Summer 2010 Transfer Thread: B*llsh*t, Rumours & Wishes

[Percy McCarthy]

As Paulie says though, it's not just the ISM article that bears this out.

It's our buying policy pretty much since 2006 that provides the most evidence.

The writer of the article might just have been relaying what ISM said and for the sake of repetition didn't duplicate.  

But Storey-Moore admitted Villa boss Martin O'Neill would only be interested in men with Premier League experience "Martin will only be interested in players with Premier League experience," he said.

Looks pretty weird, no?

I'd say the lack of specific quote marks on that particular point might be more open to question if it was alleging that ISM announced something quite outlandish, a break with recent policy for example.  But seeing as it is effectively telling us what we already know, it would be very hard to argue that the point has been misconstrued.

It would be a break with recent policy for him not to be intrerested in players with no Premier League experience. What I already know is that he signed Carew, Petrov, Cuellar, Maloney, Delph, Salifou, and Guzan, none of whom had PL experience. What is it that you already know?

Clarified earlier.

Okay, move the goalposts tro fit your own criteria if you must. That fact is that 28% of MON's signings have had no Premier League experience, proving that the 'quote' is bollocks.

[KevinGage]

Or -to look at it another way- only three signings have been made outside of the domestic market.

One of those was offered to us on a plate in a straight swap and the other two were signed for minimal fees. The latter have yet to start a league game for us- despite being here between 2-3 years.

It's quite clear what our buying policy is. It's also quite clear that the vast majority of players we sign are those with Prem experience.

Are you seriously arguing that signing three players (two of them reserves) from outside of the confines of the domestic market in four years isn't unnecessarily insular?

[Greg N'Ash]

its certainly his policy to sign mainly players with experience of british football. Even discounting his signings here, all his time at Celtic he signed 2 foreign based players, Don't remember Leicester being the united nations either...we're stuck with it i'm afraid, so any wistful glances at the latest world cup star putting on a villa kit anytime soon should be forgotten unless he's bought first by a british club and we buy him 3 years down the line.........

[KevinGage]

That quote (or reference) as it appears in full:

Storey-Moore, his Fulham counterpart Barry Simmonds and Stoke's Lindsay Parsons are others who intend to keep a close eye on the World Cup from afar, but for clubs with greater resources it is a spectacle not to be missed.

"Scouting is best done live," said Manchester United's chief scout Jim Lawler. "We'll have several staff out there and they'll do reports throughout the tournament. There are some players we'll already know and others we're looking to discover more about."
Senegal forward El-Hadji Diouf
Liverpool agreed a deal for Diouf just before he starred for Senegal in 2002

Who exactly those players are, Lawler would not divulge. But Storey-Moore admitted Villa boss Martin O'Neill would only be interested in men with Premier League experience, while Parsons claimed Stoke manager Tony Pulis was keen on several stars from the four West African squads.

Taken on it's own, you could make the case that ISM's response had been misconstrued in print. I don't buy that because -as mentioned elsewhere it's pretty consistent with what we've done since 2006, give or take a few reserves and a few players signed from exotic Scotland -which seems to make all the difference apparently.

But combined with the reference to the Stoke scouts remit, it sounds too specific for that. It sounds like a conversation had with a number of scouts and the journalist quoting some of the content and relaying/ surmising the rest. "Why didn't he put quote marks in the most crucial part to us then?" some might ask. Well he has used quotes for some of the more interesting observations. It would be pretty dull if the whole article was nothing but quotes. And he probably didn't see the bit he surmised as that crucial or interesting. Because it's not exactly news, is it?

[pauliewalnuts]

No, Kevin, to have something relayed from MON's chief scout isn't enough these days.

We're operating under new burden of proof rules.

That's why, although the wage bill figures in the audited accounts of Tottenham Hotspur PLC and Aston Villa suggest we have a larger wages bill than them, in actual fact, that's not anything like decent evidence .. just, just, just because ...

Having our Chief Scout reported as saying something on such an untrustworthy, axe-to-grind, sensationalist news source as the BBC is nothing like proof enough that he actually said it.

I'm afraid under current rules we'll need a signed affadavit before that's treated to anything other than a dismissal out of hand.

[pauliewalnuts]

As Paulie says though, it's not just the ISM article that bears this out.

It's our buying policy pretty much since 2006 that provides the most evidence.

