2 hours ago, A'Villan said:

Let's not forget Chelsea have a lot of talent at their disposal. Lampard's reinvention of Chelsea doesn't have to be replacing personnel.

People who are suggesting he will flop and take Chelsea outside of European placing, what makes you think this?

He is one of the greats, nearly won the Ballon d'Or and has so many accolades to his name. He has a phenomenal understanding of the game.

How do we know he won't be similar to what Cruyff, Rijkaard and Guardiola were to Barcelona?

Edit: Perhaps a discussion for the Premier League Thread

I’ve always found this a quite interesting facet of football management. Here in the States, there’s a belief that the best players don’t usually make for the best managers. The thinking goes that the game comes too easily for them and to impart that greatness to lesser players is difficult (‘just do what I did’). Across the most popular leagues, there have been very few great players who made great managers. Larry Bird maybe. Mike Ditka. Forrest Gregg. It’s far more likely to find managers who never reached anywhere near the highest levels as players and if they did, they usually did so as backups or ‘role players’. Bill Belichick, Steve Kerr, Greg Popovich, Sean McVay all fall into this category. So does Dean Smith.

1 hour ago, Made In Aston said:

Chelsea has one of the best youth academies in Europe and loaned out 43 of them last year. How many of those will ever break into the Chelsea first team?!

The pressure for short term results is so great in the Premier league that it's difficult to nurture youngsters, who will take a while to develop. 

I think the buy back clauses are a good halfway house. Someone else develops the players and, if they turn out to be good enough, you buy the finished article back at a discounted rate. 

I don’t like these buy-back clauses. They’re simply another means of control for the largest clubs, and they’ve got advantages enough already. As it stands the penalty for hoarding youth talent is only to sell them on for a large profit, now we want to weaken it further by giving them a way to get them back if they turn quality? To hell with that.

41 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

I really don't think he is. 

That would be crazy. Its not like we are going to sign a player because he followed our social media team.

It’s agent tactics. Creates interest by keeping his name in the news, exerts pressure on Brugge, makes anyone who is actually interested think they need to move quickly and potentially up their offer. These agents have teams of social media experts and will know how to best manipulate it.

Surely this isn’t surprising, agents are the source of 90% of the names we’ve seen in the transfer news for the past month. 

Just now, Vive_La_Villa said:

If this is true then I don’t think we are in for him. Not the kind of personality we need.

The Nakamba link has always felt like agent-driven nonsense to me. He just wants a move and is using the window’s most active participants to get it. To be fair, his agent is doing a good job.

Other foreign keepers I think show some potential:

Noam Baumann, Lugano

Remy Descamps, PSG (was on loan at Clermont Foot last year)

Saturnin Allagbe, Niort

2 hours ago, VillaAlex said:

Walter Benitez of Nice? 

He has a year left on his contract and has been superb in Ligue 1

He would be my #1 keeper target personally, I think he’s got the potential to be one of the best in the world. I expect him to be in the mix to start for Argentina very soon.

2 minutes ago, MellbergsBeard said:

Hopefully only a 1 year clause. 

I could see it. For as much as we’re doing Man City a solid, they need us to make this work too. How many other clubs could buy Luiz for 15M and have it be close enough to their record fee to qualify for a work permit? Us, Sheffield, Norwich and maybe Brighton? I expect we’ll use that fact to negotiate a couple of concessions, one of which could be on clause length.

I wonder if this was the sort of deal we were looking to work out for Ampadu too, before they brought Lampard in. 

Just now, 7392craig said:

Also, unless that fee is rising to £20 million then it’s bs.

Percy tweeted it too and his info is by far the most solid.

12 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

This thread descended in to "We are Villa so automatically better than X team because we were good 40 years ago", pretty quickly......

We DO have a bigger fan base, stadium and history than most clubs in the UK, we currently DO NOT have the current reputation to claim we are better than Wolves, they are in Europe and finished 7th in the league, we just turned the corner after literally 10 years in the wilderness, 3 of those included relegation and playing in the lower tier.

Hopefully after this  season we can claim to be a successful club again, right now we are club that used to be successful, a sleeping giant, who is finally hoping to to a "big club" again. (current success)

Let's not lose track of reality people, success and prestige is earned not given, our decline started a decade ago and culminated in near rock bottom mid/late 2018.

Lets be realistic and humble guys, and UTV.

