Some thoughts on the Bent transfer, irony, Villa on the defence and Weimann heads out on loan

When you drop a club record £18m on a player during any window, but especially in January, there will inevitably be a lot of opinions voiced and a few feathers ruffled. I’ve read a lot of ill-conceived nonsense that I won’t dignify by linking to, but it’s fair to say that outside of Villa circles the reaction has been decidedly mixed.

For example, watching the opinion rolling by my screen on Twitter, I happened to spot a Man City fan scoffing

Continue Reading

Confirmed: Darren Bent is now an Aston Villa player

Done deal. Four and a half year deal.

Darren Bent has officially completed his move from Sunderland in what will be a record transfer deal for Villa (£18m rising to £24m the most popular claim) and will be eligible for Man City on Saturday. I think he’ll probably play, don’t you?

Bent brings undoubted quality exactly where we need it the most. The fee is huge and can be read as a sign of intent or desperation depending entirely on your own

Continue Reading

Factfile: Darren Bent’s goal scoring stats

With Darren Bent looking like a racing certainty at this stage, I figured it was safe to take a look at his career stats in the same format as Jean Makoun recently.

Bent has been successful throughout his career with a couple of notable exceptions; his eyebrow raising £16.5m move to Tottenham won’t be remembered all that fondly and for some reason it just hasn’t clicked for him at senior level for England.

That said, after the season he put together

Continue Reading

Psst, I’ve got a little secret: Aston Villa have submitted a huge bid for Darren Bent

OK, I’m kidding, it’s pretty far from a secret. In fact it’s everywhere and I must be the last person to find out. Ironically, I checked all the latest news just minutes before this one broke and then went off the grid. I came back and all hell is breaking loose!

This is a story that will evolve as the day goes on so I’ll continue to update this post as we learn more, but at the moment it would appear

Continue Reading

Ian Holloway and Martin O’Neill

I know I’m in the minority here, but I’ve never really drunk the Holloway Kool-Aid. It’s not that I necessarily disagree with much that he says, most of it is basic common sense, it’s more that I’ve met a thousand Ian Holloways and they’re all the same; entertaining enough, but only in small doses.

I can’t fault his approach on the pitch, Blackpool are truly a breath of a fresh air, but we have to be careful not to be patronising.

Continue Reading

Factfile: New Aston Villa signing Jean Makoun

Aston Villa have completed the signing of Jean Makoun from Lyon for a fee thought to be in the region of €6m* possibly rising by a further €3m depending on performances. The 27 year old brings a wealth of experience with almost 250 Ligue 1 appearance, more than 50 European appearances and 56 caps for Cameroon including four African Nations Championships and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

He’s a robust and competitive defensive midfielder, not dissimilar to Nigel Reo-Coker,

Continue Reading

It’s got to be done: January transfer round up

It’s been an interesting, yet quiet week for me. I’m really not a fan of the transfer window periods, there’s so much nonsense being regurgitated. Some of it by people who don’t know any better, but mostly by people who know full well that they’re peddling baseless speculation in search of traffic.

However, the new air of openness at Villa Park under Gerard Houllier is refreshing and perhaps the glimpse of the work behind the scenes we’ve been given helps temper

Continue Reading

Reserves thump Arsenal, Cowans helps out Nike and Lichaj rates Heskey

Thousands of undiscovered footballers from around the world have been competing for a contract with the Nike Academy 2011/12. Nike will provide a full season learning from top-level coaches and playing in front of Premier League scouts in the UK.

The final 100 players will shortly be pared down to the eight winners. The four players representing the UK have been receiving last minute tips from the pros, most recently stopping by Aston Villa for a technical session with our own

Continue Reading

Fulham fans look forward to not seeing Steve Sidwell play for them

Steve Sidwell has signed for Fulham after being on the edge of signing for both West Ham and Wolves in the last couple of days. He will be remembered as the first real transfer movement for Aston Villa in 2011, an own goal on his debut, that lovely goal at Goodison… and… er, the ability to turn practically invisible at will. I’d say he’ll be missed, but not too many people have seen him enough to miss him.

Sidwell was

Continue Reading