Aston Villa News 24/7Writer: J P Fear 
Date:Tuesday January 29 2008
Time: 8:37AM
UK time is: 16:19:44
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No Signings For Aston Villa?
Villa boss Martin O'Neill has explained that not for the lack of trying, Villa are finding it nearly impossible to bring in the quality of players they want during this transfer window.
He said in the Birmingham Mail:
'If there is somebody out there we think could improve this team for the next two, three or four years then if I get the chance to do it, I would. But you would be amazed how much other clubs want to hold on to their players. And it wouldn't matter what position they are in the Premier League.'
He also says it isn't down to the money, it is the fact that all the Premier League teams want to survive and so won't allow their best players to leave mid way through the season.
You have to admit he has a point, IF for instance we were after Kevin Doyle, one of Reading's top scorers, why would Reading, who could be sucked into a relegation fight, let him leave right now? The money they would earn selling him would be nothing compared to the money they would lose if they went down.
He also says there is plenty of competition for the players that are available, 'It is a difficult time. Premiership sides are looking to push on and want to supplement their squads. Ask Mark Hughes. We are all in the same boat. I hear Liverpool say that they want to add players to their team. We are, in terms of numbers, a little bit short. What we want to try to do is safeguard things.'
'It is a tough old time but I am not asking for sympathy because it is a tough old time for all the Premier sides.'
Be interesting to see if the window shuts with no deals done but I have to admit, it is a compelling argument, no matter how much we all - as fans - say 'buy him, and get him, and why not him' we don't really know what the hell is going on and as MON says, why would teams let their best players go at this time of year? There must also be teams around us who won't sell players to one of their main rivals as it could fire us into Europe at their expense.
I think the main let down was the summer, that was the time Villa could and should have laid down a marker or two with some large purchases. We are 5th now, with some top signings who knows where we'd have been! Still, on a positive note, we are building (see, I do try!)
You do have to wonder where that right-back who was worth waiting for is though?
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Your Comments
If i were a betting man id say this "right back" is no longer available or not interested now. Admire his principals, but we have a serious chance of Europe & will be a shame to waste it now.
benham
I don't know what MON is on about. He has managed to keep afloat the transfer market in the Premiership by selling half our squad for under inflated prices. Has he heard of Europe and the fact they play football over their too?
Hoss The Villain
I can understand the reluctance of managers to sell their players to us at this time, which beggars the question of why we are prepared to sell a player who is rated by the likes of Megson and Roy Keane. It really would be sods law if he was the one who stopped a certain goal and, as a result we do not achieve european football next year.
JP's comment is right MON missed out during last summers window. Now we can only look forward to the next transfer window and hope that we don't get any serious injuries to key players in the meantime.
Obediah
Cahill was fifth choice and would not have played - that is a fact while MON is the manager (it was the same for all the players he's moved on), I'm not saying we have to agree with his decisions, but he's best placed to decide what's right for Aston Villa. Why not sell Cahill now, rather than for 2m in the summer? Chimbonda and Riise are targets. So are Defoe, Doyle, Routledge and a couple of overseas players.
tarzan
Well said Hoss. MON has now had 7months to find a RB. How much longer does he need. Why does'nt he look to Europe??? We might never get a better chance to finish 4th and it will be our squad size and lack of players in certain positions that will leave us down in the end. This is all due to bad tranfer policies by MON.
Kilga
under inflated prices!! if we get 3/4 mil for Cahill we have done fantastically well he rated by two managers who expect to be in the championship next year, and the money we got for the players we have cleared out was at worst market value. I think we have done well in the transfer market so far the summer was ok for me. We are building a young quality balanced team that is going to compete at the highest level for the next few years. This is the same approach as Wenger or Fergie only MON started with a squad that were lucky to still be in the premiership. Those teams that just go for a quick fix always fail Spurs, Newcastle, and others think that you can just buy a team off the shelf. It does't work that way the team we have now are developing each week thats why its exciting to watch them and why its such a great time to be a Villa fan, and why we are now on the tele so much.
daveldvilla
Absolute codswallop. Hes had an age to bring in players, and other prem teams seem to be doing ok at bringing in players. not sure why hhe thinks were any different. Not only that but he is doing exactly what hes saying doenst happen 'teams with small squads fighting for survival wont sell their players in this window' erm....cahill, tommy, moore, oluf ready for summer.
really really bad managment of a club to do this to us. im still fuming at him letting cahill go.
