Philosopher

I mentioned another midfielder as well as a left back. I didn't say we shouldn't aim high. Realistically though there is nothing to indicate top 6 is on the cards. 8th would be a good season. Top six would be a great season. Champions league would be dream land.

We have far too many question marks over us to claim top six. Our Attack for example, Coutinho is great but inconsistent. Buendia was starting to look decent. Bailey has had an injury nightmare. Watkiins is workman like, but not top draw. Ings looks past his best. This could all be turned on it's head, but so many questions. So long as we can build a strong base with Carlos, Kamara and another 6 that can play 8 i'll be happy. If we can add a young dynamic left back that can be Digne's successor in a 2 or 3 season i'll be very happy. Then we can work on the attack next summer, as all the players i mentioned deserve another season to show what they can do.

You say that but Raphinha plays in Saka's position, and Jesus scores less goals than Ollie Watkins. They will improve their squad for sure, but their first team line up is a best fractionally stronger. Arsenal were miles ahead of us last season anyway. If just Kamara does well for us then we are already closer.

I think Lampard could really help Winks. Lampard had similar limitations as a player, so he could bring the best out of him. Having said that Everton do appear to be collecting overrated midfielders that fell from grace!

Sangare is getting a lot of time and space in this highlights video. He seems to almost always needs 2 touches to get the ball under control. I think his quality on the ball would be lacking. Kone is outmuscling a lot of players in his highlight reel, but how many prem footballers would he be able to do that too? I think both would struggle in the premier league.

He plays that 9 position, but he drops deep a bit not always on the shoulder of the last defender.

I'd take Barbosa if the fee was under 15 million. The common knowledge is that Barbosa was very young and struggled to settle. Ability and talent was never in doubt. Tim Vickery I think said that he is far more mature and focus now and would fair much better. The only problem with him is he isn't an out and out striker and as much a creator as a goalscorer. The other thing is I'm not sure how he'd do with the physicality of the Premier league. He would ba gamble, but for the right price worth a gamble, as his talent is prodigious, and we have 3 Brazilians here to help him settle.

He's been on Villa book since 7 or 8 I believe. He is literally the exact type of striker we need, we still need him to prove himself a quality operator at Premier league level. But he can get in behind, work the channels, drop off and link up, good touch and movement, good finisher. I really hope he can be our main striker for the next 12 years.

Like i said IF he had a better injury record. For me Bale on the pitch is still a high level operator. The problem is getting him on the pitch!

If Bale had a better injury record he would probably be the best option to bring to play centre forward we could dream of!

In regards to Tammy I think it's a case of more what we need when controlling the ball in the opposition half, but not on the counter or when out of possession, then Ollie is better suited.

In regards to Tammy I think it's a case of more what we need when controlling the ball in the opposition half, but not on the counter or when out of possession, then Ollie is better suited.

