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

[Steve67]

It'd be good to have Guzan back. He should have kept his place when Given came back from injury, he'd done nothing wrong.

If he's only got an offer from Ipswich, hopefully he'll look at Given's recent form, age and injury record and think he can get the shirt off him.

I've lost count of the number of times I've seen a Villa reserve keeper come into the side, play well for a few games then lose his place when the number one is fit again. We moan about it, moan a bit more when he leaves a couple of years later but none of them have ever gone on to be a success anywhere better.

Good point.  The fact that Ipswich Town of the Championship are the current suitors might tell us where his level really lies. Either number one there, or number TWO, here. If he was that good, Wet Spam would have wanted him, or perhaps, the Albion.

[nigel]

It'd be good to have Guzan back. He should have kept his place when Given came back from injury, he'd done nothing wrong.

If he's only got an offer from Ipswich, hopefully he'll look at Given's recent form, age and injury record and think he can get the shirt off him.

I've lost count of the number of times I've seen a Villa reserve keeper come into the side, play well for a few games then lose his place when the number one is fit again. We moan about it, moan a bit more when he leaves a couple of years later but none of them have ever gone on to be a success anywhere better.

I agree.
People were slating Guzan after the Blackburn League cup semi and rightly so, Given is a much better keeper. No contest.

I think you could be in the minority with that one Rip Van.
Yes, Guzan had a bit of an off day vrs Blackburn, but that's the only game people go back too.
If you look at the time he came in last season he was super. I'm not the only one who thought the defence looked calmer with Guzan. The Stoke game springs to mind when they launched high ball after high ball and he took the lot.

[Gareth]

rumour on internet west spam bid for holt been accepted
- might end us been linked to him now

Good, having just got rid of a 30 something striker after a big pay day the last thing we need is to get another.

[PaulWinch again]

rumour on internet west spam bid for holt been accepted
- might end us been linked to him now

Good, having just got rid of a 30 something striker after a big pay day the last thing we need is to get another.

Let's fucking hope so.

[spangley1812]

rumour on internet west spam bid for holt been accepted
- might end us been linked to him now

Good, having just got rid of a 30 something striker after a big pay day the last thing we need is to get another.

Let's fucking hope so.

spot on.............

[KevinGage]

It'd be good to have Guzan back. He should have kept his place when Given came back from injury, he'd done nothing wrong.

If he's only got an offer from Ipswich, hopefully he'll look at Given's recent form, age and injury record and think he can get the shirt off him.

I've lost count of the number of times I've seen a Villa reserve keeper come into the side, play well for a few games then lose his place when the number one is fit again. We moan about it, moan a bit more when he leaves a couple of years later but none of them have ever gone on to be a success anywhere better.

I agree.
People were slating Guzan after the Blackburn League cup semi and rightly so, Given is a much better keeper. No contest.

I think you could be in the minority with that one Rip Van.
Yes, Guzan had a bit of an off day vrs Blackburn, but that's the only game people go back too.
If you look at the time he came in last season he was super. I'm not the only one who thought the defence looked calmer with Guzan. The Stoke game springs to mind when they launched high ball after high ball and he took the lot.

I'm with Fletch on this.

Guzan did okay when he came in.  But Given has proved himself to be the far better keeper over an extended period of time. And as an earlier poster mentioned, if Guzan was so shit hot why is it only Ipswich coming in for him? 

QPR need a keeper, Southampton are on the lookout. Yet neither seem particularly interested in this super keeper who is available for nowt?  Weird.

[DrGonzo]

rumour on internet west spam bid for holt been accepted
- might end us been linked to him now

Good, having just got rid of a 30 something striker after a big pay day the last thing we need is to get another.

Let's fucking hope so.

spot on.............

Not again.

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

Wonder if Ronaldo would like a new challenge?

[OCD]

I don't buy this line about 'if Guzan was such a good 'keeper why has no-one signed him up yet'. In Guzan's case, its probably because he's not that well known. There are always gems to be found that people either don't know about or don't take a risk on. I'm too tired to come up with a string of examples but off the top of my head, Tim Cahill for one and Danny Murphy for another. Cahill was at Millwall for years before Everton got him and it proved a good move with people asking 'why didn't we go for him?' Danny Murphy was rotting in Tottenham's reserves for a long time before he moved to Fulham where people remembered what a good player he was. With how well he's done in the last few years, you have to think how good a signing he would have made rather than the likes of Sidwell.

I certainly saw enough of Guzan in his 7 games for him to deserve an extended run in the side. TSM deprieved him and us of that and as a result, we lost the opportunity to see whether he could handle being the first choice keeper. It could cost several million to replace something that we might have already possessed.

As for Given proving himself to be a better goalkeeper in the past, the other way to look at is that he's getting old in playing terms. He's never been anything more than a really good shot stopper, he's rather injury prone (which is likely to get worse) and he's got a stupid contract which still has over £8m left on it. There's a reason why Fergie didn't come in for him when United needed to replace Van Der Sar last summer.

