The Rebuild

[omariqy]

I know it is a lot of guesswork but I thought it would be interesting to see people's views on how we rebuild the squad. 

1. Who do we realistically sacrifice?

2. Who can we sell and who can't we sell?

3. Who would you buy and loan?

4. Which youth players would get the chance?

5. Ultimately what would be your squad going into the season? 

For me there are two scenarios - the first is us selling someone like Grealish or Chester to plug the gap. We end up with more squad players but a lack of quality.  The second scenario is trying our best to get rid of the deadwood and sell some of our sellable assets whilst keeping our very best players.

Scenario 1

We sell Grealish for £30m (more realistic).  We sell a few fringe players like McCormack, Gil, Elphick, Tshibola, Lansbury, Gardner, RDL, Gollini, Gil (probably get £25m in total). Say we have £8m to £10m to spend. 

Youngsters I would consider bringing in to the fold would be Clark, Suliman, Doyle-Hayes and Blackett-Taylor.

You would be looking at signing GK, LB, CB, CM, LM/RM and ST.  I would definitely look at Bobby Reid as a player to sign on a free. I would look at bringing Tuanzebe, Grabban and Onomah back in on loan if possible as well. We need pace desperately so that would be a key factor in most of the signings I would make.

Henderson, Steer, Sarkic

Elmo, Bree, Taylor, Chester, Tuanzebe, Clark, Suliman

Jedinak, Whelan, Hourihane, Thor, Onomah, Doyle-Hayes

Adomah, Green, O'Hare, Reid, Blackett-Taylor

Hogan, Kodjia, Davis, RHM, Grabban

Who would you spend money on to add to this squad?

Scenario 2

We sell Adomah, Hourihane, Whelan, Hogan plus the fringe players above. We get maybe £20m for those 4 plus above. We have no money left over to spend and have the following squad and have to rely on free players and loans.

Henderson, Steer, Sarkic

Elmo, Bree, Taylor, Chester, Tuanzebe, Clark, Suliman

Thor, Onomah, Doyle-Hayes, Grealish, Jedinak

Green, O'Hare, Reid, Blackett-Taylor

Kodjia, Davis, RHM, Grabban

Who would you get on a free to add to this squad?

[Rodders]

Quote

We sell a few fringe players like McCormack, Gil, Elphick, Tshibola, Lansbury, Gardner, RDL, Gollini, Gil (probably get £25m in total

On this point, it would be a) amazing to get money for Gil twice  but also I think the absolute max you get from that lot is c.£12m. 

I would involve the youngsters alot more into the squad. With Green, Davis, Clark, Doyle-Hayes, RHM, Bree to feature far more. 

 

Flog: Taylor and Kodja as well - the latter is 30, and whilst obviously talented, I think we need to invest some of that money into a better team player option, or a younger rough diamond to develop. 

I would say we also go With Steer and Sarkic as goalkeepers for the first team squad. 

Centre halves - look at talented options in this league or below, see what's around overseas, either way,  no more wage heavy oldies ( though I'm sure FFP negates that option for us anyway )

Hutton in on reduced terms, find a left back as well.

Midfield - flog one of Jedinak or Whelan as well to save on wages, and then we need a couple of options in the middle. I don't know players at all though so can't do names. 

Up front, go with Davis, Hogan (play a different style to use him) , RHM, 

 

Exploit the loan market - what's the limit - is it 4? Use the loan market to get in midfield / forward players - I'd rather we invest what funds we have on buying our own defence. 

[Eastie]

1 hour ago, Rodders said:

On this point, it would be a) amazing to get money for Gil twice  but also I think the absolute max you get from that lot is c.£12m. 

I would involve the youngsters alot more into the squad. With Green, Davis, Clark, Doyle-Hayes, RHM, Bree to feature far more. 

 

Flog: Taylor and Kodja as well - the latter is 30, and whilst obviously talented, I think we need to invest some of that money into a better team player option, or a younger rough diamond to develop. 

I would say we also go With Steer and Sarkic as goalkeepers for the first team squad. 

Centre halves - look at talented options in this league or below, see what's around overseas, either way,  no more wage heavy oldies ( though I'm sure FFP negates that option for us anyway )

Hutton in on reduced terms, find a left back as well.

