Say Goodbye to James Milner
by Kirsten Schlewitz on Jul 22, 2010 4:23 PM BST
42 comments
Oh Jamesy boy, you had a chance to be a Villa hero. Don't you remember what happened with Gareth Barry? His head got too big for his cheekbones, he demanded a move and now he is vilified by Villans. And what happened? He went to Manchester City and had a not-so-shiny season. James, do you even know how many midfielders City have on their books? Do you honestly think you'll play every week?
Yes, as almost all of you will know by now, James Milner wants to leave Aston Villa. While I typically support the right of any player to leave a club, I wish that they wouldn't do it by basically pissing on the club they're leaving behind. Martin O'Neill put a lot of faith in bringing James Miner to Aston Villa. Moving him to central midfield allowed him to flourish and to attract the notice of England and of other clubs. It was the nurturing of Aston Villa--combined with his immense talent, of course, I'm not going to put it all on the genius of Villa--that got him where he is now.
And now he wants out. Which, again, is fine. But have a little class, Milner. Aston Villa finished sixth last year. The club went to the semi-finals of the FA Cup and the finals of the League Cup. It's not as though you were wallowing down in the depths of despair, playing for a pittance for Wolves. You're leaving to go to a club that finished one slot ahead of us in the table. Yes, a pay raise is fine. We all get that. We'd all love one. But you don't make it so clear that you want out.
What happens now? I'd imagine City will put forth another bid. Even though it's been made clear that Milner is for sale, Villa still aren't going to accept under £20 million for him. Sky Sports says Villa want £30 million, but that seems a bit high. I did find this BBC quote from Roberto Mancini amusing, though:
"When Manchester City want to buy a player, other clubs ask much more than is normal," stated the Italian.
Well, Mancini, if you didn't open up your pocketbooks and flash your stacks of hundred pound notes, we might not be driving up the price. Cough up a few more bucks for Milner and you can have him. At this point, I think many of us are happy to see him go. We all saw what happened with Barry when he wasn't able to leave City. We don't need another player unhappy with the situation in our starting lineup. You give us the cash, City, and we'll figure out how to use it. Then we'll laugh when we see you with a squad of 30 prima donnas who still can't work together to score a goal. Truth be told, I may even laugh when I see Milner on the bench.
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When athletes act
like Milner, even the players on their new team have less respect for them than they did before the shenanigans. Does anyone know what MON’s latest thoughts are on this matter? Is it possible that Milner is somehow trying to get his contract renegotiated with the claret and blue?
What I've seen is that he's not even open to talking extension
That appears to be conjecture and rumour at this point though.
They offered to make him the highest paid Villa player EVER
so I doubt this is about a contract extension.
Really though, why does Man City want him so bad? Good player and all, but I don’t see where he slots in that he would be worth that much to them.
Or what he said.
On the Forecheck: preaching the Predators' gospel to the unwashed masses.
by Chris Burton on Jul 22, 2010 5:55 PM BST up reply actions
They want a name.
That’s why City got rid of Dunne last year. He wasn’t a name. Milner is a name.
by Kirsten Schlewitz on Jul 22, 2010 6:37 PM BST up reply actions
They have names.
Have/Had Robinho, Tevez, Adebayor, Barry (kinda a name?), Yaya and Kolo Toure, Silva…
How many names do they need?
And is Milner really a name in the same group as them? I’d say no.
Just a long-winded way of saying there must me more to it no?
big City fan, here
And for the record, I want no part of Milner. He’s a nice player, but Mancini is compiling a roster of the same types of guys. I wish he’d just leave him alone. De Jong, Wright-Phillips, Robinho, Bellamy, Silva, it goes on – there’s just no room in the inn, and it’d be a waste of money. I’d rather look at another attacker of Roberto feels that a transfer is so necessary.
On the Forecheck: preaching the Predators' gospel to the unwashed masses.
oops
Should read ‘IF Roberto feels that a…’, not ‘of’.
On the Forecheck: preaching the Predators' gospel to the unwashed masses.
by Chris Burton on Jul 22, 2010 5:55 PM BST up reply actions
This is why it bothers me so much.
