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Manchester City to turn down Aston Villa approach for James Milner

Mike Whalley

June 27, 2011

James Milner, not for sale! James Milner, not for sale!
Roberto Mancini will fight off Aston Villa's shock move to bring back midfielder James Milner.

Villa’s new boss Alex McLeish is weighing up an offer for the England international . . . just 10 months after he left the club for Eastlands in a £24m deal.

McLeish has made no secret of the fact that he wants a creative force to supply ammunition for main striker Darren Bent.

And Milner supplied that creativity week in, week out during two successful stints at Villa Park, firstly on a season’s loan from Newcastle in 2005/06, and then a two-year spell after making the permanent move in 2008.

City boss Mancini has stressed the need for a strong squad as he prepares to push for glory in the Premier League and Champions League next season – and sees Milner as a key part of that.

However, the 25-year-old knows he is likely to spend a significant chunk of next season on the bench for City.

He started only 23 of the Blues’ 38 Premier League games last term – and the normally level-headed midfield man lost his cool after being substituted during a 3-0 hammering at Liverpool in April, making no attempt to hide his annoyance as he walked to the bench.

Mancini has since described Milner as “an incredible midfielder”, and he featured in all of City’s final five Premier League games – starting three of them – as they secured a passage to the Champions League group stages by finishing third.

He was, though, only an unused substitute for the FA Cup semi-final win over United and the final victory over Stoke.

see bollocks

I love Milner

Im_Spartacus wrote:see bollocks

Absolute bollox.

It's much better to have Milner to turn to than (EG) Gelson Fernandez IE: he doesn't have to pull up trees every week, but the home-grown rule means he's going nowhere.

Besides I think there's a lot more to come from him.

Looked quite impressive whenever he was played through the centre (like he was for Villa).

Hopefully signing Sanchez or another player who can play wide will make Milner's switch to the middle permanent.

Hopefully Mancini has realised he's a central midfielder and not a winger, should rotate with Barry I reckon and ultimately replace him. He is going nowhere.

thegoatfeeder wrote:Hopefully Mancini has realised he's a central midfielder and not a winger, should rotate with Barry I reckon and ultimately replace him. He is going nowhere.

This.

Goaters 103 wrote:

thegoatfeeder wrote:Hopefully Mancini has realised he's a central midfielder and not a winger, should rotate with Barry I reckon and ultimately replace him. He is going nowhere.

This.

This this.

James Milner is utterly underated.

He should usurp G. Barry for the CM role this season.

Milner was absolutely immense towards the end of the season when he was played as CMF, he was covering the entire pitch and was man of the match for me in a few games.

avoidconfusion wrote:Milner was absolutely immense towards the end of the season when he was played as CMF, he was covering the entire pitch and was man of the match for me in a few games.

Really hope Bobby gets the most from him this season.

The guy is outstanding in CM. I believe he would become a proper fan favourite if he got a run going in there.

Fingers crossed.

Blue Blood wrote:The guy is outstanding in CM.

Mate, this is reality, not Championship Manager.

Big fan of James tell Villa to fucl off or we'll sell them Wayne Bridge to complete their set!

Blue Blood wrote:

Goaters 103 wrote:

thegoatfeeder wrote:Hopefully Mancini has realised he's a central midfielder and not a winger, should rotate with Barry I reckon and ultimately replace him. He is going nowhere.

This.

This this.

James Milner is utterly underated.

He should usurp G. Barry for the CM role this season.

And this again.

Some of Milners latter games were outstanding imo, looks like he's finally settling.
What Barry has over Milner though is a clever ability to spot impending danger & snuff it out before it happens. He's absolutely the best in the Premier League at doing it & does it without fuss so most people don't even realise there was ever a danger there in the 1st place.

Milner is a better player in every other respect & although not especially quick, has a fantastic 'engine' on him. I'm sure he's being earmarked to replace Barry but imo Bob will probably go for Barry in the big games until Milner learns to do sniff out danger a little better.

Ted Hughes wrote:

Blue Blood wrote:

Goaters 103 wrote:

thegoatfeeder wrote:Hopefully Mancini has realised he's a central midfielder and not a winger, should rotate with Barry I reckon and ultimately replace him. He is going nowhere.

This.

This this.

James Milner is utterly underated.

He should usurp G. Barry for the CM role this season.

And this again.

Some of Milners latter games were outstanding imo, looks like he's finally settling.
What Barry has over Milner though is a clever ability to spot impending danger & snuff it out before it happens. He's absolutely the best in the Premier League at doing it & does it without fuss so most people don't even realise there was ever a danger there in the 1st place.

Milner is a better player in every other respect & although not especially quick, has a fantastic 'engine' on him. I'm sure he's being earmarked to replace Barry but imo Bob will probably go for Barry in the big games until Milner learns to do sniff out danger a little better.

Good points Ted, and a vey accurate summation of the qualities Barry does offer to the side.

If Villa offered our money back, I'd drive him to Birmingham myself. Suspect we'd only get £15m max, though.

Not a winger, better central mid, but I'm struggling to see what he offers over Fernandes, other than nationality. No pace, little skill, no great reading of the game, just loads of effort. Going to get a slating, but you can buy what he brings for a couple of million in the Championship.

PS No, I'm not a fan

worth keeping no matter what, we're not bringing stevie home! really hope we tell them to fuck off

if james wants to go...is he gonna get a medal for winning fuck all at villa?

Milner is unrealistic they just cant afford him and hes hardly going to take a step backwards, he has shown his ambition coming here.Would not like to see him go anyway.I think he has more drive and energy than the likes of Barry and expect him to play a more prominent role next season.

A more plausible move as reported in the Irish press today is that McLeish is also very keen on Shay Given.Might be a very good move for Shay but would be sad to see him go.

bobby brows wrote:worth keeping no matter what, we're not bringing stevie home! really hope we tell them to fuck off

if james wants to go...is he gonna get a medal for winning fuck all at villa?

Oh how times change.

If they don't pay (at least) the original transfer fee, I'd consider it an insult.

Wonderwall wrote:

bobby brows wrote:worth keeping no matter what, we're not bringing stevie home! really hope we tell them to fuck off

if james wants to go...is he gonna get a medal for winning fuck all at villa?

Oh how times change.

sorry couldn't resist