Other clubs' transfers

[Guest kingdawson]

SSN reporting that Mark Hughes has called a press conference for 3:00 pm today.

 

Probably to address the rumours. Already said today that he's not leaving.

 

Yeh i'm guessing that too.

 

Oh well, no corluka it seems.

[Skeletor]

Daily Hatemail suggesting it should be sealed tomorrow...

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1044128/Fergie-banks-Berbatov-United-seal-deal-25m-Spurs-striker.html

 

Fergie banks on Berbatov: United seal the deal for £25m Spurs striker

 

 

Dimitar Berbatov is expected to agree personal terms and seal his £25million move to Manchester United.

 

Sportsmail understands that the Bulgaria striker is due at United's Carrington training centre after finally being given permission by Tottenham Hotspur to talk to the Barclays Premier League and European champions.

 

The 27-year-old will be offered a four-year deal worth in the region of £80,000-a-week. United hope he will appear on their official pre-season team photo, scheduled to be taken on Friday.

 

 

If Berbatov agrees terms, his signing will end an 18-month pursuit by Sir Alex Ferguson, who will be on the verge of fielding his dream attacking line-up featuring Berbatov, Carlos Tevez, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo when the latter two regain health and fitness.

 

Ironically, the Premier League board are discussing Tottenham's allegations that United have behaved improperly in their pursuit of Berbatov. White Hart Lane chairman Daniel Levy believes United 'tapped up' their player and made a complaint to the Premier League in mid-July.

 

However, the League are not expected to find in Tottenham's favour - especially as the clubs have been negotiating for the last few weeks. As Sportsmail revealed last month, United's first offer of £20m for Berbatov was turned down with Spurs originally wanting £32m for the player.

 

But it is understood the clubs have now agreed on a fee of around £25m - money which Spurs will need to spend immediately on a replacement.

 

At United there will be jubilation if the deal goes through as Berbatov has been targeted to lead the line since impressing Ferguson in 2006-07.

 

With Louis Saha so often injured, United have not had a 'through the middle' striker since Ruud van Nistelrooy left.

 

The only dispute seems to be whether it's £25m plus add-ons up to £28m or £28m up front as the Times says.  Levy's love of an add-on makes me think the former.

 

What's held it up is getting another striker in.  Arshavin was in London today so I hope a fee has been agreed with Zenit otherwise the price will another couple of mill upwards.

 

I say you guys put off business until Monday. You know you want to.

[Guest Nufc4Life]

Hughes has given an interview to the official city site saying he is staying, no problems etc. So he's hardly going to do that this morning, then call a press conference and quit is he.

 

Be interesting to hearwhat he says, hopefully has a right go at the press for making up a load of shite. Probably be something minor though.

[Teasy]

I think MON has spent very well in the past week.Villa will be cetainly vying for 5th this season,and to give MON credit,this time last week,i was thinking they were falling behind Spuds and Pompey,squad wise.Not now,the defence looks really strong,and perhaps with a bit of creativity,whether up front or midfield,they may scare the so called big 4.

 

Don't see it personally.  Sidwell is a step down from Barry and Cuellar will be at best an able replacement for Mellberg, at worst Boumsong 2.. where have they improved?  Friedel looks to be the only improvement.

[Ashley17]

I think MON has spent very well in the past week.Villa will be cetainly vying for 5th this season,and to give MON credit,this time last week,i was thinking they were falling behind Spuds and Pompey,squad wise.Not now,the defence looks really strong,and perhaps with a bit of creativity,whether up front or midfield,they may scare the so called big 4.

 

Don't see it personally.  Sidwell is a step down from Barry and Cuellar will be at best an able replacement for Mellberg, at worst Boumsong 2.. where have they improved?  Friedel looks to be the only improvement.

 

Luke Young > Mellberg (as a right back, I reckon)

Cuellar > Zat Knight

Shorey = Bouma?

Friedel > Carson

[relámpago blanco]

I think MON has spent very well in the past week.Villa will be cetainly vying for 5th this season,and to give MON credit,this time last week,i was thinking they were falling behind Spuds and Pompey,squad wise.Not now,the defence looks really strong,and perhaps with a bit of creativity,whether up front or midfield,they may scare the so called big 4.

 

Don't see it personally.  Sidwell is a step down from Barry and Cuellar will be at best an able replacement for Mellberg, at worst Boumsong 2.. where have they improved?  Friedel looks to be the only improvement.

 

Luke Young > Mellberg (as a right back, I reckon)

Cuellar > Zat Knight

Shorey = Bouma?

