Uno
ial Villa News…
Martin O’Neill says he is excited about the potential of Villa and says scoring will not be a problem. He said: ‘I am very excited about this team. I think we have the capabilities of attacking and, more importantly, attacking with great pace. I think Newcastle were wary of that but they were unable to stop us doing it…..We’re just getting into a rhythm though and it will take more than a couple of games to get right up to speed.’ Hope O’Neill is right about goals, we still look one top striker short of a good season to me, but then again, he’s a million pound a year manager and I’m not! Full quotes: Villa will have no problems scoring (and I don’t mean at Legs Eleven)
Portugal and Benfica striker Nuno Gomes is apparently being watched by Manchester City, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough.
Shoooooot! Thomas Hitzlebeefburger has spoken to the Birmingham Mail and says he would be open to a return one day. ‘I wouldn’t say I regret leaving Villa. I had a fantastic five years there, and I still follow the team. Villa developed me both as a player and a person and allowed me to achieve my goals. I am very grateful to what Villa gave me. I was happy to win the league with Stuttgart last season, but you never know what could happen in the future.’
Player links from yesterday. £7million rated German international defender Per Mertesacker who plays for Werder Bremen. The Daily Mail say we’ll bid £3million for Fulham’s 23-year-old right-back Liam Rosenior. The Portugoal.net site claim we are once again looking at Valencia’s Portuguese right-back Miguel.
O’Neill said of the performance of on Liverpools’ on loan keeper Scott Carson: ‘I was delighted with Scott because it’s always good to come to a new club and record a clean sheet in your first game. I think he was obviously nervous before the game and that was understandable because he’ll want to do well for Villa. Last season he was voted Charlton’s Player of the Season but this is a new campaign now and he’s eager to do even better this term. He came in on the back of Stuart Taylor playing very well the week before against Liverpool and that’s never easy. It was a difficult decision for me to make but Scott came in and I thought he played very well in the game.’
Aston Villa’s Craig Gardner made his debut for England Under-21’s and interestingly played at right-back.
Gareth Barry says we should give a good reception to Steven Davis and Aaron Hughes who return to Villa Park for the first time with Fulham this Saturday following their transfers this summer (although latest reports suggest Hughes might be out of the match now). It will be interesting to see what reception our former players will get this season? I can see good receptions going to Davis and Hughes, a decent one for Gavin McCann when he returns with Bolton, an ambivalent one for Jlloyd Samuel, who by the comments I’ve seen hasn’t as yet covered himself with glory at Bolton and a very mixed reaction for Liam Ridgewell when Blues visit, although I’ll still give the poor bugger a clap, bad enough he had to go ‘their’ without us making it worse!
BBC Radio WM have reported that Villa have agreed a fee of £8million with West Bromwich Albion for central defender and England U21 international Curtis Davies. As luck would have it, my window cleaner (bear with me!) has just done the rounds, he is a Baggies fan and although he questions the price (!) he says he is a top prospect, fast and not afraid to get stuck in. So there you have it, my window cleaner backs Martin O’Neill’s judgement on this one. Shame he smothered my windows in mud though (that will be the window cleaner not Martin O’Neill by the way).
Another report suggests that Gary Cahill was given the option to move to West Brom as part of the deal and has refused. Bloody hope that isn’t true, I think he’s a gem!
Sorensen has been warned he has to keep his No1 jersey for Villa to remain as the first choice Denmark keeper. More Pressure On Sorensen.
He who walks on water, Brian Little, says that Marlon Harewood will become a major success at Villa. Villa Don’t Have A Bad Apple.
Vital Villa asked which manager you thought would have been best for this transfer window now we have money to spend? The results ended up a dead heat with 38% to Martin O’Neill and 38% to the king of the bling Big (not going to call him fat) Ron Atkinson. Full results: Dead heat between King Bling and MON
This link was bound to return, it has been at least three weeks since there have been any mention of us buying a Spurs striker! According to both the Birmingham Mail and the Daily Mail, Villa are said to once again be interested in England striker Jermain Defoe. The striker is said to be unhappy at Spurs after playing only a bit part in the White Hart Lane outfits opening games. Full article: Spurs Striker To Villa Link No 38875
The Argentina coach has praised the role John Carew played during Norway’s 2-1 victory over Argentina. The Hulk scored both Norway goals and Alfio Basile said to TyC Sports:
‘Carew was outstanding. He won the game by himself, alone, not needing anybody else. One penalty, one header and he played excellent. It was impossible for us to mark him in aerial plays.’ Full article including injury updates: The Hulk Dominates Argentina
The Mirror claim that Villa had scouts at the Norway v Argentina game to watch Copenhagen defender Brede Hangeland. They also say if we can’t get Curtis Davies another target is Werder Bremen’s Per Mertesacker.
Olof Mellberg has been quoted as saying he wants European football. Nothing new there then, all ambitious and top players want to ply their trade in the top competitions. The faithful Villa servant is in the last year of his contract and Villa are looking to extend his stay. ‘It’s obvious that it would be nice to play in the European Cup.’ Adding, ‘I hope and believe that I will have a good season and continue to play well. Then we will see. There is a lot happening at Villa too and I regard the club’s future positively.’ Full article: Villa must match players ambition.
Interview with the gang from Vital Fulham: Fulham Fan Says Villa Walkover!
My interview for Vital Fulham: Talking to the Villa!
Thought for the day: Why did Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?’
