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Jez

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    Stephen Ireland

    in Villa Talk

    Posted

    Scary when you think that is what did for Leeds!

    Maybe it was a blessing in more ways than we think that our old manager left?

    Yes they know they gave him too much rope and it won't happen again ! Also whilst not privvy obviously to the exact details the contracts we are offering the likes of Hogg / Bannan / Clarke and Herd / Lichah are far more keeping with their progress and the current climate . To think NRC is looking for 50k a week which is at least 12 times what Hogg is probably on makes you think a bit clearer how things have spiralled out of control from average players demanding ridiculous weekly wages everywhere not just Villa ! The whole thing will come tumbling down for a lot of these so so players though .

    What would be interesting to know is who was responsible for these contracts?

    Randy or MON?

    Did MON just say get them signed whatever.

    Or did he personally decide their wage?

    Jean II Makoun

    in Villa Talk

    Posted

    Houllier: Jovial Jean fits the bill at Villa

    Gerard Houllier pays tribute to happy Jean II Makoun.

    25th Jan 2011

    By Paul Brown

    Gerard Houllier is in high spirits about Jean II Makoun being available to play against Wigan this evening - and admits the happy demeanour of the midfield ace is exactly what he wants to see in his squad.

    Houllier is looking forward to seeing the fun-loving footie ace integrate with the rest of the players, insisting he will have a positive effect on the dressing room.

    The boss is a firm advocate of skill and endeavour - but also insisted that enjoyment plays a vital part in the football cocktail.

    He said: "Jean is a very, very easy going type of person - very nice.

    "He's always happy. He's not moody - he's not a moaning and whinging player.

    "We have the best job in the world. We are paid to play the game - because, at the end of the day, it's a game and it's fantastic.

    "Work and enjoyment are vital. If you don't enjoy it, leave, go. You are successful in life if you enjoy things."

    Houllier also said, despite his cool character, Makoun has a burning desire to test himself in the top-flight.

    He also revealed the interesting back story regarding the midfielder's move to Villa.

    He added: "He has Premier League ambitions - that is why he came here. He did not come for the money I can tell you that.

    "He came here just because he wanted to play in the Premier League.

    "What happened was the club, Lyon, had promised him they would let him go. He'd 18 months on his contract.

    "When they put him back into the team they had a run of games without being beaten and they moved up fourteen places and they also qualified for the Champions League.

    "So their manager understandably was a bit reluctant to let him go. I thought it would be difficult so I had to travel to France to get everything sorted.

    "Fortunately I have a good relationship with their chairman and it helped.

    "It wasn't a question of charm, it was a question of business but it helped because he kept his word.

    "Funnily enough he started with a question. He said 'if you were the manager of Lyon would you let him go'. I said no. He said 'well you answered my question'. But I said 'you promised the boy'."

    www.avfc.co.uk

    Houllier: Back him or sack him?

    in Villa Talk

    Posted

    Gerard shows Aston Villa rebels Hou's boss - Frenchman reveals strict side in battle for control of club

    By JANINE SELF

    Last updated at 7:37 AM on 25th January 2011

    Gerard Houllier would rather crack a smile than the whip but was left with no alternative when it came to taming Villa's dressingroom rebels. If the mutineers had succeeded, Houllier could have walked the plank by now, pushed over the edge by players who were not doing it for him.

    As Aston Villa target their first back-to-back league wins of the season, the manager is in full command of his bridge. A verbal flogging has sufficed, and a group of malcontents is becoming a united squad.

    Defender Stephen Warnock has been banished to the reserves as a reminder that beneath the Gallic charm lurks a hugely focused Frenchman. Meanwhile, Richard Dunne is back in favour, apologies presumably accepted.

    Bolstered by the £24million arrival of striker Darren Bent, Houllier heads to Wigan in buoyant mood after Saturday's battling 1-0 win over Manchester City. City have provided season high and low points for Villa.

    The abject 4-0 Christmas defeat at Eastlands left Houllier on the brink. Since then there have been laudable draws against Chelsea and Birmingham, and a tricky FA Cup tie at Sheffield United negotiated safely.

