Downing Completes Liverpool Transfer

[JUAN PABLO]

Meant to say wanker , but my net is down and on my mobile

[oldtimernow]

Here, here,

At least we'll hopefully have a player who wants to be here rather than a half hearted pussycat with little spine

Well done to all concerned in making a profit on the deal

[Villanation]

@JP....Fair enough, but surely the point is we are rapidly approaching kick of, the club should at least be starting to look settled and players club and fans alike should be looking forward who coming in to build on what we've got.

Fact is we are still losing our better players.

This week will be interesting.

[Iago]

Anyone who things is a good sign from the club is kidding themselves.

It is amazing how so many people seem to think selling our best player of last season is a good thing.

20m may or may not be good money, but I can't beliieve how many seem to think we are going to spend that plus the Ashley money on six or seven players. The club have made it clear as day they are reining in the spending  even in that daft "we are looking for a manager" statement they mentioned the need for the candidate to run the club in a "sustainable" way.

Look at who we ended up with as manager. There is a big reason it was him and not some of the more convincing candidates. Or even the manager of Wigan.

We have also constantly been told we need to reduce the wage bill. Selling two players and buying seven increases it, it doesn't bring it down.

Wake up and smell the coffee.

Respect your post. But what control do we have over the situation? Downing pressed hard for this move to Anfield, as his transfer request testifies. Do we keep an unhappy player to strop thus creating more negativity at the club?  There is more to this deal than the perception of ambition and success. All I want is players at our club to respect and show pride in playing for us, regardless of Aston Villa’s media status.

Randy’s sustainable model was part of the plan since he joined; Randy does not want the club to be reckless and simply spend on player investment, he has been quite vocal in that respect over the past seasons. Why would Doug have sold him the club?  Randy believes we have progressed to our natural size and is unwilling to bankroll the club further to reach greater heights. He has not changed his stance from what I have heard from him, it has always been the sustainable way.

In my opinion, the only way we can progress any further is - IF we are bought by a mega rich person this summer. I do not see it occurring unfortunately.

[MoetVillan]

Glass half full, id take where we are now than where we were last year at this point.  At least we have all the shit out of the way now, and can look forwards.  Last year we had no idea what was about to happen, and remember who we were being linked with then....  We also have a 20goal plus striker on the books.  Now.  Goals win games.  If we can stop them going in at the other end, (insert great goalie here) we are away.  Yes Bent needs support, but remember his goals at Sunderland and Charlton, hardly world class support. 

[CJ]

Heard an old quote the other day by Harold Wilson describing Ted Heath and it put me very much in mind of Downing - " a shiver in search of a spine".  Looking forward to giving him a warm welcome back to VP on 17th December

[hilts_coolerking]

I think that we have the nucleus of a good squad

That must be the most over-used cliche on H&V and I've been hearing it every pre-season for 5 years.  Along with "a couple of quality additions in January and we'll be not far off a very good side".

The point is we seemingly never acquire and sustain anything more than a nucleus of a good squad and never will, so long as we keep selling our best players. 

[Rigadon]

Downing was one of our better performers last year.  Maybe that's his forte - better player in an average team which is what he was at 'Boro.  I've said it before but I just can't get too uptight about it.  As usual, he went to play for England, did the obligatory press conference saying how he 'wasn't sure' if he'd be at Villa next season and that "all players want to play in the Champions League and I'm no different".  Just like Young wanted to 'concentrate on his football'.  We all know that when Bent comes out with something similar he has ALREADY left and the rest is just down to how much we can get.

Who we replace them with will show where we are as a club.  If we're still willing to pay 5th - 8th wages we'll get adequate replacements.  The thing is though, without a MASSIVE slice of luck we will never qualify for the Champions League and thus, by the very fact we have signed adequate players, we'll lose our better players to a CHampions League club or one willing to pay slightly more in wages. 

The really depressing thing for me isn't Downing going, he's replaceable.  It's the utter predictability of it all and then the backlash of fans against a board who have given it a proper go.  Where are we actually supposed to go when you have Man City, Chelsea and Man Utd all able to spend £30 - £50 million on a single player and Arsenal and Spurs with superior squads and money to spend?  Liverpool have just done a Villa and bought a fuck load of British players for hugely OTT prices.  Dalgliesh and O Neill could be twins. 

We had a go at what Liverpool are doing, it didn't work and so we're having to re-group. 

What I'm looking forward to is seeing a different team - I just hope it's worth watching and we, dare I say it, enjoy watching the Villa again for a bit. 

