jackbauer24

This is a lot more than five words or phrases. Sorry, hadn't realised the rules! I'll try again; Bare minimum Pathetic A big con Wage reducing Enough to distract the masses from the truth

For me it's irrelevant, all budget should be directed at a striker not a defender. We've choices, even if not great, in defence. Last year we had Gabby, Benteke, Weimann and Bent, now we have Gabby, Gestede, Ayew and Kozak. As it stands, I think last years strike force was better. Gabby is worse, however good Gestede may prove to be he is still a long way off Benteke. Weimann and Ayew feel similar. Bent and Kozak have both been left out! Happily for Lerner the wage bill is lower with new strike force though...

I'm going to offend a lot of people here but if you're happy with our transfer window (imagining it closed today) then I believe you are an easily distracted, deluded individual who has been beaten down so much over the years that you accept what is currently a pathetic window filled with hope and prospects rather than more guaranteed quality. At best this window has been one massive gamble. We have more evenly distributed quality across the squad but consequentially now have no standout players. We have replaced dozens of players either through choice or because we had to but have spent less than £1m despite this massive turnover. We've also managed to slash the wage bill again no doubt. I'm fuming few others see this. Buying lots of players does not mean it's been a good window. Our defence is marginally improved, our midfield is unchanged, arguably a little worse at moment but with potential to be a little better and our strike force looks useless. At best we have stood still, unfortunately most other teams have attempted to improve - we've just tried to put out the fires caused by such significant departures. I don't even want much - one proven striker and I'll accept it's been an ok, even interesting window, with potential. If we spent another £20m then I'd call it the best window ever! But replace three star players and a handful of other players with a bunch of slightly more expensive gambles than usual then it's not a good window. How are fans happy that we've spent £0.5m of our 'own' money when we finished 17th, lost our best players and slashed the wage bill again?! Football Manager has a lot to answer for!

I don't want to write off our attacking options so soon BUT we have to acknowledge that they are, at best, a gamble. Gestede has never played at this level and, so far, has little to his game other than aerial ability. He may well develop but do we have time to wait when the other option is Ayew. Ayew has yet to prove he is a proficient scorer at a high level. He is in a new country in a new league. Again he may develop but now we have two 'maybes'. Then there is Gabby. Enough said on that topic. And Kozak, who doesn't even make the squad. We have a lot of gambles, we need a more reliable striker. Whilst nothing is ever certain, we need to put our money on more sure a bet. Adebayor would be a safer option than what we have, despite obvious issues. Berahino would cost too much. Austin fits the bill perfectly. Without a more assured striker we are not going to score the goals to survive this season. Please spend more than half a million this transfer window Lerner!

Guzan is the 'safe' scapegoat because he's not a new signing. Giving him any significant blame for Palace's winner is laughable. Evidently neither Sherwood or any of the media have even mentioned any culpability on Guzan yet the experts on VT seem to be able to blame him for everything. Actually I believe we're not being harsh enough. He was at fault for not making Clark stronger for the first goal. He was also at fault for Gabby's miss when through on goal because he stood a little too far to the left and the light refracted off his head and caught Gabby's eye. He was also to blame for Gestede being able to do very little with his headers and flickons, he should have been kicking the ball at a 47° angle and not a 45° angle like a championship goalkeeper. I also have it on good authority that he changed Sherwood's decision to replace Gabby with Sinclair because he didn't like the fact Sanchez was playing so well after stealing his banana on the coach... He was however incredibly lucky to save the shots he did and he didn't even realise he was catching crosses and corners as he was just waving to his girlfriend in the crowd... Guzan had a fine game today, some good parts, some weaker ones. To attach blame to him for the winning goal is the most desperate search for a scapegoat I've seen in... well probably a week on these boards! Amavi made the mistake today. I'm not going to slate him either, mistakes happen. Guzan f*cked up against City last season. When they make mistakes you can highlight them, but don't make up ridiculous scenarios that assign blame that doesn't belong. Otherwise we might as well blame Traore for the goal has he got dispossessed 36 moves before hand and that changed everything after it...

