Time to map out a plan for Villa's future
- Says blogger Matthew Turvey
Old firm duo linked with Albion
Tuesday 17th November 2009, 12:00PM GMT.
Scottish duo Kris Boyd and Gary Caldwell are the latest players to be linked to a January move to Albion – but ex-Villa striker Darius Vassell is not Hawthorns bound.
Boyd and Caldwell are two tempting targets for low-end Premier League and leading Championship clubs as both are out of contract next summer with major question marks about their futures.
Albion are viewed as a potential destination for both and sources at the club confirm that the Baggies are “fully aware” of their potential availability. But that is still some distance from the duo becoming confirmed targets.
There is no new offer on the table for striker Boyd even though he wants to stay at Glasgow Rangers and his exit is seen as an opportunity for a high wage-earner to be removed from a club crippled by £31million in debts.
Defender Caldwell is in dispute with Glasgow Celtic about his wages and it is thought he may be allowed to leave in January as former Baggies boss Tony Mowbray reshapes his team.
Both players have already been linked with moves to the Midlands with Birmingham manager Alex McLeish particularly interested in adding Boyd to his contingent of Scottish forwards.
Ex-Villa striker Vassell, looking for a route out of Turkish football, is searching for potential clubs back on his home patch of the Midlands – and Albion were immediately linked to a move for the player.
But the 29-year-old, forced to leave his Ankara hotel after his club Ankaragucu failed to pay the bill, will not find Albion bidding for his services.
The club have also denied plans for a bid for one-time Walsall striker Matty Fryatt, scoring freely for Leicester at the moment, and dismissed last week’s speculation that as many as three Polish players were on Di Matteo’s radar for a January move.
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I’m not a great fan of the transfer window but it does get interesting around now with all the speculation and the hacks all holding a glass to the wall of the hotel. We do need a forward who can pop the half chances in. Send the blokes who found Jara to look.
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Cyril,
We’ve already got the forward who can pop the half chances in – Cox.
Give the lad some time!
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That would be a real Coup for you guys, hope MM has got wind of this cos those two are exactly what we need to give us a fighting chance, plus a left back, left winger and a centre mid…..LOL! Believing we will survive and that I will get to see many top flight Baggies Wolves derbies. UTW
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Boyd is a great goal scorer and it would be a major coup if we could get him in, but I think he’ll be at the Blues by the end of January with their new influx of cash and a manager he’s worked with for so many years in charge.
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Cyril Randle is on the ball when he suggests we send the bloke who found Jara to look at new players. I wonder if there are any more players in Chile we could entice to the Midlands as Jara seems very happy and there must be more good players from a team which qualified against intense competition for the world cup. Can’t see much point in looking in Scotland for good players, their international team proves this. They don’t seem to make em like Willie Johnstone anymore. The last player we paid a big fee from Scotland was Craig Beattie and we paid far too much for him.
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if we still at top in jan and blues down bottom with dingles think it might be only chance we have of gettin boyd aye boing boing
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NED are you doing blackpool w/e.
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3 – It’s good to see a Wulfie with a sense of humour!!
It’s for fans like you that I hope you’re right and we get to beat you in the Prem next season :-)
Do you think you will survive with what you’ve seen of the Wolves so far this season? I know things can change very quickly, but what’s your assessment so far?
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I’ve got to be honest, I’m not partiularly taken by either.
Boyd’s goalscoring record is good (in a very average league), but question marks have to remain about his all around play (he was being kept out the Scotland team by Chris Iwelumo at one point, and more recently by Kenny ‘Goal machine’ Miller) and his attitude (retiring when he wasn’t brought on against Norway).
I’ve got to agree with Connor and don’t think Boyd would be any more of a prospect than Cox was. Cox has kept his head down and got himself into the team, lets give the lad a chance to prove himself.
Also, a fully fit Bednar will still do damage in this division.
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boyd would be great
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Nedball, got laugh ain’t ya or else I might cry!!! I think potentially we could be safe and sound but in reality we are so naive, that unless we get some real experience in I fear we are going to go down fighting. I think we play good stuff (as you do and did) and we know what happened. We were fortunate last year I mean how many teams win a title whilst not winning a game for quarter of a season? I remain undecided on Mick but if come Jan we have not improved results (because truth told the performances have been good on the whole) then I would be looking elsewhere. Hope Strachan going in at Middlesboro doesn’t cause you lot too many problems I think RDM is a top coach and you have a great chance this year, and I honestly believe through my Gold and Black tinted glasses we will be fine…..surely there are three worse teams than us???? Burnley…..whoops maybe not, Blues…..Loadsamoney now….Portsmouth? already beaten us!!!! D’oh. Up the Wolves I’ve already bet we will finish 15th. 9 points from the games after Chelski and we’ll be humky dory!!!
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I wouldn’t worry too much that we may be interested in signing a Mowbray “reject”, after all what does TM know about good defenders!!
;-)
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No comments on the story itself – just wanted to say I enjoyed reading post 11 by a proper wolves fan – its quite startling when you read something like that after the weeks of LW and his 15 other personalities…. well done mate !!!
