Summer transfer rumours, speculation and out-and-out b*ll*cks.

[Concrete John]

I think he'll start Ireland, so probably Albrighton or Bannan out of your side.  As a wide player you'd want Marc in, but based on pre-season form you'd ave to go with wee Barry!

[Matt C]

new seaon aint arrived and I feel depressed

Come on Phil, now's not the time for feeling depressed - this is the best time of the season, we're second in the league at the moment!

[garyshawsknee]

No,the time is post match thread a week on saturday,that'll depress you!

[asgpaul]

SWP linked to Bolton apparently.

[VillaAlways]

I think he'll start Ireland, so probably Albrighton or Bannan out of your side.  As a wide player you'd want Marc in, but based on pre-season form you'd ave to go with wee Barry!

I think your right John.He gave Ireland the full 90 mins last night despite him fading badly.I think he's under a lot of pressure to get the best out of him which I hope to God he can because when he goes missing it's like having 10 men on the pitch

[Hookeysmith]

If the money is not there then we can't spend it. Didn't we make a £30+m loss last year and a £40+m loss the year before that. We cannot keep spending at those levels.

The cheque book will soon re-surface as it did in January this year if we're in the bottom 3 or 4. Lerner got desperate last January when he could see his asset about to implode.

Total balls - as i know from my ITK that we started pursuing Bent the moment GH walked throught he door - so it was not a panic at all as we had only played 4/5 games before GH turned up - and we could not buy him until Jan anyways

Lets not get facts distorted due to opinions

[N'ZMAV]

We really need another wide player and a centre midfielder.

[Dave P]

Three players are a must for me, a DM (Palacios) Utility Defender (Onouha) and Winger (Bentley), think too much pressure is on Albrighton.

I agree with your view on the positions we need and the players you have suggested other then Bentley.

[Concrete John]

To me it's not a question of where we need strengthening, but which is the priority.  I think we'd all agree with CM being number 1, but after that for me it's another defender and then a wide player.

Presuming nobody else leaves, of course.

[nick harper]

Albrighton only seems to be a first choice because he's all we've got wide right. His form is wretched at the moment.

Squeezing square pegs into round holes by using Gabby, Delfounso and Heskey in that position is a nonsense aswell.

[ROBBO]

Albrighton shouldn't be anywhere near the first team at the moment, if you want to destroy him for the future keep playing him.

[pauliewalnuts]

Albrighton shouldn't be anywhere near the first team at the moment, if you want to destroy him for the future keep playing him.

That's the flip side of "play the kids, or they'll never get the chance".

Put too much reliance on them and play them too much and you'll not only fuck the team and club up, you'll fuck the kids up, too.

[eastie]

clark and gardner i have no doubt will be future stars here - the rest i have my doubts about, bannan , fonz and delph and albrighton really need to show this season whether or not they have what it takes at this level-we have seen glimpses from each but this season they will need to step up to the plate.

[Villafirst]

Albrighton shouldn't be anywhere near the first team at the moment, if you want to destroy him for the future keep playing him.

That's the flip side of "play the kids, or they'll never get the chance".

Put too much reliance on them and play them too much and you'll not only fuck the team and club up, you'll fuck the kids up, too.

Now, now - Mr Lerner knows best!

[eastie]

interesting piece this-


Why Villa must splash the cash in wake of pitiful pre-season defeat to Derby
 By James Nursey

Published 11:58 04/08/11

Recommend
..
I was at Pride Park last night to see Aston Villa crash to a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Championship Derby as the hosts' keeper barely had a save to make.

Villa line-up was admittedly a largely second string team.

But their side was worth considerably more than Derby's as it included the likes of Darren Bent, Stephen Ireland, Jean Makoun and Habib Beye.

And if the run-out was an opportunity for some of Villa's fringe players like Ireland, Makoun, Beye, Barry Bannan, Ciaran Clark, Chris Herd and co to stake a claim for regular first team action, then they failed - badly

The Rams were easily the best side and could have won by a greater margin against Villa, whose noisy fans must have thought their side looked jet-lagged on their return from the Asia Trophy in Hong Kong.

I was sat in front of some Villa fans in the corporate seats behind the press box and there was precious little for them or Villa's sizeable away following to get excited about.

In fairness the team was missing Shay Given, Luke Young, James Collins, Richard Dunne, Stephen Warnock, new signing Charles N'Zogbia, Stiliyan Petrov and Gabriel Agbonlahor.

But Villa's side still should have been good enough to beat Derby, who have been operating on a tight budget for the last two years.

Yet with the exception of Fabian Delph, I don't think any Villa players did themselves any favours whatsoever.

Crucially what it does show is that Villa badly need more quality reinforcements to augment their squad.

Yet new boss Alex McLeish has candidly admitted he does not envisage any more signings this month with the club's wage bill still creaking at a whopping £80million a year.

The cuts, which clearly helped scare Martin O'Neill into resigning a year ago, are now vividly manifesting themselves.

Ashley Young and Stewart Downing have gone for big-money to fill some of the deficit and Villa desperately need new £10m winger N'Zogbia to deliver some much-needed pace and stardust to the team.


But I think they also crucially need an aggressive midfielder like a Scott Parker who can also pick a pass, score and be a leader.

Such a player won't come cheaply - unless of course some strange club like Newcastle give away an influential midfielder such as Joey Barton!

But all over from defence to attack, McLeish clearly needs more quality in his squad if Villa are to match or improve on last season's ninth place.

Good additions would put pressure on the likes of Richard Dunne, James Collins, Stiliyan Petrov and Stephen Warnock to keep them on their toes performing consistently well.

So if any good comes out of their limp performance at Derby then perhaps owner Randy Lerner may free up more funds now.

I think realistically that is unlikely but if McLeish can move on a few players like Carlos Cuellar and Beye he should be able to bring in at least one new face like perhaps Alan Hutton.

That's vital as right now if Villa's first team stars get injured or suspended, their replacements are not Premier League players in my opinion.

I sadly doubt Herd, Jonathan Hogg, Shane Lowry, Brad Guzan, Bannan and the lightweight Makoun have long-term futures in the English top-flight.

Question marks also remain over the enigma that is Stephen Ireland while Ciaran Clark and Delph may well be stars of the future but
is a worrying scenario for Villa and McLeish, particularly as the Scot needs to do well to win over the doubters following his controversial switch from Birmingham.

To thrive in the Premier League and Cups you need a decent, deep squad.

Villa simply do not have one and at this rate I can see McLeish fielding weakened teams in the Cups.

And we all know what anger that caused among fans under predecessors O'Neill and Gerard Houllier so yet again it is sure to be an eventful season at Villa Park.



Read more: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/columnists/james-nursey/James-Nursey-Aston-Villa-Alex-McLeish-transfers-Derby-defeat-Joey-Barton-Scott-Parker-Darren-Bent-Stephen-Ireland-article780842.html#ixzz1U41UVg6K
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But as long as McLeish must reduce the club's wage bill and cut costs then, he will need to rely on Villa's reserves in emergencies.





Read more: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/columnists/james-nursey/James-Nursey-Aston-Villa-Alex-McLeish-transfers-Derby-defeat-Joey-Barton-Scott-Parker-Darren-Bent