Is Ireland to stay in Manchester and further Milner updates
Hat tip : H&V
If this is really Stephen Ireland’s twitter feed looks like he is going nowhere south of Manchester
staying in manchester!
about 2 hours ago via web
If he is really staying at City and not moving to Bolton, Blackburn, Man U etc, we can only presume the stories of Milner deal being definitely off is correct
On the OS they have pictures of the training session and Milner features heavily, smiling. Also on the front page they have a link to the pictures and once again Milner features.
Are these signs he is going to stay ?
If I was Milner I would think very carefully about his next steps, If they want him that much they would pay the cash so how much do they really want him, is he just a stop gap on their way to universal domination.
Look at these quotes from City fans on BBC 606
Richardtheref
As a City fan i hope this is true. Just because you were ripped off by Newcastle you now feel that you can rip us off. No one on this earth can persuade me that he is worth more than 8 million. Another average English player whose club value him far higher than his talent deserves just coz its City.
aleras
We wont pay more than £24 million – £10 million more than he is actually worth.
Stay where the fans love you, the manager loves you.
Stay where you play in your true position and not as a utility player.
Stay where you made your name, forget the big bucks, some things are worth more than money.
Stay where you can be a Villa legend and England star
SPECULATION : Milner compromise on £28m, Spurs swaps for Young
The Mirror once again comes up with some corkers.
First up is that they reckon Villa and Man city will compromise at £28m cash after a precise £24,6m was rejected. We have dismissed swaps for Ireland and Bellamy as we want all cash.
Secondly and rather boring a story that Spurs will offer Keane, Bentley and Jenas and no cash for young who we want £30m for. Apparently the lure of Young is a pay rise from £60 to £65m, JOKERS.
Oh and both articles repeat the mantra of ‘sell to buy’ the Mirror has peddled the past month.
the sun just has one story on Luke Young rejecting move because
did not want to take 10k pay drop
did not want to move family there
did not want to be on the bench
We all could have made that up
ITK – Milner deal collapsed and MON turning into Cloughie
On H&V a regular poster called Juan Pablo has said the Milner deal has collapsed
Milner deal looks off –
Milner thinks it will collapse
( until next year ))
Its what he feels… not saying a lot.. The clubs aint saying a lot neither
Well thats what James feels..I can only tell you what James is saying….
I understand this guy may have proper information but as usual it is all a ITK story and should NOT be taken as the gospel truth 
For my pennies worth whatever our valuation is Man City will not pay it (£30m reckoned to be it) ad we knw over the Barry deal just how stubborn we are once we have our minds set.
I have no doubt that Milner will give us all for Villa but this will certainly restrict the budget though !
IF true I want Villa to come out with a firm statement that no bids whatever the money will be entertained until the end of the season, put it to bed
As usual following Villa is NOT boring
Thanks to GH on the comments he made me aware of this MON comment
The manager said: “We met on Monday, and the word amicable was quite right. I suppose I could use the old Cloughie line that we chatted for 20 minutes and decided I was right all along!”
Love that quote as it shows MON is in total control of the situation and does indicate that whoever spoke for Milner on the weekend is no longer involved.
Milner looks relaxed in all the photo’s so positive all roung
SPECULATION : Petrov for Liverpool, Young wants payoff and Carew to Besiktas
Well I never expected this from the Mirror but they are saying that Liverpool want Stillyan Petrov as replacement for Mascherano.
The cost is rumoured to be £7m and story is by Alan Nixon (Nicko) who some say has decent contacts. Of all the links I have seen this has got to the wildest of them all.
Mirror also reports that Luke Young’s move is being held up as he wants a pay off from Villa for accepting reduced wages at Liverpool
The Mail have linked Carew back to one of his former clubs Besiktas where he spent a decent season, anyone left to be linked to go ?
Has there been a power shift at Villa
The following comments are from the BBC report on Milner talks having been stalled
“I think the owner [Randy Lerner] puts a price on players. Of course, he will have an idea on the price,” explained O’Neill.
