Mat Kendrick's Dentist

Get Jacob Ramsey 40 games on loan in the Championship. If we plan on using Jack in midfield, I don't think another CM should be a priority. If we're going to use him higher up, I'd like a CM with technical ability in order to build the play. This will stop Jack having to drop deep all the time

3 minutes ago, Rolta said:

I don't think he counts! If you were going to include him why not Swinkles and Shagpoke (if I haven't spelt those names correctly I apologise)?

Who told you about my signature move??

12 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

You must have forgotten -  I haven't - that Adama refused to get dressed for a game against Rotherham and effectively forced the transfer. The choice was not 'swap Adama for Adomah or keep Adama and he blazes his way to promotion for Villa', it was 'swap Adama for Adomah or keep a player who is on strike and won't play'. Adomah scored 16 goals that season, which is 16 more than Adama would have scored from his sofa.

He scored 3!

11 minutes ago, GarethRDR said:

Whatever level Adama goes/has gone on to, swapping him for Adomah was absolutely the right move at the time and ultimately a decision vindicated by our subsequent promotion.

I disagree with this. Adomah was largely awful in our promotion season, whereas Adama was a key component of a Wolves side qualifying for Europe at that time. He also pretty much single-handedly brought a Boro side full of plodders to the Champ playoffs the season before. It was a very short-sighted swap IMO, though you could argue that Adama had no intention of staying with us in the Champ (even if he ended up there with Boro!)

10 minutes ago, useless said:

I've no idea, I doubt it though, can't recall EFL Trophy games being available to watch last season.

Salford vs Man United U21s is on MUTV, so maybe Sunderland will show it in some capacity......

12 minutes ago, useless said:

Jacob and Aaron Ramsey or Chukwuemeka playing today will have no bearing on whether we sign a midfielder or not, those players played because none of McGinn, Grealish or Hourihane were available. And also our U23s have a game on Tuesday in the EFL Trophy against Sunderland's first team, so this game today against a strong Arsenal side would have been good practice for that.

 

I presume there's no way of watching that EFL Trophy game?

6 minutes ago, Steero113 said:

Will he though????

"He'll be class for them" - he's played once for the first team. It's the equivalent of paying £35m for an academy player based totally on hype from their u23 coaches and nothing more.

If we had done this there would be pandemonium as he has done materially nothing other than be an exotic name that no one has heard of...

He's played 21 times for the first time actually, which is very impressive as he's only recently turned 18

1 hour ago, Nicho said:

I understand this fascination that someone from abroad will be cheaper, better and higher potential but it’s not realistic.

If it was that easy everyone will be doing it. 

Sevilla, Lyon or Dortmund do make the signings of 23 year old for the same kind of money as Cash to then be lauded for it 2 years later.

Im happy for us to take a punt and then be praised for unearthing a gem no one else saw, these players can be from the UK.

 

Cash for £16m is the least Sevilla/Lyon/Dortmund signing I can think of

3 hours ago, Jareth said:

Will they score more than 1 goal between them? If the answer is yes, then it’s a good idea.

I know this is said in jest but a lot of people seem to believe it, and it's really not true. Pretty much any striker will score more than Davis and Samatta - yes. But that doesn't mean we should spend £50m on a strike duo just because they're better than the pitiful options we have. If we do, we'll be in the same situation next season (if we stay up at all) whereby we need to replace our strikers in order to improve 

11 minutes ago, HanoiVillan said:

I don't think people were far wrong. We actually got better results against the rest of the bottom seven in the PL last season than we did against the rest of the top seven in the Championship the previous two seasons:

17/18 Villa vs Champ Top 7 - Played 12 Won 5 Drawn 3 Lost 4 AVG: 1.5

18/19 Villa vs Champ Top 7 - Played 12 Won 4 Drawn 3 Lost 5 AVG: 1.25

19/20 Villa vs PL Bottom 7 - Played 12 Won 5 Drawn 4 Lost 3 AVG: 1.58

That's after spending £150m

10 minutes ago, Mic09 said:

Especially considering that we have a history of buying good foreign players that we call shit after 3 games. Season or two later we eat humble pie.

