think since Randy and O'Neill became the Dynamic Duo - we have
expected a massive overhaul every summer and it's never quite happened
and I don't expect this summer will be any different (i hope I'm
wrong). With Barry and NRC probably going we will need two high
profile midfielders and pretty much four additional defenders and
another striker......... stranger things have happened - but I reckon
at worst we'll end up with two more players than we had when the
season finished and at best four more. I think the biggest loss will
be if we do lose Barry - as like Laursen I don't think anyone can
underestimate the importance he has on our team, yeah we moan about
him sometimes but when he's not in the team our midfield (as it
stands) falls apart.
To end on a positive note - our profile has risen and as a result a
lot more players will want to play for us, so fingers crossed.
It is pretty exciting how many players we are being linked with -
especially seeing as how many are in Europe. That's said I am trying
to ignore the hype as most of it is painfully lazy journalism. I think
players like Bentley and Owen have an air of realism about them, both
O'Neill has been linked to before and both are the type of core
English players he loves to sign, I can't take any of the overseas
links seriously though and that's not to say they won't happen, just
that majority will inevitably be dobbins. Kyle Naughton is a
possibility - although us having a 2mil bid turned down smells
seriously of haddock. I know it is a pretty dumb rumour but i would
love to see Mellberg back - hell why stop there get Vassell, Boateng
and any other old skool Villains back.
Uncle Randy has pretty much made it clear he will back O'Neill again
this summer, but he won't confirm how much he will spend and is being
cautious about what he says and promises (he's hardly likely to say he
has 100mil in loose change when he knows agents and selling clubs will
take advantage gleefully of such a disclosure), yes there is
definitely more hints that he will take a prudent approach but I don't
for one minute think he won't back O'Neill to the hilt if necessary.
Now if O'Neill has a fault (and though he is great, the man is only
human) then maybe his transfer dealings haven't always set the world
alight, YES he has brought in quality and stability but not the
numbers needed - but that is easier said than done!
Successful transfers:
Luke Young: 8 - Consistent and a quality defender
Ashley Young: 9 - O'Neills most important signing
James Milner: 7 - Just scrapes in - yes he is quality player but i'm
not sure he has done enough yet - and many don't see him as a winger.
I personally like him but for 12mil he has more to do yet.
Carew: 8 - The big man is international class and really loves the
club (and i don't mean the lap dancing club).
The Not Sures:
Carlos Cuellar: 6 - I personally think he is a good signing and has
shown at times what he can do - but I realise he hasn't won over all
the fans yet and needs another season to do so. Cost way too much.
Steve Sidwell: 5 - Burst in with all kinds of blunders, amazing goals,
disappearing acts in midfield. Was integral to the team when we played
4:5:1 then he vanished under a cloud of no confidence - and
considering how bad we have played at times i really wanted to see him
get another chance. There is hope for him next season though.
Curtis Davies: 6 - Has done more than enough to prove he isn't a flop,
but somehow without Laursen he has looked pretty average at times - I
think he has all the attributes though and hope that next season he
will prove that.
The Flops
Nicky Shorey: 4 - Started poorly - was axed for almost half the season
then suddenly brought back, hasn't done badly since but I don't think
many fans will think he will be our first choice left back next
season.
NRC: 5 - I don't think Nigel is a bad player - but i have no idea why
O'Neill bought him, he's barely played and when he does it's any
position but the central midfield role he's actually good at (actually
i cant remember what is his best position anymore it's been that
long). I think he will leave - and i don't blame him.
Maloney: 5 - Quite talented, but O'Neill never knew where and when to
play him and he rarely made an impact.
Salifou: 4 - If he is any good play him.......but he isn't so let the
poor guy go.
The why the hell did he sell them?
Cahill: 7 - I'll never forget the goal he scored against the Blues -
and he was a better defender than Knight and just as good as Davies
Steven Davies - 6 - Great player - great engine and before O'Neill
arrived one of our best players - really don't know why he was sold.
Milan Baros: Kidding i'm kidding!
-------------------
Please post the ones I am bound to have missed.
I think since Randy and O'Neill became the Dynamic Duo - we have
expected a massive overhaul every summer and it's never quite happened
and I don't expect this summer will be any different (i hope I'm
wrong). With Barry and NRC probably going we will need two high
profile midfielders and pretty much four additional defenders and
another striker......... stranger things have happened - but I reckon
at worst we'll end up with two more players than we had when the
season finished and at best four more. I think the biggest loss will
be if we do lose Barry - as like Laursen I don't think anyone can
underestimate the importance he has on our team, yeah we moan about
him sometimes but when he's not in the team our midfield (as it
stands) falls apart.
To end on a positive note - our profile has risen and as a result a
lot more players will want to play for us, so fingers crossed.
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Posted by Dan Collacott
| Comments (29)
29 Comments · Add yours
And of course Petrov - a slow burner but now looks a great signing!
