JohnCresswell Posted August 9, 2007 Share Posted August 9, 2007 By Villa889 This years transfer dealings, or lack of transfer dealings to be more precise, reminds me of my own college days... In those heady days I would have many projects that needed to be done inside various deadlines. Now the smart person may have done a little bit of each project every week however invariably I always left the work to the day of the deadline and knocked up a project on MSword with a little help from Google and copy and paste. Does Martin O'Neill suffer from the same syndrome? You see by leaving things to the last minute you give yourself the longest possible time to review the situation before finally doing the work. If you spend all your money at the start of the transfer window then you don’t know what players might become available in August. It’s easy for Man Utd. to go out, identify the players they want and buy them in the first week of the summer. They have the money, players are desperate to join them and they have minimal competition for said players. For Villa the situation is different. Martin O'Neill is in competition with a whole host of other premiership sides in the intense battle for players. By leaving all his dealings to the end of the window Martin has seen the likes Kieron Dyer become available, an unlikely situation at the start of the window. Now I am not saying that we should be after Dyer now that he is available but Martin O'Neill seems like a very thoughtful manager. One who will only buy a player when he knows exactly what he is getting. The trial that happened with Steve Mandana - This, to me, sums O'Neill up. Always trying to assess and evaluate before making the commitment. So, like me in my college days, maybe O'Neill needs that looming deadline in order to bite the bullet and make the commitment, the "it’s now or never" attitude. Perhaps because of this we will be one of the busiest teams on deadline day. My strategy to get through college wasn't the best, but I got there in the end and achieved the results I wanted. I wouldn't recommend it to any fresh faced college bound youngster, neither would I recommend nor agree with Villa's current transfer activity. But maybe its just human nature to leave everything to the last minute. Better to leave it to the last minute than to end up buying 5 Bosko Balaban's or Eric Djemba-Djemba's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianrobo1 Posted August 9, 2007 Share Posted August 9, 2007 Villa89, I think you have it right there, MON does not jump in, he judges and waits We got Carson ebcause of this and IMHO much btter than Gordon, a winner there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted August 9, 2007 VT Supporter Share Posted August 9, 2007 To be honest, i think if anyone actually thinks MON has been doing nothing all transfer window then they are mad. I'm not saying you are suggesting this, but the vibe I get from a lot of people is that they think MOn has literally done nothing all summer, and has only now started looking and buying. I agree, I think that despite the lack of action, MON has been doing FAR from nothing. He has waited for people to become available, and now that there is nothing new coming up, he's moving for the targets he has left until now because he knows no-one else will get them instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 ....Your analysis maybe right.....but he is only human and we all have weaknesses. The end result of which we are all more concerned about will be ok.....I am sure of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FernandoNelson Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 I missed this earlier. Good thoughful post. I agree with where you're coming from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drat01 Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 Playing the waiting game is like those people who wait for the last minute bargains for summer holidays. You can get some great deals if you wait until the last minute, but you run the risk of not getting what you want, or you get a sub standard place because there is very little left. MON has been a gambler this summer despite people saying he's played it safe. He's gambled by letting the squad be depleted of players, by gambling on the fact that his so called Option A's would be available, gambled on the fact the season starts tomorrow and we have in no way got our squad ready in terms of numbers. Its a very risky gamble you can only hope the other players are not as lucky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 Teams such as Spurs, Wet Spam, Man Citeh, Portsmouth etc who have spent loads and earlier have the weight of expectation on them. The pressure that comes with a huge player expenditure. We do not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted August 10, 2007 Moderator Share Posted August 10, 2007 I partly disagree on the expectation. The likes of Jol, Redknapp, I agree they will have pressure because they've spent, that's fair comment. We'll have pressure, or MO'N will, because he hasn't spent. Regardless of money spent by Villa, the expectation is for notable improvement. And if as we think he will, he goes on to spend by the end of August, then the pressure will be based around spending, instead of not spending. I think that all 3 managers mentioned are pretty secure, as they're all people with good records, but they'll all want to do well, and put pressure on themselves, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 Pete, who in the media is tipping us for anything this year? No one, not even a cup win Spurs are being tipped heavily, the other clubs tipped for dark horses or to really push for europe or a cup win. No one is looking at us to do anything, not even our own fans So I disagree that there is outside pressure on mon for notable improvement. I think fans expectations have also diminished as well , reading this board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 I think fans expectations have also diminished as well , reading this board. very true Trickie. Indeed, had MON spent £30m or so in the first few weeks of the summer pundits & fans alike would have been expecting great things - top 6, cup wins etc. at the moment we expect very little other than a top 10 finish hopefully. If we bring in 2 or 3 big names before the window closes - the expectation levesl would surely rise again. there's a difference though i think between expectations & pressure. Even though MON has lowered fans expectations (at this moment) i still think he's under as much pressure, simply becuse some fans are dismayed that he hasn't spent big. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted August 10, 2007 Moderator Share Posted August 10, 2007 Pete, who in the media is tipping us for anything this year? No one, not even a cup win Spurs are being tipped heavily, the other clubs tipped for dark horses or to really push for europe or a cup win. No one is looking at us to do anything, not even our own fans So I disagree that there is outside pressure on mon for notable improvement. I think fans expectations have also diminished as well , reading this board. Partly agree with the second part. I've heard various people tip Villa for a European place, most recently Lawro about 30 minutes ago. I agree it's not across the board but it's not uncommon. Not heard the same about Redknapp. Jol, sure. But they were 5th last year and have strengthened as you say. You and tricky are right about our own expectations being damped down. But I'd say there's an element of pressure that we're already exerting in that a fair number of the fanbase are unhappy with the transfer dealings, though not the manager himself. That pressure will increase if he doesn't pull his finger out. IMO all managers are under pressure, all have different objectives, but all need to meet them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villarevolution2007 Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 There a difference between making steady improvements to a team and making mass improvement of a squad. Improving a team MASSIVELY is a gamble as well as not signing till the last second of the transfer window. Tottenham may get their european football spot but maintaining it is a different story. MON is steadily increasing the strength of the squad- meaning we should steadily progress over the years up the table which is better than achieving the 4th spot this season and slipping away back into 10th the season later. So i agree with how MON is going to business and look forward to end of transfer window like everyone else to see who we can get last ditch... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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