Karim El Ahmadi CONFIRMED (Reply #278)

[VillaAlways]

It looks like it's pretty much done by the sounds of this


Aston Villa close to sealing El Ahmadi signing
Thursday 28th June 2012, 10:59AM BST.


Aston Villa today remain on course to wrap up the signing of Feyenoord midfielder Karim El Ahmadi early next week.

It is understood the two clubs have yet to reach formal agreement on the fee for the player although sources in Holland revealed Feyenoord officials will meet with their Villa counterparts after the weekend to finalise the terms of a £3m deal.

El Ahmadi was absent from a training session in Rotterdam yesterday and Feyenoord coach Ronald Koeman said that the player’s imminent departure was a “sporting loss” but one which was “financially good for the club”.

El Ahmadi said:?“Villa is a top club. I will miss Feyenoord, but nobody will blame me I want to take this step.

“I am looking forward to playing against clubs like Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal.”

Meanwhile, Marc Albrighton is looking forward to returning to pre-season training next week having recharged his batteries over the summer.

“I have so much enthusiasm going into this campaign. I can’t wait for pre-season to start next week,” he said

http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/aston-villa-fc/2012/06/28/aston-villa-close-to-sealing-el-ahmadi-signing/

[KRS]

Good to hear Marc sounding enthusiastic as always...make or break season for him and hope he gets back on form.

[NeilH]

I'm very happy about this going through and I really believe that he is a great deal for us.
More than anything else, it gives us a pretty formible midfield next season with Al Ahmadi, Holman, Ireland, NZog, Bannan and Albrighton all in the mix. We just need a little injection of pace there to help out Bent and Gabby.

[Mazrim]

In my opinion Gabby has this season (possibly to Christmas) to cut it with the new manager. If he doesnt then its time to part ways. We cant carry him forever however much I want him to succeed.
I'm convinced theres an absolutely lethal weapon there somewhere but somebody will need to unlock it soon. Too much of the joker, not enough business.
He'll have big competition this season from Bent (who will start ahead of him), Weimann and whoever else Lambert brings in. He'll have to make a big impact on Lambert and may have limited opportunity to do so.

It would be great for the fans who love him if he could become the player we all hoped he could be. If not, well c'est la vie.

[Hookeysmith]

In my opinion Gabby has this season (possibly to Christmas) to cut it with the new manager. If he doesnt then its time to part ways. We cant carry him forever however much I want him to succeed.
I'm convinced theres an absolutely lethal weapon there somewhere but somebody will need to unlock it soon. Too much of the joker, not enough business.
He'll have big competition this season from Bent (who will start ahead of him), Weimann and whoever else Lambert brings in. He'll have to make a big impact on Lambert and may have limited opportunity to do so.

It would be great for the fans who love him if he could become the player we all hoped he could be. If not, well c'est la vie.

Good summing up there Maz - i think we would all love "one of our own" to be a big star - he has all the attributes its his application he needs to work on

[KRS]

Gabbys problem is that he doesnt have a football brain. He is good on instinct but when he has time to think it generally goes wrong. I dont think he'll get any better but if he can regain and consistantly put in the performances of a few seasons ago then hes worth keeping.

[maidstonevillain]

8 in two seasons with a couple of decent sized injury lay offs and the handicap of TSM.  Barring injury, I'm pretty confident Gabby will score at least 8 this coming season alone.

I am not confident that he will even be here at the start of the season.

[pestria]

Bent is just under a 1 in 2 striker, Gabby should be good for 5-10 even playing wide and N'Zogbia is capable of up to double figures a season.  I see no problem there, but we would need Ireland to get more goals.  If you add in the subs contributions, plus say 10-15 from the back 4 and two defensive midfielders, we'd be OK.

I like N'Zog and think he'll improve loads on last season, but ..... although he got 9 once for Wigan he typically scores 3-5 per season. 

[Mr Speedy H]

Gabby - stats from here.

06/07
38(1) apps, 9 goals, 7 assists

07/08
37(0) apps, 11 goals, 9 assists

08/09
36(1) apps, 12 goals, 10 assists

09/10
36(1) apps, 13 goals, 7 assists

10/11
27(9) apps, 3 goals, 1 assist

11/12
33(1) apps, 5 goals, 7 assists

I think the problem with Gabby is that he is majorly influenced by the manager. Look at the difference under MO'N as opposed to the last two seasons (I also appreciate him being fooked around in positions). If Lamp can get him back on to form, scoring goals, then he still has the potential for a 10 goal player.

On account of Weimann coming through he will need to prove himself and, due to his pace and energy, perhaps be that 'impact player' that we can utilise in the last 10-20 minutes of a game, who we can bring on and fire the team up, make speedy runs and, most importantly, get vital goals towards the end of the game.

[pedro25]

Gabby scored 16 goals in all comps about 3 yrs ago, so talk of him scoring 8 this season as if it would be a good achievement shows how much our expectations of him have now dropped.  He looked like a player, injury aside, that would be good for 15-20 goals in all comps per season at least.

[not3bad]

It looks like it's pretty much done by the sounds of this

ITSOTP has become GTTC for me nowadays ("Got The Text Confirmation").

[Concrete John]

The 16 goals was while playing as a striker and I'm basing 8 on him being predominately a wide player during 12/13. 

[Ad@m]

El Ahmadi said:?“Villa is a top club. I will miss Feyenoord, but nobody will blame me I want to take this step.

“I am looking forward to playing against clubs like Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal.”

Is it too much to ask for new players to lie about their reasons for joining us if necessary and not admit that they couldn't give a rats ass who they're playing for as long as they can play against the Sky 4?!

[VillaAlways]

El Ahmadi said:?“Villa is a top club. I will miss Feyenoord, but nobody will blame me I want to take this step.

“I am looking forward to playing against clubs like Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal.”

Is it too much to ask for new players to lie about their reasons for joining us if necessary and not admit that they couldn't give a rats ass who they're playing for as long as they can play against the Sky 4?!

I must admit I found that quote rather annoying too

[NeilH]

El Ahmadi said:?“Villa is a top club. I will miss Feyenoord, but nobody will blame me I want to take this step.

“I am looking forward to playing against clubs like Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal.”

Is it too much to ask for new players to lie about their reasons for joining us if necessary and not admit that they couldn't give a rats ass who they're playing for as long as they can play against the Sky 4?!

I must admit I found that quote rather annoying too

I’m sorry, but I don’t see the issue here. Do you honestly think that a foreign player gives two hoots about us and our history? To most foreigners players, we’re a bit part Premier League who once won the European Cup before they were probably born. Of course they want to play against the Sky 4 and if they were good enough, they would be playing for the Sky 4. Its just the way of the world.