Concrete Ron

[tomd2103]

Even thought it was whilst being a regular first teamer for us that he finally made it onto the world stage.  And even though we have shown incredible patience and loyalty by standing by him despite knowing and being proved right on his injury record?

Like footballers give a shit about that.

How were we proved right on his injury record, btw? What could we do other than "stand by him"?

He owes us nothing. Two things will come into it, ambition and money, and it's hard to imagine us offering enough of one of those, and pretty much impossible to imagine the other.

Have to agree Paulie.  His stock is higher than it ever has been or probably ever will be.  If a decent offer comes in from a top club in this country or abroad, he'll more than likely be off as that chance may never come again.  We might not like it as fans, but it's how it works in most cases.   

[olaftab]

At 29 Ron is possibly in last chance saloon of a super contract if he can get one. He performed well enough at WC to cash in. If he stays with us and let's his contract run out than he will not be in a similar good position next year

Not too sure about that

If he waits a year, he'll be available on a free, which translates to better wages and a bigger signing on fee.

He may be free however he will be a year older and may have an average season with us which means his WC performance will be a distance memory and no choice other than QPRs of this world.

[peter w]

Bujt he is only 29 and I don't necessarily think this is the last contract for him that will see him get a decent signing on fee. For now it's Villa holding the aces. This is when his star is probably has highest as it will be. If he doesn't sign an extension then his price for him to move on will be as high as it will be for a 29 year-old centre-half in the lasy tear of his contract.

He is then left with the option of either hoping for an injury free season at Villa and performing at the highest level to ensure a bumper contract next summer. When he's 30. Or, sign one now and make sure he gets a good deal at Villa - which we are still capable of offering. I think he'll sign a new contract with us as whatever is on the table us selling isn't one of the options unless it's a good deal for us.

I think Vlaar and his agent know that, and if it then means we have one-year to find a replacement then, again, that's fine. Vlaar's good but not irreplaceable.

[PaulWinch again]

Way I see if it is that if he is to go it has to be for big more money or there's no point. From a personal point of view if he went to Man Utd I couldn't really argue with his decision, but Southampton would annoy me.

[peter w]

We wouldn't sell to Southasmpton. Why would we unless they offer £15m?

[UK Redsox]

Way I see if it is that if he is to go it has to be for big more money or there's no point. From a personal point of view if he went to Man Utd I couldn't really argue with his decision, but Southampton would annoy me.

Unless Southampton are offering a huge pay-rise on, say, a five year deal, it would be nothing more than a sideways move for Vlaar.

[Dante Lavelli]

Okay you're the Villla Boss and have some control of the purse strings (under the current circumstances).  What contract would you offer to Vlaar this summer?

[peter w]

Depends on what other players are on (our top earners), what he is asking for, and what our budget is. It's easy to throw around numbers but without having sight of all the facts it's impossible to answer with a figure.

[Ads]

I really don't think Vlaar will be interested in going to the St Mary's Celeste. I doubt they offer more in wages than we accommodate for our top players and they are perhaps the only club in the league who you could easily state have a more disinterested owner and less ambition than us.

If somebody in the top six is interested, then maybe he will go, but not to Southampton.

[VinnieChase84]

I feel very 'meh' about this either way. If he goes then he goes. He's only been here two minutes so couldn't really give a toss to be honest.
He's not as valuable as Benteke was for us. If Soton make a stupid offer and he wants to go to them then take it.
Reinvest, whose to say Ron's replacement wouldn't be as good? After all, his WC performances were a much higher standard that what we are used to week in week out.

[PaulWinch again]

I still think Vlaar is a very good player who has suffered from having to cover for Baker week in, week out.

[RussellC]

I really don't think Vlaar will be interested in going to the St Mary's Celeste.

Very good!  I don't either, for what it's worth. Unless Utd come-in, or a club in Europe, i think he'll just stay and then re-assess his options in January. As will the club.

[supertom]

The balls very much in our court. I don't envision Ron being the toys out the pram sort, chucking in a transfer request to force a move. We either accept a decent offer for him, let him see out his final year, or offer him an extension. Then it's up to Ron whether or not he wants to stay beyond next summer.
If he goes he'll go on our terms. Lets face it, though we do perennially sell our top players, we don't give them up easily, and we do so on our terms. In Ash Youngs case he was on his final year and we'd probably been lucky to keep hold of him for as long as we did. I suspect he genuinely wanted to move the moment O Neill fucked off, if not before.
Downing was an arse, but we got a silly offer for him and accepted.
Milner. It wasn't nice to see him go but we got a stupid offer. Had we rejected it, I've no doubts he'd have stayed and given 100% even if he didn't like it, because he's that sort of player.
Barry had to stay one more year, and it wasn't even the first time he'd wanted to move on from the club either. He ended up moving when we wanted it, not him.

If anyone thinks Ron's going to just wave goodbye and bugger off out the door with Lambert looking on with helpless puppy dog eyes, they're very much mistaken. He'll leave if/when we decide to sell, or his deal runs out. As much as Randolph has screwed the pooch in many aspects of running the club, when it comes to our better players, he gets top dollar. We've never been robbed.

[Gregorys Boy]

I don't think he will go to the Saints right now no.  Lets see if we get any better offers no sign of that so far.

[Phil from the upper holte]

I still think Vlaar is a very good player who has suffered from having to cover for Baker week in, week out.

Is correct, Maybe he doesn't fancy it next year or maybe he's a loyal sort and he'll stay, I also agree with others that it won't be the last contract he signs and if he goes to saints or QPR then he is a div