Ashley Young - tell it how you see it

[Chris Smith]

I think it's rubbish to suggest that Young is forcing Houllier to play him in the middle. Firstly, the manager has shown many times that he's not afraid to upset big egos, secondly, he started him out wide in one of his first games and then switched him at half time and remarked afterwards how much better he was there and, thirdly, he links up very well with Darren Bent, he must have put him through half a dozen times yesterday.

We've got other players who can play the wide midfield or winger role, we don't have anyone else who can do what Ash does.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

I'll be sad to see him go, he provides us with a spark, but I think he'll be gone, even if we escape relegation.

[PaulWinch again]

I think he'll be gone, but hopefully we get good money for him and invest it wisely. If he stays, then great.

[Holtenderinthesky]

It's sad to see us selling our bes player 3 years in a row but there will be some who say good riddance, I won't be one of them.  We lost Milner last year and are now seriosly struggling in midfield.  Losing Ash will make us even weaker, but it is as sure as  night follows day that he will be off in the summer.  Step forward Mr.  Albrighton.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

It's sad to see us selling our bes player 3 years in a row but there will be some who say good riddance, I won't be one of them.  We lost Milner last year and are now seriosly struggling in midfield.  Losing Ash will make us even weaker, but it is as sure as  night follows day that he will be off in the summer.  Step forward Mr.  Albrighton.

Our finances are looking horrendous, so something has got to give.
I would imagine he'll go for about £18m and we'll spend half of it.

[Ad@m]

I say let's cash in.  He thinks he's too big for the club and the manager is doing his best to reinforce that opinion:

"Boss, I want to play in the middle"
"Boss, I want to take all our penalties, corners, free kicks, etc, etc"
"Boss, I want to be captain"

Although I don't see it at the games I imagine there is also

"Boss, could you wipe my arse"

His body language sucks and I'd rather have someone in the team working for the team than someone there who thinks the team is working for him.  The frustrating thing is that if he goes to one of the "bigger" clubs he'll just become a bit part squad player, just like Milner at Man City.

[ktvillan]

Having been at the game today, I have to say ash played well and was at the heart of most of our offensive play, didn't look too bad a pen from where I was, more a good save than a miss.
Still think he's best as an out and out winger

I have to disagree Wiki, it was possibly the worst penalty I've ever seen.  The reason is that Jaaskeleinen stood to one side, offering Ash a full two thirds of the goal to aim at.  It was a bit of psychology and most players with any brains would have said okay 2/3 of the goal to aim at, just fucking blast it anywhere in that 1/3 nearest the post and no keeper in the world is quick enough to get that far across that quickly.  And having two thirds to aim at gives you a big margin for error.  That's what  Barry or Milner or Carew would have done I reckon.   What does Billy big bollocks do? Knowing there is only one way the keeper is going to dive? ? He places it, softly, about half way between the post and the centre of the goal, at exactly the spot that gives the keeper every chance of reaching it.  Mindnumbingly dumb.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

"Boss, could you wipe my arse"

That was actually Tatoo's original catch phrase in the 1980's series 'Fantasy Island'
Ricardo Montalban never liked it and had it removed.

[SteveD]

He can be frustrating but I think with the exception of Downing (don't laugh at the back ) he's the one player we have who could probably fit comfortably into Man Utd's squad. I'm sure that's where he is heading. I'm glad Houllier made him captain and talks him up (as MON did), as it's probably our only hope of holding onto him.

He's added versatility to his undoubted pace, he can deliver a cross more consistently than the likes of Walcott or Lennon (I'm sure Capello can see that by now). We've had a few seasons from him now and he's come a long way from the player whose price tag once seemed too big for him, or at least for some Villa fans. It would be a great shame to lose another player of quality but I wouldn't blame him, given that I imagine he can't see Villa getting anywhere near the Champions League - and this season even mid table seems beyond us. His workrate has also been fantastic and he seems to be lucky with injury.

Consistency is the only thing holding him back but I think at times he's tried to carry the burden of doing too much and possibly teams have worked him out and he's having to work a lot harder.

[villa `cross the mersey]

Why the frig is he captain?

[Fernando Partridge]

well somewhat related to the hread i guess if ash young moves on jarvis @wolves could repalce him.

[The Left Side]

well somewhat related to the hread i guess if ash young moves on jarvis @wolves could repalce him.

I'd be happy with Jarvis

[Rip Van We Go Again]

well somewhat related to the hread i guess if ash young moves on jarvis @wolves could repalce him.

I'd be happy with Jarvis

Dunno.
Looks a bit creepy to me

[barrysleftfoot]

   From a business point of view we can't allow him not to sign a contract this summer.If he signs then keep him unless a stupid offe comes in.If he does'nt sign then get the best dal for us.

 Personally i think both Downing an Albrighton are bette wingers, and deliver bette balls into the box, so i would'nt drop either of them for him.Not sure he gets enough goals, or creates enough chancesto play in te "hole".

  Pesonally would try to tempt Spuds to includ Walker in a deal for him.

  Good Luck to him whatever happens, because you cannot question his commitment.

[Dave Summers]

  And for the record, he didn't take every free kick or corner either.

No, but he did take the majority of them, and every single one of them was shit.
He's not a bad player, on his day he's a bloody great player, but his day hasn't been seen for a while now, and we cannot afford passengers in our situation.

Agree we can't carry passengers and Ashley Young is far from that.  Did I imagine Blackburn last week?.  Was that not his day?

I know he pisses a lot of people off and I can see why as he can be an annoying little git, but let's not re-write history?.  He was outstanding last Saturday, so by my reckoning that's about 7 days.