Tuesday's Villa Press Gossip & Transfer Talk

Boring! I want a new signing today please it will give us something new to talk about and lift the mood which is something that everybody wants at the minute.

I dont think it will happen this week to be honest mate, I expect maybe 2 more on the last day of the window if we are lucky.

Any RB would do me at the moment V 4 E. To be honest, any signing would do me at the moment. I'm fighting a losing battle with my temper to stay calm about our lack of activity at the moment...and as for us going to Spain when we're in the position we are regarding the squad, I think it's just f@*king ridiculous. O'Neill's going to have to turn into Houdini in the next fortnight to make this transfer window look useful.

I can understand what you're saying Bob, but most other teams aren't as desperate for numbers as we are I don't think - we need to be in before these other teams. Everton especially have a decent squad size as demonstrated by their excellent Uefa Cup run and still being able to finsh 5th in the Prem. I just reckon O'Neill needs to realise he may have to spend a little bit over the odds for players to get our squad up to a size and standard we need to keep us stable, let alone to progress.

Here's the link to Ferrari. Read it yesterday. He is not interested in coming to Prem but his agent says “There is a Premiership team that has been waiting for weeks for the player to make his choice." So sounds like us! http://sport.setanta.com/en/Sport/News/Football/2008/08/04/Premier-League-Interest-in-Ferrari/

There are only so many quality players out there and short of doing a Liverpool and stealing players (which we can't anyway because we have no Champs League) we are stuck with other teams left overs. On the positive side we can now atract players that are not in the UEFA CUP draw and want out of their teams but these will be pricey and normally the said teams' best players so they will fight hard for them to stay (as we have with GB.) Our only other option is to take a chance on an unknown or bring players through the youth system which seems to be working well, just not that well. I know the youths won some things this year but we aren't really up to Arsene Wenger's level yet. Can people please stop going on about ******** Bentley (who is overrated anyway.) To lure him here we would have had to make him top earner by miles and that would have upset the whole team and no-one wants that.

OMG I can't believe it wouldn't allow "s w a n k y". Hilarious!

Villa 4 Ever. The bid put in for Bentley was good enough to match anyone elses, BUT if a player and his wife want to go to London, there is nothing any club outside London can do. The money was not the issue here.

1, Moyes struggles cause everton are skint. 2, If MON wanted Young he should have got him 12mths ago (we were linked) and saved £2-3m. 3, Arrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggghh!!!!!!!!

I think our scouting has let down MON , because surely if we don't get our top targets , we should have contingency plans in place so we are not left scrapping for leftovers . The scouts job is not just to identify good players , but also there willingness to move to our great old club. The Bouma situation is a nightmare , but we knew for months about the right back problem , i can't believe we did not have up to five possible candidates lined up to fill that position so he went into the team straight away for friendlies and uefa Q games and so was playing regularly in a settled back four for the start of the season.

nick1 because there just aren't 5 quality RBs that would want to come to villa. There may be 5 RB journey men that would come but then you'd soon complain about lack of ambition. And so would I!!!! We have to earn the right to sign quality players and thats what we're doing. We're in a much better position than 2 years ago and as we progress we'll find it easier to sign quality players. I trust in MON, he knows what we need and I'm sure he's trying his best. And with regards to getting our targets in pre-season. Have man utd got in that one player they are after, have chelsea got in theirs? Have liverpool, or everton? No, and if they can't do it you can hardly blame MON, our scouts or the villa set in general. Buying players isn't like a trip to tescos. Its more like going shoe shopping with my misses. Now thats something you'd find frustrating!!!!

Maybe 5 right backs lined up to join us is a bit of an exaggeration! But we should have A rightback lined lined at least . i agree we are in a much better position than two years , and i think we have already earned the right to tempt these bigger names to VP , we are on the verge of europe , fantastic support , and brilliant facilities so lets bid for them . If your missus is anything like mine , it will be the first pair in the first shop she goes back and buys after a day of trudging round trying to find something better and cheaper , sounds very similar to our pursuit of luke young don't you think !

problem is nick1 I think bosingwa was our first choice. Maybe we could get him on loan. But if there is a silver lining in the cloud (stuffed full of cash) of the barry transfer, we may get finnan. And with his experience, especially in europe, he'd be a great addition to the squad.

***sorry that's... stop talking about Bentley...

26.05.82, MON just put in a quick bid to test the waters. Feedback was that he wanted London and Spuz at that, nowhere else. No point in upping the bid when his chosen destination were known to be keen. This is the only transfer that I can recall that this has happened with this year but really think MON would have been wasting his time (although he hasn't done anything else with his time since apart from wasting it on begging GB to stay. )

Villan444 - I think O'Neill would now agree that he wasted his time trying to persuade Barry to stay. Personally, I would have done the same and I applaud him for trying. One the other hand I despise Barry for "welching" on the deal he made 2 days before the deadline. I hate to say this, but I do not wish him well for the future.

Anyone notice another lie in the reporting of Liverdisease and Barry? If they made an offer 15 minutes too late, why are they now having to wait to line up the money from the owners? Surely they didn't bid money they didn't already have. One other lie. EVERY link in EVERY paper. I think it's foolish to get worked up over links we don't get. Links are lies concocted by agents to increase prices, and reporters to sell copy.