While I agree with this totally, each case has to be examined on its own merit, and in the case of Phillips and Wolves v Villa this summer, it’s not difficult to see why he might prefer us. I don’t think the fees or wages would be any different, and it won’t be a case of preferring one over the other due to location (no London factor anyway). Wolves have got Europe and a stable place in the league, we’ve got history and a promising future. 

Wolves also have a very crowded midfield, whereas we have a Phillips-sized hole at DM. So, does he want a spot in the starting eleven and plenty of minutes, or does he want to be a backup, but with the potential to start European matches? I know which one I’d prefer, but I might admittedly have some bias.

32 minutes ago, thabucks said:

Injury record is no worse than mings just saying .... 

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/bjorn-engels/verletzungen/spieler/193469

Engels is a good player if he can stay on the pitch, maybe a great one. I hoped we would take a look at him but was personally hoping for a discount down to his injury record, 10M is too much. At 4-5M I think he’s worth a punt.

1 minute ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

Yeah most people are able to see the connection. Most. 

What’s the problem in Smith bringing in players he already knows? What’s the problem bringing in players who already know him, his style of play and his personality? Especially young players tipped for big things. Konsa was selected over Tuanzebe in the u21s, wasn’t he?

3 minutes ago, tomav84 said:

need some of our brentford friends to come on and enlighten us as to whether he's any good...or how they've taken us to the cleaners

They’re speaking quite highly of him in the transfer thread...

I thought he was one of the best keepers in the league in 16-17, can’t say as much about him since then. I know he’s been crocked, but even if it’s caused a drop in form, it often takes time to get fit again. I wouldn’t say there’s no chance of him recapturing his form from 2-3 years ago.

1 minute ago, a m ole said:

Mings represents a player we know, someone acclimatised to the club and has shown his quality for us in the Championship with Premier League experience. If we’re going to pay a premium for someone, he has to be priority #1. The other option is no one or a £5-6m risk from abroad that could be a Mellberg or could be an Okore.

I also wouldn’t be shocked if a decade from now we look back on Mings as a club legend. I don’t think you can put a price on that.

10 minutes ago, useless said:

As it happens I was just watching some highlights of Chukwueze, looks like he'd be a very good winger, as does his Nigerian team mate Moses Simon, both been linked with Liverpool and other big clubs, so not sure if we'd have a chance.

I like Simon too, good delivery, good footwork, pacy. He’s a bit of a head-down player with the ball at his feet but that’s true of a lot of young wingers (Chukwueze too). He might have overlapped with big Wes at Trencin too though it looks like they might have missed each other by a few weeks, difficult to say. 

Most importantly his full name is Moses Daddy Simon so I’d pay an extra 2-3M just to bring him into the squad.

1 hour ago, useless said:

Playes that Smith was watching over the weekend will be from either Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria, or Algeria, Madagascar, DC Congo, South Africa or Guinea... We have been linked to Bahoken, who scored for Cameroon, I have also wondered if we could possibly make a move for Etobo who plays for Cameroon and Stoke, very good midfielder who might possbibly be an alternative to Phillips.

Hopefully he’s there looking at Chukwueze, he’s a class player with a big future. A lot of the big boys are said to be in for him, but that’s what they said last year about Seri before Fulham signed him. I also rate Chidozie Awaziem, who’s playing outside for Nigeria but his future’s inside as a central defender (he’s 6’4). Good with the ball at his feet.

23 minutes ago, Tomaszk said:

Didn't say it was simple. Buying abroad isn't a problem, do you just want to buy British? That'll be an expensive summer.

If this window we brought in Amavi, Veretout, Gueye and even headless chicken Traore, they would be usable in the squad and OK under Smith.

We need to get buying from anywhere, and quickly. Hopefully we will and all will be good come the start of the season.

CB Denis Vavro to Lazio

DM Dominik Kohr to Frankfurt

ST/winger Benito Raman to Schalke.

All under £10m each in the last week. All positions we're desperate for.

Maybe we made an approach for the lot of them and they had no interest in us?

Maybe we even made offers but the selling clubs got better ones?

Maybe we looked and decided they’re not good enough for the Premier League?

Isn’t it just possible that we are more active behind the scenes than you - or indeed most everyone on VT - believe us to be? It’s clear from the Wesley and Guilbert signings that we prefer to be tight-lipped about our business, I would say that the lack of leaks on twitter et al isn’t an indication our heads are in the sand.

