According to reports out of England, Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill is trying to lure American Frankie Simek away from Sheffield Wednesday. He has already had a £2m bid turned down by the Owls, and it looks like Villa will need to double that offer to pry Frankie away from Sheffield Wednesday. With Jozy recently being sold for $10 million, Frankie being valued at $8 million, and reports of Monaco splashing some serious scratch for Michael Bradley, this is shaping up to be a great summer for American players in the transfer market.

Liverpool have been pursuing Gareth Barry for the past few months, all the while Martin O’Neill was doing everything to hold on to his skipper and star midfielder. Things seem to have chenged now after Barry put his boss on blast saying that O’Neill failed to try and change his mind on his desire to join up with Liverpool. I’m not exactly sure how Garethbarry can make that clain. Every time I tuned into Sky Sports or read an English newspaper, Martin O’Neill was singing Barry’s praises and saying how much they wanted to keep.  Just goes to show that when a players mind is made up, there is very little that can be done to change it. My guess is Barry doesn’t want to look like the bad guy on this one, so why not shift blame to the club by saying they didn’t do enough to keep him. Will Liverpool step up and meet Villa’s £18million asking price?

UPDATE -  Aston Villa have agreed to a 5.5 Million Pound transfer with Chelsea FC for the services of Steve Sidwell.

Although Sidwell only made 7 starts in the 2007/08 campaign, O’Neill might have the midfielder in mind for a replacement for what looks like the eventual loss of Gareth Barry.

Anyone else remember David Beckham’s first match with the LA Galaxy?  If you ever question Sidwell’s desire or commitment, Sidwell was the first one to tackle him knowing full well that his ankle was still injured.  Not the smartest tackle at all, but you’ve got to like the fact the 25 year old has the balls to go out there and get stuck in.

According to the Daily Mail, Aston Villa and Martin O’Neill have agreed with Chelsea on a 5 Million Pound fee for former Reading midfielder Steve Sidwell.

After only spending one year at Stamford Bridge, it’s believed that 2.5 Million Pound is going directly to Sidwell as a payout for terminating his contract with the Blues after signing on a free transfer under Jose Mourinho and in hopes of keeping his wages as low as possible since there’s no possible way that Villa could afford the current structure of his Chelsea contract.

image via News1

Liverpool stepped up their bid to the 15 Million Pound range for England International Gareth Barry only to see Aston Villa reject it for the second time.

Martin O’Neill has been extremely vocal about Rafa Benitez’ public admiration of his left footed star and you’ve got to think it might take 20+ Million Pound to pry the 27 year old away from Villa Park.

Barry said earlier this month: ‘You only have to look at the England squad to see the amount of players who get in the squad and start the games - the majority play in the Champions League.

‘That’s all about the decision that will have to be made by myself. Liverpool are in the Champions League and Villa are trying to push for that. That’s all part of my decision if a bid gets accepted.”

image via BBC

In the cash rich environment that is world football, it is not often that you see clubs turn down big money deals. Barcelona did it for years by turning down shirt sponsors, only to finally give in and go the admirable route of doing a deal with Unicef that actually helped raise money for the global charity. Now, according to Reuters Aston Villa has foregone a new shirt sponsor in favor of doing a deal with Acorn Hospice, which looks after “700 life-limited children and their families in the midlands.” Talk about giving back to the community! This is a gesture that shows how important clubs are to local communities, and is a reminder that the soccer plays a bigger role within their communities than we often realize. On a side note, Randy Lerner, Aston Villa’s American owner spent $7 million to “renovate a derelict pub near the stadium’s famous Holte End because it was part of the club’s history.” Lerner has definitely endeared himself to the Villa faithful and shown that an American owner can run an English club in a manner that grows it at the global level, while understanding and preserving the past.

[Source Reuters]

image via Allposters

Norwegian John Carew placed himself in the hat trick column as Aston Villa thumped Newcastle 4-1 at Villa Park this afternoon. Even the inclusion of Joey Barton back in the midfield couldn’t save Kevin Keegan’s men as they continue their horrible form.

image via Eurosport

Just days after getting his first shout for the 1st team, Gabby Agbonlahor’s full team dream debut has come to an end after being substituted at halftime of Aston Villa’s 2-1 defeat to Fulham for a hamstring injury.  This is what sucks about midweek friendlies.  You get the call-up, have to play ONE more game and it’s all dashed in one play.

He’s finally gotten the shout for the first team and you can expect Gabby Agbonlahor to make the most of it. Yes, he’s still in the U-21’s with Stuart “Pyscho” Pearce, but under Martin O’Neill he’s flourished and was named today to Capello’s final 23 for England’s friendly against Switzerland.