Summer 2010 Transfer Talk / Unfounded Speculation

[PieFacE]

I'm sure Diarra would use us as a stepping stone. But hell, i'll take him till someone bigger comes in for him.

No doubt if we did sign him we'd get one good season out of him then Man City would buy him off us, and offer Milner in player exchange

Seriously - Diarra would be a cracking player if we could attract him, not sure we could though.

[villan-scott]

There is a reason he's been at so many clubs already.

This. I'm sure we would be seen as just a 'stepping stone' for him. Good player though.

Diarra would be using us as a stepping stone?

Yes. Because he seems to be that arrogant. And that is the terminology he has previously used in one of his many moves. He would stick around for a season or 2 then want to move once proving himself back to a Champions League team, all imo.

[Zatman]

I dotn care if a player uses us a stepping stone once he plays well for the club. PLus I think he is running out of big clubs now

[Richard]

A stepping stone to where then? I mean as he is already at Real Madrid where would he go to?

[villan-scott]

A stepping stone to where then? I mean as he is already at Real Madrid where would he go to?

Well it hasn't worked out for him at Madrid, as has happened with many quality players in the past. He would look for a move to us to play reguarly and prove he has still got the talent, which I'm not doubting, or infact stating I don't want at Villa, but once he plays well for us and the bigger Champions League teams or richer teams (Man City) come sniffing he would be up and off again.

In response to where, there are plenty of answers to that question. A move to Italy perhaps? Or Bayern in Germany? 2 leagues he hasn't been to yet. Or maybe even City if they decide they need even more centre midfielders. There are plenty of possibilities for him to use us as a 'stepping stone'. I might add though, as others have stated, I dont have a problem as long as he gives us quality service and effort. Not that all this matters as we won't sign him

[PieFacE]

A stepping stone to where then? I mean as he is already at Real Madrid where would he go to?

Any club who are bigger than us???

Clearly not wanted at Madrid, so would use us to go somewhere else...

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

I've had enough of players using teams as stepping stones tbh.

No loyalty in the modern game, just ££££££££££££££££

[AVFC-Prideofbrum]

Can I ask if there ever was loyalty?

I don't know the olden days but obviously there was less money but did players back say 20/30 years ago not transfer because they didn't want too or because no one bid for them, or was there same amount of transfers?

I know people say no loyalty but if players were offered double the money a while back, would they not accept those sort of deals?

[Cracker1234]

Can I ask if there ever was loyalty?

I don't know the olden days but obviously there was less money but did players back say 20/30 years ago not transfer because they didn't want too or because no one bid for them, or was there same amount of transfers?

I know people say no loyalty but if players were offered double the money a while back, would they not accept those sort of deals?

20/30 years ago there wasn't that many foreign players, a lot more British players in the top division so it was a lot more loyal back then.

It's just like the derby games of today, some players don't understand what it means to the fans when Villa play the scum, or Liverpool v Everton....You often see players today who aren't up for it.....Back 30 years ago it was a lot more exciting watching them games, the crunching tackles everyone was up for derby games, loyal players who knew what them kind of games meant.

[AstonMartin82]

We might as well lock this thread... no players are going to be coming in this window.

[Killeen30]

I agree that I don't think we'll sign anyone else before the end of the month.

[Cracker1234]

We might as well lock this thread... no players are going to be coming in this window.

Until we've been told that or the transfer window closes then why not keep it open? Is it causing you any harm it being left open?

[beasley14]

A stepping stone to where then? I mean as he is already at Real Madrid where would he go to?

Well it hasn't worked out for him at Madrid, as has happened with many quality players in the past. He would look for a move to us to play reguarly and prove he has still got the talent, which I'm not doubting, or infact stating I don't want at Villa, but once he plays well for us and the bigger Champions League teams or richer teams (Man City) come sniffing he would be up and off again.

In response to where, there are plenty of answers to that question. A move to Italy perhaps? Or Bayern in Germany? 2 leagues he hasn't been to yet. Or maybe even City if they decide they need even more centre midfielders. There are plenty of possibilities for him to use us as a 'stepping stone'. I might add though, as others have stated, I dont have a problem as long as he gives us quality service and effort. Not that all this matters as we won't sign him

So lets buy him, get him playing well and sell him for a big profit when one of them does come in for him. We can then reinvest the money in the squad and make ourselves even stronger.

[AstonMartin82]

We might as well lock this thread... no players are going to be coming in this window.

Until we've been told that or the transfer window closes then why not keep it open? Is it causing you any harm it being left open?

