Ashley Young-another gareth barry saga?

[midnite]

You know, I'm really beyond caring.  Another of our better players wants to leave? So be it.  Negotiate the best deal we can, don't accept any part-exchange cast-offs, and move on.

As it so happens, the Ashley Young we've had playing for us for most of the last twelve months or so won't be missed.

I think the games he hasn't played in over the last 12 months have shown that we do miss him when he isn't playing. He may not of captured his form from a couple of seasons ago but he does inject a lot of energy into the squad and is threatening.

I thought he also gave a great performance the other week when he was given the captains armband. I've said on other posts in the past, i'd want to see someone like Young have the armband perminantly as i think you want a captain to be someone to look towards when the game isnt quite going your way and you need that bit of inspiration. I think Bannan could be the captain of our club in the future too. But for the moment Young is that man you look at. You don't look at Dunne or Petrov and be inspired that they're going to grab a game by the scruff of the neck and drag the team to victory or be of such stature that no matter who they're up against nobody will get past them in defence. I would be gutted to see him go as i think he is a massive player for us. He may not quite be at his best at the moment but he is still the player you get up off your seat for when he's over the dead ball or running towards the defence because we know he can do it and will recapture the form we know he has.

[Clark W Griswold]

Has any body left villa and done better since Dwight Yorke? (academy players like Cahill excluded)

Hitzlsperger?

Milosevic?

Cascarino

Crouch?

David Platt

David James?

[Richard C]

Martin Keown.

[Holtenderinthesky]

Has any body left villa and done better since Dwight Yorke? (academy players like Cahill excluded)

Hitzlsperger?

Milosevic?

Cascarino

Crouch?

David Platt

David James?

It depends what you mean by done better.  Barry and Milner are playing for a title chasing club after leaving a team that are now in the bottom 6.  Although they don't play every week , that is par for the course in a successful side.

[BannedUserIAT]

Great news.
Over-hyped, over-paid, over-acting, over-knee-grabbing, over-hitting, web-camming little oik.

If we get cover for Albrighton & Downing, we don't need him. The effect he has on the team is largely mental. If we sign someone to sit in 'the hole' who really understands that job, then he won't be missed at all.

Typical mercenary footballer. No loyalty, no shortage of wealth, no shortage of ego...bye bye.

[MattW]

Houllier: Young won't go in January; still wants to try and sign him up for a long term deal (and makes the obligatory Liverpool reference)

Aston Villa will hold on to Ashley Young, says Gérard Houllier

Gérard Houllier has confirmed Ashley Young will not be sold next month and that Aston Villa are giving serious consideration to forfeiting any transfer fee for the England international by making him see out the remainder of his contract.

Young, who has 18 months remaining on his deal, was on the verge of signing a new four-year contract in October. The improved deal would have given him a £500,000 annual pay rise and contained a clause that allowed him to leave Villa if a predetermined transfer fee was offered.

The former Watford player pulled out of signing at the last minute, however, and informed Villa he was not interested in returning to the negotiating table until the summer. With Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur showing interest, Young's actions suggested he was keen to give himself the best possible chance of moving at the end of the season by reducing the fee Villa could demand for a player with only 12 months left on his contract.

Houllier, however, refuses to concede defeat and said he remains hopeful Young can be persuaded to stay when the two parties meet at the end of the season. He also confirmed the Guardian's story this week that should the player continue to refuse to sign a new deal, both he and Randy Lerner, the club's owner, are "brave" enough to hold the 25-year-old to his contract and sacrifice a transfer fee.

Houllier, who said Villa would change their stance only if offered "crazy money", drew parallels with the form Steve McManaman showed in his final 12 months at Liverpool as evidence of the value of keeping a player whose contract is running down. "Ashley won't go in January," Houllier said. "We are hoping we can keep him [in the long-term]. The club's will is to keep him.

" It would be brave to hang on to him [until the end of his contract] but I'm brave and I think Mr Lerner is too. I think it would be good to keep him. Steve McManaman went to Real Madrid, we [Liverpool] decided to keep him, but the offer he got was too big. He was fantastic in that remaining time. Sometimes it pays to hang on to players because you think you will finish in a better position."

Young, who remains a doubt for Tottenham's visit on Boxing Day after picking up a knee injury, has left a big impression on Houllier since he took over as manager in September. "He runs more miles than nearly every other player in games and the stats back that up. He's a match winner. He is strong and can withstand the physical side of things."

[Karlos96]

Has any body left villa and done better since Dwight Yorke? (academy players like Cahill excluded)

Hitzlsperger?

Milosevic?

Cascarino

Crouch?

David Platt

David James?

It depends what you mean by done better.  Barry and Milner are playing for a title chasing club after leaving a team that are now in the bottom 6.  Although they don't play every week , that is par for the course in a successful side.

Can't have half of these players he said since Dwight Yorke :-)

[hawkeye]

The most worrying thing is the claim that Robbie Keane in todays Telegraph is turning down West Ham and he wants to join us.
So if we lose Young and get a few million and Robbie Keane you know where we are heading.

[eastie]

IF the report about ash wanting a clause in his contract letting him go for the right fee I'd get rid asap-we need players totally committed to Aston villa not with one eye on the door-how could we consider offering a huge rise and still leaving him a way out with such a clause!

Sign without a transfer clause or don't bother staying would be my message.

[Chris Smith]

Great news.
Over-hyped, over-paid, over-acting, over-knee-grabbing, over-hitting, web-camming little oik.

If we get cover for Albrighton & Downing, we don't need him. The effect he has on the team is largely mental. If we sign someone to sit in 'the hole' who really understands that job, then he won't be missed at all.

Typical mercenary footballer. No loyalty, no shortage of wealth, no shortage of ego...bye bye.

That's Stephen Ireland level insanity.

Young has left a big impression on Houllier since he took over as manager in September. "He runs more miles than nearly every other player in games and the stats back that up. He's a match winner. He is strong and can withstand the physical side of things."

[villasjf]

Houllier has said he wants to keep him but has also said recently once a player says he wants to leave a club he goes, I do not think he will be playing for the Villa next season.

[pablopicasso_10]

i would be more concerned if albrighton wanted to leave... the way young has regressed as a footballer since he started believing the hype, is criminal for a man of such talent...

he may run around a lot, but he also doesnt deliver a lot... and falls over a lot... and whinges... a lot...

a very talented player, but running around a lot while delivering next to nothing, makes him far from irreplaceable...

[olaftab]

i would be more concerned if albrighton wanted to leave... the way young has regressed as a footballer since he started believing the hype, is criminal for a man of such talent...

It's just a matter of time until some filty scum  Agent gets his dirty little paws  around him!

[tim]

I think if GH buys well in January, then the AY contract talks will be back on. We all want ambitious players at the club so it's no surprise that some express some disapproval at being in the lower half of the table.
Get things back on track and he'll hopefully stay. He's not actually said he wants to leave, has he (or have i missed something?).

[eastie]

Two years ago ash was one of the best players in the league and priceless to us but he has not progressed and I think we have seen the best of him- maybe he marked out of games and teams nullify him but there is no doubt he has not been as good as he used to be.

If playing ash he must be used as a winger because he simply is not a good enough finisher to play in the middle- in albrighton we have a huge star in the making and ash leaving would not be the end of the world - we have lost better than him and moved onwards.