Transfer Speculation / Gossip

[paul_e]

Given; Vlaar has made no statement of intent to leave, no club has bid (as far as we know), Lambert has stated he is happy at the club and we want to open discussions on a new deal

I'm still yet to see or hear any mention of the club offering Vlaar a new deal. Lambert's been quoted as saying, "'Ron's got another year still to go on his contract, it's not as if he's at the end of it 'Once we get back I'll sit with him, we'll have a bit more time, but he loves it at Villa, that's well known.' But the omission to say anything along the lines of "we're looking to offer him an extension" is glaring to me, and makes me think that it won't happen under Randy's stewardship. With a week to go until the season starts there's still not so much of a whisper on a new deal being offered to either Vlaar or Delph.

I hope beyond hope that both of these happen, but I certainly wouldn't call it a 'given'.

I never said anything was a given, I said, to paraphrase myself "given that the following are the facts as we know them then ..."

I take "Once we get back I'll sit with him" as a suggestion that we're going to talk about contract otherwise it's a frankly bizarre comment to make in response to a question about Vlaar's future at the club, I don't see how that can be interpreted any other way.  How that discussion turns out is another story entirely.

I just don't get this assertion that we say things like that, or similar comments that have been made about Delph, if we had no intention to at least ask what they'd be looking for. It might be that the figure they come back with is out of the question for us right now but I won';t accept that we haven't at least asked that much.

As for not hearing a sniff about the contracts, how often do we hear that the club is discussing new deals before they're actually signed and announced? Is us not having heard anything really all that unusual, or are you allowing your assumptions make you draw conclusions that you wouldn't have done last summer, or the one before.

[PeterWithesShin]

I wouldn't want the club telling us every time they start contract talks with a player.

[PeterWithesShin]

As for Cissokho, he's never been the same since the fame of 'Thong Song' went to his head.

[ozzjim]

Vlaar is an interesting one. You have to think Vermaelen going to Barcelona may spell bad news for us on the Vlaar front. But then 10-12m, could we get a centre half and still have change for say the 4m to get Ki AND a loan player? If that played out, considering Vlaar has not been as good for us as he was for the Dutch side this summer, would it make us better off? It may be worth exploring if he signals he wants out.

[Dave]

You never know, he might turn out to be half decent for Villa.

He certainly wouldn't be the first person who wasn't good enough for a team trying to qualify for the Champions League but is plenty good enough for a team trying to stay in the division.

[RussellC]

I never said anything was a given, I said, to paraphrase myself "given that the following are the facts as we know them then ..."

I take "Once we get back I'll sit with him" as a suggestion that we're going to talk about contract otherwise it's a frankly bizarre comment to make in response to a question about Vlaar's future at the club, I don't see how that can be interpreted any other way.  How that discussion turns out is another story entirely.

I just don't get this assertion that we say things like that, or similar comments that have been made about Delph, if we had no intention to at least ask what they'd be looking for. It might be that the figure they come back with is out of the question for us right now but I won';t accept that we haven't at least asked that much.

As for not hearing a sniff about the contracts, how often do we hear that the club is discussing new deals before they're actually signed and announced? Is us not having heard anything really all that unusual, or are you allowing your assumptions make you draw conclusions that you wouldn't have done last summer, or the one before.

If I was the club, and had deals on the table for 2 of my best players, I'd want the supporters to know about it. Especially in such an uncertain time where supporter apathy / worry looks like dive-bombing ticket sales. As per my previous post, Lambert has had every opportunity to be categorical about this and specifically hasn't. On any occasion. Same goes for Delph, who is quoted as saying "'I'd love to sign a new deal and am ready to talk but it's not up to me so we'll have to see.'

We keep being told by some posters that the club are waiting for the World Cup to finish before offering these contracts. Then we were waiting for the pre-season tour to finish. It seems to me that we're only waiting for one thing, and that's a new owner.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong, and will gladly let you remind me that I was, but I just don't see any evidence that suggests otherwise at the moment.