“Negotiations are being conducted by the Villa chief executive [Paul Faulkner] and the owner and I will be guided by them.”
It has generally been thought that MON is in charge of everything regarding the playing side at Villa ,these comments suggest the financial side has moved to Paul Faulkner the CEO. Actually for many people this is good news as it allows MON to concentrate with team and set the parameters for which Faulkner can do any possible deal.
We are aware Randy and MON had a meeting at the end of last season and it does seem some items were agreed then which has had an effect on current transfer dealings
- High wage earners in the squad but who do not play have to be released to free up the wage bill
- The CEO takes over the money side of any financial discussions
- That we have fixed prices for any players others may want and no matter how much we need the money for other players we will stick to it
With the comments some have suggested that MON sounds resigned, I disagree, it sounds like they have come to a mutually agreeable relationship.
If not then knowing the record of MON would he not walk ?
Milner at the airport, Confirmed Liverpool bid for Luke Young accepted – £2.5m
The Trees on Villatalk has took a photo of Milner at Birmingham Airport, looking fairly relaxed and obviously bound for Portugal, could it be he stays as no sign Man City will up bid.
Radio 5 have said that Liverpool have confirmed a £2.5m bid for Luke Young has been accepted and awaiting confirmation he agrees to personal terms.
Not sure when it was obvious last night we had accepted a bid from Liverpool we did not announce it.
Bleating over the Kit
It seems on the Villa boards all you hear at the moment is whining and moaning. I am not saying people do not have the right to be unhappy but many people and I know many are not kids are not looking at the bigger picture and the situation we are in.
The typical example of this is the moaning over the late kit release date. I have had a think about the situation from Villa’s point of view.
What if the delay was caused by the late negotiations over the FxPro sponsorship, this was much more difficult than anyone could imagine and ran very close to the deadline for any shirt to be made?
It’s more likely just the time it takes to add a sponsor logo when the deal was only agreed a short while ago.
Think about the size of Nike and the factory capacity and planning procedures they have. Who gets made first (ie. Man Utd or Barcelona) shouldn’t really be an issue and that’s why I’d be surprised if that was the case.
This kit was probably designed some time ago. Even with all the kits Nike make that sort of timeframe should be fine.
If we were with a smaller company then the signing of a late sponsor might have had even more of an impact.
There is the example of Fulham with Kappa but realistically their print run should be much smaller and the initial deliveries may be very small.
Villa are not blameless in the lack of clarification over the delay which left a vacuum in which people can moan and maybe a small amount could be put on sale early, but the hysterics on some forums are simply OTT.
ITK information – Heskey to Sunderland
On H&V ‘haway the lads’ just posted this
Alright lads? Not quite sure if this is the correct place to ask or not because i’m not a regular over here but strong rumours are coming out of portugal (where sunderland are based for pre-season) suggesting that Heskey is en-route to the stadium of light. I’m not sure how many of you are familiar with the sunderland messageboards but the SMB are now carrying the rumours. Getting slightly nervous now. Especially as it appears that a loan move for Danny Welbeck has fallen through and Jones looking very unsettled yet again. Any news or anything fellas?
On the Sunderland Message board ‘Ready to Go’ there is this thread where they have said Heskey has said his goodbyes to the Villa squad
I did post rumours recently that Heskey was heading to Blackburn but Sunderland does make sense on many levels given Bruce worked with him at Blues and Wigan.
Now of course this places doubt over the future of Kenwyne Jones but can see a Liverpool Link for him not Villa.
CONFIRMED : Bid accepted for Luke Young
On the OS MON has confirmed a bid has been received for Luke Young and it appears that it has been accepted as Luke is mulling over the personal offer. whilst it does not say we have officially accepted the bid, you do not allow a player to speak to another club unless you are happy with a bid.
All but done except for the formalities.
O’Neill also confirmed the club have received an offer from an unnamed club for full-back Luke Young.
The former Tottenham, Charlton Athletic and Middlesbrough defender is currently mulling over the offer.
