AaB-Aalborg

Todays media reports, that Villa do not wish Helenius to return, so his agent is trying to find out, if Villa will release him or what happens next. Despite having scored a couple of goals for AaB, also important ones, Helenius is far from his level when he left AaB back in 2013. He still lacks confidence and the speed on movements he used to have. I think he has scored 12 goals for us, which is not bad, but the feeling is, that he could easily have scored more. He is not even a regular starter at the moment. I don't know if he will stay in AaB, that depends on him being released and no better options are available. He really needs a shot of confidence, to get back on his feet. At his old level, i would have liked him to take the chance once more under Sherwood, but i doubt he would be anywhere near the team in his current form, so it is probably for the best, if Villa and Helenius agrees to split. I think this is it from me in here I have enjoyed keeping you updated and hope it has been useful. Good luck in the future, sorry that you never got to enjoy an in-form Helenius at Villa Park.

Brief update again, as i can see turnbull asked about the Kiev match. He played a really good match against Dynamo Kiev in the Europa League - Kiev are a really strong team, i'd say they looked better than the Man. City team we played back in '09 Europa League knock out stage. They really play football. Helenius held the ball well, we saw some dribbling and he was generally strong on the ball. He made a lot of good passes and did a lot of defensive work. He should have scored a goal, had a huge chance, but that part of his game is still missing unfortunately. But we will live, 3-0 against Kiev We will probably get our asses kicked next week in Ukraine. This evening we played in the danish league, where Helenius started on the bench. I presume to rest him.... He was subbed on in 65th minute and forced an own goal in the 94. minute so we won 1-0 on a lousy away with artificial turf. He would have scored, if the defender had'nt headed it into his own goal, so it looks like he is getting the hang of it again. Goals will come. And regarding the articles about him not wanting to go back. He has said that in danish media, primarily because he does not expect Villa to want him back, by the sounds of it. If Lambert said that he wanted to play him next season, i'm pretty sure he would join up with the team. But let's see what happens.

Sorry, I have only seen this now. Well, Nicklas is still improving, getting full 90 minutes, looking good in most of them. Should have had a goal or two, the biggest chance a header for 2-2 in the last minutes, but the Brondby-keeper made a pretty nice save (unfortunately....). It would be nice for us if he started scoring - but the most important thing must be that he keeps looking better. We, Aalborg, still have injury (or bad form after injuries) issues which is not speeding up the process. For instance only 1 of 4 midfielders from our last game started the match, and he started in another position. On Friday we play a small team in the league, with a so far successful, defensive counter attack approach and then follows an Europa League away game against Dynamo Kiev in the midweek, where we will probably be forced back in defence. An interesting week ahead, with two completely different matches for Helenius.. I hope he has benefitted from the international break - will let you know

He looked better yesterday, and actually should have been noted down for two goals, as he scored a header already in 1st half. Unfortunately the ref. saw something, no one else saw and gave Rio Ave a freekick instead. However the ref. made it up by giving their striker a yellow card instead of a penalty kick in the last minutes of the game So 1-1 on that account. Anyway. Helenius looked good and his workrate, dribbling and passing is starting to look decent - however yet some way from normal. I am sure the goals will come soon, as rodders0223 note, he has primarily been scoring on penalties so far. It is due to the lack of form, that he has been a bit on the bench and not been pressured too much - he will be regular within a few games, if he keeps improving. Hopefully we will improve a bit in the league, as Helenius gets back in form, and a handful of injured players we have had, gets back to full speed. From our championship team, we lost 3 national team players and our top créateur/assistmaker to transfer and long injuries this summer, which is partly to blame for the bad league position and EL-collapses. It is sometimes expensive to be poor, in the case of AaB. I will keep you updated. And congrats with the fine league position in the PL. Keep it up

Was just about to go in here and translate the article for you guys, but I see that you already found it. Besides the illness, Nicklas described in another interview, that he also had a bit of trouble settling in the beginning, getting used to the way of training and learning the other guys to know. He comes from a training culture in Aalborg, where there is a lot of focus on the individual and the players on the team help each other out, giving feedback. Further there is a lot of social activities, outside of the pitch, among players. Coming to Villa, there was not much focus on the individual in training, and not much feedback among the players, in the same way he was used to. He did not complain about it, just state that he needed to adjust, and probably he could have done better. Further, coming back from the illness as described in the article, there was not much communication with Lambert and he felt ... neglected in some way. That also have to do with the fact that he was still sick and depressed, because that is probably just the way it is in a big club. He needed to be strong and fight his way back into the team - but in fact he was still ill. I think it is crazy that he actually fought his way back to the bench in the spring, despite not being anywhere near fit. I know there was a lot of injuries also, but still... Well. We have him back in Aalborg for now. He arrived badly out of shape - now we know why. He has not been his usual self at all - and he has used almost 3 months now, before starting to show signs of the old Nicklas. I am sure he will get back to his old self and start getting even better, and he has said that he would love to get back abroad when he is fit. I hope he will be able to return to Villa next summer and fight for a spot again.

