Aston Villa News 24/7Writer: J P Fear 
Date:Tuesday August 17 2010
Time: 1:50PM
UK time is: 12:46:05
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Silly Move James - But Congrats To Villa Board!
Silly move James Milner, very silly move!
Ok, my bank will remain as empty as Mr Empty from Emptyville and Milner has just made himself rich for life... so in that case, I can't argue with his decision, his head was turned by money and who can blame him?
On the flipside, if you are looking at the footballing side of matters, Manchester City at least count had 352 midfielders and he'll have to take his turn on the bench along with the others I'm sure.
Is it about football and ambition or is it about football? I always thought with James it was the latter, only he knows and maybe he has the confidence in his ability that he thinks he'll be first on the team sheet. With a near £30million package to buy him, who knows, maybe he will?
Just can't help but feel he could have become a legend at Villa, he won't get that at Man City, not with the current obscene spending - and it is obscene.
As per my Man City fan interview: Click Here
2) The rumoured amount is around £18million and of course Stephen Ireland. I'd argue we have the better part of the deal. Opinion?
Stephen Ireland is rated £12m, so we are still paying the £30m than MON demanded. If the deal was £18m without Ireland, then I would say it was fair, but his inclusion means that you are undoubtedly getting the better part of the deal.
We certainly need a player like Milner to link our overly defensive midfield with our forwards, so getting Milner in is an important step. Unfortunately, we caved in to Villa`s excessive demands instead of taking a gamble on one of the aforementioned players, and now we are lining your pockets and giving you an equally good player in return.
On that point I would like to congratulate the ceo Paul Faulkner and owner Randy Lerner for not being bullied, for putting Villa in the same category as Arsenal and Spurs who are both passed masters of buying AND importantly selling at the right price.
As our interview says Unfortunately, we caved in to Villa`s excessive demands . BACK OF THE NET VILLA. Sod anyone who says we are a selling club (or at least as a negative) this is great business and we have cash to spend on other players now plus a good player in Stephen Ireland.
See:
Randy: VILLA ARE NOT A SELLING CLUB and
Villa Fan: We NEED To Be A Selling Club
So - stunning deal. Shame to see James go, he was our player of the season last year and a real fans favourite for his energy and never say die attitude, but a £30million player he was not.
Villa have once again proved to all but the blind (mainly the national press and gimps on Sunday Supplement who were a disgrace about Villa at the weekend) that we won't be bullied and are at least run like a proper club.
Onward and upward.
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Your Comments
You're not losing that much on James Milner, he is clearly overrated and definitely not worth 30m. He is a player who's best attribute is kick a ball but that's it, he has no pace, mediocre technique, he isn't tall, etc.
Drog of War
I hope we have a buy back clause in when the move turns sour and he wants to come home!!!
Stig
Drog of War - Have you ever seen him play? He'll go to Man City and be their best player just like he was ours!!! [Edited by Mike Field]
Reo-Coker is crap
Come on Fear. I'd expect better from you. Milner's move has far more to do with footballing reasons than money. Man City are going places, and going places fast. Up until very recently, we were going backwards. Moving to City was a no-brainer. Great credit to K-Mac for seemingly make Milner think again about leaving, but the truth is that though we can now go places, it will take a little time. Funnily enough, we might just get where we want to be quicker with the sale of Milner. Good luck James. You've done great service for this club, and I for one think you'll be a valuable player for City for a good while to come.
Albarnista
Quagmire, not quite right. All elements of this deal were conducted with the previous manager, the board are simply completing it as it has been delay after delay with Ireland holding out for his payoff. So nice try, but fans actually realise what's going on.
mike_field
Bottom line is.. Milner is a great player, not worth 30M. Villa have taken City to the cleaners on this deal. Simple as. Well done Villa board.
mattyh1986
Owen, Beckham, Vieira, Henry......to name only a few. All those guys moved onto 'bigger and better things'. Or maybe not! I'm sure Beckham would've given anything to be running around with Giggsy, Scholes and co last night. Ditto, Owen could still be a Kop idol like Gerrard rather than a bench warmer and face of bt. As for those one time 'Invincibles'???......tragic. Quite how JM couldn't secure his financial future at Villa is beyond me.
VillaWillRiseAgain
Bizarre_Blue - He's not overrated at £30million.
Reo-Coker is crap
Can i add - My Site Name "Reo-Coker is crap" is stating a obvious FACT...He is crap!!!!"
Reo-Coker is crap
Great deal for Villa. Sad to see James go but for that kind of money who wouldn't. As I expect MON to be manager of City by November I'm sure James will be made to feel welcome there. I hope we can now focus on giving Ireland the welcome he needs. He must feel like **** after the way he was treated.
chico
Quagmire, can't quite see the point to be honest. Doug was interfering. Randy/CEO are just completing a deal. I think they have done brilliantly as per my other article putting a mad price on the head of a player and standing by that price despite City thinking they would capitulate.
The Fear
Villan444 - Totally agree about Milner he is a top top player as good as any player man City have & 30m is a fair price for a player of his class.
Reo-Coker is crap
I've seen comments wondering why Villa fans have a different attitude to Barry going, than we do to Milner going. The big difference is this: when the move didn't appear to be going smoothly, GB threw his toys out of the pram in an effort to blackmail the club into selling him quickly. James Milner - as far as I'm aware - kept out of the press and waited for the deal to be done between the two clubs - as it should be. So well done James, I wish you'd stayed but it was fairly obvious you wouldn't. Who knows how you'll fare - could be a brilliant move, but I suspect you're more of a Sidwell to Chelsea. Genuinely hope I'm wrong on that.
