VillaJay

4 minutes ago, VillaFaninLondon said:

Basically only a backup GK (Olsen) and a backup LB (Augustinsson) that has come in since we signed two players less than a week after last season ended. Said that we were probably done once we signed a backup LB all along and I think that is going to be the case. Kind of a bittersweet feeling about it all. 

 

Don't want to be over-dramatic because Carlos and Kamara should (in theory) be two top signings given the level they have played at, but it just again feels like we are one or two quality players short of where we want to be (European challengers) and 9th or 10th is probably the best case scenario for next season unless every player plays to their full potential which is rarely the case with Villa. 

 

I can understand us needing to sell players before bringing anyone else in as we have quite a big squad, but it is still a frustrating situation to be in. We're clearly strugging to sell players with El Ghazi, Sanson, Davis, Hause and Guilbert still on the books and none of them (with the possible exception of Sanson) will get many minutes next season. Luiz signing a new contract would be good news but still heard nothing on that front and Carney will almost certainly be on his way so hopefully we get a good fee for him.

Gerrard only this week said he wants another midfielder to come in and challenge what we've got.

Signing top players doesn't happen in order, there's a long window left and most clubs have struggled to get deals over the line.

We will sign or are at the very least trying to sign at least 1 more top player. We may just need to wait until that opportunity arises.

6 minutes ago, duke313 said:

It's fine margins, we finished 7 points off 8th last season, that's 2 wins and a draw, another CM and striker and we'd be right up there. 

And looking back at last season for the most part the games we won, we did so relatively comfortably and deserved those wins, there were a number of games we drew or lost that we should have got more from.

Our new additions should hopefully improve on those draws and losses

The way I see it, we are looking to sign proven cl level players or players at that level already who can improve our first team. 

Digne, Coutinho, Kamara, Diego Carlos are all at that level and we've added 4 players to our squad that weren't there at the start of last season that have the potential to significantly improve our starting team on last season.

There's no point signing high potential players for 15-25m when we have some of the highest rated youngsters in English football available, they should be filling the bench or act as squad options to enable a pathway into the team.

A Ramsay, Chuk, Tim and KKH are 4 high potential players that should be added to the existing squad alongside Archer.

20 minutes ago, PaulMcGrath_5 said:

I think you and messi11 would make really good friends.

I'm convinced they are definitely the same poster, the same posting style, spelling pattern and generally useless posts give it away.

56 minutes ago, WallisFrizz said:

We’re not done but we’ve made 2 additions to our last registered squad not 4.

Making desirable loan players permanent is good business but it’s not strengthening us from where we were last season so people aren’t wrong or ungrateful for wanting more from this window. Plenty of time though.

There is no chance we are done, We'll see at least 1 more big signing in midfield and a versatile full back, if other opportunities come up I'm sure that the club will look to take advantage tok like with Digne.

2 more minimum, maybe 3/4 depending on sales/loans too.

10 hours ago, IrishVilla10 said:

 Lengthy analysis here on who would be suited to our CM role, Sangare and koné (mentioned here a few times) seem best suited to what we need 

Well thought out options, Dahoud looks the pick of a good selection, athletic, tenacious and brilliant dribbling and technical ability. With 1 year on his deal looks he looks primed for a move and good age too at 26.

His distribution was a bit rushed at times, but he also played a big part in both our goals scored too with his distribution.

22 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Does it ever get tiresome trying so hard to be negative in positive times?

 

I'm also interested to see who @Zatman thinks we should realistically sign? We have signed Digne who is arguably one of the best lb's in the league, Coutinho for 17m who is our best player and Chambers on a free who has played well, when asked to deputise.

Kamara is one of the most sought after midfielders the last season it so and just broke into one of the top international sides.

his track record of signings so far looks optimstic and whilst performances haven't been fantastic so far, we've backed him, so he deserves a chance to build a team. Our current side is overrated by many and we need improved quality.

Just now, duke313 said:

Yes, they are in their late 20s/early 30s now, but they weren't when they signed.  Henderson was 20 when he joined Liverpool.

But they're performing at their peak at these ages and we can't sign players with the potential to improve, the club will demand success quickly and the easiest way to do that is to buy proven quality.

Would be a good signing and improves our starting 11, we would have to spend 30m+ and wages on top for similar quality.

Tarkowski has proven himself in the pl, albeit in a defensive anti-football side but he can play and adds know-how and steel to the team.

We can't have a team of 22 year olds with potential re-sale. Look at the age of most of Liverpool's core team

Henderson, Matip, Van Dijk, Mane, Thiago, firminho are all 30+ 

Salah, Robertson, Firminho are all 28/29 too.

We need balance and experience, Mings has been excellent for us, however he's still relatively inexperienced despite his age. Our core still consists of the same players that struggled in our first season back in the pl and hasn't improved enough to take us to the next level.

Coutinho, Digne, hopefully Kamara and 2/3 other proven quality players move us on levels.

Not every signing needs to be a potential superstar.

Our motm, played very well.

Did ok, he's what football is about, pure unpredictability but a brilliant footballer when he's on it. Great to watch when he's not driving you crazy.

Just a mental player.

