Ins & Outs.......

[andy villa]

we are allegedly looking at a striker and a central defender...

then once/if they are brought in then a left back as cover and competition for jlloyd...

[collymore]

By Tim Nash
Aug 5, 2005
Milan Baros was yesterday at Bodymoor Heath to complete a £6 million move to Villa.

The 23-year-old striker arrived in the West Midlands for a medical after terms were finally agreed with Liverpool.

The move ends several weeks of speculation and haggling between the clubs before the Merseyside giants finally accepted Villa's bid.

Patrick Berger, meanwhile, was set to be an absentee to undergo a scan on a thigh strain.

Mathieu Berson's Villa career took another nosedive yesterday when he was left behind when the squad left for Holland.

Manager David O'Leary plans to field against the Dutch side the starting line-up who will kick off the season against Bolton in eight days' time .

That leaves Berson almost certainly facing more frustration on the sidelines.

And with the start of the season just eight days away, the 25-year-old would now appear to be surplus to requirements.

O'Leary gave Berson permission to speak to interested clubs when Spanish side Espanyol were heavily linked to him in June.

But nothing came of their interest and Berson insisted he was happy to fight for his place.

Villa are likely to want all of the £1.9m they paid Nantes for a player who has barely been tried in the English top flight.

Berson has started just seven Premier League games - coming on in six others - since his arrival from Nantes almost a year ago to the day.

Ulises de la Cruz, who is suffering from a toe infection, and Gary Cahill, who has a nose injury, are the other absentees from the travelling party, while Mark Delaney is out anyway as he recovers from a knee injury.

Squad: Sorensen Taylor; Hughes, Mellberg, Laursen, Ridgewell, Samuel; Solano, McCann, Djemba-Djemba, Hendrie, Davis, Berger, Barry, Whittingham; Angel, Phillips, Moore.

[andy villa]

Originally Posted by collymore

By Tim Nash
Aug 5, 2005
Milan Baros was yesterday at Bodymoor Heath to complete a £6 million move to Villa.

The 23-year-old striker arrived in the West Midlands for a medical after terms were finally agreed with Liverpool.

The move ends several weeks of speculation and haggling between the clubs before the Merseyside giants finally accepted Villa's bid.

this is still rumour about baros being in the midlands two days ago...

the paper in question, express and star, im led to believe, were asked about this apparently and they werent sure about the source as baros was also seen at liverpools training ground at the time he was meant to be at bodymoor heath..

as far as im aware, we are in the same position we were 3 weeks ago...

baros wants to come to villa.. its all set up for him to come to villa, we just have to agree a fee..

liverpool are adament they want 7 mil and we are adament we wont pay above 6 mil, and this is where we have been for the past few weeks...

[hanuma]

apparently laursen is fit and ready.....great news cos he is a top notch central defender.

[andy villa]

hes far from 100% fit....

hes training on sand at the moment to not damage it further...

[hanuma]

but he played a friendly with no problems on saturday didnt he?

[andy villa]

he played, but he has constant problems and has to train on sand...

if he can stay fit he will be a big player for us alongside king olof...

im praying he does...

[hanuma]

even if he doesnt ridgewell is talented and hughes is a hard worker...you might leak against bigger teams but you would be solid against lesser ones.

[hanuma]

the premiership needs aston villa atm.

[andy villa]

i fear for ridgewell this season..

hes a talent no doubt, but if we HAVE to use him again through necessity and he makes the inevitable mistakes that young rookies make, then i fear the muppetts will start slating him again like they did last season...

i dont want ridgewell, cahill, davis, or moore ruined through this either...

we might even be able to save whittinghams career and put him back on track if we dont HAVE to rely on them and place undue pressure on them...

hopefully hughes and delaney can cover if we dont pick anyone else up and we can blend the youh in at a slower pace and without the major pressure....

[hanuma]

certainly...im dissapointed that oleary hasnt been given as much financial backing as he should have been...putting a club of aston villa's size in debt is nothing unusual or deadly.

just imagine what 3 or 4 real top quality players could do for you AND the premiership...just to elaborate on my "the premiership needs villa" point....i mean that the premiership could really do with Aston Villa regaining its old success...an extra club in the top 5 would be superb.

[andy villa]

indeed..

silly thing is, we only need 3 or 4 top quality players to put up back in the top 5....

ellis wont be around forever though.. :up:

[hanuma]

triple heart bypass never sounded so good.

[andy villa]

i (and his surgeon or so im led to believe) will give him five years maximum...

[hanuma]

i feel so heartless......