Christian Purslow

[sidcow]

8 hours ago, Hornso said:

Purslow was criticised at Liverpool for getting himself heavily involved in football decision making as opposed to leaving it to the football department.

Comment automatically null and void. 

[Peter Griffin]

On 27/10/2021 at 00:52, Hornso said:

Purslow was criticised at Liverpool for getting himself heavily involved in football decision making as opposed to leaving it to the football department.

I think the reasoning behind that was because Purslow's primary objective at Liverpool was to sell the club. His involvement in footballing matters was selling players the manager didn't want to sell (at a big profit) and reducing wage bill and buying players and appointing a manager that were not exactly inspiring from a footballing perspective. He delivered very well on the objective he was given by the then owners

[KAZZAM]

It must've been on Purslow's orders not to spend any of the 'Jack' money and to effectively 'shut up shop' transfer wise. 

Which now has lead to us being woefully thin in the midfield. We have 4 senior CM(Mcginn, Douglas, Sanson, Nakamba) and 1 youth(Jacob Ramsey). And now we start playing a 4-3-3 when 2 are injured and one gets injured mid game. 

I mean it was so obvious to many on this forum we needed another more defensive minded midfielder to come in not only to improve the first eleven but the squad aswell. Covid, World Cup qualifiers mean it's gonna be a long season and the injuries are racking up. 

Purslow clearly didn't want to have our pants pulled down in transfer fees when clubs knew we had a 100 Mill in credit. However I feel this move has now cost us a good season and we only realistically needed one more CM to have a good transfer window. 

So I think Purslow has to be held largely accountable for our current struggles. 

 

[foreveryoung]

20 minutes ago, KAZZAM said:

It must've been on Purslow's orders not to spend any of the 'Jack' money and to effectively 'shut up shop' transfer wise. 

Which now has lead to us being woefully thin in the midfield. We have 4 senior CM(Mcginn, Douglas, Sanson, Nakamba) and 1 youth(Jacob Ramsey). And now we start playing a 4-3-3 when 2 are injured and one gets injured mid game. 

I mean it was so obvious to many on this forum we needed another more defensive minded midfielder to come in not only to improve the first eleven but the squad aswell. Covid, World Cup qualifiers mean it's gonna be a long season and the injuries are racking up. 

Purslow clearly didn't want to have our pants pulled down in transfer fees when clubs knew we had a 100 Mill in credit. However I feel this move has now cost us a good season and we only realistically needed one more CM to have a good transfer window. 

So I think Purslow has to be held largely accountable for our current struggles. 

 

He didn't shut up shop on signing a midfielder at all. We just put all our eggs in one basket thinking we would get ESR and then JWP. Actually heard JWP was in the bag after signing Ing's, a gentlemans agreement. Then his agent went back on it from all the hassle we caused them trying to keep Grealish.

[villalad21]

3 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

He didn't shut up shop on signing a midfielder at all. We just put all our eggs in one basket thinking we would get ESR and then JWP. Actually heard JWP was in the bag after signing Ing's, a gentlemans agreement. Then his agent went back on it from all the hassle we caused them trying to keep Grealish.

It's all about prioritizing.

No one forced Smith to buy Bailey and  Ings. He obviously valued attackers over a defensive midfielder which we are now paying for and leaking goals for fun.

[Delphinho123]

I’m not even sure it was a defensive midfielder we needed (it probably was). We just need a bloody midfielder who keeps the ball well, can pass and tries to actually dictate the tempo of the game. Whether that player is a 6/8/10, who cares, we just get bullied in there and our lack of quality is so obvious. 

Buendia isn’t a central midfielder, either as an 8 or a ‘10’. 

Really poor transfer window from the club.

[MaVilla]

12 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

I’m not even sure it was a defensive midfielder we needed (it probably was). We just need a bloody midfielder who keeps the ball well, can pass and tries to actually dictate the tempo of the game. Whether that player is a 6/8/10, who cares, we just get bullied in there and our lack of quality is so obvious. 

Buendia isn’t a central midfielder, either as an 8 or a ‘10’. 

Really poor transfer window from the club.

i just wish we had a midfield pairing like Rice & Soucek, or an Ndidi, or a Bissouma, our midfield is weak as p***, and added to that, apart from Luiz none of them can pass 5 yards (apart from maybe Sanson & Ramsey - who are always injured or new to the team and still developing).

[Sam-AVFC]

1 hour ago, foreveryoung said:

He didn't shut up shop on signing a midfielder at all. We just put all our eggs in one basket thinking we would get ESR and then JWP. Actually heard JWP was in the bag after signing Ing's, a gentlemans agreement. Then his agent went back on it from all the hassle we caused them trying to keep Grealish.

Do you really think a player would agree in principle to move to us and accept when his agent told him it's no longer happening as we upset a different client of his?

[foreveryoung]

2 minutes ago, Sam-AVFC said:

Do you really think a player would agree in principle to move to us and accept when his agent told him it's no longer happening as we upset a different client of his?

