Teale's 'tache

7 minutes ago, sidcow said:

Yeah, sorry.

I am sure Jesus Pitarch is probably sunning himself on a beach somewhere a girl in each arm whilst Deano is madly flicking through a filofax which used to belong to Martin O'Neil, desperately calling up managers of other clubs over the world whisky in one hand and fat cigar in the other jotting down transfer figures and wage demands on a fag packet, adding them up on a calculator before faxing over offers because he's NOT a coach and IS IN CHARGE OF EVERYTHING and anyone who suggests different is to be ridiculed.

I hope he doesn't develop a stomach ulcer when Edens and Sawiris refuse to back the deals he has arranged and swan off out of the club wearing a large Fedora hat in his Ford Granada with electric windows and power steering.

Is that straight from Big Sam's autobiography?

8 minutes ago, VillaJ100 said:

I for one am enjoying man u spunk money. May they inevitably run out one day! 

It's all fun and games until they pass on half the cost by charging us £40m for Tuanzebe...

1 hour ago, fightoffyour said:

Smith just puts the bibs out

3 minutes ago, romavillan said:

If he's been really good they let him hold a cone for a bit.

I thought Terry did all of these things? Humbly of course...

My thoughts on our most recent transfer links.

Moreno: Good athlete, Good age, Good price! Headless chicken going forward and a liability at the back, he's not improved under Klopp in the last few years and for the money he'd be asking I just don't think it's worth it.

Sturridge: The man is made of poppadoms. I don't see the point in him taking up a place in the squad when he will play so rarely, no room to develop and little in the way of sell on money even if it went well, another no. Waste of wage budget as well.

Rongier: He looks more promising, right age, room to develop, decent chance of his value increasing. Looks a good player and versatile. My only concern not really knowing the guy is his position. Seems to be better and played more as an attacking central midfielder, which is the area of the first team we don't need to improve(Grealish), but can also be decent box to box, again we are covered there(McGinn), but has played defensive midfield and done okay. I'd like to know which of those positions he prefers. If it's defensive midfield then yes. Otherwise the kind of money they will be asking would be better spent on the positions we need.

Jota: He seems like a good squad option and makes sense considering the price.

Ethridge: Looks a good keeper, not sure this is an area we are most desperate to change right now, but if we were I'd be hoping for someone with better distribution as this is key to the way we play, in that respect I don't see him as much of an upgrade on what we already have. Mixed feelings.

Tavernier: As with goalkeeper I don't think right back is an area we are most desperate to change right now. We have Guibert and an adequate and reliable replacement in Elmo.

Milner: Yes, but never going to happen.

Cahill: He's now too slow and never been good enough on the ball to play the way we want, plus the wages would be obscene, nope.

It think there's a lot of agents out there trying to drum up interest in their players and using our name to do so, I think a lot of the links so far have been because of that rather than genuine interest. Also, papers love to add two and two and get five when it comes to these things, we've been linked with plenty of former players because narrative, lot's of Smiths old players because it's an easy link, and Moreno because we so desperately need a left back and he's free. 

Our team seem to do their business on the down low so we likely won't hear too much until a transfer is close, but we seriously have some work to do!

I remember how it felt like selling Grealish was the only thing we could do and even that wouldn't of got us out of the brown stuff, mainly because it seemed like anyone could of pulled our pants down and got him on the dirt cheap. Levy really messed up there...

2 minutes ago, nick76 said:

I would look at a case by case basis re over 30s on big wages. Generally no but there are gems out there that would make a difference as John Terry did for us last season.

Like with all players that come in, I’m not going to generalise but on a case by case basis assess each of them.  I don’t think age or what league they come from are the deciding factors for me but what they can bring to the team and do they fit how Dean wants to play.

I agree a case by case basis is entirely right. If there's somebody that ticks all of the boxes and would actually be able to play and improve the team (i.e. Milner) then I think we would look at them as a possibility. I just don't think there's many of them out there.

Our policy is now to buy younger hungrier players which have a re-sale value and to then develop them. Over 30's have no re-sale value and are far less likely to develop any further.

So our strategy is clearly going to be looking at younger players going forward.

2 minutes ago, MrBlack said:

Possibly right on Cahill, but feel his combination of having played for us before (and being forced out through no fault of his own) and what he has won at Chelsea means he'd be worth signing on a free. Our history with him may mean we get him for less than others would pay, but if he wants top dollar then i'd agree his current ability isn't enough to match those demands. 