[KevinGage]

I don't buy this line about 'if Guzan was such a good 'keeper why has no-one signed him up yet'. In Guzan's case, its probably because he's not that well known. There are always gems to be found that people either don't know about or don't take a risk on. I'm too tired to come up with a string of examples but off the top of my head, Tim Cahill for one and Danny Murphy for another. Cahill was at Millwall for years before Everton got him and it proved a good move with people asking 'why didn't we go for him?' Danny Murphy was rotting in Tottenham's reserves for a long time before he moved to Fulham where people remembered what a good player he was. With how well he's done in the last few years, you have to think how good a signing he would have made rather than the likes of Sidwell.

He's 27 years of age and - aside from games for us in the UEFA Cup, domestic cups and league- he has played international football for the USA against the likes of Brazil and Spain. I don't see how he could be viewed as an unknown quantity at this point in his career. 

I'm not ridiculing him, I actually think he's a decent keeper.   His performance in Prague back in 2008 was just about as good a goalkeeping display as you could wish to see.   

But he did look suspect against Blackburn-  not once, but three times in the one season. His performance v Stoke away last year would indicate he might be more competent now at dealing with limited sides who place the emphasis on set pieces.

I still don't see why we should've purposely weakened the side and kept him in when Given was fit again though, out of some vague notion of fairness.  Wiemann came in and did okay in Bent's absence. I wouldn't advocate keeping Bent out longterm either. 

If there is a marginal difference between the players, or a player lost his place due to form then yes, stick with the guy who did well when called upon. But in the case of Given>Guzan and Bent>Wiemann, the difference in quality isn't marginal.

If Guzan wants to stay, and has his eyes on the no.1 position in 2/3 years I'd be happy with that.  Given does seem prone to picking up more knocks than most goalies, so even in the interim period he should see more game time than he did as Brad snr's deputy.  But he's already been at the club 4 years now, and if he can't claim the no.1 slot yet, I'd fully understand if he wants to move on. And maybe he should.

[Phil from the upper holte]

I don't want Holt to go to West Spam he'll score against us on the opening day

[john e]

Given is a proven premieship keeper and at the moment he is ahead of Guzan because of his experience,
 but there is not much in it in my view, Given is also 36/37 and is not going to get any better in fact many people believe his decline has already started
Guzan is 10 years younger, with playing experience he will be on parr with Given in no time, and is obviously a better long term option,
if you dont think Guzan is any good and lacks the ability to be a top class keeper then the above sinario does not apply,

but for me he has what it takes, and is already a better keeper than some of the names mentioned on here as a Given replacement ie  Foster and Green who has now moved on anyway.

i would give Guzan a new contract and tell him he's number one, now go and prove it

[nigel]

It'd be good to have Guzan back. He should have kept his place when Given came back from injury, he'd done nothing wrong.

If he's only got an offer from Ipswich, hopefully he'll look at Given's recent form, age and injury record and think he can get the shirt off him.

I've lost count of the number of times I've seen a Villa reserve keeper come into the side, play well for a few games then lose his place when the number one is fit again. We moan about it, moan a bit more when he leaves a couple of years later but none of them have ever gone on to be a success anywhere better.

I agree.
People were slating Guzan after the Blackburn League cup semi and rightly so, Given is a much better keeper. No contest.

I think you could be in the minority with that one Rip Van.
Yes, Guzan had a bit of an off day vrs Blackburn, but that's the only game people go back too.
If you look at the time he came in last season he was super. I'm not the only one who thought the defence looked calmer with Guzan. The Stoke game springs to mind when they launched high ball after high ball and he took the lot.

I'm with Fletch on this.

Guzan did okay when he came in.  But Given has proved himself to be the far better keeper over an extended period of time. And as an earlier poster mentioned, if Guzan was so shit hot why is it only Ipswich coming in for him? 

QPR need a keeper, Southampton are on the lookout. Yet neither seem particularly interested in this super keeper who is available for nowt?  Weird.

That's okay Kevin, i appreciate your (and Rip Van's) opinion. 
All I'm saying is that Guzan deserved his chance of an extended run last season, as he'd done really well, and, as I mentioned, I thought the defence looked calmer with him at the back.
I'm certainly not saying Given isn't a good keeper, because he is. It's just that he seems unwilling to leave the 6 yard box.
If you have a strong defence, which last season, let's be honest, ours wasn't, you can get away with a 'Shot Stopper' keeper. I felt that last season our defence needed a commanding keeper to help take the pressure off, and, in my opinion, Shay wasn't that keeper. Maybe with a better organised defence, that I'm sure PL will bring, Shay may step up to the mark.

[N'ZMAV]

Any new links?

[asgpaul]

Any new links?

This one

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4387408/Paul-Lambert-wants-to-bring-Ibrahima-Balde-to-Aston-Villa.html