Tony Xia (no longer involved with AVFC)

[markavfc40]

14 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I admire your optimism Tro but I’ve accepted next season will most likely be about survival before anything else.

As things stand today this is the side we could put out.

Steer

Elmo, Elphick, Chester, Taylor

Bjarnason, Hourihane, Grealish

Adomah, Kodjia, Green

Defensively we would be weaker. Going forward though we would have more pace in the side due to the return of Kodjia and Green.

We could have a bench containing the likes of Bree, Jedi, Lansbury, O'Hare, Davis, RHM, Hogan

We will likely have far more young players involved next season all full of energy chomping at the bit for a chance and to make their mark so for me that will be no bad thing.

There is no way we should be fighting for survival next season and no reason why we shouldn't be competing for promotion. You can solely look on the downside of having to cut our cloth differently or you can take out the positives and see it as an opportunity to promote our youth and change our style and rely more on pace and power than experience and guile.

All the above may well require action by the owner in terms of a change in manager and some creative finance management to ensure we can keep the best of what remains of this squad and supplement it with loans. Certainly doable though.

 

[vreitti]

Just now, hippo said:

Really ? 

We have a £25m black hole in the accounts - and a player probably with a market value of around that. I would say selling Grealish is at the very forefront of his thoughts

We don't know how big a hole we have. I've seen figures of up to £45m being touted. Selling Grealish could of course fix all that, but there are other aspects to consider too. It's highly unlikely the team will be challenging for promotion next season without Grealish, and also I don't think the fans would forgive him for selling "one of our own", just to balance the books. 

[hippo]

20 minutes ago, vreitti said:

We don't know how big a hole we have. I've seen figures of up to £45m being touted. Selling Grealish could of course fix all that, but there are other aspects to consider too. It's highly unlikely the team will be challenging for promotion next season without Grealish, and also I don't think the fans would forgive him for selling "one of our own", just to balance the books. 

I haven't forgiven him for appointing RDM and let him toss £60m down the pan.

Dr T is half way around the world - and is actively involved in other business. I don't think he will be overly concerned with forgiveness or otherwise from villa fans. He seen an opportunity to buy us and bounce back into the PL using the parachute payments. It didn't work - he is more or less done with us now IMO. 

[TRO]

1 hour ago, hippo said:

I remember those sales - but the massive difference today is we sell , Grealish, Chester and none of that money goes on buying players, Furthermore we don't have anyone capable of putting the ball in the net - and those players don't come cheap, and Bruce throughout his managerial career has struggled to find goalscorers. 

Yes, sales to cover financial holes, is worrying.

For me, we have a goalscorer, if he can repeat his 19 goal season......its a leader of the line, i think we are short of.

Edited June 1, 2018 by TRO

[Vive_La_Villa]

1 hour ago, markavfc40 said:

As things stand today this is the side we could put out.

Steer

Elmo, Elphick, Chester, Taylor

Bjarnason, Hourihane, Grealish

Adomah, Kodjia, Green

Defensively we would be weaker. Going forward though we would have more pace in the side due to the return of Kodjia and Green.

We could have a bench containing the likes of Bree, Jedi, Lansbury, O'Hare, Davis, RHM, Hogan

We will likely have far more young players involved next season all full of energy chomping at the bit for a chance and to make their mark so for me that will be no bad thing.

There is no way we should be fighting for survival next season and no reason why we shouldn't be competing for promotion. You can solely look on the downside of having to cut our cloth differently or you can take out the positives and see it as an opportunity to promote our youth and change our style and rely more on pace and power than experience and guile.

All the above may well require action by the owner in terms of a change in manager and some creative finance management to ensure we can keep the best of what remains of this squad and supplement it with loans. Certainly doable though.

 

I guess when you put it like that it doesn’t look too bad and maybe enough for mid table As you say a lot will depend on who stays and who we can sign. 

[Eastie]

11 hours ago, TRO said:

I am well aware of the 4 players you mention, but i am not daunted by it.

you have to remember we finished 4th with those players and i do not want to enter in to recriminations....but i have been here before, with Gray, Gidman and Deehan leaving....we went on to do even better.....because we bought right.

I am happy to defend my thoughts, but don't really want to volunteer those thoughts.

This is fixable.....I just think we got it wrong......or should i rephrase that by saying we never really got it right.

We have been here before to a certain extent Tro and I notice you often refer to the Ron Saunders era - sadly Bruce is no Ron Saunders and football has changed considerably since those days - money has ruined the game to a large degree and whilst the Saunders era was enjoyable for those of us who were there this is a very different situation and a much less effective manager .

