RandyLion

General, many thanks for your fulsome and forthright response. Your efforts and those of Randy and MON are greatly appreciated. As i put in my post, everything that is being done by you all is very positive and bringing a vibrancy to Villa Park, the like of which we have not seen in lots of years. I know the transfer situation from the outside can be a time when fans worry and see other teams buying any tom, dick and harry.....but I know that MON is on the ball and is working hard to get the right targets into Aston Villa football club....players that will benefit the team and fit into his explosive mix of youth and experience. General, thank you once again for being so open and honest. you are a top man. Have a good trip to Omaha and Cleveland and i hope one day to meet you in person. Randylion

General, Both yourself and Randy have been magnificent in the way you have handled things recently and also with how you have redeveloped Villa Park into a vibrant and buzzing football ground. It fills me with pride as a Villa fan to know we have two such great guys in charge along with a brilliant manager in Martin O'Neill. I know you won't comment on transfers specifically General and/or names etc and I totally understand that. But with the fact that as it stands we have no left back (best wishes to Freddie) or right back (now super Olof has gone) and we as fans are a little apprehensive about going into the new season so light on numbers; though may i add i am sure MON is constantly shaping irons in the fire. How busy are you and/or Randy expecting the next two and a half weeks to be on the player front? I am (as i am sure a lot of Villa fans are) hoping for another 5 quality additions before the transfer window closes, as well as touch wood, keeping Gareth Barry. Do you think this is possible? Again General, may i thank you for being so responsive on these boards...it is truly magnificent that we have such a great ambassador of Villa like you. Have a great evening General.

General, as a regular user of Villatalk and a season ticket holder..... Can I say how amazing i think this type of communication with the fans is....as some clubs get more and more corporate and ignore their fans...I think the job you and Randy have done is fantastic so far..... It is so refreshing to see how our club is run by people (you, Randy, MON) who have common sense and business nous in abundance and the people skills to be able to take Aston Villa onwards and upwards. And General, I was unable to get a ticket for the Arsenal away game....(the tickets sold out in under 3 hours on the first day of sales)....due to the phenomenal demand from our magnificent away support ..of which i have been a part of at wrexham, st andrews, blackburn, wigan, sunderland and fulham.... It was going to be an integral part of the wedding day, going to the Arsenal game.....and so the party were gutted when we found out that they had all gone. However, thank you the magnificent girls at Aston Villa...Nicky Keye and Nicola Salt.....they have managed to get 3 tickets for us...and we are absolutely delighted. Could you please pass on my very heartfelt thanks and please please commend them on the great job they are both doing (and give them a little bonus because they are both excellent - not my decision I know General...I just think they both represent Aston Villa FC so well). And finally, here's to another great weekend and hopefully 3 more points for the Villa!!! Thank you General

I have to agree Ryan. It will be a tough tough game.... Determination, passion, local pride....and some composure and quality.....a draw would be fine away from home.....would be ecstatic with a win!!!

I very much hope so!!!

Can you guys on VT please calm me down , as i am a little jittery (only 30 years old!)...I need some positive news on the signing front. everyone else seems to be putting in their bids whilst Villa are in the background....... Think we need to make a big splash sooner rather than later or risk losing out on the majority of targets MON has in mind. We can't keep waiting forever....I see Small heath are after Tuncay on a free.....would be a good signing and now Fulham have put in a double bid for Koumas and Kamara. This may force our hand...if indeed we are interested in Koumas. And we need to make sure NRC is signed and sealed as soon as we can after the U21's or during if possible to stop others from hijacking it. Thanks RandyLion

And as if by magic, MON tells all Villa fans to stop worrying......signings will happen and we are looking to bring in quality. The site is eatsleepsport........I have copied the article. MON you and Randy are the men to take us forward. We will get the quality signings we need. O'Neill cool on transfers Mon, 11 Jun 2007 13:15 Martin O'Neill has told the Villa fans to stay patient and not panic as new signings will be arriving at the club this summer. The Irishman is armed with a large transfer kitty but so far he has yet to make a signing and the club's supporters have only seen players head for the exit door. Gavin McCann and Jlloyd Samuel have both signed for Bolton and despite Villa being strongly linked with the likes of Craig Bellamy, Nigel De Jong and Wesley Sneijder, O'Neill has yet to make a signing. However, the gaffer is calling for calm and says signings will start to happen. "We can't have what happened to us last November - when we were scratching around for players - happen to us again," O'Neill revealed. "We have a fairly decent idea of what we're going to try to do. "The whole reason I've come is because I want to try to fulfil the hopes, dreams and ambitions of the supporters. "It's not easy, but that's part of the whole excitement. Randy Lerner has been very supportive and he wants to try to lift the club from a position of non-strength into one of strength."