[PeterWithesShin]

And what if, forever reason, the a player/s turn the deals down? You want that public knowledge as well? Or how about if it takes months to come to agreement, should the club have to keep updating us, should the player?
 We, or any club, should not be conducting contract business in public imo.

[AGRIPPA]

Think it was Robbie Keane who Doug wouldn't pay out for… went to Coventry!!

Gregory later admitted that he was the one who felt Keane wasn't worth the extra 500k and put the kaybosh on the deal, not Doug.

Aaaah!! Corrected!!

[RussellC]

And what if, forever reason, the a player/s turn the deals down? You want that public knowledge as well? Or how about if it takes months to come to agreement, should the club have to keep updating us, should the player?
 We, or any club, should not be conducting contract business in public imo.

That's a fair point, but it still doesn't convince me that that's actually the case. Delph's comments wouldn't make any sense if it was.

[PeterWithesShin]

And what if, forever reason, the a player/s turn the deals down? You want that public knowledge as well? Or how about if it takes months to come to agreement, should the club have to keep updating us, should the player?
 We, or any club, should not be conducting contract business in public imo.

That's a fair point, but it still doesn't convince me that that's actually the case. Delph's comments wouldn't make any sense if it was.

I'm not saying it is the case, or trying to convince you we are in contract talks as I don't have a clue if we are. My point is, that is how it should be imo. As much as I want Delph and Vlaar signed to new contracts the first I should know about it is when we announce they have signed.
I'll also add that I will be mightily pissed off if we aren't in talks with them, but i'm not going to give the club stick for something they may or may not be doing, when my opinion is I shouldn't know if talks are taking place or not.

[paul_e]

And what if, forever reason, the a player/s turn the deals down? You want that public knowledge as well? Or how about if it takes months to come to agreement, should the club have to keep updating us, should the player?
 We, or any club, should not be conducting contract business in public imo.

That's a fair point, but it still doesn't convince me that that's actually the case. Delph's comments wouldn't make any sense if it was.

I'm not saying it is the case, or trying to convince you we are in contract talks as I don't have a clue if we are. My point is, that is how it should be imo. As much as I want Delph and Vlaar signed to new contracts the first I should know about it is when we announce they have signed.
I'll also add that I will be mightily pissed off if we aren't in talks with them, but i'm not going to give the club stick for something they may or may not be doing, when my opinion is I shouldn't know if talks are taking place or not.

Absolutely agree.

[Gaztonniller]

And what if, forever reason, the a player/s turn the deals down? You want that public knowledge as well? Or how about if it takes months to come to agreement, should the club have to keep updating us, should the player?
We, or any club, should not be conducting contract business in public imo.

Agreed it should be so, but then you have the player's agents to contend with.

[PeterWithesShin]

And what if, forever reason, the a player/s turn the deals down? You want that public knowledge as well? Or how about if it takes months to come to agreement, should the club have to keep updating us, should the player?
We, or any club, should not be conducting contract business in public imo.

Agreed it should be so, but then you have the player's agents to contend with.

And 'Appy 'Arry.

[Mister E]

If I was the club, and had deals on the table for 2 of my best players, I'd want the supporters to know about it. Especially in such an uncertain time where supporter apathy / worry looks like dive-bombing ticket sales. As per my previous post, Lambert has had every opportunity to be categorical about this and specifically hasn't. On any occasion. Same goes for Delph, who is quoted as saying "'I'd love to sign a new deal and am ready to talk but it's not up to me so we'll have to see.'

We keep being told by some posters that the club are waiting for the World Cup to finish before offering these contracts. Then we were waiting for the pre-season tour to finish. It seems to me that we're only waiting for one thing, and that's a new owner.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong, and will gladly let you remind me that I was, but I just don't see any evidence that suggests otherwise at the moment.

for me, this uncertainty is just another aspect of the attempts to sell. Lerner must think that he's going to sell up between now and Christmas and therefore that the new owner can cut the deals with players that need to be re-signed. It looks, from the outside, like a pretty dodgy approach but that is what seems to be the case.

[Ads]

Sign a decent defensive midfielder and maybe get an attacking one of good quality on loan to play on the right and we will be comfortably mid-table.