Aston Villa News 24/7Writer: J P Fear 
Date:Friday August 31 2007
Time: 3:31PM
UK time is: 21:39:34
Choose your club
Other Sites
Network Navigation
Vital Partners
'If It's Football, It's Vital'
More Villa Signings Possible
Martin O'Neill has spoken of our new arrival Curtis Davies and the possibility of more arrivals.
On Davies he said:
'I am very pleased to have signed Curtis. He has been worth waiting for. It seems a long time since our interest was made known but all's well that ends well. West Brom wanted to do the deal in the way we have done it, starting with a season-long loan, and I am happy to go along with it.'
On the soon to close transfer window and our lack of a right-back, he added:
'It's still possible someone may be coming in before midnight but it looks like the right-back I really want will not be available for two or three months. If that is the case, then so be it. I would prefer the player I want to come in January but we do have alternatives here.'
Right, so we go through until January without a single recognised right-back at the club after months of waiting? Superb planning I must say. So Olof Mellberg will no doubt be shifted to the right where he doesn't like playing and where his game is really not suited, or we play a midfielder there. Surely selling Aaron Hughes, a recognised and capable (albeit not world beating) right-back was a total error in judgement?
The Villa boss also confirmed no one had been in contact to buy Shaun Maloney, putting pay to reports in Scotland suggesting the diminutive striker was set to move back to Celtic before midnight tonight.
Vital F1 Prediction League - Join now for Monaco
Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.
Join the Vital Fantasy Football League - its Free!
Your Comments
Wonder who he means!? Season long loan for Hoyte?
son_of_cher
Adriano seen at Villa Park (and reading, tottenham and man city according to bbc rumours!!!)
Pezza
we need maloney - a 5th striker/ attacking midfielder - he will be an asset
leelindsay
Will probably be that portugese chap...Bosingwa or whatever
andrew144
Mr Fear, another interpretation is that MON did not rate Hughes any higher as a RB than Gardner or Mellberg - in which case why keep him?
Gordonsleftboot
yes, I agree we need Maloney - he may well turn out to be the 20 goal striker we need!
Gordonsleftboot
Don't we have a right back playing in the reserves? Why not give him a spin?
godzvilla
Martin O'Neill has a lot to answer for if we go until january without a right back! As someone said on the forum even if we signed Defoe, SWP and Adriano, I would still be *****ed at MON coz he hasnt done his job properly!
DeanoVilla
I think we will get a full back on loan until the Porto lad becomes available
krfeskivilla
So knowing since we had Bardsley on loan that the RB position is a priority, it is now not possible to get the player we desperately need. It is an utter shambles for a club with ambitions of pushing for a European place that we have to maybe resort to changing our regular CB's, which have a good understanding together, or playing a midfielder in the RB position. We are asking for trouble and we will be found out if this is going to be the case. This should never have got to this situation.
Hoss The Villain
Prem clubs can only have 2 loan players. Carson & Davies. No RB's coming. Hasn't MON said that! He will wait until Jan for his target to become available. Laursen & Davies at CB, Knight on the bench and Olly at RB.
Gazvilla
I agree with you JP this does not make any kind of sense; to go into the first half of the season without a recognised RB. It is like the McLaran F1 team starting their races with the rear off-side wheel slightly smaller than the others. It does not matter how good the other components are we cannot be competitive. There seems to be some crazy logic here that I, for one, cannot understand. I do hope I am wrong and MON produces a good RB out of the hat, otherwise we will struggle and it is unfair to Mellberg and Gardner to expect them to perform at this level week in week out.
Obediah
Hasn't Davies played at RB for the Bagheads?
Madirish
Hughes wanted to leave and he was absolute crap, we conceded 70 odd per cent of our goals from his position when he played. O'Halloran can play right back, so can Davies and they are both far better than Hughes. Gardener has been fine at right back and says he doesn't mind playing there as long as he's playing, so lets not put words into players mouths. And to be fair Gardener can improve his game by being in that position, coming from deep and passing balls through to the forwards. MON's target is Vintunes from Pacos de Ferreira, and he can't buy out till January so I've heard, and the Bosingwa thing was just a fabrication off web blogs, he said on Spanish TV that NO ONE from England had approached him or his agent or Porto, only one from Italy. So thats that.
astonmilan
Davies was asked in an interview by Jack i'm a beardy weasel Woodward whether he was versitile and he said not really his best position is centre half but he'll where the boss wants him to......
nottinghamvillain
Yes Madrish, he played RB for them on quite a few occaisions, he also did for Luton, and quite well too.
astonmilan
astonmilan, spot on. Hughes did a reasonable job but, like Davo i'm afraid, was not prepared to fight for his place. Not sure on the Portugese stuff but no reason to doubt it. O'Halloran a good prospect, we can cover it, but we could do with a RB specialist short term at least, maybe Hoyte on loan till Jan. Not sure about Rosenior.
Madirish
glad your happy with the situation atonmilan but I for one don't find it so excusable. You can't compare O'Halloran or Davies to Hughes as neither have played RB at Premiership level. You also pick a figure out of the air of 70% of our goals being conceded through Hughes... come on give us a breakdown of this stat? However you wish to gloss over the failings of MON to secure a RB after a year I don't wish to share your optimism that everything will be fine. Gardner is a young up and coming central midfielder and he shouldn't be improving his game by playing out of position.
