Couple of pieces from the Mirror tonight.
The first is that they say because of Houllier’s wife it is looking unlikely he will return to full time management. This has led them to link Moyes (cost £3m compo plus staff), Hughes (costs nothing) and the umbrella man.
And they also link Mulumbu from West Brom for £4m with Bayern chasing as well, oh well.
And for fun this LINK to BBC 606 to an ITK for a James Milner transfer (hattip VT).
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Not sure whether I’d want moyes or not. Though maybe moyes with GH as DOF could be a dream ticket potentially especially as they are good friends.
Think it more likely we would go for Hughes as he is cheaper. Think he would get us into top 8 but that’s about it. Though maybe that’s where we are realistically for the foreseeable future anyway.
Moyes and Houllier are bestest friends in the whole world, I think they went to school together and Houllier was best man at Moyes’s wedding. I even think Moyes’s son is called Gerard.
You’re becoming a troll.
you really are so childish
If Moyes wanted to come–and I doubt that he does–then I reckon Lerner would sign him up in a second.
Agreed. Though he would definitely want a fair amount of money to spend or he may as well stay where he is as we would only be a sideways move at best.
All the stuff about GH is just guesswork – as per the earlier thread, there’s probably an announcement about to happen sooner than the date that the club had previously set – but the Mirror don’t have any more info than anyone else as to which way it’ll go;
As for Malumbu there was an interview with Hodgson on F365 yesterday, and he was pretty sure that Peace won’t allow any under-contract player to leave unless they get an offer so ridiculously high that not even Mancs would make it.
Milner ..dream on.
Its certain that Houllier is finished. Screw the DOF role for him as I’m not sure what qualifies him for such a position. he is not known as a manager who picks up gem in the transfer market. His record at Villa shows that as it is hit and miss. Bent is an excellent signing but give me 18m – 24m and I’d have gone for him but 20 odd mill cheque will be few and far between. Walker has done well. Good going forward suspect defensively. Bradley has been tripe both for the first team and the reserves. Pires is a a waste of space and is just taking up playing time and/or a place on the bench than Bannan could be getting. Makoun the jury is still very much out on. Houlliers record in the transfer market at Liverpool was also very suspect.
He also left Liverpools youth system in a shite state. So what exactly would he bring to a DOF role? seems to be a sympathy role for a poorly old man. You’d also think having a DOF would restrict the manager you could get as most managers are not going to want to work under a DOF.
I feel sorry for the old bugger but at the end of the day we owe him sweet fa. On the whole he has been a disaster both in terms of results, his disrespectful behaviour and for failing to take responsibility.
Its time to say bye and good luck in your retirement.
I agree it would be a sympathy role to make him DOF. May be better to get rid of him and let him go back to France to recuperate properly and enjoy good health and a good retirement. By all means put him on some retainer as a part time advisor/consultant to RL especially as RL is knieve on certain aspects of football and GH has some decent contacts abroad that could come in useful if we buy abroad.
Spot on
Mark it’s obvious you love MON so go look up his transfers and tell me where he has got a proper striker in? continue with your heskey’s and carew’s and kick rush football.. it’s obvious you deserve it.
At the end of the day Dave, kick and rush football got us into the top 6 3 years on the bounce. IF, MON has been decent in the transfer market, then I think he would still be at Villa now.
kick and rush football got us into the top 6 3 years on the bounce
———-
and is that enough for you?
I supported MON when he was boss, but quite frankly i’m not disappointed he left, regardless of how this season went.
At least now there’s a chance we can play some entertaining football with a chance of achieving something, be it under GH or a different manager
who cares about ‘entertaining’ football, the only kind of entertainment is winning games.
are Man city ‘entertaining’ do their fans care ?
Arsenal are ‘entertaining’, not shown that recently and look at their fans on sunday.
this mantra about houllier and ‘entertaining’ football is not backed up by what we saw at Liverpool is it.
Man City play nothing like MON’s style Ian. Top six was outstanding with the way we played to be honest. But even if he was still here this year we wouldn’t have got higher than 8th looking at the table and teams in those positions. I agree that people shouldn’t associate ‘entertaining’ football with GH’s Liverpool years tho, but he has never said he wants that as a norm, just a little bit thrown into the performances.
Sorry but I’d take an in-form Carew any day. And the deal we got him for was brilliant.
In form Carew ?????? you mean when we played shite teams ????? he is the laziest, most uninterested, resource draining and sponging player I have seen since Milosovic. We paid £10.2 million for Baros (who was just as bad most of the time) and swapped him for Carew, so it wasn’t a good deal at all. It was all MON knew though, big front men to hoof it at.