My comment on experience isn't just specifically premier league, although of those you mentioned, Grealish is the only one id hope to see in the starting lineup next season,  maybe Elmo if we prioritise other reinforcements... this,  for me,  is a concern at the moment. 

Fwiw, I do expect Dean and co to be aware of this and to remedy it this window, unlike previous regimes who released players with no plan and no alternative, I think we've got a plan. Just not sure I can think who these experiences hires will be.

I think the thing about the word 'experienced' in a footballing context is that it's often used to mean 'being professional' or 'being a good leader'.

I think we have good leaders on the pitch(Grealish, McGinn, Mings hopefully) , in the squad(Elmo, Chester) and on the bench (Terry). I feel we have good professionals around the squad in Elmo, Taylor, again Terry. As long as the group as a whole has somebody leading them and showing them how to do things right, I think we are fine.

I'd be surprised if we sign anyone over the age of 27/28 from the quotes on transfer policy coming out of the club.

If there is a player with the right attributes to play our system, who is available and above that age then they will be considered I'm sure, but I don't think we'll be going out of our way to find them.

I would hope we won't sign somebody over 30 on big wages just to be a cheerleader, I think that's against what the new strategy is trying to achieve.

20 minutes ago, Junxs said:

Dean Saunders was saying on Talksport this morning that he has turned us down to stay at Chelsea. He went on to say that it's completely the wrong decision, and although Chelsea have a better side at the moment that Villa is arguably the bigger club and he would be playing week in week out.

I haven't seen this reported elsewhere in the few hours since though

Dean Saunders lives in a magical dreamland where what he thinks and actual fact intertwine seamlessly.

In short, he doesn't know anything about this transfer, he's made it up to forward the point he wants to make about Villa being bigger than Chelsea. Which is a controversial opinion and will surely have the Chelsea fans ringing in, this is exactly what TalkSprout pay him to do.

Loved him as a player, loathe him as a pundit. 

7 minutes ago, MrBlack said:

The hash tags give it away... official Premier League status incoming soon. 

As for signings, there are very few 30+ players I would take (that would consider coming to us).  If Milner was an option it would be an absolute no brainer to take him, however, he just played in the champions league final... there is very little chance this will happen.

Cahill would be one worth considering, the experience, and his history with us, means he'd be an asset that we might get. Free transfer too means more funds for elsewhere.

Generally,  I'm happy with us looking to the future with most of our signings, but if we only do that then the team we assemble will not survive the first season. There's simply not enough experience in our team as it stands

Although I agree with a lot of this I think Premier League experience isn't as essential as many think. Bournemouth, Huddersfield, Brighton and Wolves all came up with very little to no Premier League experience and all stayed up. I think it can help, but it's more important to have quality.

It's not like we don't have any already anyway, Elmo, Taylor, Chester and Grealish all have Premier League experience, we just let a load more go that had it too.

Milner I would take because he still has the quality and is in good shape but lets be honest, he's going to be at Liverpool next year.

Cahill is now too slow and has never been good enough on the ball to play the way we want to play, Personally, I think it would be a mistake to sign him.

1 minute ago, sne said:

There's been loads of fantastic players coming out of France, just because out scouting has been abysmal and our integration of players on the same level should not influence us now that we got a totally new set of people running the club and everyday business.

But as for looking towards Germany as well I'm all for it.

I would assume we are looking at all markets, players coming from France just have a better rate of success in the Premier League than from other Leagues and you can also usually pick up those players cheaper than you would Serie A players for example, so we might have a little more of our focus on that market.

I'm sure we have guys in all major Leagues and some minor, all looking for the next Kante...

22 minutes ago, Rob182 said:

I don’t understand this logic.

You’re right that it’s obvious that the teams at the bottom will face more shots, but the amount of ‘goals conceded:shots saved’ would surely reflect whether the keeper was bad/okay/good?

You can’t just say that a keeper of a relegated team making a decent amount of saves is a pointless stat. Those shots would have resulted in goals if he was a worse keeper.

You could look at every keeper in the league and see how many saves he made in 100 shots. Irrespective of the league position of the club, the stat would still give you a half-decent representation of how good a keeper they are. The only difference with the teams at the bottom, is that you’d reach the 100 shot mark much quicker than you would a team at the top.

