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

[Toronto Villa]

Who knows with all these Cummings and goings.


Sorry.

so we have owner who's Randy that at some point was thinking of Cummings, with Ashley Young in front of a computer.

[eastie]

I think signing bent was a bigger priority than warnock , delph,Collins, heskey or carew or sidwell - one of mons biggest flaws was his failure to get a natural goalscorer and many of us were crying out for a bent or Defoe signing when they were available.

I think if he had signed either bent or Defoe then we may well have cracked the top 4, to be competing at that level needs a 20 goal plus striker and bent was a good option.

[Concrete John]

Yeah - MON's biggest fault transfer wise was the frontmen.

I think Heskey was signed to rotate with the often injured Carew as a player of their type was vital to the way he liked to play.  Did we then need A N Other striker more then say Downing?  Well, probably yes, but I was at the time and am now of the opinion that Bent wouldn't work well with Gabby, so he wasn't the striker I would have chosen personally.

[Bosco81]

Didn't Defoe go back to Tottenham in the same transfer window as we got Heskey, Defoe was just what we needed at the time, I'd have had Bent as a 2nd choice as well.

[Concrete John]

Didn't Defoe go back to Tottenham in the same transfer window as we got Heskey, Defoe was just what we needed at the time, I'd have had Bent as a 2nd choice as well.

He was, but unless MON put on a Harry Redknapp mask it wasn't a possibility.  As that's why he went to Spurs - to follow his uncle 'arry!

[eastie]

Yes bent was more a priority than an injured downing- but in all honesty I'd rather have bent than gabby anyday - far better finisher!

[Concrete John]

Yes bent was more a priority than an injured downing- but in all honesty I'd rather have bent than gabby anyday - far better finisher!

Gabby was our first choice striker at the time, so it made sense to sign a player that could play with him as opposed to one who would take his place.

Not that we did either, of course!

[WikiVilla]

Bent is a true "natural goalscorer", MON should have got him based on his goalscoring record and he would have been an investment with re-sale potential, certainly a smarter investment then Ivanhoe

I'd like to think Fonzzy will make it but am unsure based on the evidence so far, perhaps Wiemann will come good ?

[eastie]

Natural goalscorers are hard to get , when available we failed to get either Defoe or bent, I accept gabby was 1st choice striker but surely if you get a chance to bring in someone better in any position then we should try and do that- gabby is a decent striker but he will never be a prolific finisher and that is what we needed to get into the top 4.

We should have moved for Defoe when spurs sold him to Pompey in the 1st place .

[Concrete John]

Natural goalscorers are hard to get , when available we failed to get either Defoe or bent, I accept gabby was 1st choice striker but surely if you get a chance to bring in someone better in any position then we should try and do that- gabby is a decent striker but he will never be a prolific finisher and that is what we needed to get into the top 4.

We should have moved for Defoe when spurs sold him to Pompey in the 1st place .

I'm not knocking Bent here - I like him as a player and goal scorer.  My point is that when you have Gabby in and playing well the team as a whole benefits more from a striker that fits into that than one who replaces one our of our best players with someone a bit better. 

When Defoe went to Portsmouth was the time we may have been successful, but even then he just wanted play for 'arry, IMO.

[Small Rodent]

Classic Redknapp on Pienaar:

"If he doesn't sign a contract he'll be a great free transfer for someone at the end of the year, if he doesn't stay at Everton," said Redknapp at his pre-match press conference.

"He still belongs to Everton, so it's a difficult one.

"They are still trying to keep him. We'll wait and see what happens."

[Mazrim]

We should have bought Bent, there's no doubt about it. Especially as he went to Sunderland for something like £12m. It's the biggest transfer mistake of MON's reign as I honestly believe we'd have had the top 4 place Spurs got. Comfortably.
Plus a cup, perhaps.

Not worried how Gabby and him would have played together. Its not like Gabby and Carew formed a Vulcan mind-meld was it? As it happens I think they'd have done quite nicely though.

[avfcpg]

Speaking of Redknapp, seeing Bentley being touted in the press lately just reminded me of how much they paid for him...£15 million was it?!! Jaysus...forgot it was that much...

[not3bad]

GARY McAllister admits that Villa are working 24/7 to add new players to their ranks.

The assistant boss feels that there’s not much missing among the current crop but knows that Gerard Houllier is keen to strengthen.

McAllister again stressed that Villa would not be selling any of the players they want to keep hold of during this month’s transfer window.

Instead, he insists the club want to build round their key stars, like Ashley Young and Stewart Downing.

“We are looking right across the board for anybody who can make Aston Villa better,” he said after it was revealed they had brought in Kyle Walker on loan.

“We’re in the market, and as you can imagine there’s been a lot of hard work done in the recruitment area.

“But as I’ve said before, this club doesn’t need a great deal, it needs a bit of tinkering here and there but there’s a lot of good players here.

“But like at any club, if there’s a player available who can make us better we’ve got to be able to react.”

Meanwhile, West Ham boss Avram Grant says he doesn’t know why Steve Sidwell has not completed his move to Upton Park.

A loan move was expected to go through after the Villa midfielder completed his medical and agreed terms.

But the former Chelsea man has still not signed.

“I don’t know, I am not dealing with the situation and I don’t have any news but we are continuing to look at this situation. It is not up to me at the moment,” said Grant.

Read More http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-sport/aston-villa-fc/aston-villa-news/2011/01/05/aston-villa-gary-mcallister-talks-transfers-97319-27933879/#ixzz1AAJVsE7C

[Michel Sibble]

H&V admin would probably tell you to go to the Transfers/Rumours/Bullshit thread...