jonjon

Just a thought from a neutral, I see on the BBC news that Neil Warnock is looking for some football work until the end of the season while his house in Cornwall is being renovated, instead of getting rid of DS at a great cost why not try and persuade Warnock to help out in an advisory capacity until then, he brings bags of winning experience with him, might not be pretty to watch his brand of football, but he knows how to shore up a defence, because at the moment you are in danger of heading the wrong way unless something is done very quickly, this might be a good short term solution and cheaper!!!

No, that money made on players sold was from Jan 2019 - Aug 2019, You have Bruce to thank for the Hogan episode in 2017, what a cracking result for us that was !!!!

It was always our weakest point with DS at the helm, and he seemed very reluctant to change the system, but we spent nearly £35 million (an astronomical amount for us) in the summer on a GK, 3 defenders, one midfield and two forwards, I think we were able to purchased very wisely mainly due to the fact we made £45 million in sales, it has taken us a few months to gel, but is now all coming together and fitting in place, as we now have the best defensive record in the Championship.

I think you have hit the nail on the head with this one, just take for example the Maupay senario, it was well known this end that DS wanted him and Maupay himself via his social media account wanted to join Villa, but Suso & Purslow didn't want to pay the price (unknown) for whatever reason, and went for Wesley instead, I would imagine that left DS with a player he knew very little about, against a player he wanted and knew how good he was, DS must have been frothing inwardly, but couldn't express his real feelings. How many more signings of your have been "recommended" by Suso & Purslow?, so I don't think the entire blame for your predicament should be fostered on DS if some of his wants lists are being ignored or overruled going by what you have said, I think he is working under a different type of management structure than he was with us and that could be detrimental to your predicament, although his reluctance to change his defensive tactics hasn't helped him.

A lot of panic on here, understandably, but remember you are only 6 points behind Arsenal in 12th place with 18 games left and there are still plenty of points to be had, the transfer window opens in a couple of days, bring in a couple of players of Dean Smiths choice not ones chosen by Purslow & Pitarch, give him 8-10 games to get it right, if still no joy then its time to bring in an experienced temporary short term life saver such as Big Sam just till the end of the season. Sacking DS now does not give you any time at all to go through a rigid recruitment process to get the right long term appointment, and you could end up in the same boat, proper recruitment takes time. It was a well documented fact that DS wanted Maupay, but Villa baulked at the price (unknown)and I believe he was over ruled, that was a big mistake, I also believe that Wesley was the choice of Pitach, and that hasn’t worked out at all, Brighton took a gamble on Maupay instead, and that seems to have paid off. DS did wonders for you at the back end of last season, just give him a few more games to see if he can repeat it, don’t forget if you do get relegated you still receive millions of £££’s of Sky money that should enable you to get back in one go, it’s been done before, FWIW, I think he will keep you up.

Our recruitment team have come up with yet another gem, I think he's an even better buy than Maupay and Benrahma, he has been a joy to watch this season, he's very strong, a runner, tackler, goal provider and can score with his head and feet, and 9 goals already, considering he's only 20 and in his first 6 months in English football, there is so much more I feel to come from him as he seems to gain confidence each time he plays, I wouldn't be surprised to see him fetching well over £20 million and setting a new record amount for us, if we were to sell him. I can't see us selling anyone in the Jan Window as we are slowly gaining on the top two, and it could be worth players staying with us, just in case we get to the promised land, but offers of BIG money are very hard for a club and player to turn down.

Neither did Harry Kane when he first started, but he's turned out OK, and It's only newspaper gossip anyway, sometimes you have to take a gamble.

We signed Halil Dervişoğlu a Turkish under 21 international from Sparta Rotterdam in August and when we didn't sell Benrahma we lent him back to them until Jan 1st, he joined us a couple of days ago and was seen training with the squad yesterday ready for the New Year, I have a feeling, hopefully, that we won't be letting anyone go in the window, but adding to the squad, but it appear from paper talk (if you believe it) that Spurs are now interested in Benrahma, but it's football and a wait and see game, and you just never know what's going to happen!!! It's a sellers market in this window, and they hold all the cards, so players won't be cheap, as clubs that are in trouble try and buy themselves out of it.

Griffin Park has already been sold to the developers who are building the new ground for housing, plus four blocks of flats are being built on the land the new ground is situated, and that makes the new stadium virtually self financing, so we have no need to sell any player, but Brentford's policy is not to stand in any players way if they wish to move on, providing the price is right, although the rumors around Brentford are that Benrahma wants to stay until the summer to see if we can get in the Premiership, but on the other hand money talks!!!.

I have highlighted the same problem he had with us at Brentford, and it doesn't seem to have changed at all, he had no problems with forwards/strikers, but I thought the whole idea of bringing in John Terry was to improved and coach on the defensive side of the game, given his record as a defender and knowledge of the game it sounded very good on paper, but that's about all, because lt is not working, what does he actually do? and does anyone think that JT was brought in as a "token name" to perhaps encourage players to sign for Villa? I get the feeling from this forum that Purslow & Pitarch have had the final say and forced some of your players on to DS, that could be a big part of the problem, if so, he doesn't warrant some of the stick he gets on here.

I'm Sorry to say, that was me, I had hoped he would have changed with Villa, but he's carried on from Walsall and us in the same style, a reluctance to change.

Some were and some weren't, I was one who wasn't very happy he left us, but understood that it was always his ambition to manage Villa, good luck to him for that reason, the problem with him was his defensive shortcomings that were evident at Walsall and now with you, as you have now conceded 33 goals in 18 games, our new head coach changed all that with a different formation, that he changes according to the opposition, made some shrewd purchases including Pontus Jannson from Leeds, and after 23 games we still have only conceded 18 goals, second only to Leeds, so a vast improvement that has now put us in a good position in the table. Most of us Bees fans couldn't understand why he paid a more money for Wesley instead of going for Maupay, who would have done a much better job for you, and cheaper, that to me was a big mistake, or is it a fact that Pitarch & Purslow have a greater say in transfers than DS?

That counts us out then as we don't do loans, our management policy is "why should we develop another clubs player" we have a good B team set up that is a pathway to the 1st team. Dean will keep you in the Premiership, it might be a close call, but he's Villa through and through and he won't let it happen, besides there are worse teams behind you.

I know that we develop players year in year out to a high standard, hence we sell on for a good profit, our problem is a small revenue from a small ground, we have to survive by selling our best developed players, but at some time that must stop if we we are to make the Premiership, hopefully moving to our new stadium next season will help our revenue stream. Regards Andre Green, he does seem like a player who would fit our mould, and it looks good on paper, but if we lose a forward in January we need a player who is match fit and can hit the ground running if we are to maintain and keep our current position, all he's done at Preston is bench warm and had hardly any matches under his belt, I wonder why? How do you Villa supporters rate him and could he do a job for us?

It's Xmas time, not April 1st

Thank you, I thought as much as it seems strange he can't get into the Preston team, Alex Neil obviously agrees as well, hopefully we will avoid that one!!!

A good opinion as well We aren't looking to sell anyone, but we could be interested in buying as we are slowly climbing the table, Green could be an option at the right price to cover for injuries etc, although he can't even get into the Preston side, one would have to take his match fitness into question, also, we have a young Turkish forward starting soon who we brought in the summer and loaned him back until Jan 1st. The downside is that all the focus is now on Ollie Watkins if you are allowed to count paper talk/click bait as a valid source, even Sky have got in the act saying we have put his price up to £25 million to try and keep him, who knows where they got that news from, Also I don't think Benrahma will be going anywhere as he's only just started to play like last season, due to injury problems at the start of the season, he now would be a big gamble at the price we want (undisclosed) and I don't think we would be interested in a loan to buy deal.

We have never been blessed with Large target men, Grey, Hogan, Maupay, Jota, Benrahma are all under 6 ft, but effective with the style of on the floor football we now play, rather than hoof it up to large target men, it seems that Dean, when at Brentford prefered small nimble goal getters, that's why I was surprised when he paid a record fee for Wesley (who hasn't exactly pulled up trees) over buying Maupay, (forget about the hearsay on price) but I do wonder, Knowing how much Dean wanted him at Villa, What influence Purslow and Pitarch had over the record signing or other ones? Do you think Maupay would have been a better buy for you?, In Konsa you have a good one there, still prone to a few mistakes, but it was a big step up for him, he's young and still learning and will only get better. It didn't take Dean long to implement his own style with us, his main failing was his defensive set up, he seemed very reluctant to make changes, therefore we leaked a lot of silly goals, and that seems to have continued at Villa, our new boss Thomas Frank has changed all that, it took some time, but I think we have got it about right now with a lot stronger defence that have only conceded 17 goals so far, our success so far is down to the fact we break and attack very quickly, knowing that our defence is up to defending should we fail. He will get it right for you and you will survive, it might only by the skin of your teeth, but you won't come back down.

You are not wrong there, The silly prices quoted for Maupay and others were invented/made up by the papers and click bait sites, all transfers are done and marked up as "undisclosed", therefore only the clubs hierarchy know the real price, the public will only know when the clubs 2019/20 accounts are disclosed in 18 months time if anyone can be interested/bothered . He did have a very good relationship with Dean, and as far as we know Villa wouldn't pay the asking price (undisclosed) Maupay was gutted apparently, but Brighton then jumped in and obviously met our price(again undisclosed) and the lure of the Premiership was too great to turn down, so the deal was done, inwardly Dean must have been gutted, but had to put on a brave face, because he knew how good Maupay was under him. He is slowly getting to grips with the Premiership, and does not look overawed by it all, (good goal against Palace tonight), at his age give him another year or two and I think he will be not unlike Vardy. We are on a bit of a charge at the moment and will be desperate to hold on to Benrahma, who hasn't scores many, but is providing plenty of assists and causing havoc and panic in the oppositions defence, so hands off him!!!! I think Dean will keep you up, you have played some good football at times, but not got the rub of the green.

We are on a bit of a role at the moment after a very poor start, our defence has just started to play as one, the addition of David Raya (goal keeeper) and Pontus Jansson has been the major factor, Pontus is not the most skilful player but he has captained the defence with the resoluteness that we were missing, only conceded 13 goals so far, and that has been the key, it has made it easier for our midfield and forwards to do their proper jobs. The January transfer merry go round will soon be here, that's when the fun and games start, we are pushing for promotion so it will be difficult to see who, if anyone, we sell, Benrahma is slowly getting back to his old form, so he won't come cheap, Ollie Watkins is the star at the moment with 11 goals, and already has a few Premiership clubs looking at him, we have a new Turkish striker starting Jan 1st so that could change things, who knows, Villa are going through a bad patch, but what I've seen of them on TV they have been unlucky and not getting the rub of the green, I'm sure Dean will get you out of it.

I watched the game on Sky from a neutral perspective and thought you weren't too bad, got of to a good start, and held a very, very good team at bay for a long time, 2nd half they then brought on Erikson and he changed the game for Spurs, you also then got sloppy at the back, from then there was only one winner, Dean Smith would have learnt a lot from that first match, nothing there he can't put right, it was always going to be difficult, and that match shouldn't be a guide that its going to be the same each week, Bournemouth will be a better game to judge on how you well do, I also see you have the same type of clowns on here as we do on our forum, slagging off the team already, Unbelievable !!! Still, we got a lucky 3 points at Middlesbrough, and I saw Maupay come on as a sub for the Seagull and score, a dream start for him.

I'm sure the Villa management are going to take a lot of notice of your recommendation

Don't give up hope of not getting him in January, the main reason we didn't sell him apart from the fee asked (unknown) is we failed to get a replacement in time and it would have been silly to let him go, the other factor as well, is for once we didn't need the money to balance the books, one deal for a forward fell through due to overbearing and nasty agents apparently, so that never came off, instead we have signed a young winger from Sparta Rotterdam called Hallil Dervisoglu a Turkish youth international, but he will not be joining us until January, So there could be movement with Benraham, depending how far up the table we are, and the same applies for Villa, but thank goodness the window is done for now, it was all too stressful !!!. Anyway good luck to Villa in the Prem, I think you will do OK with the players Dean brought in, I will be watching your results with interest.

I think what everybody seems to forget is the agents role in all this, they are there to make as much money for themselves as possible, with little regards of where their player ends up at, the delays in moves happening could be all down to their greed, with the clubs and player involved just an afterthought.

If you were to believe recent press reports, several teams have "enquired" about him but have been knocked back by the price they offered.