chrisvilla4 Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 33 minutes ago, Alakagom said: ''some'' more like a lot Like most clubs out there. We aren't special. Hey, we are special! We are the mighty Aston Villa!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney_avfc Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Good chance of a signing before Saturday then. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Big fan of what the Dr has done. However at the end of summer people asked him about the effect AFCON would have on us and he told us we had a plan and things would happen to ensure it didn't effect us. Just before the window we had tweets saying how prepared we were going into the window. Clearly some things are out of our hands but I can't help feeling that as a club we've **** it up a bit also. I hope we learn going into next summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Honestly I have to say the very few good thing done last years was they didn't buy any more SHIT in that Jan. window! Corrected Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phumfeinz Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 1 minute ago, Grasshopper said: Honestly I have to say the very few good thing done last years was they didn't buy any more SHIT in that Jan. window! Corrected That's exactly what he was saying 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommo_b Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 So maybe people can lay off the Bruce bashing now, clearly the club want people in just as much as us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 1 minute ago, Tommo_b said: So maybe people can lay off the Bruce bashing now, clearly the club want people in just as much as us. Yeah Bruce should be making a fist(face) of it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Upper north stander Posted January 17, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted January 17, 2017 33 minutes ago, Barney_avfc said: Good chance of a signing before Saturday then. 50/50 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 2 hours ago, Barney_avfc said: Lol I am not sure he is in any position to mock after the shit show that was this summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrytini Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 12 hours ago, markavfc40 said: I am sure that we do need to tread carefully in terms of finances and rightly so given the mess we got ourselves into under Lerner. I doubt very much it goes as far as sell to buy but I wouldn’t imagine there are substantial funds to spend on fees and very little wiggle room on wages. I would think than Johnstone has simply replaced Gollinis wages which means we have freed up a few quid a week by letting Cissokho go on loan and selling Gestede. We also have 6 mill in the pot having sold Gestede. That should be enough in fees and wages to bring in a couple of players especially as we seem to be looking at players out of contract in the summer with low fees. The bottom line is that we wasted a good portion of the 50 odd mill we spent in the summer. It should have left us with a squad that could compete for a top 6 place. Instead it has left us with one struggling to finish top half. January should have been about putting a bit of icing on the cake. Instead we are still scratching about trying to buy the ingredients. Roberto Di Matteo has a lot to answer for. This is an interesting one to me. We bought two highly rated strikers, one has scored goals the other hasn't. Chester, I think most would agree, has been our best player. Adomah, Tish, Elphick, and Jedi, were all well rated, even highly rated, by their Clubs, de Laet has been out injured so we cant judge him. I'm not sure - apart from McCormack - that I find it easy to see where we have wasted money..(and even with Ross there are differing views as to whether we have really made any effort to play to his strengths, but that's a different point). Whilst some of those players haven't performed as well as they should I'm not sure too many of us were critical of them as choices, and I'm pretty sure they would all find a top half Championship side if we wanted rid. So did we waste it ? We had a massive influx, and most of us recognised we needed another massive influx, but by common consent it would be been implausible to get another 3 or 4 at that stage. To me, it is more a question of what we still need rather than us having got the wrong sort in. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 14 minutes ago, rodders0223 said: I am not sure he is in any position to mock after the shit show that was this summer. you have a point but,maybe along with his managerial appointment, he has learnt his lesson. If he says this window is poo.....i'll take him at face value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrytini Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Odd people now think we have a load of crap players when until a game or so we were averaging promotion form under Bruce.............and if the players are now crap does that mean RDM wasn't doing such a bad job after all ? Just saying !!? Anyway... For me, we have a couple of obvious very weak spots, the rest is a question of getting consistency, as at so many Clubs. You can bet your life that each and every one of the players we are being linked with will be inconsistent, and have certain abilities lacking - that's why they, and we , are in the Championship !