Other threads get locked when there is no speculation for a while. And the only speculation we have had is no one is getting signed until we get rid of some. Last time I checked we hadn't got rid of anyone, no indications at all that anyone else is going to leave, and as such no one is coming.

People talking about Diarra and sorts like this is so wide of the mark it is unreal. Yes, he would be a great addition to our squad, but so would Messi. And we have the same amount of chance as signing Messi as we do Diarra.

The thread is causing me no harm being left open... but unfortunately it is leaving other supporters imaginations open to be molested who will no doubt then get super depressed on Sept 1st and a "Randy Out!" group will be formed based on wild imaginations based on nothing but junk in this thread.

I am being facetious by the way... with a hint of truth.

[Cracker1234]

Words on a screen don't mean anything, I bet most Villa fans often have dreams about us winning this and that cup, signing this and that player, peoples imaginations will run wild with or without this thread being here.

[Secret_Squirrel]

Leaving aside the whole manager issue for one moment - I need a break from it and I don’t envy Randy this task as I don’t think there is a single outstanding available candidate to choose from – the one thing that I really think that the current regime at Villa have completely failed to grasp is that stars put bums on seats.

I think it’s fair to say that attendances aren’t what the board were expecting and I suspect with recent events it’s probably going to get worse this season. MON spent an awful lot of money during his reign at the club but not once did he bring in a recognised “star”. Arguably some turned into “stars” during MON’s time – Barry, Milner and Young but two of them left and how much longer will we hold onto Ashley?

I believe many ticket sales in the first half of the season (inc season tickets) are dictated by fans (uninformed) expectations of the coming season – mainly based on who they see arriving at the club. As the season progresses results on the pitch become more of a factor but it may well be too late by then as people have decided to spend their money elsewhere.

The Premiership is now more about entertainment than sport and works in much the same way as Hollywood - put Angelina Jolie and Tom Hanks in a movie and more people will watch it than the same movie if it starred Elizabeth Shue and Bruce Campbell. Same applies to football – sign, for example, Jermain Defoe and you’ll sell more tickets than if you signed somebody called Marlon Harewood.

I do believe MON’s buy late in the window strategy hit ticket sales big time. A single early (exciting) signing in the summer would send people to the ticket office. The manager obviously needs to address the supporting cast and this can be done up to the last minute to get the team balance right but if you want to sell tickets give the fans a star name to get them excited. Just to set the record straight I’m not talking about Ronaldo’s or Messi’s here I’m think of players of the calibre I’m sure we could have got in the recent past like Defoe or Bent.

Hopefully when the new manager is in place and for future windows things will change! I dont expect any more signings this window.

[AstonMartin82]

Leaving aside the whole manager issue for one moment - I need a break from it and I don’t envy Randy this task as I don’t think there is a single outstanding available candidate to choose from – the one thing that I really think that the current regime at Villa have completely failed to grasp is that stars put bums on seats.

I think it’s fair to say that attendances aren’t what the board were expecting and I suspect with recent events it’s probably going to get worse this season. MON spent an awful lot of money during his reign at the club but not once did he bring in a recognised “star”. Arguably some turned into “stars” during MON’s time – Barry, Milner and Young but two of them left and how much longer will we hold onto Ashley?

I believe many ticket sales in the first half of the season (inc season tickets) are dictated by fans (uninformed) expectations of the coming season – mainly based on who they see arriving at the club. As the season progresses results on the pitch become more of a factor but it may well be too late by then as people have decided to spend their money elsewhere.

The Premiership is now more about entertainment than sport and works in much the same way as Hollywood - put Angelina Jolie and Tom Hanks in a movie and more people will watch it than the same movie if it starred Elizabeth Shue and Bruce Campbell. Same applies to football – sign, for example, Jermain Defoe and you’ll sell more tickets than if you signed somebody called Marlon Harewood.

I do believe MON’s buy late in the window strategy hit ticket sales big time. A single early (exciting) signing in the summer would send people to the ticket office. The manager obviously needs to address the supporting cast and this can be done up to the last minute to get the team balance right but if you want to sell tickets give the fans a star name to get them excited. Just to set the record straight I’m not talking about Ronaldo’s or Messi’s here I’m think of players of the calibre I’m sure we could have got in the recent past like Defoe or Bent.

Hopefully when the new manager is in place and for future windows things will change! I dont expect any more signings this window.

