Michael118

Our back four is perfectly fine as it is with Clark/Okore at CB, Bacuna/Amavi at RB/LB and Hutton and Cissokho as back up. We need midfielders and a striker we can rely on for goals.

I would have no hesitation keeping them all if I thought their performances would improve. Last season is on the managers and whoever it is who appointed them. Sherwood, MacDonald, Garde and Black would have relegated Leicester if they had an opportunity. YES or NO? Gabby - YES. IF we can get him fit and motivated again. Lescott - YES. Strictly as back up only. Richards - NO. We have better options for CB and RB. Bacuna - YES. Our best right back and is likely to get better. Strong defensively and offensively. Fast, versatile, good vision and passing ability. Needs to improve his consistency but overall is one of our most undervalued players and would be sad to see him leave. Guzan - YES. I think he is better than anybody we are likely to replace him with.

Clark was unstoppable at CB for a long run of games under Lambert. I don't remember him making too many errors then because he was playing with confidence. We haven't seen that player since Richards came into the fold and was made captain by Sherwood when Clark was clearly the best choice. RDM needs to back him as our main CB hopefully next to Okore and it won't be long before we see the best of him again.

The main factor will be RDM. Unfortunately I don't think he is capable of having the kind of influence Sam Allardyce had at Sunderland last season for example. We needed a manager who can have that influence because we have a lot of players with talent who are underperforming for various reasons. If we had Allardyce or Ranieri, Hiddink, Pochettino, Guidolin, Flores or Pulis and Guzan was in that manager's plans his chances of turning things around here I believe would be a lot higher than if he left.

No reason he can't get it back at Villa. If we had a manager like Ranieri or Hiddink and a good CB partnership like Vlaar/Senderos or Clark/Okore playing regularly in front of him it would happen.

I don't care much for stats but my eyeball test says they are fairly similar. Actually, if picking between the two long term I would probably take Gana. I think Ranieri's influence at Leicester can't be underestimated.

Funny how his performances are usually good for USA while at Villa he looks nervous and unassured. People calling for him to leave are likely to be majorly disappointed when he turns his career around somewhere else. The same applies to a lot of other players in our squad.

I don't think they are so unrealistic if we show ambition and target them strongly. If Gayle is a chance then so is Jedinak, Pantilimon. Joselu and Mirallas could be loan options. Janmaat, Elliot, Klose, Mbokani are all in the championship now. Oar is A League. I missed the last part of last season but it doesn't look like Afobe set the world on fire at Bournemouth.

Players I would be targeting: Pantilimon, Joselu, Mirallas, Janmaat, Elliot, Klose, Mbokani, Afobe, Gayle, Jedinak, Oar.

I really hope KMac is not involved in which players we keep or let go of.

I wouldn't mind Donacien or Kinsella from that list.

Deeney is lucky Watford have a decent manager and he has an excellent strike partner. Saying that, if he goes to Leicester and Ranieri is still there I wouldn't back against it being a success.

If we are after a winger we could do a lot worse than Tommy Oar.

I wanted us to sign Rogic before he moved to Celtic. Also wanted us to sign Milligan a year or so ago. I'm not as big a fan of Mooy but if cheap he would be worth a gamble.

Best: Barry, Laursen Worst: Delph, Richards

Because at his best he is better than who we are likely to replace him with. With a good manager in charge it's more than likely he would return to his best again. Unless we can swap him for Pantilimon or Elliot I hope he stays.

My position has remained the same more or less since Sherwood was here. Guzan is a good goalkeeper with serious confidence issues. Sherwood, Wilkins, MacDonald and Black were extremely poor choices to oversee the management of the club and anybody would expect the majority of players to regress with those guys in charge.

Please elaborate.

There were no more question marks over Guzan than any other player in the squad. He was lacking confidence. Sherwood dropped him when he should have backed him and it's ruined him. Confidence can be built back up. I haven't watched Villa since Eric Black took over but he looked in reasonable condition physically mid season. I don't see why he can't turn it around.

I don't recall anybody calling for him to be sold as a priority before Sherwood was appointed. Sherwood dropped him for the same reason he never played Gil or Kozak. Because he never fancied him as a player.

Actually Guzan was decent until Sherwood dropped him ruining his confidence which began the demise.

Confidence can turn around pretty quickly with the right manager in charge. If that was Allardyce I'd have money on Guzan returning to his best by mid season along with many of our other players. I really don't see RDM having the same kind of influence on our current underperforming players which is why the managerial appointment was so crucial.

One of the most undervalued at the moment in English football. Guzan isn't far behind. I think he's good enough for a mid table premier league team when he is confident. Unless we can find someone above that standard I'm happy for him to stay.

Want to add also that I would be keeping Guzan unless we can sign Pantilimon who would be an awesome acquisition.

Disappointing if true. I thought he had a lot of potential and was genuinely expecting it to work out for him here. I would be really surprised if he ended up spending his career in League 2.