JulieB

Got told earlier that another defender we've been linked with recently is considered too good for the league he currently plays for.- Championship Wouldn't be surprised to see him land. No ITK at all I'm merely speculating - decided to look him up see what he was about... At the age of 5 he was playing in the U9s team for his local club!!! James Chester - Apparently joined Manchester Utd age 8 & stayed with them until 2010. Fed up of being loaned out here there & everywhere & playing in the reserves or occasional cup games he found himself on loan to Carlisle - where he did very well & wanted to extend his loan deal a bit more so he could play football. Instead he got scouted by Hull City & made the decision to leave the dream, take a massive pay cut & step down so he could play the game he'd loved playing since the age of 5! Noticed under Steve Bruce he's part of a back 3 and he's apparently starting to attract scouts. He's only 23 and he's shining in the Championship - looks different gravy so one or two are saying noticed & HE was in Championship Team of the week again this week! Is he actually a better option than a Lescott whose happy to receive his wads of cash but hardly kicks a ball in anger? James Chester has played an awful lot of football in his now long career, including with Man Utd - To me this is the type of player fits Lamberts remit - passing the Dario Grady "the Good People" litmus test as I posted earlier - Bet he'd come to the Villa if asked!

Pat Murphy - understands no chance of Lescott joining Villa because Lerner & Lambert haven't even discussed him joining - prefer permanent to loans. Wouldn't be first time Lambert has thrown the press a fish to feed on - a red herring or two so the feeding frenzy can take place leaving the club to do business quietly without other clubs knowing what's going on. Like someone said this morning - Defoe & Kenwyne Jones! No idea IF Lescott was a red herring of course but Pat Murphy normally has an inkling what's going on at B6.

From Tom Ross: "Lambert when pressed on rumours re Lescott signing for Villa said wages might be a problem and that finances will dictate all signings - added that they do not HAVE to sell anybody including Darren Bent" Possibe IN but that statement leaves it entirely open on outs. Saying "We don't HAVE to sell anybody including Darren Bent" tells everyone zilch - course Villa don't HAVE to do anything! honestley most of the Sky Press are such lemmings - that's a completely different statement to - Paul Lambert saying we're NOT selling Darren Bent" which is what the headlines state.

People change - grow up.... Lot of water under the bridge & all that, so who knows?

I'd presume that was correct because we didn't get a target Dempsey on final day so unspent budget. Ergo Lambert is obviously NOT against signing experienced premier league players! if they fit his criteria and improve the sqauad - but he's also up for looking at other places to improve the squad, like Europe, Lower Leagues etc and if they're younger ones then potentially excellent sell ons if they shine in the premier league. Lerner has spent about the same as Levy at Spurs & as I said earlier & far more then Everton. Look at the quality in the squads and where they are Pushing top four! Where we should be! It's a win win for me cos at least Randy Lerners coffers aren't being continually wasted on PLge journery men! There's a nice blend developing potentially and a sound business model. Henke do your job! .

Hey? Didn't Fulham confirm live on SSN that Fulham had accepted a bid of AVFC? I can't beleive we'd Fax a bid & not want the player! Anyhows PL has mentioned Lescott at today's PC according to Father Abraham but it'll be down to wages I guess.

No idea...just saying it's all speculation on James Nursey's part..Who knows. Lambert sprung one or two surprises in the Summer - be nice if he did this window ie anotha Benteke

Might all be red herrings anyway - & the real business at B6 is being done behind closed doors