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Connor Davies
Iam sorry but Simon Cox is simply not good enough
for this level,I thought his goal against Watford
would spur him on but sadly it hasnt ,getting
hauled off in the leicester game says it all,
If Albion fans think it going to be a front
two of Cox and Moore for Bristol game then
please think again.
If Birmingham City cant afford Kris Boyds wages
then theres no way Albion will.
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i see Jara scored for chile last night against Cech`s slovakia we got players playing all over the world eat ya hearts out dingles cuz we going up the JARA way IN STYLE OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS aye boing boing morning worcester
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7 – Morning Tez, I’m still working on it, but I doubt I’ll be up there for the weekend.
I’m in Amsterdam with work the weekend before and it’s the Mrs’ birthday while I’m away……oops!!
I’m really gonna have to turn on the charm to have any chance of getting up there for the entire weekend!!
Any tips Terry Romeo Baggie??? :-)
11 – Winslow. Thanks for the honest assessment. It’s good to see some of our orange friends still have their heads screwed on!!
If you can manage to get in a few quality players in Jan and get SEB firing alongside Doyle you may well do it. There are enough poor teams in the Prem this season for you to be able to survive, but if you get only 3 points from the next 3 home games it will be a struggle as you’ll start to be cut adrift and WE know only too well how difficult it is to inspire confidence and results when that happens.
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16,Hi Ned do what im duin, take her with you,im just stayin the saturday night,dont think i,ll be taking me bucket n spade,aye boing boing OH WE DO LIKE TO BE BESIDE THE SEASIDE OH WE DO LIKE TO BE BESIDE THE SEA OH WE DO LIKE TO BE BESIDE THE PROM PROM PROM WHEN THE BRASS BANDS PLAYIN COME ON WEST BROM COME ON WEST BROM
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Dorrans
Cox has played two games on the bounce, one in which he played very well. Give the guy a break. Your attitude is symptomatic of the modern supporter, demanding immediate success.
Do you think Rio Ferdinand’s a pub player because he had a bad game recently?
Can’t you be supportive for once?
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16. Ned very true mate, I fear that SEB is never going to get ”Premier fit” it’s a totally different level of fitness and he has looked overweight since I saw us struggle at MK Dons, I go to the gym 3 times a week and I’m in pretty decent shape he trains everyday and still has a fatter backside than me!!!! The point about being cut adrift is spot on, so much of it is phycological and we need to get our mentality right, if we do get cut adrift I bet all of a sudden we’ll start playing without fear and get results but that will be too late!! I’m not someone who thinks that we should over spend but you have to speculate to accumulate and we need a prem left back, centre half, left mid (right mid if Kites doesn’t pull his finger out), centre mid and a forward in Doyles class! Frankly I’d like Brunt, Morrison and Jara, our scouts need to have a look at themselves!!! having said that Zubar and Milijas look the part. Finally I’m so sick of us playing in Orange what happened to the Old Gold??!!! Hard to rake the mick out of that colour!! All the best backing the black country over the North East all the way. Need some Black country Prem banter next year. Gold and Black forever!!!
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I think both black country clubs will achieve their goals. I think albion will go up in 2nd if not the play-offs and I think Wolves will survive. Burnley will have a big bubble burst and their lack of depth will take them down. Hull and Pompey have way too many problems within their respective clubs and go down. Wolves have been so unlucky with injuries to key players for the big chunks of the season so far. Once SEB is match fit along with Kites, Iwelumo, Foley and hopefully Matt Murray it will be comfortable in the end. The Hoff and Milijas are getting used to the pace of the game.
19. Nice to see an Albion fan pretending to be Wolves to make themselves look better. Brunt and Morrison have both proved they are not good enough for the premier with the former being released by Borough and being relegated with Albion. Jara looks good in his first 5 or so games but long hard winter ahead and many south americans go missing in the cold. If Wolves should take any Albion player it would be Olsson and thats it Im afraid. Also a ridiculous comment regarding SEB, the bloke took his shirt off last season to reveal his 6 pack and muscular physique, he’s a stocky lad but fat is ridiculous. How many times has he used his strength to shrug off a defender and put the ball into the back of the net?
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Warren
Ok I`ll be supportive for once and say that
Joe Mattock is finally starting to do the buisness
after watching him so far I havnt been very
impressed but against Leicester he was superb,
lets just hope it wasnt a flash in the pan.
Rio Ferdinand is the most overated player
in the history of football and should be no where
near the England team,if David James is clown
no 1 then this guy is definetly no 2.
England have so many decent players but
seem to get over looked due to the fact they dont
play for a fashionable team.
MY ENGLAND TEAM:
Kirkand,Richards,Terry,Cahill,Cole,
Milner,Gerrard,Lampard,Bentley.Rooney,Davies.