Friedel > Carson

Yeah but Davies and Laursen are first choice and I can't see that changing, he might decide to go back to the 352 he used to use at leicester and Celtic though.

[Ashley17]

....it doesnt matter if they are 3rd choice or 30th choice, Cuellar is still better than Zat Knight so they have improved their squad as a whole.

[gdm]

chelsea to make 'major announcent' at 5pm (talksport)

[Teasy]

Would say Bouma is better then Shorey and Mellberg is better then Luke Young even at right back.  Can't argue Friedel is better then Carson and Cuellar should certainly be better then Zat Knight but Knight wasn't even first choice so its quite odd to even compare them.

[relámpago blanco]

....it doesnt matter if they are 3rd choice or 30th choice, Cuellar is still better than Zat Knight so they have improved their squad as a whole.

How do you know Cuellar will be better than Zat Knight in the Prem?

 

Edit:  Caldwell looks almost world class in the SPL.

[Ashley17]

I think they had Mellberg or Craig Gardner, neither are out and out right backs. I remember brummie going mad over it last summer during the window.

[Ashley17]

....it doesnt matter if they are 3rd choice or 30th choice, Cuellar is still better than Zat Knight so they have improved their squad as a whole.

How do you know Cuellar will be better than Zat Knight in the Prem?

 

Edit:  Caldwell looks almost world class in the SPL.

 

Let's call it an educated guess.

[Martin Lol]

 

I wouldn't have said Villa are overrated tbh.  They're always organised, got a top quality manager, very hard to beat.  They may not be the most flamboyant going forward but results are what count at the end of the day.  Barry is pivotal to Villa though, if he did make the move to Liverpool, he would be hard to replace.

 

I actually thought we were pretty good to watch going forward last year, Young and Agbonlahor breaking from midfield.

 

I know we scored a lot of goals from free kicks, too, but lest we forget, only Man United (and maybe Spurs) scored more goals than we did.

 

You don't go to Stamford Bridge and score four goals without having a go, although that match highlights what our main problem was last year - keeping clean sheets. Second half of the season, we paid for Carson's Croatia nightmare in practically every match, we didn't keep a clean sheet for months and months.

 

If we'd have had a decent goalkeeper, quite a few of those draws would have been turned into wins.

 

Also, re Barry - he's not pivotal to us. A lot of opposition fans tend to take the "he's their best player" route because they just assume he is. He might be our highest profile player, but he went missing for big chunks of last season, and Young, Laursen and Bouma all had better seasons than he did.

 

If he goes, he'll need replacing, but I'd be far more worried if it were Young going.

 

You're obviously closer to see how the team functions but I would have put Barry at Villa in the same category as Carrick to Spurs, the most important cog in the machine, not just the part that's good because it's shiny.  I also said that Villa weren't the most flamboyant, I wouldn't dispute they looked good going forward, but like a well oiled machine, not with a moment of genius.  I'm not saying that's a bad thing, just how I perceived them.  In Young I thought Villa had the player that made the whole forward play tick.  If you remember, Spurs were bidding as well but dropped out at £7.5m.  At the time I thought that was too much and paying £9.6m was near lunacy.  Hindsight is a wonderful thing tbh!

[Guest kingdawson]

chelsea to make 'major announcent' at 5pm (talksport)

 

Robinho?

[SEMTEX]

Kaka imo

[robbo_11]

Branko Ivanovic to AC Milan on loan for €2m with a future fee of €10m.

[Mags Serbia]

Branko Ivanovic to AC Milan on loan for €2m with a future fee of €10m.

 

Branislav not Branko Ivanovic

[Newcastle Fan]

Branko Ivanovic to AC Milan on loan for 2m with a future fee of 10m.

 

Confirmed?..what a shit signing from Chelsea if so.

 

Always thought he would cut it easily in the italian league, lets see what he can do now.

[robbo_11]

Branko Ivanovic to AC Milan on loan for 2m with a future fee of 10m.

 

Confirmed?..what a s*** signing from Chelsea if so.

 

Always thought he would cut it easily in the italian league, lets see what he can do now.

 

Just on the gazzetta website. Only reason i posted it is I didn't know if he had played for Chelsea yet cost about £10m!

[brummie]

I think MON has spent very well in the past week.Villa will be cetainly vying for 5th this season,and to give MON credit,this time last week,i was thinking they were falling behind Spuds and Pompey,squad wise.Not now,the defence looks really strong,and perhaps with a bit of creativity,whether up front or midfield,they may scare the so called big 4.