The Ellk
Sorry daveldvilla but i would'nt use the word balanced when talking about this Villa team. It must be the most one sided team in the premiership. No RB and no RW. If MON had got his act together in the summer i reckon we would be sitting prob 6pts ahead of 5th placed team by now. Thats the infuriating thing. MON is as good a man manager there is in the world but it is increasingly looking to me that the transfer market is his achilles heel.
Kilga
Cahill is 5th choice, Sorenson is 3rd choice, Moore hasn't delivered. Accept it and move on. "other prem teams seem to be doing ok at bringing in players" - who exactly? I agree with Kevin Keegan re: Woodgate, "we've lost out on Woodgate, Spurs can offer him European football and a cup final, the only way we are getting into Europe is to catch a ferry". We have the possibility for Europe, but need to get the right players in, Chimbonda & Riise are available - but to us mid season?
tarzan
Kilga he'll be working 24/7, don't forget we have a few players other teams are very interested in too. Moore, Cahill, Harewood and Maloney to name four. Hopefully we can do some deals late on. I don't agree with your assesment of our season, we've been lucky in a couple games and at this stage the league table doesn't lie.
tarzan
FFS, MON has had long enough to identify targets and move for players but as usual nothing has happened. How is it that MON has found it so difficult to sign players both in the summer and in January? Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of MON but his transfer dealings (or lack of them) are so frustrating! Can we not have a system where MON presents the Chief Exec with his list of targets and he then goes out and does the deals as MON seems like he can't cope with it?
Geordie_Villa
I agree with you about being lucky in a few games we also dropped pts away to Sunderland, Spurs and at home to City where if we had a right side to our team we would have won. Like i said im delighted with our position this year but it does look more and more like MON struggles when it comes to transfers. And if we are to break the top 4 then he will need to change the way he does his business. How come the likes of Harry Redknapp can go and get his players in?
Kilga
Geordie, it's simple; the teams won't and don't have to sell thier players anymore. Being in the Premiership is the be all and end all. As far as bigger named players in Europe we do not have Champions League football.
tarzan
And to you're "as usual, nothing has happened" comment. Last January, O'Neill signed Young and Carew, who are both regular starters, plus Maloney who perhaps should be. Then, in the summer, he signed Davies and Reo Coker (plus Carson on loan), and these three are also in our first team, as well as Zat Knight and Marlon Harewood, not to mention the under-performing Petrov from that wonderful first summer. That is a big old nothing right there, 4/5 first team players as well as some back up. Like it or lump it, he has bought people in, just that last summer he offloaded a lot more than most of us expected. I don't want to harp on about it, but "5 year plan".
Carlosio
*your, obviously
Carlosio
We Need a Director of football or whatever he need to be called as Martin does not have a Clue in the Tranfer Market. It is easy to sell a player He Needs Help
FatKev
Prove it. I've already said what he's done in the past, he's said it's nigh-on-impossible to get clubs to sell at the moment, which has also been stated by many a journalist and other manager, but please, prove he does not have a clue, and i will accept what you've said.
Carlosio
If it is so difficult to get players in during the Jan window why didnt he get them in during the summer?? Surely he knew this was going to be the case.
Kilga
He did get players in in the summer. I feel like i'm going round in circles.
Carlosio
Carlosio he failed to get a RB and a RW in during the summer.
Kilga
Ok then, let's say you were in charge (btw, please don't take this as an attack, because it isn't), who would you get in at RB and RW.
Carlosio
This transfer window has been as bad as it always is for us, but i have to say bolton are a much smaller club and they seem to be doing very well. things are looking up though, we havent signed any west ham or fulham players...yet.
villaaaah
I agree Carosio sometimes I think that some of the people who make comments here never go to watch us home and away on a regular basis. MON has delivered on every front the transfers he has made have worked and we are doing better than anyone here thought we were going to. Look at teams such as West Ham, Spurs, Newcastle, Sunderland, and Man City they all bought lots of players and yet they are doing no better than us. Man City had a goog start but they are now on the slide. As for the right back issue Melberg has played for his country at right back and played there before he came to Villa it rubbish to say we do not have a right back. The right midfield position was Gabby's but because Luke has been such a disaster Gabby has gone to the middle. For those he claim MON does not have a clue in the transfer market need to provide some evidence. I would say we have bought well cleared out those like Cahill and Stevie Davis who will never make it and are sitting 5th in the prem with one of the best away records and one of the highest scoring teams in the league. THE FUTURE IS OURS.
daveldvilla
If i was in charge i would get Chimbonda in as RB and would probably try and get Downing in as a left winger and switch Young over to the right. I would also have made sure that Diarra came to VP instead of Pompy.
