Steed Malbranque joins Sunderland

[Archibald&Crooks]

Steed Malbranque

Source: Sunday Mirror (Right at bottom of the article)

STEED'S £4M VILLA MOVE

ASTON VILLA are set to make a £4million bid for Tottenham midfielder Steed Malbranque.
The Frenchman (below) is part of the White Hart Lane clear-out by Juande Ramos.

The manager is looking to add £10mrated Spanish winger Diego Capel to a squad already strengthened by Luka Modric from Dynamo Zagreb and goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes from PSV Eindhoven.

Villa, who are also trailing West Ham's Anton Ferdinand, know they are set to lose Gareth Barry to Liverpool and manager Martin O'Neill believes Malbranque will add pace and goals to his midfield.​

 

[MrWoolley]

:-( Nooooo, keep Steeeeeed, he'll be a very good squad player to have.

 

[Jonboy]

I like Steed and I would prefer other players to go first.
Depends on the lenghth of his contract left and cash being offered though I suppose

 

[bubble07]

i want steed to stay but if we get bentley which looks extremely likely and a left mid then he won't even make the bench

 

[Wsussexspur]

I like steed and thought he was one our better players last season! But of we do sign the midfielders we have been linked with then can see him leaving as will struggle to get a game!

 

[neogenisis]

If we grab Capel or Bentley, Steed will be a bench part player.
I like him and he could make a decent impact from the bench, Steed is only 28 and could command a first team slot in his prefered AM postion somewhere else.

 

[jimmy_the_yid]

Malbranque will add pace​

While probabably being quicker than me, i doubt he would add pace to a team with Ashley Young & Gabriel Agbonlahor, do these journo's ever watch football?

Anyway i think he'd be a cracking squad player and would get a good amount of minutes in a 60 game season given the fact he can play anywhere accross the midfield.

 

[CosmicHotspur]

I'd hate to see Steed go, he was my favourite player last season and I hope he hasn't peaked yet and has more to give.

He puts in 100% effort in every game and his passing is usually spot on; he's a great reader of the game.

I think many people underestimate just how good a player he is.

 

[yiddotilidie]

ruthless but its what we need to do if we want top 4. he is the standard of a mid table team and no better.

 

[There's always next year]

Good squad player, but never a top 4 contender, and for the club to step up a gear, it will never happen with Malbranque.
Villa will suit him, as thet seemed to get the best out of technical players lacking pace. Gareth Barry is a prime example of this.

 

[nickchrissi]

We need to keep him as he would make a great squad player

 

[mil1lion]

ruthless but its what we need to do if we want top 4. he is the standard of a mid table team and no better.

Good squad player, but never a top 4 contender, and for the club to step up a gear, it will never happen with Malbranque.
Villa will suit him, as thet seemed to get the best out of technical players lacking pace. Gareth Barry is a prime example of this.

I agree with those comments. He's a good player but not on the level we need to challenge the top 4. I believe we are in fact looking to sign both Capel and Bentley. If thats the case, then either Lennon or Malbranque will need to be sold. I'd rather have Lennon out of the two with all his potential. Realistically, Giovani is the replacement for Steed, and he is a top quality player with bags of potential.

 

[ikky]

Agreed, now is the time to up the quality in players, Steed is a good servant and a good player but IMO not top 4 quality

 

[DJS]

This is a toughie...

I think Steed is a great little player and is a good member of our squad but as said he's not top 4 class and 4 million might be a nice little profit to sell as would like to see Spurs recoup some money.

I'd rather see the likes of Chimbonda, Lee (sorry!), Stalteri (has he gone?), Ghaly, Gardner and Lennon (if we get Bentley could get good fee as 10 mill being touted - again sorry!) go first.

 

[steve]

ruthless but its what we need to do if we want top 4. he is the standard of a mid table team and no better.

Good squad player, but never a top 4 contender, and for the club to step up a gear, it will never happen with Malbranque.
Villa will suit him, as thet seemed to get the best out of technical players lacking pace. Gareth Barry is a prime example of this.

Agreed, now is the time to up the quality in players, Steed is a good servant and a good player but IMO not top 4 quality

Nor is Darren Fletcher or John O'Shea but you need squad players. Steed falls into that bracket nicely and I'd be surprised if Ramos let him go unless the player himself requests it. If they're all brilliant you can't keep them happy. We saw that with Defoe.

 

[stevenurse]

Nor is Darren Fletcher or John O'Shea but you need squad players. Steed falls into that bracket nicely and I'd be surprised if Ramos let him go unless the player himself requests it. If they're all brilliant you can't keep them happy. We saw that with Defoe.

Exactly what i was going to say, you could add park to that list too. I would like steed to stay as he is a trier and sometimes you need a battler to get you through the tough games (away at sunderland etc) Thats another reason id like tainio to stay, very good when fit and it has been seen this season against fabragas, especially as he can slot in to many positions and also has hardly ever, if ever played in his natural attacking midfielder position.

 

[mil1lion]

Although Steed will make for a good squad player, if a team comes in with £4m for a squad player then we should consider selling, unless they are very young. I see this as an indication that we want to sign Capel aswell as bentley. If thats true then the wings are sorted.

We could move Steed into the middle. However, we have plenty of central midfielders already, and we're looking to sign a defensive midfielder aswell. I think Steed would be behind Modric, Jenas, Zokora and the new defensive midfielder (presuming we sign someone of sufficient quality.) We also have O'Hara and Huddlestone aswell, so its an area thats well covered.

 

[madroosta]

one of our best players last season, why would we sell him, the majority of people i speak to reckon the same. Even if we have better players on their way in then keep him as a squad player. We have a lot of games next season!

 

[Krafty]

I was really impressed with Steed last season, he upped his work rate tremendously. I dont think we really get the best out of him playing on the left, and it would be a real shame to get rid of him.

If we do get rid of him I worry for every midfielder we had last season

 

[paulspursman]

for his effort levels alone he is worthy of staying for another year imo