Anyone else worried at the moment??? NRC deal seems to be dragging on , though remain hopeful he will come to us by weekend or after U21's. Sneijder may well be off to Spurs.............why? they have 27 midfielders already!!!! Spurs really annoy me!!! And now WHU (they are another club i dislike) are trying to gazump us for Bellamy! Get lost Egghead.... We don't want to gazumped with our targets all the time, otherwise we could end up with none of our intended purchases at VP. Come on MON and Randy get to it and get those quality players to VP as quickly as possible!

No it's not the same as the 606 person. I hope to be able to confirm how imminent is imminent tomorrow. I am not lying. Just keeping up with the contacts......I would not post unless i had held the conversation. I really hope to have something exciting to report soon on these boards, which will make everyone realise that there are some of us who want to post information that is correct.

Mazrim, apart from what the 606 poster put on , which i have to say doesn;t sound particularly credible...... I have now also had a conversation with a very reliable source, which has also brought up the european signings and it's potential imminence.

On the 606 boards, someone has said that O'Neill has set up a Buiding society account yesterday through his PA. The guy at the building society has then pressed the PA for any information as he is a Villa fan obviously........and she said that MON came home early from holiday (he should have been away this week too) to push a couple of deals through. She said that there were a couple of European targets that MON wanted to bring in to Villa in the next 7 days. I would hazard that one of these would be Schneider....the other Mertezacker........ No, I know I am excited like the rest of us to see who we get........so I am simply passing this on. It may be totally wide of the mark.......but then again.....you never know!

I have no doubt that if we were to get Schneider, (which is highly debatable considering Valencia are favs), then we would not also sign NRC. I think Koumas is being signed to play a creative role.......him and Petrov will vye for that position. Up front, we have to go for the likes of Defoe or Bent. Either one would be a signing of intent.

Nick, don't be a fool! Even with sarcasm. it ain't funny! Anyway, I hope NRC will sign this week.... I believe Bellamy or Defoe may follow........ And either Gordon or Boruc....... Luke Young may also be coming to VP. For me, the stand out buy would be Darren Bent............why not come to Villa and play most weeks, alternating with Gabby...?

Who does everyone want? Barton or NRC? Vote............. Mine would go to Barton over NRC........Barton bosses games. good passer, scores goals and has passion (yes too much at times!).......

Actually i tend to differ from this view. I think there may be one foreign signing but the majority will be British based players. How do I know this? Well , I have done some investigating. I have some inside info from a very reliable and respected source. Now i know there is paper talk and it is silly season and the majority of names have already been stated in the paper........I mean for gods sake we have already seen Villa linked with 45 players (OS). So, Villa are definitely working hard to get their targets in. They are not going to be fleeced and Martin O'Neill has an idea of the value of each player he is after. Bellamy is a definite target, now where this £10-£12 million comes from is beyond me..........I believe this transfer is down to Liverpool and what they want to do. If they insist on that price, then O'Neill will look elsewhere as Villa are conscious about being ripped off by Liverpool again (aka Collymore and Baros). But this one is definitely in the melting pot. Also O'Neill wants a new No. 1 GK, right back, centre half, Left mid, centre mid (as well as one striker). There is some interest in NRC, but as yet we don't know how far this goes............and contact has been made about Barton. Schneider is a target as well but not for the £10 million that Valencia may well pay for him. O'Neill does not rate him in that bracket and thinks there is better value elsewhere. So RELAX people. We will get good signings in, and this time won't be fleeced on the price.

By the looks of things, a signing or two may just about restore people's sanity ...........because reading this thread is making me anxious and nervous too.............because we all desperately want top class players to come.........and each signing that is made by other clubs.........is making us think 'we should have had him!'......... Time to take a deep breath and trust that Martin O'Neill and Randy will deliver! I will do some investigating and see if i can find anything out.