Midfield - flog one of Jedinak or Whelan as well to save on wages, and then we need a couple of options in the middle. I don't know players at all though so can't do names. 

Up front, go with Davis, Hogan (play a different style to use him) , RHM, 

 

Exploit the loan market - what's the limit - is it 4? Use the loan market to get in midfield / forward players - I'd rather we invest what funds we have on buying our own defence. 

We had 5 last season so definately not 4 - not sure if allowed more .

[KJT123]

What i'd like to see for our first game:

                                New GK

Bree             Chester      New CB           Hutton

New RM     Hourihane     Bjarnason      Green

                                 Grealish

                                   Davis

 

Obviously with the way things are looking at the moment, it seems that it's going to be impossible to keep both Chester and Grealish, but it's imperative we try and find a way to keep them.

[rodders0223]

£25m for this bunch of losers? No chance.

McCormack - £0.00. Worthless. Infact less than worthless. He will probably cost us another £3m - £5m in wages over the next 2 years dependent on what loan offers we get. Nobody is matching his current deal.

Gil - £1.5m. Done and dusted.

Elphick - Another loan on account of his age and current salary/ nominal fee.

Tshibola- £500k if we are lucky. Done nothing in the game.

Lansbury - Signed with 6 months left on his deal on stupid wages. Nobody is taking on that contract. We will be paying him the best part of £30k next year whereever he is playing.

Gardner - £250k or another loan to see him through to the end of his deal.

RDL - £1.5m

Gollini - £3.5m

 

[Jareth]

Nice thread, positive. Sell jack for £50 mill after daft bidding war, get in little known manager with experience of young teams, bring our talented under 23s through, storm the league with natural ability, enter prem with a model for the future already in place. Yes it is sunny, yes I’ve had 3 over priced Heineken’s, but why the fark not. 

 

[sharkyvilla]

1 hour ago, KJT123 said:

What i'd like to see for our first game:

                                New GK

Bree             Chester      New CB           Hutton

New RM     Hourihane     Bjarnason      Green

                                 Grealish

                                   Davis

 

Obviously with the way things are looking at the moment, it seems that it's going to be impossible to keep both Chester and Grealish, but it's imperative we try and find a way to keep them.

Unfortunately I can't see many goals in that team, plus the two best players will be leaving.  I think the loan market is going to be our best chance of success again.  Bruce may well be the best manager for that kind of scenario.

[Rob182]

I’d be more inclined to sell Chester than Grealish, if we could get by by selling just one of them. Grealish has huge potential, so another year of playing the way he has (maybe with a few more goals) would see his value increase even more.

Is Jacob Bedeau any good? I feel like he’s been forgotten about. Loads of people are talking about Clark and Suliman, but we paid close to £1m for Bedeau at 16 years of age, and supposedly beat off a number of the countries top clubs for his signature. Good enough, or still too young?

Here are some free transfers that may be of interest, should we be able to afford their wages/signing on fees:

Abel Hernandez

Wayne Hennessey

James Morrison

Junior Hoilett

Joe Ledley

Bakary Sako

James Collins

Boaz Myhill

A fairly uninspiring list. I’m sure there are plenty more free agents about, but these are the ones I know of.

[daggy_333]

15 minutes ago, Rob182 said:

I’d be more inclined to sell Chester than Grealish, if we could get by by selling just one of them. Grealish has huge potential, so another year of playing the way he has (maybe with a few more goals) would see his value increase even more.

Is Jacob Bedeau any good? I feel like he’s been forgotten about. Loads of people are talking about Clark and Suliman, but we paid close to £1m for Bedeau at 16 years of age, and supposedly beat off a number of the countries top clubs for his signature. Good enough, or still too young?

Here are some free transfers that may be of interest, should we be able to afford their wages/signing on fees:

Abel Hernandez

Wayne Hennessey

James Morrison

Junior Hoilett

Joe Ledley

Bakary Sako

James Collins

Boaz Myhill

A fairly uninspiring list. I’m sure there are plenty more free agents about, but these are the ones I know of.

I honestly feel like physique wise Bedeau is far more ready for first team football than Suliman.

