RicRic

47 minutes ago, SeanVilla said:

Watkins was a clear number one target from the start, Wilson we were never in for him, Rashica we only know about because of Stacey and the Kosovan journalist who personally knows him, had nothing from British press. Martinez we only knew about weeks ago because of S-Platt, the concrete story only came out a few days ago, hence the thread only started a few days ago. 

I'd say we've done pretty well at keeping things quiet  

And Matty Cash i guess he just landed at bodymoor heath off the radar too

3 hours ago, CarryOnVilla said:

Douglas Luiz drives a black Lambo

Luiz drives a benz always see him by mailbox 

4 minutes ago, Okonokos said:

No, I don't know it and I will give the plaudits to Smith. He's not perfect but he's also not a stuck in his ways dinosaur like Bruce or O'Neill. He admits when he makes mistakes and he clearly is always looking for ways to improve as a coach. It is blindingly obvious to anyone who saw our games post lockdown that Smith had been hard at work during lockdown. He knew the situation we were in and he obviously worked day and night to get it right and low and behold, he did it. There was no luck involved. So, yeah I will give him the plaudits and don't tell me not to. This is the man who has taken us from mid table in the Championship to surviving his first season as a top flight manager, whilst having his top keeper and striker out for half of the season, his second best player out or playing through injury for half the season and not to forget his heartbreaking personal issues.

Back to your original point. This window has been disappointing, SO FAR. It's not even close to being over yet. We're about to sign the Championship's top scorer, a player who will fit into our system perfectly. Who knows who else we will sign before the window closes? In any case, I'm not sure what that has to do with Smith any way. As for Purslow, I'm so glad we have him running our club. He's a very smart guy and has a ruthless streak about him too. The kind of guy you want on your side.

He only fits in our system if we have decent wingers to supply him in the box 

1 minute ago, villan501 said:

Very, just cannot believe what were linked with imo its not moving forward i love the villa but this is frustrating me after last seasons rollercoaster.

Nobody should be disagreeing with you imo... there doesn’t seem to be any eagerness to get the right players especially with the links ... so we could be in for another rollercoaster if we dont play our cards right.. i haven’t given up but such is life

6 minutes ago, Okonokos said:

He had his good points but many bad too. These owners are definitely better. The league win was before my time so I'd actually say this is the best the club has been run in my lifetime (30 years).

Academy and so called vision for the future yes it looks to be executed well .. as it stands with the transfer window not so well run . We have been scrappy and seemingly not as prepared as we would have liked .. there are 4 or 5 men out there trying to get it right and unlike last season our signings we seem to know about before it happens whereas last season there were no indications . Now everyone can have at go at me but im trying to be ambitious i just want to see us try for certain players for example a  champions league winner in Origi is actually available if we put in a bid and may come to us hes scored goals in huge games for them and can actually play football unlike many that turn up at VP.. look abroad but not in the same vein as we did last year and see what we can find. 

1 minute ago, Paulie said:

Its already been disclosed that we have ~100m budget for transfers, so if you are operating under those constraints then there is no difference between a 22m and 28m signing to our financial bottom line, right?

It is when you are not done buying players in the transfer window .. it is still open and we need players ... if our ambition is to keep saying it will be a great window if we get Cash, Watkins and buendia (like i keep seeing on here) then blimey we are really destined for trouble and need to understand we need a lot more just to push further up but im still keeping the faith(the little bit i have left) for us to do something more before it ends

12 minutes ago, jjaacckk91 said:

Agree with pretty much everything you've said.

I can't help but think at 33m you're not far away from being in that top top player transfer bracket, but maybe I'm just getting older and money in football is just moving even faster than I can comprehend.

Not at all your not getting old and that is close to the top player bracket Bruno Fernandes was not that far off its an insane amount of money and its a concern because it reduces our spending capacity in other areas thats why im more annoyed.

5 minutes ago, Steero113 said:

No, if he scores 15 in the league next season he will be better than Abraham in my view because he will have done it for us instead of Chelsea.

Also consider tammy will have played less amount of games as watkins likely will so we will keep it at 15!

14 minutes ago, Steero113 said:

Did you understand what he just said? Re-read it... 

Apologies... yes he would be around the same amount and i would have questions regarding that too but id feel more comfortable had it been Benrahma 

6 minutes ago, Sam-AVFC said:

My point is your criticisms in that post seem to be he has never played in the PL, same as Benrahma and they absolutely rinsed us on the deal, which presumably they'd do even more with Benrahma.

