Summer Transfer Thread: Speculation, Lies, Absolute Cr*p and Bosman Rumours

[OCD]

That Butland kid at Blues looked good when I saw him for the Under 21's. I'm interested to see if Siegrist makes it.

[Monty]

I like Siegrist, but I'd perhaps make him #2 to a slightly more established, though not old, keeper.

[King of the Nørth]

Someone like Izaguirre in a 4-3-3 set-up would certainly make us a lot more dynamic going forward and I would try to do something similar on the right side too. I'm torn between moving Herd to right back and having him and Lichaj fight it out for the position or to get a Clyne/Naughton type in to fight it out with Lichaj. I would get shot of Hutton as fast as possible along with Warnock, Dunne and Collins. I don't know whether it's possible to do in one summer but there's a lot of deadwood to get rid of.

We only have 7 games to judge Guzan on from last season but for those games Guzan really impressed me. Certainly more than Given did. Guzan seems to have a better rounded game and dominates his box a lot more than Given. The 2 Stoke games were good examples of that. Guzan came and caught crosses/throws and looked comfortable. Given looked panicked and totally uncomfortable. Given made some great saves and some of which kept us in the Premier League but that's what he is to me - a shot stopper. Given also tends to wait and then launches the ball whereas Guzan was looking to throw/roll it out more often so would be better suited to a passing game.

Either way, if he's released I will see it as a real shame and would be a great signing for somebody. One of the things I was never able to forgive McLeish for was to just cast Guzan aside because Given had returned to fitness. Guzan's performances should have kept him in the side at least a while longer. I hate it when players aren't picked on form and that decision has always irked me.

 Hasnt Guzan been released already? Totally agree about Given being no more than excellent shot stopper. Hasnt really impressed me that much but youd hope with a less fragile back 4 he wouldnt be as exposed. Does boot it too much but maybe thats what he what he was told to do? Im sure if you said to him "always pass to fullbacks, only boot it if you HAVE to" he would adjust.

 Isnt Siegrist supposed to be rated as a good young goalie?

[OCD]

I've only heard about Heskey and Cuellar not being renewed - nothing seems to have been said about Guzan. I'm hoping we're waiting for the new manager to be appointed before a decision is made with him but I expect we'll end up losing him for nothing when we really shouldn't be.

[King of the Nørth]

Agree OCD, I think a bit like Barry was, Clark is too slow for centre half, so centre mid might suit him better long term.

 Shouldnt that be the other way around? How many fast CB's are there out there? As long you can read the game.

 Agree with everything said on Clark though. Have said not sure which position suits him best. Dont want to lose him though as would feel a bit like Gary Cahil all over again. Does score a few goals for us though, important ones too.

 Personally would like to see Clark and Baker vying for same LCB position alongside experienced RCB. Problem is clearly we also need a new LB and possibly even RB too so giving them both 15 games each might work out very badly with a completely new back line. Before start of season just gone I wanted -

 Given - RB - Dunne - Clark - LB purely picking those because of their R.O.I connections.

 Really hope we sell Warnock though cant stand that weasel faced d*ck and should never of been here after what he's done. Long ball Collins can do one too.

[tomd2103]

The Newcastle game sticks in my mind where Carroll was too much for him. Admittedly he could have improved since then but having seen Baker play a few games I think it highlighted the weaknesses in Clark's game.

I think it's sometimes necessary to make sideways and backward passes. I read an interesting interview with Brendan Rodgers recently where he said there are spells in a game where you're not really penetrating the opposition's defence but by continuing to move the ball around, your own players are recovering. The opposition obviously aren't going to score if they can't get hold of the ball too. Clark could well become our modern equivalent to Gareth Barry.

I'd agree with the point in bold OCD, but Clark plays backwards and sideways every time.  I'm just not sure he is good enough on the ball to be a top flight midfielder and feel he would be better suited to CB.  Hasn't he played for Ireland at CB?

[tomd2103]

Agree OCD, I think a bit like Barry was, Clark is too slow for centre half, so centre mid might suit him better long term.

 Given - RB - Dunne - Clark - LB purely picking those because of their R.O.I connections.

 

After the season they have had, it will be interesting to see how they do for Ireland this summer.  I've always got the impression with Dunne that he kind of gave up in a Villa shirt when O'Neill left and saves his best performances for Ireland.

[SoccerHQ]

It's ridiculous Clark barely had a run at CB last season, even Baker had I think 6 straight games as a CB in April.

It's important we get someone physical alongside Clark, in an ideal world I'd go for Chris Samba but he's probably earning 1m a month in Russia so far to say he's out of our price range!

[Matt Collins]

This season we reached new levels of awful but it's been going on for so long. Gregory - awful football, Taylor mk II - some football, O'Leary - just awful,

I know it's not fashionable to say this but:
- for a season and a bit we played some very good football under o'leary (we finished 6th despite having no real money to spend remember)
- gt mark two was just awful and I don't recall 'some football' at all. I recall him taking over a team in the top 6, taking them to mid table that year and then pretty close to relegation. Should never have come back!

[peckvillajunior]

It's important we get someone physical alongside Clark, in an ideal world I'd go for Chris Samba but he's probably earning 1m a month in Russia so far to say he's out of our price range!

By all accounts the rampant racism is unsurprisingly starting to get to him, so he may be up for a move

[pedro25]

Agree OCD, I think a bit like Barry was, Clark is too slow for centre half, so centre mid might suit him better long term.

 Shouldnt that be the other way around? How many fast CB's are there out there? As long you can read the game.

 Agree with everything said on Clark though. Have said not sure which position suits him best. Dont want to lose him though as would feel a bit like Gary Cahil all over again. Does score a few goals for us though, important ones too.

 Personally would like to see Clark and Baker vying for same LCB position alongside experienced RCB. Problem is clearly we also need a new LB and possibly even RB too so giving them both 15 games each might work out very badly with a completely new back line. Before start of season just gone I wanted -

 Given - RB - Dunne - Clark - LB purely picking those because of their R.O.I connections.

 Really hope we sell Warnock though cant stand that weasel faced d*ck and should never of been here after what he's done. Long ball Collins can do one too.

I think centre halves need a turn of pace these days as teams tend to play a higher line than they used too and most modern centre forwards are quick with throwbacks like Holt a rarity.  I think clever footballers who aren' that quick can still be competitive in central midfield though, guys like Barry and Petrov for instance.

[UK Redsox]

I've only heard about Heskey and Cuellar not being renewed - nothing seems to have been said about Guzan. I'm hoping we're waiting for the new manager to be appointed before a decision is made with him but I expect we'll end up losing him for nothing when we really shouldn't be.

Pravda now saying that Guzan has been released along with Cuellar and Ivanhoe

[VillaAlways]

http://mobile.avfc.co.uk/default.aspx?s=news-display&aid=2786007

[villasjf]

Eight youth team released too, Guzan is a strange one, never let us down, did well when Given was injured and dominated his box more than Given.

[OCD]

Not surprising but it is a waste. Looks like we will need another keeper then and I would rather have a well rounded number 1. At least it's confirmed that Heskey's gone.