Exactly Richard & Delboy! Nail on head - it's not necessarily about prem lgue experience so much it's about raising the techincal quality & the performance levels in each of those positions. MON refused to look outside the Prem Lge Paramaters & look where that got us - Sidwell, Shorey, Curtis Davies et al......Now we're all demanding that?!!!...... Why?. Whilst I think Scott Parker maybe Lescott might make some sense - overall there are plenty of players who can come in from all over just as you say Delboy - "None of the above is difficult and there are plenty of Premiership, Championship, D1 and foreign players that fit that bill!!" And Hopefully if Nursey's right & there is to be a shake up & clearing of decks & a decent Spine to the team we will see exactly these positions changed A better CB than Herd - Rumoured to be looking at Lescott etc Improvement? - Could be Tick A better CM than Bannan - Looks like Dale Stephens - who Omar posted about - according to his fellow pros - 6 1 CM/AM box to box whose like Bannan but better Palace fans verdict - "Best passer of ball since Danny Murphy at Addicks" - Improvement? - Let's see but if he's tidy player maybe A better CM than Delph - Needs sorting. Parker being linked - but I think most of us think we need a physically tough, tackling quality DM - Key area to fill as so many have said A better Left Back than Bennett/Lichaj/Stevens - They are too raw & Lichaj is a RB in anycase - Interesting Nursey has mentioned PL is looking to get someone in also We don't have to fill all of those positions with Prem Lgue players though - just up the quality & make sure they are an improvement - job done & to me that's enough to stay up & push on a litte up the table to more comfortable position. The technical quality in the Premiership is really not as high as Murdoch's Sky would have everyone believe ex Pro told me that the other day & he's right when you think about it - the proof of the pudding is that very few English prem league players ie WAG footballers get touted to go abroad to supposed lesser leagues because their standards are higher in technical ability - it's just the pace of the Premier League is much quicker. Of course there are exceptions like Bale but not many. Obviously there's the Modric, Fabregas players who have graced the Premier League stage & been snapped up by European giants - but then they did not come through Premier League systems - they were just bought from abroad before they were famous & shone, then sold on for mega bucks... Hmm maybe Lambert's found one already in Benteke! The quality of the defending in the Premier League is getting worse! Even Man Ure - can't defend for toffee this season - that's why so many goals being scored. Flip Stoke's DF are shining - but then - they play anti football IMHO & it should be banned! But you can't argue it's effective. So whoever we sign & from where ever - as long as we improve key positions & we get a couple of Leaders on the pitch we ought to improve our position & THEN push on with maybe more replacements/strengthening in the Summer etc etc

Yeah but mistakes have been learnt - We're now open to signing talented players from outside the Premier Lgue from overseas. This didn't happen under MON and his flawed policy of not signing players unless Prem Lgue proven - cost this club Millions. If people knew some of the players like Falcao who were offered to him before they were famous but he turned them down cos no Prem Lge experience they'd cry. No wonder he finished off scouts & CEOs. We'd have been in the Top 4 now for sure with the profits we could have made. When you think Lerner has spent more than Levy has in the past few years - What have we got to show for it....look at the difference in the squads? Yes they'll sell Bale but then Spurs will be in a postion to buy more quality young signings - some of whom might be sold if they become superstars like Modric et al. If we can do a minor Spurs to start with & get Henke to source a few Euro gems like Benteke & then sell them on for oodles in a few years IF Lambert can get the best out of them & showcase them to the world playing on the Prem Lgue stage, gradually building and become stabilized on the pitch and financially as we go, then you can see this model working...... But I'm sure whatever happens Lambert will continue to have players watched in the lower leagues & get 30 game dossiers on the Ashley Westwoods et al before he signs them, so we'll just have to get used to it. But then isn't that what is supposed to happen - the big clubs buy players off the smaller clubs which helps grass roots football and helps money trickle down from the Prem Lgue Pyramid?

Top post! Which my post kinda followed up on. Only this season is a little different cos we simply have to stay in Prem Lgue cos of new TV deals. If Bent has indeed put in a trf request as being rumoured & we've not paid clauses etc or pay offs plus if there's a bidding war on him we might get far more from the Bent sale than people imagine. Plus we don't know who else may be sold to add to the net spend who might also be on big wages like Bent - I think Nursey mentioned Gven going if right offer came in for him. Not forgetting that Lambert has made one very astute signing & has increased our assets by at least £13M because if we sold Benteke I'm sure we'd get £20M. now & he's only been here 6 months. So this will be a test of Lescott's character - Are you willing to come & play for AVFC on reasonable wages or are you just interested in the best ££££s you can find. Methinks the Dario Gradi litmus test should be applied on this one - is Lescott a greedy footballer or is he one of those "good people" as I alluded to in last post. I think we'll know if Lambert signs him or not, whether he's passed the test or not.