It really infuriates me that Lerner is getting a little bit of a free pass this year because we've been so active in the transfer window, despite actually investing very very little. It isn't good enough for a club of our size, no sorry, scratch that, it isn't good enough for the size of club we used to be. Once again we will have spent less than at least 80% of the rest of the division despite needing it more than all of them. We were the worst team to survive, we lost three or four of our best players from that rubbish side, we have struggled to score goals all preseason and in our first three games and yet still no investment. I simply hate Lerner now. It annoys me that I get so annoyed by it, I should be used to it by now! But what bothers me even more is those that can't see this lack of investment - it's all well and good being optimistic about the signings we have made but to praise him for doing the absolute bare minimum is shocking. If we can't even expect to spend £10m after sales now, how small time a club are we? Season after season I'm told it's because we spent so frivolously under MON - that was ages ago now! Even the last of the big earners have left this summer too. Where the f*ck is the money?! According to transfermarkt, we have spent £140k! To put it in to further perspective, WBA have spent £24m, Leicester £22m, Bournemouth £17m, Watford £20m, Sunderland £17m and Newcastle £45m all after their player sales too. This is the same Sunderland and Newcastle who have been (and in Sunderland's case are being) slated for under investment. Only four teams have currently spent less, Spurs will resolve that before the window closes for sure and the others are the miraculous Saints and then Stoke and Everton who hardly have relegation concerns being solid midtable teams. The more I think about it the more I get annoyed! How do some of you stay so calm?! Is it resignation? Is it eternal optimism? The pound signs should be back out for Lerner. He is a disgrace of a 'custodian'.

Three games in and I assume the optimism has withered a little?! Yes lots of signings, but lots of quality to replace. And are we any better a side? Fair enough, it's too early to call but early indications are we have a more balanced side with no obvious weak players but also far less stand out players. We spent a lot because we had to but, again early, it looks like another season of struggle without a star to keep us up. Where are the goals coming from? As it stands we have spent maybe £1m more than we've made and that simply isn't good enough if we are to progress. If Lerner can't even sanction one quality signing from a budget other than sales then we are going to be in for a long hard season. And we all know it's the lack of a striker that will harm us. Once again we are going to be one of the lowest net spenders in the league (currently 16th) and for a team that finished 17th and lost three or four of its best players it's not good enough. If this is it, I actually think despite being an interesting window it is actually a bad one. There's no disputing it's been interesting and very active but that doesn't mean it's been a good window either.

I'm a Net Spend Police Officer! I really think it shows whether you are treading water, sinking or moving forward. Top teams can afford to have small net spends (but often don't) midtable teams can flip either way due to anomalies such as selling one good player (Southampton) and relegation battlers need significant spend to survive. Yes we made a lot of money this summer but that just means we lost a lot of quality. We are currently 16th of all teams based on net spend this window. I can see us being even lower come the close of the window. We have spent less than Bournemouth, Norwich and Watford who have been promoted. We have spent less than Sunderland, Leicester and West Brom who we battled for survival. Without spending money we are in big trouble, all we've done is turn our crap team with superstars into an average team with no standouts. When WBA are consistently outspending us, I hate to say it, but maybe we need to reevaluate our place in football. Who really thinks relegation isn't a case of when rather than if?

I think we only NEED one more quality signing. We will be fine if we spend every penny we have on a consistent goal scorer. Might be nice to have more depth in defence etc but the only thing we need is a striker, without one we're in big big trouble.

We have zero goal threat so every game this season will be a struggle. Ok, Amavi makes a mistake but it happens, can't say we weren't lucky to get the equaliser. Don't get the Guzan blame at all. He played it to a Villa player who had time to take a bad touch. He was trying to start a quick counter attack for the win. What would be the point of smashing it down field to an ineffectual Gabby and Gestede? No blame for Guzan on that one, think some people just like to target him these days. In the off season all we have done is spread any quality we had more evenly around the team, losing great players but upgrading poor ones. So now we are team of average players instead of a rubbish one with a few stars. However, it just means we will are still going to struggle this season and every season until we bring up the squad as a whole - and that's never going to happen when you can only spend money made from player sales. It is clear to everyone we need a striker. Even Sherwood. So he's tried bargain hunting in Gestede and Ayew and tried praying that Gabby steps up finally. Both are, at best, gambles. A loan attempt for Adebayor shows Sherwood realises we are short. Lerner needs to spend a little bit of cash on a more likely source of goals and it seems the best realistic target should be Austin. If we don't bring in a recognised scorer, we ARE going down. I have no doubt.