I expect we’ve made an offer to Cahill, but:

- on take-it-or-leave-it wages that are likely less than he wants;

- with no guarantee of a spot in the starting eleven.

If he can find a better offer, especially if it’s in London, I suspect he’ll take it. Clearly that hasn’t happened yet, and perhaps John Terry can influence him to take our offer over the others.

15 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Me too but if we’re being honest we’re yet to really see what Suso can do. Due to the tv money I honestly think the Premier League is a lot stronger now than the year we got relegated.   We need to just be better than 3 teams but at the moment it’s with a squad that is currently weaker than the one that got promoted. 

Im all for faith in the club but how can people not be worried for next season? 

P.s. this is not a doom and gloom post, I’m delighted to be in the top flight. I’m just concerned at this moment in time.

It would be nice to have our new players in the squad already, but what would you have us do? The selling clubs hold all the cards. They know we want the players in the squad now and to make it so, we’d have to pay a premium. They also know we’ll get more and more desperate as time passes (see, this forum) and there’s a chance we’ll agree to the selling club’s demands. But the power dynamic shifts the closer we get to the deadline. The player, after a summer of having his name used as bait for clicks, might be unsettled. The selling club might see the writing on the wall and become motivated to buy his replacement. Or maybe they’ve already bought the replacement, certain he was set to move on. Maybe they’re simply tired of the drama. The deadline motivates both sides, for better or worse.

There are scenarios that will encourage a club to sell a player early, such as Southampton needing the funds from the Targett sale to fund their Adams purchase, or the Belgian League (and other foreign leagues) willing to sell for less than others. But for the most part the only way to ensure a player’s early arrival is to pay over the odds for them, and once you get that particular reputation, it’s difficult to shake (see Man U). 

Just now, Made In Aston said:

I heard he was back in full training. If that is true then he would be able to take part in a full pre-season and 'hit the ground running'. 

Where are you hearing it? I keep looking but I’m not seeing much, but sometimes sifting through news/twitter is needle and haystack stuff. I assumed he was doing physical therapy but if he’s healthy enough to fully train wouldn’t he be with the Algerian squad?

23 minutes ago, PieFacE said:

Yeah out of all of Brentford's players, Benrahma is the one I think we need most.

I rate him as their best player too, but I’m baffled his injury is never mentioned. And while a quick googley fills my screen with all of the Benrahma transfer clickbait my eyes can take, there’s scarcely a single mention or update about his ankle. The only thing that seems certain is it caused him to miss the AFCON. I’d love to bring him to Villa Park, but I don’t expect him to hit the ground running.

20 minutes ago, thabucks said:

TREZ BIEN 

Aston Villa are set to make an £8million bid for Egypt’s highly-rated striker Mahmoud Trezeguet as their summer spending spree continues

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/9421667/aston-villa-egypt-mahmoud-trezeguet/amp/

Isn’t he more of a left winger than striker ... Only concern would be he is still playing in the AFCON and we return to for pre-season tomorrow and will need a good break before starting with us... Oh and he isn’t Rafael Leao who for some unknown irrational reason I want us and expect us to sign .... 

Edit: yep he is a winger not a striker do we can get Leao as well ! 

https://www.transfermarkt.com/trezeguet/profil/spieler/234189

I like this link, I hope it’s true. I’ve watched a fair bit of the SuperLig and he always stood out for me. Deceptive pace, brave, runs through tackles, doesn’t have the greatest close control but his quick footballing brain, boldness and long legs allow him to carve through defenders on mazy runs (shows up well in the vids). I think he’s an awkward player to defend. Will get caught lunging now and again, especially when the ball escapes him, has to be careful about that.

19 minutes ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

This chat is silly. If he leaves and comes here to play in the Premier League, he will more likely than not give it his all. Leeds fan or not, he's a 23 year old professional footballer. He has a career ahead of him. 

I mean say what you like about Craig Gardner as an example, I never once felt like he was shirking. And that's a far more extreme example. 

Exactly. What matters is his level of professionalism. Most players don’t play for their dream or boyhood clubs.

59 minutes ago, avfcDJ said:

Twitter user @Hot_diggity_D seems to have some info, he's telling people Smith has resigned. I've sent him abuse, suggest others do the same.

Or, just ignore him. Sending him abuse is exactly what he wants.