Should he reject the move, he will join up with Villa for the Guadiana Cup.
“There has been an offer from a football club, which Luke is mulling over and if it doesn’t materialize then he would also join us [in Portugal] because he needs to play some football soon,” said O’Neill. “We will see how that develops.”
The press, Guardian and Mirror indicating the unnamed club is Liverpool with a £2,75m offer, so at long last things appear to be moving.
He commented on Milner but not earth shattering news !
Weimann shines as the reserves beat Walsall
MON tonight sent out a young reserve side to Walsall as Villa came away with a 2-1 victory at the Bescott cheered on by 3000 Villans in a crowd of 5,700, way above Walsall’s league average.
Andreas Weimann who is very highly rated by a lot of Villa reserve watchers and said by a coach to be the Austrian Alan Shrearer. He cam up with two typical peices of goal poaching to seal the friendly win. The first goal was set up by a storming run by Carew and the second from a parried cross by Albrighton. In truth Weimann should have had a hat trick but hit the post from a yard.
All three of the exciting youth prospects were heavily involved all game and Albrighton is now making a very strong claim to start against West Ham with Weimann and Bannan on the bench with of course the Fonz to come back in. MON has to be brave and buy no player who would block these exciting and very talented youngsters.
A word for Carew in these pre season games, he has started well and lasted well, his back injury appears not to be troubling him and I hope he can just keep it up, time will tell.
FULL TIME : Walsall 1 vs Villa 2 – Weimann (2)
As reported on the Mail’s website, Sidwell is in the squad for fitness reasons but apart from the obvious exclusion of Milner should be a fairly strong team
KO 19:45
Interesting team news
Friedel,
Beye, Collins, Davies, Shorey,
Albrighton, Reo-Coker, Sidwell, Bannan,
Carew, Weimann.
Subs: Lowry, Clark, Lichaj, Parish, Hogg, Salifou, Cuellar.
Clearly a semi reserve side with just two what you call first team starters
Very good to see Weimann start after a disappointing Under 19 tournament and Albrighton starts yet again, he must be a real chance to start the season
================
Game kicked off late at 19:51
Bad news already as three minutes James Collins is replaced by Carlos Cuellar still carrying an injury
Villa have started reasonably well, playing 4-4-2
The reserves have created some chances, Carew missed a couple
25 mins – End to end game, Albrighton and Bannan doing well, Villa filled nearly two sides at the Bescott.
26 mins – Good Carew run sets up wunder kid Weimann to nod home, the Austrian Shearer !
Albrighton, Weimann, Bannan playing really well, got to pushing for PL starts sooner or later
HALF TIME and satisfactory outing and Carew and the kids have impressed with their drive and energy, the quality of these kids should not be under estimated by any Villa fan as often happens.
20:53 – 2nd HALF kicks off, Lichaj and Lowry on, Beye and Shorey off, now the reserve side
started off the half and once again Albrighton at the thick of things
18 mins and after further pressure and woodwork hit at both ends Villa score, Albrighton’s cross is parried by the keeper and the Austrian Shearer poaches another one
Subs – Davies and NRC replaced by Clark and Salifou
Subs – Albrighton and Freidel off, Hogg and Parish on
28 mins – Nicholls scores for Walsall
Some late Walsall pressure
FULL TIME and a useful workout for some of the squad players and kids and Albrighton, Weimann and Bannan have done themselves the power of good
SPECULATION : A NEW link WOW, this time SWP, Milner £30m or no deal and also Ireland told he can leave
Yes I am so very excited that the Mirror (woah, hold on there) have linked us to a relatively new name, yes this time Shaun Wright-Phillips, the inconsistent out of favour Man City winger.
They claim a deal could be done as he looks favourably on a move to Villa as a makeweight for Milner.
Lets hope not, he is the least impressive of any winger option we have
And still 5 more weeks to go of this nonsense !