Carew. My life. My menstruation. Apropos tattoo.
How does he love MON?
idiot
Most managers wont work under a director of football ??? what a stupid statement !!! you mean like the poor coaches Mancini, Ancelotti, Wenger, Daglish, Mourinho, Allegri, Leonardo, Guadiola, Ranieri, Montella etc ……. its how big clubs operate … Fergie is the only one who doesn’t at the top of European football.
………. and we can all agree he is an absolute one off in the football fraternity.
Spot on Mark.
You will get accused of being me or ianrobo now!
Ian stop making up posters again or atleast come up with something more imaganitive than a mark.
We’ve made a finacial loss of more than £80m in the last 2 seasons. Not a lot if you say it fast; but without any rewards that sort of serious money would have taken a lot of big clubs to the brink of administration.
This season the transfers in January (Bent rising to £24m and Makoun rising to £9m) far outweighs the £18m net we got for Milner in August.
The UEFA fair play rule comes into force within 2 years. That means we can’t spend more than we have coming in. We are trying to prepare for this with heavy investment in the Academy and scouting system.
Over a period of the last 4 months the results of the first team have moved back up toward top 6 standard. In terms of player development and recruitment we are moving in the right direction; that will give us an advantage. Summer Transfer targets have been identified. Players are pledging their future to the club because of the plans in place and the vision as set out by the current regime.
All this talk of tempting Moyes or Hughes with a mega-million pound transfer kitty is bonkers.
We’ve had 4 different managers this season and the club needs stability now, and so do all those Villa players who want to be here; more upheaval and disruption will do only harm to the Villa imo.
Gotta agree. Moyes and Hughes probably won’t get much more then what they get at their clubs now without selling off players.
Dudley Villain wins.
Well if Makoun is rising to £9m we have well and truly been stitched up there!
Makoun was £4.5m with add ons up to £5.75m.
Either way he is still crap.
Hummmmm in your blinkerted opinion!!!
Blinkerd also!!!
How can you say Makoun is crap.
He was looked quality. I remember him running rings around Fletcher and Carrick at Old Trafford.
He is just not quick enough at the moment, he needs a bit of time to get used to the pace of the game and improve his fitness. His passing and tackling has looked great. Only negatives are his lack of pace (discussed) and his bad challange at blackpool.
I think he will be excellent next season and establish himslef as one of the best DM’s in the league next season.
Of course he is, how could we disagree with your world class football knowledge. Ronaldo was crap when he first came to the Prem, so was Drogba, Alonso blah blah blah. He has only played a handful of games and no pre-season, a language barrier, having to move from another country etc… FFS
This coming from the man that thinks having a DoF is the way forward.
Makoun is hardly a player to compare the likes of Drogba, Alonso and Ronaldo.
I think they are a different breed to the garbage we sign
I repeat my comment from above – ‘Most managers wont work under a director of football ??? what a stupid statement !!! you mean like the poor coaches Mancini, Ancelotti, Wenger, Daglish, Mourinho, Allegri, Leonardo, Guadiola, Ranieri, Montella etc ……. its how big clubs operate … Fergie is the only one who doesn’t at the top of European football.’ …. if you want to argue with those managers records then go ahead ………
milan I stand corrected on Makoun.
Though Sky Sports reported the initial fee as £6m. And in their up to date player profile on Makoun the fee is recorded £6m.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_6663888,00.html
JPA, Makoun will come good next season once he adapts. No doubt in my mind that he is a quality footballer.
Thats the opinion of most Villa fans Dudley, but the likes of Pablo Anus think you can move from one country to another, not know the language, settle yourself down into a new living space in a week and put in top class performances from scratch without knowing your fellow pro’s. He then spouts off at folk that they know nothing about the game !
Milner was 18mil plus Ireland who was rated at between 6-8mil, this covers bent and where you’re getting your makoun figures I’ll never know! Moyes in and add 5players, get rid of similar and we could have a great side next year, no question about it! Look at how spurs did it, for me the only way to get top 4 is to spend.. Not city spend but Darren bent was a good start. Play football and put away the weaker teams.. We all know we can give the big boys a game.
The Makoun figures from FA site, Lyon site, French papers and Sky Sports … oh and Villa when we bought him. He was £4.5m rising to £5.75m with add ons etc… Moyes won’t come to Villa, he is very happy where he is. Didn’t he once quote on Golas on Sunday that we were the worst fans in the prem for booing ???? hardly gonna come here.