Hey guys, just got back and written a season review of 2008/09 season as well as look to the future would really appreciate if you would take a look and voice your opinions! cheers;
LINK
very true got to agree with the majority of this. I hope we do strengthen this summer and would love to see Owen and Bentley at Villa Park. I think MON could really get them going agen.!
I personally think this is a pretty poor analysis.
Firstly you've forgotten what was for so long a problem area on the ptich. Gk, I'm not so sure Brad F has had his best season but he's certainly an improvement on what we had before. If it's true that when MON arrived he told Tommy he was rubbish then I'm impressed by this act alone - stand no fools, we all know the guy couldn't handle the standard expected of him.
I certainly agree with your position on foreign transfer rumours, I still torment myself with the dreams though. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only Villa fan who does either...
I'm not so sure on Owen, living and working in Newcastle I've spoken to many barcodes and one or two of them do actually have football knowledge (amazing I know!), there opinion is he's finished and I'd have to agree. Bentley is another arguement, his attitude stinks but he does have that bit of flair we perhaps miss when a game needs it. Ash gives us creativity but flair is something different....
As for the players in...
Milner has been a massive success, to give him a seven is to insult the lad. He was in my top three for player of the season and that's after what I thought was a very poor start. I agree though, he'll never be an out and out winger but at least he added that much need balance.
NRC - I'm appauled by this assessment. Remember what he replaced??? He was the player we needed at the time and the best we could get, but such has been our progression he now no longer looks good enough. He is still the best at breaking play up and protecting def...
I think the rest probably deserve slightly higher ratings too if you consider all the relevant facts but I realise I've now wrote my own blog.
One last word on Cahill though, he wanted to leave plan and simple. I'd never want to have a player in my team that didn't want to be there. He must have wondered though, if he'd have stayed I think we can speculate and say he'd have established himself.
Reply to Simon:
Simon, I agree about Milner although I think Dan is reflecting the price which is probably more than we would like to have payed
I wasn't NRC's biggest fan when he started but when he has been given his chance at Central midfield early this season he has done the business. His passing lets him down but at least he is a better passer than McCann or Boateng who were appalling when it came to retention (although similar to NRC when it came to work rate, tackling and giving their all). Shame Boateng was such a moody bstrd, hilarious story about why he quit after having a paddy at the players awards to move on to bigger things - Boro and Hull .....erm not sure about that Georgie boy
Sturridge this summer could prove to be an inspired signing if those Chelsea swine don't buy him and put him in the cupboard for 5 years
Reply to SidCowanslovechild:
Cheers Sid, yes it was more about the cost - Milner broke our club transfer record - and as yet he's not quite justified the 12mil spent - but that's not to say he won't.
Spot on Simon - i did miss off the two Brad's - I think Friedel has had some very very good games and a few very average ones, he's better than Carson though. Guzan I think will be the first 2nd keeper we've had that actually becomes a first team regular (since Enckleman briefly did).
Sturridge would be a great signing, not sure we could afford whatever daft wages he expects - but here's hoping we do!
Disagree with NRC. I think he still has a very important role to play for us. We need that DCM against the top teams playing 4-5-1 and unless we are buying Essien or Mascherano (or possibly Palacios) I don't think there are many that I have seen (do not watch a lot of European football) any better. He was great last year in that position when MON was calling him his "Makalele with legs" but hasn't had a chance this year because of MON's infatuation with Petrov (even when we were on a long no win streak caused by, IMO, a lack of energy in CM particularly in the last 20 mins).
I don't think we are far away and could get to a very good squad with a net spend of £20m plus.
In: Hart/Green (£5m), Naughton (£4m), Warnock (£5m), Hangeland/Juhasz (£10m), Scharner (£4m), Delph (£6m), Bentley (£8m), Defour (£8m), Barnes (£2m), Sturridge (free) = £52m (I might be a bit light in some e.g. Bentley)
Out: Shorey (£3m), Barry (£12m), Knight (£4m), Gardner (£2.5m), Harewood (£4m), Sidwell (£5m) = £30m
I think Bentley is a good player who has tried to play the "Spurs" way and needs to get back to the football he was playing at Blackburn.
This size of squad would allow us to get some of our kids out on loan next season e.g. Nathan, Bannan, Clark etc. and possibly Gardner, if we keep him, to give them a run in the Championship and see if they are up to it. A small squad may seem good for them as they get around the first team but they never get a run under MON.
Reply to Tony:
Barnes? If you mean Giles Barnes he is quality but a real sicknote
In todays inflated market I think your valuations are light - Defour especially but I like the players.
