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

[Toronto Villa]

Former Celtic winger Aiden McGeady's short spell at Spartak Moscow looks set to be over with the Republic of Ireland international being lined up for a shock move to Aston Villa as Gerard Houllier's first January signing.

Full story: Sunday Mirror

Why would Houllier & O'Neill be interested in exactly the same players? Mcgready, Keane, bentley? It does not make sense..

it make perfect sense. As a club we can be like eastern Europe before the wall came down, especially when it comes to transfers. So at this time of year, without anything to go on, the media will delve back into the archives and print what they have to fill the inches. It's only once GH starts making his mark that the type of player being linked to us will actually change.

[pauliewalnuts]

I think he's failed to live up to his promise, but he is still one of our best, most watchable players by a long chalk.

In brutally honest terms, I wouldn't be too adverse to selling him and buying N'Zogbia. However, that ignores the fact that we will be even more tarred with this "selling club" tag, and it will start to have some justification, sadly.

Sitting there yesterday with 5,000 empty seats, I thought we felt like a club whose momentum is slowly but surely slipping away. We need to do something to stop that erosion of enthusiasm. Selling our best players is not going to do that. It is going to make it much, much worse.

[Toronto Villa]

I've said this before, but I think the board gets the bums of seat type signing, but it was never MON's cup of tea. Being more familiar with the NFL, I think Randy gets the whole developmental side of things, but also understands the importance of periodically attracting players that can galvanize a fan base. I'm sure GH didn't come here to shop in the recycled player market, and he'll have made it clear initially, and even more so now, I'd imagine of the type of talent he'll need to move us on. I still believe that the foundations left by MON are very solid, and with a clever addition here or there, coupled with the confidnce it would bring, we can improve significantly.

[TimTheVillain]

I think Ashley will sign a new contract, possibly be Captain and we should make all attempt to encourage him to stay.
I also think that United story is utter bollocks.
If he doesn't want to sign a new contract then we'll have to consider offers unfortunately.

I can't believe any Villa fans are welcoming the thought of him leaving though.

Agree Maz, he is a great player - always gives 100% too.

Faulker's 'no' to the question 'are Villa a selling club' needs to be carried through with now.

Starting with Ashley Young.

[eastie]

I'd be amazed if ash is here next season and would not be surprised if he went in January- it's not so much a selling club as the fact that his contract is running out and you either sell or lose him on a free- we wanted to keep milner and Barry and ash but if they do want to sign a new contract we have no choice- they decided they wanted to go elsewhere !

We have albrighton and downing to play the wide roles and I think the club will reluctantly sell ash as there is no point in letting his contract run down and him leave for nothing-we are not a selling club- if a player wants to go and his contract hasn't long to run then what choice is there- it's all loaded in players favour these days I'm afraid!

[The Left Side]

I think Ashley will see who we buy in January, it is certainly one of the most important transfer windows we've had. It will determine the rest of the season and what happens in the summer, fingers crossed he stays but being the fickle fan I am I think he's gone.

[The Man With A Stick]

I think Ashley will see who we buy in January, it is certainly one of the most important transfer windows we've had.

I agree.  He's in no rush to go and we really don't want to sell.  If he does decide to scarper next summer, then i'd rather have us lose £5m on his fee and have in the team until May.

[JJ-AV]

Say what you want about Ashley, the little bugger clearly cares for the club and is one of our hardest workers come Saturday 3pm.

If he wants to leave, then fair enough and lets get the best price, but I think he'll give us every opportunity to be the club he needs for the next stage of his career.

[fredm]

Sell Ash for 20 mill all day, spend that 20 mill on a proven striker.

Unless he signs a new contract, but we can't let this January window pass without him signing or selling him.

We've never spent £20m on a single player and I don't think we're about to start that's without taking into account what it would do to our wage structure.

If we keep selling our best players and if fans keep encouraging the board to do it then we'll be forever playing second fiddle.

Amen to that.  People advocating selling our best players is just bizarre.

Spurs sold Carrick and Berbatov - hasn't seemed to do them too much harm?

Buy a top class midfielder and striker with the "whow" factor which would improve the team and put bums on seats.

Personally don't think Ashley is suited to the role he is presently playing (doesn't score enough goals) and we have cover for the wide areas in Downing and Albrighton, if we are to play with two wide men.  GH might change the system so he does not want both in the team together.

[1958Villan]

Ash sold for £15 - £20 million and Charles N'Zogbia bought for £7 million would be great business. N'Zogbia can play right and left wide midfield equally as effectively and also offers cover at leftback. His delivery into the box is better than Ash's and he is liable to score more than Ash too. If Ash does go it would open up the attacking midfield/second striker type role for someone more suited to play it.   

[Shrek]

It is catch 22, we all want to keep Ash, but he is playing upfront and doesn't get goals,  but he is our best player. So what do we do? We needs goals from our front men.

[JJ-AV]

N'Zogbia can play right and left wide midfield equally as effectively and also offers cover at leftback. His delivery into the box is better than Ash's and he is liable to score more than Ash too.

... For Wigan Athletic.

We've seen time and time again how players manage to hide their inconsistency at smaller clubs and when they make the step up and the spotlight is on them they're found wanting.

He was a one in three player (at best) for the Geordies, and while I'm sure regular football and a bigger role in the team might have aided his development, saying he's better, or even equal to Ashley is wide of the mark IMO.

And even if he was, that mercenary is never matching Ashley's commitment or desire.

[pauliewalnuts]

N'Zogbia can play right and left wide midfield equally as effectively and also offers cover at leftback. His delivery into the box is better than Ash's and he is liable to score more than Ash too.

... For Wigan Athletic.

Doesn't that make anything he does more, rather than less, impressive, though?

I agree, he's not as good a player as Ashley at the moment - but if he was, he'd be going for the same kind of money.

[peter w]

I think you'll find that there are one or two players who would have signed for the club in the summer that had their moves put on hold because of what happened with O'Neill. As we are the club at the front of the queue the new manager will have to call whether he still wants that player as you can bet that negotiations would have been at an advanced stage, such as wages. The same as Milner eventually signing for us when O'neill joined us after he nearly signed under The Clown. (Or was that O'Neill as well?)

The only sticking points will be 1) Does Houllier still want the player and vice versa? 2)Does the selling club still want to sell?

[Dave]

N'Zogbia can play right and left wide midfield equally as effectively and also offers cover at leftback. His delivery into the box is better than Ash's and he is liable to score more than Ash too.

... For Wigan Athletic.

Doesn't that make anything he does more, rather than less, impressive, though?

Maybe, but the reasons that JJ gives above are still fairly pertinent.

The prime example would be Steve Sidwell. The heartbeat for a smaller team and everything went through him.

Give him a role at a bigger club though and he just fades away into virtual nothingness.

He could easily go the other way like Milner or Young though. Give him more responsibility at a bigger club and he might thrive on it.