sne Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Luc Nilis Having watched him for years on Eurosports " Eurogoals" id seen what he could do. Just imagine what Bent could do with a strikepartner with his vision and intelligence... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 How about these five? Bruce Rioch in 1969. We spend £100,000 on a player for the first time! Denis Mortimer in 1975. What a superb Christmas present (pre transfer windows)! Paul McGrath in 1989. Need I say more? Dean Saunders in 1992. The striker Big Ron and we all wanted. Paul Merson in 1998. Quality and a winner.Good list. I'll take all those. I think I might add Nobby Solano in 2004, although the little rat did spoil things 18 months later by packing up his trumpet and sodding off back to Newcastle at the first opportunity. Similar thoughts might apply to James Milner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIVillan Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Merson cause Gregory replied to losing Yorke in great style. Collymore as it seemed Little's team was going to take that step up. Didier Six cause a French International coming to an English Team was unknown then and we went on to thump Man U 3-0 in his first game. Best leave that one there. Funnily enough Big John Fash. It seemed a good match for the team that had won the League Cup in 94. Some one big and horrible to provide a bit of a bite to what had been a good football team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I was going to say Nillis, remember seeing all these interviews how he was a great creator and thought he was going to set the world alight for us...maybe he would've that goal was something special. Collymore would be up there as would Bent, both proven goalscorers that the team needed. Agree with the previous about Balaban, came with such a high reputation and we apparently beat Spanish sides to his signature..too be honest he may have been good, never had the opportunity, but then I suppose it was more than one manager who digarded him so he can't have impressed in training. Further left field, I remember when Mark Draper signed thinking that he'd had a cracking season for Leicester and that he would star for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voinjama Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Reading theis thread has made me realise, some of you are very old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irreverentad Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Mine was Sasa Curcic. He was amazing for Bolton and full of goals, skill and talent. I was so excited I remember running outside with a ball putting him in nets and me pretending to be Curcic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morpheus Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 It was Mark Draper for me. Man U wanted him but he chose us instead. A super creative midfielder who never quite delivered probably due to injuries. I remember his performance against Man U when we beat them 3-1. In his interview after the game was over, Fergie said that Draper had killed them. I also remember my cousin who being an ardent Man U fan cursed me for weeks after we'd got Draper. Could and should have been one of the greats at our club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaztonVilla Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Savo. Because I knew nothing about it until a big article in an English newspaper bought from the resort shop in Portugal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PussEKatt Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 For me it"s Luc Nilis Darren Bent and Shay Given. I figured we would really get amongst the goals with Nilis and later Bent, then I figured with Given we will be strong at the back as well. I did"nt figure on a crap manager to go with them though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irreverentad Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Savo. Because I knew nothing about it until a big article in an English newspaper bought from the resort shop in Portugal. I was always gutted that he decided not to wear the bandana while playing for us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turnbull Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Savo-cos I was really into bandanas at the time. What a disappointment that was! Seriously though, in recent times Luc Nilis, in days of yore I would have to say Andy Gray in 1975. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adbo9 Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Dion Dublin. Best finisher I've ever seen. JPA, just that mystery of a signing from South America. Nobby Solano. Guy was a genius on Tyneside that for some reason fell foul of Sir Bobby. No offence my friend - but Dion Dublin "best finisher ive ever seen" you really must have not seen anyone else - ever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voinjama Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Dion Dublin or Ashley Young. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsonp Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Dean Saunders the first time i could remember us getting a player in there prime from a so called big club a definite show of intent and so it turned out to be. As soon as I saw the title of the thread I thought of Dean Saunders and agree it was a blinding purchase. Up there with Peter Withe as one of my favourite players Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pelle Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 One, you say? I have to make a list before I can decide, I think. Dean Saunders. Was meant to be the final piece, and nearly was. I'd also admired him for a long time and hoped that we would sign him. Sasa Curcic. Had a great season with Bolton before he came to us. Always wondered why it didn't work out. Mustapha Hadji. Africas Maradona, they said. Great player, never made it in our club. JPA. Most expensive player, great record. Still one of my favourites. Martin Laursen. When I read it on the OS I couldn't believe my eyes. Shame about the injuries, but one of our best defenders since Southgate. Wilfred Bouma. I remember the ec 2004 and me thinking "Why can't we sign a player like that?" A year later we did. John Carew. Another player I'd admired for a long time and hoped we'd sign. When we did I again couldn't believe my eyes. In the end I think it is Saunders with Carew as a close 2nd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adbo9 Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 for me its a tossup between - Savo Milosevic, Sasa Curcic.......... How about doing a thread on the ones that got away? the perennially linked who never did rock up.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Angel, Carew, Bent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted March 30, 2012 Moderator Share Posted March 30, 2012 Angel & Collymore. I remember the mailing list was particularly active back then and I remember thinking to myself "holy cow" when we signed Victor. I was sure we'd hit the big time and was tremendously excited about the future. It's still the biggest disappointment I've had as a Villa fan. Not as a criticism of him per se, just that he had the problems that he had. It should've been epic. And Angel, well he was the hollywood signing. Broke our transfer record. Came from South America but not just that, came as a name from River Plate no less!! Took him a while to find his feet and played in a less than brilliant Villa team that were never quite on his level. Still one of my favourite Villa players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daweii Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Got to be Angel.. The guy was great when he found his feet here and better yet when he left he still loved the club. I miss those days really where we were still considered a big club, could still get some big players and then still have them love us after their tenure at the club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHV Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Dean Saunders/Stan Collymore shame Collymore was gash though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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