[jacketspuds]

26 minutes ago, Rob182 said:

I’d be more inclined to sell Chester than Grealish, if we could get by by selling just one of them. Grealish has huge potential, so another year of playing the way he has (maybe with a few more goals) would see his value increase even more.

Is Jacob Bedeau any good? I feel like he’s been forgotten about. Loads of people are talking about Clark and Suliman, but we paid close to £1m for Bedeau at 16 years of age, and supposedly beat off a number of the countries top clubs for his signature. Good enough, or still too young?

Here are some free transfers that may be of interest, should we be able to afford their wages/signing on fees:

Abel Hernandez

Wayne Hennessey

James Morrison

Junior Hoilett

Joe Ledley

Bakary Sako

James Collins

Boaz Myhill

A fairly uninspiring list. I’m sure there are plenty more free agents about, but these are the ones I know of.

I was just going to mention Abel Hernandez. He could do a job for us in the right system.

[Rob182]

9 minutes ago, jacketspuds said:

I was just going to mention Abel Hernandez. He could do a job for us in the right system.

I get the impression that we’d need to sell both Grealish and Chester to bring in a player like Hernandez, who would want a decent wage and signing on fee.

I wonder how we’d all feel about that. Selling Chester, Grealish and all the unwanted squaddies, if it meant that we could then get a better quality of player spread through the team as part of the rebuild.

[LakotaDakota]

Presuming Grealish goes i guess we are somewhere around here

[dn1982]

We sponsor everything. The DR renames Villa Park so we’d don’t have to sell anyone we don’t want to. We then build the team around Jack and Chester. We’d be left with a team of Steer Bree Chester New CB Taylor Birkir Jack Hourihane Adomah Green Kodija. I’d get James Collins in. Loan Axel again. Promote Lyden, RHM, OHare, Clark, Bedeau, Hayes-Doyle and a few others. We’d still need a bit more depth  but we could fill that through loans and free transfers. Easy 

[VillaAlex]

We really need a goalkeeper, at least two centre backs, a left back, a wide player, a mobile central midfielder and a striker. I hope we don't sell Elphick as I still think he has something to offer. I'd also push Mitchell Clark and Jake Doyle Hayes into the first team with Davis, O'Hare and Hepburn Murphy.

I'd try get rid of Taylor, Jedinak (wages), Whelan (wages) and Lansbury outside the obvious.

Kodjia, Hogan, Adomah and Bjarnason as sellable if the offer is unrefusable.

I'd keep Chester, Grealish and Hourihane at all costs.

                GK/Steer

Bree/Elmo.  Chester/CB .   CB/Elphick   LB/M. Clark

Adomah/RM  Hourihane/Doyle-Hayes . Grealish/Bjarnason Green/LM

                                           AM/O'Hare

                                Kodjia/Davis/Hogan/ST

 

In terms of signings obviously it depends on the manager, how they fit into the system etc...

However there is a list of players I think that are attainable and would provide value next season.

GK:-

Dean Henderson (Free/Tribunal, League One team of year, Man Utd academy like Johnstone).

Boaz Myhill (Free, former player and fairly solid keeper. Experienced...)

Bartosz Bialkowski (One of the best keepers in league, as it's Ipswich he might be affordable).

Danny Ward (Loan, very hopeful this one, if Liverpool were to let him out and there's no Premier League interest)

LB:-

Max Clark (Free/Tribunal, contract expiring and really impressed for Hull this year, very good defensively.)

Ola Aina (Loan, again did very well for Hull at right back, but can also play left back. Quick, strong going forward)

LB/CB:-

Omar Beckles (Fee, did very well for Shrewsbury this year, may be a big step up but could be worth the risk.)

CB:-

Axel Tuanzebe (Loan, give him another go in his natural position)

CM:-

Phil Foden (Loan, City are thinking of loaning him out, again very hopeful as we'd be down the pecking order.)

AM:-

Bobby Reid (Free, no brainer if we can afford him would be perfect behind the striker)

Erhun Oztumer (Free, as mentioned in the transfer thread by others he'd be worth a shot after always being one of the better players in League One)

Harry Wilson (Loan, very hopeful, was superb for Hull and may get Premier League interest)

Ben Woodburn (Loan)

Jack Harrison (Loan, couldn't get in Pulis ball behind Adama but there's a good player in there)

ST:-

Lee Gregory (Free, did very well for Millwall and would offer something different and is affordable, needs to be the right contract though)

Abel Hernandez (Free, as mentioned if we can afford his wages...)