The Sun reports that Villa will hold firm to not accepting anything less than £30m for Milner
Thanks to a poster (‘reality’) on Villatalk he has linked a story from the Times (behind paywall)
Stephen Ireland told he’s unlikely to be included in #MCFC 25-man squad next season and can leave the club
In other words there are offers for him, PLEASE let it be us
SPECULATION : McGeady in talks with Spartak Moscow
I missed this one from earlier and others it seems as well.
Hattip : villatalk
The Mirror reporting that Celtic have allowed Spartak Moscow to speak to Aiden McGeady for a £9m transfer after being told no other club has firmed up their interest. According to them we have not firmed up our interest.
This I think will please many Villa fans and whist I think McGeady has potential I would hate for Albrighton to be blocked now. go as far to say we do not need a right winger in Albrighton we have one ready to go !
What Man City fans think of Milner
I do like the Man city Bluemoon forum and on their Milner thread we see the following comments and I have tried to pick out a fair selection. To be honest the response is mixed about him which for me shows just how under appreciated as a player he is.
RICHARDS30
think milner is gonna be a brilliant signing to be honest!!!! is more talented than people give him credit for.
MONKFISH
Are any of you saying what a pointless signing Milner would be aware of a complete lack of energy in our midfield last season – and also aware of the energy Milner provided for Villa? If Milner was a City player last season I think we would have strolled 4th and possibly pushed Arsenal for 3rd.
LEE-MCFC
fingers crossed he stays at villa
AUSSIE!
This statement, makes me (as a City fan) nervous because it implies Milner will be going to City. (Similiar situation)Much like the Lescott scenario where he was excluded from training before we signed him.
The last thing i want is for that overrated – overppriced prick to come.
In reply – FANTASYIRELAND
Regardless of whether you rate him as a player,and,for the record,he is a very good one who will improve our team immensely,what right have you to call him a prick.
As ever Milner has acted in a dignified manner throughout this saga,he is a superb example of how a footballer should live their life.
Your well out of order here mate.
LARDERLAND
if we go over 24 mil il be extremely embarressed,and thats coming from someone who really wanst him here
CELEBRITY KILLER
That’s precisely the point, there must be a plan B or C instead of this guy. I understand the need for this type of player… but let’s not turn it in a obsessed Hughes-type transfer. If they won’t take 24m walk away… look at other options… let the player force the transfer through if need be – 24m should be enough to make it happen.
SPECULATION : Bid of £24m for Milner (rejected – SSN)
I heard on Radio 5 today in two different news bulletins that they ‘understand’ a bid of £24m has been officially placed by Man City for Milner. This at the moment is not being reported elsewhere but I am NOT deaf
So whilst the talks today were amicable we have no statement from either side indicating any possibility of contract talks and that can only lead to a conclusion that Milner does not want to commit himself.
Of course that means we have a choice to make, do we hang on for £28-30m we are reported to want, knowing he could go for £12-15m next summer especially if he repeats last season a lot more clubs will want him and he becomes more affordable for say a Liverpool or Spurs.
And no chance of him staying, I would imagine right now only Randy, Paul Faulkner and MON know the answer to that.
EDIT : reports on Man City’s Bluemoon forum said a reporter outside Bodymoor claimed we have rejected the £24m bid
Also on same forum they have said
Interestingly SSN has just said the reason for the delay in signing Balotelli is because CITY have stalled the deal and the reason is that all of our negotiation team are deep in talks for Milner so Balotelli has to wait.
End game ? and remember a guy commenting on here said deal would completed by tomorrow
Young and Milner no go for Spurs
If anyone really believed the reports over the past few days then Redknapp was looking at buying Young and Milner.
Well this article from Sky with actual quotes puts paid to that.
Asked about Milner, Redknapp told Sky Sports News: “No, we wouldn’t be able to.
“Anybody would like James Milner, he’s an outstanding young player, but he’d be way out of our depth.”
On Young, Redknapp added: “Again, I wouldn’t think they’d want to sell Ashley Young.
“He is a good player but he belongs to Villa. We’ve not made any enquiries for him at all.
I think for once we can take ‘Arry’s word on this and in the case of Young then everyone should breathe easier (including MON) he is going nowhere.