Milner isn’t a starter at Man City. I understand wanting to go to a bigger team for more money and a chance at greater glory, but he’s a star at Aston Villa. He’ll be lost in the crowd at City. It just doesn’t make sense.
by Aaron Campeau on Jul 22, 2010 6:41 PM BST up reply actions
Unfortunately, with the obscene
amount of cash that Man U are supposedly willing to throw around (perhaps 4 times what he is making now), this kind of scenario is understandable. Milner’s problem perhaps is the optics (a la LeBron James). If this trend continues, then it will be to the detriment of the league in the same way that the Yankees throw off the balance in baseball. Salary cap anyone?
by Muscle-Dolphin on Jul 22, 2010 7:23 PM BST up reply actions
Typo - I meant Manchester City, not Manchester United - I must
have let the spectre of the Yankees and their marketing connection to Man U cloud my already daft cognitive processes.
by Muscle-Dolphin on Jul 22, 2010 7:31 PM BST up reply actions
The way Manchester City have gone about building their team makes the Yankees look positively frugal.
And no, I don’t like salary caps unless a league is developing.
by Aaron Campeau on Jul 22, 2010 7:49 PM BST up reply actions
IMHO a type of salary ceiling
would help to discourage teams from hoarding top notch players and would help the league stay more balanced. One could almost make the argument that Man City has so much disposable income that they could sign players just to prevent other teams from getting them. The less independently wealthy teams could end up being almost a feeder system for the three or four richest teams. Personally, I think that the NFL system (although not without its flaws as well) is not too bad.
by Muscle-Dolphin on Jul 22, 2010 9:41 PM BST up reply actions
Salary caps are not part of the football identity
So it will never happen
jtb yl1
by Allen J. Kha on Jul 23, 2010 4:45 AM BST up reply actions
I concur that it's not likely to happen....
However, just like the use of technology, association football might need to tweak things a bit. I could be wrong, but I don’t think that the EPL has been faced with this issue until fairly recently in its illustrious history. As a Jays fan (with the Jays being in the same division as the Yanks and the Red Sox) it’s hard not to be a fan of some form of “salary certainty”. Allen, all things considered, would you like to see a salary cap in the EPL? Why or why not?
by Muscle-Dolphin on Jul 23, 2010 11:25 AM BST up reply actions
I probably wouldn't want to see one.
In thing the big thing with American leagues is that the talent pool is limited to mostly American athletes, and that internationals come here and oblige to our system.
In soccer, however, the talent pool is massive. Having good scouts and academies provides a pretty distinct advantage for lower clubs, so it’s not like you can’t find a replacement if you lose a valuable player. It’s hard, but certainly not harder than finding a sub for LeBrum Asshole.
Anyway, I’d think a salary cap would be moot for two reasons:
- One, the cap would really only be a mechanism to cap the big teams, and not encourage the small teams. Outside of the big four (or top six), most wage budgets are moderately placed in the £400k-£800k I’d speculate, and that’s not ridiculous whatsoever. The cap would hurt quality of play unless every footballing league instituted similar measures— and that’s obviously not possible. Just because a cap is £1.25M doesn’t mean that Blackpool would suddenly boost wages to that point. Since football player exchanges are driven by money movement and not player movement, additionally parody won’t be created by a cap.
- Two, football is a quintessentially market-driven sport, and it should stay that way.
jtb yl1
by Allen J. Kha on Jul 23, 2010 7:24 PM BST up reply actions
But what keeps a truly great talent from bolting off the team that developed as soon as he becomes "a name"? (Rooney is the only example that comes to mind, but I'm new to EPL soccer)
I don’t fully understand how the contracts of young soccer players work in Europe, but I don’t see an equivalent to the 6 years of club control (3 at league minimum, then three arbitration years that award the player the equivalents of 40%, then 60%, then 80% of his value) that you see in Major League Baseball.
There's really no such thing as club control in football
What happens is that you’re either signed to a youth contract or a professional contract. If you’re signed to a youth contract and don’t have a pre-negotiated professional contract settled, any team is entitled to sign the player (without the other team’s direct consent) for a certain amount of compensation. United, Barca, Chelsea, and even Arsenal do this all of the time.
And with Rooney, his fee was almost £30M so that isn’t necessarily the best comparison.
jtb yl1
by Allen J. Kha on Jul 23, 2010 8:07 PM BST up reply actions
I can't argue with your insight ...
your analysis makes a lot of sense to me – thanx for the reply – I appreciate it.
by Muscle-Dolphin on Jul 23, 2010 9:16 PM BST up reply actions
Thanks!
Also one more big thing to consider is the promotion/relegation aspect. No only do you fight to win, but you also have to fight to stay in. The stability in the American franchise model allows for down-seasons and “parity” via youth/prospects.
jtb yl1
by Allen J. Kha on Jul 23, 2010 10:11 PM BST up reply actions
Maybe if you're a Yankees fan, otherwise I couldn't disagree more.
