Rate Lamberts Signings

[Dodgyknees]

 

 

 

Not every signing will be great especially if you have the budget Lambert currently has. He has to take a few risks with signings.

 

Couldn't he have taken a risk on our youngsters then rather then other club's youngsters? He could've then actually spent his money on trying to improve the first team. 

 

 

Baker and Wiemann are two problems for us right now, we don't have fantastic youth players as some think.

 

Not fantastic no.  But our youth could have been used, saving money to get 'better quality' elsewhere.  Using Grealish instead of Tonev,  Having Burke, Drennan or Robinson on the bench, instead of Bowery or Kozak for example.  Although I think Kozak has a decent record, just doing this would have saved close to £8-10mill. To sign that 'Van Der Vaart' type signing which excites the fans and wins you games.

 

 

There is no evidence these players are ready for first team football, just because they are brilliant at reserve/u21 level it means nothing.

[PaulC]

Benteke has been a great signing, kept us up last season and we'll show a big profit when we sell him

Westwood - good  but he's come from Crewe and its a big stepup

Vlaar - another very good signing

Lowton was great at times last season. Hasn't lived up to that this season but still a good signing

Kozak has done ok and scored 4 goals. Should improve in time. so decent signing

Bacuna - has pace and scored a couple of goals and will be a decent signing

Bennett - don't know

Luna - way off Premier League standard at the moment

Tonev same as Luna

Okore - don't know

Helenius - don't know

Bowery  - you get what you pay for

Sylla - not good enough.

[Isa]

His wage budget has been no higher then ours.

No chance we would ever go spend money on a Bony and I bet Michu was signed on a higher wage than any of our players last season.

I think our budget is above Hull... other than that I think there are "smaller" clubs who spend more.

I'm sorry but you are just talking without knowledge. Michu was on very little at Vallecano and was on around 20-25k when he joined Swansea. They also have a 30k wage-cap and still do.

There is no evidence these players are ready for first team football, just because they are brilliant at reserve/u21 level it means nothing.

Yes because the likes of Tonev and Luna are certainly ready aren't they? Not to mention Helenius who was bought but clearly not considered good enough by Lambert.

Edited December 28, 2013 by Isa

[KHV]

Apart from guzan,benteke and at times lowton and vlaar all of his signings have been shit. Sylla , KEA and westwood has to be one of the worst midfield trio's ever assembled

[foreveryoung]

Who in there right mind scouted Tonev, Luna, Bennett and thought they could play in the Premier League. As for the others Westwood, Lowton, etc, they are'nt bad, but a professional footballer should'nt really be showing the amount of panic they seem to have on the ball. I would have thought this would have been coached out of them by now??

[villa4europe]

how many players has signed in his 18 months?

 

guzan is the only one who has been consistent, others have been brilliant at times and shown plenty of potential, 4/5 of them have never looked good enough in any game I've seen

[foreveryoung]

Ohh we forgot Dawkins?????????????? Why oh Why.

[dudevillaisnice]

Ah yes the Simon Dawkins experiment should be sacked for that alone.

Edited December 28, 2013 by dudevillaisnice

[HeyAnty]

Guzan, Vlaar and Benteke look his only genuinely good signings now. Okore will probably prove to be also but I can't presume he will.

The rest range from average to outright dire.

Common denominator? They were the ones who cost a bit more than the 1 mill players

[Avflife]

Out of PL's 16 signings only Benteke, Guzan, Vlaar and Bacuna are of Premiership quality. Undecided Okore and Helenius, but the rest are garbage. Shouldn't be given any more after pissing up the wall the majority of 40m.

[Risso]

Shite

[Cliffy Biro]

Haha only just remembered simon dawkins, jesus christ i hope that was a panic get anyone in on loan type thing rather than him actually thinking he was a good player. I'm already worried about lambert as it is.

[VillanousOne]

I would say aside from Tekkers and Ron, not many teams would be include any other players Lambert has signed in their first elevens, maybe Kozak and Bacuna would get in their squads.