I agree, you also need to factor in quality of shot/chance. Teams down the bottom with worse defences will allow more presentable chances and under less pressure than those towards the top with better defences.

However, there are so many other variables you could factor in like shot distance, players stronger/weaker foot, etc. It really comes down to the quality of chance/shot saved. 

I think something like XG saved might be a better way to make comparisons... if there is such a thing. Even then I don't think it gives a good overall impression of a goalkeeper, simply their shot stopping ability which as we know is only part of being a good keeper nowadays.

Personally if we are looking for a new number 1 keeper, I'd think we'd be looking for someone with better distribution than Ethridge because that's what Smith wants from his keeper to suit the system. In that regard I don't see him as an upgrade to Steer.

12 minutes ago, Dante_Lockhart said:

Why do we have so much trouble against Swansea?

Looking at this list I'm trying to figure out how we stayed in the Premier League so long.... 

Pakistan, you just have no idea what they are going to do on any given day, How are you supposed to prepare for them?!

3 minutes ago, maqroll said:

Would he get the captaincy...

He'd have to win a drinking contest to the death with Jack first...

I forgot that Leicester are a bit of a bogey team...

1 minute ago, HeyAnty said:

More about the betting industry if you ask me.

Sadly, I wouldn't be surprised if the two aren't mutually exclusive...

2 minutes ago, sne said:

Betting sites linking us with Hart, Sturridge, Carroll, Cahill and Charlie Austin.

I mean wtf  

That's £450k/w for guys who will mostly keep the medical team busy.

I think it says more about their agents than it does about our transfer strategy... 

3 hours ago, rodders0223 said:

Options to buy ultimately mean little, say we loan Tammy and he bangs in 20 goals this season I can presume Chelsea will tell him to reject a deal with us and that he will get a chance for them (6 months later after Tammy sees through it they sell him for £40m)

That would be an incredibly risky move on Chelsea's part, they'd be much happier and it would be much easier for them not having an option to buy at all in that situation.

Clubs only agree to this kind of deal if they want the player off their books, hence it wasn't in Tammy's deal last year, they are still looking at him.

50 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

So who you backing for the 19/20 season?

My early favourites are

Fulham, Cardiff, wba, sheff Wed, boro, Stoke and suprise package will be Preston. 

It's a bit early yet, need to see what business is done first, but I think Stoke could be up there, they have the squad and I quite like Nathan Jones

3 minutes ago, screwdriver said:

Dwight Gayle or bradley dack

They play in completely different positions to be fair, this guy creates, they are finishers.

3 minutes ago, screwdriver said:

This isn't the awe inspiring signing that will send shockwaves through the premier league.

It isn't supposed to be. I don't know if you noticed but we can barely put a team out as it stands, we need squad players as well as first team players, Jota plays in multiple positions and will very much be for cover as much as anything.

2 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

A player is worth what someone is willing to pay.

In what world is anyone going to pay £8m for Jed Steer?

A players value is always seen differently by buying and selling clubs.

In this instance it's our first choice keeper, he's homegrown which adds value, how much would it cost to replace him? Do we want to sell him? Is it worth the upheaval of integrating yet another new face in to the squad in such an important position? Once all of these factors have been taken in to account you have our magic number.

Personally, I think Steer is worth about £6m-£7m. I don't think anyone is likely to offer us that, but that's his value to us right now I think.

Could be something in the medicals needs a second look, maybe we are waiting until we officially become a Premier League team which is sometime next week I think, as above swap deals can be tricky and need a bit of extra negotiating, or their fax machine could be on the blink and they can't afford a new one... 

2 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Yeah milner on 85k a week really fits Purslows business model he was alluding to 

It's a good job agents don't create imaginary links in order to try and get their players a better contract, if that happened how would we be able to believe anything?!

From reading the article @wilko154 posted it seems that a points deduction is off the table, and any reports otherwise are just poorly researched, can't say I'm surprised by that.

However we were further away from complying that I thought if his figures are correct. I would assume our back up plan to find that extra £30m would of been selling one/both of McGinn and Grealish.

The whole selling the stadium thing to me seems like a way of allowing us to spend a little more than we otherwise would be allowed to next season, and I can see how that was the plan had we gained promotion or not. Not sure how I feel about it all to be honest, lets just hope we are sensible going forward, keep ourselves in the Premier League and get ourselves in a financial position where we don't need to be looking for ways to bend the rules.