To be fair, goalkeeper, defenders and midfield have played well. The problem is that we offer absolutely zero goal threat. And it doesn't matter if you have world class defenders and midfielders, if you can't score you're going to lose games by narrow margins - like we are. This game is now finished, we can't score so 0-0 was always going to be only hope. Oh... Traore scored

Gut feeling (with my pessimistic mindset as usual); Finish 16th Scoring less than 38 goals Finishing with minus goal difference No player scoring over ten goals Expenditure after sales being less than £10m Player of the year (both categories); Amavi First player sold next season; Amavi Carling Cup Quarter-finalists FA Cup Fourth Round Significant injury to key player around Christmas

Whether we're in for him or not, Austin would be perfect for us. A bit of Premier experience, an English player for that 'balance' that has been talked of and lowish fee and wages. £15m is not a lot for ANY striker, never mind one who scored freely in this league last season and broke in to the England squad. People talk of injuries but 1) a 'Nilis' could happen to any signing, you insure for that as best you can and 2) I seem to recall our most adored player having a slight issue with his knees! The problem we have now is that we are using Randy money instead of sales so any chance of significant expenditure is radically reduced. Yes, it's the net spend argument and we're still one of the lowest spenders because Randy will not invest so IF we get any further players I expect them to be for nominal fees or loans.

Currently sitting in the sun (late thirty degrees) but didn't find match. John Bull only showing licensed games. Here for another ten days as at Sziget festival but will miss Utd game as music in full swing by then. Spent a few prefestival days around Budapest, been here before but went around a few of the ruin bars and had a great night. Cheap food, cheap beer, great weather. Good times!

I've just arrived in Budapest for a few weeks. Does anyone know anywhere that is likely to show the game against Bournemouth? I won't be free to watch the United game but hoping to catch the first one. I know New York (football factory) shows all 3pm kick offs so looking for somewhere similar!

I'm liking this just to see Cheryl...

To be fair, I think, I kind of understand what momo is saying. It's a bit like saying 'What's in a name?' A lot of fans will have a bond with players and in a normal transfer window even if your favourite player leaves you move on to your second favourite etc. Normally a team evolves over seasons so the transition between squads is minimal. Now if you sell every player in that team a lot of fans may feel 'lost' to some degree as they have no attachment to any of the players. The likelihood is this will only last six months though before new bonds are formed. Whether the overall effect on the teams performance is good or bad is almost irrelevant in this discussion, it's about emotional attachments. Like many I didn't particularly care about Benteke but liked Delph, Weimann and Lowton - it doesn't have to be based on ability, it's just players you have a soft spot for regardless of reasoning. With all of them gone, if my nephews ask who is my favourite player I'd need to think... it's a most a basic question but difficult to answer when all the players are new to Villa. Were the mass changes needed? Of course they were. But I can understand the element of coldness towards a squad we don't really yet have any attachments to. The comparison with City, I think, was meant to highlight the sheer number of changes. As for those who say why should we have emotion/ loyalty towards players who were getting us relegated - isn't this very much what an ambitious player would think? Whilst I think he's a pr*ck of the highest degree, surely this is Delph's view point - why should I have loyalty to a team who continually don't invest and struggle every year? So, for me, I do have loyalty towards some players both current and former as I think that's what strengthens bonds between fans and Villa. Evolution is an easier emotional transition. Revolution is a better performance transition. As it stands, I think the need for Revolution outweighed the prefered Evolution route.

Looks pretty useful so far but, I'm going to predict he gets sent off before he scores a goal!

A team that finished 17th last year A weaker defence (through departures, injuries and Richards at CB) An improved midfield probably (at least overall) A weaker strikeforce An improved squad depth A large player turnover makes things unpredictable An uninspiring pre-season in terms of results and performances Tendency to let in last minute goals remains Limited preason for Guzan, Okore and Grealish Richardson and N'Zogbia still involved! With all that data open to interpretation it really is one of the most impossible seasons to predict. We could have a completely new starting XI come Bournemouth! My personal opinion is another season of struggle. The main reasoning being the shaky defence, the limited goal threat and the sheer number of changes. 15th to 19th. However, if all signings hit the ground running, gel with each other and goals are spread around a little more, plus we are lucky with injuries and suspensions then we could make 9th to 14th. I just think the odds, and experience, means the first scenario is more likely. I hope I'm wrong.