Just does not help at this time that the fans are being told by the press and in many ways by MON that we have to ‘sell to buy’ a new player at this stage is what we need.
Keane is the answer, have no doubt about that
OK so what do we make of friendlies, after yesterday’s one it is easy to dismiss them as an irrelevance. So I preface this post with that because I believe friendlies count for little.
However in the current tournament in New York and I have been sad enough to watch both Spurs games, Robbie Keane has been the outstanding Spurs player in very high temperatures of 100 F. He has scored what I call two poachers goals as well as set up another one with a typical through ball. So given the proviso above and based on previous comments on this blog I have no doubt in saying this
MON, get KEANE he is totally 100% PERFECT for Villa.
Why do I say this, well I give these reasons
- He scores PL goals the type of poachers goals we lack
- He has the football intelligence that Carew and Gabby both lack to drop back into midfield to link the play
- At his age pace was never his game anyway and for the same age we got Merson with far more personal problems and look what he did
- He is destined to play for us and knows the area and can settle easily
- Believe he would be a popular signing for both the players and fans alike
At the tournament he refused to answer any questions about his future and in fact walked out of an interview when asked. Added to this today ‘Arry effectively put up him for sale so as long as Spurs do not play silly buggers a deal can and should be done.
There are a number of fans on the forum who will disagree with the statements above but if he came to Villa I think he would be a very popular and successful signing and showed in the heat he still has the desire, maybe the spell at Celtic did him well.
Wonder how many McGeady set up for him ?
SPECULATION : Milner ‘DONE DEAL’ for cash plus Ireland, has improved bid been made
Not see this mentioned elsewhere but the Independent on Sunday is reporting Milner is a ‘done deal’
James Milner’s move from Aston Villa to Manchester City is a “done deal”, but Martin O’Neill is holding out for at least £25m, The Independent on Sunday understands.
An impeccable source said that the Villa manager would hold out for every penny he could get for the England midfielder but that O’Neill would be interested in a player-plus-cash deal, with City’s Stephen Ireland of particular interest.
I think I speak on behalf of every Villa fan that we just want this situation finished ASAP now, it seems to be holding everything else up and all of us are totally bored of it.
I reported a couple of weeks ago that ‘Mysteryman’ on VT said it was a done deal then so you do wonder why it has took so long to get it completed.
EDIT : Someone it seems with a good rep on City’s Bluemoon forum has claimed an improved bid has been made – LINK
Video highlights of the Boh’s game
Hat Tip : H&V
Here are some highlights of the Boh’s game today
things to note
we look leggy at the back and Dunne mentions they were much sharper, got to remember our programme is designed for August 14th not now. Some fans have mentioned some players look a bit ‘heavy’.
cracking cross from Albrighton
the massive Villa support there both from Ireland and Birmingham, well done everyone
SPECULATION : Milner (yet again), this time to Spurs, hmmm
Maybe MON’s plan to smoke out other bidders has worked as the NOTW runing a story that dear old ‘Arry is ready to hijack City’s bid for Milner
Now this sounds feasible to me (though they call Milner a winger !) as they have some cash but City could eaily blow them out of the water if they wanted to. Of course if MON’s plan is right he will see this story and chuckle to himself !
SPECULATION : MON to quit over any Young sale or MON is ready to buy three players
Mirror now really outdone themselves
They have quotes from someone ‘close’ to MON that says
“Young is priceless to Martin and if there was any attempt to enter into negotiations over his sale behind his back he would feel completely undermined and put in an untenable situation at the club.
then go onto say that Young is happy and no links to other clubs unlike the other night with links to Spurs.
Now I would say it was certain if Lerner in anyway tried to sell players without MON’s consent he would walk be it Young or Guzan, it is stating the bloody obvious isn’t it ?
So are the press hearing whispers Lerner is doing this or are Villa just the plain simple target of smears and seen as an easy target with load of presumptions being made.
I know which one is true.
