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

[manic-road]

If Vlaar signs, i can see Collins going to Slumberland. Then we should be able to play it out from the back instead of hoofing a long diagonal ball out for a throw in.

[N'ZMAV]

I don't know much about Vlaar. but, TBH, I didn't know much about Collins or Cueller when they signed too.

[pr_N'villa]

@MatKendrick
Not seen Ron Vlaar at Bodymoor boarding the coach but he is a player Villa are 'monitoring'.

@MatKendrick
 Read into monitoring what you will

Couple of tweets from kendrick this morning!

[AvFc4eVeR]

I think that monitoring is a slight understatement given he was at VP yesterday with Lambert.

Unless he was just on a VIP VP tour.

[Mazrim]

Yes, in my humble opinion it's all about agreeing a fee with Feyenoord now.
This looks quite advanced.

[Diablo]

@MatKendrick
Not seen Ron Vlaar at Bodymoor boarding the coach but he is a player Villa are 'monitoring'.

@MatKendrick
 Read into monitoring what you will


Couple of tweets from kendrick this morning!

Sounds to me like any deal could still be quite a long way from completion. Hope that isn't the case if PL really wants him.

[Summers]

A guy I play Fifa with is a Feyenoord fan, just showed him the pictures and he said

"Yes, that is our captain, Ron Vlaar. Dont want him to go but he deserves it. Its the same type of defender as Vertonghen. Only Vlaar has a massive body and shot power. 3 players gone of our starting eleven. Vlaar deserves to be the next "

What does he mean by "deserves" ?

Does your friend mean the word in a positive way; as in he's earned a move to a bigger club on better wages or do they want shot of him, as in "Hutton deserves to be next out the door" ?

Definitely in a positive way.

[Tom_Mc9?]

Sounds to me like any deal could still be quite a long way from completion. Hope that isn't the case if PL really wants him.

I disagree - it looks like he could be joining soon.

[Diablo]

Sounds to me like any deal could still be quite a long way from completion. Hope that isn't the case if PL really wants him.

I disagree - it looks like he could be joining soon.

Hope you're right :-)

[paul_e]

Like the look of him, big, strong, seems like an organiser, and clearly has some talent as a footballer as well, I think he'll be a good partner alongside Clark as they both appear to read the game well.  The key for me is getting Dunne out of the side.  I just can't see why so many people rate him, he plays in a position where you have to concentrate for the entire match and regularly fails to do exactly that.  It's all well and good being a world class defender for 89minutes but if the other minute involves you giving away a penalty or letting a player in for a tap in then you're not doing your job properly.  I can live with the odd error, everyone makes mistakes, but with Dunne it's too common and completely devalues him as a player.  If we have to keep one of the pair I'd keep Collins without doubt, he's a more limited player, and needs to stop trying to hit hollywood passes, but he's a lot more consistent (his main problem is that he gets drawn to the ball a little too often).  I thought defensively he looked fine when Dunne was out last year and, as a unit, we defended better in that period (I don't know if stats back this up though as it's purely my opinion).

Back to Vlaar - don't read too much into the defensive performances of the dutch at the euro's I think their issues were, as is often the case with the dutch, team spirit related rather than anything to do with the abilities of the individuals.

[pauliewalnuts]

Yes, in my humble opinion it's all about agreeing a fee with Feyenoord now.
This looks quite advanced.

I hope so, but surely we've no real way of knowing what's going on beyond the fact we've spoken to him and he's been over?

He might have other clubs to talk to, and the fact he's available is now out there (if it wasn't already, through his agent).

It is heartening, though, to see that PL has realised straight away that we've a lot of squad-shaping work to do this summer, and has decided not to piss about getting started on it.

Slight tangent, but it must be really frustrating being a sports journalist these days, sniffing around for bits of information using your contacts, but you get trumped by the man on the street with a camera phone and a Twitter account.

[Phil from the upper holte]

On a side note, I thought Clark was excellent saturday, I know its only Burton but he looks so composed on the ball

[Phil from the upper holte]

I agree paulie but who was in the ground to take the photo?

[pauliewalnuts]

I agree paulie but who was in the ground to take the photo?

It was some girl doing the stadium tour.

Apparently, they were in the dressing rooms when in walks Paul Lambert, showing around a player. A few hours later, and he got identified as Vlaar.

[Phil from the upper holte]

Regarding Caroll, I saw that Newcastle have had a loan bid rejected so It would appear that any deal must involve money