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 2 minutes ago, terrytini said: This is an interesting one to me. We bought two highly rated strikers, one has scored goals the other hasn't. Chester, I think most would agree, has been our best player. Adomah, Tish, Elphick, and Jedi, were all well rated, even highly rated, by their Clubs, de Laet has been out injured so we cant judge him. I'm not sure - apart from McCormack - that I find it easy to see where we have wasted money..(and even with Ross there are differing views as to whether we have really made any effort to play to his strengths, but that's a different point). Whilst some of those players haven't performed as well as they should I'm not sure too many of us were critical of them as choices, and I'm pretty sure they would all find a top half Championship side if we wanted rid. So did we waste it ? We had a massive influx, and most of us recognised we needed another massive influx, but by common consent it would be been implausible to get another 3 or 4 at that stage. To me, it is more a question of what we still need rather than us having got the wrong sort in. Good post mate. I think wasted was probably the wrong word. Maybe I should have said didn't spend it as well as we could have as really for the money we spent it should have left us with a squad capable of being in and around the top 6. At the very least it should have left us with a more balanced squad. Had say the McCormack money been spent on two decent centre midfielders the league table may well look very different now and RDM may still even be in a job here. In fact I don't think the pot was dry in the summer was it and on top of what we already got in we could have signed another midfielder or two especially as we actually let three go out on loan. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrytini Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 In fact even after a few poor results Bruce still averages 72 points if over a season, thats Play Off Form if we hadn't been in such a crap position. I don't think we are as bad as people are now saying, we've had a blip, partly the players, partly the manager, partly a lack of enough decent Midfielders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrytini Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Agree with that Mark - who could disagree we needed something more in Midfield, and that's not hindsight. So Yes we could've spent it better - but to reiterate, only really the McCormack money (as you've said) or extra money. And I'm not sure I agree McCormack was a poor buy, if we'd gone in with just Kodja and Rudy most of us would've had the same complaint we do about the midfield !! Yes he was pricey, but there wasn't, and hasn't been. any hint that the cost of him ruled out others. So really, for me, two of those we are after now, back then, in addition to what we got, would've done it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markavfc40 Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 6 minutes ago, terrytini said: And I'm not sure I agree McCormack was a poor buy, if we'd gone in with just Kodja and Rudy most of us would've had the same complaint we do about the midfield !! Yes he was pricey, but there wasn't, and hasn't been. any hint that the cost of him ruled out others. So really, for me, two of those we are after now, back then, in addition to what we got, would've done it. I certainly didn't think McCormack was a poor buy in the summer and maybe it would be easier to say that now but I am still not sure he is. Whilst I don't think he has shown enough we haven't helped by putting the players around him to get the best out of him. I think RDM just thought buy goalscorers and they will score goals but neglected the fact they need service which is shocking. We got away with it with Kodjia as he is someone that can do it on his own but take him out and look what has happened. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post LockStockVilla Posted January 17, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted January 17, 2017 4 hours ago, Barney_avfc said: Tony's reply to afore mentioned nob: Paging Julie B 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 (edited) I know its either hindsight or conjecture but lets break this seasons rollercoaster down. Lerner out - Great DrX in - ? - lots of promises but has he delivered? - will he deliver? - has he the means to deliver? - has he the nous to deliver? RDM - New manager - proved to be a mistake that we will pay the whole season for. But my question is, does the consequence of RDM's tenure end with his sacking? I believe no. The knock on effect has devastating consequences. So lets run through what RDM has lead us to now. 1) Getting rid of players - Guzan Lescott Sinclair Gil Veretout Sanchez