The more depressing thing to me is how far had this club had fallen before these lower league players came in? When actually these players from lower leagues shock horror like Westwood & Lowton have shown the existing sqaud up! How come the best passer of the ball in the team was signed from Lgue 1?!!! Not Prem Lgue Not Champs but League 1 & only promoted to that league last May - prevuiously Crewe were a lgue 2 side. Oh silly me.... that's because It's the player you sign.. NOT the team they play for! Players like David Platt, Neil Lennon, Rob Jones and Dean Ashton came from Crewe - as did Westwood Players like Jagielka, Kyle Walker & others came to Prem Lgue from Sheff Utd - as did Lowton Bent, Danny Murphy & quite a few others came to Prem Lgue via Charlton - why not Dale Stephens? But hang on a minute - Why would anyone not want to sign the Premier Lgue Wonder boys & the WAG footballers - instead - we're a big club after all - they're fantastic far better! Maybe it might have something to do with character!! Footballers are greedy says Gradi Gradi managed Crewe in over 1,000 competitive matches (Getty) Former Crewe Alexandra manager Dario Gradi has said the money footballers earn is "embarrassing". Gradi told BBC Radio Stoke: "I could talk for two or three days about how footballers are getting greedier. "When you think of people that live in poverty then it is embarrassing but that's not to say that there aren't good people in the game." Gradi managed the Alex for 24 years from 1983 to 2007 and is now the club's technical director. __________________________________________ Lambert apparently said before he walked through the door & publically that he wanted to work with this type of footballer or as Gradi said "the good people" Not necessicarily lower league players but players who maybe wouldn't be classed as Greedy. Players who aren't after a quick buck but genuinely love playing football - The Ian Taylors - who were driving fork lift trucks till they were 22 etc who you know would get on that pitch if he could and die for the Villa cause now - for nowt! I kinda see where he's coming from and if they'd been a disaster you could maybe slate if for it - but the fact is they haven't have they? Westwood & Lowton have been two of the better most consistent performers. Yes they've made mistakes but compared to Stephen Ireland who came from last season's Prem Lgue Champions no less Man City!!!....V Spurs wasn't it? - he was dreadful & he's hardly had a good game since he joined us when you look back. Mainly it's been the existing squad who've been gash, which is not Lambert's doing - he was asked to work with existing sqaud & add to it. Now we're being linked with more experienced players because of the pickle we're in & fans are not prepared to see us struggle in a relegation battle - fans are saying - panic buys - they don't know what they're doing. To me ALL that has happened is that Lambert has proved some of our players just ain't up to it - they're not up to Prem Lgue week in week out. So the fact that Nursey seems to be saying there's going to be a real shake up this window - quite frankly is music to my ears dunno about you lot. Honestly it beggars belief - some of our fans moan if we sign lower lgue players when the ones we've signed look good - they moan even more when we don't sign anyone - they moan if we ship out players who frankly don't want to play for the club cos we won't get enough for them in their opinion & they moan at the mere suggestion that the club might sign a Lescott or a Parker et al to make sure by hook or by crook we stay up! Sorry but is it me or is something not quite right here - have I missed anything? Or is it just seriel moaning syndrome? Let's just have a wee bit of patience for the next few weeks - you never know a couple of old heads and young heads - a better spine to the team & we could be looking mid table & in Europe next season with a Cup in hand by the end of February! You never know - stranger things have happened. Like a team that climbed 56 Places in 3 consecutive seasons through the grit & grime right up into the Premier Lgue and then stayed there under the same manager's custodianship. Hmmm wonder who that might be...he sounds like he might be a good manager should we sack the one we've got & get him in?

Who knows as I said he's on a bozzy in the Summer - but he strikes me as the sort that would want to be a coach after his football career - he's one smart cookie so bin told. Perhaps the thought of coming in & working with so many "kids" as the media refer to us (although they're not) might be an attractive prospect who knows?

Smart bit of business if you ask me!! - I really hope PL has thought of Hangeland coming in opposite direction. He's on a bozzie in the Summer apparently! I know he's got no pace but he's a top pro & he'd be brilliant for the younger lads - Can you imagine Baker being schooled by someone like Hangeland? He's already one of the top CB prospects in the country! I know someone who used to be his neighbour in London & he said - he's just the most intelligent, level headed guy you could meet & boy does he know his football. Hates WAG football thinks it's disgusting that teenagers before they've even made it are holding clubs to ransom for stupid wages pushing more clubs to administration. Says Norwegians are bought up differently! Anyone ridiculing the signing of Dale Stephens - according to their fans - "the best passer of the ball since Danny Murphy at Addicks"

