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I’d be more than happy with Watkins at 18m. Would still want a higher level signing at the striker position, but he would provide an excellent option up top or in wide areas. Hopefully this would mean the end for Samatta as well

2 minutes ago, DaveAV1 said:

I think for the right money he’d be at BMH sitting on the floor in a line with JT singing, “Oops up side your head”. Those cockneys like a party. 

Whoops

Out of the strikers with PL experience, I don’t see a way we get Chelsea to party with Tammy for a reasonable sum. Of the more attainable players, I’d look at Joshua King and Chris Wood. King’s agent does happen to be the brother of Ståle Solbakken, so perhaps Lange can use that connection to works towards a move. If we got one of those types it’d likely be at a much more reasonable fee allowing us to spend more in the wide areas, which will be crucial to our success next season. 

2 hours ago, Johnnyp said:

He's a fantastic talent. Still only 18. Bull strong already. Technically very tidy. The kind of signing that fits with Lange's purported transfer strategy. Good enough to come straight into a match day squad. Sign low ? Yes. Can't see how a side who've been relegated, has serious cash flow problems and not had a live gate since March could play hardball with anyone when it comes to hickey. Villa could put real cash on hearts's door immediately, which they need, not incremental payments. For us ? Lots of potential, rated very highly and his market value could rise. Zero downside to buying hickey.

Speaking from the perspective of a Hearts and Villa supporter, Hearts' position is not quite as precarious as you make it out to be. Supporters pump a decent amount of money into the club each month and the club also has several wealthy benefactors who are quite generous in their contributions. That said, the prevailing feeling is that Hickey will be sold this summer. Rumor is he has already been over to Italy (too see Bologna?) and will be going over to Munich shortly. If the opportunity to go to Bayern is on the table, he would be mad to pass it up. I'd love him at Villa though and with only a year left to run on his contract, he is gettable for likely around the 1/1.5m mark, which is a pittance. By no means do I believe he is ready to be in our matchday squad quite yet though. Best case scenario is to buy him, then loan him back and let him start this coming season for additional experience. Definitely a talented player and still incredibly young, but he needs to be getting regular gametime in order to progress as this past season there was a bit of inconsistency in his play which one would expect from a player of his age. He'll always be a legend for this goal:

1 minute ago, Lord Willard said:

The start of the Moneyball era is about to begin. 

Who was the last player we actually made a profit on? Don't most our players just turn to shit and we can't sell them and just run their contract out. 

I don't think we'll be getting any marquee signings. All players signed will be to come and to improve not big name players in their peak. Will it be enough to keep Jack interested? 

I disagree and believe we will hopefully see a mix of strategies. Our recent history (last time we were relegated and this past season) proves you need a mix of experience and quality in the squad and with that you can then also take some calculated risks on more unknowns. This is obvious or at least should be to those running the club. The owners have often spoke of the investment going into the Academy, so I reckon a large remit of his job will be unearthing young talent to put through the academy system and later sell on at a premium, such as you see with teams like Dortmund. 

55 minutes ago, RichiBoi11 said:

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11781/12003584/hearts-should-have-earned-millions-on-aaron-hickey-but-they-will-get-a-pittance-says-andy-walker

Among Hearts support, the rumor for a while is that Man City will buy Hickey and then loan him back to Hearts for another year or two for development. Looks a very promising player, but definitely a bit raw which is understandable given his young age. If Villa were interested he could definitely be had for less than 2m, it’s just a matter of him not being ready for the Premier League quite yet. One for the future if we are looking to make those investments now. 

While this season has taught us quite a bit about buying players with mostly foreign experience and the time it takes to adapt to the PL, I’d love us to dive into Germany a bit more for players. Milot Rashica and Patrik Schick (was on loan at RB Leipzig from Roma) would be two attainable players who might add quality out wide and up top. 

1 hour ago, maqroll said:

If we win promotion with Bruce,  do we cut him loose at end of season?

His contract is rolling if I am not mistaken, so it is a definite possibility...I'm certainly not his biggest supporter, but if we did do that, it would be a bit ruthless. If the man does the job asked of him and gets us up, I do think he deserves a crack at the top level with decent backing. 

10 hours ago, BOF said:

Jedinak only ever started one game in central defence.  At Wigan on the 18th of March.  Yes he moved back into defence in the previous game against Sheffield Wednesday and looked very assured, prompting the start against Wigan, but I think we're over-stating what the team achieved with him in defence when we call it a 'run' of any description.  It was 1.5 games.

Our good run mainly had him as defensive midfielder.