Vertout, Guaye, Gollini, Luiz, Amavi, and I have a strong feeling Samatta will be on that list.

Traore as well

12 minutes ago, Made In Aston said:

There is nothing wrong ability-wise with them, but foreign players take longer settle and acclimatise to the PL. Douglas Luiz is a prime example. We didn't see his best until 28 games into the season. If we want to avoid a relegation battle we can Ill afford to wait that long for players to get up to speed. Players (British nationals or settled foreign ones) will have less of a learning curve than ones who are new to the country and style of play. 

I think that point is really over-emphasised. In Ashley Young's first 6 months at the club he was a shadow of the player he would become for us. Likewise Milner in 08/09 was nowhere near as good as he was in his second (permanent) season. Any player can take time to settle. The number 1 criterion for players we bring in should be talent, not being English/from an English club

12 minutes ago, GingerCollins29 said:

Tarkowski linked to eest ham for 20 mill by percy. Should be all over that

We really really shouldn't. He'll reportedly cost £40-50m. I also think he'd struggle in a side that doesn't defend as deep as Burnley (like Villa)

21 minutes ago, lexicon said:

But as we've seen with Rashica, we're struggling to get players of the requisite quality from those leagues. 

That's only one player! They're not a homogenous mass! Leeds are newly-promoted and have signed Spain's number 1 striker, as well a Germany international CB. They're also closing in on Rodrigo De Paul who's a fantastic player. There are loads of good players who would improve us to be found in other leagues, but we seem to be intent on spending huge amounts on Championship players if reports are to be believed

15 minutes ago, sidcow said:

Well, no it isn't akin to saying that. Teams not good enough for The Premier League are relegated from it and only the best teams from The Championship get into it so it is clearly weaker than The Premier League. 

Those other leagues have strength at the top end only.  I am pretty sure that most Championship teams would survive mid to lower table in those leagues.   They are well weaker than The PL. 

Totally disagree

19 minutes ago, lexicon said:

I don't really want to get into a semantics debate over 'far', because I'd say that the Hungarian league, for example, would constitute 'far weaker' and the championship is definitely a lot better than that.

La Liga sides knocked Liverpool, Man United and Wolves out of Europe this season. Bundesliga sides knocked Chelsea and Spurs out. 2 French teams made the Champions League semi finals (one of them knocking Man City out). These are good leagues. Neil Warnock teams full of plodders routinely get promoted from the Championship. 

I'm not saying we shouldn't sign anyone from the Championship, just that it's wrong to say Championship players are safer bets. They haven't proven that they have enough ability to play in a top league, and so £28m, etc is a massive gamble. Players who have performed well in top European leagues have at least proven that they have the ability required at a similar level to the PL. They're also often very affordable. Kevin Volland is a fantastic striker/wide attacker, and moved the other day for just £15m (just over half what Watkins will reportedly cost!). Yes, they might need help settling into a new country, but that's why clubs invest in player liaison teams. 

12 minutes ago, 7392craig said:

It definitely is, but it’s been good hunting ground for plenty of clubs for a few years now. I know for every Maddison there’s a Jordan Rhodes, but it doesn’t mean there isn’t quality there to be signed.

Agreed, but I'd be looking for the odd bargain rather than paying £28m!

43 minutes ago, lexicon said:

It's definitely not 'far lower' IMO and the sheer number of games and the pace they're played at make it a good proving ground for players. 

The Championship is categorically far weaker than La Liga/Serie A/Bundesliga. To argue otherwise is akin to saying the Championship isn't far weaker than the Premier League, which, of course, it is. 

14 minutes ago, 7392craig said:

I suppose the championship could be considered less of a gamble, even if it is more expensive than the foreign markets.

I disagree. The Championship is a far lower standard of football that the top European leagues. Players coming from top leagues are at least proven/used to playing at the top level. They're often cheaper as well

I see a lot of people saying he'll be good back-up to Heaton. If we sign Romero, I'm pretty sure he'll be starting

Gazzaniga is cack

13 minutes ago, bobzy said:

Link to sauce?

Saw it on Villa Report 

Romero in according to Marca. Good signing if so