Teale's 'tache

Dean Smith is an experienced manager, I'm sure he has numerous plans and formations up his sleeve, he seems the type, he's very thorough. At the moment he doesn't even know what tools he will have to work with, we need to get the players in before he can even nail down a plan A. I think the poor spell last season was obviously down to the absence of Jack but also the player were still learning his system and style of play, it takes a while, and that is a concern for the start of the season with so many incoming, but he persisted because he had faith that the system would suit the players and it worked. After that when we went on the run there was simply no need to change the way we were playing, and the stakes so high there was no real opportunity to try something different even if we wanted to, others changed their game plan for the play offs and it cost them, we stuck to what got us there and it worked. The work done in January and so far in this window suggests Smith like to have players that can play in multiple positions, it gives him more scope to change things. He will need to be more flexible tactically in the Premier League, but I've seen nothing to suggest that he can't be flexible, just that he knows when he's on to a good thing and not to change it too soon.

A bit more than I'd previously read too, but like you say still totally worth it. Sign him up!

Agree with this, the swearing is so rarely needed, it's a lazy way of trying to emphasise a point and just comes across as crass

The beard lives on!

I like him, I think he has a great temperament and attitude, he's not the most technically gifted but he's willing to learn and brave as they come, for the money being reported I think it's no risk to get him in and see what we can do with him long term.

Pretty sure I didn't call him a clogger. I've just always believed his strengths were in recovery, in the air and reading the game, and not in distribution or moving the ball quickly. He's clearly a good footballer, I just don't feel he has the attributes we need for the system we want to play. 33 year olds are pretty much always slower than they were at 28, I think you'd agree that Adomah was quicker at 28 than he was at 31 last season... players lose speed with age, it's a well known fact. The last few times I saw him play he looked really slow, you can get away with it in the championship as Terry did, not so much in the Premier League unless you are going to sit back and that is not our style. He's won a lot of things, and fair play to him, I never wanted him to leave the Villa when he did. He's been a great player, but it doesn't mean he still is now, there's a reason Chelsea stopped playing him. You are entitled to your opinion, and I wouldn't be distraught if we signed him, I just feel we should go in a different direction and look at a more modern center half.

I'd love that to happen, think he's a great left back, but I don't think Spuds would be willing to sell as he made 40 appearances last season.

Is that straight from Big Sam's autobiography?

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

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...

We need a center back... Praise him!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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?!

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...

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

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