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Northbank, thats the point about SEB, last season he was fit, this season he aint and we need him to be, the boy is a top goalscorer naturally but you’ve got be supremely fit in this div, so what is ridiculous about that? Olsson is a good hand yeah but the three midfield boys are quality I think. I said I think and believe we can do it but we need to be doing alot more and seriously need to bring in some experience with quality, for all our endevour and decent football we are naive and far from ruthless. I would consider myself a positive fan as most of my posts will bear me out but I’m also not a mindless sheep who feels the need to go along with what everyone else is saying, I can see for myself. Gold and Black Forever!!!!! I agree about Burnley but they might find themselves all but safe when it does burst like Hull last year. Hull I agree are in dire straits but I think Pompey for all the problems are much stronger than their results have shown. It’s going to be a scrap and as I said i’ve put my hard earned on us staying up. Money where my mouth is!!!!!
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21. Clown no.1 in the england set-up unfortuantely is our own Carson, not that he’s in it anymore, but I bet they still laugh at him. Watched a football blunders show the other night, 7 times I counted him on there.
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23- Shadrag
Was Iwelumo on there missing his open goal? Or Michael Kightly telling interviewers that Karl Henry should be in the England squad?
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20 – so albion will go up second or via the playoffs…… well you may be right and i’M sure we would take that right now – BUT… its laughable that you can’t contemplate us going up as champions (again) – so your comment was really just another dingle insult wrapped up in cotton wool – so shove it.
I also liked your analysis that burnley have lack of depth – but wolves are in the bottom 2 due to “unlucky” injuries….. take the orange goggles off for a minute and see how stupid you look.
23 – nice to have one of shadrags many wierd personalities join us again.
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Just seen shadrag has posted under his own name on the dingles page at 12.16 – just 4 minutes after 23 posted here (hmmmmm)
I actually like the idea that he sits in his pokey room full of bile and spite and spends all day using false names to post childish drivel for us all to laugh at – its a sort of service if you think about it…… cheers saddo.
warren – I bet Iwelumo is top of George Burley’s xmas card list.
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Northbankwolf
How many times have you seen Brunt, Morrison or Jara play?
The arrogance astounds me, that people think themselves qualified to give an overall assessment on a player’s ability having read a newspaper report on them, or seen them in maybe the odd televised game.
However that arrogance pales into significance though, when compared with the assumption that Wolves can come and cherry pick our best players. Why would Olsson swap a team in the promotion places of the Championship (who’ve spent 4 of the last 7 seasons in the top flight) for one in the relegation zone of the division above? Dream on Wolfie.
Morrison was released by Boro as a 20-year-old, since then he’s been the subject on unsuccessful bids from a Premiership team, he and Brunt were lauded as two of the successes of last season.
Happy- I wonder now we’ve put to bed Shadrag’s internationals humiliating themselves argument, he’ll revert back to his ‘no sponsor’ insult…
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If wolves do stay up this season, which I am confident we will, next season is a building season if Newcastle and Albion come up with the likes of sheff utd, cardiff or borough, cause albions squad as it is would get absolutely embarressed you finished bottom last season and now losing your best players and gaffer be down by the xmas cards.
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Northbankwolf
Chris Brunt scored 8 goals in the Prem so I dont
Know how you can say he isnt up to the standard,
I bet 80% of Wolves fans wouldnt mind him in their
team instead of Milijas,Henry,Kightly,Edwards,etc.
Iam affraid that `The Old Dogheads` are just
an average Team who be relagated at the end of
the season with the lowest ever number of points
If you lose to Chelsea and Blues then its
goodbye dingles!
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Speculation will always be rige at this stage of the season, however thats all it is – speculaton. I don’t thinks Boyd or Caldwell will join us as they will end up at Premiership clubs. I have confidence that whoever we bring in will be good enough to do a job.
Its quite funny reading the posts from some Wolves fans above, its obvious how worried they are – in the bottom 3 with 3 of the big four still to face!
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Dorrans regardless of whether you are biting, to claim we will go down with lowest points is ludicrous I just cannot see how the statement has any grounding in reality, and there is nothing wrong with being an average team in the Prem I’d take that all day long right now. after Chelsea I fully expect us to take a min 7 points from the next 3 games and then the outlook is somewhat different. However if we take only 4 or less I would have to concede that the putlook is at best very bleak. Clearly as I said and as his performances last year showed Brunt would be welcome in a number of Prem sides, I think Kites and Milijas when fit also fit in that bracket. But to suggest that your current team is any better than ours is in my humble opinion not accurate. At this stage I would say that overall the teams are very close, similar strengths and weaknesses. I hope that this season pans out well for us both so we can continue the rivalry where it counts on the pitch in the top div and
show that the Midlands is the hotbed of British footbal
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Its taken Albion 10 years and 5 managers for us
to beable to attract the sort of players we can
today,it will take Wolves that amount of time for
them to get anywhere near us both in terms of
quality of squad and manager.
Wolves may be in the Prem at the moment but you
can see the difference between Albions class
and the Wolves poor lack of it,the things that
will send them down are NO1.NO CUTTING EDGE,
NO2.NO LEADERS, NO3.NO STEEL, and
NO4.NO CREATIVITY.
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