I think because of the pickle we're in Lambert & Lerner (who watched the Wigan debacle, which had to be the worst performance by a Villa team, I have ever seen!) that Lambert will be given immediate license to get in some experienced short term fixes - Trust me Lerner was told in no uncertain terms that watching Villa struggle for the 3rd year running cos we're playing reserves + Benteke & a few others is simply unacceptable by someone close to the club. Ian Taylor got it spot on and tweeted after the game We have NO SPINE & that is exactly what Lerner was told. We need experienced, quality CB, DM & if Bent's off a ST for starters - apart form any other plans Lambert may have Personally I'd test the Baggies for Chris Brunt - so he can teach the whole team how to tackle & simply get stuck in with gritted teeth as someone mentioned! Next I'd get in Scott Parker as a replacement for Petrov. Mark Davies would be those plans somewhere to. CBs eg Lescott, Dawson or how about Samba from Russia However perhaps Henke can marvel up another DM Bentequeske gem from somewhere overseas etc,,,, let's just wait & see. We need to get the quality standard in that squad up! Loans, short term fixes outside the Lambert normal parameters but heck we need to get up that table by hook or by crook & stay in the Premier Lge!

The other point is about signings like Ashley Westwood, Dale Stephens even Mattie Lowton etc is that they will and are showing up our existing squad as being technically just not up to Premier Lgue standards! How ridiculous that a Crewe academy graduate looks like he should be playing at Barcelona compared to the likes of Herd & Albrighton et al So not surprised to hear rumours of a clear out. Mick Dennis from the Express wrote a fab piece on Paul lambert over weekend & I emailed him to thank him & made a couple of comments - he's an ardent Norwich fan. Basically said forget the public calm - Lambert hates losing. - & via grapevine - Lambert is furious over Xmas stuffings! Dennis was kind enough to email me back from West Ham game - sed Paul Lambert is a difficult person to get on with but an outstanding manage

We all said that about Ashley Westwood - to date it's hard to argue he's not been our best MF. Plus he hardly ever gives the ball away, is intelligent with his positioning & has a eye for a good pass. Did you read the article I posted last night about Stephens? - he's considered one of THE best passers of the ball in the Championship. - Westwood came from Lgue 1 Might be a complete flop but maybe Lambert sees what we all see - we can't keep the ball to save our lives... Dale Stephens can! His teammates describe him as 6ft 1, AM box to box - like Bannan but better - take that FWIW. Plays as part of a MF 3 at Charlton interesting. He's not the DM we badly need who can tackle, win the ball & distribute but he does like taking the ball of CBs & running into the box apparently Watched Newcastle V Everton earlier - Masterclass by EFC on how to play 6 minutes of injury time under the cosh & not concede a goal.(Fancy that!) Part of reason I think we concede late is cos we're exhausted chasing the ball for practically 90mins. Keep the ball you conserve energy! Welcome Dale - if you're as good as Westwood we'll be more than happy!

Agree with this another first touch quality strike yesterday from a Benteke knock down to level it 1-1. Andi's still raw though & needs to work on parts of his game plus he's a bit of a hot head - he was spot on over the ball not being out but he shouldn't pick up stupid bookings for kicking the ball away & arguing with the ref. Still at least he shows some passion on the pitch & let's face it, some of the best strikers around have that hot head streak. Bent said Andi is lethal in front of goal in training they all see it every day & Lambert has concurred. We have another fox in the box also in the background coming through - Mikey Drennan Also agree him & Benteke are developing into a real partnership up front. First one we've had for quite some time.