We would have spoke to his agent about the player not JWP.

[Sam-AVFC]

2 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

We would have spoke to his agent about the player not JWP.

Then it's irrelevant as the agent can't make a decision for the player anyway. I'm surprised you believe an agent would negotiate most of a deal without checking whether their client would even consider it.

You know agents are contracted to look after a player's best interests? If they decide to play games with a client for their own personal reasons they could be sued into oblivion. If you had heard about this happening, it's safe to assume JWP has also. The fact Barnett still represents shows it's either bollocks or he was never interested in moving and made his agent aware.

[foreveryoung]

2 minutes ago, Sam-AVFC said:

Then it's irrelevant as the agent can't make a decision for the player anyway. I'm surprised you believe an agent would negotiate most of a deal without checking whether their client would even consider it.

You know agents are contracted to look after a player's best interests? If they decide to play games with a client for their own personal reasons they could be sued into oblivion. If you had heard about this happening, it's safe to assume JWP has also. The fact Barnett still represents shows it's either bollocks or he was never interested in moving and made his agent aware.

Or his agent convinced him to put a buy out clause in his contract so we or anyone would have to pay more to get him out of Southampton.

[MWARLEY2]

I think Purslow is clear of blame at the moment. He battled to keep Grealish and then when that was impossible battled for Villa to get replacements in before Grealish signed for Citeh. Jonathan Barnett is a leach but a powerful leach. 

He doesnt strike me as a ditherer either. When a decision needs to be made he will make it. 

[KentVillan]

 

There's a whole thread here by Guillem Balague from 2020, which was obviously briefed by Suso, but worth a read of the translation. Think it gives some clues as to what's gone on with Smith, Lange, and so on:

Quote

It may seem strange that Suso García Pitarch leaves Aston Villa after getting the team promoted two years earlier than planned, taking it to a cup final and guaranteeing its presence in the Premier League (that's to say, undeniable sporting success), but not all that glitters is gold

CEO Christian Purslow did not always welcome the owners' relationship with the Sporting Director [Suso]. In case Dean Smith had to be replaced, he was asked for advice (Suso suggested Javi Gracia, Chris Hughton, Bruno Lage, Purslow wanted Steven Gerrard or John Terry)

Without the presence of the owners (they have not come to see the team in seven months), Purslow (who does not live in Birmingham) covers a lot of ground. Thus the signing of Drinkwater was his and Dean Smith's (Suso was in London signing Nzonzi)

The owners asked Suso for an improvement in quality in the squad and on the bench for the following season. Contacts were made with high-level coaches eager to get on board. But the CEO felt on the sidelines and the relationship with Suso deteriorated

Smith and Suso have received media criticism because self-serving information that protects Purslow is passed on. Difficult to work in these conditions. Suso has preferred not to continue despite having one more year of contract, and so he told the owners a while ago.

Edited November 4, 2021 by KentVillan

[KentVillan]

Tbh, the idea that Suso signing Nzonzi or bringing in Javi Gracia would have solved anything is pretty ludicrous, as is the idea that he kept us in the Premier League - not sure Suso comes out of this too well.

However, the major notes of concern for me re Purslow are the fact he sees a completely unproven John Terry as a management option, his involvement in the transfer market (esp. one of our worst ever signings in Drinkwater... and I'm guessing Barkley was his idea too)...

And most importantly, the allegation that he leaks to the papers to undermine other figures in the club.

There are lots of rumours that Gregg Evans's only source within Villa Park is Christian Purslow. Read his stories with that in mind, and it doesn't paint Purslow in a good light.

On the flipside, Purslow has helped turn around this club and you can't fault the work he's done around the youth setup. Overall I see him as a key figure in our recent success, but he needs to stick to what he's good at.

[lexicon]

Well this is just the Suso side of things, isn't it? Bit one-sided. 

[AvfcRigo82]

14 hours ago, KentVillan said:

Purslow wanted Steven Gerrard or John Terry)

He will once again if Dean loses his job.

[zenda]

I'm surprised Balague still gets fed snippets given the amount of casual judgements and second-hand opinions he throws around. I used to like him on Sky's Revista but the guy's gob and shirts have both got a lot louder since then. Pipe dahn son, be'ave yourself!

[Zatman]

Guillem Balague isn't even a journalist he is just some clown that happened to speak English with a Spanish accent when Sky got La Liga coverage. Hasn't a clue

[sidcow]

Wow, these pages are starting to resemble Qanon conspiracy theories. Utterly bizarre conclusions being reached with zero evidence or even logic. 

[KentVillan]

19 minutes ago, sidcow said:

Wow, these pages are starting to resemble Qanon conspiracy theories. Utterly bizarre conclusions being reached with zero evidence or even logic. 

What are the bizarre conclusions? Just sharing a one-sided Twitter account from a journalist, and caveated it as such...