I'm probably going to get hammered from all sides for this but I don't think Tammy is a top striker. Maybe he will get there, but i haven't seen it yet. People say he looks stronger and faster, but of course he would! He is playing in a league where players are physically weaker and slower on average than the premier league, and the game itself is slower (premier league defenders are beasts almost every team has a guy with pace at CB, and they're all strong). Even when Vialli, Zola, Bergkamp, and Ravanelli came to England from Serie A, the pace and physicality made it very hard for Vialli and Ravanelli to adapt (Zola and Bergkamp were just too intelligent for the neanderthals of the premier league), and that was when Serie A was the better league. Tammy is still a penalty box striker primarily. for him to become a top striker he has to become absolutely lethal with his finishing, and he's not at that level yet. I don't believe Tammy is the answer. I said this, this time last year, Tammy is not better than Ollie Watkins. Better at sniffing out chances, slightly better than Ollie in terms of finishing, but work rate, pace, hold up play Ollie is better. They are different players at a similar level. We went out and bought Ings, who is another at basically the same level as Ollie and Tammy and all it really did was negatively impact Ollie's form. He added very little. Not because he isn't a fine player, but that he isn't complimentary stylistically to Ollie, and isn't any better to justify displacing Ollie. The same still applies to Tammy. We need better than Tammy, not that he isn't good, just the level we are talking here is, almost world class, there are too few of these players around let alone willing to come to Villa. It is seriously ambitious for us to try and bring in the quality of centre forward that will improve the team. They need to be quick, hardworking, good at pressing, have a lovely first touch, good link up play, excellent movement and clinical in front of goal. Ollie has 3 of these, and apart from the first touch the other 3 are still at a decent level (but not quite there). Schick has been mentioned, he has a lovely touch, good link up play, can be clinical in front of goal too, but the work rate, pressing, speed are all lacking, plus his movement won't cut it in this league. None of the strikers Paul mentioned except maybe Nunez is near the level we need (not to say they won't be in the future, but currently they aren't there), and even Nunez is known for having a poor first touch as he weakness! I hope we can find the striker to take us to the next level, but this summer i can't see it happening. We need European football and 70 million to spend on that one position to give ourselves a semblance of a chance. I know where @paul514 is coming from, as our only chance is to find the diamond in the rough that we cen successfully polish. However that is a difficult and expensive game to play when it comes to centre forwards, odds are we lose that bet. Do we roll the dice, or try to get by with what we have for another season and attack it from a stronger position (hopefully) next summer?

No! Just a joke of a reporter!

So. I like two left forwards and two right forwards. Give us options and different styles. Gerrard have ten different attackers at rangers not just centre forwards and 10's. Having a couple of pace options out wide of the centre forward makes sense.

I have no idea how much he would cost. Just a stab in the dark mate! Would be perfect for us though.

Firstly you're taking this way to seriously. You don't question the plausibility of signing Martinez or Diaby but pull me up on an at best 5m transfer fee we might be able to receive when my other fees are probably wide of the mark. Chill dude. If you need to talk I'll listen.

Because they aren't worth shit!

Luiz and Chukwuemeka new contracts. Release Guilbert, Steer, and Kalinic Loan Iroegbunam, Davis, Archer. Sell Nakamba 7m Hause 7m AEG 7m Trez 5m Targett 15m Traore 12m McGinn 30m Ings 20m Total in £103m In Bassey 15m plus add ons. Upto 20m Bissouma 25m (year left on contract) Moussa Diaby 57m Olsen 3m Lautaro Martinez 60m Total out 160m

McGinn is a very good player, but has his limitations. Decision making is weak. 30 yard pot shots when passes are on and sustained pressure is what's necessary. Hollywood passes when a 15 yard pass is on that's more effective. Holding the ball looking for decisive moves, when he should keep the ball moving. Constantly getting caught out of position. Overplaying because he held on to the ball when he should pass. These for the most part are little things, but within the confines of a tiki-taka system, cause us to lose momentum. He doesn't have the tactical discipline, nor the tactical awareness. People say play him higher up, but Ramsey is just as good a finisher, but smarter, Coutinho and Buendia are far better 10's and Chukwuemeka is coming through. For me he is a highly sellable asset, whom value to us on the pitch is diminishing. Sell!

I think PSG will have trouble shifting him. Injury prone. His on pitch antics can disrupt his own team as well as the opposition. Plus he has never been at the top table with Messi and Ronadlo. For a club like ours, he would be an amazing signing. But for the clubs he would go to, they don't need him. I think the prem would break him for good though.

Tammy is 6'3 but doesn't hold it up as well. Is definitely slower over any distance compared to ollie. Ollie is superior to Tammy in most areas, only anticipation and sniffing out chance is Tammy really better. He has done well in Italy, but he a Ollie are both at a similar level. Serie A is simply a weaker league.

Well according to football manager (which has an amazing track record for the accuracy of player contracts) Bouba was on 33k per week. I would expect us to pay him somewhere in the region of 100 -150k per week plus a 15 million signing on fee.

This is why I don't criticise the business we are doing. I Don’t have full faith in Gerrard, just hope. But the players we are buying are balancing the squad nicely, while.improving the quality, so it's good business regardless.

Kamara is the proper DM I was talking about.