Posts Tagged ‘Aston Villa’

Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill has revealed that the club will offer James Milner a new contract in the summer. The former Newcastle United player has been impressive all season for the Villians and O’Neill wants to keep Milner contracted to the club for a longer period of time.

Milner signed a four year deal with Villa when he signed in the summer of 2008. After signing for the Midlands club, Milner has grown from strength to strength and is expected to be a part of Capello’s squad for the 2010 World Cup. He has represented Villa 63 times scoring 8 goals. Villa are wanting to offer Milner a new deal to ward off potential suitors. Milner has made a seamless transition into central midfield where he has been playing for the last few weeks. Visit Partybets for Aston Villa’s betting odds for their next game.

Villa are also looking to bring in reinforcements over the summer. They are particularly interested in Ivory Coast winger Kader Keita who plays for Galatasaray. Keita joined the Turkish club from Lyon last summer in spite of Everton showing considerable interest. The 23-year old has become a huge fans favourite at Galatasaray but a switch to the Premier League can’t be ruled out. Arsenal, Everton, Villa and Manchester City are all interested in his signature.

The Premier League clubs’ chairmen have shot down a proposal which would have seen a playoff being played between fourth and fifth placed teams for the final Champions League slot. As per the current regulations, the top two finishers in the Premier League have direct qualification to the UCL while teams finishing third and fourth have to play qualifying rounds. The proposal mooted that the final Champions League spot be granted to the winner of the playoff which was to be played between the fourth and fifth placed teams in the League after the end of the season. The fortunes of the top three finishing teams were not to be affected.

The likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool were quick to voice their dissatisfaction over the suggestion. Other teams in the top half were considerate enough to give it a thought with Martin O’Neill describing it as “interesting” and one that “people might go for”.

Any change in the current format would have needed the approval of 14 of the 20 Premier League clubs. With the television deal in place for the next three years, any change would have reflected only after the current deal expired.

Also, the general consensus at the meeting was that the team finishing in fourth position after a gruelling season deserved to play in the Champions League. The congestion in the English football calendar did not help the change at all. Premier League bosses feared that this change would reduce the significance of the FA’s other tournaments especially the FA Cup. Why mend something that ain’t broken?