rodigan

ireland and beye for barton?

Gentle training session tonight. Players looking good and relaxed.... Going to be a great week - bring on Blackburn on wednesday!

the season before last, his leg was broken.... he's among the best english wingers, as is ash and is one of the crown jewels in the villa squad. whether he's everything that the fans want him to be, or the best ever, is I suppose another question. Let's hope he stays - been very good on the pitch, even though he's not been the smartest off it....

i think its cool that villa still insist on doing things the right way and to me, it is clear that they have not formally approached anyone with regards to the job.... ie not hughes, not moyes, not ancelotti, not jol... as such, all of the bookmakers odds and all of the press speculation is not based on any facts or ITK...

if we can have a credible attacking CM at no additional cost to the club (and he has shown historically that he is capable of doing this), then an ice cold lager to the manager that gets it out of him...

can't see any downside in this.... all you want from a manager is to get the maximum out of all of the players that he has available to him.... very few can do that, but would love to have a season where everyone was facing in the right direction and working together to get villa into the champion's league, rather than moaning about not playing in it...

my point is, why say anything? what is the upside to him in making any of the statements that he has... if he's keeping his options open, just let his agent do the work that he's supposed to do.

actually, wiggy, my thoughts are not actually related to whether downing stays or goes... all that i have questioned is the sense of him making the statements that he has to the press... just seems incredibly stupid to me, regardless of what he, or the club decides to ultimately do...

i'm not sure if downing is just genuinely thick as pig shit, but what on earth is he trying to gain from coming out with things like this: "You hope they do (understand) but normal fans will want you to stay at their club for the rest of your life. If you do leave there's obviously a bit of bitterness there. "You hope they do understand because, it's like any job, if there's a better job on hand, or a better level to do it, then people do it. "If I don't move and I stay, I'll get on with the job as normal. I'll do my best and give 100%. "It's up to their fans and their opinions of me. If they want to be loud and clear with what they think of me, then that's fine. "I'll still give my best because I'm employed to do so." what is the upside in him coming out and saying that he has no affinity whatsoever to the club that he plays for. he plays because that is what he is paid to do, but he is in this for himself and himself only - if he gets a better offer, then he will simply take it? while it may be factually correct, what exactly is he hoping to achieve from coming out and explicitly saying that.... sometimes i just don't understand people...

both young and downing have professed their desire to play champions league football next year. presuming they want to play in england, that means man u, chelsea, man city and perhaps arsenal. with man u having to rethink about creating a world class team of the calibre to challenge barcelona, i just can't see either of them actually being the sort of player that any of those four teams would be actively chasing. perhaps man u for young, but if i were sir alex, i would think long and hard about whether i think young can be a player that i can build a squad around.... to me, valencia was certainly found out for the player he actually is on saturday night... a good standard premier league player, but certainly not world class.... same for hernandez, in my humble opinion... i just can't see chelsea coming in for either of them and to me, man city has more attacking midfielders / wingers than they can point a stick at... i certainly can't see downing at man u, and as much as i love watching him play, don't see him in an arsenal shirt... which then comes to the question of money - would either man u or arsenal pay either player more than villa is prepared to offer? i don't know the answer to this, but would be interested if anyone knows what their pay structures look like... remembering that neither of these players would be the rooney or fabregas around which a squad is built....

hear hear... its important for us all to step back every now and then and acknowledge the bigger picture... one of the many dangers of the internet and having time to ponder what we read, is that there is a tendency to extrapolate from a relatively minor statement to something that gains a life on its own and when looked at objectively, may not make the best of sense... good to have you back on board, general and all the best to you, randy and the board over what are likely to be a key few weeks for the club.

please dear lord let n'zogbia be going to man yoo for 12m.... ash, you best stay with us....

just can't see ancelotti coming to villa in a million years... not sure it would work if he did, either... still, that would be a proper marquee signing, as opposed to n'zogbia....

i have a feeling deep in my guts its going to be rafa.... dont think any of the british managers (moyes, hughes, allardyce, coyle, hodgson) are going to give the right impression if we are trying to show CL aspirations to our wantaway players... not sure how i feel about it to be honest... i just want a manager to be in place, have him sit down with each of the players and figure out whether or not they buy into the villa story...

among our top three, i would say....

especially when you only have three best players....

So Barry didnt have a double page spread in the NOTW?! barry was the first to do it for a long time, with liverplop, and he was sent home with his tail between his legs for doing so, if i recall correctly... although perhaps i'm remembering things with rose tinted glasses....

but these aren't quotes from the agent, they're quotes from the players themselves, aren't they? one thing i would say, is that whether you loved MON or not, this nonsense of talking to the press all the time, just didn't happen... the club should stamp it out again... and hard...

why come out and specifically say i will not be signing a contract at this point? just stay silent on the subject....

the thing that pisses me off is the view that these players have that they take no responsibility for the team failing to make the champion's league or to win things... the person that summed this up for me the most was rooney last season when he stated that he wanted to move to a more ambitious club... bugger me - whatever happened to wanting to make the club that you play for win things... there is no question in my mind that villa on their day can beat any club in britain - we have the talent to do it, so whatever happened to players saying that if we fail to make the champions league thats our fault and we're going to stay and get the job done next season... barry, milner, young, downing take note... you should earn your trophies, not just be in the crowd when they're handing them out...

amazing how you can go from being a fan's hero to being a git in a second... not your smartest move, dj....

my point being, why on earth does he need to issue a come and get me plea in the tabloid press... there are probably five or six clubs that he wants to go to... i'm sure if he wanted to be in play, his agent would be in touch with their scouts / managers to see if there was appetite... the press is there for the benefit of the fans....

not sure how that would help him secure a better contract.... if i were dj, i would be saying, i love the club. the fans love me. despite everyone looking to leave, i intend to stay loyal. i am your player of the year - build your team around me. nice big fat contract please, mr lerner...

i don't understand the upside for downing of saying that he won't sign a new contract now, because he's at a crossroads etc... its not as if the clubs that may want to buy him need to read the press to see what his state of mind is.... the only thing that something like that would do is piss off the very fans that just voted him player of the year.... muppet!!!

can't believe that a player could have that much of a turnaround in two weeks, particularly two weeks that have seen us beat arsenal away and liverpool.... either the contract talks went very very badly, or he was just trying to con people into voting for him as player of the year!!!