[Archived] Other Pl Happenings 2009/10

[DE.]

Villa's signings this summer will be crucial, and determine whether they go on to push/break the top 4 or simply fade away like they have done in the past. If they sign Huddlestone to replace Barry it will be the latter.

[gazsimm]

Villa's signings this summer will be crucial, and determine whether they go on to push/break the top 4 or simply fade away like they have done in the past. If they sign Huddlestone to replace Barry it will be the latter.

i think Villa will still be a very good team still, if they don't let any more big players leave. Barry leaving was a blow, but they still have got very good midfielders in Sidwell and Reo Cocker in their squad, as long as who ever they replace Barry with.

[philipl]

Lets make it easy for Spurs - Approach them and say you want RSC, we want X Y & Z by a set date. Take it or leave it big club!!

Swaps are ancient history- we have this exchange every window.

Here is the list of swaps done in the last four windows:

[Ricky]

Think you missed Mido-King off that list Phillip, I'm sure there have been some swap deals done.

[Eddie]

Not exactly true. Players are sold with players going the other way on loan. You can also see some deals where players are going in opposite directions and the two deals probably rely on each other (Robinson and Bentley were probably like that). You don't see many instances where a move in either direction would be attractive to players, but with the surplus of players at Spurs it is actually a possibility. A player plus cash exchange is a very realistic possibility if we are interested.

[philipl]

I think if you look back, nicko was not on his own in saying Robinson and Bentley were NOT in any way linked.

Mido and King- OK loan deals are much less complicated and can sometimes be linked t each other or a loan and a sale.

No straight swap sales for donkeys years at PL level though.

[67splitscreen]

Swap deal's I guess would really pig the agents off. 7m no we valued him at 3m they agreed so we agreed.

[philipl]

Swap deal's I guess would really pig the agents off. 7m no we valued him at 3m they agreed so we agreed.

Guess why swap deals are extinct....

[adbo99]

some ITK guy off a villa site reckons Benjani is off to Villa shortly for £2m......................

[champions1995]

Villa will still have a decent team without Barry, but that team will not be good enough for Champions League football. Tottenham should be strong next season as should City (you would think) and Everton, so the best I believe Villa can hope for is the Europa League.

[Fylde Coast Fan]

Today's Mail (I know, I know) had the usual cloying praise for the Hughes regime dripping from the "City to sign Eto'o" story by Sparky's chief Kool-Aid-Drinker, Ian Ladyman.

In there though they had a "fantasy team sheet" for what City will look like next year if the transfer dealings go their way:

Given

Zabaleta

Kolo Toure (claiming £10m)

Lescott (£15m)

Bridge

Barry (£12m?)

Wright-Phillips

Ireland

Tevez (£25m)

Robinho

Eto'o (£20m)

And you know what? I STILL can't see them breaking into the top four, even spending £70m this summer.

[joey_big_nose]

Today's Mail (I know, I know) had the usual cloying praise for the Hughes regime dripping from the "City to sign Eto'o" story by Sparky's chief Kool-Aid-Drinker, Ian Ladyman.

In there though they had a "fantasy team sheet" for what City will look like next year if the transfer dealings go their way:

Given

Zabaleta

Kolo Toure (claiming £10m)

Lescott (£15m)

Bridge

Barry (£12m?)

Wright-Phillips

Ireland

Tevez (£25m)

Robinho

Eto'o (£20m)

And you know what? I STILL can't see them breaking into the top four, even spending £70m this summer.

That would be a very weak midfield.

[Fylde Coast Fan]

That would be a very weak midfield.

Nice to see that the £33m Hughes has spent on De Jong and Kompany hasn't gone to waste.

I'd be less surprised to see Kompany at centre half instead of Toure, and De Jong play in midfield when they need a bit more muscle.

[tcj_jones]

I'd say City are far more likely to line up with one of De Jong or Kompany holding, Barry in the centre and Ireland in an advanced role and with Robinho drifting in from the left. They'll have a new CF at the point of the formation and also a new RB and a new CB. I reckon they'll look something like this:

Given

Richards / Dunne / ________ / Bridge

SWP / De Jong / Barry / Ireland / Robinho

_______

If we were to presume that those three blanks were on a par with the players they've already brought in or have been linked to and if Arsenal don't get their act together, then I reckon they might have an outside chance of fourth, but won't get any higher than that. I guess we'll have to wait and see exactly how they strengthen though before coming to any definite conclusions.

[Fylde Coast Fan]

I think Richards will be on the fringes, Zabaleta is a far better bet at RB. Dunne is being linked with Spurs, or maybe Sunderland will splash a bit of cash to relieve Hughes of that headache.

Barry's slot is also open to debate. For all we know he could be playing on the left side of a 4-4-2...

[DE.]

i think Villa will still be a very good team still, if they don't let any more big players leave. Barry leaving was a blow, but they still have got very good midfielders in Sidwell and Reo Cocker in their squad, as long as who ever they replace Barry with.

Aye, no doubt, but if they're going to replace Barry with Huddlestone it's a step towards the Europa League rather than the Champions League.

Saying that, I have no idea who else they'd replace him with. I still think they could do better than a Spurs bench-warmer though - as if it isn't obvious, I don't rate Huddlestone much he has potential, but something seems amiss there.

[Hughesy]

Fat Arry has revealed that he made a bid for Barry too this week, along with the Scousers.

So now he has shown his hand, and we now know he has money to spend - unless of course they offered Bentley in a swap?

[gumboots]

Fat Arry has revealed that he made a bid for Barry too this week, along with the Scousers.

So now he has shown his hand, and we now know he has money to spend - unless of course they offered Bentley in a swap?

He suffers from the "Spurs are linked with any and every player that might be for sale and quite a few who probably aren't" syndrome. He just can't keep his mouth shut about other teams' players. He and Spurs are a match made in heaven, because most Spurs fans like to think they bid for anyone and everyone too.

[super_arran]

That would be a very weak midfield.

please say that was sarcasm?

[ni_rover]

That would be a very weak midfield.

How do you figure that one out?

[LeChuck]

please say that was sarcasm?

He's right. Individually they're great players, but as a unit it looks poor. At least one of them would be out of position and they would be completely overrun by any mildly physical midfield. Hughes would never play that sort of midfield anyway so it's just some more crappy guesswork journalism - they've obviously just tried to cram as many attacking players into one formation as possible to make it a bit more sensationalist.

[joey_big_nose]

I mean weak in the physical sense, not the talent sense. Teams with atheltic and strong midfields (Everton, Chesea, liverpool, Villa) would waltz through that. Hughes needs a quality holding player.

[ni_rover]

I mean weak in the physical sense, not the talent sense. Teams with atheltic and strong midfields (Everton, Chesea, liverpool, Villa) would waltz through that. Hughes needs a quality holding player.

True mate, very true indeed!

[LeChuck]

Hughes needs a quality holding player.

Surely with De Jong and Barry they're sorted for that position now? I'd be surprised if he made another signing similar to those two.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Surely with De Jong and Barry they're sorted for that position now? I'd be surprised if he made another signing similar to those two.

They are decent but i wouldn't say they are world class, Essien is on a completley different level to both of them. I can't see them being good enough to achieve a top four finish or challenge for the title.