6ft 1 Attacking Midfielder - Box to Box & can score - hit post the other day taking a 25yrd freekick. Most positive thing to hear about his landing at B6 for me - is he is known for keeping the ball! & passing it properly like Westwood! Also bears an uncanny resemblence to James Arthur who won this years X Factor. Dale Stephens: Why Charlton Must Build Their Team Around The Aston Villa Target by Joe Hall 4 October 2012 2 Comments Stephens was the subject to a number of transfer bids from Aston Villa last august. Now Charlton have kept hold of him, they must utilise his Premier League level passing skills.... Why Charlton Must Build Their Team Around Aston Villa Target Dale Stephens “Dale Stephens? Never heard of him! What’s Lambert playing at!” – This was a typical tweet from an Aston Villa fan when their club was chasing Charlton’s unheralded no.8 at the end of the last transfer window. Many Charlton fans were just as bemused when the club stubbornly refused to let Stephens leave, with some reports suggesting that even a bid as high as £2.5m (I know, I know – but for a club just out of three seasons in League 1 that’s a lot of cash!) was turned down. Yet where some Charlton fans were bemused, they should have been relieved. For years the club has given in far too easily to the demands of bigger clubs for their best assets. Lee Bowyer, Scott Parker, Jonjo Shelvey and Carl Jenkinson were all sold far below their value. As Villa knocked on the door I hope that for once we would show some ambition and hold onto our best assets. For once we did. Am I placing Stephens in the same bracket as the players mentioned above? Not quite – but he’s not far off. I have no doubts that Stephens is a Premier League level midfielder. Stephens is the best passer of the ball that the Addicks’ midfield has seen since the days of Danny Murphy. His assist for Ricardo Fuller against Watford on Tuesday night was a thing of beauty, slicing through three players into the path of Fuller. Even Pirlo would have been proud. It is for this reason that Chris Powell should be building his team around Stephens. Powell and his backroom should be tucked away in some dark corner of the Valley devising a plan that brings the best out of Dale. On Saturday we play Blackpool, one of the best sides in the Championship at keeping the ball. If we are to match them at all we need to get Dale on form. For this to happen a switch to 4-5-1, or even 4-3-3 is essential. The 4-4-2 most commonly employed by Chris Powell this season does not do enough to maximize Stephens’ ability. In a midfield two alongside Danny Hollands Stephens’ range of passing and vision is put on the backburner as he must cover the whole pitch, close down and break up play. He is not helped by the fact that too often Hollands has failed to live up to his imperious League One performances since making the step up to the Championship. If Powell can bring in Razak and, in this writer’s opinion, Pritchard alongside Stephens in a midfield three, Charlton can truly begin to assert themselves on Championship midfields If Stephens’ workload can be slightly reduced, then Charlton will boast one of the Championship’s best, if not the best, deep-lying playmaker in their side. (Brighton’s Liam Bridcutt being the other outstanding candidate.) Luckily for Powell, Charlton have a host of midfielders ready to slot in to a central midfield three. There is the aforementioned Hollands, a player who looked far more at home in a five-man midfield against Blackburn, Bradley Pritchard whose energy and hustling could reduce Stephen’s defensive responsibilities and Johnnie Jackson, the versatile club captain who can do a job almost anywhere on the field. The 18 year-old signed from Manchester City this week. Razak has already made first team appearances for City and judging by the high regard he is held in by the Premier League Champions, his signature could be a real coup for Charlton. Razak earnt rave reviews from his spell at Brighton last season, and as the below video demonstrates, he looks to have all the attributes to be a world-class box-to-box midfielder. No wonder they are calling him the next Yaya Toure.

Yes shafted indeed - Aptly demonstrated by Skrtel's completely undisguised shove of Benteke into the boards as the very last act of the game. Nice!

Says it all really....... No respect mi Lord! (Taxi Drivers nightmare when people are so drunk their limbs no longer function at all - I took a kitchen porter home once who resembled the dying fly on the back seat. Literally paralysis had set in laid out on the seat with his legs & arms up in the air all the way back to the posh hote in Borrowdale) Madness getting that drunk for anyone if you ask me - but for a professional footballer - especially after getting beat at home like that - it's just not right.

One would presume most managers do their homework before buying - however I think it's worth pointing out the Crewe's boss made a point of saying, from quotes none of the other clubs who were interested in Ashley Westwood had a dossier on him like Villa/Lambert had. Pretty sure one of those clubs was Swansea.

lol Brilliant - tweeted the pic to Soccer Saturday with love to Thommo from Villa fans everywhere.

I posted the link to that video in the Match Reaction thread -. Thommo's face plus texting back a certain Redscouse that it was going to be game of the day on Sky who reckoned they were all over us & the score would be about 5-0 to them after about 15 mins...... & that Benteke was just a big yard dog ...ha ha just topped off my day nicely!! http://sphotos-c.ak....427091943_n.jpg

What is so nice about our young squad finally starting to attract some positive media high profile coverage - following a few standout performances & some of the passing football we're playing leading up to some quality finishes - is that it might just help Paul Lambert & the club attract some talented players esp younger ones that he's after even more, in January. However for the first time in a long time, I'm not even concerned who we're getting in the January window because after hearing that Lambert has 30 game dossiers on potential signings and watching the likes of Benteke, Ashley Westwood & Mattie Lowton perform in the Premiership week in week out - I think I'm beginning to have the utmost faith in his judgement. Bring it on!