Time to map out a plan for Villa's future
- Says blogger Matthew Turvey
Martin O’Neill backed to buy at Villa
Monday 19th July 2010, 10:43AM BST.
Martin O’Neill’s senior players trust the Villa manager to deliver the goods in the transfer market this summer.
That’s the word from captain Stiliyan Petrov, as the club inch closer to adding Spurs’ Robbie Keane and Celtic’s Aiden McGeady to their numbers.
Privately, Petrov and his colleagues have already accepted that they will lose team-mate James Milner to Manchester City this summer – but that will give O’Neill the funds to freshen the squad.
Keane has already decided he wants one last shot at success with Villa and is already making accommodation plans in anticipation of the deal going through in the next few weeks.
And Petrov believes that by the time O’Neill is finished the claret and blues will still be able go into the season with a genuine challenge for the top four positions again.
He said: “We know there are going to be new players coming in and, as we all know, our boss will be doing everything in the last three or four days.
“I am sure the manager and the chairman, who was down at the training ground last week, are working hard. I am certain they are going to strengthen before the season starts because both have great ambitions for Villa.
“If the boss brings in the same sort of quality he did this time last year with Dunne, Collins and Warnock, then we will all be very happy. The impact they had on our team was huge.
“If we can get that sort of player in again we’ll be very pleased.”
Petrov also believes the players who now form Villa have an advantage over the rapidly-changing teams at other clubs.
He added: “We are so desperate to get into the Champions League, and the spirit and determination of the players to do that is a big thing for us.”
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The most telling thing about this report is the missing word, Kids! As usual, we Villa fans are being fed various names through the media, usually out of their current 1st team and desperate for one last payday.
As far back as I can remember, we have been linked with the likes of Jenas, Huddlestone, Bentley, Carrick, Keane and a plethora of Celtic boys desperate to rejoin their old mentor.
But what about the kids? When are they going to be given a chance? The last player to break through the Villa youth ranks was Agbonlahor, and that was over 5 years ago! None of the kids are being given an extended run in the team and as a result, are probably becoming disillusioned. Gary Cahill was a prime example. Great prospect! But O’Neill just wouldn’t play him. So off he goes for £5 million, then hey presto, 12 months on and he’s worth £25 million!
The likes of the Fonz, Albrighton, Bannan, Clark etc have no chance while we are looking at the above type of players. And that’s a crime as we have the best academy in the country!!!!
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Couldn’t agree more about the kids Bilston, we do need experience in there as well, but I think above all, we have to start using a rotation system, using four or five of the kids and a couple of decent signings, I can see a bright future, but if that doesnt happen, i’m afraid it’ll be more of the same.
Two thirds of last season gone and we were almost totally shot, O’Neil has got to stamp his authority on the players, they cannot be playing every game as part of the signing on deal, they have to learn how to compete with the big boys, if not, sell em to Man City, they will finish up with so many players, they will only get two games a season.
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