With the headlines currently being dominated by Mark Hughes’ resignation from Fulham and the inevitable linkage to the Villa Park vacancy (I’m not convinced by the way), it’s easy to miss other news going on today.
Actually, this one is barely more than a footnote on German website RP Online, but it’s being reported that we will exercise our option to purchase Michael Bradley permanently from Borussia Mönchengladbach for a fee of €5m which includes the loan period.
The Google translation
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The official confirmation has just been published, Gerard Houllier’s tenure as manager of Aston Villa is over. Here’s the official statement:
AVFC Official Statement
The Club can confirm that, by mutual consent, Gerard Houllier has stepped down as manager of Aston Villa with immediate effect.
The 63-year-old took charge in September 2010 but suffered a dissection of the descending aorta in April 2011.
He was unable to take charge of team affairs for the final five games of the season and doctors have advised
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We have a number of players with contracts expiring this summer and uncertain futures, but the one with the biggest question mark over his head was Nigel Reo-Coker. That question mark remains no longer, the club have just announced that he has been released along with nine other players.
I know Reo-Coker wasn’t in everyone’s list of favourite players, but he’s always given 100% and frequently was the only one providing anything close to the grit we needed in the centre
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The LMA has just issued a statement confirming that the dispute between Martin O’Neill and Aston Villa has been amicably resolved during the course of the tribunal.
Martin O’Neill said:
Martin O’Neill
It has taken a long time to deal with this matter but I am pleased that all issues have now been amicably finalised.
I am very proud to have managed Aston Villa and I wish the club all the best for the future. I would also like to thank the LMA
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I heard a whisper a day or two ago that Carlos Cuellar was in London for a knee operation and the Express & Star and OS have confirmed the news with some interesting details today. Apparently, Carlos was having a torn meniscus in his right knee fixed and will now be out for up to three months, probably causing him to miss the start of next season.
The most interesting part though, according to Craig Birch at E&S, is the revelation
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Fabio Capello has named a 26-man squad to take on Switzerland in the next Euro 2012 qualifier at Wembley on June 4th and Ashley Young, Stewart Downing and Darren Bent are all included. As is Kyle Walker, although he’s no longer technically a Villan, he more than deserves a mention here.
In fact, Walker’s also included in Stuart Pearce’s confirmed 23-man squad for the European Under-21 Championships in Denmark next month along with Marc Albrighton and Nathan Delfouneso, who definitely are
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The annual Hong Kong Soccer 7s tournament is taking place this weekend and Aston Villa are once again competing. It’s pleasing to see the official site giving the tournament some coverage this year, so you may already be aware that the squad are currently en route to Hong Kong with Ian Taylor among the travelling party.
It’s a competition we have a pretty rich pedigree in, winning the trophy five times (’02, ’04, ’07, ’08 & ’10) and finishing runner-up in
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I’m sure you’ll be aware by now that Gerard Houllier has unfortunately been admitted to hospital overnight and will remain there for a few days for tests. Gary McAllister will therefore take charge of first team affairs in his absence, including Stoke’s visit to Villa Park on Saturday.
It would be irresponsible, even crass, to speculate on the nature of Gerard’s hospitalisation, we all know his history, I’d prefer instead to wish him the speediest of recoveries and look forward to
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The unofficial Aston Villa winter break finally comes to an end today against an all too familiar opponent. If there is a single team out there that don’t require a preview post right now, it’s Blackburn, so I won’t waste your time or mine, but let’s just take a quick refresher of who’s in and out and a few of the news stories that haven’t made the blog here recently.
Blackburn will be without Canadian David Hoillet. Carlos Cuellar is out
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