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VillaFaninLondon

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  1. VillaFaninLondon
    But we haven't in recent times - last summer we actually spent less than we brought in by about 5m. This summer net spend of approx 25-30m so far. Including Digne in January that's a net spend of around 50m over the last two summers.
  2. VillaFaninLondon
    Pinch of salt indeed, Preece knows absolutely sod all, even Gregg Evans has more insight than him. But like a broken clock that is right twice a day, I fear he will be right on this occasion.
  3. VillaFaninLondon
    You're not breaking it to anyone, that's the reason we're getting annoyed because it is a very real possibility and it gives off the impression that everyone at the club is happy to continue finishing midtable which is where we'll finish if we go into next season with the current squad. I personally feel we are sadly done for a couple of reasons: 1) Gerrard said he wanted his business done before preseason games started; and 2) there have been no decent links to anyone for at least a month. The only thing giving me hope is Gerrard said that this summer window would be really exciting for the club (which would contradict what we have done so far) and the fact that we are usually very quiet about who we want so we may be doing a lot of stuff under the radar. I'd give the window a 6/10 so far. Certainly not been bad at all as we have signed two quality players in positions we needed to improve, but we still haven't solved Luiz and Carney's contract situations, and need at least one more player to go into the first team (a box to box midfielder) especially if Luiz goes but even if he doesn't. If we were to sell Ings for example and bring in a striker better than Watkins that would improve the window even further and the icing on the cake would be another CB but I don't see this happening and think Mings will be given one more season. We have also only sold Trez, Targett and Kalinic so far and we still have El Ghazi, Davis, Hause (who's now bloomin injured so probably won't get sold) and others on the books. So a 6/10 feels about right.
  4. VillaFaninLondon
    Not yet.
  5. VillaFaninLondon
    Sure but come on, Gabby should not be a benchmark for a quality striker. The guy had 2 maybe 3 seasons of promise, but ultimately turned into a very poor player. He's only heralded as some kind of 'legend' because of his goals against the Noses. And Ollie would still need to score around 50 goals in 3 seasons to better his record which I don't see happening. Benteke is more of a benchmark and probably would have scored 20 at least once for us if: a) he wasn't playing in a poor team that was battling relegation every year; and b) didn't have his injuries in his 2nd and 3rd seasons with us. He scored 42 PL goals in 89 games so practically 1 in 2. Watkins is about 1 in 3 in a better team. Yorke's stats are blighted by a couple of things: 1) he started as a right winger for us and only moved to striker in 95/96; and 2) he usually played in a two up front with either Savo or later Collymore. He scored 46 PL goals in 103 games for us playing as a striker which again is practically 1 in 2. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh on Watkins as we haven't exactly had world beating strikers over the years, but there were some who said he could become like a Vardy for us. I just don't see him ever being that reliable at all if I'm honest.
  6. VillaFaninLondon
    I don't disagree, the spending of the top 6 really is off the scale at the moment. Even Spurs throwing money around like there's no tomorrow, God knows where they're getting their money from, Levy is usually extremely tight fisted. I do think the longer we go without getting into Europe the harder it will be though, purely because Newcastle are now a serious threat.
  7. VillaFaninLondon
    Are you a closet Brentford fan?
  8. VillaFaninLondon
    Fair but on the other side of that argument you could argue it's a lot harder to stand out and score/assist regularly in that City side because they have so many good players. Look at Grealish FFS, 3 goals and 3 assists last season playing in a 'much better' team compared to 6 goals and 10 assists for us the season before. Watkins is the focal point of our attack so should be scoring regularly. And while we're obviously not at City's level, we have enough creativity for a decent striker to be converting regularly IMO. Anyway this is a fairly moot argument as I'd much rather we bring in a no 8 to replace McGinn before bringing in another striker, but I think we need to try to upgrade both.
  9. VillaFaninLondon
    I'm not sure he has played up front much but to be fair I'm not against the idea. I still want Bailey to come good and given Gerrard won't play with any recognised wingers that might be the only chance Bailey has of playing every week. Mercurial in my mind suggests a gifted footballer with all the skill in the world but who only turns up when he wants and doesn't put the effort in, someone like Taarabt or more recently Pogba even. Don't think Ollie fits that description, in fact the opposite, I think he always puts the effort in but he's just not that good. I'd just like to know who these strikers you mention are who are a level above. David is widely considered one of the best young strikers in Europe yet is widely scoffed at on this forum, I don't really know why.
  10. VillaFaninLondon
    So you genuinely think Jesus would not be an improvement on Watkins? I'll let you into a little secret, he would be by far. That's why Arsenal went for him rather than Watkins because he's a better player. Scoring stats between Jesus and Watkins are irrelevant because Jesus has played out wide quite a lot for City and has also had far fewer minutes than Ollie has had for us. Let's compare apples with apples, over the last 2 seasons these are their stats: Watkins: 6278 minutes, 25 goals, 7 assists: a goal or assist every 196 minutes Jesus: 3927 minutes, 17 goals, 12 assists: a goal or assist every 135 minutes That's ignoring the general abilities of both players - Jesus is much better technically than Ollie and links up much better with his team mates. The only thing Ollie has over him is his pressing but I wouldn't say there's much in that either. I actually think if Arsenal play Jesus as an out and out striker he will score 15-20 goals a season without fail. Nunez after Haaland was probably the most clinical striker in Europe last season. It's a very low risk Liverpool are taking and I'm pretty sure he'll do very well. Richarlison maybe so and Spurs have probably overspent a bit there, but playing in a better side he should do well and he'll be an amazing player to bring off the bench or for rotation.