The NOTW have this positive article about MON not giving up on his dreams league glory, no hints of what the Mirror have said. In fact mentioned we will get Keane, Ireland and McGeady.
England U-19 – Full Time – England 1 – France 1 – Fonz starts – England go through
In a game England have to win to Qualify at half time against the French we are 0-0 but France have been dominant
From a Villa point of view Nathan Baker has been dropped but the Fonz starts and has done well with whatever service he has had and surprising he is on the wing but has caused problems and forced one of the few saves.
Weimann starts for Austria who are out of the competition.
On 52 minutes Fonz gets clear from a good through ball and the kind of chance he normally puts away, under pressure he put wide.
Unfortunately for the Fonz, his miss was crucial as a few minutes later France went 1-0 up
The Fonz in the latter stages has had a couple more efforts as England as it stands press for the equaliser that will see them through as Holland are losing
And England through Phillips in the last minute scored to send England through to the semi’s to face Spain (who will win comfortably) which is good news but means that the Fonz stays away for a few more days.
His performances actually have been good in the group stage but whereas I have seen him to be very clinical he has wasted chances to cap the performances.
SPECULATION : Heskey to Blackburn for £2m, Ash Young to Spurs, Davies and yes Keane
A couple of rumours on the internet at the moment, which backs up something I was told yesterday.
On H&V ‘Risso’ posted what looks a strange ITK about his wife second cousin removed or something like that being told that Heskey will go to Blackburn for £2m.
backed up by
I’ve just heard the Heskey to Blackburn story from my niece’s boyfriend as well, who has a friend who knows Big Sam. I’m not making this up.
On Villatalk, Denis has posted that the Daily Mirror will soon post the exact same story.
EDIT: Mirror LINK
Would think the legions of Villa fans out there will be cheering loudly at this news, It is not a surprise this will happen as Fat Sam was linked with Heskey ever since he was at Blackburn and before we ‘poached’ Heskey.
and now we have a bumper post from the Mirror
My ‘friend’ James Nursey has a fair few links, First Ash Young to Spurs, well after what Ash said this week total joke of a link. then he says Curtis Davies to Spurs as makeweight for Keane after Celtic withdrew their offer as they could not afford £5m. Seems a logical deal as Spurs need a central defender to cover for their crocks.
Finally the Mirror also report on their pre season tour Robbie Keane stormed out on press conferences when asked about his future.
Don’t give up on the Villa
Posted this on the mailing list in response to someone thinking he may give up going, well worth repeating here
—————————————————————————————————-
This could easily turn into a I am a bigger than you fan thing, so to clarify this post not about this.
Why do I keep going ?
Simple
Because I am a Villa fan.
I do not go down to VP expecting or wanting to be entertained as many seem to want and demand now, I am a supporter not a consumer or spectator. Because what else better to do on the weekend, than meet up with good company, sink quality beers and then a game, that is what football is about
Because Villa is important to me, it has slipped down the priority list a little since my daughter 4 years ago ! but without Villa life would be boring and we all need something in our lives to divert our lives away from the humdrum of life, a understanding wife and fellow Villa fan helps of course !
Maybe the newer fan wants different things and demands ‘value for money’
Maybe I do not set my targets so high as almost demanding CL football
Modern football is horrible, being forced to sit, expensive, cynical but it is still football at the heart of the game, a game so simple it should never be altered by technology so people do not ‘lose money’.
Think of recent games
Blackburn 6-4
Blues 5-1
Man Utd away 1-0
Liverpool away 3-1
Chelsea Home 2-1
etc
I still get the same buzz then as 30 years ago when I first went
Life was never that rosier in those times, I remeber 8000 against southampton, the dire 80′s with Turner, McNeil and yes GT’s first season, awful home record.
I remember the Venglos year, the last one of BFR , the last one of little, the later part of JG and of course DOL’s
Some people may think football only started since 2000 but it never and strip away the glamour it is stil lthe same old game just tainted with cash but still the game I fell in love with still the team whose old floodlights I could see from my bedroom window.
And every season still has hope though under some managers that was difficult !
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