Concrete Ron

[villan from luton]

He has a year left on his contract, more great work by the club not to secure him to a longer contract before the world cup. No way would we get £15m surely?

Someone the other day posted we got £16m for Ashley young with 1 year left ? Not sure if true ?
m
I am in bed with Kelly Brook while I type this, but there is more chance of me shagging Kylie than us paying £16m for Ashley Young lol

[PeterWithesShin]

He has a year left on his contract, more great work by the club not to secure him to a longer contract before the world cup. No way would we get £15m surely?

Someone the other day posted we got £16m for Ashley young with 1 year left ? Not sure if true ?
m
I am in bed with Kelly Brook while I type this, but there is more chance of me shagging Kylie than us paying £16m for Ashley Young lol

We sold him for that much when he only had a year left, not we will pay that much for him.

[robbo1874]

SSN Monday 10am , entrance to QPR training ground. Saggy chops winds window down shoves his chops into a Sky mic - "yeah I like him, I like Ron, great player , I like him".

Surely it would be "trific player"!

"he's a top, top player"

[mr underhill]

he deserves so much more than a fate like that.

[Matt Collins]

This might court controversy but Ron Vlaar's WC surpasses that of the Lord himself in '94. He was simply superb at what he was asked to do as a defender, so I don't count the penalty miss. He was asked to mark some of the best players in the game and in pretty much every contest came out on top. You could argue McGrath's game vs Italy was the single most dominant performance by Villa defender playing for his country but Vlaar vs Argentina comes close.

He has comfortably been one of the top 3 or 4 defenders at the tournament.

Vlaar isn't fit to lace the boots of McGrath in any shape or form.
He's certainly played well in the last few games though, but let's not go over the top.

That's not what he said. Ron is a contender for team of the tournament. I don't recall McGrath being near it in 94

[Dante Lavelli]

Where did Alpay actually go after leaving us?  Like Ron I can understand him wanting to go to a bigger club (after an excellent world cup) but I don't remember that actually happening. 

[Dave]

The mighty Incheon United in South Korea.

[Dante Lavelli]

The mighty Incheon United in South Korea.

I've completely forgotten about this whole debacle.  It'd be interesting to know where the truth lies (from wiki):

He recovered just in time for the 2002 World Cup, in which he formed the core of an obstinate Turkish defensive unit. They finished third and he was elected into the team of the tournament.

The biggest clubs in Europe took note of his performances in the Far East, including the likes of FC Barcelona and Internazionale.[3][4] Aston Villa manager Graham Taylor refused to sell him, which was the beginning of Alpay's downfall at Villa Park. Media reports and comments made by Graham Taylor led to Alpay becoming a very unpopular figure at the club, missing much of the 2002–03 season. Their goalkeeper, Peter Schmeichel, defended Alpay in his article in the English newspaper, The Times.

“   What happened after the World Cup, when he was frozen out by Graham Taylor, was sad. There are a lot of politics at Villa, and the way Alpay was portrayed as a money-grabber was nothing like the guy that I know. Taylor is just not keen on players with a bigger profile than himself.[5]   ”
Alpay returned to the Aston Villa team for the beginning of the 2003–04 season. In his first home game against Charlton Athletic, he was booed when walking on to the pitch by his own fans. However Alpay went on to score the first goal of that game.[6] In consequence to his earlier booing, Alpay's goal celebration served to mock the Aston Villa fans by placing his finger on his mouth. He was again dropped due to their angry reaction. The Turkish defender was then made public enemy number one in England[citation needed] in late 2003 after a run-in with David Beckham during the Euro 2004 qualifier in Istanbul. He first confronted the England skipper after his first-half penalty miss, glowering over him and rubbing heads with him in full view of the referee. He followed that up by prodding a finger into Beckham's face as the players came off the pitch at half-time, sparking a tunnel brawl. Due to the angry reactions in England, his contract was terminated by Aston Villa on 23 October. Club chairman Doug Ellis declared:

“   In light of recent events, it would have been difficult for Alpay to represent Aston Villa again and the player himself was aware that life in England had become increasingly difficult for him and his family. Therefore, both parties agreed that the best course of action was for the immediate termination of his contract which was due to expire in June 2004.[7]   ”
Incheon United[edit]
Werder Bremen, Hamburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hertha Berlin, and Bologna wanted to sign Alpay.[8] However, the European transfer window was closed and he did not want to wait to play football again. He opted for a move to South Korean K-League side Incheon United's first foray into professional football in 2004.

