|
|
Alex McLeish unconcerned by lack of transfer spending at Aston Villa
The ex-Birmingham boss was made well aware by the club's board of the lack of funds at Villa Park, and remains undeterred by Wednesday's opponents QPR's spending this month
31 Jan 2012 19:11:00
By George Ankers
Getty Images
Alex McLeish says that he knew when he took the manager’s job at Aston Villa that he would not have money to spend and is unconcerned by the lack of investment in January.
The Midlands club have signed Robbie Keane on loan from LA Galaxy and defender Enda Stevens from Shamrock Rovers for close to £250,000 in the current transfer window, but have shown no signs of adding to that list since.
“I'm not frustrated at all because I knew what the parameters were,” McLeish told reporters.
“If you know in advance, and you're working with your board and they're honest, then if they say 'no' then at least you're getting that answer.
“It's not 'maybe we will, maybe we won't', and that's what leaves you frustrated.
“We know the course we're steering, and we've got to keep on that road.”
The Villans face a side with contrasting spending power on Wednesday night when they host the comparatively big-spending QPR.
New boss Mark Hughes has added the likes of Taye Taiwo and Djibril Cisse to his squad in recent days but McLeish refuses to be distracted by his opponents’ preparations.
“[QPR chairman] Tony Fernandes has made it clear that he's got money to spend, so Mark Hughes isn't going to pass up that opportunity and he's already been linked with some big names,” he added.
“We have to be concerned with our own performance tomorrow night and get back to winning ways at Villa Park.”
The eyes of the Villa faithful will be on striker Darren Bent as he attempts to score his 100th Premier League goal, though he remains behind loanee Keane in that regard, the Irishman having notched 125 in the competition over the years.
“The boys were kidding him on, saying Robbie's ahead of him,” McLeish said of the England striker.
“So maybe he's got to chase Robbie and make that his first target.
“I've never seen any bad attitude in him at all,” the Scot added of rumours that the former Sunderland man was agitating for a move away from Villa Park.
“There were a couple of games where he was frustrated because he felt he could have scored more goals, but it's great when strikers feel like that.
“He's certainly back on the scoring trail at the moment.”
|
Sign up with 188BET for a FREE bet up to £25 – Great Prices, Every Game |
|
Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £50 in free bets! |
|
Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
|
Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
|
Sign up with Paddy Power - Bet £10, Get £20! |
The Midlands club have signed Robbie Keane on loan from LA Galaxy and defender Enda Stevens from Shamrock Rovers for close to £250,000 in the current transfer window, but have shown no signs of adding to that list since.
“I'm not frustrated at all because I knew what the parameters were,” McLeish told reporters.
“If you know in advance, and you're working with your board and they're honest, then if they say 'no' then at least you're getting that answer.
“It's not 'maybe we will, maybe we won't', and that's what leaves you frustrated.
“We know the course we're steering, and we've got to keep on that road.”
The Villans face a side with contrasting spending power on Wednesday night when they host the comparatively big-spending QPR.
New boss Mark Hughes has added the likes of Taye Taiwo and Djibril Cisse to his squad in recent days but McLeish refuses to be distracted by his opponents’ preparations.
“[QPR chairman] Tony Fernandes has made it clear that he's got money to spend, so Mark Hughes isn't going to pass up that opportunity and he's already been linked with some big names,” he added.
“We have to be concerned with our own performance tomorrow night and get back to winning ways at Villa Park.”
The eyes of the Villa faithful will be on striker Darren Bent as he attempts to score his 100th Premier League goal, though he remains behind loanee Keane in that regard, the Irishman having notched 125 in the competition over the years.
“The boys were kidding him on, saying Robbie's ahead of him,” McLeish said of the England striker.
“So maybe he's got to chase Robbie and make that his first target.
“I've never seen any bad attitude in him at all,” the Scot added of rumours that the former Sunderland man was agitating for a move away from Villa Park.
“There were a couple of games where he was frustrated because he felt he could have scored more goals, but it's great when strikers feel like that.
“He's certainly back on the scoring trail at the moment.”
| Sign up with 188BET for a FREE bet up to £25 – Great Prices, Every Game |
|
| Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £50 in free bets! |
|
| Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
|
| Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
|
| Sign up with Paddy Power - Bet £10, Get £20! |
|
Live!
England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 4-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.
Hosted by Joe Doyle
Hosted by Joe Doyle
19:59 BST
Unfortunately for Northern Ireland, they are trailing the Netherlands 4-0 at half-time. Looks like that one's all sewn up then.
19:54 BST
We're still getting plenty of Hazard chat on Twitter. A few are now saying that he's not worth the hype, others saying he was brilliant(!?) and others (which I agree with), saying he created much of his own hype. What do you think? Get involved!
19:46 BST
Joe Hart has also been giving his thoughts after the Belgium game: "It was a really tough game, a good run out. I thought we played well, [but] we were a little bit bitty at times.
"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.
"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.
"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
19:35 BST
And another point from today: Eden Hazard wasn't great. Don't think you can judge him on one performance though. What do you think? Is it just a case of too much hype around the Chelsea-bound Belgian?
Inside Goal.Com
-
Welbeck convinces Hodgson he is the man to lead the line
England beat Norway 1-0 at Wembley, with the Manchester United man hitting an impressive winner to stake his claim for a starting spot at Euro 2012
-
The five players Rodgers could sign to kick-start revolution
The new Reds boss was unveiled to the press on Friday and must immediately begin work on revitalising a thin squad with some additions in the transfer market
-
Managerial merry-go-round keeps spinning as Lambert takes Villa job
The Scot officially left Norwich City on Saturday to become the second new boss in June, following the appointment of Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool on Friday
-
Rodgers ushers in new Anfield era on his own terms
The Northern Irishman inevitably expressed his delight at landing the Reds job but evidenced plenty of the steely resolve which could see him become a success at Anfield
-
The definitive timeline of FSG's hunt for new manager
Kenny Dalglish's sacking at the end of the season sparked a massive hunt for the next Anfield boss, and the former Swansea man has been chosen after several turned the job down
