Delphinho123

I find it slightly annoying that an injured Sanson is probably the reason we can't bring in a player like Ward Prowse. Never really got that signing.

I'll finish it off for you. 'He's either been very unlucky or........he'll end up at Royal Antwerp'.

An open question to all V’talkers: Free kicks aside (not discounting their value to a team) is he better in open play than McGinn, Nakamba and Luiz?

Weston McKennie next to JWP in the double pivot (whatever the f*** one of those is) sounds bloody good to me.

Signing JWP would be great but I’m still waiting for the club to unearth that gem for 5-10m. I’m not saying that it’s in any way easy to do that, but I was under the impression when hiring McKenzie that we’d spend big but then throw in a couple of gems from abroad that would turn into the next Kante/Mahrez. I really hope we can shift Nakamba, El Ghazi, Wesley and Hourihane before the window shuts and bring in a couple of central midfielders.

Totally agree. I think some of these French/Spanish/Italian teams might get a bit twitchy if they haven’t got the big money they wanted for some of their players earlier in the window..

In 2023 maybe.

Just give them either 40m + El Ghazi or 50m + El Ghazi.

Apparently he's confirmed as out for the Newcastle match. The farce continues.

Ings won't play as a 10.

Bissouma would likely cost 50-60m and he wouldn't come to us I don't think. He has his sights set on a move to a CL club (If the media are to be believed).

Ings isn't a no.10. He's the guy that puts the ball into the net.

So they signed Buendia to play with Jack and then replaced Jack with Ings and Bailey. That is my takeaway from the quote. If this is the case, were the club only looking to sign Buendia then this Summer if Jack stayed? Really? No chance. The club must have been looking at Buendia and at least one more - a better central midfielder. They have to have been. If the board genuinely want to improve on our position last season, then they must realise that we don't have enough to do that - or at best, we may finish 9th/10th. NSWE are the best thing to happen to this club in a long time and if they want to take a year to consolidate after the Grealish exit then that's fine by me. They owe us nothing and we shouldn't be entitled enough to demand European football so soon after almost being declared bankrupt! I just hope they know the risks of not pushing on and trying to qualify for Europe this season - the bigger teams cherry pick our players again. Baileys dad was quite clear when he signed that he'll move on if the club doesn't match his ambition of playing in Europe very soon. This is just one example. I'm 100% of the mindset that if we don't sign at least one central midfielder, we'll be scrambling around in midtable again this season. Smith might also be a little concerned because if the expectation is to improve on last years 11th place finish, he might be out of a job before the season is over. Let's see what happens in the next 2 weeks.

I watched Willock a few times last season and if Ramsey could add that goalscoring instinct to his game, I think he can be the better player.

He has all the attributes to be an excellent midfielder. He’s quick, will run all day, comfortable with the ball at his feet and he gets about the pitch. I think he could turn into a very good no.10 actually. Whether he will or not, time will tell. For now, I’d probably be starting him in a midfield 3 alongside McGinn and Luiz. I’d love to play Buendia as a 10 but not sure we have decent enough central midfielders to play the 2 behind him.

If our business is done, the club are either, a) Happy with a 10th-13th place finish. b) Woefully naive in thinking what we have will result in a push for Europe. I'd be much happier with option a). We almost ceased to exist 3 years ago so being a solid mid table side in the PL is fine by me for a while before an eventual push. Personally, and it won't be a surprise to anyone on here, I think our business has left us with huge imbalance throughout the squad.

I don’t think you can make a strong 3 with any combination of those 4 players. Certainly one strong enough to fight for a top 10 finish. Tin hat on!

This is what I would play tbh. Big decision to drop Ings but they must have known this when they signed him, right?

I don’t think we have the personnel to play anything other than a 4-3-3 and that will become even more apparent in our next few fixtures.

This is Aston Villa, mate. You take a knock and you’re done for 6 months.

I’m more of a TikTok kinda guy, ya know?

That's where I'm at. I think JWP likes to have someone in there alongside him to help with the defensive duties (Romeu) so perhaps Doucoure would be the wiser option. That's if we sign JWP which we probably won't!

Did you just refer to TheTrees in the 4th person?

Absolutely not. It wouldn't be a transfer window without a bit of flight tracking. I don't like to jump the gun on this one based on that information from TheTrees, but this one is as good as done.

I know, right.