Dudley Villain talks out of his arse, the silly old fool
mulumu and milner links are tosh.
milner has started the last 3/4 games for city.
mulumu wouldn’t come to villa.
maclare. no,no,no,no,no
you guys make me laugh! your just spending lerners money for him.
Given the link this morning with Ronaldo to City along with other wingers they are interested in, what about Adam Johnson?
Can’t see him getting much game time next season.
Maybe Milner and Johnson in a swap for Young?
hahahahaha, that is a wind up isn’t it?
What a wind up? Might have to give them a bit of money maybe Young plus £5m for Johnson and Milner?
MM has said City have already offered us Milner in a swap deal for Young.
Moyes isn’t coming to Villa. MON spent £120m and achieved fuck all whilst putting our club on a path to financial meltdown. We may finish tenth this year using our reserves and youth team for half of the season which shows just how poor our ‘regular 11′ really were. The squad were not fit enough and didn’t use our state of the art training facility to it potential and purpose. Houllier took Liverpool from mid table to CL places repeatedly and a cup treble, Benitez WON the CL with that squad, so having him as DOF wouldn’t be a bad thing. He has to step down from management though because there is no way Randy can risk him being in charrge. Bent was £18.2m + add ons. Milner isn’t coming back. The facts on this blog are shite, people just say what they want to get their point across because they blame and hate Houllier for our predicament. I neither love him or hate him, he is just a manager who came in at the last minute when the club fell apart due to the previous EGOMANIAC who threw his dummy out the pram when RL told him there was no more tens of millions to waste on shite,… the one good thing to come out of this is we are safe and can now learn from the mistakes made and have a whole summer to sort out all the issues and push on next year, Randy won’t be happy, after all he has invested hundreds of millions into Villa through love of the club and you can bet they are flat out sorting everything out right now.
wise words at last…………
Agree with almost everythign you said but one thing to remember is Randy has not invested anywhere near what you say.
His initial investment was £65m and he has been taking £5-7.5m out each season so that is down to say £35m. Everything else is debt owed to him by the club.
If West Ham were worth £200m (£100m cash plus £100m debt), we are woth £250m. So even if you take of the debt of £100m, he still has plenty of room to spend and can still break even.
It was £65m for the club, approx £148.7m in playing staff and manager costs, £8.3m towards the Bodymoor training facility, around £3.7m on stadium facilities and Holte Pub improvements. Thats £225m+ ouitlay and he will spend more in the summer although we have and will sell playing staff too. But his outlay is there for all to see and the North stand is next to be revamped.
The net spend is £80-90m on players and staff. Debt owed to Lerner’s family Trust is £80-90m plus we have a £20m overdraft.
So my current point is still valid. He ‘invested’ £65m, got circa £30m back through payments from AVFC to him each year leaving a net investment of £35m. The other £80-90m is secured against the clubs assets in bonds. If the club went into administration, he would be a secured creditor and get that money back.
He has not invested £225m in equity into the club.
He could currently sell the club for £150m (plus the £100m debt) netting himself £100m plus profit and the club would still owe him the £80m in bonds.
Isn’t the other £80m or £90m net transfer money the amount he has paid to other clubs for players ???
It would be higher than that because as you say we have sold players.
As far as I know, everything he has put into the club has been the initial equity investment with the rest secured as long-term loans. The £20m we owe to banks might have come from the other costs you mentioned.
We will probably take a loss again this year so debt will rise, the point is, Lerner could underwrite say another £80m over the next three seasons and still sell for breakeven, allowing for a bit if a cushion. He has not sunk £200m of his personal wealth into the black hole that is AVFC.
The breathing space he once had has gone but making the investment required for us to reach the champions league is still possible.
This is a table I did when talking to my mate about it about ideal transfers. This would result in a £10m drop in wages, and a £20m net spend. Obviously some players might not want to come or other clubs take them but the first team would be:
Friedal
Walker Collins Cahill Bridge
NRC Makoun
Downing Milner N’Zogbia
Bent
I think this would be enough to see us 4-8th next season .
young 20 60000
dunne 3 45000
hesky 2 45000
carew 0 60000
ireland 3 60000
beye 2 40000
warnock 5 40000
Petrov 0 50000
Salou 0 15000
Gabby 10 45000
Pires 0 30000
45 490000 25480000
Nzogbia 12 40000
Cahill 15 50000
Bridge 7.5 60000
Walker 10 35000
Milner 15 75000
Ba/Gervino 7.5 35000
67 295000 15340000
Cahill, Bridge and Milner ??????? No cahnce …..N’Zogbia turned us down twice ???? Walker will maybe stay on loan. Petrov, Gabby and Dunne will stay. I think Ash will too to be honest if given the right assurances.