Villa 4 Ever - I thohght uou should have realised that O'Neill will never be tempted to buy "names" like some of the ones you suggest. He knows that football is a team game, where everyone plays at 110% for each other. Remember Ginola's spell at VP. Ron Saunders, arguab;y the best manager ever at VP, thought exactly the same. In fact he wouldn't buy anyone who was born south of Watford. And before you say the game has moved on since then. Yes it has, more money, greater fitness and speed. Some of the rules have changed but all that's required is not to lose possesson before you score. So what's the prpblem get the players super fit and to never stop moving, committed 110% to the cause, and finally have the ability to pass and shoot accurately. A Villa squad like this would really get me excited.

I don't care anymore ............ so bloody fed up!

Lets forget players we have bid on and lost for whatever reason and look at the facts. MON continually states that we have a small squad and it needed addressing during the transfer window, has it happened?NO. We have lost even more of our players since the end of the season and have we replace them alone?NO. Is barry likely to stay after MON's deadline?NO(the quicker he goes the better). Are we REALLY likely to spend 30 million on 1 player?NO. So what is really going on at Aston Villa Football Club, what really is MON's transfer window policy, When are we going to at least see some signs of players starting sign for VILLA?

Just read this on birmingham post website Krulak said: “Randy’s intentions are that he is in this for the long term. Heck, he has an AVFC lion tattooed on his leg...it ain’t washable!" Is this really true or is this another lie to keep the fans quite, while we make a complete mess of this transfer window?

Villa 4 Ever - Keegan has said publicly he will not release Milner. Defoe wanted to go back to "Harry". Scholari won't release SWP won't leave Chelsea for us. Finnan's not interested in Villa. I could go on and explain why your other names don't fit the O'Neill mould. So you'll just have to hope Martin is able to get the players we need and if he doesn't sympathise don't criticise. It's very easy for us armchair managers, we're not at the "sharp-end" in a business where only results count. So far O'Neill's results have been excellent so lets stick by him, eh?

Villa 4 Ever, great summary of Mertesacker and Pazzini, the latter may well look to leave as the Viola have bought Gilardino, Santana too is class, and has played as a right winger in 4-3-3 all season. My only criticism is Santana isn't much faster than Barry!

pksandell. At no point have the board of Villa lied to us. The backing is there,it is down to the manager to spend it. RL does have a tattoo, 100% dead set fact. They are also good dignified people, so lets not go down the 'lie' route unless you see concrete info to the contrary! I do understand the transfer window frustration and anger is starting to flood over I think!

While I feel that General Krulak's 30m/one player quote could potentially do us more harm than good, I understand and appreciate where he's coming from. The money is there, I dont dispute that, nor have I doubted it for one minute, the problem lays fairly and squarely at the managers feet. I unashamedly admit to being a huge Martin O'Neill fan, yet I also have to shake my head and say that I don’t understand, nor can explain away, his lack of dealings in the transfer market this summer. This lack of activity is seeing supporter argue with supporter. On one side of the fence you're accused of blindly believing the hype that’s being fed, namely claims that we'll strengthen the squad with quality to enable us to challenge on all fronts this season, while if you're situated on the other side of the fence, unhappy with our dealings, you're accused of being negative and failing to support the MON/RL revolution. The latter is told that they are not a 'true fan', whatever a 'true fan' is. Well in my book we're all true fans on here, whichever side of the fence we're sitting. Overall we seem very happy with our lot. No one complains too long and loud about the transformation of the club, both on and off the pitch, since MON and Mr Lerner arrived at Brummagem B6. Its just this lack of activity in each and every transfer window that causes friction. Yes its great that we've progressed from sixteenth to sixth in two seasons under the expert guidance of Martin O'Neill, from relegation candidates to competitive european club football. Beyond our wildest dreams wasn't it? But imagine for just one minute just where we'd actually be if the genuine quality in numbers that we've often been promised, had actually arrived at the club. From sixteenth to sixth was the easy part. The hard work started this summer, with serious money needing to be spent to get our squad up to strength to really establish ourselves again as a genuine top six side. As far as I'm concerned, we've to date, failed miserably. I applaud the signings of Brad Friedel and Steve Sidwell, two excellent arrivals in my estimation. But where are the other quality arrivals that everyone connected to AVFC must surely have expected to arrive? Why are we not signing players? Why are we missing out? Why, when we are assured time and time again that the financial backing for the manager is in place, do we still possess one of the smallest squads in the premiership, lack both a right and left full back, a wide right player, another proven premiership striker to provide options and alternatives, and sufficient quality cover right throughout the squad. Why? There is obviously something very wrong, if as we are led to believe, finance is not a factor. Maybe MON doesn't agree with the prices being demanded by clubs for their star performers, but that is the name of the game, it’s the state of the current transfer market, and things aren't going to get more buyer friendly anytime soon. We either meet the asking price, pay the wages demanded, or we remain as we are, on the outside looking in. Arguably our best player, Gareth Barry is about to head out the door and depart for Anfield. Are we going to replace him? We surely are, because his departure will cause a huge void that needs to be filled with quality. Do we have a potential replacement lined up? A player of equal or better quality? I doubt it. We'll make do again. No, I'm not trying to be negative just for the sake of being negative. I'm concerned, confused, and disappointed. I really expected more. There's just over three weeks remaining in this summer window. Maybe we'll all be dancing in celebration at the arrival of four or five quality new signings before the month is out. Maybe MON's actions over the next few weeks will ram my questioning words back down my throat. I hope so, I sincerely do. But I'm not holding my breath.