Helenius scored a goal on pen against dutch champions Ajax, and generally looked really confident when he got in. Has really gained a lot of strengt but kept his pace. He made some good runs and passes, showed a good overview on several occasions with a couple of crosses. I am looking forward to see him in the danish league next weekend, if he can keep it up - but it looks really promising. That makes me wonder even more, why Lambert can't use him. I will try to provide an update in a couple of weeks, to see if he is still performing..

Good luck to him, in hindsight might have been best to have bought him and loaned him back straight away let him improve for another season and then let him have a crack at breaking in to the first team. Hopefully he comes back to us a better player. I agree, in hindsight. But i also wonder why he did not get any more chances during the season, with all of the injuries Villa has been through. There was no prospect in playing Holt. Bowery has also been shipped away now as i understand, so no prospect there either. So why not also give Helenius a go and a couple of chances, i don't think he was given a fair run at it. We will never know. I have'nt heard any confirmed reports as to what went wrong - some in here suggest bad training, but i cant match that with what i know of Helenius, as the strengt that i can see he has gained during the last year. I will try to keep you updated once in a while, about his situation. He will be participating in a friendly match against AFC Ajax in Holland on saturday and the following weekend our season starts in Denmark. AaB, now with Helenius, will also participate in the Champions League qualification 3rd round for champions in the end of the month.

Helenius has joined AaB on a 1 year loan. I imagine that you will be able to sell him on afterwards adn recoup your money or decide if he is ready for another chance next summer. I am a very happy AaB-supporter!

Just a little info on the case, from the Denmark. Villa and AaB had agreed on a 1 year loan, enabling him to get some matches and be sold on or used in Villa from next summer. AaB does not have any funds to buy Helenius at the current moment - but maybe will have some next year. Then a transfer offer came from IFK, but Villa was not happy enough with it and Helenius will not join them, for a number of reasons. The swedish league is not as good as the danish and Helenius want's to stay in Villa or go back to his family in Denmark for the next year, as his girlfriend is soon to give birth. I think that Villa is now trying to get a transfer offer from AaB instead of a loan - but that can probably only happen, if we sell a couple of players - and a transfer for swedish attacker Rasmus Jönsson (from german Wolfsburg, brought in on loan to replace Helenius last summer) fails. Jönsson also favours AaB over a return to the swedish league, but AaB will probably not have enough money for both him and Helenius on transfer. Helenius has been in Aalborg during the summer - and he has really grown in size, i will estimate him to have gained 5-7 kg. in muscles. So the stuff about him training poor - i cant recon that from his time in Aalborg and it doesnt seem like he has bee eating McDonalds and drinking beers for the last year. He looks like he has been working hard on one of the areas i said he would have to, in order to play PL - strength. So i cant figure out, what went wrong for Lambert on this one. If he has done his scouting thorougly, there is no surprises from what i saw when he got gametime for Villa. He looked like he was adjusting, and the suddenly he was out of the team.

Sorry that it did not work out in Villa for Helenius. When you signed him, it seemed like a good move, PL had a clear plan and judging on the talks at the time, it seemed that he was scouted thoroughly, even given the 9-shirt at arrival. He got more game time in the beginning (pre season), than i expected, and all looked well. I feared that he would not make it at Premier League level, but early it looked like he was already adjusting. Then followed a lot of time on the bench and next he was out of the team. What happened. I have been told that he weighs in at 8 kg more than when you signed him - so he has been training hard to get the muscles i said he was missing, when you signed him. With that in mind and from my point of view decent performances in the chances he got, i can't really find out what happened here. I think Villa is going to wait a little while to see if there are any clubs willing to pay a little bit for him in transfer, maybe a sell-on-clause. As stated earlier, i hope he will get a chance to play in Holland or Belgium, i think he will be able to fullfill his potential there. Please don't sell him to a danish rival club I would have loved to see him regularily in the Villa shirt, i still think he could have been good for you - but it was not meant to be. Good luck in the future Villains.