I think the General needs to hear this, although I am sure he is already very much aware of it. You're right though... we only ever bought "safe" buys rather than exciting buys. It's a shame, but I guess MON had total control over this side of things, and Randy let him get on with what he does best.

[cheltenham_villa]

A stepping stone to where then? I mean as he is already at Real Madrid where would he go to?

Well it hasn't worked out for him at Madrid, as has happened with many quality players in the past. He would look for a move to us to play reguarly and prove he has still got the talent, which I'm not doubting, or infact stating I don't want at Villa, but once he plays well for us and the bigger Champions League teams or richer teams (Man City) come sniffing he would be up and off again.

In response to where, there are plenty of answers to that question. A move to Italy perhaps? Or Bayern in Germany? 2 leagues he hasn't been to yet. Or maybe even City if they decide they need even more centre midfielders. There are plenty of possibilities for him to use us as a 'stepping stone'. I might add though, as others have stated, I dont have a problem as long as he gives us quality service and effort. Not that all this matters as we won't sign him

havent you just described every footballer? every club is a stepping stone to something bigger as we have just seen with Milner. At least with Diarra he has previously been honest about it, id rather know where i stand and benefit from a player in the short term.

[brummybloke]

If we can cash in on Friedel now we might aswell, he's not getting any older, he's 39, and he's not exactly world class. A couple of million to Fulham should do it. We should put a bid in for Given or a young keeper who is decent because Guzan is nowhere near PL standard.

We also need to clear out Beye, Davies, Sidwell, Salifou, Osbourne, Heskey and Carew

But that's not going to happen as that would mean we'd either have to sign 7/8 replacements in 8 days, or be left with **** all. I'm guessing it's going to be the latter. We need a serious clear out. I'd even get rid of Sidwell, Salifou, Osbourne and Heskey on frees to clear up the wage bill considering no one will pay for them.

I've said this before but I honestly believe we are a "mini" Man City. We have average players on ridiculous wages (Beye - 40k, Heskey - reported 80k?) so when it comes to offloading them they don't want to take a paycut and we are back to square one.

I don't even know why Osbourne is at the club, he's on 18k and is one of the worst players I've ever seen here... get rid.

we need a serious clear out but we have no effin manager. we have a lot of very poor players who would struggle in lower leagues. we need to be very strict on the quality of players we bring in. we need to hire some private i to follow the chelsea man u and arsenal scouts around and just get a feel of the places we should be looking. all the top young players want to play in the cl but they all cant so theres a few we can get

I believe there are scouts out there to sign players, for example we got Salifou, imagine if he ended world class and scored 20 goals a season? Scouting unknown foreign players is a huge gamble and one that rarely pays off. But I agree that we do need a better scouting system in place. And not just in the PL.

it wasnt the scouts, it was the manager not trusting them to do their job. saladfood was purchased by MoN on MoNs recommendation to himself that in previous years he may have possibly watched a match where saladfood played half decent. MoN signed him from a league which is on a par with the 2nd division ( old 4th) despite him having failed at all other clubs of a shit standard in various sub standard leagues.

it was almost like he was trying to keep him here for 5 years so salafoo could try and claim british status instead of having to go back to his non EU country, i honestly can see no other reason for repeatedly extending his 1 year contract.

as i see it his contract expires in august/ spet anyway as it was a 1 year contract which was extended each year.

many other companies have changed contracts to make them performance related, this is perfectly legal. maybe for players not in the first 25 it should apply? this way they have an incentive to look else where for clubs.

maybe the quota of non eu players should be set at 5 per club maximum also? that is still a large percentage of the 25 but would mean that EU players have a chance to keep in a job and the money they spend will stay within the EU which would also help the crap economy rather than money just leaving the continent.

on us signing any players now well i think if we dont get a new manager in place before the end of the transfer window we will be stuck with the shit players we have and will rely on the youth players coming through for the subs bench. no new players would come in.

each season i start at 10 for optimism, even with MoN playing his silly buggers and 'ooh look at me, im brian clough i am', but with him deliberately trying to sabotage the club in the way he did, for once my optimism meter starts at a piss poor 5.

i was going to get the new top as i always do for my son and me but for some reason at the moment the only word i can use to sum up how i feel about the club is ' meh'.

shocking for someone who has supported the club since he was 4 and his first game being aston villa 5 liverpool 1 in 1976

[prmort]

each season i start at 10 for optimism, even with MoN playing his silly buggers and 'ooh look at me, im brian clough i am', but with him deliberately trying to sabotage the club in the way he did,

This made me laugh till i realised it was true.....:-(