So we know that Milner is off and we have got Stephen Ireland in return, phewww, after weeks and weeks of speculation we should be very happy that at least it is concluded and we know where we are.
However some questions to remain and with just two weeks of the transfer window left they are uncomfortable for Randy
Who has sanctioned the deal to bring in Ireland ?
Quite clearly this is Randy and Paul Faulkner as Kevin MacDonald has been given no authority over transfers. We do have confirmed for the first time in Villa history a case of where a player has been brought by the chairman. If however the possible new manager sanctioned the deal this is fine but suggests that he was lined up before MON left.
Did MON agree to bringing in Ireland ?
This is a key question for me, from speculation it is said he wanted all of the Milner money, he went and we get in Ireland a week later after weeks of this being muted. If MON did not sanction the deal then it means we have the situation where Randy is selecting players, something I find difficult to believe.
Will we spend in this window ?
We have issues with the wages we keep being told that by the General and now Ireland has come in and the players wage bill has gone up. It has to be the case we still have to sell to buy because of the wages so the new manager will be in the same position as MON. However every manager would want the cash so if we get one by the end of this window I do expect this. However it has to be said the more cynical would say if we delay the manager until the end of the window, Randy may not have to spend. Personally if we want say a Martin Jol I would use some of the Milner money to pay off in compensation for him, say £3m.
Then we have to come to a difficult situation and one for me as a total Anti Ellis and pro Randy supporter (until last week), which is that if Ellis had done this years ago what would have said then, I know what I would have done, I would have gone mad. If we are being fair therefore we have to question if there is really any difference between the two (except Randy has put millions of his personal in it).On balance at the moment I have to say there is still a massive gap between the two but people questioning it are fair in doing so on the evidence so far, time will tell in the longer term.
The one thing for certain is that we have by far the better end of the deal and for that unlike in the Ellis days because we played hardball with a club without morals and integrity.
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while i trust in (KMc) at the villa helm i still think we need to get a high profile manager/coach,and i think lerner will want that to.As for the milner saga thank god its over i think from a villa point of view its a sad but very good deal for us , ireland is a very good player who will play well for us , and he will play,as for milner like all villa fans i for one didnt want him to go , money talks in the world today and he had his head turned by city ,but he will have plenty of time to sit on the bench now and think about all thay lovely cash he has,at some point when he is warming the bench for city he will question the move he made only then will he realise he would of been a legend at villa, and when city spend another billion in the next transfer window city will be going milner who ?
“…for the first time in Villa history a case of where a player has been brought by the chairman”.
This comment leaves me wondering how on earth the club managed to sign players before 1936. Before that we had 62 years without a manager!
8m plus sidwell for cole from west ham, no messing
Randy Lerner did not want Milner to leave. When City made their bid in May it was rejected. Villa were not holding out for more money. Milner was not for sale!
On 20 May, Randy Lerner told the Daily Mail. ‘He will not moving from this club.’ He want on to say that James Milner would be at Villa this coming season, that was the end of it. At the time Milner said he was happy to discuss his future after the World Cup.
More than two months later, on 22 July, O’Neill came on SSN and claimed Milner had told him back in May that he definitely wanted to leave.
In the same video, O’Neill went on to say “City made an offer but it did not meet our valuation. I’m sure matters will be resolved soon. There is a difference of valuation at this moment between the buying club and the selling club.”
There was clearly no u-turn from Lerner because even as recently as last week he threatened to report City for persistently chasing the player after they had been told he was not for sale.
When Milner returned at the end of July, he angrily denied telling O’Neill that he definitely wanted to leave.
Since his return to training he did not play for O’Neill in any of the friendlies. Yet he played superbly for Kevin on Saturday, and he played for England last week. He was not injured because he would not have been called up.
It is obvious he did not want to play for O’Neill.
And the various recent quotes from the other players suggest the team is hardly under a cloud because of O’Neill’s departure.
VILLA IS NOW A SELLING CLUB?
when lerner 1st came we spent quite a bit of money on average players but some of those average players have not gave value for money, money has been spent on other areas ie training ground, holte pub & bits & bobs on the ground, lerner will be looking at his gross spend & be looking at what comes back into the club & if the 2 are miles apart then something will have to give, so what can we do to even the books well we cant sell those average players because no 1 wants them after MON has devalued them by not showing faith & playing them, HIS own players HE brought to the club so we have to look at our TOP players ie JAMES MILNER & I think selling him will be the biggest mistake this club has made while lerner has been here, we as supporters of ASTON VILLA FOOTBALL CLUB expect & deserve more, I hope & pray we do not sell anymore of our best players, please mr lerner do not sell any more of our best players listen to the supporters of our great club yes our club not yours, you may own it but without the supporters the club does not have a heart beat & without that heart beat our club will slowly decline, UP THA VILLA….. & good bye MR O’NEIL, your tactics became boring.
Dudley villian; some greats points , hadn’t thought of that at all .
villa aren’t a selling club. theyver recieved excellent bids for players and made a huge profit by selling them. Granted jimmy was one of our best players but hes replaceable. Man U sold Ronaldo.. does that make them a selling club?? sometimes offers are just too good to turn down… and in this case, that was one of them.
by the sold players i meant barry and jimmy milner.
YES CHOPA MILNER AND BARRY 2 OF OUR BEST PLAYERS.