bobzy

Thought Lukaku had started the last few games tbh

What a **** dilemma to have by the way "who shall I play, Benteke or Lukaku?!"

The debate on Holtby's wages is skewed by his signing for Spuds for a relative pittance. In short, either he got a massive signing on fee (in lieu of the transfer fee) or his wages are inflated over his contract to represent that 'fee'.

If Spuds want to sell him, either:

1. They want a realistic fee, in which case they are probably going to have to pay up a lot of his contract and Holtby should take a more realistic salary considering his level and ability; or
2. They give him away, and Holtby can continue to command an inflated salary as a result

This is why players have all the power now, and we must not fall into this trap.

Wasn't he out of contract in the summer so Schalke cashed in on basically "any money" from Spurs?  Not sure the wages make up for a small transfer fee or anything.

If I'm completely honest, I'd be amazed that he's actually on 60-70k a week given the nature of both Daniel Levy and the bit part he's played for Spurs.

I'd be stunned if we pulled off getting him though.  Absolutely stunned.

Surely that's what happens with youth players too?  Although I like this as potentially punnery funnery...

...Jack Briealish?

 

He had a decent game vs Liverpool, actually he was impressive.

 

That said I'm not sure i doubt it's true to be honest.

One off performance. He aint good enough.

 

Is this because;

a) He's from the Championship

b ) You follow Bournemouth and watch many of their games

or

c) You've never heard of him and assume the worst

???

 

Our objective to lower the wage bill has been (almost) completed... so let's just undo all of that by signing players on £60-70k/week again. Yes

Almost? Books were balanced, possibly in profit, months ago and we've now sold Ireland.

At some point we're going to have to increase the wages we offer.

 

I don't get the point you're making (apart from just having yet another dig).

I'm saying we shouldn't be undoing what we've just had to by hiking wages back up to the same level.  Nothing to do with books being balanced or possibly in profit or selling Ireland.  I'm sure we'll be doing this over the summer, but I'd rather not just work our way backwards by overspending on wages... again.

Imagine if it was Was Sneijder all along.  We'd have a meltdown for sure.

Well if the transfer fee is low, he could be offered a signing fee and lower wages. Amounts to the same thing, but looks better to the other players (you'd think).

Also more sustainable.  If we can afford a one-off fee for signing that's fine.  What you don't want is to tie someone down on huge wages only for shit creek to be 3 years down the line (again).  That's what we've just spent 2 years or so undoing after all...

 

 

 

A lot of people will think this is bullshit, but I truly think there'll be a point in a couple years where all Villa fans, even the most stubborn, will look back and wonder how they ever doubted Lambert.

I don't think anyone would feel that was 'bullshit.' He could turn out to be a very good manager and if he does then he will get my full support but and it's a big but, at the moment considering his overall record with us to date he has a long way to go to reach that point.

 

I love this.  He doesn't get your full support at the moment because he hasn't delivered anything remarkable to date but, if he does, then you'll be right behind him.

 

Unreal

You do make some very good points bobzy in general debate but where you continually let yourself down is putting words in poster's mouths to suit whatever agenda you are on.

I've never stated that I expect Lambert to be remarkable and it's just as well because he hasn't been.

 

I was only taking the piss r.e: the support aspect.

I don't think he's done a fantastic job or anything like but I'm still completely supportive of the manager.  Seems silly not to support him otherwise (unless he was quite literally destroying the club, of course).

Our objective to lower the wage bill has been (almost) completed... so let's just undo all of that by signing players on £60-70k/week again.  Yes

 

A lot of people will think this is bullshit, but I truly think there'll be a point in a couple years where all Villa fans, even the most stubborn, will look back and wonder how they ever doubted Lambert.

I don't think anyone would feel that was 'bullshit.' He could turn out to be a very good manager and if he does then he will get my full support but and it's a big but, at the moment considering his overall record with us to date he has a long way to go to reach that point.

 

I love this.  He doesn't get your full support at the moment because he hasn't delivered anything remarkable to date but, if he does, then you'll be right behind him.

Unreal

What has happened with him at Spurs?  Barely even got a look in but looked like a quality player at Schalke.  Reckon he just needs a fresh start or hasn't adapted to the physical style of the Premier League (cliché ahoy!)?

Would love to see him given a chance at Villa but I think he'll have better offers...

I'd love to be like Man City. Similar ticket price but instead of 2-3 home wins a season we get to see 18-19. World class players galore to the point some of them don't make the bench. They've kept their name, badge, colours etc. too.

If Randy sold us to someone like that all mistakes would be completely forgiven in my book.

It'd be horrible, for me.  Just look at the Man City fanbase - they've turned from being the darlings of Manchester to a bunch of spoilt brats (almost).  They (and other clubs) destroy anything that resembles the soul of football.  Players don't go to these clubs to progress; it's all just pure greed.

Top scorer in the Bundesliga?  Yeah, we'll just sign him for £30m and stick him on the bench.

Terrible, terrible attitude.  I'd hate it, I really would

The Rock gif is one of my favourites.  It always get a like.

 

Look at that list of Teams: Swansea, Crystal Palace, Sunderland, Stoke and Hull

If Ince is such an exciting prospect why are the other 'bigger' teams not coming in for him.

I hate to be a miserable ballbag here, but we are very much in that list when it comes to quality at the moment. There are just 6 points between us.

