Media Muppets: Lambert’s Striker Overhaul with Quagliarella and Chamakh. Plus, Odjidja-Ofoe Myth

More strikers for Aston Villa? Oh, and a midfielder rumour!

When it comes to readers suggesting potential Media Muppet articles, there’s one paper that certainly is the leader in the field of shonky and fictitious football stories related to Aston Villa. The Sun? Well, they are the kings of having no ethics, but in terms of frequency of BS stories, look no further than the Metro newspaper, the real go-to guys for Media Muppet articles. As one MOMS reader Josh Bryant put it to us, ‘I don’t think I’ve seen a decent article on Villa in the Metro in the last six years I’ve been reading it on the train!’

Six years is perhaps the sentence Metro sports reporter Jamie Sanderson should serve for wasting the time of Villa fans on some of the transfer rumours he’s written about recently. Again, he features in this edition of Media Muppets…

Jamie Sanderson @ The Metro

Headline:

Aston Villa make ambitious move to sign Juventus striker Fabio Quagliarella

Spiel:

Aston Villa have made an ambitious move to sign Juventus striker Fabio Quagliarella on loan for the rest of the season.

Villa boss Paul Lambert is desperate to add to his attacking options before the close of the window, with Wolves’ Leigh Griffiths and Barcelona youngster Jean Marie Dongou both being linked with the club.

However, with those deals failing to get off the ground, attention has turned to Italy international Quagliarella.

The forward has been told he can leave Juve on loan in return for a small loan fee and Villa hope to win the race to sign him.

Evaluation:

1. This was last one in a trend of Sanderson’s striker rumours during the January transfer window. Despite Paul Lambert getting in Grant Holt to cover the injured Libor Kozák and Villa having plenty of striker options in the squad, Sanderson was relentless – Villa were after a striker! Does he think Lambert approaches transfers like a game of blind-folded pin the tail on the donkey? Actually, you better not answer that…

2.  It’s still funny that the rumour mongers never take into account Lambert and the club’s approach when it comes to wages. Now would Villa really have forked out top dollar for the luxury of signing Quagliarella in the short-term while Benteke was still the number one striker?

3. As we know, this transfer never happened. Nor was it ever going to.

Media Muppet Score: 9/10

Jamie Sanderson @ The Metro

Headline:

Aston Villa line up Club Brugge star Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe for summer transfer

Spiel:

Aston Villa have stepped up their interest in Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe as Paul Lambert lines up a summer move for the Club Brugge star.

Lambert has been handed glowing scouting reports on Odjidja-Ofoe and has now ordered his scouts to keep watching the player for the rest of the campaign.

According to reports in Belgium, Villa would be willing to offer about £5million to sign him, with other European clubs also eyeing up the midfielder.

Villa have a strong scouting network in Belgium and have contacts with many clubs – and that could prove to be crucial in the race to sign Odjidja-Ofoe.

A former Hamburg player, he can play on the right wing or in central midfield and is well known for being able to get forward and pinch a goal.

Evaluation:

1. Finally, after linking Villa with several very random strikers during the January window, the penny has dropped for Mr Sanderson, that the main position Villa are looking to upgrade is in midfield. Hallelujah!

2.  ‘Villa have a strong scouting network in Belgium’ – hopefully, such deductions weren’t made, simply because Villa once signed a player from a Belgium team. I’d say, you could get away with saying it about Holland, but I doubt Villa have any special scouting focus in Belgium.

3. If you get your transfer rumours in early enough, four or so months time, when the window opens no one’s going to remember them.

4. There is an element of possible realism at least in this rumour. This is rare, but to be encouraged.

Media Muppet Score: 6/10

Mark Brus @Football Direct

Headline: Villa eye ex-Arsenal striker

Spiel:

Aston Villa could make a summer move for Crystal Palace striker Marouane Chamakh if the Eagles are relegated from the Premier League this season.

Villa manager Paul Lambert is seemingly a fan of the Moroccan international, who only just moved to Palace this season after a disappointing few years at Arsenal.

The 30-year-old has seen a slight improvement in form this season, scoring six goals in all competitions for Tony Pulis’ side, and playing with a renewed sense of confidence.

Both Villa and Palace are among the teams that could go down this season, in a tight relegation battle involving much of the bottom half of the table, but a club source told [football] direct news that Lambert is weighing up a move for Chamakh if Palace go down.

“Managers tend to keep an eye on players at struggling clubs,” an Aston Villa insider explained. “My understanding is that Chamakh is one Lambert would be interested in signing if Crystal Palace get relegated. He’s not a player who’d be likely to accept playing in the Championship.”

Villa already brought in Grant Holt on loan from Wigan Athletic in January due to a shortage of options upfront, and now look likely to pursue permanent deals in that position in the next transfer window.

Evaluation:

1.The story seemed to have snowballed in the press with the likes of Sky Sports and the Daily Express fanning the flames. But why would Lambert look to Chamakh, who is currently 30-years-old?

2.The key words in the article here are ‘could’ and ‘seemingly’ which equals ‘I’ve just made this up’.

3.  The last paragraph clearly demonstrates zero knowledge about Aston Villa’s situation. Villa brought in Grant Holt on loan due to a shortage of options upfront? There’s plenty of options, Holt was just brought in as ‘like-for-like’ cover for the injured Libor Kozák, as previously mentioned. The fact Lambert also knew Holt very well from their Norwich days, paid a big factor in that. The only reason Villa would need a new striker in the summer is if Benteke left, and that striker wouldn’t be Chamakh.

4. ‘Aston Villa insider explained’ – inside the journalist’s head no doubt.

5. It’s hard to find a website that’s got more ads on it than Football Direct News. This is why you’ve been suckered to visit it. It’s blatant entrapment for ad revenue. Think before you visit or retweet their links to nonsense stories next time.

Media Muppet Score: 8/10

 UTV

If you’ve spotted an article that is just lazy journalism or worse, and perfect for Media Muppets then get in touch.