Barry off to Citeh? Does this mean we hate him for not going for a Champs League place? I for one won't be booing him if he comes back in a light blue shirt but would be interested to know what others think. At least he isn't running his contract down and he has given a lot of years service
I just lost all respect i had for barry he said he wanted a top four club he is a flamming liar he wants more money thats what its all about for him
Get out you dont deserve to wear the villa shirt you greedy money grabbing idiot
Reply to Danny:
I can't get so excited - he has been good for us but this way we get a good fee and have a chance to replace. He is getting on for 29 so isn't going to get any better and we have had the best of him. his real mistake was last season with pool and acting like a tosser and there was no way back from there and no way out with any grace.
Not everyone can leave with class like Laurson and Olly - we will always respect them for the men they were more than just the players. That will never be the case for Barry.
On close to £100k a week, don't suppose he'll care too much. I would, life is about more than money - acting with integrity is important to some. Guess that's just old fashioned talk, but I won't be booing
Im glad Barry has gone for champions league football and for the money.
"Its not about the money"
Meant to be and not for the money
heres hoping he does as well as vassell did when he went to a "bigger club"
thank the lord am out of that dump villa park worst years of my life now i can move to a real football club with passion and amazing fans villa will suffer without me this average club will not finish in the top 6 next year and i doubt even the top ten am outta here and never coming back hahaha.
Reply to gareth barry:
I could have accepted it if he had moved to Liverpool or Arsenal, well ok i would have been slightly miffed but it would have been acceptable. He has completely destroyed any chance of being a Villa hero.
To make things worse Cahill has been called up in the England squad.......
yes we do need a top quality defender with curtis davies and a top quality cm with petrov and complement him!! but also i would like us to bring through bannan and ciaran clark as i believe these two could make decent apparences in the carling cup aswell as fringe players next season. to be honest, NRC, sidwell and cuellar are the type of fringe players that we need to get in the top 4. and lastly what about heskey i dont whether to put him in the flops or the not sures??
Reply to adzwaters:
Heskey needs a bit longer before we judge him and brand him a flop i mean success. Maybe his signing just gave Carew the kick up the arse he needed!
I hope we make some signing as as quickly as Man City signed Barry
Gareth Barry is a Twat!
HESKEY. How can you miss him out? hes been simply awful i cant believe he took big johns place in the starting line up for that long, the worst signing o'neill has made in my opinion, and hes had his chance often enough.
why doesn't anybody come on this website anymore?
It used to get about 100 comments for the little articles.
The biggest Villa news has just come out and it has barely got 20 comments.
am havin so much fun in manchester i am delighted to be here its amazin bye bye villians hope i score against u next season
I'd be interested to see if anyone agrees that one of our biggest problems when we moved back to 4-4-2 was the defence was left too exposed. Both Barry and Petrov are skillful attack minded midfielders and neither did enough defensively. I'd say Petrov and Barry are very similar and there is not much to choose between them.
O'Neill seems strangely stubborn at times and has his favourites. There is no way he was going to drop either Barry or Petrov, so Barry leaving could be a blessing in disguise. Hopefully now O'Neill will play NRC who will protect the defence a lot more and leave Petrov to roam forward (he already does but won't have to worry as much about tracking back which he did more than Barry but not enough and not well enough). But mainly the extra protection for the defence will make a big difference(providing of course O'Neill sees it that way).
What do you think Villa fans?
I am surprised Barry left for Man City but at the same time not surprised he left for the money....he's been looking at other players in the England squad, the Lampards (150k) Gerrard (100k+), Carrick, Hargreaves (80k plus surely)the Coles, Terry etc and has been saying to himself...I'm practically the first name on the team sheet here and I'm getting a fraction of what these boys are on...he wants his....and in this day ans age someone was fool enough to give it to him...fair play..we got the best deal we could have for him no doubt and as said above, it might wake Martin out of his acceptance of a cumbersome midfield. We have a lot of flair on the wings and a skillful central midfielder would make us very dangerous. PLus NRC will hopefully get a run..we need that boy in the team
though you guys might like to read this and comment on your thoughts.
LINK
though you guys might want to read this;
LINK
I totally agree Antvillain - even though it was boring at times and didn't yield as many goals as we would have liked - the 451 we played really did suit the players we had.
1) We got the best out of Gabby - no-one booed him then!
2) Sidwell actually played an important part of the team
3) Davies played a lot better
Harewood, Sidwell, NRC, Gardener were often stubbornly overlooked, even Delf deserved more chances - as he always looked the part when he played. We may have had a small squad - but some of our fringe players were criminally under used.
NRC playing would actually allow Petrov to play a more attacking game which i think now he has regained form and confidence he could now do. But I'm not sure NRC will stick around long enough to find out if he will play a part next season.
I really hope MON is working on new transfers presently and all the press speculation isn't just utter crap.
Reply to Dan:
Martins would be a good signing!
My main worry is that most if the players we are linked to - within a week go cold and are never mentioned again. I really want to hear we are still after Defour!
whoa this site has changed...
i was first annoyed with gareth but if any of us were offered that kind of money then y'know