Keyblade Posted September 14, 2019 Share Posted September 14, 2019 13 minutes ago, Genie said: I'm completely calm, but you seem to have gotten ahead of yourself. I was just picking up on the point the poster made that an element of their success today (against what is one of the best teams in PL history) was attributed to them keeping the team that got them promoted together. There is an awful lot of value in having a group of players who know each other together even if they are not technically excellent. Something some people dont grasp. Most people, and I'm sure even Dean Smith and the board would also agree with that notion but we just couldn't keep the whole team, that's the point. We kept all of our best players, but the out of contact players weren't even good enough for another promotion push, let alone the PL as evidenced by Adomah being the only player even playing near that level currently. We had no choice. We just barely scraped promotion. Norwich had a settled, young, title-winning side. We're not even comparable. You make it seem like we ripped the guts out of a good squad for the sake of vanity. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Albrighton Posted September 14, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted September 14, 2019 Norwich were 18 points better than we were last season. To give that some kind of context, we were 16 points ahead of Blackburn in 15th and 21 points ahead of Stoke in 16th. It was quite the gulf looking back. From the middle of October onwards they lost twice. I know we gave them a game on the final league day, but the argument of how much better they were over the course of the whole season has more weight to it than a one off game. Anyway, regardless of all that it was a very impressive result for them today. Man City need to get their shit together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 13 hours ago, Genie said: Yes of course we did. Unless they all died after the playoff final. They didn't die though, they all just spontaneously lost the ability to play football... apparently. Well since 3 of the released players are still without clubs and only Whelan got a move to a top division team in Scotland I think other clubs also feel similar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 28 minutes ago, Zatman said: Well since 3 of the released players are still without clubs and only Whelan got a move to a top division team in Scotland I think other clubs also feel similar I still think the point is being lost, someone like Hutton or Whelan hold more value for Villa because we know them and they know us. We've flooded the starting 11 with foreign players unfamiliar with English football, they'll need time to adapt which might cost us in the long term. I mentioned before, there's 2 ways to play the transfer window after promotion. The Villa/Fulham way, or what Norwich have done. Obviously it's far too early to say who will come out on top. My opinion was we should have kept a few more of last seasons squad, and added a bit more consideratly. We added a ton of new faces, most of which are new to England and the PL. It's a high risk approach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 The likes of Hutton or Whelan might have offered something off field, but they would have offered diddly squat on field in games. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Albrighton Posted September 15, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted September 15, 2019 20 minutes ago, Genie said: I still think the point is being lost, someone like Hutton or Whelan hold more value for Villa because we know them and they know us. We've flooded the starting 11 with foreign players unfamiliar with English football, they'll need time to adapt which might cost us in the long term. I mentioned before, there's 2 ways to play the transfer window after promotion. The Villa/Fulham way, or what Norwich have done. Obviously it's far too early to say who will come out on top. My opinion was we should have kept a few more of last seasons squad, and added a bit more consideratly. We added a ton of new faces, most of which are new to England and the PL. It's a high risk approach. They might hold more value to Villa as they know the set up, but I think that would only carry so much weight. I’d worry about how well the legs that looked like they were struggling by the end of the championship would fair in the premier league. As it happens, my feeling is Norwich will come out on top this season (out of the two clubs). They appear to have a good established set up. Our new players will take longer to adjust to playing with each other. However, in the long term, should both Norwich and Villa survive, I think we’ll be in the better position going forwards. Basically the majority of people accept buying all these players is a huge risk, myself included. But the belief is that it would be a far bigger risk had they not been bought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 14 hours ago, Keyblade said: Most people, and I'm sure even Dean Smith and the board would also agree with that notion but we just couldn't keep the whole team, that's the point. We kept all of our best players, but the out of contact players weren't even good enough for another promotion push, let alone the PL as evidenced by Adomah being the only player even playing near that level currently. We had no choice. We just barely scraped promotion. Norwich had a settled, young, title-winning side. We're not even comparable. You make it seem like we ripped the guts out of a good squad for the sake of vanity. Spot on that we had no chance. The idea that we didn't need to heavily strengthen the squad in numbers given the players that we were promoted with is at best delusional and at worst idiotic. Stick with the likes of Whelan and Hutton at this level? Give me a break. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 I think if Hutton, whelan, jedinak had a year left on their contracts we might have looked at it more but whilst the chance was there we had to take it And then you look at where they've ended up (hearts, soccer am appearances and not a clue where jedi is) says alot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 They are all past it and wouldn't cut it in the Premier League now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 Mane vs Hutton, Jedinak vs De Bruyne Scary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 Think at a fans meeting in the US a few weeks ago DS said only one he maybe would've liked to have kept on would've been Jedinak as he was brilliant in the dressing room by all accounts showing good leadership. However he was barely starting games in the championship and start throwing in some really poor performances like v home to Sheffield United so right decision to move them all on imo. We'd have loved Axel and Tammy back but they're obviously getting chances at their clubs now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LakotaDakota Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 3 hours ago, Zatman said: Mane vs Hutton, Jedinak vs De Bruyne Scary TBF Mane/De Bruyne against any of our current players & hell, even most of the other defenders in the prem is always likely to be a bit of a scary thought 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LakotaDakota Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 4 hours ago, sne said: The likes of Hutton or Whelan might have offered something off field, but they would have offered diddly squat on field in games. I guess the question is would it have been worth keeping them around even if they were not going to play, If we offered them all 10-15k per week each to stay, train & be part of the squad in order to try and bring on some of the new players but only used in absolute emergencies or the odd cup game i wonder if a, they would have been interested & b would it actually work having 2/3 older players around effectively acting as mentors. For a million quid or so it may have been worth a shot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 Just now, LakotaDakota said: I guess the question is would it have been worth keeping them around even if they were not going to play, If we offered them all 10-15k per week each to stay, train & be part of the squad in order to try and bring on some of the new players but only used in absolute emergencies or the odd cup game i wonder if a, they would have been interested & b would it actually work having 2/3 older players around effectively acting as mentors. For a million quid or so it may have been worth a shot 25 man squad. Can we afford 2 slots to people to just sit around and tell camp fire stories to the kids? I think we'll need everyone to be able to contribute on the pitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 Could’ve done with Everton beating Bournemouth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 Arsenal 1 up at Watford. Good as Watford had started the game pretty well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyangel Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 Smash and grab by Arsenal. watford dominant in early exchanges but now falling to pieces. 2-0 to Aubamayang! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 9 minutes ago, theboyangel said: Smash and grab by Arsenal. watford dominant in early exchanges but now falling to pieces. 2-0 to Aubamayang! Aubameyang showing why the top strikers get the big money! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 48 minutes ago, sne said: 25 man squad. Can we afford 2 slots to people to just sit around and tell camp fire stories to the kids? I think we'll need everyone to be able to contribute on the pitch. Who suggested signing players not to play? That would be crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 1 minute ago, Genie said: Who suggested signing players not to play? That would be crazy. Literally the post above the one you quoted 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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