Transfer Speculation / Gossip

[RussellC]

Yeah, I've read it, and all Lambert does is state that no-one will be leaving against his wishes. There's actually no mention of them being offered new contracts in any of his quotes.

And, as for Albrighton, that's certainly not his take on it;

http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/2014/06/05/no-aston-villa-offer-says-marc-albrighton/

[dave.woodhall]

RE: the Dutch Manager. It's not just that. Koeman was the Manager at Feyenoord where he made Ron Vlaar Captain. Admittedly, that doesn't automatically mean that he'll bid for him, but it does mean that they have an existing relationship. We also know that Managers joining new clubs (in new leagues) tend to look to bring in players that they already know.

For those who are quite relaxed about this, I ask you to look at it from a different angle; If you were Vlaar's agent at the moment, what would you be looking to do?

I'd want him to move to Real Madrid or Manchester City, but that's not likely is it? A new offer from Villa, as talked about by Paul Lambert yesterday, but which seems to have been ignored as it doesn't fit into the Doomsday Scenario, is a lot more realistic.

Doomsday scenario? Come on Dave, you're better than that. People are just reacting and speculating to what's happening at the club this summer. Man City and Real madrid are, of course, unrealistic but there are plenty of clubs that aren't, not just in the Premiership but in the Bundesliga too. Say, for example, Dortmund lose Hummels this summer. Is it really unrealistic that they could see Vlaar as a potential replacement.

As for Lambert's interview, he's quoted as saying "“I don’t think anybody will go without me saying so. I think the lads are happy here and want to get going again." You'll have to point me to the part where "a new deal" is specifically mentioned. Then again, he also told us that he'd be sitting down with Mark Albrighton's agent to sort-out a new contract.

The only people saying Vlaar is off are Villa supporters, one of whom said it was "99.99% likely." We don't want him to go, he hasn't dropped the slightest of hints that he wants to leave, yet our own supporters have him gone already.

[hilts_coolerking]

I'd want him to move to Real Madrid or Manchester City, but that's not likely is it? A new offer from Villa, as talked about by Paul Lambert yesterday, but which seems to have been ignored as it doesn't fit into the Doomsday Scenario, is a lot more realistic.

I don't think it's a Doomsday Scenario.  Yes, he may well be offered a new contract but at the same time he's an established Premier League player who is raising his profile at the World Cup, will soon be out of contract and is at a club in limbo which tends to sell its best players.  I don't think there's anything particularly controversial about saying that.

[Dante Lavelli]

RE: the Dutch Manager. It's not just that. Koeman was the Manager at Feyenoord where he made Ron Vlaar Captain.

That's not a million miles away from Lambert though.  He's bought him in, given him a pay-rise and made him captain.
I've no idea whether he'll stay or go but would be pretty confident that it'd be either money offered in wages or the potential for success at any new club which would be a bigger factor in moving than the nationality of the manager.

[RussellC]

I'd want him to move to Real Madrid or Manchester City, but that's not likely is it? A new offer from Villa, as talked about by Paul Lambert yesterday, but which seems to have been ignored as it doesn't fit into the Doomsday Scenario, is a lot more realistic.

I don't think it's a Doomsday Scenario.  Yes, he may well be offered a new contract but at the same time he's an established Premier League player who is raising his profile at the World Cup, will soon be out of contract and is at a club in limbo which tends to sell its best players.  I don't think there's anything particularly controversial about saying that.

And people's reactions are also affected by our faith (or lack of) in the club to get the best outcome for the team, not the bank balance. That's certainly where my worry (call it negativity if you like) comes from at the moment.

[pauliewalnuts]

I'd want him to move to Real Madrid or Manchester City, but that's not likely is it? A new offer from Villa, as talked about by Paul Lambert yesterday, but which seems to have been ignored as it doesn't fit into the Doomsday Scenario, is a lot more realistic.

I don't think it's a Doomsday Scenario.  Yes, he may well be offered a new contract but at the same time he's an established Premier League player who is raising his profile at the World Cup, will soon be out of contract and is at a club in limbo which tends to sell its best players.  I don't think there's anything particularly controversial about saying that.

And people's reactions are also affected by our faith (or lack of) in the club to get the best outcome for the team, not the bank balance. That's certainly where my worry (call it negativity if you like) comes from at the moment.

I agree with Dave in that the 99.9% off line is based on pretty much no discernible evidence (for such a strong claim) but I think you also make a very valid point here.

Confidence in the club to get things right (in terms of squad), to put us in a position where we can improve considerably, to suggest they know what they're doing, is at a very low level these days.

It'd be nice to see some real evidence that they can do all of the above.

[Gregorys Boy]

Look at our win/loss ratio when Vlaar is in the team and when he isn't.  There is no way in hell the club is going to sell him this season, he is literally more important to us than Benteke was last season when he tried to get a transfer, and we know how that turned out.

