Transfer Speculation / Gossip

[brontebilly]

I would say on todays evidence (not that we needed any further indication) 5-6 decent players need to be bought. Our first 11 isn't good enough as is, but the squad is very poor. No strength in depth whatsoever.

true, our squad is shocking. Just looking at the names in our squad, most of them arent championship standard.

time to cash in on the likes of clark, baker, weimann, lowton and bennett while they still have some resale value. Should get Championship teams or maybe newly promoted ones interested in them. think herd, albrighton, fonz and gardner are gone from the wage bill in the summer. hasnt worked out for them.

I think better alternatives to injury prone senior players like Vlaar and Gabby need to be considered too. If we have to raise cash to finance deals then those two can go.

Chelsea, Spurs and United will be gutting their squads this summer. Might pick up a few bargains - Young, Cleverely, Evans, Hernandez, Ba, Dawson, Sigurdsson, Holtby should all be available. If that lad Garry Monk stays in charge of Swansea, a load of their players will be looking to leave.

[Dave]

Apparently we wanted Holtby but he was out of price range. So he went to Fulham.

Couldn't afford his wages. Oh dear!

It doesn't necessarily say that, does it?

He'll be paid the wages that his Spurs contract stipulate. How much Spurs are paying and how much Fulham are paying is the question, plus what loan fee Fulham will have paid for the privilege.

Given the rumours last summer that Fulham were not only covering Bent's full wages but also paying us £2m as a loan fee, it wouldn't surprise me if Spurs are doing extremely well out of the Holtby loan.

And given the clauses that we know for a fact Spurs insisted on when they loaned us Jenas, it stands up that we might not have agreed to be as accommodating as Fulham are. And based on past history, with good reason.

Looking on the bright side, it suggests that he does actually realise that he needs to sign a player of that ilk (assuming he's here long enough to do it)

[curiousorange]

I don't know how much Lambert does realise we need players like Holtby. If we've gone for them and been put off by wage demands, I really feel we haven't tried hard enough on other targets. I think Lambert would rather bank his hopes on cheaper players coming good and saving up his transfer kitty for a rainy day than spending slightly more on better quality now and possibly having less to spend later.

I think that you buy a player like Holtby now, you won't have to spend later, but that's where me, Lambert and Faulkner differ.

[tomd2103]

I don't know how much Lambert does realise we need players like Holtby. If we've gone for them and been put off by wage demands, I really feel we haven't tried hard enough on other targets. I think Lambert would rather bank his hopes on cheaper players coming good and saving up his transfer kitty for a rainy day than spending slightly more on better quality now and possibly having less to spend later.

I think that you buy a player like Holtby now, you won't have to spend later, but that's where me, Lambert and Faulkner differ.

[DrGonzo]

Just a quick cut and paste from a "gossip column"...file under "no shit Sherlock":

Darren Bent will leave Fulham at the end of the season - even if they stay up

[BoskoDjembaSalifou]

Just a quick cut and paste from a "gossip column"...file under "no shit Sherlock":

Darren Bent will leave Fulham at the end of the season - even if they stay up

Loan player to return to parent club at the end of the season. Wow, that's surprising!

[Des Little]

Bent could outlive Lambert at the Villa.  Who'd have thunk it?

[supertom]

Bent could outlive Lambert at the Villa.  Who'd have thunk it?

If someone takes over in June, they inherit N'Zogbia and Bent who could yet prove very useful. Benteke needs time to recover. We might not see him till late this year. Kozak is in recovery still, he might not be able to have a full solid pre-season. Bent's not the player he was by any stretch, but give him a good pre-season, and whilst we're paying his wages, use him. If no one buys him, or takes his wages for his final year, then why not play him? There's worse impact players we could have on our bench.
Same goes for Given. If he's here. Use him. He's a good pro and a good keeper who'd be safer back up than Steer at this point.

[glasses]

Steady on Supertom. That would be the logical thing to do. This is Villa we're talking about.

Lets make them polish the youth teams boots and wash the toilets. They won't want to play for us then so we can just pay them to play for someone else.

[sirlordbaltimore]

Bent could outlive Lambert at the Villa.  Who'd have thunk it?

Ah, the refreshing thought of a new manager, wingers playing and a goal poacher putting the ball in the net

Bliss.

[godzvilla]

More to continue the thread & provide some light distraction than anything else  but here is some Transfer speculation from today,s press , for what its worth............Godzvilla!

TELEGRAPH :"Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert is pressing ahead with his transfer plans for next season and has identified Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Lewis Holtby as a priority signing.

Lambert’s position as manager remains uncertain ahead of a possible takeover but he is still compiling targets for this summer, with Holtby top of his wishlist.

Lambert wants to make a £6 million bid for the Germany international, who has impressed on loan at Fulham, and is also keen to join the race for Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott. Lambert has come under heavy fire from supporters this season after a second successive campaign of struggle, with Villa still in grave danger of relegation to the Championship.

However, the Scot is determined to remain in charge even if chairman Randy Lerner sells the club and aims to make quality signings to improve his squad if they survive the drop" 

DAILY STAR ( Yes , I know ! ) They are linking us with Hernandez at Manure [/b]

[PaulWinch again]

Well all three of those would improve our squad a lot, but I imagine all of their wages would be vastly outside our scope.

[Damo70]

The treatment of the bomb squad confuses me. I would sooner have Given as a back up keeper/coach than Steer on the bench. N'Zogbia is definitely worth a place in our match day eighteen. Bent hasn't pulled up any trees this season at Fulham but with Benteke out until maybe Christmas and Kozak not necessarily fit for the start of the season we would be better off playing him until they are back and then looking to loan him to free up wages rather than spend money on another striker and probably still have to pay Bent as well. I think Bent's best days are behind him but for the sake of one more season I will take him over Holt or Bowery. As for Helenius, for some reason he looks like being another Balaban or Berson.

[Damo70]

Well all three of those would improve our squad a lot, but I imagine all of their wages would be vastly outside our scope.

I think Hernandez would definitely come under the category of a special case which has been hinted at when it comes to paying wages. I would imagine Lescott would be something like a two year deal which should be manageable. I am not sure we would necessarily need him with Okore back but his experience and winning mentality would be a boost around the club.

[edgysatsuma89]

I want to know more than anything else what the fuck is the problem over Helenius. We can't even judge the poor lad, all I know is I have no faith anymore in Holt, Weimann and Gabby. Why bother buying him?