I really like Benrahma as a player but I feel more confident in Watkins being a more solid signing for us simply because of the work rate. I'd also move Grealish back into the middle which I don't think would necessarily be a solid enough base for a Benrahma type.

Our opinions differ ...it will be harder to get the kind of goals he was scoring all day long last season in the championship but i still feel benrahma will still be able to rip up the flanks and deliver he will face a tough time every now and then but i have faith in him to do so. Watkins movement and positioning is great and im not saying hes not a good player but for that price and not played at this level is outrageous! However he is better than wesley imo if that makes you feel like im targeting the kid a bit too much. Scoring in this league is much harder and the money shouldn’t be splashed in that manner thats the point im making 

21 minutes ago, Okonokos said:

Not sure that he is to be honest.

Well if watkins scores 15 in the league next season for us then ill agree with you  

4 minutes ago, Sam-AVFC said:

Weren't you the one saying you'd lose it if we didn't buy "never played in the Premier league 'Benrahma'" the other day? They'd probably ask even more for him. 

Definitely not me mate.. ive rated Benrahma since day one..he would be a great signing very similar to Mahrez

2 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

I'm buzzing for Watkins up top. Fit, strong, athletic, works hard and has the knack of being in the right place when the ball lands in the box. Great signing, even at 28m. 

Newcastle went and got Wilson and Fraser. 
We should now go and get Benrahma to play with Watkins.
I know which pair I'd prefer. 

Buendia, King and Benrahma and I'd be happy with our attacking options for this season. 

Very optimistic you

23 minutes ago, juanpablosaliceband said:

If Hourihane is in our starting 11 at the start of the season or by the time the window closes, we’ll have had a poor window. I like Hourihane and think he’s a good squad player, especially for home games against weaker opposition when we need a goal. But going into our second season in the PL, we should have higher quality in the first 11. 

Not just him im concerned about and i agree with you about hourihane.. that line up doesnt scream we are moving forward it just looks like we are standing still to be honest.. We need a winger and another forward player but its just going to be a player im totally against signing that they bring in as usual so nothing to look forward to

19 minutes ago, JPAngel said:

Are you okay?

Yeah mate couldn’t be better

6 minutes ago, Okonokos said:

Abraham scored 26 goals for us in the Championship (quite a few penalties included).

Watkins scored 26 last season with no penalties. From what I've seen, he's a better all round player too.

Would you pay £28m for Abraham?

No i would pay more for Abraham and Abraham is much better than Watkins lets get that out the way from the start. 

1 hour ago, Aston_Villan4 said:

Its not so much where hes coming from but its the type of goals scored .. no variety just benrahma putting the ball on a plate in the box and im not knocking the kid honestly but this whole thing is insane of course the price tag is the reason why im outraged. Can he find the top corner outside the area and perform magic well i didnt see it at brentford so at the moment no he cant. We need a premier league signing JUST GO AND GET ORIGI !!!

We are looking increasingly desperate.. they want £20M for Josh King i am praying we do not pay that amount .. we may aswell get Divock Origi if we are going to pay £20M and just bloody get Benrahma if hes price tag is £25M what are we waiting for .. we seem to be running out of options now we need to just go get these guys as we are running out of time and please do not pay that amount for  Harry Wilson either hes not worth it. Its pretty clear we are now going through our list of 3rd choice signings which scares the life out of me and now every link is frightening me by the day.

I said before DS is not the right guy to attract a certain calibre of players and our current position doesn't help .. i like DS before you jump on my back but this is football and thats partially the truth. 

THE BELOW POSITIONS ARE MANDATORY 

CRITICAL 

LW - 

RW

CF 

GK 

2 minutes ago, VillaFaninLondon said:

Yeah no one really knows how Watkins will take to the Prem if we sign him. We have to remember that such amazing strikers like Rudy Gestede and Ross McCormack once scored 20 goals at that level. I don't think Watkins looks anything like those types of player but it's whether he can make that step up. Dwight Gayle for example has a really good attitude, he's one of those players that is lethal in the Championship but completely ineffective in the PL. Watkins could be the same. 

 

Then you've got players like Batshuayi whose career has gone downhill but was once one of the most promising strikers in Europe. I personally think he could be revived if he gets game time and confidence and if we don't go for him he'll end up doing that somewhere else. But our opinions are all different. 