 

Hmmmm....my memory clearly evades me! I could've sworn he played quite a few matches back there.  

That point aside, I still think he has the attributes necessary to play in the back and I think it'd go a long way towards preserving his overall fitness levels throughout the course of a season. At the end of the day, I think he is a player whom we desperately need on the pitch, whether it be as a midfielder or defender. 

1 hour ago, VillaChris said:

Think Jedinak will play much more in defence next season. More logical for most of the home games we'll be playing.

The team had its best run with him in central defense, so I would welcome Jedinak playing there more often next season. If we can get a younger/more durable midfielder to take his place in midfield and shield the back four then that would be ideal. 

It's almost as if the guy didn't suffer a very serious knee injury which kept him out of football for more than half a year. Whilst I'd agree he has been a bit ropey at times this season (I certainly think he has been much more solid playing more advanced up the pitch), I'm just happy that he is back playing and seemingly shows no lingering side effects of that injury. At 23yrs old, he is still on the younger side and can continue to develop into a better defender...you don't just become shit overnight (unless your Stephen Warnock, of course  ).

2 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Its actually Adomah who made a complete hash of the shot which fell to Hourihane (accidental assist). Kodjia pulled it back for Adomah.

 

According to the live commentary that is.

Ah feck, I am blind, my bad 

6 minutes ago, meregreen said:

I never judge a player on one game. But even tonight I thought he was pretty lethargic. He doesn't have the raw pace of a Tony Morley or the trickery of a Ashley Young. Not sure about that second assist by the way, looked like he fluffed a chance ,but luckily ,the ball fell to  Hourihan. I would prefer someone who can terrorise a full back, I just don't see it in Albert. But then, perhaps we don't have that player yet.

He played a nice ball into Kodjia, who scuffed his shot, before it fell to Hourihane to score. 

Just now, pacbuddies said:

Nistleroy was a goal poacher too and I would have loved to have him at VP in his prime so bring it on! 

Absolutely, if the team can accommodate it, I'm all for it. DB was excellent when we had a decent midfield and wide players...as soon as we lost those, he was useless. Luckily, we again appear to have a more complete team and that should serve us well. 

1 hour ago, Wainy316 said:

Is Amavi set to be the only survivor of those fateful summer of 15 signings?

Mark Bunn says "Hi." 

Super excited about this one. Seems a bit of a poacher; however, I think unlike in the past, this is now a luxury we can afford to have as we have a midfield who can actually pass the ball forward & move. 

31 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

I cannot accurately express in words how much I would love a right back that can actually cross the ball.

Alan Hutton is ok. He tries hard most of the time.

But **** me, he is the worst crosser of the ball in living memory.

Yup, it's either in Row Z or hits the first defender. Could not cross to save his life.

What is with this guy?!? Midfielders are not supposed to score goals!

If we managed to get Hourihane that would be great...now if we managed to get him and Cairney (think that one is a long shot unless we offer massive wages to tempt him and fee of 10mill+) then I think that is the midfield problem solved as those two guarantee you a decent number of goals and assists.

For the defense, I think James Bree for RB if we can tempt him with regular playing time, as well as a CB on loan (Rob Holding or Cameron Carter-Vickers) would sort us there.

For the striker, I think we should try and get a loan in from the PL. Afobe and Long are both not starting regularly throughout the season and have struggled a bit, so something along those lines would be great.

Outside of that, if we could possibly get a swap involving McCormack and Brady, that would be great as it offers us further width and also the option of playing him at LB.

Once Ayew and Kodjia are off to AFCON, I'd like for us to try out McCormack and Gestede up top together (assuming we don't sell Gestede right away). I think McCormack could benefit from Gestede's ability to win aerial battles and get flick ons to him. Also, Gestede is a lot less selfish and 9/10 would pass the ball up for a teammate in a better scoring position, imo.

Excellent ball across the box for the winner. I'd like to think him and Grealish are back in the team for Leeds.

Can't say I've seen much of Hogan, but from looking at YouTube (I know) he seems to be a bit of a poacher with very tidy finishing skills and a decent work rate. A player like that could work very well with Kodjia stretching defences and creating space for him. 

22 minutes ago, Brumerican said:

That Daniel Johnson of PNE looks like the kind of player we need  

Thanks Lambert...

I'm quite confident we can put together a run to see us into the top 3, especially if we can add quality to the squad in January and keep up with the home form. If I am not mistaken, I believe in 2011, Reading had our exact same point total through 16 matches and they went on to win the league. 

I think Newcastle is unrealistic to catch, but I really do believe we can catch Brighton over the next 15 matches.