Hoss The Villain
Madrish the player is Antunes, sorry mistyped it, and we are heavily linked both ways. Another player we were in serious talks with was Simplicio of Palermo, but he is a non EU player and has Visa and Passport problems involved with moving from Italy and around Europe. Maybe we will get a loan player in, and to be fair only Hoyte is of the quality you would want, any others are well settled. Ronenoir, ????? not convinced, plus Hughes is injured at Fullham now, surprise surprise !!
astonmilan
Hoss, did you ever go to watch the reserves mate ?? Gardener played at right back on numerous occaisions. On the other point, who is or has been available to buy this year ?? Bosingwa is just hype, the only club who enquired about him was Juve, and he wasn't interested because they aren't in the CL this year. So tell me how we are going to attract him ? Hoyte is a massive Arsenal fan and gets games whenever possible, Antunes wants to come if you believe the Portugese press, but can't buy out till Jan. Everyone keeps going on about signings, but all that keeps being mentioned is Defoe and SWP. Name names of RB's available, if it was that easy we'd have one in now surely.
astonmilan
Rosenior is in talks with Reading, so don't think he will be coming on loan anyway. That BBC football rumour page is great. The rumours are so stupid. Apparently Guti is coming to Villa, this is despite him playing regulalrly for Madrid. Lol. The only player I believe we could be waiting for is Defoe.
notthedougellisstand
Hoss hughes was crap. he couldn't tackle, couldn't pass 10 yards without giving the ball away. One of Ronaldo's goals at VP last seaosn came from Hughes passing straight to him. To be honest, gardner is doing a far better job than hughes ever did - so really, whats your problem?
The Usual Suspect
As for the stats Hoss, it was from the Actim sports web page or whatever its called, and it was from the season before last, and we noticed that a very high percentage came from that position, the left of the attacking team, i:e our rightback / right centerback area. It was around 70%.
astonmilan
Which ever way you look at it Martin O'Neill has seriously failed to do his job. If I turned up to work for 4 months without the necessary tools to do my job I would be sacked!
DeanoVilla
Just seen Collymore on the car park outside VP. Don't think he was there to sign though.
VillaYamYam
Guys, there can be no more loan signings. We've had our quota!
Gazvilla
He's probably just walking his dog.
The Usual Suspect
And I certainly wouldnt get away with saying I'll use my calculator as my keyboard until January!
DeanoVilla
Yeah all is rosy down VP, sorry for doubting that. Get real, if you believe that our Club should be going into a season without a recognised RB then good of you to think so. The fact that Gardner (that is how you spell it astonmilan) has played RB at reserve level further shows how bad the situation is that there is no one at the Club who can play in that position. 1 year to sort it out and he has failed to do so. Any player is available, but if you make no approach then obviously they will not be.
Hoss The Villain
only 2 loans per team in the season isnt it ????
JASON
gordonsleftboot, you are right (sadly not right-back) and it is MON who is resonsible for results and answerable with his job if he gets it wrong. Just an opinion though, he moaned last year - rightly - about having a small squad, but hasn't improved the size at all through the summer. Wasted chance imho.
The Fear
He's improved the quality by miles, that's the key. Its all very well spouting off about this RB issue, but MON will not discuss his targets.
tarzan
Fear - Refreshing to see that you say things as they are and not concerned about how you may be perceived by the new regime. For me, MON is outdated, Randy is too trusting which surprises me considering his business acumen (but was it his dad's company). Lost opportunities.
Gazvilla
Lost opportunities indeed, and despite the protests of astonmilan and others, continuing through until January without a specialist right back is bordering on the criminal. Neither Gardner nor Mellberg are accomplished in that position, while O'Halloran is very much left footed, and is still learning his trade as a left full back.
glensider
As I said, everybody is spouting off about signings, but won't come up with names. Except Defoe and SWP. And I've seen nothing outside the top four that has raised any eyebrows for being an outstanding signing. And even in the top four, only Arsenal seem to have got good sound buys and not megabucks primadonnas. I'd love to see Defoe, Oddo, Cannavaro and Deco at Villa personally, but it ain't gonna happen. And Hoss, a player has to reach a thing called personal terms and want to actually go to any club that puts an offer in. So does his girlfriend or wife and children if they have any, I'm as downbeat as any season ticket holder mate, but we are a mid table club, with genuine ambition now I'm certain, but any player worth his salt wants European football, hense all the youngsters MON is recruiting, established players pick the bright lights of European football, the youngsters want to get there. Pompey have wasted millions, City have wasted millions, West Ham, even Spurs...on what ?? Show me a 'Big name, world class player' that any of our rivals have bought ? To anyone else...get to Villa Park on sunday and support the team, you'd be amazed what it can do for the players we have. UTV
astonmilan
Glen, O'Halloran can play both sides, and does switch, he plays CB aswell, but yes he is left footed, and spends most of his time at LB. There is only so much to be learnt at reserve level, he will be thrown in this season I'm sure.
astonmilan
you can have two domestic loan players and two international loan players. a similar situation arose once before when odreary was in charge.
