Kuwabatake Sanjuro

£29m for Slimani is crazy money for a 28yo who only has 1 very good season in Portugal to his name. I would have liked Villa to sign him but Kodjia is better value definitely. Musa will be rubbish for them too and there is no way he is his official age. Leicester will still be one of the fittest teams in the league but have had a poor transfer window and will drop back into the pack.

Leeds have signed Eunan O'Kane, I'd have liked to sign him as a squad option but he presumably would rather guaranteed 1st team football. Arter is better but unlikely to leave Bournemouth now. Business is probably done but 1 more central midfielder who is good on the ball would have been nice.

Hopefully Gardner can play a bit better if he is called upon again.

Another small positive for me is that he plays football with a smile on his face, there hasn't been enough of that around Villa lately.

Just now, Tomaszk said:

I'd love him to succeed, I just feel Rhodes could've been a better and cheaper option.

Rhodes wouldn't be much cheaper and could easily have higher wage demands. He wouldn't have the mobility of Kodjia which is more important for the team. 

I wouldn't be surprised if Veretout turns out decent, Gana is already starting brightly in a better team while Sinclair is playing with confidence again at a lower level albeit. The bad managers/management and toxic atmosphere at the club last season did not provide good conditions for players to flourish

The squad still needs an exiting attacking midfielder/wide player. Grealish is nice to have and will improve as the season goes on, Green too but has a long way to go. Someone like Gil but a little better would do nicely with the players he'd have around him.

On another note it would be class if Wilshere can't get a PL loan and would be willing to drop down a division for football in September. I don't even like him but a signing of that sort of quality would be required to be in contention for automatic promotion. At the moment the squad should be good enough to compete for the playoffs but is a bit off the quality of Norwich and Newcastle still.

SNE got the Malcolm X comparison before me but it is a good look to have. The glasses are class.

He is the right sort of signing but the spiralling costs are worrying, especially as the team is still nothing special.

McCarthy is probably a case of unfulfilled potential, loyalty to Roberto Martinez has held him back but he still is a solid Premier League midfielder. If we hadn't already signed Jedinak and Tshibola it would be a sensational signing for a Championship club but if signed now it would just be loading up on an unnecessary area. The amount of football he has played for a 25 year old is crazy, 358 first team appearances. I remember seeing him play for Hamilton and he was a class attacking/right midfielder who moved gracefully with the ball. I thought he'd end up being a lot better.

One loan signing I'd like to see would be Andreas Pereira, would provide a bit of creativity and cover in the attacking midfield areas.

For a number 9 marquee signing Hernandez would be great but it could be anyone at this stage.

13 minutes ago, snowychap said:

By bagging a few criminals from one country?

In fairness the main target is an Englishman/company.

2 hours ago, JamieZ said:

Given plays for Stoke.

Incredible with the money available in the PL that he is getting a game for them. Surely they could sign a more competent backup. His reflexes have gone a long time now.

On Guzan he needs a good sport psychologist or something to build backup his confidence as he has the attributes to be a decent to good keeper apart from the mental brittleness.

Words can't describe the amount of man love I have for Romario, he was the first great player/maybe 2nd after McGrath I remember from when I started watching football, early days of the CL destroying Man utd. Anyway he had Marcus Evans and Hickey sussed from London 2012 and I presume the world cup 2014 is where John Delaney comes in as THG were operating there too. The Brazilian police were fully prepared for this from a long way out but it wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for Romario speaking out.
 

I

Arrest warrant out for John Delaney (FAI CEO) too, protégé of Pat Hickey and robbing a salary of over €400k a year from Irish football(more than the total prize money combined for the League of Ireland). This could be the best Olympics ever for Irish sport if it gets rid of Hickey and Delaney.

Probably the wrong thread but I'm still delighted that Moyes was avoided, the latest from him and he has form for negativity.

Quote

Sunderland boss David Moyes has told fans to prepare for another relegation battle this season after Sunday's 2-1 defeat by Middlesbrough.

The club have lost the opening two games under Moyes, who replaced England manager Sam Allardyce this summer.

Asked about fans fearing another struggle, he said: "Well, they would probably be right.

"That's where they've been every other year for the last four years, so why would it suddenly change?"

He continued: "I think it will be, I don't think you can hide the facts, that will be the case, yes. People will be flat because they are hoping that something is going to dramatically change - it can't dramatically change, it can't."

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/37150006

RDM hasn't said anything to drag the mood down here yet thankfully although the play has plenty of scope for improvement from an entertainment point of view.

7 minutes ago, useless said:

Xia's extremely positive, so to him someone like Hernandez might be deemed to be world class. When I read it I immediately thought of the old Slimani links.

They have just signed Joel Campbell on loan so that is plausible, the type of player who is required for sure.

I looked at the BBC last night and from an outsider looking I found it rather amusing the part where... 

Any young aspiring athlete would know the score and what needs to be done to be a national hero.

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The Mods

He played an FA cup game for Liverpool against some lower league team after being recalled from loan and wasn't fit enough, had cramp midway through the 2nd half. He was very poor that night. Was playing for Portugal at the Olympics but I didn't see any of their games.

In the Lambert years it generally was 1 good performance every 4 games you got out of him but last season there was nothing positive I can remember from him.

10 hours ago, sidcow said:

I think that's unfair. I felt and I think most people felt this was a brilliant signing at the time,  it's only in retrospect that we know it wasn't.

However if you want to talk about idiots handing contracts to Lambert and Gabby and Sinclair I am with you all the way. 

I thought it was a crazy signing at the time, however I must concede that I thought Ilori would be a great bit of business and that extra cover would not be needed. From seeing him play a few times for WBA the previous season it was clear his legs were gone.

Being ultra positive, 10 years ago Sunderland were in a near identical situation, humiliated in the PL the season before, takeover, nice guy manager appointed 4 or 5 new signings, lost their first 5 games, 4 in the league and to Bury in the LC. How did they get out of this predicament and win the Championship that season?

And 5 more signings on deadline day. Whether Villa sack RDM and bring him in or not is still up in the air but all hope is not lost yet at there is a precedent for getting out of this mess.

It would be a pity to just let him go all the same as there are some qualities he has that could be useful. I know he hasn't got great pace but could he be converted into a rb for instance where he would get some time on the ball and put in good deliveries/long passes. Just a thought.

I like both Ledley and Jedinak but would have preference for Ledley definitely, he is a good bit more useful on the ball.

19 minutes ago, Zatman said:

he could also have a choice of about 75 other teams in better positions than Villa

I know but it would be the type of player I'd like, kind of like Cambiasso 2 seasons ago. In a years time he might be a good signing for a promoted club.

My dream central midfielder to partner Tshibola apart from Barry would be Thiago Motta. completely unattainable of course but he will drop down the pecking order at PSG with Krychowiak there now.

Just now, Supervillan78 said:

Wasn't Lambert's fault, Randy refused to cough up.

You are probably right, I think I remember Ipswich were looking for a moderate sum for him at the time. Went to West Ham the following season for £3.75m. Bennett cost £2.75m.

I'll never forget the roasting he took from Zavon Hines, it was an awful pity the Lambert went for him rather than Cresswell who was linked at the time also. t