nepal_villan

Thought he looked really good out there. Very composed and good distribution.  If he is in the PL matchday squad - who would he come on for? Hourihane?  

Besides the goal he held it up well. Also had that nice flick to Jack. 

I've always rated him. Just needed the goals to quiet the doubters.

Watkins is a player.  Don't mind him missing that sitter. He is getting the chances, which is important.  Ramsey also impressed me.  Jack is in mid-season form.  Not too many other bright spots.

3 minutes ago, a m ole said:

We have some poor players for the Premier League. Fortunately none of them should be in the first XI when the window closes.

That's also my big takeaway from what I saw in the first half.  3-4 of the guys out there are not Premier League quality.

21 minutes ago, The Inspiration said:

I genuinely do wonder if it’s just a villa problem, nuts at times

Of the players we've been linked with this transfer window, most of the opinions have been positive. This is the main one where there has been more negativity.  

6 minutes ago, villa89 said:

I can't ever recall seeing him play but it's safe to assume he's at least twice as good as El Ghazi or Hassan. So without knowing anything about him this is a huge upgrade. 

And fans who've seen him play on a regular basis really know nothing about him and should keep quiet. 

3 hours ago, Kiwivillan said:

 After looking into 4 seasons before last Traore at centre forward has 1 goal in 2 games record many limited minutes games. If this is Lange pick in sense of fallen gun available at discount price could be good business

For me this is the exact reason I am appalled at the signing. It is not a discount price!!!! We paid minimum 2X what anyone would pay for him.  Again - I say this as a Lyon fan.  Lyon fans are all saying this is daylight robbery by their chairman.

Didn't realize this forum changed to North Korea Talk where we must simply fall into line and accept and praise every player that is signed. 

Anyway I have said my piece about this player as both a Lyon fan and an observer of French football.  I hope I am proved completely wrong. And I'll certainly back him to succeed the moment he puts on a Villa shirt.

2 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

Why would you hope we fail to get top targets? Why wouldn't you want our manager to get the players he wants?

Such a strange mentality 

As I've said multiple times on this thread - I'm also a Lyon fan. I've seen him play. He is not good. It's not just my opinion, but that of almost all Lyon fans and French football observers.

Just because Dean Smith or Lange want him, doesn't mean it's the right decision. If this deal is off, in my opinion we averted a very poor signing.

3 minutes ago, rbcuk said:

Now this journalist in France is saying the deal is off now 

Really hope this is true.

Would have been a very poor signing and an awful piece of business.

15 minutes ago, abdomlahor said:

foreign teams are always going to hold english teams to a ransom to be fair

You can't on the one hand say that FFP is restricting you as a club and then go and overpay for a player by 200%!  

1 minute ago, mikeyp102 said:

If we’re signing him and Rashica you’d imagine El Ghazi is off

If it's Traore in and El Ghazi out, then I'm ok with it. Though the fee is still daylight robbery.

5 minutes ago, villan-scott said:

 

Daylight robbery by Lyon if true. If indeed this is the figure,  I honestly think maybe we did not do our homework and made an initial bid that was much higher than necessary - kind of like that Peter Ridsdale story where a player went to his office hoping for 15K a week but then being offered 40K a week.

32 minutes ago, Wes said:

I wouldn't class it as concrete until one of our more trusted sources reports on it. Our name could just be being used to drive up the price (much like Brighton's was with Martinez a few days ago).

He is essentially deadwood at Lyon and because they are not in Europe and do not require a big squad they've been offloading players for very cheap. That's why I am stunned to hear the figures being reported (£16-20m).  Check Lyon fan posts on their forums and social media and the reaction is the same. It would be the equivalent of us hearing reports that a club was offering £10m for  our Jota!

21 minutes ago, villalad21 said:

Concerning that Smith is still bringing this guy on.

Where were Keinan yesterday?

In case you haven't realized. Samatta is shit and isn't offering anything.

Can't understand him being ahead of Davis. His contribution is zero. At least Davis holds up the ball and can bully defenses a bit.

1 minute ago, MJ_1874 said:

Transfermkt is not accurate, it has Jack as being worth £30m or something.

I am speaking as a Lyon fan who has a good grasp on what players at the club are worth. 24 year-old Dutch International Kenny Tete just moved  from Lyon to Fulham for EUR 3M. No way Traore is worth 6X that!

24 minutes ago, MJ_1874 said:

So just looking at the stats he looks a bit of a gamble.  A poor last season where he was in and out of a team that under performed but a lot of promise before that (much like King).  If he can find his form from 2 years ago, he could be a big hit.  For the under £20m reported plus reasonable wages, he is probably worth a punt.

Lyon are absolutely playing us for fools if they are demanding anywhere close to £20. This is a player who they are looking to ship out and whose market value is around £6-8M tops. Barcelona are reportedly planning to bid EUR 25M for Memphis Depay, another Lyon player - who is at a completely different level and has massive marketing appeal! Granted Memphis only has 1 year remaining on his contract.

39 minutes ago, eholm said:

Thanks for the report mate.

Did we change personnel in the 2nd half or just DS getting into them a bit at HT? (no Kenneth gifs please

Only Samatta, Jota and Elmo came on.  Found this a bit odd as I don't see them as our best substitute options. Unless we are saving the likes of Davis, AEG, Ramsey and Guilbert for the Cup match.

42 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

Think we have lost out or chose not to get benrahma and now will push this through  

Really hope not. He does not improve the squad by much. Lyon fans (it's also my second team after Villa) can't wait for him to leave. He can't even get a game for them anymore and despite their UCL run, it's a pretty mediocre Lyon side that was hovering mid-table in their league last season.

He is single footed, inconsistant and has attitude issues.  And the reported price of around 17M is outrageous.  We should pay  no more for him than what a club would offer us for AEG.  That's his level. 

Only way this makes sense is if he is a direct replacement for AEG or Jota and the price is much less than what is being quoted.

For me - this would really be a case of one step forward, one step back in our recruitment.

1 minute ago, zab6359 said:

Would be really pissed off if he goes, he needs to be in the squad this season.

Agree.  And based on Cash's performance today,  he probably will need time to settle in. Guilbert should be starting the first few matches of the season.

Did not play in the friendly against Manchester United.  Elmo came on for Cash instead. If he is third in the pecking order, can't see him staying at the club.

4 minutes ago, Johnnyp said:

I mean it wouldn't be villa talk if we wrote a player after a pre season friendly. Time honoured tradition.

Wouldn't be VillaTalk if people didn't just jump to conclusions!

Who is writing him off? Are we not allowed to comment on his performance in a friendly?

Really struggled in the friendly. Hopefully it was just first match nerves. Probably need to ease him into the squad and let Guilbert start the first few matches.

Edit:  Elmo came on for Cash, so maybe Guilbert is off?

My verdict!