Feyenoord

Vlaar at the team presentation day today Interviewer: Ron, are you going to Aston Villa...yes or no? Vlaar: No Interviewer: Can we conclude that you are going to stay at Feyenoord? Vlaar: I'm staying as it stands now Interviewer walks over to Jordy Clasie... Interview: So Jordy, what's the situation between you and Aston Villa? Clasie: I prefer to stay at Feyenoord as well 'As it stands now', hmmmm. I think the transfer to Villa is a definite no. I think the ''as it stands now'' part is lack of concrete interest from another club. He may still leave at a later time if another club comes in ofcourse.

Vlaar at the team presentation day today Interviewer: Ron, are you going to Aston Villa...yes or no? Vlaar: No Interviewer: Can we conclude that you are going to stay at Feyenoord? Vlaar: I'm staying as it stands now Interviewer walks over to Jordy Clasie... Interview: So Jordy, what's the situation between you and Aston Villa? Clasie: I prefer to stay at Feyenoord as well

He is more dynamic but he's also more unreliable and error prone, takes longer vacations without informing the club, needs agry management classes and needs to learn how to pass a ball over 5 yards.

We have one of the most important games in recent history coming up in about a weeks time. We are playing Dinamo Kiev in the Champions League qualifying round on the 31st. Vlaar is our captain and there just needs to be clarity about his transfer situation. You cannot lose your captain 2 days before that game when he's been an integral part in pre-season. We can now focus on our last friendly with Mallorca, Vlaar will be playing and hopefully we are ready to compete with Kiev. Villa had more than enough time to complete the transfer and I'm happy Ron Vlaar has shown love and commitment to our club by calling everything off. @doewap: Ron Vlaar is not a free agent next year. His contract expires in 2014.

Vlaar is a much better player than Douglas. Douglas is extremely unreliable.....he makes at least 1 weird mistake every game and also picks up too many red cards.

The Feyenoord managing director has also confirmed it now. Vlaar told him he's not moving to Villa as he doesn't want to wait any longer.

No. We've not even discussed a fee with them according to "reports". So why Feyenoord think they're in a position to demand we finalise the deal is beyond me. I'd just tell them to **** off at this point. Ron Vlaar has a release clause in his contract which is around 4 million Euros. Villa are very aware of this as Vlaar and his agent discussed this last week. Feyenoord want the release clause to be met. It's very simple and straight forward. He is the highest paid player in the squad and is on 13.450 pounds per week (which is a joke for PL/Villa standards).

Ron Vlaar has just been interviewed after the game and he was quite coy about the whole situation. He only wanted to admit that he and his agent have given Villa the ''end of the weekend deadline'' and that's about it. He enjoyed playing the second half even though he had a quiet time today.

Well, surprisingly...Vlaar is playing the 2nd half against FC Dordrecht. In the pre-match interview, Koeman said that Vlaar has given Villa until the end of the weekend to sign him.

The latest news is that the Agent of Ron Vlaar has given Villa a deadline to complete the transfer. They fully expected Villa to contact the Feyenoord board yesterday (at the latest) and they haven't done it. I don't know what the deadline is but I would guess it's a few days. Ron Vlaar is being left out of the squad in today's friendly but doesn't want to forfeit his chances of playing in the Champions League by not being match fit if the transfer to Villa collapses. He has now missed the last 2 friendlies because of this transfer saga. Feyenoord are playing their last friendly against Real Mallorca on wednesday so I guess everything should be sorted a day before that game. Feyenoord are travelling to Kiev a week later to play the Champions League qualifier.

I never said what Faulkner and Lambert are doing. I was only informing you about what they are not doing at the moment. Everything that I said on this board in regards to El Ahmadi and Vlaar has been said from a Feyenoord standpoint/view with Feyenoord info from a reliable source. I don't think anything that I said about El Ahmadi and/or Vlaar has been nonsense right.

Well, Villa still haven't contacted Feyenoord even though Villa's management had promised Vlaar and his agent that they would get in contact with the club this week. The latest update I have is from 16:15 today. It would surprise me very much if they did make contact in the last few hours. I don't expect this transfer to collapse but Villa's management are making it as hard as they can. Source? The most well informed Feyenoord journalist in the world > Martijn Krabbedam

Well, Villa still haven't contacted Feyenoord even though Villa's management had promised Vlaar and his agent that they would get in contact with the club this week. The latest update I have is from 16:15 today. It would surprise me very much if they did make contact in the last few hours. I don't expect this transfer to collapse but Villa's management are making it as hard as they can.

No, De Vrij will be captain if Vlaar leaves.

Latest news is that Feyenoord and Vlaar are expecting to hear more from Villa today. Ronald Koeman (Feyenoord manager) is a bit pissed off that everything is taking so long. He has spoken to Vlaar and is trying to convince him to stay (Telling him that if Villa really wanted him, they would be more swift in their communication with the Feyenoord management). Vlaar is being left out of the squad for tomorrows friendly but if it takes too long...he would probably play him in our Champions League qualification match against Dinamo Kiev in 10 days.

