abdulaziz1

1 hour ago, Wainy316 said:

I seem to remember Osasuna being banned would be bad for us but can't recall why

Because there was a chance for Seville to qualify, but since they won EL they would go to CL, even though, they didn’t even finish 10th I guess. They were the only threat.

McGinn, Mings  are the only ones left from our Championship days? Well, Davis and Hause aswell. Anyone else missing? What a transformation that has been. Fair enough for the level those two developed to. They’ve been good enough to start for a team that went to Europe.

3 minutes ago, abdulaziz1 said:

Juve getting out of UECL would be great for us, getting seeded and the biggest threat getting out of the way. Hopefully they’re out soon.

Actually by having that, and if hopefully Osasuna staying rather Bilbao coming, it would be great for us. We want it as easy as possible. We still have Lille, Frankfurt, Fenerbache…etc. I know we shall be favorites, but there is no place for mistakes, also the easier it gets the helpful will be in our squad rotation. 

Juve getting out of UECL would be great for us, getting seeded and the biggest threat getting out of the way. Hopefully they’re out soon.

8 minutes ago, Zhan_Zhuang said:

Got a feeling Villa will be unspectacular in the transfer market...yet it doesn't mean we won't improve.

A bit like January, there was money available yet (allegedly) Emery was frustrated by other players. From the sounds we are hearing the same seems to be happening again; Villa are just a non-entity with foreign players/clubs etc.

It may take another season of top eight or maybe seventh and a decent run in Europe to convince the wider audience we are back.

It is slightly unfortunate that there does seem to be plenty of money to spend yet I feel Emery won't just waste it on anyone. Is he happy just to sign a third or fourth choice player on his wishlist?

Personally I feel we need a couple of exceptional signings; perhaps one or two from Asensio, Kang-In, Williams or Gonçalves may have been those players? Villa are so short of quality in attacking positions; it must be addressed!

I think Joao Felix is realistic, despite all what’s happening and being said, it only part of negotiations from his side, when he realizes no one is in for him, he might have his mind changed. That would be our perfect signing (if we done with a good fee or loan with buy option). Arda links seem interesting but won’t be easy to convince him. If we do, then we’ll be one of the best technical teams next season. We’ll need some pace so getting a cheaper option such as Ramzani and we’ll be flying and hopefully scoring for fun.

8 minutes ago, alreadyexists said:

 

Our only affect in that is Bilbao coming might encourage Williams more to stay with them (if we’re still waiting or negotiating). 

5 hours ago, Kiwivillan said:

Adama "all fart and no poo" Traore?

Our game against Wolves in our first season, every time he gets the ball, pur players and us fans used to get panicked which leads to a dangerous attack to them.

5 hours ago, Brumstopdogs said:

Can't wait to have the four Ramsey brothers in the Villa team...

I only know there, is there a fourth one?

6 hours ago, VillaChris said:

Basque players do have insane buyout clauses in fairness. Think Man. City were looking at Mikel Oyarzabal 3 years ago and were quoted about 80m so walked away. Plus there's the emotional pull of coming through and playing for Bilbao, it's basically a national team playing in club football.

He's a very exciting prospect but I do think people are expecting him to come in and do something crazy like score 15 goals and create another 10. Not sure he'd live up to that expectation at this point in his career and moving abroad for the first time.

When Navas moved to Man. City from Sevilla his productivity output wasn't amazing and eventually played at RB for them. He was also 27 when he moved.

Funnily enough I actually think his brother would be a good pick up for us, very quick and tends to average 8-10 goals a season so would be solid backup for Ollie. Inaki Williams is 29 so guessing he wants to see out his career at Bilbao but he wouldn't be a bad player to target and then perhaps Nico would follow in the future.

For me it’s more about the amount of frightening for other teams, we saw that with prime Adama and Saint Maximin…etc

Those players give our other players time to move which helps breaking the defence. What I want from him is sustainable threat during the game, wether he was scoring/assisting much or not is secondary if he’ll be able to open locked defences.

Anything more than 5 would be good, I assume we might get a bit more as Luton is promoted and he’s been an important player to them, they would do well to get a better player. They aren’t Forest as well which thought they could buy everyone. 

I wasn’t sure where to put this but, are the current midlands teams are the biggest? When was the last season only those three were up? (Villa, Dingles and Forest). I’d say Leicester, Derby and Tesco bags are almost the same level (Leicester with their recent success). Ofcourse Villa are miles ahead, but are Wolves and Forest better than the rest? Or taking only titles is misleading the judgement? Came to my mind while reading some of the word removed fans laughing at the conference league. I think they can only say they’re bigger than Stoke.

If we got Arda and Felix we’d be one of the best technical teams in the league. We might only lack a bit of pace, which would make sense with Ramzani links. With Arda we might have got our new Jack Grealish, but ofcourse it will be very hard one to do. Felix is more realistic with the fact that no clubs are able to afford him and not many interests. I don’t think he’d fine a better club than us in the fact the he fits our system. 

I was going to say give him to Fenerbahce on addition to what we pay them, but remembered that the issue isn't on the transfer fee as he has a release cluase. 

10 hours ago, AVFCDAN said:

Anyone hoping we will be in the top 4 next season is going to be sorely dissapointed. Newcastle only fluked it this year because a few teams normally there underperformed.

6th will be a success for us.