I am not saying we should aim for second best, far from it! I am also not saying we should sign so and so......just suggesting possible players we could look at in conjunction with the top players we are looking to get in. All i am trying to say is, we should have plans for every eventuality. Yes i agree that we are just as big and as good a club as WHU and Newcastle...if not a smidge better IMHO. However, some players like the lure of London.......for some reason, even if they join a spawny club like the Spammers. And others go on about the Geordies being a massive club. I think we have more to offer than most clubs who don't have european football. but then the majority of footballers are not renowned for going for footballing reasons...more their pay packet......ie Sidwell at Chelsea to potentially be a bench warmer...... I think the majority of players i suggested and listed would be very good players for Villa..... I agree Zat Knight and Tonge would be squad players and I, like all of you, hope that we do buy some top top class players..... And of better quality than Knight or Tonge..... I think world class players and us signing them, may be a few years away yet though. I do think we may get a couple of real stunning signings though. I trust Martin O'Neill and Randy to do the business!

I think we do run a danger of maybe missing out on a number of targets as it seems to be stacking up that other clubs will pinch who we are (linked) with........ NRC may well go to Arsenal or Newcastle Parker to WHU to be with Curbs Schneider has or will likely to be going to Valencia Distin has gone to Pompey Curtis Davies may go to Arsenal Defoe may well go to Pompey too Jagielka likely to go to Everton Bellamy may go to Blackburn Bent may go to Spurs Taylor may go to Liverpool or stay at Pompey So I hope and I trust Martin O'Neill has others lined up and can pull a few masterstrokes in the transfer market..........he will surprise us all i think and get a couple of top players who we may not have been linked with yet (or kept hush hush). The above list may just all be paper speculation and may not be targets of MON at all! Smokescreen perhaps. Anyway. just like Utd have pulled off a coup with Nani and Anderson, so can Villa and back O'Neill and Randy to do the business in the transfer market. They are shrewd cookies. I wouldn't mind if we bought in Boruc Luke Young Matty Taylor Scharner/Tonge Zat Knight Nugent What do others think?

Well done Jez, would love Martin O'Neill to bring a couple of stunning players from the French League ....... And yes sorry M1dch.........it was 6 not 5 players............been up since 4.30 am!

All the players we are targeting are also being looked at by Man Utd, Arsenal, Spuds and Liverpool.........so it is going to be very difficult, nigh on impossible to get our first choices by the looks of things........but the good thing is we are looking to get in top class players..........which if we want to break into the top 6 we need to do and by top class i mean Schneider, Reo-Coker, Huntelaar....I don't include Kewell, Bellamy or Koumas in this category. Now it really depends on the club doing their utmost to convince the players their future is at VP.....with a new owner, new manager and new training ground that is up there with the best in the country and the fans full of optimism.........there is no reason to suggest we won't land some of our first choice targets. However, we need to try and stay patient.......Martin O'Neill is a great manager and lots of players will want to come and play for him.........look at Ashley Young. People like Sidwell wil regret their decision when they become a bench warmer for Chelsea every week. Villa are a club on the up and with lots of ambition.......... I have to say, all the takeovers worries me, as it seems the top 4 want to buy all the best players to stop other clubs getting them..........and then not necessarily play them. Liverpool seem to want to buy the whole of La Liga ......... I would be pleased if we bought 5 players...........a centre half, a right back, a GK, a centre mid, a left mid and a striker. We should realistically go for players like Boruc, Gordon, Carson (GK)....... Right back Luke Young, Centre mid Reo Coker, Scharner Left mid Matty Taylor Striker Nugent, Defoe, Bent..... If Bent or Reo Coker are happy to sit on the bench every other week then they may go to Liverpool, Spurs or Arsenal respectively. If they want to play football for a great club and great manager and make themselves better players....then they will come to Villa. We will have to wait and see.

Let me just add the caveat........if we do sign him and/or even linked with him (of course!)........ Would be a great signing, if indeed true and Pompey are willing to let him go.

I see Barry being more in the centre next season, he excelled in there towards the end of things. Thats why Matty Taylor would be a great addition, he can play left or central.....has a great shot on him and is a great crosser....... Bouma is the left back and if he is injured , then Taylor or Barry can deputise. Brilliant signing IMHO