 

Good
Benteke - awesome player (if last season wasn't a fluke) note how our best player is also the most expensive

Vlaar - took a while to come into his own, but considering the quality of defenders he's had around him - i'd say he's a pretty decent signing 

Promising
Bacuna - for what he cost I think he is a good signing who can fill a number of roles and take some decent set pieces
(Could put Okore here also I guess)

Reasonable

Westwood - would be ok as a squad player but should not be the back bone of our midfield

Lowton - a little like Westwood - fairly decent but shouldn't start every week

Kozak - too early to judge really but by no means bad

Average

Bennett - would still like to see more of him but maybe not at left back

Luna - no better than Bennett but may still adjust and improve

Sylla - I like him but after recent performances it's hard to work out why he was signed
KEA - Not beyond redemption but is a pretty basic workhorse

Useless
Tonev - might get better....... maybe?
Bowery - if he was any good he would be starting by now
 

Who knows?
Okore - what we saw was good

Helenius - what we saw looked reasonable

[Hanky]

Benteke aside, there aren't many I'd consider good. Vlaar would be but he spends a lot of games on the sidelines.

[psychobirch]

My player ratings:

Christian Benteke - Good signing, proved himself premier league worthy. We have a valuable asset here who could possibly give us more once fully fit.

I rate him 9/10

 

Ashley Westwood - Had a good solid impact last season with his pass completion rate, but I think he is finding it a little hard the pick his rhythm up this season. His corners however are awful.

I rate him 6/10

 

Ron Vlaar - Had a shaky start to his Villa career but this season he has kicked on an done himself justice. We are really missing him at the moment and he is the boss of our back four.

I rate him 8/10

 

Matthew Lowton - He's in a similar situation as Westwood. He was sensational last season, but this season with him being dropped every other game, he has found it hard to gather any real momentum.

I rate him 6/10

 

Libor Kozak - I really do feel sorry for Libor at the moment. Although he is no Benteke, he puts in a lot of effort when he does play unlike a few of the other players. In terms of holding the ball up, he is getting better. Every goal he scores from now on will bring him more confidence, and I do think he is rapidly improving.

I rate him 7/10

 

Leandro Bacuna - This one's a hard one to judge. Very pacy and fairly good in a tight situation. I think his problem lies in the fact that he plays a new position in every game, so he can fully focus on any particular aspect of his game.

I rate him 6/10

 

Joe Bennett - Some potential, and a decent attacking full back. Sometimes he wanders off though and his defensive ideas are generally very plain and easy to read.

I rate him 5/10

 

Antonio Luna - Luna currently has a very hard role playing left back, as our team doesn't seem to give him any wide support. When he is being bombarded with right hand side opposition attacks, often the winger and fullbacks will run rings around him. Still, I respect his judgements and is a very good attacking full back.

I rate him 7/10

 

Alexandar Tonev - I think Tonev is a particularly poor signing. He offers no width (although he is supposed to be a winger), and his 'monstrous' shot has so far been absolutely useless.

I rate him 2/10

 

Jores Okore - Not seen much of him due to his unfortunate injury. Hopefully he can kickstart his career next season and be solid at the back along side Vlaar.

I am unable to rate this player

 

Nicklaus Helenius - Similar to Okore, I havn't seen much of Helenius with is a shame. I would like to see him at least be substituted on when there's lack of ideas up front at the end of the game.

I am unable to rate this player

 

Jordan Bowery - Jordan works hard, but just doesn't have what it takes to be a premier league striker. He is only young, but barring Tonev, he's the last player of the newbies that I'd like to see in a starting lineup.

I rate him 3/10

 

Yacouba Sylla - A very negative player. I have yet to see him do anything creative. His main move and generally first instinct, is to pass it back to a defender. He rarely passes forwards, and for a big guy, I've rarely seen him fight any physical challenges.

I rate him 3/10

 

Please note that these ratings are based on what I've seen this half of the season (Not counting Benteke - I had to give him a good rating because his goals were very valuable last season haha!)

 

Cheers,

Tom

[foreveryoung]

From what we have seen lately none of them would be over 5/10 for me barr an on form Benteke

[DamsonwoodVillan]

In the midst of all the complaining about the signings he has made, it may also be relevant to discuss some of the players he has let go.

I know not all of these have left permanently yet but Given, Hutton, Dunne, Bent, Bannan, Ireland and a few others.

Long time high earner Gabby has earned his right to stay under Lambert. N'Zogbia it remains to be seen but the general feeling is he's going.