There is no latest news really. Feyenoord's technical director was at Manchester City yesterday for a general meeting so I guess nothing much happened on the Vlaar front. Feyenoord are still hoping that everything will be concluded before Sunday. @SikhInTrinity I quite like Lens. He would be a good player for Southampton but I very much doubt if they will be able to get him. He can play either right wing or as a striker in a counter attacking team. He pretty rapid on the first meters, quite composed in front of goal and can beat a man. @Pilchard Anita is very overrated imo. He has been playing as a left back mostly and is very average. His natural position is defensive midfielder and he did switch to that position at the middle of last season and did well. He is quite similar to El Ahmadi in terms of pressing opponents but doesn't have the physical strength of El Ahmadi. Anita could develop into a decent player for a mid table La Liga team but not PL style.

He was playing really well for us but the system suited him. He received a lot of criticism as you would expect transferring from Feyenoord to PSV and he's been crap ever since. His main problem is a lack of vision and lack of general football intelligence. I don't think he will improve that anymore, and don't fancy him to become the star many expected when he turned up in the Feyenoord first team at 16. Adam Maher (AZ Alkmaar) is a much more promising player in his position and probably cheaper as well.

Feyenoord will be hoping to have it completed before Sunday because they have their annual 'Team Presentation' that day for the fans.

There has been a small delay because Villa have gone on tour to the US. The transfer will be completed by the end of the week > at the earliest.

Not to get in a heated argument or to baost one academy is indeed bigger than the other but allow me this question: how many Feyenoord academy graduates are currently playing in arguably one of the best leagues in the world? Barry, Cahill, Sturridge, Agbonlahor, Clark, Albrighton, Weimann, Bannan, Herd, Craig and Gary Gardner to name just a few. Here is a small list from players in the top leagues in the world (I may have forgotten a few). If you would ask me to make a new list in 5 years...it would be so much longer. Robin van Persie (Arsenal) Salomon Kalou (Just joined Lille from Chelsea) Royston Drenthe (On loan at Everton last season from Real Madrid) Luc Castaignos (Inter Milan) Jeffrey Bruma (On loan to HSV from Chelsea) Glenn Loovens (Real Zaragoza) Jonathan de Guzman (Just moved on loan to Swansea from Villarreal) Gerson Magrao (Santos) Karim Rekik (Manchester City) Nathan Ake (Chelsea) Dominic Adiyiah (AC Milan) Kyle Ebecilio (Arsenal) Moestafa el Kabir (Cagliari) Ronnie Stam (Wigan) Michel Bastos (Olympique Lyon) Gianni Zuiverloon (Real Mallorca) Before you were complaining about clubs poaching talents aged 16, now you want to claim people like Kalou and Bastos as Feyenoord products when you signed them from their home countries at 18? Feyenoord does have a great academy & seems to be producing a lot the last few years, but really we have to wait and see how youth players progress. People like Drenthe & De Guzman had a lot of hype but have not lived up to it yet. Of your list only Van Persie, Kalou & Bastos are really proven top level players and the latter two are not really Feyenoord products. the rest are either too early in their career to judge (Castaignos, Ebecilio, Rekik, Ake, Adiyiah, Bruma) or pretty average players on about the same level as Villa products like Craig Gardner or Liam Ridgewell (Zuiverloon, Loovens, Stam). Kalou couldn't sign for Feyenoord before his 18th birthday. He trained with us several months every year in his mid-teens because his brother Bonaventure played for Feyenoord at that time. Michel Bastos only was with us for 2 years so I agree that he is not homegrown. @doewap Brett Holman didn't really feature in the Feyenoord youth teams. He was under contract with Feyenoord but shipped out on loan to Excelsior for several years.

Just a matter of time now unless Vlaar makes a spectacular u-turn.

Not to get in a heated argument or to baost one academy is indeed bigger than the other but allow me this question: how many Feyenoord academy graduates are currently playing in arguably one of the best leagues in the world? Barry, Cahill, Sturridge, Agbonlahor, Clark, Albrighton, Weimann, Bannan, Herd, Craig and Gary Gardner to name just a few. Here is a small list from players in the top leagues in the world (I may have forgotten a few). If you would ask me to make a new list in 5 years...it would be so much longer. Robin van Persie (Arsenal) Salomon Kalou (Just joined Lille from Chelsea) Royston Drenthe (On loan at Everton last season from Real Madrid) Luc Castaignos (Inter Milan) Jeffrey Bruma (On loan to HSV from Chelsea) Glenn Loovens (Real Zaragoza) Jonathan de Guzman (Just moved on loan to Swansea from Villarreal) Gerson Magrao (Santos) Karim Rekik (Manchester City) Nathan Ake (Chelsea) Dominic Adiyiah (AC Milan) Kyle Ebecilio (Arsenal) Moestafa el Kabir (Cagliari) Ronnie Stam (Wigan) Michel Bastos (Olympique Lyon) Gianni Zuiverloon (Real Mallorca)