Delph and Vlaar will both be here next season unless somebody offers stupid money for them (which they wont because they could get them for free next year).  Stop worrying and enjoy the summer.

Great post, and actually close to something I have been thinking, in that if we can get good season out of Vlaar and he plays his part in keeping us up then I would be happy to take a chance on him leaving on a free next year.

[brian green]

Dave I really don't get the criticism of those of us who genuinely feel that the club is in truly dire straits as a "Doomsday scenario".  We have an owner who wants rid of us, a massively unpopular underachieving manager, no budget other than survival funds and no sign whatsoever of a potential buyer. If the club has ever faced a time with more to lose and less to cling to I have never seen it.

[RussellC]

I agree with Dave in that the 99.9% off line is based on pretty much no discernible evidence (for such a strong claim) but I think you also make a very valid point here.

Confidence in the club to get things right (in terms of squad), to put us in a position where we can improve considerably, to suggest they know what they're doing, is at a very low level these days.

It'd be nice to see some real evidence that they can do all of the above.

I agree that the '99.9% gone' comment is OTT (not sure who made it), but I still struggle to see how so many people are relaxed about the current plight of the club.

I'm hopeful that the next couple of players we bring in will bring in an air of optimism with them and would hope that the club would be looking to throw a few 'good news' stories around by way of a PR exercise.

Plus, it's Friday, and the sun's shining.

[Gregorys Boy]

Dave I really don't get the criticism of those of us who genuinely feel that the club is in truly dire straits as a "Domesday scenario".  We have an owner who wants rid of us, a massively unpopular underachieving manager, no budget other than survival funds and no sign whatsoever of a potential buyer. If the club has ever faced a time with more to lose and less to cling to I have never seen it.

I can see where he is coming from in terms of there being little concrete (see what I did there!) evidence of Vlaar wanting a move, but then just to put it down to fans being negative is a bit lame.  Given his age, the fact that he is having a strong world cup, and that he should be able to attract better clubs then I don't think it is too much of a leap to suggest that he might be tempted to move.

[RussellC]

Dave I really don't get the criticism of those of us who genuinely feel that the club is in truly dire straits as a "Domesday scenario".  We have an owner who wants rid of us, a massively unpopular underachieving manager, no budget other than survival funds and no sign whatsoever of a potential buyer. If the club has ever faced a time with more to lose and less to cling to I have never seen it.

I can see where he is coming from in terms of there being little concrete (see what I did there!) evidence of Vlaar wanting a move, but then just to put it down to fans being negative is a bit lame.  Given his age, the fact that he is having a strong world cup, and that he should be able to attract better clubs then I don't think it is too much of a leap to suggest that he might be tempted to move.

Plus, it's a Transfer Speculation thread. Sadly, with the way things currently are we're as likely to be speculating about players leaving as we are them joining.

[rob_bridge]

There was an article in the BM which states new deals to be discussed with Gabby, Vlaar and Delph.

We did sit down with Albrighton, a distinctly average player at best, who was offered £35k per week from Leicester. We would have been mental to have matched that and Albrighton would have been mental to have turned that down.

Yes - we would have been. Still I could see from his perspective why he would want parity with e.g. Clark.

And there is absolutely no way we should be offering a new contract to Gabby - he is a busted flush and is now a no trick pony.

I'd rather the money not spent on him goes to retaining Vlaar and Delph. After all they make up 50% of the first team who are actually good enough at this level (accepting Kozak and Okore may increase the number to 6 in time).

[Dave Cooper please]

Dave I really don't get the criticism of those of us who genuinely feel that the club is in truly dire straits as a "Doomsday scenario".  We have an owner who wants rid of us, a massively unpopular underachieving manager, no budget other than survival funds and no sign whatsoever of a potential buyer. If the club has ever faced a time with more to lose and less to cling to I have never seen it.

I don't think we are in dire straits though Brian. We potentially have a slightly better team than last season where we survived with games to spare and we aren't in massive debt to shysters who will sell us down the river to get their money back or make a fast buck.
 We are, in essence, decidedly bloody average. Of course this isn't good enough for Aston Villa and it's fans, but it's not as bad as is being painted by a fair few on here and elsewhere.

 I hesitate to make such a glib statement as "At least we're not Coventry or Leeds (or Hereford or Salisbury...or many others)" but, well, we're not are we?

[rob_bridge]

Let's face facts with what we have we are staring at a 5th season of struggle / relegation battle.

Burnley should be worse than us and we need a couple of others to implode / panic.

[RussellC]

we survived with games to spare

I'm sorry, but that's positive spin in the extreme. We survived with 2 games to spare, and promptly proceeded to concede 7 goals and score none in those 2 games.

And I'm afraid we're not "bang average". We've been in relegation battles for the past 2 seasons. We're poor, and many of us see nothing in the signings so far that will "potentially improve us".

I'm all for seeing the positives in any situation, but I genuinely don't see any for us at the moment.