Stig
How about changing Gardner (thank you Hoss) Gardneringwa ? just until January ?
astonmilan
O'Halloran will be thrown in at some stage because he is the natural cover for Bouma at LB. As for names that is the job of the manager and the scouts to come up with and they have failed so far unless in the next 5.15 hours something happens. I'm not expecting megabucks players but I do expect a balanced squad, which we don't have. I've praised MON when he has done things right and I'll criticise him when he doesn't. It does no one any favours to sit and say all is going swimmingly when it isn't. The squad has improved in general but not to a level where it is adequate for a full season.
Hoss The Villain
that's ok milan, I thought for a while we had signed the groundsman for a while.
Hoss The Villain
Im still a bit confused about the loan of Davies,if he has a crap season do we still have to sign him for the 9mil fee
Pking
No! 8.5
morky13villa
I stand corrected astonmilan regarding O'Halloran. I've seen a lot of him at both youth and reserve team level, but can only recollect seeing him play at left full back. Despite his international call-ups which indicate that he has a very bright future ahead of him, I'm still not convinced of his premiership pedigree. Obviously though, time and experience will tell.
glensider
Actually, wouldn't be overly surprised to see o'Halloran sent out on loan to a Championship outfit.
glensider
Have Your Say
Recent Articles
Villa's Pre Season Schedule (Tuesday May 21 2013)
Vlaar Pleased With First Good Touch Of The Game (Tuesday May 21 2013)
Villa Season Ticket Help Sessions (Tuesday May 21 2013)
They Think It's All Over - Not Yet - Soccer Sevens (Tuesday May 21 2013)
Vital Villa Man Of The Match v Wigan (Tuesday May 21 2013)
The Aston Villa Summer Transfer Thread Pt 1 (Tuesday May 21 2013)
Brentford Midfielder Linked (Tuesday May 21 2013)
No, No, NO. Weimann & Benteke Cannot Be Sold! (Tuesday May 21 2013)
Fringe Players Exodus Led By Richard Dunne? (Tuesday May 21 2013)
Villa Line Up Malaga Friendly (Monday May 20 2013)
Archived Articles
Vital Members League (view all)
| 1. | Pride of Lions | 923 |
| 2. | The Fear | 724 |
| 3. | BodyButter | 471 |
| 4. | kefkat | 384 |
| 5. | CDX_EIRE | 316 |
| 6. | ClivetheVillan | 258 |
| 7. | Villan57 | 241 |
| 8. | thefacehead | 239 |
| 9. | DeanoVilla | 208 |
| 10. | mike_field | 189 |
League Results (view all)
| Latest Results | ||||
| Wigan | 2 | - | 2 | Aston Villa |
| Aston Villa | 1 | - | 2 | Chelsea |
| Norwich | 1 | - | 2 | Aston Villa |
| Aston Villa | 6 | - | 1 | Sunderland |
| Man Utd | 3 | - | 0 | Aston Villa |
| Aston Villa | 1 | - | 1 | Fulham |
League Table (view table)
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
| 12. Fulham | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | -10 | 43 |
| 13. Stoke | 38 | 9 | 15 | 14 | -11 | 42 |
| 14. Southampton | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | -11 | 41 |
| 15. Aston Villa | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | -22 | 41 |
| 16. Newcastle | 38 | 11 | 8 | 19 | -23 | 41 |
| 17. Sunderland | 38 | 9 | 12 | 17 | -13 | 39 |
| 18. Wigan | 38 | 9 | 9 | 20 | -26 | 36 |
Breaking League News
| Liverpool: Papadopoulos Is The Top Target
» Liverpool : 21/05/2013 18:31:00
|
| Out Through the Exit Door
» Chelsea : 21/05/2013 18:02:00
|
| Sir Alex Cleans Up
» Man Utd : 21/05/2013 18:01:00
|
| Villa's Pre Season Schedule
» Aston Villa : 21/05/2013 18:00:00
|
| Tony Pulis set to leave Stoke City
» Stoke : 21/05/2013 17:43:00
|
| Thomas Tweets Departure
» WBA : 21/05/2013 17:01:00
|
| Vlaar Pleased With First Good Touch Of The Game
» Aston Villa : 21/05/2013 17:00:00
|
Current Site Poll (view all polls)
|
|
1 © - All content copyright Vital Network Ltd, not to be reproduced without explicit permission Copyright Issues
Cookie Policy
At Vital Football, we along with most other modern websites use small files called 'cookies' to create the most secure, effective and functional website possible for our users. Without these files our business model, based on advertising, breaks down and we would be unable to continue to provide the services that you are here to utilise. By continuing to use this website after seeing this message, you consent to our use of cookies on this device unless you have disabled them. For full details please read our Cookie Policy which can be found here. However, if you would like to disable cookies on this device, please view our Cookie Policy which contains an opt-out tool for disabling advertising cookies. Please also visit our information pages on 'How to manage cookies' if you would also like to block all other types of cookies. Please be aware that parts of this site will not function correctly if you disable cookies.