Kilga
Some sources are saying Chimbonda is in the bag, but as we know things change rapidly in these last three days. Barnes & Doyle being the other most probable targets. If this american goalie signs Tommy will be off. There's some degree of horse trading, but Cahill, Harewood, Maloney and Moore are in demand by many other clubs. These players are not regular starters for our team.
tarzan
Diarra is a fantastic player, but as MON is building for the future, the last thing he wants is a player who is going to want to move on in a couple of years to a "big" club. I myself would have Chimbonda, especially if he could find the form of his wigan days, but with the noises coming from around and about, it is easy to see why a man like our manager wouldn't want him. Downing too wouldn't be a bad signing, but if we moved Young to the right, there's a risk again that it could unsettle the side. I don't know for sure that this is true, but they all seem like valid reasons. I'm not saying we don't need to sign players, we do. But just because we need to doesn't mean they are there for the taking. Southgate wants to block any Downing move and Chimbonda and Ramos have changed their minds so many times i've lost count now.
Carlosio
The whole transfer system is a shambles, with the big four controlling everything. I'd bid 15m for Bent. Every player has his price.
tarzan
Agree would'nt touch Diarra with a bargepole I like Chimbonda but comments like If I was in charge I would get Chimbonda, Downing etc are just silly. If it was that easy it would have happened by now, you just can't say I will buy that player and then it happens every club is rich these days and money isn't the issue. As for Harry Red who on earth wants to be like Pompey I thought we were better than that they will within a few years be right back fighting a rlegation battle like Bolton are now. It tkes time to build a team from nothing and I think MON is doing pretty well so far and as I say better than all our rivals a point nobody seems to be able to disprove except for those who live in a dreamworld where Barca's first 11 all want to come to Aston.
daveldvilla
I know this would be a long shot but i'd love for us to put a cheeky bid in for eidur gudjohnsen, why not? If deluded megson thinks he's in with a chance we might be. Yes it's just my own bored speculation but its better than an american goalkeeper. And why would we be looking at woodgate? Granted he is a good player but he's always crocked and £7m is best spent on a right back or another forward.
villaaaah
Nobody is disputing what MON has done so far, but this is a transfer window where we really need to push on for a place in Europe. So far, MON has let us down in this transfer window. Not to invest in the squad at this point would be to miss a massive opportunity. If we are to progress and if we are to qualify for Europe we need numbers and quality. If MON doesn't sign anybody and we get hit by injuries and miss out on Europe, there will only be one person to blame
Geordie_Villa
Thats right go on slam everyone who posts something they want to see to happen in the club. and gudjohnsen isn't in the first 11. You know MON doesn't read this, he's not going to give you a pat on the back for sniping at fans that want a little excitement in this transfer window.
villaaaah
Downing does not cut it....Chimbonda is not the type of player i would like...only after the money! Diarra is not proven yet.
KSarge1
Yeah, but equally, he doesn't read it and think "It's so simple, why didn't i just offer money for everyone in the papers" either. Eidur Gudjohnssen is a player i would go in for. If he moves, especially to somewhere like Bolton, I'll be disappointed if we haven't given it a go.
Carlosio
Lol talking of Wigan, i'm guessing its just me that thinks Ryan Talyor could be worth a punt, can play along the right anywhere really, and that way even if MON doesn't or can't go for the ppl he wants we've a versatile player and shouldn't cost too much...mind Potato head might be a problem...Mind what do i know...
Munk AVFC
daveldvilla, and what do you think 'arry is doing and has done at pompey mate? he has built a team from nothing and is continuing to do so! lets just see what the future hold for both sides eh... i like villa so i wish you the best of luck, but i wouldnt be so quick to write us off... and as for your 'would'nt touch Diarra with a bargepole' comment - trust me if you had signed him instead of us and had seen what he have seen in just 2 games you would have a very different view...
pompeyrug
I don't mean to slam anyone for their views its just that some people only see the negative. Sadly my first villa match was before Doug Ellis arrived at the club and I have never been as optamistic about the future as I do now. In the past when we were achiving things and looking set to really take off you knew that behind the scenes fighting was going to destroy it for us. Now for the first time we have a manager with ambition and a track record which says he can deliver and an owner who shares that ambition. We can and should be a bigger club than we are and I suppose I have just learnt to wait. I also meant no offense to Pompy I think Rednap should have been offered the England post its just that Rednaps style and approach is different from MON'S which was the point I was trying to make.
daveldvilla
Totally agree with you pompeyrug. Harry has the touch when it comes to the transfer market. Muntari and Utaka were 2 great signings as well. Diarra has a lot to prove to a lot of people and that will only make him play better. We all know he wants to move to a so called bigger club but in order to that his performances have to catch the eye and that can only benefit the team. £5m for a french internation CM is great value. This is where i get annoyed with MON. Surely £5m would'nt have been that much money to take a gamble with?