Urawa Red Diamonds[edit]
Alpay spent less than six months with the team before moving to the J. League with Urawa Red Diamonds. In his first season with the club, he was honoured with the best defender of the year award. The following season with the club proved to be a catastrophe. Alpay received three red cards in seven matches. The Japanese club annulled his contract due to these disciplinary problems.

1. FC Köln[edit]
In 2005, Alpay signed a one-year-contract with the German Bundesliga team 1. FC Köln. This transfer ensured his place back into the national team. They were relegated, and Manchester City, Portsmouth, Celtic, Galatasaray and Beşiktaş were interested in signing him. Alpay remained loyal to the club, stating that his decision was influenced by his family's happiness in Germany. After continuous controversies, he was left out of the squad infinitely until his contract expired at the end of the 2007–08 season.

[olaftab]

Where did Alpay actually go after leaving us?

Hell.

[Big Dick Edwards]

I'll be pleasantly surprised if Ron is still a Villa player come September. The club are either indifferent or negligent in allowing the team captain to go into the last year of his contract. Furthermore the World Cup has allowed Vlaar to showcase his ability at the highest level and the poor policy of the club leaves us wide open to losing him at a knockdown price.

[Dante Lavelli]

I'll be pleasantly surprised if Ron is still a Villa player come September. The club are either indifferent or negligent in allowing the team captain to go into the last year of his contract. Furthermore the World Cup has allowed Vlaar to showcase his ability at the highest level and the poor policy of the club leaves us wide open to losing him at a knockdown price.

I'd be amazed that the club did not try and do something however I suspect the response from the agent would have been, lets wait until after the world cup regardless of what was offered as his value was not likely to go down from his performances (even if he didn't play).

[CJ]

I'll be pleasantly surprised if Ron is still a Villa player come September. The club are either indifferent or negligent in allowing the team captain to go into the last year of his contract. Furthermore the World Cup has allowed Vlaar to showcase his ability at the highest level and the poor policy of the club leaves us wide open to losing him at a knockdown price.

I'd be amazed that the club did not try and do something however I suspect the response from the agent would have been, lets wait until after the world cup regardless of what was offered as his value was not likely to go down from his performances (even if he didn't play).

Agree that's the more likely scenario Dante. That, alongside whether the club was sold and whether we were likely to start competing again or face another season of struggle. Given that he's done brilliantly in the World Cup and the club shows no signs of an imminent sale, I think he'll be off. And given that Yanited currently have the likes of Jones, Evans and Smalling at the back, and Evra making noises about a transfer, I wouldn't be surprised if Van Gaal got him up there as part of rebuilding their defence

[BoskoDjembaSalifou]

Vlaar has had a few good games this World Cup. He's looked like the Villa version in the rest though.

All this talk of him being the best defender at the World Cup is hilarious. People do realise Mats Hummels exists, right?

[RunRickyRun]

This might court controversy but Ron Vlaar's WC surpasses that of the Lord himself in '94. He was simply superb at what he was asked to do as a defender, so I don't count the penalty miss. He was asked to mark some of the best players in the game and in pretty much every contest came out on top. You could argue McGrath's game vs Italy was the single most dominant performance by Villa defender playing for his country but Vlaar vs Argentina comes close.

He has comfortably been one of the top 3 or 4 defenders at the tournament.

I can see where you're coming from but Ireland never had a Van Persie or Robben to keep the opposition honest.

McGrath's performance verses Italy is the finest I've seen from a defender and Phil Babb went to Liverpool for a huge fee of £4m (a record for an English club paying for a defender IIRC) on the back of God making him look good.

[Monty]

Baresi went to McGrath at full-time and said it was the best he'd ever seen. Vlaar's been fantastic, but I agree with RRR - God withstood an absolute onslaught that day, and withstood it calmly and without alarm.