Looks like he want to move on in danish media, and there is no longer anybody in Villa keeping him here - no plans with him. I don't understand how we got here, from being signed for next season, to be leaving after the first. I know that he has been missing some communication from Lambert, as to why he went out of the team before christmas, where he was regularely on the bench. Quite odd, as i got the impression that Lambert had been good at laying out a plan and talking to Helenius upon signing him. I am a bit dissapointet, because i still feel that he could be good in the Villa-shirt. He newer really got a good chance, despite many injuries. There has never been any problems with him in training in Aalborg - we don't breed that kind of players. So that also sounds strange to me, if that is the reports. Cornelius ended up costing 7M£ in pure transfer difference, even if you send bach Helenius for free, the cost have been at around 1-1,5M£. I hope that can be sold or loaned to a dutch/belgian club, and maybe get going again.

He is not coming back to Aalborg. Can't see that happening. He is not ready to quit Villa, it is only if PL says that he should go. And he would not go back to Aalborg. He want's to fight for a spot in the Villa XI. It makes no sense, that he should not be given a chance when fit. Unfortunately he has been injured for a while, but i still feel that he could be an asset for Villa. He must have developed and matured during this year - and hopefuelly PL will either give him a chance now or in the beginning of next season. From what Helenius said when he was signed, about his talks with PL, they knew he should use some time to add a level. So it seems stupid that they should ship him off, unless they are really unhappy with his progress.

In danish media Lambert is quoted having said that Helenius will be back in training at the beginning of this week. So hopefully he will be ready for the bench this weekend.

In todays danish media, Helenius' agent suggest that he has had some small injuries for the last 3 weeks time but is back in training now. He states that there is still support from Villa and that they have faith in him, Helenius just needs to work hard and convince the manager to give him a chance soon. If the situation should change during the summer, they are confident that there will be interest from Belgium/Holland/Germany. Given the time he got in pre-season and the seemingly good cooperation with Benteke when they have played together, i find it strange that he has been thrown so far out of the team lately (..before the injuries) and not been given any chances. The team have started performing lately, so hopefuelly you will be all clear of relegation soon - and so perhaps Nicklas will get a chance again. I hope he gets a chance at least, and is not just sold on... Because i am pretty sure he could step up to the challenge, from what i have seen.

He is not going back to AaB, i am pretty sure about that. I cant see the benefit, he has already played 100 matched in the danish league.. his agent has stated today that Villa wants to keep him, it is just a matter of him being in the first team plans for the spring season or not. There is interest from german and belgian clubs, assume it is a loan-interest.

His ex manager only said that he was not surprised that he was still on the bench and would need another ½ year to adjust

Nice to see he scored Hopefuelly he will get some minutes in the league during the next couple of matches. Is it possible to see the goal anywhere?

I don't think he should be loaned out for half a season, but if he could get 1-2 months and 3-6 championship matches on a team playing similar to Villa, that would probably be beneficial. He has played a lot of games in AaB, so he does not need first team football as such - from my point of view. He just needs to feel the tempo and learn where he is at in his development. As i have said before, i did not expect him to play from the start of his Villa career. I expect him to slowly make an impact during the spring or perhaps next season from the start. Event though i can hear that Weimann is not playing his best at the time, i dont think PL wants to rush it. I hope that is the reason, as Nicklas needs to be ready - you don't get 10-12 matches to prove yourself on this level, so he must be ready for premier league, when he is given a good chance. Otherwise it would rather break than make him. If he is given 2-3 games now and not showing much, will he ever get the chance again? With 19 points in the league, Villa is doing okay - it is not time to panic, rather trust that Benteke is going to start bagging some goals again soon. If not, and Weimann i still performing below par in a month or so, i a sure he will be thrown into action..

Playing as a main striker in Aalborg, he did not do a lot of crosses. But he was taking free-kicks (something that he developed and actually got pretty good at in the end, there is a goal on youtube..) and has a very good technical level, so i would presume that his crossings are pretty decent. Most of the assists come from passes, where he in some way set up the other players - as we do/did not have a target player, but relatively small technical players in our offence. Again, as i mentioned earlier, the youtube videos are some of the best situation from his seasons. Expect that he will make some s*ite challenges and some wrong passes once in a while. He also have weaknesses - he does not look that agressive despite always working hard. I'm pretty sure he will never be an above average header. His marking on defensive headers are nothing to cheer about - and defensive positioning is not something he is used to, if your tactic requires him to come home and defend as a wide attacker - so that he needs to learn. But allow him to use and develop his strengths, and i am sure he will turn out to be a useful player for you, whenever Lambert decides he is ready.

