RichW

I think it’s more because of how quickly they managed to do it whereas we have spent a lot of money in the Premier League and have just got 17th, 11th, 14th and 7th to show for it. They were rock bottom when they got took over and managed to still finish above us 2 seasons ago and get Champions League last season. I think I just get frustrated at Purslow giving his mate Gerrard the job which has probably set us back. Be interesting to see how Newcastle do next season with a different expectations and a Champions League campaign to deal with. They managed to make the most of Liverpool and Chelsea having an off season - I just don’t see them two teams having a bad season.

I agree about Howe but then after that they will be able to attract an elite manager at the time it does happen which will help keep them up there I feel. I don’t want to make comparisons but kinda reminds me of when Man City got rid of Mark Hughes and brought in Mancini who managed to kick start them with a FA Cup and then the Premier League and they’ve not really looked back since. Remains to be seen whether Tonali is a good signing or not but I’d imagine going to have to get used to them signing a player each summer that everybody raves about.

Still a bit frustrating how far ahead Newcastle have got ahead of us in a short space of time. I know they have spent money but so have Villa. Think both clubs sacked Bruce/Smith roughly around the same time and I guess at the time Howe was a risk but at least he had experience of coaching a Premier League team compared to Gerrard. That Gerrard appointment gets more annoying as time goes on. Just shows what can happen when you spend money properly. Think I saw earlier on Twitter that Newcastles first 6 games are all on TV so looks like we are going to have the so called “big 7” rammed down our throats now. Think I read earlier in the thread that the feel good factor there won’t last, I’m sure Eddie Howe will come in for some stick this season as teams will be see them differently but even then they are going to be an attractive project to get an even better manager in.

Crazy to think him and Kienan Davis will be linking up with the squad for pre-season training. Wouldn’t be surprised if the club pay him off to get him off the books so he can get a free transfer somewhere. Regardless of his injury at no point did he look good enough for the Premier League. £22 million fee for him was crazy.

There’s an extra place for the two countries that perform best in Europe the previous season. Originally I thought it was going to be based off the season just finished so that leagues know how many places they will have before the season starts which would have been ideal as Man City/West Ham success would have England top I’m sure but looking around it’s going to be based off next season so realistically going to have to wait till April next year before anybody knows if 5th would be enough. Would be typical Villa to finish 5th but all the English teams get knocked out before the quarters

Dendoncker is a solid squad player for us, comes in and does a job when needed but I guess if it wasn’t for Kamara picking up them 2 long term injuries last season I bet he would have seen very little game time and I’d imagine the club won’t want to stand in his way if they can recoup as much of the money as possible. He could easily be a main starter for a lot of clubs out there so I don’t think he will fancy sitting on the bench for another season despite the increase of games next season. If this does happen fairly soon I guess that could mean Tyler Adam’s might come through the door not long after especially since he can play RB.

By the sounds of it I better go to as many games as I can next season as when this does start with the reduced capacity it’s going to be a free for all for members to get tickets.

Do wonder if he has “peaked” with that Norwich side that he got 2 promotions with. Bit like Dean Smith with Villa and hasn’t done particular great since though people will argue the two teams were pretty much relegated anyways. Good appointment to get them out the Chanpionship, won’t last long if they do get back into the Premier League. From what I’ve seen in his 2 seasons in the Premier League he isn’t good enough and I don’t think he will get the patience from Leeds fans as he did with Norwich.

Moreno and now Ramsey are both going to be doubts for the start of the season. Be interesting to see who plays instead of Ramsey if he is out as the left side was key to our attack last season and now both probably won't make the start of the season.

Mings, Mcginn and Watkins have rarely been injured under Emery. Not sure there's a comparison there unfortunately. Players get injured I get that, but Coutinho is not sometimes injured - his constantly injured. He will probably look good for a few games off the bench under Emery, people will be asking for him to start and then he will get injured for 3 months. Wouldn't be so bad if he was only a low/middle of the range wages but the fact his one of our highest earners and can't stay fit is a problem for us. Villa are not really in a position commercially to have players earning 125k a week not being available.

Can’t see that being a better level then the Championship. From what I read regarding UEFA squad quotas I’d imagine Archer will be staying at Villa till at least January. I’d imagine his pretty much a shoe in for the Conference League and League Cup games which are mostly played by January anyway if Villa go far enough.

What have you seen from Coutinho that makes you think his gonna be very important and very good this season? He plays a few games and then gets injured for 3 months. Too injury prone for us especially for where Villa want to be.

When Pau Torres is announced over the next few days how long before people on here and Twitter complain about there not being any Villa rumours? In all seriousness, I wouldn’t be surprised if we have to wait towards the end of July for more signings. Club will probably be after somebody who’s wanted by other clubs and it will be a deal that just takes ages. I’d imagine the priority will be to shift the likes of Wesley, Davis, Sanson, Chambers, Nakamba, Coutinho? and Traore and get them off the wage bill. Just thinking back to Newcastle last summer, pretty sure they didn’t sign Isak till the season started? Probably be the case here as Villa wait for the right deal.

