Uno
ial Villa News…
Sorry for the lack of Villa Times in the last week, been a stressful time in my life as I can’t find my pet spider Boris. Life really does give you some tough breaks, one minute he was in the corner of my bathroom, the next it was but an empty spiders web. I bet Rob The Bruce didn’t have this problem.
Villa have announced the new home shirt will be available from Villa Village at 11.59pm on Wednesday August 8. The away shirt sale date has yet to be confirmed. Details of a third ‘limited edition’ shirt are also very sketchy, some say it is black, others that it certainly isn’t. Time will tell…! Apparently that shirt will be released around October time. I’ll try and get one and run it as a competition if it is released.
Aston Villa are said to be after Norwegian international defender Brede Hangeland. I love the Scandanavian players, they settle so quickly and have many a gem amongst them. The women aren’t bad either, or so I’ve heard!
Rumours persist that Shaun Maloney is wanting to go back to Celtic; Click Here + Vital Villa Maloney going nowhere? Click Here
Martin O’Neill IS going to offer Ollie and Sorensen new deals + Moore and Gardner extensions. Click Here
Olof Mellberg has hinted that he might look to see out his contract and move to America. The Sweden international defender, who has been at Villa 6 years since joining from Racing Santander, has just one year left on his contract. He told the Daily Star: ‘Yes, I have talked about the possibility of playing in North America. Since Beckham signed, lots of players have talked about MLS as being a place to play.’ He doesn’t say imminently though, so no panics!?
Liam Ridgewell has moved to Birmingham City. Slightly mystifying this one, hopefully the incoming part of the transfer window is just around the corner but I always thought Liam would make a decent Premiership defender and a possible future captain. That said, I’m a pratt!
Aston Villa have announced a stunning blow to Villa fans in the news that Jumper Jumper has been allowed to leave Villa Park. Eric Djemba-Djemba, who joined us under David O’Leary from Manchester United has had his contract cancelled by mutual agreement. Martin O’Neill told the official site: ‘Eric has not had the best of times since he arrived here from Old Trafford a couple of years ago. This arrangement will give the player the chance to reignite his career and we wish him the best of luck in the future.’
According to the Telegraph Villa enquired about West Bromwich Albion defender Curtis Davies. This link has been around since the January transfer window but according to the report today, Martin O’Neill won’t match the rumoured £9million price tag.
The Times would have you believe Villa and Everton are in the hunt for Portsmouth’s left-back Matthew Taylor. The scorer of some spectacular goals last season is said to be valued at around £8.5 million. If he was a right-back I’d believe this report, not so sure on the pressing need for a left-back though, we have Wilfred Bouma, a Dutch international and Gareth Barry as cover. That said, our other left-back, Jlloyd Samuel, was allowed to leave this summer so… ?
Stiliyan Petrov has told the Daily Record that the best is yet to come for Villa. Phew, that is a relief! Petrov joined at the end of the summer transfer window last year and after a dazzling debut at West Ham, seemed to fade. However if he is now fit, up to speed and ready for the rigours of the Premeriership, we could have a gem. Anymore of the anonymous performances of last season though, and questions are bound to be asked, he wasn’t exactly cheap at around £8million and Celtic fans appear to agree that he is a very in-and-out of form type of player. Full quotes:
Tickets for the game against Newcastle United at St James Park (August 18) are now on general sale. Full details on the official site.
Marlon Harewood says coming to Villa feels like home thanks to the players and Martin O’Neill. The former West Ham striker told the official site: ‘I wouldn’t say this has been a tough experience for me because the lads have just been awesome. I feel like I’ve been here ages really, they have gelled with me and I feel like I am at my ‘homeplace’.’ Full article:
Luke Moore is gunning for goals! The Villa striker is looking to add to his pre-season tally of four in tonight’s game against Stoke. The Villa academy graduate and hot prospect told the official site: ‘We’ve certainly got a few options up front. We’ve got plenty of pace, power and quite a bit of skill. So you would expect us to score a few goals. That won’t happen unless we work hard though and I think everyone worked hard on the tour. That’s the most important thing. All the strikers know we have to be playing well to have a chance next season, but that’s exactly what the manager wants isn’t it.’
Stuart Taylor says he is ignoring rumours that Villa are after a new goalkeeper and is up for the challenge of deputising for Thomas Sorensen who is out of action for up to four weeks with a hamstring injury. The former Arsenal man will be between the posts in a friendly against Stoke tonight and against Inter Milan on Saturday.
Martin O’Neill told the Daily Mail today that he is sure former Watford player Ashley Young ‘will prove worth every penny’. I’m not sure there are that many people doubting the fact, the lad looks a hot prospect and yes, he was expensive, but aren’t all players in the Premiership? How many pennies are we talking about? Well, between £8million rising to up to £9.65m depending on contract trigger points. O’Neill said: ‘I would have liked to have paid less for Ashley in January but over the course of the next three or four years, he will prove worth every penny of the fee. I genuinely think that. It is not just because I paid for him and want to try to justify it. Hopefully the justification will come in the next couple of seasons.’ Full article wondering why MON is so worried about the prices?!
Football Fans Census on where you think Villa will be in 5 years time: Click Here
Vital Villa have set up a predictions league for the season. Come and join the fun over at www.predictionsleague.com , its free to join and the prizes are – 1st Place – Aston Villa Season In Review 2007/2008 on DVD 2nd Place – 2 CD albums – from cdwow Simply sign up then add yourself to the mini league called ‘VitalVilla’. Password is ‘barry4england’
Aston Villa have signed 18 year old American defender Eric Lichaj. The young defender, who was at the University of North Carolina will join up with Villa’s youth academy. According to ‘Yanks Abroad’ site the 6′ defender is from Downers Grove and had played for the U17 and U20 USA teams. Full article: Click Here
Thought for the day: One should love animals. They are so tasty!