BobTheBuilder
boring boring Citeh.. it's like playing Championship Manager on the PC and loading in the 'cheat' so you suddenly have ridiculous amounts of money to pay for players who would never have given the thought of signing for Man City any thought what so ever!!!! i mean come on. Milner all the best tho deep down you must surely know this move just isn't right for you
JeffBeck-TheLeftSide
See here's the contradiction in the arguments...... "He's not over-rated at £30m" followed by "He is/will be worth £30m". Is he a future prospect that could be worth £30m? Yes I agree he could be with the way prices are rising in the prem. Is he worth it at this point? Not a hope! If we were two years down the line and Milner had cemented his place in the England team & worked his way up to being amongst the best 5 mid-fielders in the prem THEN he'd be worth £30m. At this point he simply isn't there meaning that Villa got a great deal out of this transfer. It not a criticism, it's a compliment! Well done Villa. It's not an insult to City either, they are simply making the same mistakes that Chelsea made when they first had money. Spending crazy amounts on the wrong players and it didn't get us long-term success. That we are still working towards!
Bizarre_Blue
heres my two cents - in all my years supporting villa and going up to VP i have never seen a player advance game upon game as much as james milner. He has consistenly improved and ,taking into account his age , has the potential to be one of the best. So is he worth 30m? we paid 12m for him when he was a shadow of the player he is now, and with the inflated transfer market my answer is without a shadow of a doubt yes!!! Have we got a good deal out of this?? IF ireland can regain form and we use the cash to get a top striker then yes. Bad move for him in football terms personally but for 150k a week or whatever he is going to be on who can blame him!!
goodb_2
james, james, james what have you done, worshipped by the villa faithful, you could of been a legend with us, instead u are going to become a bit part player with city, hardly get a game a drop out of the england team, ireland can easily emulate what milner has done just needs the games under his belt- ps has heskey retired from club football yet?? pps Randy if you read this buy a striker i would suggest Keane, ppps Go on MCDONALDS CLARET AND BLUE ARMY
kaizersoze
As a Villa fan. I think we have been ripped of'ISH! Milner was awsome and he will be awsome at city, In my books he IS better then cristiano ronaldo! End off.
Blitz
I watched the Villa match at the weekend and followed all of the reflections on the match and a few thing occurred to me. 1st, James Milner wasn't the best player on the pitch. He wasn't the second best player on the pitch. In my humble opinion the most influential man in claret and blue was clearly Ashley Young (and Lionel Messi agrees with me on this) and there were perhaps 3 or 4 players who made more of an impact than Milner. But in the aftermath of the game the consensus among fans was that Milner was second only to Albie in the MOM reckoning. It almost seems like the whole football world is trying to convince Mad Man City to spunk a fortune on the wrong Villa player. A year ago, if you asked 100 impartial observers who was the better player between Milner and Ireland I don't think anyone would have said that one is worth £18m more than the other. As far as I'm concerned, Lerner has played the whole thing perfectly. How about we offer them James Collins for Lescott and £10m, they seem stupid enough to say yes
hedley
Wish I understood what Mike means? :)
Board The Fear on this one, good article
Trekker
Hedley - I totally agree with your reflection of the game on sat', however I think the thing that has driven a difference in value between Ireland and Milner is attitude. Citeh clearly see Ireland as a lost cause whilst Milner consistently shows a willingness to work and improve. Hopefully Citeh have got it wrong again as they did with Dunny. Really do fear for Milners career now tho
AVbornandbred
I would like to point out that "Reo Coker is Crap" is not me ! but he is right!
villan57
Just think it's a shame he has left, don't rate man city, tottenham blew right threw them, anyway would have loved to have watched Milner progress with our team built round him, now he is just a spoke in a wheel instead of being the wheel, ireland the floor is yours
thankyou James we will miss you, and always respect, top villa man
Stuartavfclondon
Thanks Mr Field - much appreciated. It was getting childish.
144wittonlane
Blitz...wtf Milner better and Chrissy Ron! lol you nutter.
mattyh1986
Well i have read all the replies on this article and just to throw my views into the pot - 'IF' Ireland can reproduce the form he showed two seasons ago then you've got a great deal guys, 'IF NOT' you could find him sat on the bench in two months time. You did it with Dunny and maybe you can do it with Ireland - good luck.
As for Milner, if he continues to improve at the same rate he was doing at Villa, he will become the PL answer to Messi. Just to finish on a point about our opening game v Spurs - we got murdered in the first half BUT due to extended WC leave and midweek internationals, Mancing had ONE training session with the squad prior to the game. Give us a month guys before you start 'slating' us.
Thaibluefan
Not sure if it is a good deal or not...very much depends on whether Ireland wants to prove a point like Dunne did last season. He has a talent simmilar to Best so I hope he lives up to it. Don't forget we have Delph coming back in December and he is potentially the next Milner if not better
Steve64k
City have a fantastic midfielder out of the deal, in fact i would go as far as saying that he could be the missing link they are looking for. I am really sorry to see him go, they say never go back, but i would have him back in an instant if it all went pear shaped at city. The guy doesn't drink and seemingly devotes every waking minute to football. In short he is the kind of player every manager(and fan) wishes for.
sonicdeathmonkey
It will be Ashley Youngs turn next year Man $ity will offer him obscene wages and he wont be able to resist just like the others , the following year they will be after albrighton .
Doug4ever
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