Rich_D

Since when he is more of a left back than a right back? :? i thought he was a centre-back? We brought him as a goalkeeper :winkold:

Since when he is more of a left back than a right back? :?

Got a good footballing brain, that is clear to see, and linked up well with Bannan and Ireland last night but just sometimes far too slow in possession. Game time is needed

Considering the number of games he has actually played 1. in general over the past 2 years 2. at villa 3. with the players around him he was looking sharp last night, some good little runs and balls through and could have easily scored in the first half. A lack of confidence is holding him back slightly but that can be said for Albrighton, Makoun and to some extent Delfouneso

1 chance 1 goal yesterday, albeit it was offside but that is all he needs in a game to score.

And he is right. We are doomed. Losing to Derby is terrible

Better than Dunne, but that really is not saying much. Wears his heart on his sleeve which is a very good plus point, but being passionate doesn't win games or defend goals

Sol Campbell?

I'm not sure that having beef with Gabby would be enough to put Big' Eck off signing a player if he wanted him 'Beef' is one thing, racial abuse is another http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/nov/05/newcastleunited-astonvilla

Barton & Gabby have history. Nail in the coffin.

That is like saying Chelsea should have got Benitez instead of Villas-Baos, he would know how to get the best out of Torres.

The problem is that SW looked poor back end of MON reign, and poor last season and then poor against Walsall. The solution is to get a better left back. Problem is there are little to no decent left backs out there that available. Solution. Play Young there instead. That leaves right back free and with Hutton available (as he fell out with 'arry during the later stages of last season), we should go for him and think a little bit towards the future. LY is 32, AH is 26

GK we have Given RB we have Young, Lichaj, Cuellar LB we have Warnock, Young, Clark CB we have Dunne, Collins, Cuellar, Clark CM we have Petrov, Makoun, Delph, Bannan, Ireland, Herd, Hogg The majority of the players above we playing consistently in a team that finished 6th so don't right them off just yet. CM is probably the next area (after we get Given & N'Zogbia in) we need to asses as to get some experience in, if nothing else. Also, the admin staff have been back a week as of today, PF has been back less than that so I can understand why deals that taken this long.

Dunne and Collins aren't shit. Its only just over 12 months since they were a major part of the 4th best defence in the league conceding 39 goals over a season. In fact apart from a freak result at Chelsea where we conceded 7 we only conceded 32 goals in the other 31 games which is excellent. Dunne, Collins, Cuellar, Young, Warnock, Clark are all very capable defenders and I am hopeful we can do well defensively this season which will at least give us a base to build from. I agree with Mark here The defence didn't play well last season because they didn't understand GH and his philosophy. AM is more like MON and I think the defence will be back to how it was under MON

This isn't far from the truth, so I understand

I think you'll find, the bid reported yesterday was not the first time we had contacted Wigan about CNZ. You have to remember we don't do public deals

Wigan to sell N'Zogbia Latics supremo admits club will be selling star winger

SWP in, N'Zogbia out...for Wigan I think Whealen will be more inclined to deal with Villa after what he said about the Martinez handling. I'm almost positive N'Zog will be a Villa player this summer

That was this morning, but ye

Absolutely right.. it simply has to be 5 year deals from now on surely? Provided the player is young enough of course Been thinking a lot about this lately as this is the key to us not losing our best players all the time.. For me we need to break some new ground as regards the type of contract we offer. Whether possible & realistic i wouldn't know but i do know that "where there's a will there's a way" (my granny told me many years ago & nobody but nobody could possibly argue against my Granny! ) So how could this be done i wonder? What about a 4 year deal with a 2 year option in the clubs & the players favour? This would stop it being too much of a problem if the player lost form or whatever & also would guarantee at least 4 years if he developed well but it would also mean that options would be open with both parties being protected.. I.E 1. If the Liverpools of this world came sniffing around after say 2 or 3 years of the said player joining, the club would have sufficient grounds to keep control of the situation. 2. If the player was worried about signing a contract of that length a clause could be included whereby if a huge club came in for him & he wanted out he could go after a minimum of 3 seasons though the 2 year option would automatically be activated meaning there would be 3 years remaining so Villa would command a top fee for him.. No more running down of contracts as in the player still can leave but the club are guaranteed at least 3 seasons for their investment. 3. An automatic transfer option at the end of the 4 year period although the club can still activate the 2 year option so as to again protect them regards getting a decent fee for the player. This is the kind of thing which i think needs to be looked at? One thing is for sure something needs to be done as Aston Villa are one of the 3 or 4 clubs who suffer from this year in year out because we have the potential to break up the dominance of those "huge" clubs & they know it! Player power, I'm afraid. People are too quick to say we need to sign players on 5 years etc, but it is only the top clubs that seem to be able to do this, and that is for one reason only. Having a 4 year deal with a 2 year option in the clubs & the players favour would still leave the club needing to get the players permission to sign the extension before the extension was enforced, so leaves us in a similar situation to there not being one there originally.

I think the ITK sources are getting smaller and smaller. Very little people know who we are after. PF is still on holiday until the end of the week IIRC, so I doubt deals will be done until he is back. McLeish obviously likes N'Zogbia as he was after him back in Jan.

All too easy to ask someone to sign a 5 year deal at Villa. The club may offer it, but it is in the players best interests to get a 3/4 year deal so he is more available later in his career to 'bigger' clubs. 5 years would be perfect though

We did. He rejected it. 1 year at Villa or 2 at Spurs. No debate really

Given was superb before his injury. Now he has this injury (albeit surgery can be successful) we just don't know how well he will play. For me, Foster is a better option. Will be on cheaper wages but may have a higher fee initially. McLeish obviously rates Foster also