Has he replaced what we used to have with younger, cheaper options? Yes definitely.

Has he replaced what we used to have with better quality? A matter of opinion but possibly not.

Assuming he was given this remit by the board we all assume he was (to slash wages, reduce the average age of the squad, and to keep us in the Premier League) then he has so far succeeded!!

The signings he has made have been very hit and miss, but he has clearly added a lot of young squad fillers, and a lot of risks, and so far we have stayed up.

I'm not trying to defend him or claim he's doing nearly as well as he should be doing. But I really think the board have asked the impossible if the task was to deliver top six and rebuild the squad so radically at the same time.

[AVTuco]

Guzan, Vlaar and Benteke look his only genuinely good signings now. Okore will probably prove to be also but I can't presume he will. 

 

The rest range from average to outright dire.

 

So the more expensive ones are some of the best. No shock there, (14m for those combined).

 

12 players remaining.. 26m spent, averaging around 2.1m each, you don't buy quality for that.

Would it be possible to get one out of 12 right?

[Shaw_nuff]

Bacuna can't play football. Every time i see him he has that dead giveaway hunched-over look of someone who can't control a ball. 

 

His free kicks have been great, but it masks his open play which is nothing short of shite. 2/10

[AVTuco]

My player ratings:

Christian Benteke - Good signing, proved himself premier league worthy. We have a valuable asset here who could possibly give us more once fully fit.

I rate him 9/10

 

Ashley Westwood - Had a good solid impact last season with his pass completion rate, but I think he is finding it a little hard the pick his rhythm up this season. His corners however are awful.

I rate him 6/10

 

Ron Vlaar - Had a shaky start to his Villa career but this season he has kicked on an done himself justice. We are really missing him at the moment and he is the boss of our back four.

I rate him 8/10

 

Matthew Lowton - He's in a similar situation as Westwood. He was sensational last season, but this season with him being dropped every other game, he has found it hard to gather any real momentum.

I rate him 6/10

 

Libor Kozak - I really do feel sorry for Libor at the moment. Although he is no Benteke, he puts in a lot of effort when he does play unlike a few of the other players. In terms of holding the ball up, he is getting better. Every goal he scores from now on will bring him more confidence, and I do think he is rapidly improving.

I rate him 7/10

 

Leandro Bacuna - This one's a hard one to judge. Very pacy and fairly good in a tight situation. I think his problem lies in the fact that he plays a new position in every game, so he can fully focus on any particular aspect of his game.

I rate him 6/10

 

Joe Bennett - Some potential, and a decent attacking full back. Sometimes he wanders off though and his defensive ideas are generally very plain and easy to read.

I rate him 5/10

 

Antonio Luna - Luna currently has a very hard role playing left back, as our team doesn't seem to give him any wide support. When he is being bombarded with right hand side opposition attacks, often the winger and fullbacks will run rings around him. Still, I respect his judgements and is a very good attacking full back.

I rate him 7/10

 

Alexandar Tonev - I think Tonev is a particularly poor signing. He offers no width (although he is supposed to be a winger), and his 'monstrous' shot has so far been absolutely useless.

I rate him 2/10

 

Jores Okore - Not seen much of him due to his unfortunate injury. Hopefully he can kickstart his career next season and be solid at the back along side Vlaar.

I am unable to rate this player

 

Nicklaus Helenius - Similar to Okore, I havn't seen much of Helenius with is a shame. I would like to see him at least be substituted on when there's lack of ideas up front at the end of the game.

I am unable to rate this player

 

Jordan Bowery - Jordan works hard, but just doesn't have what it takes to be a premier league striker. He is only young, but barring Tonev, he's the last player of the newbies that I'd like to see in a starting lineup.

I rate him 3/10

 

Yacouba Sylla - A very negative player. I have yet to see him do anything creative. His main move and generally first instinct, is to pass it back to a defender. He rarely passes forwards, and for a big guy, I've rarely seen him fight any physical challenges.

I rate him 3/10

 

Please note that these ratings are based on what I've seen this half of the season (Not counting Benteke - I had to give him a good rating because his goals were very valuable last season haha!)

 

Cheers,

Tom

Good well structured post Tom. I mostly agree.