The writer of the article might just have been relaying what ISM said and for the sake of repetition didn't duplicate.  

But Storey-Moore admitted Villa boss Martin O'Neill would only be interested in men with Premier League experience "Martin will only be interested in players with Premier League experience," he said.

Looks pretty weird, no?

I'd say the lack of specific quote marks on that particular point might be more open to question if it was alleging that ISM announced something quite outlandish, a break with recent policy for example.  But seeing as it is effectively telling us what we already know, it would be very hard to argue that the point has been misconstrued.

It would be a break with recent policy for him not to be intrerested in players with no Premier League experience. What I already know is that he signed Carew, Petrov, Cuellar, Maloney, Delph, Salifou, and Guzan, none of whom had PL experience. What is it that you already know?

Clarified earlier.

Okay, move the goalposts tro fit your own criteria if you must. That fact is that 28% of MON's signings have had no Premier League experience, proving that the 'quote' is bollocks.

Honestly, I pop in here to see if there's any Villa news, and what do I get?

The same people arguing about the same things over and over again, night after night.

Don't you people have anything less depressing to do in your lives? Etc etc etc.

[Holtemeister]

What I find worrying about the article above, if true, is the fact that Aston Villa are not prepared to, or cannot, afford to send just one guy to the World Cup.  

We spunk 30 to 40 grand a week on numerous players that have not nor will not start league games for us yet we cant find say £100,000 to send a team over there.

Thats just 1 weeks wages for 3 of our lesser players for gods sake !!!

Surely the cost benefit of scouting a decent international from one of the "less glamorous" countries would outweigh this cost in the long run and maybe we can avoid paying over the odds for a mediocre English player or one from a domestic club whch they no longer want or consider good enough.

For me this smacks of small time which is at complete odds with everything else the club, off the field, is trying to achieve unless Randy is no longer convinced in Martins abilities in the transfer / scouting market and sees the money as throwing money after bad.

[richard moore]

Can I agree with Paulie, something needs to be done about this thread. It used to be the first place I came for transfer news and rumours, now it is the last place. Sick and tired of petty, self-indulgent, microscopic, point-scoring on here....

[Rip Van We Go Again]

just, just, just because ...
.

That's normally the answer given from Villa supporters as to why we'll finish top 4.

[Clampy]

Can I agree with Paulie, something needs to be done about this thread. It used to be the first place I came for transfer news and rumours, now it is the last place. Sick and tired of petty, self-indulgent, microscopic, point-scoring on here....

I agree. It's normally the same face/s that start pointless arguments.

[garyshawsknee]

As Paulie says though, it's not just the ISM article that bears this out.

It's our buying policy pretty much since 2006 that provides the most evidence.

The writer of the article might just have been relaying what ISM said and for the sake of repetition didn't duplicate.  

But Storey-Moore admitted Villa boss Martin O'Neill would only be interested in men with Premier League experience "Martin will only be interested in players with Premier League experience," he said.

Looks pretty weird, no?

I'd say the lack of specific quote marks on that particular point might be more open to question if it was alleging that ISM announced something quite outlandish, a break with recent policy for example.  But seeing as it is effectively telling us what we already know, it would be very hard to argue that the point has been misconstrued.

It would be a break with recent policy for him not to be intrerested in players with no Premier League experience. What I already know is that he signed Carew, Petrov, Cuellar, Maloney, Delph, Salifou, and Guzan, none of whom had PL experience. What is it that you already know?

Clarified earlier.

Okay, move the goalposts tro fit your own criteria if you must. That fact is that 28% of MON's signings have had no Premier League experience, proving that the 'quote' is bollocks.

Honestly, I pop in here to see if there's any Villa news, and what do I get?

The same people arguing about the same things over and over again, night after night.

Don't you people have anything less depressing to do in your lives? Etc etc etc.

 At least its not the Luke vs Carlos debate which went on for about 50 pages a couple of weeks back.

[villa for life]

linked with doyle again, but I'd prefer Fletcher who is probably going to be his replacement at Wolves.

[hilts_coolerking]

I think it's fair enough, on a transfer thread, to discuss what appears to be the first confirmation from a club official that O'Neill has a limited scope when it comes to transfers.

[Greg N'Ash]

doyle would be a major "meh" signing. he's not anymore prolific to what we've got but hey he's a brit. :0(

[PaulWinch again]

That link to Doyle for £9 million, good grief. No.