  11. VillaFaninLondon
    Bailey isn't a striker and the last thing I'd describe Watkins as is 'mercurial'. I'd love to know who the level above striker is that you're talking about because we ain't going to be getting Mbappe or Vlahovic. It will come with an element of risk, as most transfers do these days, but that's where clever scouting and diligent legwork come in.
  12. VillaFaninLondon
    Arsenal - Jesus City - Haaland Spurs - Richarlison Liverpool - Nunez Someone like Jonathan David could easily turn into a 20-goal a season striker with the right fine-tuning. Would certainly have more confidence in him doing it than Ollie or Ings anyhow especially as he's still very young. Only problem is he will cost 40m+ and it looks like we don't want to take the risk.
  13. VillaFaninLondon
    Yes this is true but you more you invest and the more you pay in wages it’s perfectly reasonable to expect a return on that. It's also a bad sign for the club if we're investing but not actually progressing to where we should. I’d also like to see your sources for those wages, I really can’t believe that we’re the 12th highest in the league, I thought we were around 10th before the start of last season and that was before we signed Ings, Carlos, Digne, Coutinho, Kamara etc who are all on over 100K per week. I’d say our wage spend is easily the top 10 in the league and most likely top 8 now. Teams can spend big money and still be sh*t, just look at Everton, but we don’t want to be like them. We want to be a well-run club that spends its money well and performs at the level it should be performing at (even better if it’s performing above that level).
  14. VillaFaninLondon
    I know we've lowered our expectations massively and we are competing against a lot of teams, but top 10 should be a given with what we have invested in this squad. We should have done it last season with our squad. Wolves have spent less than us yet have managed it three times in four seasons since promotion (albeit with some help from Jorge Mendes and his clients). With the wages we are now paying top 10 should be happening whether we recruit anyone else or not IMO. Of course it doesn't help that Newcastle have come along with all their billions now but we should still be getting ahead of the other teams without our resources like Brentford, Palace, Brighton etc. I think our ambition has to be Europe and top 7 and right now we are very unlikely to achieve that.
  15. VillaFaninLondon
    Tielemans still there. If he leaves Leicester are usually very good in the market and will likely replace him well. They also have no Europe and despite having what was considered a 'poor' season last season they still finished 8th. I actually think Leicester are probably regressing a bit and agree with you on that, but still would have to them finish above us as it stands.
  16. VillaFaninLondon
    If they are of significant quality and an improvement on what we have at CM and ST then yes. I think we'll certainly be on a par with Leicester and West Ham who IMO will be fighting for that final European spot.
  17. VillaFaninLondon
    Two of them are new (Kamara and Carlos). Three were here last season (one from the start and two from January).
  18. VillaFaninLondon
    I don't understand why people get so b*tchy on this forum, it's as if you say something even moderately controversial (which complaining about lack of activity really isn't) then you get called out for it. If next season we are competing for Europe with the current squad and we have a successful season I will hold my hands up and admit I was wrong, but I think deep down everyone knows that will not be the case and we will be midtable again. It's not attacking the club to say they have to do more to bridge that gap. What will really anger me is if Luiz is sold and we don't sign a quality replacement because that will really not be on.
  19. VillaFaninLondon
    That's always the excuse.
  20. VillaFaninLondon
    5 new players? Who? We've signed 2.
  21. VillaFaninLondon
    Not enough for us to make significant strides. Midtable again, we may be lucky to finish 10th. I hope I'm wrong but I don't think I will be.
  22. VillaFaninLondon
    We've spent 45m and brought in c. 20m. Our net spend so far is 25m and we finished 14th. Really not enough at all to improve considerably which is what I thought the plan was next season.
  23. VillaFaninLondon
    It's not buying up all the talent, it's having a squad that can compete in all competitions and with the five subs rule next season, injuries, suspensions etc Hickey would get plenty of games. As usual most equate it to being about the player not happy to come and sit on the bench when in reality I reckon the club just didn't want to spend a significant amount of money on a squad player even though it is what is needed for us to be competitive. Ashley Young was not good in most games he played last season apart from a couple of assists early on when Gerrard came in. I'm more concerned however that they are happy with the first 11 as it is now and we won't see any upgrades to CM or ST which means Watkins and McGinn playing every minute of every game again.
  24. VillaFaninLondon
    I just have the foresight unlike you to realise that limited activity this window and not fixing our issues once again will mean next season will be seen as yet another 'transition' season where we'll be stupidly inconsistent, frustrating and will ultimately end in disappointment once again. The life of a Villa fan I suppose, constant disappointment.
  25. VillaFaninLondon
    But he can cover multiple positions so we'd clearly give him plenty of gametime while he;s maturing. Even so Brentford have Henry who's quite highly rated over there so although he's got more chance of starting at LB for them, it's hardly a given.
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