It’s really up to us, get above 71 points and you’ll mostly be there. 
And apart from City, I can’t say a team is guaranteed Top 4. I guess Liverpool will have a chance to compete for the league, but again nothing to guarantee. 
I usually say aim high, expect realistic. Last season I was arguing with a lot of Villa friend (even during Gerrard days), that we need points, and hoping the top teams to lose, to atleast has a chance for Europe. Some were laughing, but look what happened. I remember the same in our 10 wins run in the Championship and the survival season. We shall aim as high as we can and say where it takes us to, if we won our first 5 games (which is unlikely), and we found ourselves first, then built on that, shall we just say we’re not up to it? Just continue winning and see where are you? That’s what a relegation threat team Leicester did when they won it. 
Just play for the maximum amount of points needed and see where it takes you. Begin with aiming for first, expect Top 7. If you ended somewhere in between then it’s an achievement. Then there are some variables such as LC, FA, UECL. All could decide whats could be a good season for Aston Villa. Think first of Newcastle game, then take it one at a time.

People want us to spend, but for me I only want to get it right. I actually had more faith on the board when they didn’t spend. I doubted the plan when we got Coutinho and Dinge. Something wasn’t right. Last January, I think I was one of the few who had some hope for Europe (wether that was here or around my Villa friends), but I admired the fact of not spending much, although I had hope, I wouldn’t have gambled in a short term actions, which we’re not likely achieving. That was the moment I knew we are still in a good hands. Emery showed that even though he came, he won’t just try and take it the easy way by only spending. It’s either to spend on the right targets or just continue the gradual improvement. We’re now facing some tough negotiations for the caliber of players we’re targeting. Until we go to the CL, we’ll fail more than success. Even then, there will still be some challenges. No need to panic. 
The much we improve with less bet spend the better, as we’ll come to a point were we won’t find players out there to upgrade ours, possibly what we pay in a window we’ll need to pay on one player.

Something else, I don think many people wanted Jackson, so if we had him instead of Chelsea, won’t people say we’ve overpaid for him? 
I’m not saying he would fail, but for Chelsea to get this type of player means they’re failing to target the right caliber, or they are in a big financial mess, which could get bigger if they continue their way in buying. Especially if they fail this season, they’ll go mad.

2 hours ago, mikeyp102 said:

Davis?? God no

Then what? Who would come as a second or a third option? As we’ve done when gett Traore back last season, just keep Archer and give him proper game time, while having Davis as a third choice until January. No one would buy him, if he avoided injuries (which is very doubtful) he could be a useful squad player.

I’m seeing some Rodrigo link (from Leeds).  Would prefer Archer to be kept, as well as Davis. With Duran sent on loan. We shall focus on other areas at the moment. Then next summer we cone and get an upgrade on Watkins (won’t be easy to find a class striker, let alone attracting him). 

57 minutes ago, Anything11 said:

This saga is all over the place.

 

Having said that this bunch seem to be quite confident including specific details. I imagine more will break soon if it is indeed true.

Williams is a sure fire talent and quite young. I would have been more enthusiastic about an established top level talent but understand we prob can't quite capture them just yet (Asensio etc)

We might but we’d have someone who might be on the wrong age or declining, for me better to get someone on the up rather on the down. Especially when it’s a signing you’re planning to upgrade with, I didn’t mind getting Dendonker for example as I know he was a very good back up and we’d do well to get someone better which knows he won’t play. We already have some ready players, so needing a month or two in the PL won’t be the end of the world.

33 minutes ago, burchy said:

I think versatility will be key for our frontline signings, similar to the reported Goncalves, who can pretty much cover any of LM, AM, RM, LW, RW. 

If Emery wants to shift to a 433 or even a 4141 then I can see us getting a cheaper LW option in (Nakamura) as he might play them/Bailey out left with our new RW on the right perhaps.

As for the Barnes link I think he’s too tight to the touch line as I see a more Attacking Midfield being the priory out there (Simons please ) that cuts in and allows Moreno space out wide.

 

Again that would mean we won’t have the best choice. As we can have a squad with the hopefully more games we’re playing, then we shall do that. Most players prefer (or better used) in one position, we can’t get Goncavles and say we’re sorted for wingers. I guess it’s Goncavles or Felix, then a RW Williams or a similar player. Then possibly add someone who’s best on the left side (so we can play different systems if needed). So I agree with you in the second part, Nakamura would be shrewd business (while having Bailey aswell), but we’ll still need someone on the wing. 

15 minutes ago, Tayls said:

We seem to be struggling to appeal to Spanish based players, apart from Moreno. Thought it would be easy for us this window! 

The caliber has gone higher, so it’s expected to be more challenging. Continue the progress and it would get easier to attract (but again the higher caliber you go the more challenging).

9 hours ago, Tom13 said:

By the time he is gone, it'll be eight years too late. Can't believe the clown has been in charge seven years. Absolutely insane.

That’s the issue with dealing with numbers. Sometimes people look at his achievements (semi final and a final) and say wow he’s the best England had in the last couple of decades. But the thing is what is England squad compared to others? Same goes with Belgium, keeping Martinez costed them a golden generation while winning nothing. 

What happened with Juve? Have they solved their issues yet?

And now after around 10 years of links, we shall sign the waited Japanese player. Kiyotake then Kamada.

Getting Nakamura could be shrewd business if he’s not expensive. We need someone on the left wing (while not expected to be regular starter). I’m not sure wether Jackson plays as a striker as well or not, if he plays we could do with having two of them with Williams. Assuming Traore leaves. Although I’d prefer Williams, Joao and one of them.