I was going .. or I wanted to go. Just too expensive for a poor blogger

how much would the whole package cost because im thinking of going? and how big is there stadium?

hey guys how come i cant see my messages being posted? any ideas?

Will be at VP for second leg :)

You're talking ~£300ish for flights alone if you want to go for a couple of days. Accomodation won't be very much, but those flights are a killer. Real shame, would loved to have gone.

I'm traveling with the players. It costs £700 and includes flight with players and 4 star hotel (same hotel as players) and match ticket. And obviously the return flight.

Damian, this player is taking a long time to make up his mind. Hope he doesn't disrupt the dressing room!
Hoping for a visit to Villa Park for a Euro night! That's if we don't get beat in the first leg with Nicky Shorey and vLuke Young ineligable

only one of shorey or young can play in this game the other will have to miss out

Just for your info, the match will be played at Iceland national stadium, Laugardalsvöllur...as Kaplakriki is way too small for this game!

glad you can afford £700 saz. i can barely scrape the cash for the home leg! only a tenner aswell

young on right barry left back

The twins signed just recently signed for their original team IA - Akranes as Managers/coaches. ;)

The game will be played on the National Stadium - Laugardalsvöllur not in Kaplakriki.
Capacity is around 10K. Huge I know!

"By far the most astonishing fact of all, though, is that Robbie Rotten from Lazytown comes from Hafnarfjaroar".

well blow me down you learn something new (and poinless) everyday ;D

Jordan's comment got me wondering and I fond this (from uefa.com):

17.16 For the UEFA Cup first and second qualifying rounds, the player lists may be
amended at any time until 24.00 CET on the day before the relevant first-leg
match, provided that the club’s national association confirms in writing that
the new players are eligible to play at domestic level by the respective
above-mentioned qualifying date.

So both are clear, as any other signings made in the next 5 or 6 days would be too (so long as the FA doesn't drag its heels!). Be good to have them play at least once against the supposed lesser lights of Iceland than pitch a new back 4 and keeper together in the opener against Man City, especially if there might be another couple of names to add to the list too.

Iceland is ludicrously expensive, otherwise I'd go. Anyone who does go says it is a stunning country and the women are mostly stunning and unaware of it, apparently. I think I'd be more tempted if there was a bit more riding on it. You've got to think worst case scenario here - you fork out probably £1000 all in, and we lose to some Eskimos. Not good.

Says on the Villa website only one is allowed to play...

[quote]Under UEFA rules clubs had to register players for the second qualifying round by midnight on August 4. Clubs can add just one player to their squad after the deadline.[/quote]

I'd pay twice that to see this Olympic Ceremony live though - anyone watching it? Bloody amazing. the games are gonna be such a let down after.

Don't suppose RL would be willing to put on the transport for this match.

xjarmeen

This explains why both full backs (Luke Young and Nicky Shorey) won't be playing the UEFA Cup against FH

LINK

I mean one of them either or!

only one will play im betting on young

why do people not like zat knight boyhood villa fan who stood in the holte and dreamed of playing for his club
bet you loved him when he scored against chelsea

Off topic though it is, I have to mention The Boro chairman's justification for selling Young. 6 million reasons that justify the decision to be precise. Clearly I'm not au fait with every detail in this matter, but the following facts are undeniable. Luke Young joined Middlesboro a season ago for £2.5m. Why, if MoN has just spent £6m a year on, didn't he sign him then, for less than HALF the price? One answer is that he had someone better lined up - remember the chap who we missed out on, but who was worth waiting until January for? Nelson from Benfica would seem to have been the most likely candidate. I'm all for turning down lesser quality players in favour of better quality players, but the fact is that we didn't sign Nelson, either in last summer's window, or in January.

A further fact is that, at £2.5m, Young would have been a great signing as backup for a prospective first choicer. In fact, Young would have been a bloody good signing as first choice himself. Picture a back four of Young; Mellberg; Laursen; Bouma, as opposed to Mellberg: Knight; Laursen; Bouma. How many points difference would that have made to our season? How much better would Laursen and Mellberg have performed with Davies breathing down the former's neck, and Mellberg playing in his natural position? It may even be as simple as suggesting that we could have signed Young instead of Knight, and saved some loose change. I'll leave you all to make your own judgements.

I'm actually more interested in what Young's signing means for Villa now, rather than dwelling on what might (should?) have been. My theory is this. In this transfer window we have failed to attract the players that MoN wants, players of the quality to take us into the top 4, maybe not this season, but next season. That is, players with quality and potential. What the reasons are for this I can't be entirely sure, and nor can anyone unless they are in the know. But that we have failed to bring in MoN's first choice is undeniable. As such, we are left with Luke Young at right back. I'm not knocking the player here. It's not his fault that we've payed £6m for him, nor that we didn't sign him last summer. But for £6m he's overpriced regardless of his age, and when you consider that he's 29, he's even more overpriced. This transfer looks like a nightmare combination of desperation and stupidity.