 

I don't think the implication is that we aren't in with those teams - I see it as questioning why, if Ince is that good, Everton/Liverpool/Tottenham etc. aren't in for him.

 

Brilliant post Bobzy this is exactly what I think is happening at the club.

Yeah we shouldn't expect the owner to back the manager properly. Good plan for the future that.

 

I would also love Ince at the club but where would he get a game at the moment in our current system? Is he the number ten we need? Not sure as he has been playing out wide. Is he the DM we need? Nope. So maybe Ince would be a luxury signing at the moment which the chairman doesn't want to afford.

Doesn't stop us all wanting him at the club though due to being a good young player.

Exactly this.  Ince is undoubtedly an exciting prospect, but he's not what we need right now.

I posted the original response to BJ then also quoted the Taarabt post from jacketspuds and responded.  It looks like the site has shoved it all into one post

 

So, in short, yes - I do trust Lambert to find decent players and I think he'd do a good job if he had the money to spend

So why do you think we'd have to pay over the odds on a gamble this window then? Is Lambert not capable of signing good players worth the money this window?

 

I don't think this needs explaining, but buying players in January is an expensive business.  People don't want to let go of their talent in the middle of the season so there's very little value for money out there - something which we need to be particularly cautious with.

Why don't you understand this?

Adel Taarabt told he has no future at Fulham. Will be sent back to QPR. Anyone take him here until the end of the season?

God no.  Lazy, selfish, greedy player.  Great individual on his day but offers very little else and his attitude isn't worth the hassle.  If Fulham don't want him, that speaks volumes.  Q.P.R. can keep him.

 

People seeing it that way is fine. If this was the summer, I'd be much more concerned as well.

Not paying over the odds for a gamble in January though? Not too fussed.

So do you not trust Lambert to find decent players?

 

He found Benteke and Kozak as the only real examples of him spending "proper money" - Benteke is an absolute hit and Kozak, whilst nowhere near as good, has something about him and can find the net.

With regards to budget players, he realised the mistake we'd made in releasing Guzan and brought in Vlaar, Okore (shame about the injury) and Bacuna (and also Bertrand on loan who looks solid) all of which I think are good to very good signings.  Lowton and Sylla contributed well last season too, although have dipped this time round.  However, we've also seen some misses - Luna, Tonev, El Ahmadi and Bennett in my opinion.  Aside from El Ahmadi, these are young enough to learn and/or sell on for a fee.  Tonev is the mystery as there's definitely a player in there somewhere but we're yet to have seen it.

So, in short, yes - I do trust Lambert to find decent players and I think he'd do a good job if he had the money to spend.  You're more than welcome to point the finger of blame at Lerner this window if you want but, in my opinion and as a general rule of thumb, the spending should be done in the summer.  If we don't spend in the region of £15/20m this summer I'll be worried.  Furthermore, that £15/20m would "only" need to go on 3 £7m~ ish players to be a big improvement on the team and I think Lambert has shown with Benteke/Okore that he can find decent players within that region.  Time will tell I suppose.

I think we need to take a bit of a gamble, or at least bring someone in to offer something different. Our home form is atrocious and we really, really can't rely on everyone else being completely shit.

I'd like us to as well, but I'd rather we spent wisely in the summer than pay, let's say for example, £12m for Kiyotake now.  Hoolahan would be a cheap, short term "something different" and I think that would be a wise type of transfer.  I don't want us to blow any sort of budget in January rather than the summer.

People seeing it that way is fine.  If this was the summer, I'd be much more concerned as well.

Not paying over the odds for a gamble in January though?  Not too fussed.

Darren Bent was a panic buy that could've killed us.  He scored goals, and his movement off the line is/was superb, but he contributed almost entirely nothing to the team as a whole.

We stayed up, which was the most important outcome I suppose (somehow Q.P.R. managed to avoid getting messed up over bringing in Samba in the most dodgy deal of forever), but to hail him as some sort of great signing is ridiculous.  As LondonLax says, no resale value, monster wages and a vastly overinflated price tag in the first place.  We're still seeing the downsides of this sort of spending - 3 years on.  Crazy.

 

 

Keane did a job, Holt and Bertrand could do a job and Sylla was decent back end of last season.  Whilst there's nothing there to inspire, that's probably because January is a crap month for transfers on the whole.  See; Darren Bent.

 

 

Who single handedly kept us up, Ashley Young, John Carew ... all completely crap January acquisitions 

 

Ashley Young and John Carew were basically the exception to the rule as Lerner only took over the club in September (I think?) 2006 meaning we didn't have a proper transfer window to splash that initial cash (Carew was a swap deal for Baros anyway, wasn't he?).

Darren Bent was instrumental in both keeping us up and dumping us in the financial pile of doo doo that have since transpired to be in.  Are you honestly saying £18m and rising for Darren Bent is a good January acquisition and something to base future signings on?

In the last 3 January transfer windows we've signed.

Keane, Dawkins, holt and Bertrand all on loan.

And signed Stevens and Sylla.

That's pretty **** awful.

Keane did a job, Holt and Bertrand could do a job and Sylla was decent back end of last season.  Whilst there's nothing there to inspire, that's probably because January is a crap month for transfers on the whole.  See; Darren Bent.

We sign Kagawa on loan for 6 months which helps us entice Kiyotake to the club - Villa Talk consequently melts down, literally.

I'll get on the phone to PF now.