[Chris Smith]

I think that we have the nucleus of a good squad

That must be the most over-used cliche on H&V and I've been hearing it every pre-season for 5 years.  Along with "a couple of quality additions in January and we'll be not far off a very good side".

The point is we seemingly never acquire and sustain anything more than a nucleus of a good squad and never will, so long as we keep selling our best players. 

We were not far off a very good side for three years. Then you got your wish of MON leaving and it's been downhill ever since.

[john e]

its a lot easier seeing Downing go when you never rated him in the first place,

for me he will go down as the most overated player by supporters i've ever seen at Villa,
i'm actually laughing my bollocks of at the prospect of getting 20 mill for the piss useless fella,
i rate Allbrighton as a better player already, of the two i would start MA every time anyway.

Liverpool have made a major rick here if they think Downing is the man to make them challengers for the league, i reckon they'l do well to make the top 4

i accept all the stuff about selling your best players, but it all depends on who you think are your best players, and Downing isnt one of them for me, i wont miss him one bit,

20 mill for Downing - best bit of bussiness in the transfer window so far by anybody,

[Eigentor]

Then you got your wish of MON leaving and it's been downhill ever since.

Not really. We signed Bent in January and showed decent form at the end of the season. However, since GH left, this summer has been almost a complete disaster.

[Rigadon]

its a lot easier seeing Downing go when you never rated him in the first place,

for me he will go down as the most overated player by supporters i've ever seen at Villa,
i'm actually laughing my bollocks of at the prospect of getting 20 mill for the piss useless fella,
i rate Allbrighton as a better player already, of the two i would start MA every time anyway.

Liverpool have made a major rick here if they think Downing is the man to make them challengers for the league, i reckon they'l do well to make the top 4

i accept all the stuff about selling your best players, but it all depends on who you think are your best players, and Downing isnt one of them for me, i wont miss him one bit,

20 mill for Downing - best bit of bussiness in the transfer window so far by anybody,

Agree to an extent but it really is all down to who we now go and sign isn't it?  Loans and bargain basement players and I think it's fair to assume we're also rans until Lerner sells.   Rreplace with quality and great, new look team with a new manager and we're competitive again and maybe some enjoyment (hopefully not too much to ask)

[hilts_coolerking]

We were not far off a very good side for three years. Then you got your wish of MON leaving and it's been downhill ever since.

My wish, as you well know, was for O'Neill to be replaced by a better manager, which demonstrably hasn't happened.  And let's not forget, the man you thought so highly of needed replacing because he treated the club with complete and utter contempt, walking out as he did.

[jonzy85]

1. Better he goes now, rather than a dragged out, summer long saga that distracts everyone at the club.

2. £20 million? Bite the hand off that.

3. This should mean £20 million EXTRA goes into the transfer kitty for Big Eck.

4. If Albrighton doesnt fulfill his potential or suffers from a 2nd season syndrome, we are in big trouble. A lot of weight on his shoulders now.

5. N'Zogbia is now a must buy as opposed to someone we would like to sign. Another wide player will be required, maybe from abroad, maybe Matt Jarvis or maybe to give a nice sense of symmetry we'll be linked to Aiden McGeady again (although he is probably out of our price range at this stage if it's true Zenit St. Petersburg want him.)

[mazrimsbruv]

The level of denial on this thread beggars belief.

How can selling two of our three best players in one summer be good for AVFC?

Why do most of you assume that all the Young and Downing money will be reinvested in the squad?

It’s clear what is happening here. O’Neill left because the Milner money was not being reinvested but used instead to service the Club’s debt, which was spiralling up towards the £100 million mark. Lerner had to use this money unexpectedly to buy Bent to get us out of the shit in January and has now recouped that money from the sale of Young. He was only willing to use some of it for a Keeper out of necessity.

This is why there have been no approaches for any players, because AM has to generate his own transfer funds.
 
And before you accuse me of re-hashing Mat Kendrick’s articles, see my previous posts on the ‘Lerner FFP’ thread and the ‘Summer Transfer Spend’ thread, which were both prior to Kendrick’s reports and tweets. (In fact I’m considering suing him for plagiarism!).

This is why the statements ‘Bent was bought with the Milner money’ and ‘The Ash money was used to pay for Bent’ are not conflicting statements!

Btw, my prediction on the ‘Summer Transfer Spend’ thread, of a net spend of minus £10 million is looking pretty good right now. In fact at the moment it’s looking like wild optimism.