Bruce has had his chance and we now need to go a different way - the experienced players route has failed albeit narrowly and finances dictate that we need to down a different route .

i firmly believe Bruce and the club will part company mutually and he will leave with his head held high and no doubt get another job , maybe Leeds ,  maybe Norwich .

The main thing for us is that xias next appointment is successful and if that takes 3 or 4 years to come to fruition so be it - we cannot have people calling for heads next season if we are mid table and struggling for results - it will take time with no cash to invest and the new manager must be given that time .

i see people saying they expect us to be battling for promotion next season - whilst it would be nice I think we may have to accept a longer term plan and build up over 2 or  3 seasons - we have some good  young players who will only get better with experience - time will tell .

[TRO]

1 hour ago, markavfc40 said:

As things stand today this is the side we could put out.

Steer

Elmo, Elphick, Chester, Taylor

Bjarnason, Hourihane, Grealish

Adomah, Kodjia, Green

Defensively we would be weaker. Going forward though we would have more pace in the side due to the return of Kodjia and Green.

We could have a bench containing the likes of Bree, Jedi, Lansbury, O'Hare, Davis, RHM, Hogan

We will likely have far more young players involved next season all full of energy chomping at the bit for a chance and to make their mark so for me that will be no bad thing.

There is no way we should be fighting for survival next season and no reason why we shouldn't be competing for promotion. You can solely look on the downside of having to cut our cloth differently or you can take out the positives and see it as an opportunity to promote our youth and change our style and rely more on pace and power than experience and guile.

All the above may well require action by the owner in terms of a change in manager and some creative finance management to ensure we can keep the best of what remains of this squad and supplement it with loans. Certainly doable though.

 

I certainly welcome the introduction of pace and power.....the experience and guile as attractive as that is.....left us a bit short imo

I want to see the changes that focus on our team, securing the initiative in a game more often than we did.

however that is acheived.

[TRO]

6 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I guess when you put it like that it doesn’t look too bad and maybe enough for mid table As you say a lot will depend on who stays and who we can sign. 

It depends on how they play.....names on paper are only an indication.

They have to blend and form a unit that applies the right approach to cause the opposition damage.

cardiff were unfancied initially last season.....but their individual competence and contribution, created a collective force, that caused damage to the opposition.We had some players much better that theirs, but they had the complete unit and shape.

every player needs to have a clearly defined job.....and do it consistently.

That is what we need to do.

[TRO]

6 hours ago, Eastie said:

We have been here before to a certain extent Tro and I notice you often refer to the Ron Saunders era - sadly Bruce is no Ron Saunders and football has changed considerably since those days - money has ruined the game to a large degree and whilst the Saunders era was enjoyable for those of us who were there this is a very different situation and a much less effective manager .

Bruce has had his chance and we now need to go a different way - the experienced players route has failed albeit narrowly and finances dictate that we need to down a different route .

i firmly believe Bruce and the club will part company mutually and he will leave with his head held high and no doubt get another job , maybe Leeds ,  maybe Norwich .

The main thing for us is that xias next appointment is successful and if that takes 3 or 4 years to come to fruition so be it - we cannot have people calling for heads next season if we are mid table and struggling for results - it will take time with no cash to invest and the new manager must be given that time .

i see people saying they expect us to be battling for promotion next season - whilst it would be nice I think we may have to accept a longer term plan and build up over 2 or  3 seasons - we have some good  young players who will only get better with experience - time will tell .

Eastie....i completely endorse your comments.

However, I am not criticising our approach, because it could have worked, but while i watched us from game to game, some tell tale signs left me in doubt.

yes football has changed is a bland and general comment....but despite those changes some parallels still remain.

Neil Warnock went about his task in a Saunders like way, Fulham and Wolves, were more like the Ipswich model.I am not saying its exactly the same, just similar traits.

I only use Saunders because in our lifetime its the closest team to the ideal model for us to get results....its just a benchmark.

I think Graham Taylor did something similar too.....but both models had domination in the Centre of defence and centre forward positions.

Edited June 1, 2018 by TRO

[hippo]

Just to send a chill down your back - Ron saunders always looked at what he referred to as the spine of the team:-

Goalkeeper

Centre Back

Centre Forward 

.....gulp !