I actually think Westwood is one of our most underrated players. He just keeps things ticking over, breaks things up, does the simple stuff, short successful passes. He works hard every match, is professional and rarely lets the team down. It's only because he doesn't score goals that he isn't rated much more highly by Villa fans and the wider footballing world. Having watched him in the preason games he has, once again, been possibly one of the most consistent, best performers. Quietly doing his job well. He is so calm with the ball and plays the right pass 9 times out of 10. Of course if he could add a few goals to his game even better, perhaps try to go past a few players but overall he'd be one of the first names on my teamsheet, far ahead of Sanchez, Cole etc. Mr. Reliable.

Whilst I'm interested in how this will all pan out and am surprised at both the sheer number of signings and the values attributed to them, I have absolutely no 'credit' to give to Lerner. As it stands we haven't spent more than we've earnt, we've probably reduced the wage bill and there is a bit of a (perhaps needed) risk in the strategy. Suggesting Lerner deserves credit for not keeping all the profits shows how beaten down we've become. If he invests £10m to £20m improving the team then that's a more credible argument, and it may happen yet, but at the moment some are effectively thanking him for doing what ge should do and not punching us in the gut.

Me too. But it's a blend of wanting to scream in hysteria at our current situation and just throwing my arms in the air and giving up for me. It's the quiet before the storm. Some people are optimistic we'll be better off overall, others are convinced we're doomed. But, more than any other season, we head in to the next one with a great amount of uncertainty in what we'll produce. We could start with 5/6/7 new faces in the first XI, mostly unknown names to the masses, playing in a new way that doesn't focus on lumping the ball to Benteke. So neither group really has enough evidence to suggest it will be better/ worse. It really is a case of wait and see.

I do wonder if Sherwood has mixed up his naughty and nice list. He'd make a cr*ppy Santa Claus... How the hell else do you explain departures of Delph, Benteke and Cleverley and the current retention, and even recall, of Tonev, N'Zogbia, Richardson and Bennett?! Considering the massive overhaul of the squad this summer, there is frankly no reason to keep the above names, they're not even useful as squad players. Cole and Senderos add experience at least. Gardner and Sanchez could be given a chance to prove potential. At worst, Hutton, Westwood, Baker, Cissokho and Gabby are squad players. With all the changes, goalkeeper is last on our to do list but Sherwood seems to be working down the list of our best performers of last few years and getting rid of them rather than getting rid of the worst first.

I don't know where people get their positive spin from! I agree the squad needs an overhaul after years of cr*p but the way to do that is not to sell the only players of quality and keep the absolute wastes of space! End of May you ask most Villa fans who we must try to keep; Delph (gone) Benteke (going) Cleverley (gone) and probably Grealish (personally think he has a lot to prove) End of May you ask most Villa fans who we must try to get rid of; Richardson (still here) N'Zogbia (still here) and also bring back Tonev and Bennett. Big questions over Sanchez, Senderos and Cole too - all still here. That is not a squad overhaul. That is just eradicating any quality from the squad.

I said this when we first 'sold' Delph a week ago, but it is not unreasonable to EXPECT Villa to spend £70m this summer considering the sales. Benteke + Delph + Weimann + Lowton + Sylla = c. £45m + wages of Bent, Vlaar and Given in particular = £8m (worked out as £50k each x 52 weeks) + moderate investment considering poor performance of team and new manager well within FFP = £20m It's only a sign of how beaten down as a fan base, how shoe-string a budget we run year on year, how unambitious our Chairman is that we think this is unrealistic. We all expect now that we will make a profit on sales over spending and reduce the wages yet again. Obviously expenditure on signings and wages is invariably (but not guaranteed) to link to quality. So a team that is so obviously dire, will reduce the quality of the squad once more and simply hope to survive again. And we as a fan base, and I'm equally as guilty, will just shrug our shoulders and accept how pathetic we have become when we invest so little. Depressing.