 

Don't see it personally.  Sidwell is a step down from Barry and Cuellar will be at best an able replacement for Mellberg, at worst Boumsong 2.. where have they improved?  Friedel looks to be the only improvement.

 

Sidwell isn't a Barry replacement, though.

 

Mellberg has been on a downward slope for 3 years now. He's a hero to us, but any Villa fan will tell you his best years are gone.

 

He also played the entirety of last season at RB, so I don't see how Cuellar replaces him.

 

Calling Cuellar Boumsong 2 is a bit harsh. He's come from the SPL and he's a foreign defender, does that mean he's shit as well?

[brummie]

Would say Bouma is better then Shorey and Mellberg is better then Luke Young even at right back.  Can't argue Friedel is better then Carson and Cuellar should certainly be better then Zat Knight but Knight wasn't even first choice so its quite odd to even compare them.

 

Bouma is a better player than Shorey, but his right foot currently points in the wrong direction, hence the need for another LB. When Bouma comes back, we'll have two LBs instead of one at the club.

 

The other obvious improvement is that we now have a right back. Mellberg did ok there defensively, but was awful coming forward. We've now got Luke Young to play there.

 

If you can find me a single Villa fan who thinks Mellberg is a better option at right back than Luke Young, I'll eat my metaphorical hat.

 

 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

O'Neill has done a solid job of sorting his defence out... when I was picking my fantasy team this season Villa only had about 3 defenders listed!

 

He hasn't signed any world-beaters but at least he now has a functioning back four.

[Teasy]

I think MON has spent very well in the past week.Villa will be cetainly vying for 5th this season,and to give MON credit,this time last week,i was thinking they were falling behind Spuds and Pompey,squad wise.Not now,the defence looks really strong,and perhaps with a bit of creativity,whether up front or midfield,they may scare the so called big 4.

 

Don't see it personally.  Sidwell is a step down from Barry and Cuellar will be at best an able replacement for Mellberg, at worst Boumsong 2.. where have they improved?  Friedel looks to be the only improvement.

 

Sidwell isn't a Barry replacement, though.

 

Mellberg has been on a downward slope for 3 years now. He's a hero to us, but any Villa fan will tell you his best years are gone.

 

He also played the entirety of last season at RB, so I don't see how Cuellar replaces him.

 

Calling Cuellar Boumsong 2 is a bit harsh. He's come from the SPL and he's a foreign defender, does that mean he's shit as well?

 

So who is Barry's replacement?, or are you saying he'll stay?  Also who will Cuellar replace?

 

As for calling Cuellar Boumsong 2, well I didn't say that at all.  I said at best he could be an able replacement for Mellberg (think Mellberg before he was moved to right back) and at worst he could be Boumsong 2, as in he could flop completely.

[Teasy]

Would say Bouma is better then Shorey and Mellberg is better then Luke Young even at right back.  Can't argue Friedel is better then Carson and Cuellar should certainly be better then Zat Knight but Knight wasn't even first choice so its quite odd to even compare them.

 

Bouma is a better player than Shorey, but his right foot currently points in the wrong direction, hence the need for another LB. When Bouma comes back, we'll have two LBs instead of one at the club.

 

The other obvious improvement is that we now have a right back. Mellberg did ok there defensively, but was awful coming forward. We've now got Luke Young to play there.

 

If you can find me a single Villa fan who thinks Mellberg is a better option at right back than Luke Young, I'll eat my metaphorical hat.

 

 

 

To be honest I don't rate Luke Young as a good right back, the lads very average IMO.  Fair enough if he's better there then an ageing Mellberg though, Villa fans should certainly know more about that then I do.

[Martin Lol]

Would say Bouma is better then Shorey and Mellberg is better then Luke Young even at right back.  Can't argue Friedel is better then Carson and Cuellar should certainly be better then Zat Knight but Knight wasn't even first choice so its quite odd to even compare them.

 

Bouma is a better player than Shorey, but his right foot currently points in the wrong direction, hence the need for another LB. When Bouma comes back, we'll have two LBs instead of one at the club.

 

The other obvious improvement is that we now have a right back. Mellberg did ok there defensively, but was awful coming forward. We've now got Luke Young to play there.

 

If you can find me a single Villa fan who thinks Mellberg is a better option at right back than Luke Young, I'll eat my metaphorical hat.

 

 

 

 

Luke is a very solid RB, not brilliant, but won't get slaughtered by a winger.  He's also respectable at going forward and playing CB if necessary.  Another one Pleat flogged off thinking he was no better than an average Championship player.