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

[Legion]

He's not talking 'shite', it's his opinion which he is entitled to as you are to yours. Please keep it civil.

[OCD]

The season you're talking about really highlighted Petrov's influence to me. We really struggled without him and once he was back, there was a huge upswing in our form for the rest of the season. In hindsight, we would been much better off giving Gary Mac the job for a season once Martinez turned us down.

[curiousorange]

I seem to recall it wasn't really until Gabby scored in injury time against Wet Spam that we actually breathed a sigh of relief, and in true Villa style missed the opportunity to make it safe against Wigan by being crap and coming away with a draw. We were practically safe but not mathematically when we came up against Arsenal and then upset the odds by winning when we only needed a point.

I know what people mean when they question whether we 'deserved' 9th. Well, I tend to think that some of our performances were overlooked in the general melee of turmoil under McDonald, Houllier and McAllister. We rooted out good wins against Everton, Newcastle and Liverpool, were sublime (for at least some of the match) against Man Yoo, we won two local derbies, won twice in the capital and clawed that point from Stamford Bridge on New Year's Day. There were a lot of forgettable draws and poisonous atmosphere when we played Sunderland at home but for sheer doggedness alone we deserved what we ended up with.

[KevinGage]

Any season that sees fans calling for the managers head on three separate occasions, has us labelled as a crisis club by local and national media and has the threat of relegation hanging over us until the penultimate weekend of the campaign might reasonably be described as a season of struggle.

PWS disagrees. Many more seem to agree.   Fine, vive le difference.

[Legion]

Any season that sees fans calling for the managers head on three separate occasions, has us labelled as a crisis club by local and national media and has the threat of relegation hanging over us until the penultimate weekend of the campaign might reasonably be described as a season of struggle.

PWS disagrees. Many more seem to agree.   Fine, vive le difference.

Exactly. Your opinion against his. I think you're better and far more articulate than resorting to using phrases such as 'Talking shite' and 'Big girl'. That's all.

[curiousorange]

I'd also say as regards 10/11 that I was so determined to forget the whole damn thing that I booked a week away starting the Monday directly after the Liverpool home game. It wasn't the only reason why I wanted to have a break from things, but it was a big factor.

[PeterWithesShin]

I reckon 10/11 is deemed worse than it was because there were a few spectacularly crap performances. Liverpool (a), City in the cup, Wolves and Sunderland at home. Things like that tend to stick in the memory. Apart from those it was pretty much the kind of season you get from a side that finishes mid-table.

[PeterWithesShin]

Anyway, back on topic, it's only from Talkshite but may as well get a mention.

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert could return to Germany to sign Stuttgart midfielder William Kvist in January.
Lambert played in Germany, where he won a Champions League medal with Borussia Dortmund in 1997, and is now lining up a raid on the Bundesliga to land Kvist.
The Denmark international has played eight Bundesliga matches for Stuttgart this season, after making 33 league appearances last term.
Villa have targeted the 27-year-old having suffered a slow start to the campaign, with Lambert's side currently sitting just one point outside the Premier League relegation zone.
Kvist, who is under contract until June 2016, is valued at around £6million and Italian club Chievo are also eyeing a move, according to German paper Kicker.

[Mister E]

I seem to recall it wasn't really until Gabby scored in injury time against Wet Spam that we actually breathed a sigh of relief, and in true Villa style missed the opportunity to make it safe against Wigan by being crap and coming away with a draw. We were practically safe but not mathematically when we came up against Arsenal and then upset the odds by winning when we only needed a point.

I know what people mean when they question whether we 'deserved' 9th. Well, I tend to think that some of our performances were overlooked in the general melee of turmoil under McDonald, Houllier and McAllister. We rooted out good wins against Everton, Newcastle and Liverpool, were sublime (for at least some of the match) against Man Yoo, we won two local derbies, won twice in the capital and clawed that point from Stamford Bridge on New Year's Day. There were a lot of forgettable draws and poisonous atmosphere when we played Sunderland at home but for sheer doggedness alone we deserved what we ended up with.

And - compared with the following season - I'd have taken your arm off for this.

[tomd2103]

I seem to recall it wasn't really until Gabby scored in injury time against Wet Spam that we actually breathed a sigh of relief, and in true Villa style missed the opportunity to make it safe against Wigan by being crap and coming away with a draw. We were practically safe but not mathematically when we came up against Arsenal and then upset the odds by winning when we only needed a point.