    Houllier may make changes tonight as he contemplates five games in 14 days, yet he will not tolerate any signs of displeasure from a player.

    'If that happens, I bomb him out,' Houllier admitted. 'You can't prepare a game with somebody who is pulling a face, because it drains the mental energy. There was a time when even players who were playing were moaning, whining and unhappy. It's something I had to overcome, yes.

    'We get results if we are together. From the start of the year we have had five games - won two, drawn two and lost one. The important thing is work and enjoyment. It's about togetherness. If you don't enjoy, leave, go.'

    Warnock could see that as a personal message. Stephen Ireland, too, is not wanted. The midfielder is injured, but Houllier does not believe that will prevent a loan move if another club is interested.

    Bent's scoring debut was a huge bonus on Saturday. Houllier has plans to involve his other January signing, Jean II Makoun, although he may only start on the bench. Striker Emile Heskey is back after suspension for his red card against Sunderland, when he petulantly shoved Jordan Henderson.

    Houllier revealed Heskey had said sorry. 'He said, "I'm sorry I let you down".' Villa have failed to win two successive league games since April, under Martin O'Neill, when they managed three.

    Houllier's team are three points above the drop zone, which makes the game against third-from-bottom Wigan even more crucial.

    The manager admitted: 'We need to keep the momentum going and capitalise on Saturday's result.'

    Clicky

    Houllier: Back him or sack him?

    in Villa Talk

    Posted

    I can't speak for others but I've never blamed him for all our issues, far from it in fact.

    Indeed, some issues were his others not.

    Was always worth giving him a go when some players back and some of his own in, Randy seems to agree.

    If we continue to improve it was worth the gamble.

    Other Teams Transfers & Rumours...

    in Other Football

    Posted

    Ian Holloway attacks Liverpool’s £4.5m bid for Blackpool captain Charlie Adam

    Blackpool manager Ian Holloway has launched an outspoken attack on Liverpool, claiming the club’s £4.5 million bid for Scotland midfielder Charlie Adam was “disgraceful”.

    Double it: Ian Holloway says Liverpool's £4.5m offer for Charlie Adam is too low Photo: ACTION IMAGES

    By Telegraph staff and agencies 11:21PM GMT 22 Jan 2011

    Holloway confirmed Liverpool caretaker manager Kenny Dalglish wants to sign Adam, who has enjoyed a fine season and scored from the penalty spot in his side’s 2-1 defeat against Sunderland yesterday.

    But Holloway was unimpressed with Liverpool’s offer, having also rejected bids of the same amount from Aston Villa and Birmingham.

    “I was thinking Liverpool and Charlie,” he said. “I thought: 'Fantastic, what a great club for him to go to’. Then when I heard the bid I thought it was disgraceful.

    “I don’t think it was Kenny that put that offer in. Mr (Damien) Comolli (Liverpool’s director of football strategy) should look at what is going on and get realistic.

    “What they offered is about the price Charlie would have been worth when Kenny was last playing.

    “Is it a destabilising tactic from the three clubs, Birmingham, Aston Villa and now Liverpool? I don’t know. Maybe I am the only one who can see what his value might be.

    “They had better start by putting a figure one in front of the complete rubbish they have been offering so far.”

    Meanwhile, Rafael Benítez has rejected suggestions that Liverpool’s struggles are partly down to his management.

    The Anfield club endured a poor season last year as they finished a lowly seventh under Benítez, before the Spaniard departed and was replaced by Roy Hodgson.

    Liverpool’s fortunes have plummeted even further since then, but Benítez has refused to accept full responsibility.

    “We know we made some mistakes,” he told the BBC. “But I think the team is good, the problem may be the mentality. So I think Kenny can change these things and will hopefully be good for the team.

    “But the other thing is that Christian Purslow [the former managing director] and Hodgson, they signed seven players. Seven players is enough to change a squad. It’s not my fault, sorry.”