Kilga
He's said that they offered the money, and it was contract demands that held up the deal. We offered £5.5 million for him. I like him, but i wouldn't want him at Villa, just doesn't match what MON is doing. He wants players to mould and shape for the long term, and judging by what Diarra said at his press conference, he isn't in it for the long haul.
Carlosio
Well then at least we had a go i suppose. Rumour has it Gudjohnson off to Bolton on loan. Surely we can nip in here?
Kilga
Onuoha and Barnes. Both these players should be available for under 10M. Barnes will surely want to join us and Derby need money to take to the championship. Barnes won't be worth near as much in the summer so it makes sense for them to sell. Onuoha may be harder to get but 8.5M should do it and he wants first team football. Problem solved. I'm trying to keep faith but most ppl on here are spot on. Moaning how difficult it is to get players in January simply highlights failures last summer when we should have at least bought cover players for these positions. ppl are saying they wouldn't want MON to go for second choice players if he can't get his targets. That's crazy and that policy could put us in REAL trouble if we collect an injury or two to key players. we are not behaving in the market like a side with money to burn. If MON bought Harewood and Knight as squad players why didn't he do the same for right back and right wing?? Take some risks, spend some money. the transfer policy has been poor for muich longer than this window and the prem and SPL are not the only leagues with good players in them. look overseas for god sake
Up The Villa
Chimbonda looking a likely target with Cahill going, so Mellberg will be CB cover. Cloak & dagger but a big deal could be on the table. Rumour has it that we could have signed Diarra but wouldn't pay 65k per week. Doyle, Barnes, Riise and Chimbonda the obvious links.
tarzan
This is just going round in circles there havn't been any failures in the transfer market and I shouldn't think there will be any. Just in case it been missed we are 5th have a good squad and have every chance of being in europe. We score goals and have a good defense. People should look at the comparison article on this site to see just how good MON's dealings have been.
daveldvilla
daveldvilla, If you think a good squad is one which is dangerously thin then you and i have differeing points of view. We have good players but no where near enough of them. We've performed brilliantly but have been unbelievably lucky to have only sustained one serious injury so far this campaign. Had we had the fortune of West Ham with about 10 players missing most this campaign we'd be screwed and certainly not 5th. This transfer policy is very dangerous which is surely a failure in itself. The players he's signed have been good but we need more of them
Up The Villa
Yea but our goals are all on set pieces and i'm tired of relying on them. I want a striker who scores even the scrappy goals because he's always in the right place at the right time. We need to give gabby a rest so he can get his head straight and stop thinking about playing for england and start thinking about playing for villa again because it's distracting his game and he's been less than impressive recently. Fullbacks who are comfortable on the ball is essential for any european caliber team. I know we're developing and I accept that, but we need competition within our team because people are getting to comfortable knowing they will be on the pitch as a starting 11. Bless Harewood for working his ass off knowing he won't.
los_angeles_villan
West Ham it seems to me a wonderful example of what not to do. They spend big buying players at inflated prices when they know those players have had injury problems. Most people would have refused to touch Dyer because he spends most of his time on the injury table. We have bought young players who are strong and have invested in a training faciliity which it is claimed reduces injuries and speeds up the recovery period. I know we need more players and we are not the finished product yet but I think we bought as well as anyone last summer. This window is still open and there are still rumours so who knows we may get some players in but I hope we don't just buy someone for the sake of it we did that with Djemba who I think was the worst player I have ever seen in a Villa shirt. Perhaps if we qualify for europe we will buy in quanity in the summer.
daveldvilla
Disappointing transfer window to date, but I have no doubts that MON will bring onboard two, maybe three new faces. We're doing o.k. I have no problems with the current lack of signings etc.
glensider
Oh well, its over now, behind us, done with. Roll on May when the circus can start again!!
glensider
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