His got 2 years left on his deal. His a key player for West Ham and teams wanting to buy key players (regular starter for England) from Prem teams these days do not come cheap as clubs are not desperate for money like they are used to. Grealish and Haaland both had release clauses, Rice didn’t. Pretty sure if Grealish didn’t have a release clause they would have tried to get as much money as possible for him like West Ham have. I think Rice is a great signing for Arsenal despite what people think about the fee. Feel like they are doing what Liverpool did when they signed Van Dijk and Allison which just transformed the team. Thought they would struggle to replicate last season but they are doing good things this window so starting to change my mind. I know he was in the last year of his contract but I think Spurs have got a good deal for Maddison. Mad how they can attract these kinda signings without European football.

Regardless of the fee/wages for Sancho - I'd be pretty confident Sancho would have no interest in joining Villa!

Summer 2019 & 2020 were just long summers for me. I just remember as the weeks went by thinking we needed more players and also how we was going to bed them all in although at the same time was excited to finally be back in the Premier League. After stopping up was constantly just waiting for a decent striker (Watkins took ages to sign) and also getting some decent quality players in rather then shopping in the some of the lower leagues abroad. Like you say we have got a good base right now, not heavily reliant on one player and just needs a couple of signings to improve a squad that has shown it is capable of finishing top 7 and also being consistent

This is probably the most relaxed I’ve been with a transfer window in years coming to think of it 2019 - Had to buy a new squad for the Premier League 2020 - Will Grealish stay? Had to sign some quality to the squad after just stopping up 2021 - Summer of waiting for Grealish future to sort itself out. Had to try and replace him somehow 2022 - Finished 14th. Need to sign a DM and try and improve the squad to break into the top half. 2023- Current squad have got us top 7. Finally have a manager we can trust to improve the squad and potentially have a good season. Pretty sure a lot of clubs would be envious of our position right now.

Not gonna lie stopped reading this list when I saw Wan Bissaka 25 million. What makes you think Man Utd would sell Wan Bissaka for 25 million? No chance.

Whilst I wouldn't put it past Emery getting some good form out of him, he is just injured too much these days. We can't rely on players like Coutinho playing a few games and then being injured for 2 months especially with the amount of wages he is on. Would be good for all parties if he is moved on this summer but I only see Saudi Arabia being able to pay his wages unfortunately so I think we are stuck with him.

First half of the season I was writing him off, this would have been bad news back then. Transformation under Emery has been ridiculous, such a key player now. Regardless of form, will always have a soft spot for Mcginn and Mings as they've been on the journey from Championship to where we are now. Tend to forget he was signed by Steve Bruce, seems to be a thing where a manager we want to be rid of leaves us with a good signing. Mcginn (Bruce) and Kamara (Gerrard).

I remember when we signed Moreno I wasn't excited about it, remember thinking oh not another 29 year old left back on the books however you can see how he fits how Emery wants to play. I guess this might be the case with a couple of signings we may see this summer where in time they prove to be very good signings. People were saying Villa "won" the transfer window when we signed Digne, Coutinho and they've not turned out well. When Spurs made all their signings last summer people were saying Spurs "won" the transfer window and they went backwards last season. I just want Villa to be smart in the transfer market this summer - was a bit frustrating when we saw Purslow at the Arsenal game say it was going to be a "big summer" as it just raised expectations needlessly. Going to presume he didn't think at the time he'd be out the door by June.

Villa gonna have to shift a lot of squad players this summer so wouldn’t be surprised if we have to wait towards the end of the transfer window for some signings. Off the top of my head:- Returning from loan Kieran Davis Kourtney Hause Wesley Sanson Nakamba (guess Luton will come in for him) Most likely going to be surplus to requirements Robin Olsen Calum Chambers Traore Feel like it’s going to be a struggle to shift some of these off the wage bill.

Ornstein is in a tier of his own when it comes to football news so his a lot better than isn’t too bad. The only non-Villa football journalist I have notifications on for tweets. He was the first one to report Tielemans being a done deal. Whenever I see links in the foreign media I always wait to see if it’s backed up by a Villa journo because if there is any truth it doesn’t take too long for it to be reported by one of them. Pretty sure I’ve read by Matt Maher and Tom Collomosse that Villa were interested in Nico Williams but looks like this deal just too difficult to do.

Whilst he is probably "working" in the background, Villa said he starts in July when they announced him so in theory he hasn't even come in yet. I wouldn't be surprised if there is no further signings by the time they come back for pre-season especially if they are targeting ambitious players and them deals can take ages. Villa signed Kamara and Carlos early last year and apart from making Olsen permanent and loaning a back-up left back, the club didn't make any more signings for like 2 months and even then it was for 2 squad players and one got sent back in January. People haven't learnt from the January window, Emery is not going to sign players for the sake of it. It is going to be quality over quantity.

This should have stayed in the Summer Transfer thread. I know everybody is desperate for some transfer news but there's no way this thread should be opened based off that source.