Uno
ial Villa News…
Sorry for the lack of Villa Times updates in the last week, had some time ‘off’ as there is so little news about, makes sense for me to grab a few moments before the season starts again.
WHVilla: With Joe Cole confirming he will be leaving Chelsea, should we not be fighting tooth and nail at trying to get him to Villa Park and showing some real ambition at selling this great club to him? Don’t get me wrong I am realistic and know there will be some top clubs in for him this summer but if we are to progress this is the sort of signing we should be trying to compete for. Full article: Time For Ambition Or Lower Expectations?
Tongue in cheek look at Milner’s new sponsorship. Even fooled the original guy who had written the press release (who just so happens to be a Villa fan as well!) James Milner Has Done It This TIME
Some older rumours: The Times suggest that Villa will go after Scott Parker if we sell James Milner. West Ham have said that all their players are available for transfer as they look to balance the wonky books… all but one player anyway. Yup, you’ve guessed it, they said Parker wasn’t available! The Daily Mail yesterday had another brief Villa rumour saying that if Arsenal got Joe Cole, who is available on a free, that Villa might go for Eduardo.
Ok, we have a couple of News Of The World articles relating to Villa and transfers today. The first say that Martin O’Neill is desperate to keep James Milner and wants the England midfielder to give him another season just like Gareth Barry did before moving on to Manchester City. Full links: Show Some Loyalty + Gabby Swap – Transfer Talk!
Dion Dublin insists Stephen Warnock will benefit hugely from his World Cup adventure – even if he doesn’t feature in any of England’s games. Full article: www.avfc.co.uk
Steve Froggatt has urged England to stick with James Milner, insisting the Villa midfielder was hard done by in the World Cup opener against the USA. Milner started the match in an unfamiliar left-sided midfield role and was still feeling the effects of a bug which prevented him from training for several days during the build-up. Full article www.avfc.co.uk
Our last poll asked: How Many Players Will Villa get this summer? 50% said we would have three to five newbies come the new season.
That left
1 20%
3 18%
2 7%
More than 5 5%
So there you go.
Martin O’Neill was a star on the tennis court at World Cup 1982 – but he has gone on to become a successful boss because he doesn’t make a racket with his players. Chris Nicholl has revealed the Villa manager used to beat him every afternoon in tennis matches during the summer showpiece in Spain. Full article: www.avfc.co.uk
The latest in a long line of Vital Villa summer interviews (including how to submit your own + all the summer’s interviews: Click Here
Emile Heskey has been talking balls! The England striker has told the Daily Mail his miss v USA wasn’t helped by the new ball. There has been loads of talk about this ball and you have to say that FIFA are mental introducing a new ball for THE footballing tournament, if they wanted a new ball, why not introduce it for the qualifiers giving players a few years to get used to it? We surely want to see players playing at their peak at the World Cup, not coming to terms with a new ball? Full article: Emile Heskey Talking Balls
qldvillan says ‘Change the way we play at home or be content with 6th or below.. Again.’ We are undoubtedly a superb team away from home. I put this down to the vision Mon has had for the team and how he has constructed a style of play that fits this vision. Put simply, it works.. AWAY FROM HOME! I like a good statistic here and there and this one is no different. We were the third best team away from home this season, 4pts behind Man U and 2pts behind Chelsea. 4,5 and 6pts clear of arsenal, city and spurs respectively. Full article: Villa Should Change Home System Next Season
More older transfer links: There is a snippet in The Sun repeating the link for Emile Heskey to Stoke City for around £2million. The same report claims that Stoke are also after West Ham striker Carlton Cole for around £12million. The West Ham striker has been linked to Villa several times this summer. The only other bit is by James Nursey of The Mirror who claims that Manchester City aren’t about to give up on the signing of James Milner and that they will return with an improved bid as soon as the player returns from the World Cup.
Fabian Delph is upbeat about his recovery from his knee injury after finally discarding his crutches and standing on his own two feet again.
Fieldy: Speaking on the Official Site today Delph revealed he was delighted with his progress so far and that he hopes to hit the gym again over the coming weeks. Rehabilitation Is Delphinitely Underway
Link to the new season’s fixtures: Click Here
Hogwash of the day goes to The Sun They claim that Villa won’t offer James Milner a new deal until after the World Cup. Errr… Fabio Capello has banned players from talking contracts during the World Cup so how could Villa offer that? Also, they met with him before he flew off to South Africa and so must have told him then what they were prepared to pay, the meeting involved Randy Lerner and CEO Paul Faulkner so they weren’t exactly low level talks were they!? They say figures weren’t mentioned and that Manchester City might still sneak in. The Mirror have one that I’ve been waiting for the press to pick up on today. They say that Fulham have made a formal approach for Villa midfielder Steve Sidwell. Full article: Villa Transfer Talk Davies & Sidwell London Bound?
Not sure I believe this! A report in The Mirror say that Birmingham City are now in the race to sign 29-year-old Spurs striker Robbie Keane and have ‘stolen a march’ on Villa who also want him. Full article: Aston Villa Transfer Talk (Or Tosh?)
Fieldy: Well, short of laughing at the over all performance from apparently the best players in England, there’s not much to really talk about tonight. Heskey was our lone representative of the claret and blue tonight, and as before he did all you expect from him. Full rant! Villa vs Algeria
One of the goalkeepers agent’s has rubbished the links with Villa, insisting no contact has been received from the club. Speaking to Dahlia TV (as quoted on SSN) one of the 30 year old’s agents, Giovanni Branchini rubbished any contact with Villa or the chance of any possible move by Frey as a replacement for Friedel in saying: ‘It is usually media speculation. Someone invents somethings and it is reported somewhere else, almost becoming truth. ‘Neither Fiorentina nor I have been contacted by Aston Villa, Sebastien has repeatedly stated that he is happy with Fiorentina.’ So there we have it, yes anything to take my mind off England and attempt to turn the last 90 minutes of my life into something useful leads me to stupid rumours.
Last Friday’s Something For The Weekend: Something For The Weekend (287)
Only transfer rumour today is the report saying Sidwell wants the Fulham manager situation sorted before deciding. Full details: Sidwell Wants Fulham Manager Sorted Before Move
astvil123 on the transfer window why the delays?! Same Old O’Neill – Same Old Transfer Window?
Sidwell, Guardado, Arteta and so much more, well, not much more in truth! Article: Sunday’s Aston Villa Press Transfer Talk
A round up of all the transfer links in and out so far: Click Here
Today’s transfer links including Petrov in and … oh no … Petrov not in! Friday’s Aston Villa Transfer Talk Round Up
Thought for the day: I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian .
