OxfordVillan

1 minute ago, paul514 said:

I have got to the point on this thread of give me a budget and I'll tell you what I would do, because I have no idea if we have 100 million to spent or a 100 pence to spend.

Let’s say it’s 100 pence. Who you getting in?! 

7 hours ago, rayk said:

Good post and I’m with you on most of it. But you don’t buy players.....or should I say good players....to just sit on the bench. Good players come in, add competition so that whoever is in the first 11 has been pushed hard for their place. And of course when injuries come along (as they always do) good players on the bench can just drop straight in and then it’s their shirt to lose.

I still think our bench is pretty weak.

In terms of that next level of player, I think it’s gonna be tough going. Barkley is going to cost £50m and I think he’ll be our only marquee singing, with hopefully two or three £25m signings who will improve the squad.

All the best teams have good players sat on the bench. That’s why they’re the best.  That’s why they want to be able to use 5 subs, because they’d get to freshen up their team during a game with 5 fresh players that could’ve easily been in the starting 11 and are still superior to most opponents starting 11. 

I think he’s improving his fitness, as well as his general game is improving with experience. It can be no bad thing to have your captain in such good physical shape leading by example. Say what you will about Grealish off field exploits, but in the last 2-3yrs he’s nailed his fitness regime. And that’s what has taken him to the levels we are seeing. All the Villa players are looking better now......though McGinn seems like he’ll always be the same shape! 

1 hour ago, villa4europe said:

My understanding was that VAR look at everything, they stop the game for VAR reviews when they see something they don't like and want more time but the idea that the VAR didn't see it is wrong, he saw it and saw nothing wrong with it so didn't contact Atkinson 

VAR checked the Hause tackle and advised NFA. I think ppl are getting confused with MOTD/commentators musing why the referee didn’t check the pitch side monitor, as per Livermore. The referee didn’t check the monitor as the advice was that the original decision (yellow card) was sound. Which it was. Hause tackle wasn’t excess force, wasn’t feet off the ground out of control, wasn’t any intent. VAR was spot on last night except for the disallowed Watkins goal.

1 hour ago, sne said:

Barcelona for example. He's #1 on Koemans list apparently, but £5m is probably still too expensive for them due to their financial situation

Well, I think we’d struggle against the pull of a Barcelona! On a serious note, though, our stock and attractiveness is surely rising rapidly? We’ve got one of the leagues best players (if not THE best) who is probably the most talked about player currently, we’ve got the standout result this season (beating Liverpool 7-2),  with our games in hand we could move to 2nd in the league, a mere one win off top spot, and we play with a swagger. What’s not to like about us right now?! 

46 minutes ago, TrentVilla said:

I’ve been trying to think of a candidate for it but hadn’t thought of him, he would be perfect. Not sure he lives in England though.

We could do worse than Teddy Sheringham as a forwards coach. 

6 minutes ago, sne said:

French paper L'equipe claiming that Lyon are willing to sell Memphis Depay for as little as £5m in January (contract is up in the summer). 

Obviously he won't be coming here as he's wanted by bigger clubs but shows just how dire the financial situation might be in French football after the collapse of the TV-deal and Covid-19.

Bargains to be had there.

 

When you say “bigger” clubs are in for him, who are we talking about? 

There’s a player in there, that’s for sure. Let’s keep an even keel. He’ll not have an easier opponent than what WBA showed last night. But he did very well against what was in front of him. Really clever finish for his goal, and great vision and cross for ElGhazi’s 1st goal. No doubt he’s a valuable player when you have other good players around him. I still think it’ll be late winter/early spring before we start seeing the best of him. But definitely had a good game last night.

2 minutes ago, sne said:

I imagine some French clubs will be forced to sell their top assets due to a combination of Covid-19 and the collapse of the TV-deal for Ligue 1.

PSG will obviously be fine but pretty much everyone else might be in real trouble. Some fantastic talents in that league and maybe some we could attract with a bit of luck (and money)

Yes, ligue 1 could be very fertile territory now for premier league clubs. 

10 hours ago, zab6359 said:

If we do any business at all and I don't think we will tbh it'll be a CF as back up to Ollie as Wes seems a fair way out still. We have plenty of wingers that will see us through this season comfortably, happy to bet my first born we don't buy a wide player in this window.

How old is the 1st born, and what are the current running costs?  These would need to be considered before taking up any bet!

11 hours ago, useless said:

Norwich are a selling club and would be happy to get £30m for Buendia, wouldn't be surprised if you could get him for less than that, no way anyone would pay anywhere near £40m.

Not sure why right wingers are being talked about anyway unless Trézéguet or Traoré get long term injuries or one of them leaves there's very little chance that we will be spending money on a position where we're already well covered and we have FFP to think about and only so much space in the squad.

In January can only see us trying to buy a centre forward, any other signings will probably depend on whether we get injuries or not or if anyone leaves.

Though I agree that Norwich are a selling club (in reality like most clubs are) I don’t think they’d be in a hurry to sell Buendia. Norwich are run cautiously and they didn’t blow their Premier League windfall last season, far from it. So they are financially sound. They sold Godfrey & Lewis for around a combined £40m in the summer, they are getting year 1 parachute payment.  Buendia is worth far more to them in terms of getting them promoted and back into Premier League money again. The only way that changes is if Buendia kicks up a stink about wanting to leave or Norwich are well out of the promotion race, which they won’t be. 

I’d probably now agree that a left sided forward and a CF would be the best use for us at this moment in time. It’s clear to all that an option/competition to Watkins is needed, and with Watkins able to move either left or right of his main position it would bring a lot more flexibility. The left sided forward would allow Grealish to move inside and play the No.10 role if required. 
The problem is finding a left sided forward.

11 hours ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

I don't get why people think that. Brpoks, Buendia are more of what Traore and Grealish already offers.

A new winger needs to be a clinical finisher with lots of pace and directness. That's not Buendia at all.

I agree. We don’t need any more smaller, technical players. We need to start finding bigger, more pacey players. Give me the option between Buendia and Sarr, and it’s Sarr every day of the week. Both good players. But at this moment in time Villa require the break neck speed ability of something like a Sarr. Doesn’t come cheap but that’s what we need. I retain hope that Traore will show us much more of his worth with a bit more time, I think that once he’s gained some confidence by settling in and getting to grips with the physicality then we’ll see a different player to what we’ve seen thus far. 

We are merely an injury or two away from a serious problem. If Grealish and Watkins were to be lost for any significant time then we’re bang in trouble. Ppl saying we’re fine need to have a reality check. Yes our 1st eleven is competitive when fit, but after those 1st teamers we’re light in quality. Swap Grealish and Watkins for ElGhazi and Davis and you soon start panicking about where the creativity is coming from, let alone the goals. So if there’s any chance at all to add players we’d like in January then we must take the opportunity. We cannot be complacent.

Slightly off camber, but a player who was bought for a lot of money and is struggling to settle into the club he’s at would do really well at Villa imo....just the type of style that would suit us......Nicolas Pepe. Seems very undervalued by Arsenal fans, but I think he could be superb for someone like Villa.

1 minute ago, Sulberto21 said:

Watford would want to break even though and that's 35-40 million. I actually think he'd cost 50 million. Decent player but IMO a bit pricey.

I’d like to see us test the water. It’d be down to the player, I would imagine. With Watford sitting 3rd in the championship I’m sure they’d prefer to keep him. But, as ever, money talks. 

I’ve no interest in Origi whatsoever. Only ever been an occasional stand in for Liverpool when they’ve had absolutely no other option. He is neither the present nor the future. 

39 minutes ago, KenjiOgiwara said:

I think a youngish forward with lots of pace that is comfortable wide right is what we need. Whether we can find that within our means is another question.

He’s called Ismaila Sarr and he currently resides in Watford! He has the priceless attribute of being proven in English football and so (theoretically) should hit the ground running in January without the need to adjust. 

Mings enjoys the physical stuff against meat heads such as Wood and Barnes. He meets their physical challenge and sees them off with his ability. It was easy for him last night and he strolled through the game against 4 different Burnley CFs. 

If it is Covid then I think Dean Smith would have said it was. He didn’t.

8 hours ago, Hornso said:

How much of a shit is Ashley Barnes. His role seemed to be:

1. Make contact with Mings

2. Fall down

3. Appeal to the referee

Well he’s not as big of a 5hit as Ben Mee. It beggars belief that Mee finished that game without at least a yellow card, the referee must have been his brother. It grates on me that pundits etc talk about Burnley being a decent, honest set of players. They’re not. And Mee in particular is a danger to other players. Purposely took Grealish out in the 1st half around 30yds out, then puts a foot up at face level in the same sort of area, resulting in a facial injury to Watkins.......who ironically gets a yellow card for returning to the field of play without the officials permission! You couldn’t make this 5hit up.

It’s bad enough playing a team that are shit and thuggish. What makes it worse is when the shit arse referee is actively encouraging the bad tackles with his refusal to show yellow cards. Tarkowski and Mee (again) should both be on yellows, neither are. It’s a **** disgraceful refereeing performance 

9 hours ago, PieFacE said:

Hope we don't approach this game the same way we did the Brighton game. Yes on paper we should we win, but we need to be sensible and not play a ridiculously high line just because we're at home. We should approach it like an away game really and trust that over 90mins we'll score more than they do. By that, I don't mean we should play defensively, just not give them too much space in behind us to counter. 

I do think we'll struggle in this game, Burnley will come looking for a point, sit deep and to try and hit us on the counter. We tend to struggle a little bit against teams that we have to break down. So the last thing we need is to go a goal down early so they can drop back deeper. 

Spot on  Its all in the mindset and we mustn’t get ahead of ourselves and think we should be smashing anyone 

44 minutes ago, tomav84 said:

need to be getting 3pts tonight if we seriously have title aspirations. dropped 6 points recently vs shite teams...time to make a statement

I’m not concerned about making statements, I’d take a scrappy 1-0 win right now. Points on the board are all that  matter 

57 minutes ago, trom_borg said:

Oh I remember when we badly needed a goal scoring forward to help cement our top 4 place back in 09, and then picked up Heskey. Nothing against him but he wasnt the right man at the time, and combined with a few other factors that led us to fall off the cliff that spring and it was a long long way down...

This januray hardly feels that consequential and I don't want us to make any big or impulsive move for the sake of it, but on the other hand it feels like we have a great opportunity to push on a create a great foundation for future success if we can continue our form throughout the season. We might need a couple of good squad supplements for that to happen.

Nail on the head 

This season is very clearly presenting an opportunity, going into January. As things stand there are probably 7 or 8 clubs who are looking at the league table and thinking they’re in the mix for the title, let alone a top 4 place! If Villa can find a couple of wins in the next 4 then we’ll be heading into January as one of the realistic outliers in with a chance of top 4 or 5. Villa have the standout result of the season, beating the league champions 7-2. We have one of the leagues most talented players in Jack Grealish. We might not have looked so attractive in the summer, but that’s changed massively in a few short months. One shot, one opportunity, will you grasp it or just let it slip? As Eminem once said! I’ve calculated that we have owners who are the type of owners who want to grasp opportunities. I don’t see them being in with a chance of European football in January and so they go and get the manager an Emile Heskey from Wigan type signing, and think they’ve done enough! I really think we’re a lot more clever than that now. It’s all down to what happens on the pitch with results between now and January 1st. 

If we play at our best over the next two games then we could bag 6pts. We have to be at our best though, if you’re not then the Premier League will find you out. We could just as easily lose the next few games as win them. We have to maintain a good level, stayed focused, and stay hungry.