The Milner Novela... Final episode page 296

[villa for life]

Why is everyone so sure Milner is moving for money? Why can't it be for footballing reasons?

He probably will play most of the matches because he is a good player, he probably will win silverware if he goes there because of the heavy investment and big nights in the Champions League can't be far away, just because he wants to better his career, why does he have to come in for so much abuse.

Yorke left, Barry left and Milner will leave, probably all for the same reason - namely they believe/believed that they will have a better chance of success elsewhere. Yorke DID, Barry and Milner probably will.

If we had got in two or three quality names this summer or last Jan, maybe Milner wouldn't be so sure he would have a better chance of success elsewhere. Is he really to blame or is our lack of ambition coming back to bite us?

[mazrimsbruv]

i dont get it,  oniell says milner said he wants to leave,  
Papers say that milner didnt say anything ilke that
Oniell says that milners agent told the chief exec he aint signing a new contract

HAS ANYONE ACTUALLY HEARD MILNERS SIDE OF THINGS ?

may his agent is a tosser and trying to get a bonus for himself and dont care if milner plays or not ???

My theory (and I have no sources, just an over active imagination) is as follows:

Tapping-up of players by clubs is outlawed but the clubs blatantly flout this by using agents to 'sound out' players before making a bid (are they open to a move to that club, what wages would tempt them etc).

Milner's agent will have agreed this with Man City prior to the World Cup and, knowing Villa would never match the deal in any new contract offer, will have told Villa that a new contract would not be signed. The idea being to speed up the deal, i.e. "don't waste your time coming up with a new contract offer".

Then, miraculously, in comes a bid from City. Unfortunately for them it was turned down flat. Martin and Randy probably hoped against all hope that a new contract deal, making Milner the highest paid Villa player ever, could still be reached.

Now that Milner has outright refused, O'Neill has decided to tell the truth about what happened. Milner is inscensed because now it appears he told Villa he no longer wanted to play for them, the club that turned his career around, when no offer was on the table.

I think his agent gambled that Milner's PR rating would not suffer greatly as it would look like he was simply the next in a long line of players to have their head turned by the Megabucks at City. Now Milner looks like an ungrateful piece of shit who practically handed in a transfer request.

However he has underestimated O'Neill's barely-concealed contempt for agents and their conniving self-interest. He should have known better because MON made a mug out of Barry's agent two years ago (didn't Barry sack him after that?).

My guess is that 'Milner's side of things' will have one glaring omission: the role his agent played in allowing another football club to illegaly tap-up his player, so he could line his own pockets into the bargain.

[curiousorange]

Why is everyone so sure Milner is moving for money? Why can't it be for footballing reasons?

He probably will play most of the matches because he is a good player, he probably will win silverware if he goes there because of the heavy investment and big nights in the Champions League can't be far away, just because he wants to better his career, why does he have to come in for so much abuse.

Yorke left, Barry left and Milner will leave, probably all for the same reason - namely they believe/believed that they will have a better chance of success elsewhere. Yorke DID, Barry and Milner probably will.

If we had got in two or three quality names this summer or last Jan, maybe Milner wouldn't be so sure he would have a better chance of success elsewhere. Is he really to blame or is our lack of ambition coming back to bite us?

That's a good point, but I think if Villa had have won the two trophies we had a real chance of winning last season and managed fourth spot Milner would still probably have wanted to move because Manchester City have the funds to dominate English football for years, and not just have one wonderful season which about as much as Villa can hope for these days.

[john robsons sideburns]

I'm bemused here that everything that MON said has been based on a conversation between the Chief Exec and Milners Agent!!

Why oh why can MON and Milner not have a conversation, what exactly does MON do all day when he has two coaches, and a Chief Exec who deals with agents??

Lots and lots of players who have played under MON have mentioned that he's a great man manager, if he is not speaking to players about contracts etc, then this has to compromise the managers position.

Surely he would have spoke to Milner at some stage last season and mentioned a new contract was on the table when they report back, why can neither party confirm this.  If this wasn't communicated to Milner, then I can't blame him being pissed off.  If it was mentioned then he is just another in the greedy footballer bracket and another example (as someone mentioned previously) of all that is wrong with the game.

What furstrates me most is all of the spin and nonsense that is being spouted by both parties, why can't us fans just have the truth

[Clampy]

Unfortunately, have we set the standard when we let them have Barry for £12m in order to get one over on Liverpool.

With respect, that's rubbish. Liverpool did'nt want to pay what we wanted.

[TheSandman]

Last night I was angry. I thought Martin was feeding us porkies and my sleep deprived brain was wheeling out the conspiracy theories, that Milner was an honest lad and Martin was playing games.

After a good night's sleep and a long hard think I'm still angry, utterly fucking furious but because I've analysed the facts, the reliable ITKs and so on I've changed my mind. As others have said in this thread he's trying to be a good guy and has in effect became rather than just the bad guy but a two faced twat of a bad guy. For me he's worse than Barry but that's not to defend him as he's a twat an' all.

Now my decision to listen to our manager rather than some twattish mercenary may be misplaced but come on who would you believe?

James Milner: I thought you were different now I know you're a twat like a lot of the others.