Jordan Hugill (Loan, could be a late one when West Ham are desperate to offload)

Lewis Grabban (Loan, if possible to bring back)

[Junxs]

Steer deserves his chance, he's been watching and waiting patiently for 5 years and never let us down when he's had the odd game. Maybe Bunn can stick around another year as a cheap back up?

Wolves have released Jordan Graham, I always liked him and he had a fantastic season prior to the one just gone. I'd get him back in on a free, we lacked options on the left last season and his wages will be cheap. Compete with Andre Green for LM

Mitch Clark is as determined a full back I have seen and I've watched a lot of the U23s last season, think he can easily make the step up to be our left back and Taylor can come in when he needs a rest.

Also from the U23s I'd bring in Doyle Hayes and Jordan Lyden - Lyden can share the Whelan/Jedinak position with Bjarnason. Doyle-Hayes can compete with Hourihane. Try to sell both Whelan and Jedinak.

I don't think Suliman or Bedeau are ready for first team football so I would look to get a centreback, maybe Tuanzebe on loan again for hopefully a fit season, and our 2 youngsters as back up

Callum O'Hare and RHM are far too good for the u23s and need to be fully integrated into the squad

Steer / Clark, Chester, Tuanzebe, Elmo (or Bree) / Bjarnason, Hourihane, Grealish (McKirdy or O'Hare) / Green, Adomah / Kodjia (or Hogan/ RHM)

I think the ingredients are there for a decent team as long as the manager, whether that be Bruce or a new guy are willing to give youth a chance!

I'd rather see the above team than 5 loan players again and aging freebies. 

Try to sell: Taylor, Elphick, Whelan, Lansbury, Jedinak, McCormack, Hogan - £15m in sales + av 35k/week = £13m saved in wages - 28m in total

Gone: Johnstone, Terry, Hutton, Snodgrass, Samba, Agbonlahor, Gil, Golini, De Laet, Onomah - ave 30k/week wages =  15.5m 

Savings of 15.5m + 28m = 43.5m - which I'd say brings us in line with what we need to save from last season without having to sell Grealish or Chester

[Kiwivillan]

Bjarnasson is not a good DM. He's crap. I had a look at the much maligned Whelan and was surprised the last 10 regular season games he featured in after Brentford loss resulted in 9 consecutive wins then draw against Derby. Haven't drilled down to see if any of those were sub appearances. Thor for me is all flair and no trousers and it's a common habit for fans to underestimate a good DM because they don't understand what the role is about

[Danwichmann]

16 hours ago, omariqy said:

We sell Grealish for £30m (more realistic).  We sell a few fringe players like McCormack, Gil, Elphick, Tshibola, Lansbury, Gardner, RDL, Gollini, Gil (probably get £25m in total). Say we have £8m to £10m to spend. 

We'd be lucky to get 25m for those fringe players and Grealish combined. Some of them we won't even be able to unload on free transfers.

[John]

The way it currently looks we will be left with the players that nobody else wants and will need to play them alongside the best of our emerging young talent. We will be prevented by FFP from adding to our wage bill by making any loan or free transfer signings so what we might want to do for next season will be largely taken out of our hands. Negative I know but I fear that will be our bleak immediate future.

[hippo]

Jedi had a mare in his first game at CB against sheff wed. However he played a few other games there towards the end of the season and did ok. Don't see many options at CB. Terry, Samba, Elphick all look set to depart. Don't think we have any starlets in the position either. 

Edited June 1, 2018 by hippo

[sharkyvilla]

1 hour ago, Danwichmann said:

We'd be lucky to get 25m for those fringe players and Grealish combined. Some of them we won't even be able to unload on free transfers.

I'm pretty sure we could wipe out most of our reported FFP deficit by selling Grealish.  Premier League teams won't bat an eyelid at spending £30-40m on one player and I think there will be plenty of interest.  I agree we will have to either use the others or loan them out again.