I know what people mean when they question whether we 'deserved' 9th. Well, I tend to think that some of our performances were overlooked in the general melee of turmoil under McDonald, Houllier and McAllister. We rooted out good wins against Everton, Newcastle and Liverpool, were sublime (for at least some of the match) against Man Yoo, we won two local derbies, won twice in the capital and clawed that point from Stamford Bridge on New Year's Day. There were a lot of forgettable draws and poisonous atmosphere when we played Sunderland at home but for sheer doggedness alone we deserved what we ended up with.

And - compared with the following season - I'd have taken your arm off for this.

You forgot Man. City in your list of good rooted out wins!!  That season should have served as a warning.  We had injuries to key players in the build up up to and just after Christmas, and dropped into the relegation zone as result.  Our results picked up after we signed Bent, the injured players returned and the quality players we did have (Downing and Young) found form.  I thought players like Petrov, Reo-Coker and Luke Young really came to the fore in the final few months of that season and their experience really told.  I would argue that the side that finished the season were a top half team, but the side we fielded in the lead up to Christmas was poor.  The warning from that season was not to rely too heavily on those that featured during the slide down the table, yet that is exactly what we did the following season. 

[curiousorange]

I seem to recall it wasn't really until Gabby scored in injury time against Wet Spam that we actually breathed a sigh of relief, and in true Villa style missed the opportunity to make it safe against Wigan by being crap and coming away with a draw. We were practically safe but not mathematically when we came up against Arsenal and then upset the odds by winning when we only needed a point.

I know what people mean when they question whether we 'deserved' 9th. Well, I tend to think that some of our performances were overlooked in the general melee of turmoil under McDonald, Houllier and McAllister. We rooted out good wins against Everton, Newcastle and Liverpool, were sublime (for at least some of the match) against Man Yoo, we won two local derbies, won twice in the capital and clawed that point from Stamford Bridge on New Year's Day. There were a lot of forgettable draws and poisonous atmosphere when we played Sunderland at home but for sheer doggedness alone we deserved what we ended up with.

And - compared with the following season - I'd have taken your arm off for this.

You forgot Man. City in your list of good rooted out wins!!  That season should have served as a warning.  We had injuries to key players in the build up up to and just after Christmas, and dropped into the relegation zone as result.  Our results picked up after we signed Bent, the injured players returned and the quality players we did have (Downing and Young) found form.  I thought players like Petrov, Reo-Coker and Luke Young really came to the fore in the final few months of that season and their experience really told.  I would argue that the side that finished the season were a top half team, but the side we fielded in the lead up to Christmas was poor.  The warning from that season was not to rely too heavily on those that featured during the slide down the table, yet that is exactly what we did the following season. 

How could I have forgotten Man City?! Gah! There were also impressive wins against Blackburn in every competition, and we were all over them at Ewood until Pedersen scored that free-kick.

[supertom]

To get as high as 9th on 48 points doesn't happen too often in the EPL. We finished 11th on 50 in O Neills first season for example. I think as the teams below the top 6-7 seem to be getting shiter, that'll happen more though. And again, a couple of decent results in games that didn't really matter too much to the opposition, or even ourselves as we'd pretty secured safety, against Liverpool and Arsenal possibly just put a final rosy tint on how shite we were at times and how a lot of our players just didn't give close to 100% under Houllier. I think had we played Liverpool and Arsenal a month or two earlier than we did, they'd have tonked us both games. I'd have taken a 9th place finish happily after what happened when we lost Milner and the O Neill. But come the end of the season it wasn't remotely satisfying. Some of the games and the manner in which we just rolled over were appalling.

Still, that's two years ago now and I think the squads attitude and morale seems a lot better with PL. That will count for something (hopefully).

[paulcomben]

Mikael Silvestre is on Soccer AM, lives 80 miles from Villa Park, has no club and is an ex international centre or full back. Could be handy until January?

[Dante Lavelli]

Mikael Silvestre is on Soccer AM, lives 80 miles from Villa Park, has no club and is an ex international centre or full back. Could be handy until January?

From what the Arsenal fans say about him, definitely no.

[DrGonzo]

Bent out.