BTW I was under the impression that the roster sizes in the EPL are reduced to 25 for the upcoming season.
by Muscle-Dolphin on Jul 23, 2010 12:15 AM BST up reply actions
They're bad for everyone else in the division, sure
But MLB is significantly more interesting as a whole for having elite teams. They bring in more money than anyone else, help prop small teams up, and generally keep the place more stable. Plus it’s really funny when they lose.
And I find it hard to be outraged when a team with a payroll less than one-third their size are three games back and probably the better team.
Because lots of players in their peak are cost-controlled, if you scout well and have a smart front office you can win in MLB. There are other ways to promote parity aside from a salary cap, and those ways are almost universally better. The only reason for a salary cap is to prevent teams from folding, which is why MLS has one and why I am glad they have one.
by Aaron Campeau on Jul 23, 2010 6:04 PM BST up reply actions
I agree with the baseball part, but I don't think having SAME FOUR TEAMS make Champions League every year since the mid-90s with only a few exceptions is healthy.
In baseball, only 7 of 30 teams haven’t made the playoffs in the past ten years (including the Reds and Rangers, who are in the hunt this year). All the teams that play in the EPL are playing in one big AL East (e.g. they’re locked out of the playoffs because all the available playoff spots are taken by juggernauts) except there’s no EPL team like the Rays who became one by good management on a minimal budget.
Good points - the Rays
are an exception. Small market teams in baseball in general are struggling though and the sport is on a downward spiral with the younger generation. It’s difficult to expect people to support a team that has no real chance of ever getting into the playoffs. Soccer in Europe with the different “championships” gives teams more opportunities to achieve “something”. It would be cool if baseball had a “Premier League” and a “Second Division” and promotions and relegations. Historically it seems that all the soccer nations have this characteristic.
by Muscle-Dolphin on Jul 23, 2010 9:29 PM BST up reply actions
I think one thing you also have to consider with the MLB and any American sport though, however
Is the franchise model— that encourages some sort of parody and allows the likes of the Marlins and Rays to compete in spurts. That will never happen in soccer, and the big thing is that soccer fans recognize that. It’s all a matter of perspective, knowing expectations
jtb yl1
by Allen J. Kha on Jul 23, 2010 10:08 PM BST up reply actions
Good point Darren.
It’s unfortunate when so much of the discussions involving sports become financial in nature.
Fox Sports Canada has just
announced that they expect Man City to offer 37 mill for Milner by the end of the weekend and that Ireland will most likely be part of the deal. Furthermore, apparently Milner is p*ssed at MON for leaking the story that he (Milner) asked for a transfer before the World Cup because it made him (Milner) look like the “bad guy”. It appears to me that Milner is acting like a bit of a wanker here.
A footballer is turning out to be a wanker
who woulda thunk it?
SB Nation clearly needs a Scunthorpe United blog
Scott Parker from West Ham
is apparently high on Villa’s “to do” list to replace James Milner. Apparently, every player from West Ham is “up for grabs”. It appears that West Ham is heading toward relegation.
Scott Parker isn't a replacement for Milner, though.
He’s a Petrov-type player, so i don’t understand why he keeps being mentioned as a direct replacement.
by Kirsten Schlewitz on Jul 25, 2010 3:50 PM BST up reply actions
Good point.
I’m not sure if he is being considered as a replacement position wise or just in terms of equivalent overall talent. It would be cool if MON/Lerner were able to get 30+ for Milner, get Ireland in the deal and then turn around and buy Parker. UEFA Champions league anyone? Apparently however, Parker (once thought not to be really available) has been made available over the last 24 hours. West Ham deserves to be relegated for their “fire sale” mentality and for not having the creativity to alter their claret and blue kits more!! Lerner (who as you know owns the Cleveland Browns is a pretty sharp guy). IMHO we’re fortunate to have his “purse strings”.
by Muscle-Dolphin on Jul 25, 2010 5:32 PM BST up reply actions
I'll take Ireland any day over Milner.
And as for Scott Parker, he’s like a watered-down poor-man’s Daniele de Rossi.
Sunshine will come to Nats Park, I promise.
Maybe I've been outside too much in the sun today, but ....
I’m starting to get the feeling that Milner won’t be going to Man City. Apparently, tomorrow he is scheduled to sit down with MON to “clear the air” and it will be telling whether or not he gets on the plane for Portugal. MON might have to orchestrate a “face saving” scenario for Milner. I think that there is a 50-50 chance that Milner stays put with the claret and blue.
by Muscle-Dolphin on Jul 25, 2010 11:21 PM BST reply actions
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