The numbers that I've been seeing are that the new contract Villa offered him was 80,000 a week, which is very impressive coming from Villa. However, the Man City offer was apparently 130,000 a week, which is absolutely absurd, he's probablly only got a couple of top level seasons left so can you really fault him if he wants to go make an extra 50,000 a season, I'm sure most of us would have done the same. However, honesty would have been nice, I'd much rather heard him say "the contract was just too good to pass up, i'd love to stay at Villa but when it comes down to it this deal will make sure my family and i are set for life" than the bullshit about champions league football which clearly wasn't nearly as important to him as he made it out to be anyways how many defensive midfielders does citeh need? Barry, De Jong, Kompany, they're not even in Europe next season, someones gonna be pissed about riding the pine.
I always thought Kompany played Center Back when he was with Anderlecht? Wonder why he ended up playing Midfield for Citeh... I wish Barry well - if he wanted to leave, he should go...if that means Sidwell gets a chance to show us the skills that got him a contract at Chelsea, all the better. Hopefully, the 12 million quid can be used to shore up the Keystone Kops routine that is the Villa Back Four.
GK Stuart Taylor joins Manchester City http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/8115411.stm
Supposedly going to Turkey, unfortunately. Would have been that rock in the back four that we've been looking for since Marten went down. Another one on my wish list is to see Jozy at Villa, as he's probably going to be availible on loan from Villareal again next season. I bet he'd learn loads from a guy like Gabby, who I see as a very similar style player.
http://fohlen-hautnah.de/2009/06/25/michael-bradley-playing-well-and-in-great-demand/ Michael Bradley - playing well and in great demand ... with Bradley avoiding more interest of Aston
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk...-germany-cana-midfield-link-92534-24015603/2/ One more about the rumour Bradley
I don't know but MON needs to do something soon and make some additions. He was bitching last season that the reason why Villa couldn't go the distance was due to lack of bench players but he hasn't really made and major additions.
This has been the one problem for MON since he arrived. Had a small squad, complained about it, yet never brought in the proper numbers to bolster it... With Barry and Laursen gone, and Knight and Harewood on the chopping block according to the Sky Sports rumor mill, MON will need to bring in 8-10 players to give him a squad with some depth...he needs to stop signing 18 year olds and start signing 25 year olds that have proven something...
No doubt the same thing will happen as has done the last two summers, with O'Neill making virtually no signings up until around the last week of the window when he panic buys and yet still ends up with a squad which is far too thin. Having lost two most important players to the squad, O'Neill needs to replace them at the very least if he wants consolidate and will have to vastly strengthen the entire squad to push forward and challenge Arsenal and Everton. One player I would like to see back at Villa is Hitzlsperger. Would be a good replacement for Barry and is available for only 6m, plus he was previously quoted as saying that he would not turn down the chance to return to Villa if an offer came in.
I doubt the Ashely Young rumors will turn to reality...unless Chelsea or Madrid come in with a staggering offer, he stays...MON will not ship him to Spurs... Glad to See MON buy a player who is out until October...
Never been a fan of Downing.. he should be spending that money on Tuncay, if anyone on that sad excuse for a team.
As much as it pains me to say, I doubt this guy is turning down Barcelona so he can play for Villa. Looks like a play for S. Distin is in the cards...2 or 3 million is the rumored fee.
Zat Knight joins Bolton http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/b/bolton_wanderers/8163454.stm
Well, after watching the Peace Cup I feel better about the lack of signings. It seems MON is building from within. Albrighton and Guzan looked like they'll be solid bench all year when we need them, and Bannan had his moments as well. All playing with confidence. Lichaj however still needs some work. I'm very excited about the youngsters playing so well against Juventus. Can't ask for more than that.
Agreed. I guess you could say that I saw the light after the Peace Cup, especially the Juventus game. Our youngsters looked real good throughout the tournament. I think that the Downing signing was just to add another veteran presence to the team (once he returns), but other than that, there wasn't much to do, apparently. Villa's definitely got a solid core for the future, if they can keep them all together. I remember saying on another Villa board that we'd be up the creek if we didn't get in some other guys to fill the finisher's hole that Barry left when he went to Man City...but I think we'll be alright.
According to Sky sources here in the UK, Aston Villa have agreed a fee with Leeds United to sign 19 year old midfielder Fabian Delph. Delph is considered as one of the best young players in the Country.
FREAKING. YES. I knew that Arsenal, among others, was looking at this guy so I figured he'd be going there knowing how Wenger's also loading up on young talent...never figured that Villa would be the ones to pick him up. Delph absolutely tore up League One with Leeds last season, he looked like he was on another level...turns out that he is. I can't wait to see what MON can do with this guy, because this guy's gonna be damn good. Hopefully his adjustment to the EPL will go swimmingly.
It's official. Turns out MON's hush hush way of doing things is one of the main reasons why we didn't piss off Leeds and ended up getting the guy.