Still, looking on the bright side, if we have the money to spend £6m on Luke Young, then our finances must be very healthy. But don't expect cover to be brought in at right back, because MoN clearly feels that Gardner provides sufficient cover. In fact, the only further signings I'd expect us to make are a centre back (with Kaboul today looking likely, though who knows how things will look tomorrow. And by the way, with Kaboul signed, that leaves Knight as 4th choice, further underlining the folly of signing him rather than Young last summer) and a striker. If Barry leaves (and bizarrely that's a big IF), then a replacement for him could be a possibility (though in terms of numbers, central midfield is not a problem). Then we might sign a right winger, depending on whether the 'right player' is available at the 'right price'. That's 2 definites, and 2 maybes, and for my money, that leaves us short on numbers, if not necessarily on the quality required to get us a top 8 to top 5 finish. But this hinges on us being as lucky as we were last season with injuries.

I want to finish by saying that, as a man manager MoN is unquestionably excellent, and as a tactician he's perfectly fine. But as so many have pointed out, it is his transfer dealings that would be eccentric if they weren't so apparently incompetent. I believed, I'm sure like many others, that this transfer window we would be well and truly sorted. Maybe, come the end of it, we'll have a decent squad and a very good first XI. But even if this is the case, in my view MoN has shown that he is not up to the task of acquiring the raw materials to build the team that he wants. This means that we need to either bring someone in to look after this side of things, or bring in a new manager. I would very much hope that MoN would be amenable to the former, but if he weren't then he would have to go.

UTV

Re: the Olympic opening ceremony... someone from my office is there. He apparently paid USD 8,000 *each* for his tickets.

Wish i was going! Odense away was one of the best weekends I've ever had and by far the best away game.
Watching the Villa in Europe is a different class!

Well i live in Uppsala.... and i didnt know we were twinned with them..!

Have just seen official site and realised I was wrong about the UEFA Cup ruling. Oooppps... not a good start! sorry :'(

Hello guys, I am a big Villa fan and I live in Iceland.
If I can assist you in any way I would love to so just e-mail me at gulli@dettifoss.is
I live in Keflavik near the airport and there are about 40 km to Laugardalsvöllur.
We never call the FH team Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar just FH.
If you need any information please contact me.
Looking forward to see my favorite team play in Iceland.

hogie1, why don't people like zat knight? its nothing personal against the bloke but he just completely lacks concentration and is not a centre-half we can rely on if we stand any chance of breaking into the top four.

Had a good debut against chelsea but cost us alot of goals in the second half of the season when davies got injured. For a bloke of his size he should never get caught out with so many hoofs over the top as he does.

Its great hes a villa fan and all that but he is just not in the same league as laursen or davies

Hello guys, I am a big Villa fan and I live in Iceland.
If I can assist you in any way I would love to so just e-mail me at gulli@dettifoss.is
I live in Keflavik near the airport and there are about 40, km to Laugardalsvöllur.
We never call the FH team Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar just FH.
If you need any information please contact me.
Looking forward to see my favorite team play in Iceland.

you've gone awfully quiet on this new player damian! Starting to think someones telling porkies

Simeon - take a break mate, sounds like you need one.

robbiee

if it wasn't from this particular person it wouldn't have got published. there is nothing more that can be said now, but as soon as i can i will tell you who

the X player is moutinho we have lodged a 13million pound bid for him but so have everton this is a reliable source from round the corner ie VP and on top of that fenerbache have also placed a 12million bid for xabi alonso so barry could still go

Wasn't the player we were after Javier Saviola!!
If I remember correctly the deal fell through just before the transfer window closed.
Didn't get too many games at Barca or Real

Gulliht - Cheers for your kind offer, unfortunately i wont be making the trip. I live in Finland and i was praying for FC Turku (Finland) to win through! Instead HF won so atleast one of us will see Villa!! Hope you enjoy the match and hopefully youll see our boys have a win

Simeon: Your argument(s) are bizarre and contradictory to say the least..

So MON made a mistake not signing Young last year as a back-up to the player(s) he really wanted.. lets say that's true.. and so your slating him for not buying Young last year..

YET

You slate him for signing Knight - who may well have been back up for a better player we never got!? Also how can the signing of Young/Knight be played off each other - ie why didn't we sign Young instead of Knight last year.. well maybe as they play in different positions?

Then you say Young is overpriced, but that's at least a sign we have money.. and yet further on you say - "'right player' is available at the 'right price'" - kind indicating you think we don't have money - which is it?

Honestly your damned if you do and damned if you don't - pay over the odds and people moan we paid too much, don't pay over the odds and so we get out bid and don't get whoever and people say MON is living in the past and these days you have to pay whatever it takes (ie over the odds!)