Surely not all footballers are money grabbing twats surely there must be some dedicated hard working pros out there? That Ashley Young looks like he's got a good head on his shoulders.

[john2710]

Unfortunately, have we set the standard when we let them have Barry for £12m in order to get one over on Liverpool.

With respect, that's rubbish. Liverpool did'nt want to pay what we wanted.

Which bit?
The fact we sold him for £12m (Liverpool offered £16m 12 months earlier, we wanted £18m) or the speed with which he was sold to Man City.

[Chris Smith]

Unfortunately, have we set the standard when we let them have Barry for £12m in order to get one over on Liverpool.

With respect, that's rubbish. Liverpool did'nt want to pay what we wanted.

Which bit?
The fact we sold him for £12m (Liverpool offered £16m 12 months earlier, we wanted £18m) or the speed with which he was sold to Man City.

As I understand it when Barry agreed to stay for another season we agreed a fee if he still wanted to leave at the end. His agent told Man City who offered it 6 seconds after the window opened and he accepted while Benitez was still scrtaching his balls and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

He could have waited to see if Liverpool still wanted him but he took the money instead.

[David_Nab]

'The Mighty Reds YNWA' didn't have the cash they offered players in exchange ,they used all thier cash up on Keane which pissed off Rafa and Keane suffered because of it.

[olaftab]

I hate football agents. The so called comment in the Dialy Mail "A Friend of Milner said..." is from the Agent trying to preserve his image.
Fact of the matter is upon his advice Milner's head is turned by money and his agent does not give a nat's **** about his  development as a footballer.

If Milner is honest he should make a statement  about not wanting to go  in front of the camera.

[hawkeye]

Why is everyone so sure Milner is moving for money? Why can't it be for footballing reasons?

He probably will play most of the matches because he is a good player, he probably will win silverware if he goes there because of the heavy investment and big nights in the Champions League can't be far away, just because he wants to better his career, why does he have to come in for so much abuse.

Yorke left, Barry left and Milner will leave, probably all for the same reason - namely they believe/believed that they will have a better chance of success elsewhere. Yorke DID, Barry and Milner probably will.

If we had got in two or three quality names this summer or last Jan, maybe Milner wouldn't be so sure he would have a better chance of success elsewhere. Is he really to blame or is our lack of ambition coming back to bite us?

its our lack of ambition, i have said on here many times that the total of our ambition is top 6 and some decent cup runs, sadly our supporters seem to accept this so expect more of the same

[eastie]

Why is everyone so sure Milner is moving for money? Why can't it be for footballing reasons?

He probably will play most of the matches because he is a good player, he probably will win silverware if he goes there because of the heavy investment and big nights in the Champions League can't be far away, just because he wants to better his career, why does he have to come in for so much abuse.

Yorke left, Barry left and Milner will leave, probably all for the same reason - namely they believe/believed that they will have a better chance of success elsewhere. Yorke DID, Barry and Milner probably will.

If we had got in two or three quality names this summer or last Jan, maybe Milner wouldn't be so sure he would have a better chance of success elsewhere. Is he really to blame or is our lack of ambition coming back to bite us?

its our lack of ambition, i have said on here many times that the total of our ambition is top 6 and some decent cup runs, sadly our supporters seem to accept this so expect more of the same

Sadly with the current manager I feel we have no choice but to accept this, hawkeye!

[Mazrim]

Unfortunately, have we set the standard when we let them have Barry for £12m in order to get one over on Liverpool.

With respect, that's rubbish. Liverpool did'nt want to pay what we wanted.

Which bit?
The fact we sold him for £12m (Liverpool offered £16m 12 months earlier, we wanted £18m) or the speed with which he was sold to Man City.

I dont recall Liverpol ever offering £16m. They offered a load of shite players, the rest was just press rubbish.

[villasjf]

Our managers stubborness, tactics and man management and his ability to fall out with lots of players cannot help matters.

[Merv]

MON is spectacularly evasive about most things. So for him to publicly make the comments yesterday about Milner means he's 99%, if not 100%, clear that Milner wants to leave.

The time for Milner and agent to be playing it coy has long gone. We know City made an offer in May - or maybe earlier. We know Villa officials spoke with Milner and agent before the WC. We know Milner made some non-committal comments when quizzed about Man City just before the WC. So to try and play the innocent, the 'what's the manager talking about?' card is just a bit too little, too late. His transfer to Man City has been in the public domain for nearly three full calendar months. He'll know everything that's going on.

And what have we got from the Milner camp? a 'source close to the player'? Agent at best. Family friend otherwise. Maybe an unnamed fellow player? Nah, don't think so, James. All this 'let's make it clear, James has never asked to leave Villa, I just hope the fans understand that' guff as quoted by source in the Daily Mail, it just smacks of that rather pitiful letter Barry/Barry agent drafted two years ago... 'please don't hate me'.

Come on. At some point, MON has got to get on with managing a football club, not just managing James Milner and a transfer deal. We've got plans to make, players to sign.

And finally... 'source'... don't think we all don't know why 'James has never asked to leave Villa'. It's nothing to do with him wanting to stay, it's just a way of avoiding putting in a transfer request and losing a bit more cash.