Doesn’t Reform Acquisitions lend Aston Villa FC the money in the form of loan notes to trade on the premise it will break even over a set period by paying it back, similar to how Abramovic funds Chelsea ?
You’re also forgetting about Delph, Bannan, Gardner, Clark, Cuellar and Albrighton …. All will play a part in the next season onwards. We need a quality left back, maybe right back, a proper playmaker, striker and holding midfielder at most to top up the squad.
Cahill and Milner are optimistic yes but I think Bridge is realistic and I think harry will want to sell Walker if he can cash in to raise money to buy a decent striker.
All the kids you mentioned are also important and would be squad players while they get experience and continue to develop.
I don’t know how the various loans work just that they are long-term loans owed to Lerner.
Delph, Albrighton and Clark will be first teamers in my opinion next year, Gardner isn’t far off and will feature…… not sure about Bannan though yet but he may make it.
yep exactly and a commercial interest rate, around £5m per year but they would never call them in.
as it stands, we get sold for £150m, then most of that would be payable to RAL who own us and RAL has the debt.
that is the key, unlike Liverpool, Man U etc. the debt is on the holding company not Villa
Wayne bridge? Dear god no.
He has been good at west ham.
No he hasn’t. He’s been quite pitiful and is so easily beaten. Would rather keep Baker at LB.
Can somebody please confirm who these extensive contacts of Houlliers are?
I’ve never seen him use them, all he knows is a few French kids, big deal. Proven track record of signing poor young French players at Liverpool.
Also some evidence to prove that him and Moyes are anything more than acquaintances? The way idiots on here are going on about them are practically homosexual lovers.
and for the so called ITKs who claim his summer targets are superb, why dont you grow a pair and share them?
JP is an angry little batty boy!!!!
Im really offended
You know I’m right the facts speak for themselves.
You will see next season if the club are stupid enough to keep him on. One failure after the other and competing at the same end of the table that Small Heath do
Our form since Xmas is top six, so what are you on about ???????
Anus, just a question, but if you get your way who would you pick as next manager and who would you sign to improve us? Put your money where your mouth is and share.
Thought not!
One thing Ian hasn’t put up today is that Ashley Young has been quoted that he is still going to sit down with Randy at the end of the season to sort out his contract talks …. he has distanced himself from the rumours of moving as press talk and speculation.
Maybe he wants assurances that there will be money and a solid management team.
Can you blame him ? …… the links to Utd are pure agent orientated, Fergie wouldn’t spend £20m on Young, only City or Madrid would pay that.
Not at all, I can understand his ambition.
What he actually said yesterday was
“I’ve always said that come the end of the season I’m going to talk to the manager, talk to the chairman. I’ve said that I’ll give 100% which I have done out on the pitch. When it comes to the end of the season I’ll sit down with the chairman, sit down with the manager and we’ll take it from there.”
The video is on the link below
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6938226,00.html
I actually think he will extend for another two years given the right assurances. Put it this way it will be a good indication of whats coming in the summer if he stays.
or it is the kind of thing players say so they do not appear to want out ?
If Man U come calling, he will not refuse that will he ?
I think he has matured as player this year. Before it was simply head-down and run at players every time he got the ball.
That used to frustrate the hell out of Capello. He looked so predictable and out of his depth when he played for England. That’s why he did not make the World Cup squad.
Now he is a different player, when the situation is right he can still take players on and get a cross in or get his shot away, but he has added variation to his game. He will slow it down pick a pass. And some of his through balls for Bent have been sheer quality.
He looks comfortable now on the international stage. And he loves playing for his country.
Capello says Bent is a different player since he joined us. Downing has improved markedy this season at both club and country.
I think if we match the personal terms that he could get elsewhere Ash will stay.
I cant see why man u would be after him. Valencia has looked really good and nano on his day is unplayable against. Man city will be blowing millions on fancy players now they’re in the champs league and I really don’t think Liverpool could afford him. I hope he stays and if lerners got any sense he’d get downing, bent and young together to explain that the team is gonna be rebuilt (if it is) around them.
Totally agree about United and City. I think it’s Liverpool we have to fight off.
It’s been fairly obvious that the management’s plan is to build the team around a front 3 of Downing Bent and Young. Bent and Downing have come out and said how much they are loving it. I’m sure Ashley is too. My gut feeling is Houllier will persuade him to stay.
Man U is obvious, he offers cover for rooney (as per England) he offers cover on both wings and can play on his own right.
If he is happy to sit out a few games (as most Man U players do) then makes total sense.
If an official bod is recieved, then for me that is a done deal.