Big boast my friend. I think our academy is up there with the best in the UK and, on the basis of last year's Next Gen series, the best in Europe. "far, far, far" may be stretching it! That doesn't really mean a lot. UK youth academies are generally very poor and the Next Gen series are an invitational tournament. Feyenoord rejected participation so that our youngsters wouldn't be in the picture as much of UK teams. We have lost so many players because they cannot sign a contract until they are 16, it's quite ridiculous. In the last 2/3 years we've lost Bruma and Ake to Chelsea, Rekik to Man City, Ebecilio to Arsenal and Van la Parra to Caen. English academies pinch these youngsters so that they are counted as home grown because they cannot teach young kids how to play. They give their parents a cleaning job for 60k a year, pay the kid a few 100.000 a year and only have to compensate us 50/100k. But still we have 16 of our 27 first team squad from the academy. That is not really boasting...but facts (Rafa Benitez style) And I wansn't even mentioning recent departures like Castaignos (Inter Milan), Wijnaldum (PSV) and Fer (FC Twente) who left the club a year ago after coming through the ranks. It's quite the contrast if you come up with Albrighton, Clark and Agbonlahor. That is pretty impressive and I have no doubt that technical ability wise your players would be miles ahead of the English (a real bug bear of mine, but that is down to the entire football setup in England). What I would say though is that some of players would bring something different to the table, didn't you say you would like Delfounso? I don't know him that well but we have massive problems up front now that Guidetti has returned to Man City. Delfouneso is quite big and powerful like Guidetti and would maybe fit the bill. I heard from someone a few pages back that he is mentally not right and we already have one of those in our team (and that's enough me thinks). We have 3 strikers at the moment. Anass Achahbar is a super talent but very young and small and not ready yet to play in the starting line-up every week. Guyon Fernandez is nothing more than decent but is mentally not very stable. He was suspended for 11 games out of a possible 34 last season and Mitchell te Vrede is back-up.

Big boast my friend. I think our academy is up there with the best in the UK and, on the basis of last year's Next Gen series, the best in Europe. "far, far, far" may be stretching it! That doesn't really mean a lot. UK youth academies are generally very poor and the Next Gen series are an invitational tournament. Feyenoord rejected participation so that our youngsters wouldn't be in the picture as much of UK teams. We have lost so many players because they cannot sign a contract until they are 16, it's quite ridiculous. In the last 2/3 years we've lost Bruma and Ake to Chelsea, Rekik to Man City, Ebecilio to Arsenal and Van la Parra to Caen. English academies pinch these youngsters so that they are counted as home grown because they cannot teach young kids how to play. They give their parents a cleaning job for 60k a year, pay the kid a few 100.000 a year and only have to compensate us 50/100k. But still we have 16 of our 27 first team squad from the academy. That is not really boasting...but facts. And I wansn't even mentioning recent departures like Castaignos (Inter Milan), Wijnaldum (PSV) and Fer (FC Twente) who left the club a year ago after coming through the ranks. It's quite the contrast if you come up with Albrighton, Clark and Agbonlahor. But on the other hand, Ajax play in the NextGen series and Ajax is and always has been far superior to Feyenoord in all honesty. They were superior in the 90's and early 2000's. Feyenoord have been dominating in the last 5/7 years and have been voted 'Best youth academy' 3 years in a row now. Feyenoord (2012) Feyenoord (2011) Feyenoord (2010) Sparta Rotterdam (2009) FC Twente (2008) PSV (2007)

Big boast my friend. I think our academy is up there with the best in the UK and, on the basis of last year's Next Gen series, the best in Europe. "far, far, far" may be stretching it! That doesn't really mean a lot. UK youth academies are generally very poor and the Next Gen series are an invitational tournament. Feyenoord rejected participation so that our youngsters wouldn't be in the picture as much of UK teams. We have lost so many players because they cannot sign a contract until they are 16, it's quite ridiculous. In the last 2/3 years we've lost Bruma and Ake to Chelsea, Rekik to Man City, Ebecilio to Arsenal and Van la Parra to Caen. English academies pinch these youngsters so that they are counted as home grown because they cannot teach young kids how to play. They give their parents a cleaning job for 60k a year, pay the kid a few 100.000 a year and only have to compensate us 50/100k. But still we have 16 of our 27 first team squad from the academy. That is not really boasting...but facts (Rafa Benitez style) And I wansn't even mentioning recent departures like Castaignos (Inter Milan), Wijnaldum (PSV) and Fer (FC Twente) who left the club a year ago after coming through the ranks. It's quite the contrast if you come up with Albrighton, Clark and Agbonlahor.