Looked good with buendia, Coutinho and Bertie on the pitch. Keeper stopped at least 2 goals

David is similar to Watkins, however Watkins has proven he can get double figures in this league and I'm not convinced David is a better player than Ollie either. If we sign a new forward, we need someone with a different skillset, a forward player who can hold the ball, with a good touch and score goals (Kienan Davis can do 2 of them well!) Hard to find a player like that but David doesn't look like a natural footballer to me.

Played 37 and scored 14 last season and his overall game was good.

Has scored 10 in 31 or 29 games worth of mins this season, another couple of goals and it will have been a decent finish to the season for Ollie, despite a slow start.

As a comparison Ivan Toney is the same age, has scored 12 this season and 5 of those have been pens.

Very clever player who has to play when buendia plays. Buendia is brave, he tries forward passes and through balls that Ings movement thrives on.

The goal he scored yesterday was the simple type of goals that we don't usually seem to score before this season.

Could be great, will probably be decent, might be good, he's not good enough to start in this side right now so not sure how good he could be, but if we get a good fee and sell on, our academy is doing its job.

Very good player, and very much the same player he was at Liverpool, he always was a top player who hit purple patches, but drifted in and out of games. Liverpool did brilliantly on the deal to sell him, however Suarez was always a better player.

I'd buy him for 33m if the wages are 150ish, he's a good player but needs much better around him to get the most out of him. I wouldn't be disappointed either if we didn't buy him.

I can understand the concerns around Gerrard, our performances have been been inconsistent and fairly dull, bar the Leeds and Southampton games. However, this team has proven it's a mid-table side time and time again, as much as I like the current villa team, they're a likeable bunch, but they're not good enough to challenge the top 6/7 as it stands, and Gerrard I believe sees this, he's used to being in the mix at the top and whether he's good enough to get us there, I don't know, but in order to progress we need to spend and spend on proven quality, otherwise what's the point finishing midtable pl.

The best season outside of the 95/96 season I've enjoyed was the season we were promoted from the champ, we achieved something huge, bouncing around midtable is dull and I hope and expect our owners and manager have bigger ambitions than that.

19 minutes ago, Tayls said:

…..we can easily still drop, can’t we? 

He's a good player, works hard and if we created 5 chances a game for him he'd score 20+ goals in a man city team.

Bet we're not that team and his first touch and hold up play are poor, his work rate is top class, he will probably/hopefully hit double figures this season (10).

A good player, but if we want to finish higher than 11th, we need better starting, and the same goes for about 5/6 others.

2 hours ago, Delphinho123 said:

My biggest fear with Gerrard and his backroom staff is we give them a lot of money to shape the squad and the team and bring in expensive players on big money to play the current formation. Let’s say it goes wrong, we’re then left with a really unbalanced side for the next manager - and we start again!

Current performances don’t bother me all that much tbh. I don’t think we’re any worse than we were under Smith, I think we’ve all just come to the realisation that players like McGinn, Konsa and Watkins really aren’t that good and we want to aim that frustration at somebody. 

Honestly, we’re really just not that good and we wasted a lot of money last Summer. That’s the crux of it. We could have brought in 10 different managers other than Gerrard and we may or may not have accumulated more points but ultimately, our players still wouldn’t be good enough to get us where we want to go. We’re actually kind of similar to United at the moment in many respects. 

I’m happy to give Gerrard the Summer and time to improve. Like I say, the formation he plays is my biggest concern but who knows, maybe a couple of new midfielders will make it more functional.

Great post and there's parallels to Everton a few seasons ago, they brought in ancellotti a proven winner and still look where they are now. A proven name is no guarantee.

I'm pretty neutral to any villa manager the last 20 years, but Gerrard deserves a chance to build his own team.

Our core players are overrated, and are proving so now. I believe Gerrard will shake things up in the summer and overhaul the first 11, the likes of Matt "Roberto Carlos" Target will be sold and rightly so, we have a mid table team and if the board and manager are serious about progressing we'll be ruthless in the summer and move on most of our starting team.

We will finish somewhere mid to lower midtable and thats the reality of the quality of this team. 

You shouldn't be surprised, if thats how we perform and finish. Our owners, CEO, and manager are proven winners in their respective careers so far and will want and expect better.

If Gerrard fails, so what, we're not going anywhere with this current team anyway. But he'll try raise standards and expectations.

3 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

How much did brentford pay for toney?

Ollie is better than Toney, Ollie had a good season last year and scored 14, he's on 8 in the league this season and I believe he'll get close to that again.

The days of the 20 goal a season striker are rare and other than Kane, not many hit those type of numbers, most are mild inflated by pens, including Toney.

Can we improve on him, of course, but I'm not sure who, that is realistic. He's barely had any service all season, yes he misses chances, but what striker doesn't.

If we're in for him, we have as much chance of signing him as anyone outside of the traditional too 4, and Leeds would snap out hands off for 60m!

A ver good player who would improve us, but at 60m! What's the point of our scouting setup! I understood Coutinho and Digne, those deals made sense, but for 60m I'd expect one of the best players in serie A or la Liga who would improve us.

is he better than what we have in midfield? Yes I believe so, but not at that cost in which we could improve numerous areas of our first 11