January Transfer Window - Rumours, Links, B*llsh*t and Made-Up Nonsense

[Rip Van We Go Again]

2 snippets here, both with a strong whiff of bullshit

Aston Villa's Norwegian striker John Carew is holding out for a move to Fiorentina after rejecting a move to Turkish football.
Full story: talkSport

Stoke manager Tony Pulis wants to take Aston Villa midfielder Stephen Ireland on loan in January - and save him from his Villa Park nightmare.
Full story: Daily Mirror

[*shellac*]

Stoke manager Tony Pulis wants to take Aston Villa midfielder Stephen Ireland on loan in January - and save him from his Villa Park nightmare.

I'm in the office.  I have a hard time trying to control my laughter.

[PaulTheVillan]

Benzema cost Real Madrid something like 30 million euros, plus he's been largely crap and a bit part player for them since he joined. I dread to think what kind of money he's on as well, thus I can't see us signing him on loan.

Not that I'm saying theres all that much to this but you dont have to pay all of his wages. You can agree to pay a percentage as long as Madrid agree it.
From Madrid's point of view, possibly, if they're not going to play him he's just taking up resources and may as well be playing somewhere else.

Which is why they let VDV go for a daft price.

[pauliewalnuts]

I hope he's referring to Owen specifically and not strikers in general.

Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier has ruled out the possibility of trying to sign Manchester United striker Michael Owen in January.

Houllier expects to have Emile Heskey and John Carew available after injury lay-offs within the next month, and therefore does not expect to reunited with the striker he was previously in charge of during his successful spell at Liverpool.

When asked if he would try to sign Owen in January, Houllier said: "No, no. In terms of some strikers Emile and John will come back. There is no point."

But Houllier did confirm: "We definitely need to sign one or two players in January."

Meanwhile, Houllier has called for patience in giving his crop of exciting young players, such as Marc Albrighton and Barry Bannan, time to develop.

He said: "The only thing with young players is you need sometimes to be patient and sometimes to be indulgent.

"I think at some stage one of them will have a very poor game but you must not judge on one game. It's a whole picture thing.

"That's what I said to young Bannan because he was distraught after the game against Burnley in the Carling Cup.

"I said 'hang on, you're not in the team because of one game.' He thought it was a make-or-break game.

"I said 'no, it's a whole thing, you will miss games, you will have better games'. "Sometimes they are a little bit impatient."

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/premiership/houllier-rules-out-owen-swoop-15005549.html#ixzz15RKZzyBi

[Chris Smith]

The wages issue hasn't gone away and as we look likely to continue with just 1 up front I can't see us buying a striker unless we also sell one.

[Concrete John]

The wages issue hasn't gone away and as we look likely to continue with just 1 up front I can't see us buying a striker unless we also sell one.

That's how I see it.  We'll recruit upfront when Carew and/or Heskey leave.

[DrGonzo]

Am I completely out of date?  Or has no-one else noticed the rumours that Pires will be signing in the next week??  As a free transfer(!!!) could be quite interesting, he has been training with Arsenal since he left Villareal.

[JUAN PABLO]

rumours from my foxes mate, Leicester to bid 4 million for Curtis Davis... 

[Concrete John]

I think I'd take £4m for him.  But I'd wouldn't sanction the deal until we have all our other CBs back fit.

[Bald Eagle]

rumours from my foxes mate, Leicester to bid 4 million for Curtis Davis... 

Do you think we could interest them in taking him and Sidwell for £8million.

[Mazrim]

Whether we buy a striker or not, I doubt its to do with wages now.

I think thats largely under control and we'll be seeing the likes of Sidwell, Davies, Beye and a few others on fairly big money go in the coming year. But they can be replaced with players on the same or more.
I think the inititial issue was that MON wasnt using the players he'd signed on big money and was supposedly after more before trimming the wage bill.
If they're being used or some players leave, no problem.
 

[SoccerHQ]

rumours from my foxes mate, Leicester to bid 4 million for Curtis Davis... 

Would accept that without hesitation.

[Chris Smith]

From The Daily Mail

Benzema would have no shortage of suitors if he was to leave Madrid, but Houllier has put himself first in the queue for a potential January loan move.

'If Karim wants to come and play at Aston Villa, we would sign him tomorrow,' Houllier told L'Equipe.

'We are keen to offer him more first-team opportunities.'

[montague]

rumours from my foxes mate, Leicester to bid 4 million for Curtis Davis... 

Would accept that without hesitation.

Prefer to use him as bait to get Cahill back but that aint gonna happen

[Concrete John]

From The Daily Mail

Benzema would have no shortage of suitors if he was to leave Madrid, but Houllier has put himself first in the queue for a potential January loan move.

'If Karim wants to come and play at Aston Villa, we would sign him tomorrow,' Houllier told L'Equipe.

'We are keen to offer him more first-team opportunities.'

I'd like to think Gezza isn't the French version of 'arry, so for him to mention a player by name does add a lot of fuel to this barely lit fire!