Rds1983

Reading the statement a few things jump out.

1. Ellis is going to remain engaged but at a somewhat further distance? I didn't think he was closely involved at all nowadays and wonder when he will next be at a game?

2. Talks about Villa as a business and needing to grow. The opportunity cost of relegation this year due to cost saving in the transfer market is immense due to the TV deal. No business model should have allowed this and greater investment should occur (last summer ideally).

3. Stev's statement about 'money no longer buys success' is worrying. It doesn't guarantee success on a football field but it certainly makes it more likely. He talks of Randy's previous financial backing and references last year (ignoring our net spend and lack of real backing) but then implies future success will not be due to Randy's backing but due to a winning culture. 

4. There is no talk of strong January recruitment to try and avoid relegation and these things to me imply that we will not be splashing the cash this window on players to keep us up but instead be looking to rebuild in the Championship.

I assume that the intended sale is downgraded then. I doubt he would join as Chairman knowing the club is likely to be sold imminently.

13 hours ago, WooJung said:

Crazy thought. He's WAAAAY too good for the Championship and I don't expect him to follow us there, nor would I blame him for not wanting to.

But, instead of selling him, how about loaning him to a top flight team with a right to buy clause which they could only use if we fail to get promoted back the Premier League, meaning that if we did get promoted we could then have him back, even more experienced.

 

I know this is as unplausible as it gets, but you know, one likes to dream...

Similar to what QPR did with Remy, loaning him to Newcastle when they went down in 12/13. They didn't manage to keep him when they came back up but we might get lucky.

NB I would prefer he stayed with us and helped us back up though.

8 minutes ago, sexbelowsound said:

United could sign Bale and he'd be played as a wing back and do nothing as long as LVG is there.

True but LVG will surely get the sack soon (although I've been saying that for ages).

11 minutes ago, sexbelowsound said:

Well I have Cabaye. I'd use my waiver to pick him up. I'd wager that he'll score more points between now and the end of the season than any January signing.

I'm thinking the same but I'm dreading Utd doing something crazy like actually managing to buy Bale.

Or Villa signing Lacazette and him scoring 40 goals this season to keep us up lol.

17 minutes ago, sexbelowsound said:

Wait for him to clear waivers and be the first to pick him up on a free transfer.

Would be ideal but doubt he will clear, I believe my little brother has bid for him.

Question for you guys:

I'm number one on the waiver wire and someone has released Cabaye. Should I pick Cabaye up and lose my waiver place or wait and see if a superstar joins someone in this window knowing that the would be mine.

14 minutes ago, sexbelowsound said:

To be honest I like Guzan but i'm at the stage now where I hold little sentiment towards any of them. The only players i'd be disappointed to see leave next season would be Amavi and Ayew for their quality and Bacuna for his work ethic.

The rest can **** off.

Add Veretout and Okore to the keep list and I'd agree.

2 minutes ago, Zatman said:

yeah but think Debuchy is only a loan so its not even replacing its just a short term solution

It's why we should go after Sam Byram now.

Afobe to Bournemouth has been completed, scratch that link off. Shame, thought he could have done well for us.

42 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

It seems he plays because he gives us an out ball; if you can't find a simple pass, get it into the box and aimed at Rudy.

That out ball isn't working - I think he needs some time out.

 

If this is all that he is supplying then surely Kozak could offer this and maybe more?

Loaning him to a Championship team to help him develop and then using him next season has to be the best idea. 

It is would be nice to have a bit more height in our midfield and he is about 6'2" I believe.

4 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

Did we decide if there were playoffs in this?

I might be able to scrape in there if there is.

The FAQ implies that play offs are coming in this season.

He got Delefou instead.

That is very close.

I kinda think that if teams are within X amount of each other then there should be a draw to make the league more realistic.

Fyi the top of our league let Cabaye go this week, brave call as they play Villa next.

He has joined Preston on loan again. Hopefully he gets games and goals in the Championship and can do a job for us next season.

3 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

4-0 loss against a team 19th in the championship?

Sounds about right for Villa.

Very close games this week with teams losing by 0.5 points, still no draws yet though. Any in your league?

38 minutes ago, dakid007 said:

Half a season to go. Other teams are doing their best to play shit and give us a chance to catch them. If we can put a run together they will start panicking and our momentum will carry us but if our survival relies on us beating Arsenal on last day......

Let's hope Arsenal have the title wrapped up by then and that Wenger does Garde a favour.

Garde has previous with Remy so that might help, and he could get goals for us which would help with the Euro's. Just think how many chances we fluffed against West Ham that he could have put away.

How has Christmas treated your league? There has been a big shift in mine with the bottom team picking up their first two wins and are nearly off the foot of the table (hope for Villa yet?) and the top team picking up back to back losses (assuming Coutinho doesn't score 50+ points tonight).

1 hour ago, Grasshopper said:

I'm pretty sure that AVFC insisted on a "50% wage reduction if relegated" clause in the contract, the players agent would insist on a "£xxxx trigger" clause too.

In other words, once we've gone, the good ones will be gone too.

sad times

As most of our summer signings were from smaller teams in less respected leagues we should have had a decent amount of negotiating strength with the players/agents. They would have had decent pay rises in joining us and whilst release fees are probably in place they shouldnt be ridiculously low and we should hopefully recoup what we spent.

13 hours ago, mwj said:

Austin will not come to us, period. In 6 months time he will get a good contract at a top 10 side, Stoke, Everton etc

Remy would be an outside chance, but why? We need title winning form from here till April which is just not going to happen. Let it go mate

I'm not sure which top ten side would want him. I get the feeling he would want to be the main striker not a back up, which rules out the Arsenal, City, Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton. I don't think he would fit into the style of play that Hughes is developing at Stoke. Possibly go to Palace but Wickham is starting to do very well.

15 hours ago, sexbelowsound said:

Managing Ajax on this game is so frustrating. Every pre season I have spend most of it rejecting transfer offers, dealing with pissy players who think they should be allowed to leave and agents who want a new contract for their client every single time an offer is turned down.

It's tiresome.

I refuse to deal with agents whenever possible and then tell the player that you will accept a bid for them if it matches your valuation which the player is happy with. I then stick thier valuation at a crazy high amount and it usually scares the other team away, you do risk them bidding a low amount that the player will decide is high enough but it works for me more often than not.

Set your LOD as high as possible as well as it helps stop them whinging over trivial matters.