[StefanAVFC]

1 hour ago, markavfc40 said:

 

Steer

Elmo, Elphick, Chester, Taylor

Bjarnason, Hourihane, Grealish

Adomah, Kodjia, Green

 

 

That side looks fine but take Chester and Grealish out and we're in the shit.

[Eastie]

39 minutes ago, TRO said:

Eastie....i completely endorse your comments.

However, I am not criticising our approach, because it could have worked, but while i watched us from game to game, some tell tale signs left me in doubt.

yes football had changed in and bland and general comment....but despite those changes some parallels still remain.

Neil Warnock went about his task in a Saunders like way, Fulham and Wolves, were more like the Ipswich model.I am not saying its exactly the same, just similar traits.

I only use Saunders because in our lifetime its the closest team to the ideal model....its just a benchmark.

I think Graham Taylor did something similar too.....but both models had domination in the Centre of defence and centre forward.

You are right , Taylor also went for an experienced policy to get us up with the likes of Steve sims, mark Lillis, Stuart gray etc and it worked - they are fine lines indeed .

Indeed it was a Gary mcallister goal for leicester at boro that clinched promotion for us as we waited with the players on the pitch at Swindon on that memorable afternoon 30 years ago   , that year we went up  in the last game ,  this year we stayed down in the last game -we got close but ultimately failed and now need to look to the future and a new strategy as xia has implied . 

Edited June 1, 2018 by Eastie

[markavfc40]

54 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said:

That side looks fine but take Chester and Grealish out and we're in the shit.

I agree but you would hope that would bring in 40 mill and lets say of which 20 mill could be reinvested. Spent well that can get you two or three very good players at this level.

Time will tell what will happen but despite the challenges if we do go into the season without a squad capable of doing what the likes of Cardiff, Huddersfield, Brighton, Bournemouth, Burnley have done in the last handful of seasons - achieving promotion on a tight budget, then the owner will have failed, or been failed,  miserably.

[Eastie]

11 minutes ago, markavfc40 said:

I agree but you would hope that would bring in 40 mill and lets say of which 20 mill could be reinvested. Spent well that can get you two or three very good players at this level.

Time will tell what will happen but despite the challenges if we do go into the season without a squad capable of doing what the likes of Cardiff, Huddersfield, Brighton, Bournemouth, Burnley have done in the last handful of seasons - achieving promotion on a tight budget, then the owner will have failed, or been failed,  miserably.

I’d be surprised if any of the Grealish cash was invested in new signings - I’d expect it to go to cover the losses .

Any players coming in are more likely to be free transfers or loans in  my opinion - given that we can bring in at least 5 loan deals then there is still scope to bring in some quality . 

Edited June 1, 2018 by Eastie

[KHV]

I think Tony should email Sheikh Mansour pretending to be a Nigerian prince

[hippo]

small mumurs he might be looking to sell. Imo the only obstacle is a buyer.

Xia is a clueless as they come- this firesale is going to be as bad as anything we have seen....with nothing off the agenda....

sooner he is gone the better. he is done with us now.

[mikeyp102]

34 minutes ago, hippo said:

small mumurs he might be looking to sell. Imo the only obstacle is a buyer.

 

Any links to this?

[holteend1982]

3 hours ago, hippo said:

small mumurs he might be looking to sell. Imo the only obstacle is a buyer.

Xia is a clueless as they come- this firesale is going to be as bad as anything we have seen....with nothing off the agenda....

sooner he is gone the better. he is done with us now.

Id be willing to bet money Xia has no Intrest in selling and there will be no firesale. 

You need chill out mate, it's not gonna be that bad. 

[jjaacckk91]

4 hours ago, hippo said:

small mumurs he might be looking to sell. Imo the only obstacle is a buyer.

Xia is a clueless as they come- this firesale is going to be as bad as anything we have seen....with nothing off the agenda....

sooner he is gone the better. he is done with us now.

If you're going to slaughter the guy at least do it based on things he's actually done rather than murmurs, and predictions.

So far his decisions have had us as by far the best team not to get promoted and although you may disagree with some of the decisions he or his staff have made(I for one disagree with a few) you can see the rationale behind it with going with the tried and tested.

You might be right but nothing so far suggests he is done with us, at least give him more than 6 days since we found out what division we are in to start ripping in to him.

[AvfcRigo82]

6 hours ago, hippo said:

small mumurs he might be looking to sell. Imo the only obstacle is a buyer.

Xia is a clueless as they come- this firesale is going to be as bad as anything we have seen....with nothing off the agenda....

sooner he is gone the better. he is done with us now.

Hysteria