Yeah watkins gives me that dwight gayle feel .. i see him in that bracket a 10 goal striker in the top flight.. having said that if he came to us and scored 12 I wouldn’t complain. 

10 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

So our recruitment team have set their sights on the two strikers of the relegated team. And we're meant to be confident they've got it all under control?

This made me chuckle and its so bloody true .. its starting to get embarrassing im not sure on everyone elses views but you summed it up. IF this is true its becoming at circus at VP 

53 minutes ago, TRO said:

I am clear the owners will know the consequences of not spending on crucial signings this summer.

I am equally clear signings are tough for every club, not just us.

what I am not clear about is the time it is taking to get over the line what appears to be our first choice targets......are we the only club that other clubs try to fleece?.....how long has it taken Newcastle to sign Wilson?

Where is our Intel to switch targets if we can't agree fees.

We may well be in full control and there is nothing to worry about.....but that theory is based on what? exactly.

Yeah it was done pretty quickly .. we are playing bat and ball... but isnt Lange there to work day and night and draw up the best players from the market that we could go in for.. Why bring him in if we are hanging onto to dear life to sign a player like Wilson Shouldn’t he have players off the radar that would be more viable... i could be wrong but I thought thats what he was brought in for.. we need at least 3 players before our next match so thats 2 signings by at least next week .. because i dont have much confidence in us starting the first match with only one change to our squad from last season.

But as it stands we have a £20-25 Million valued player in our academy right now Jaden Philogene-Bidace

5 hours ago, VillaFaninLondon said:

I don't know if all these links are just rubbish but this is getting increasingly tiresome now. 

 

FWIW, again I don't think Brewster is the answer. Much rather if we can't get Tammy or Edouard (who are the best strikers that have been linked, accurately or not, with AVFC) take a punt on a young hotshot striker in Europe (maybe go for Leao again) or go for someone like Batshuayi. Brewster is completely unproven and we'd be naive to spend £20m on him. 

 

With time running out I actually don't know why we don't just start loaning a few players now to take us to that next level. Might attract a few names too as they have nothing to lose if they're only coming on loan. Chelsea have a bucket list of players they're looking to move on, Loftus Cheek, Batshuayi and Christensen would do nicely. 

I value your opinion highly however i only disagree with batshuayi as i wouldn’t want him as our main forward he’s inconsistency would be a problem .. im worried, concerned and disappointed as we need to bring in FIVE new signings minimum and we only have ONE and its not in a position which is a priority such as striker and winger. I just dont know why we have limited ourselves to links in the UK .. other than Rashica there really hasnt been any players we have been closely linked with.

I feel Watkins will be signed by Thursday if he isnt well i wont be that disappointed because quite frankly i dont know what im gonna get with him in the Premier League however i would like to see him given the chance and im not writing him off .. just that i didnt see any long range strikes and a couple turns out the box and a few curl strikes hit the back of the net .. i didnt see many varieties just seen benrahma put it in the box and him getting on the end of it

1 hour ago, VillaFaninLondon said:

Veltman is a more experienced campaigner than Engels and if you swapped them we'd be a better side. He's a bit like Vlaar in my opinion (but better on the ball and less injury prone) in being an under the radar but very effective signing. I think he'll play regularly at Brighton alongside Dunk and improve them. 

 

The Benrahma thing still confuses me. It seems like we've been interested in him for 2 summers, but won't make a move for him. I personally think if we're buying from Brentford go with Benrahma over Watkins then try to bring in a really proven goalscorer. I fear we'll put all our eggs in one basket with Watkins and he'll struggle with the pressure just like Wesley did.

 

Ultimately though I just want a couple of big signings that give me confidence we won't be in a long hard fight next season. Looking doubtful in every passing day and week that that is going to happen. 

I wish you was in control of our club id be able to sleep better at night.. i have little faith and this new week will be the last chance for to prove me wrong. Yeah im not against Watkins but we are rating him higher than he probably is many of us are obsessed with signing him. Im not even too comfortable with Edouard but i feel he may be the one to go for out the two but why limit ourselves to just those two.. aren’t there any firing strikers in Europe bundesliga or serie A etc. We need a winger on at least one of the flanks too that is a top priority also

9 hours ago, MaVilla said:

would also say LB and GK just below those you mentioned for importance, but as you say, critical we get CM, AMR, ST, then for me a LB to challenge Targett, and a GK to protect against Heaton being injured again would be nice to have's if possible.

Plus a LW and move Grealish central then we can aim for 10th-13th if the quality brought in is respectable