Okore and some more I cant think of right now. But for all the good done by getting shot of shit, some shit remained. I'd like to focus on these as the remaining cancer that can go one of two ways. Cured or Contagious and their effect on the rest of the remainee's and the new signings So Who are they? Are they cured or has their cancer spread? What difference would the Ch be over PL? So let's snapshot the seasons beginning and The Now. and see what developed along the way. GK - Gollini in - There was a gamble on here - I think this was very easy to predict that such a signing was not what we needed. We needed a sure-thing-experienced-old-hand DeLaet - Injured -> Hutton - There has been no development whatsoever. Throw-ins, defending, crossing. CB - Elphick - Chester - Baker So we now know that Baker is a welcome revelation and that Chester is a great addition, Elphick however has left us wanting. wasnt predictable but a circumstantial mistake nevertheless. Midfield - I honestly felt that with the right additions, Westwood or Gardner or Bacuna could have been complementary to very useful. But with the now apparant weaknesses of Jedi, these three could only have been carried over the line by better players. Their performances have only hindered and not expanded our MF Wingers - Old fashioned 4-4-2 is an option but when you only buy 1 then you really are not completing the circle. AM - We had Ayew & Grealish and added McC. I think the unbalance has cost them all dearly CF - Kodjia - a Savior a great signing but being 1 dimensional costs us with every goal we conceed and chance we miss. RDM's misjudgements have cost us in the currency of a tail off of the Borderliners who could have been a benefit to a squad. And the new guys who were either not good enough from the outset or needed better around them to complement a team (of sorts) Then came Bruce till now. A change that stopped the rot that shouldnt have even been, and a midwindow point where we are in no mans land. We wont get relegated but for us to have a chance of promotion a serious upturn has to take place IMMEDIATELY. So where are we now Gk - New unexperienced loanee who cost us a point in his 1st league game and unabled us the 0-0 that could have lead to a 0-1 and 3pts. RB -Hutton -Say mo more CB's when Baker (who is known to get injured) is not there we lose our solidity. LB Amavi's head has been turned - Now think about it, if we were between 1st & 6th with a positivity vibe of going up, would any bid have effected him? possibly no MF - the ever worsening selections from Bacuna Westwood Gardner Tish & Jedi just disables any bloodline feed to anyone picked up front AM - The link has failed whoever is engaged here and we have 3 potentially good options CF Kodjia has been like Golddust But Gaby, Gestede & Kozak have failed us What if? IF is a very big word Gollini had not have been exposed so early by having either 3 CB's in front of him or RD/Bacuna Chester Baker Amavi Gollini would not have been shot, Bacuna would have performed ok and Amavi's head may not have been turned Imagine a 4 across MF of Adomah Jedi Tish Ayew/Grealish or in a 3@theBack Elphick Chester Baker Bacuna Jedi Tish Amavi We could have covered a lot of cracks instead of Cracking all our cover A front 2 or 3 from Adomah McC Grealish Ayew Kodjia as the furthest forward would have had the ball more often hence more chances to score. But No no no no no The fine line between things working out for the good and everything going irretreavably wrong has been crossed. It could have all been so different but we are left with the cancer from Hutton, Westwood, Bacuna & Gaby spread throughout the team (apart from Chester, Baker & Kodjia) So whilst Richards is hanging around in the background our 1st 11 has gone south, with a bench that cant change our direction with a week or so to find the cure for our cancer. Where do we start? MF? RB? CB cover? LB? DM? CM? AM? (we have 3) CF? Any manager would not be the problem (except RDM & Sherwood) I feel sorry for the Dr. and wouldnt be surprised if he's already disillusioned. For Bruce too, he's never walked into such a pile of shit, even at the SHA. For Gollini, RDL, Elphick, Amavi, Gardner, Ayew, Jack, McC and Chester, Baker, Adonah & Kodjia who seem to have either the ability or strength to rise above it all (to varying degrees) We are back to square one, you may want to call it F*****d if promotion was your design. I can see only a "New start - Blank page" with a few fill-ins as a way forward. It starts in the morning when SKY Sports News report the confirmation of new signings or not. What a sad dependence that is. VTID Edited January 18, 2017 by Grasshopper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villan_007 Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 ^^^ This needs at least a 1000 more sentences, actually maybe break them up into another 2000 or 3. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post HanoiVillan Posted January 18, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted January 18, 2017 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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