Having seen him play regualrly, do you really think he can adapt to playing as a wide forward especially in the system and football we play? I don't see him as particularly quick for example. IMO he looks like the type you play just off the main forward, someone who'll drop back and link up with midfield, a sort of Berbatov type or even Robbie Keane who did that job well for a few months. He is actually quick (not Usain Bolt-quick, but above average) - just does'nt look that way because he has a funny running-style. I would also say that he would fit better into the role just behind the main forward, with the skill-set he had when you bought him. But i can also see, that he has some qualities that, if developed, would make him really good as a wide forward. He made a lot of assists for us - he can make a challenge, really decent shot, decent pace. Probably PL has a plan with him, trying to develop his skills and form him into the player he wants to play on the wide position. At some point he will need game time to "implement" these learnings. You will probably see him struggle in the beginning and thinking "he needs to improve...." something - then 3-6 games later you will catch yourself thinking "he has improved that something..". That was how he developed in AaB. First i was thinking, his 1st touches are a bit off - 4-5 games later it was much better. Then his strength and ability to hold up the ball was a weak spot, and that was improved significantly during a winter-period and 2-3 matches in the spring. Next was his heading, which was never a strength, but he became a lot better in the end. So he know his weaknesses and keeps improving them. If PL tells him to improve on certain areas, i am sure that is what he is doing right now - and with some game time and further improvement, i am sure you will end up with a good player. But as i wrote when you signed him, people in Denmark was quite surprised he moved to the Premier League, having him as a subject for the dutch or belgian league - i was also surprised, because i think he would have benefitted from a year or two with further development (in a bigger league than the danish), before making a move to the bundesliga or premier league. So i did actually not expect him to get any game time before the spring, in the end of the season. PL has signed him early, paying 1-2M for him, insted of waiting till next summer, paying perhaps 3-6M if he did well in belgium/holland. I am sure he was not meant to play much this fall, and i see it as a positive sign of him is developing after PL's plan, that he has actually been quite consistently on the bench and has mad a few apperances already.

Have patience with him Okore stepped up to the challenge (before injury) but costed 3 times what you paid for Helenius - as a defender. Tonev is older and costed 2 times the sum of Helenius. Kozak was around 5 times as expensive. Off course, you can't tell only from the transfer sum, but he was bought because he has potential - and as i have said earlier, he will need time to adjust. To play his game on PL-level, he will need to gain a few kilos and learn to play a little faster. As well as adapting to the role as a wide attacker in the Villa-system (he was the front attacker in AaB). I have not seen Gabby or Weimann, so i cant answer why he is not given the chance, if they are playing as bad as it sounds in here. But i can understand that they have performed earlier, so maybe Lambert wants to stick with them and see if he can get them going again - and not rush things with Helenius. I have seen him when he has come in from the bench, and though he has his moment, he does'nt look like he's ready to play with impact 90 minutes on PL-level. Give him a few more months and hopefuelly he will be able to contribute to the team some time during the spring.

A danish media had a little interview with Helenius the other day. Some of the key points: - He is happy with the start in Villa and is surprised and pleased he has already been given the chance to play a few times - He says that the pace of the game has been the biggest change from danish football and he still needs to adapt a bit - but feels confident, as he experienced the same thing/feel when he was moved up to the Aalborg senior squad and pretty quickly adapted - He feels that he should have been given a penalty against Tottenham and would have liked to score his first goal. He states that he has both been praised for staying on his feet in the episode while others have criticised that he did not just fall to the ground

Looks like he is behind Tonev and Kozak for the front places at the moment. Is there a reserve league where he can get some minutes or will there be plenty of games in the cups for him to play in the coming months? Does PL normally use the reserves in these tournaments? Hope he will get a start soon, so he can feel the tempo and know a bit more what he needs to build on, in order to adjust to the higher level.

Thanks. Playing AM for Tonev or? He is closer to the starting XI than i would have expected already at this time, it sounds promising for the future.

How long time did he get and at what position against Malaga? Did he play well?