    Clicky

    Signed: Darren Bent £18m rising to £24m with add on's

    in Hall of Fame

    Posted

    Revealed: The real reason Sunderland are prepared to let top-scorer Darren Bent leave for Villa

    By Simon Bird in

    Published 23:00 17/01/11

    Niall Quinn has kept a letter he discovered in a drawer at the Stadium of Light the day he took over as chairman, which partly explains why he will reluctantly sanction a huge gamble.... and sell Darren Bent.

    It is an official bid lodged for former star Kevin Phillips, stating, coincidentally, Aston Villa would pay £16 million for the then England striker. His predecessor Bob Murray resisted the cash.

    A year later, amid the financial wreckage of relegation, Phillips was flogged for just £1 million. Newly installed Quinn left to contemplate the potential cash windfall lost.

    The lessons learned? Sell at peak value. Sell at a time of relative strength, especially if he wants to go and his form has slightly waned. Then move on swiftly, and rebuild.

    Bruce and chairman Niall Quinn now face a defining moment. It is reminiscent of the day Kevin Keegan stunned football by selling top scorer Andy Cole to Manchester United. Famously Keegan stood on the St James' Park steps and justified the decision to angry fans.

    There were no angry fans at the Stadium of Light last night, but plenty are bemused, confused and at a loss why Bent is on his way.

    There is a discrepancy between Bent and Sunderland over who triggered the sensational surprise deal.

    Who to blame? Bent for disloyalty, amid claims he has wanted to leave for months? Sunderland for lacking ambition? Villa for such an inflated bid? What came first, the transfer request, or the Villa bidding that is too much to turn down?

    It does not alter the fact that if the club didn't want to sell, they could have strongly rebuffed the Villa bid or turned down a transfer request (as they did four times with Phillips).

    Quinn and Bruce have chosen to take the cash. They are still haggling to push up the £18 million initial bid nearer to a straight £24 million. It is the duo's biggest gamble yet.

    How the cash is now reinvested will define Bruce's reign. Targets like Stewart Downing and loanee Danny Welbeck are out of reach, the club believe, and Bruce has again insisted a cut-price Michael Owen is still not an option.

    So what has caused Bent's exit from a club chasing Europe and a record high Premier League finish to one fighting relegation? Especially after he immersed himself so passionately in North East life, and engaged closely with the Wearside fans? And how do you replace a proven marksman who scored 36 in 62 games?

    He was courted in the summer by Turkish giants Fenerbahce. Discovering that Sunderland would have sold him then, if a big enough bid had come in, must have been unsettling for a striker who, more than anything, wants to be wanted and loved.

    News of Fenerbahce's offer could have been enough to trigger a new contract offer, but no talks happened.

    Bent, 26, was prolific in his first season at Sunderland, netting 25 times. His tally of 81 goals in the league since August 2005 has only been bettered by Didier Drogba and Wayner Rooney both on 82. Villa are buying - and Sunderland losing - proven class.

    But despite scoring an impressive 11 this term, he hasn't been on top ruthless form.

    Bruce has expressed growing frustration on the touchline at missed chances, of which there have been many in the last month.

    His partnership with new record signing Asamoah Gyan hasn't gelled. Generally he's been a little off key, by his own very high standards, and looked distracted, with two goals in his last nine games, including a penalty.

    Earlier this month he expressed his dismay at criticism dished out by "so-called Sunderland fans" on one of the more extreme internet message boards.

    In December his car was attacked with bottles thrown in Newcastle city centre on a shopping trip with friends, an unsavoury spilling over of local rivalries that Sunderland players living on Tyneside have to wary of.

    It hardly adds up to one big fall out, but they are small issued that could put doubt in a players mind over his future.

    Bent can leave with his head held high over a job well done at Sunderland even if he will suffer abuse for walking away to a rival.

    Of course in football there is one word that dominated any dissection of hows and whys of a transfer.

    A pile of cash has tempted Sunderland. And the pay-rise and long contract Bent is likely to earn from his switch has opened up his eyes to a new challenge.

    Loyalty and stability come a wayward second to money in the mad, desperate, inflated January transfer market.

    Clicky

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