Fabian Delph - Signed for Manchester City

[olaftab]

It is easier for your heads to drop after a couple of goals going in knowing 1. you are likely safe now, and 2. you are likely to be off pretty soon.

And above that picking up a nasty little injury will stop any summer transfer!

[alan_clarke]

Our poor performances towards the end of the season wasnt because they didn't try - it was because the 'key' players who are leaving arent all they are cracked up to be. Doesn't make the fact that are leaving any prettier but I'm confident we can do better

[supertom]

The last 3 games was purely and simply running out of steam. Cobbling together 11 players who were as close to fit as we could get. We had nothing left in the tank, and our side, with the exception of 3-4 players was absolute fucking dross. Taking a couple of hidings wasn't really too surprising.
Delph certainly never lacks effort, but even he seemed to be running on empty by the time the final came around.

[Malandro]

https://youtu.be/5nffOdVAWJ4

I didn't see this interview with Delph and Fox. Makes thee blood boil.

[Walmley_Villa]

https://youtu.be/5nffOdVAWJ4

I didn't see this interview with Delph and Fox. Makes thee blood boil.

Makes us look like a right bunch of muppets! Will be interesting to see how Villa twist this

[Villa in Denmark]

Other than the disappointment / anger to thoughts / observations.

1. The point isn't "what was he supposed to say?", it's that he didn't need to say anything at all. How often is a contract extension blown up like that?
As a comparison, what happened when Benteke signed his, which was arguably bigger news?

2. I hope we haven't committed to the usual signing / loyalty bonuses, otherwise we're little better off than him leaving on a free.

[manic-road]

Downing, Barry and Ash Young were all England regulars when they decided to leave the Villa, it wasn't long before they were out of the international scene after apparently going to greener pastures. I wander what the future holds for Delph over the next couple of years if he becomes an occasional player at Man City.

I don't blame him for wanting out as no doubt he will be extremely better paid than what he would be at Villa and has a greater chance of winning silverware, I'm more pissed off with the way the club has been run for the past five years by the current owner and his board. If the Delph deal was completed under Faulkner he would have been seen as an even bigger prat but Fox and Lerner at the moment have proved to be total cack.

[john e]

some good news chaps

if you have young kids who have the Delph poster from the programme up on the bedroom wall, don't just rip it up and throw it in the rubbish bin

turn it over it has Jores Okore on the other side

Result

[cdbearsfan]

I wouldn't have any issue with Delph leaving if he hadn't come out with that loyalty bullshit in January. He really must have no conscience whatsoever. Certain players have been giving football a bad name for years now but the actions of Delph, and even worse, Raheem Sterling are a new low.

Again, if he had no conscience whatsoever, he could just have left on a free.

Is it impossible that he changed his mind?

If it was about him changing his mind, he wouldn't have had the release clause so low in the first place.

In January, we had no idea what division we'd be in, who'd be managing us, or who'd be our owner.

With so much uncertainty, it makes sense to leave your options open. Had he had no release clause, or one set at, say, £20 million, Man City almost certainly wouldn't have been willing to sign him.

It's also possible that his agent said there wasn't much interest in January, and that Man City's attention has developed since. Bear in mind they still could've won the League and/or European Cup back in January, in which case Pellegrini may have been less inclined to make wholesale squad changes.

I keep asking, and so far only Amfy has attempted to give an answer, if he always intended to leave, and his words about loving the club were just lies, why say them at all? Why not just leave, for nothing?

[PeterWithe]

You know when posters get jumped on for saying everything is shit and the club dont have the first fucking clue.

They are usually right.

[cdbearsfan]

I don't think it's fair to criticise the club for not negotiating a better deal in January. They may have had no choice.

However, my gripe is that we should've been offering him an extended deal about two years ago. We offered a new contract to Hutton after about three games!

[PeterWithe]

I keep asking, and so far only Amfy has attempted to give an answer, if he always intended to leave, and his words about loving the club were just lies, why say them at all? Why not just leave, for nothing?

1. He would have received a signing bonus for the new contract.
2. He may have been pursueded it was a good idea by our utterly inept management.
3. Maybe it was part of the deal that gave him the artifically low release fee, 'we'll set the fee low if you help us take these mugs for a ride'

[phantom limb]

I guess we didn't offer him a contract earlier because he kept getting injured for lengthy spells.

[cdbearsfan]

I keep asking, and so far only Amfy has attempted to give an answer, if he always intended to leave, and his words about loving the club were just lies, why say them at all? Why not just leave, for nothing?

1. He would have received a signing bonus for the new contract.
2. He may have been pursueded it was a good idea by our utterly inept management.
3. Maybe it was part of the deal that gave him the artifically low release fee, 'we'll set the fee low if you help us take these mugs for a ride'

1. Any increased wealth he gained from a signing-on fee and bump in wages at Villa would've been more than offset had he been negotiating with his next club as a free agent.

2. Maybe, but that only backs up my "he changed his mind" (as people do all the time) theory.

3. He had no need to take any "mugs" for a ride. He could've just left for nothing.

[Dave]

I guess we didn't offer him a contract earlier because he kept getting injured for lengthy spells.

Really? He signed a contact in 2011, after his big injury. In Lambert's first two seasons he played 32 and 36 matches, then hardly missed a game last season.

If we were that concerned about his injury record, it would be odd to do it for the first time when he'd gone for two years playing most of our matches.