Look it works like this: You sign the best players you possibly can at any given time, you may wish to wait for someone better and risk losing out.. its all a gamble but the overall idea is you improve the squad year on year.. which is what's happening!

If get into the top4 and sign Messi next year will you be saying we should have signed him last year and MON is an idiot for buying Sidwell this year?

Honestly why are 1/2 the people on here so damn negative, about EVERYTHING!

I leave it asking what YOU WOULD DO.. really.. what would your way of *realistically* building the team be.. bearing in mind its not CM2008 and in the real world we live in teams around us such as Newcastle, Everton etc also seem to be struggling to buy these 'world class' players - please do tell!

Iceland air do a good package - £239 for return flights, 3 nights 3* hotel!

[url]http://www.icelandair.co.uk/home/packages/london/detail/store65/item174500/[/url]

barry deal dead !!???

LINK

well said Madladdy. a true villain.

i firmly believe this is going to be a terrific season for the villa.not only should we have a succesful league campaign but a nice exciting run in europe to boot.in mon we have a terrific manager yes he may not be the best at buying players but no one can dispute his succes.as for the whole mystery player to be honest im not that excited as i cant see it happening i think mon should go for swp or antonio valencia or even ricardo quaresma and a striker perhaps ashton. seems kaboul is also on his way.exciting times eh

i think the mystery player is ricardo quaresma we need a winger and hes a quality player im pretty confident it is him as he fits the bill to everything damian says. al we need is a cb kaboul or ferdinand and a striker ashton or zigic would be nice should be a pretty good year for the villa times eh

Riquelme.

JoelR...thanks for that link but do you know if it applies to the date of the match. It says something about an autumn deal ? £239 is a very good price especially with 3 nights hotel included.

No news on Kaboul yet from what I can see and still nothing on player X ! Hurry up and make your mind up, whoever you are !

UP THE VILLA ;)

DIEGO...DIEGO...DIEGO...DIEGO (I bleedin' wish !)

barry will start season with villa as hicks does not fancy him according to liverpool echo ;D ;D

transfer window update reading good this time of year 5 out 6in not bad ;D

so does that mean if we sign anymore players they will not be aledgible for the next round

MON Quote:

"Luke is a natural right-back and played for England not so long ago. He did very well for Boro last season and this is a great opportunity for him."

I expect another right-back in. A great opportunity says to me its not on a silver platter and he has work to claim that spot.

Regardless, there will be a sufficient number of games next season for everyone to get plenty of games.

The seasons back!! Amsterdam Tournament & Charity Shield this weekend, UEFA on Thursday, Premier League the weekend!!! Yes!

would love to go just a bit too much at the moment!! >:( if this player x even exists which i hope does i would love it to be moutinho whoever mentioned it,he realy would be the sort of class we need in midfield let all of our fingers be crossed!!

av33 ;) ;)

damien y dont you just tell us. o'neill will eventually stuff it up anyway. funny how sign players while he's away

Damien ,why dont you set up a hang man style game and we can all guess who this player is. Ill go first R _ _ _ _ _ O

Also for those that are saying buying Young now after 1 year at Boro "proves" MON is desperate and has no idea what he'd doing:

Here's a list of transfers of players who were bought at MUCH higher, inflated prices by clubs when they could have brought them the year before...

M Essien: Lyon: Free -> Chelsea £24m - one year later
M Carrick: Spurs: £2.5m -> Man U £18m - two years later.
R Ferdinand: Leeds £18m -> Man U £33m - two years later.
D Ashton: Norwich. £3m -> West Ham £7m - one year later.
J Pennant: Blues: Free -> Liverpool £6.7m - one year later.
D Bent: Charlton £2.5m -> Spurs £16m - two years later.
L Diara: Chelsea £1m -> Arsenal £2m -> Pmouth £5.5m - 1x1x1year
D Bentley: B-burn: Free - > Spurs £15m - two years later.
D Drogba: Marseile: £3m -> Chelsea £24m - one year later.

I'm guessing all of these managers (Fergie, Moriniho etc) also have no idea what they're doing and are desperate too!?

Simeon,

I've been trying to say that last paragraph of yours all week but every time I have I've had my comments shot down, picked apart or someone has got totally the wrong end of the stick and assumed I'm a MON basher.

I don't suppose it'll be long till the same happens to you mate...

...oh it already has!

heloo
my name is godwin umoh i live in nigera,am a footballer want to come for try in aston villa i love football not only that i am well tallented boy only that i dont have any body to help me i always visit football dating site,can i come for try?i played from striking raw please help and send me fed back at my email address thanks.

I will see you guys when you get over here to Iceland. Go Villa....

The great thing about being in the UEFA cup is that you can watch the game on terrestial TV - It's on Five at 6.50pm. So as I didn't win the Euro Lottery it looks like a night in for me, still it's a Lotto rollover tonight so you never know!!