Johan Lange

[a-k]

6 hours ago, MaVilla said:

Dear Mr Lange;

In reconpense for your !walk on water" type transfer dealing since you have been at Villa, my daughters are currently 8 years old (twins), if you wish to marry one of them when they come of age, you are welcome to choose one!

Let me know your decision via a letter please, preferably scanned and sent over (not via carrier pigeon like Bailey's contract - kk tyvm)

ta ta 4 now!

 

[Zatman]

Have we ever had such an improved squad upgrade in a summer before even with Jack going

[rjw63]

Ron Atkinson signed a shitload of players when he arrived, most of them were decent.

[Strog]

Just now, rjw63 said:

Ron Atkinson signed a shitload of players when he arrived, most of them were decent.

He did, it was using the Platt money and we improved massively..

[Vive_La_Villa]

3 minutes ago, rjw63 said:

Ron Atkinson signed a shitload of players when he arrived, most of them were decent.

They were good signings but it wasnt with the long term in mind which is why 3 seasons later we nearly got relegated and Little had to do another rebuild. Same with under MON.

[Reivax_Villa]

He has been very impressive. Seems to be involved in first team, academy, coaching.

 

[stewiek2]

1 hour ago, rjw63 said:

Ron Atkinson signed a shitload of players when he arrived, most of them were decent.

And Paul Mortimer.

[randy_69]

1 hour ago, rjw63 said:

Ron Atkinson signed a shitload of players when he arrived, most of them were decent.

Agreed. Eight I think. Atkinson/Staunton/Regis/teale/Richardson/sealey/Ehiogu/ mortimer.

less said about the Mortimer fiasco the better though!

[danceoftheshamen]

I can't help but liken it to Andy Gray leaving for Wolves in 79' Everyone was furious as i remember but then in came Peter Withe.

Ironically 42 years later and it was Gray's son who was saying on Social Media that Grealish was deffo off & despite NSWE's great efforts he was shunning us (& he did actually get pretty hammered on here for it). 

[ender4]

The trouble with signing a whole load of players is that it takes times to gel them into a cohesive team.   Over to you Dean!

[KentVillan]

2 hours ago, ender4 said:

The trouble with signing a whole load of players is that it takes times to gel them into a cohesive team.   Over to you Dean!

Depends who you sign though. Experienced players who are familiar with the league often settle in very quickly. I can't see Ings taking any time to settle in tbh.

[hippo]

2 hours ago, ender4 said:

The trouble with signing a whole load of players is that it takes times to gel them into a cohesive team.   Over to you Dean!

But the defensive is unchanged. We've only Jack missing from MF . We are building on what was there. It's not a wholesale rebuild.

[KentVillan]

4 minutes ago, hippo said:

But the defensive is unchanged. We've only Jack missing from MF . We are building on what was there. It's not a wholesale rebuild.

Reminiscent of when Wenger first joined Arsenal. In a couple of seasons he brought in Vieira, Petit, Overmars, Anelka but the defensive base was the one he inherited. He finished 3rd then 1st in his first two seasons. Didn't take much time for those players to gel!

I don't think Smith will ever have to go through anything as difficult, from a coaching perspective, as that first season back in the Prem when we had a completely new look first XI. This year he has a solid base, and then a brilliant array of attacking options. Lange has done a superb job.

[ChicagoVillan1983]

We’re having a Lange Bange,

We’re having a balle

We’re having a Lange Bange,

Against the Walle

[Jareth]

Did Purslow pronounce it Lang-eee or Lang-ay? 

[MuleAthon]

Lang-uh

[MaVilla]

ok.....

4 great signings so far Johan.....time to get 2-3 more top signings in pls!

[MrBlack]

4 hours ago, ChicagoVillan1983 said:

We’re having a Lange Bange,

We’re having a balle

We’re having a Lange Bange,

Against the Walle

A Lange Bang's the thing to do, but it takes more than one

[Tomaszk]

Just a note for January or next summer, or whenever it is we do push and buy that midfielder to replace Nakamba.

We'll also have Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal & Wolves at least trying to get hold of a similar player as well. Could make things trickier.

Wouldn't be surprised to see Kamara end up at Utd on a free.

[TRO]

On 05/06/2021 at 23:14, TrentVilla said:

Interesting question.

I recall back in 2015-2016 during the fall out from relegation and the disaster that was the summer recruitment drive that people were far too quick to point the finger at Paddy Reilly, a man with a very good track record when at Liverpool. The season was a disaster but it didn't necessarily follow that the recruitment had been.  Gueye, Amavi, Ayew, Vertout and Traore were good players and good signings irrespective of how things played out.

I don't want to dwell too much on why it didn't work out, I think we all by and large would agree on the reasons. Ultimately though there was a disconnect between that Reilly was identifying and what Sherwood as the manager wanted again lets not dwell on Sherwood or the issues around the club at the time as it isn't really the point of discussion. The point is about Paddy Reilly who was a casualty in the fall out and as I said at the time had probably done a good job but not the right job.

Then we have Suso, I actually think that in the circumstances Suso did a good job. I don't think his departure should be seen as a conclusion that the club felt differently. I think we saw last season more benefits from his recruitment than we perhaps saw in the first season. The only caveat being it is hard to know precisely who is responsible for what signing. My view is Suso was a casualty more of the evolution of the club, we've moved from a traditional scouting network to a data and analytical model. So I agree with you on your last line in relation to him.

So that takes me back to the opening part of your post in reference to Lange. No it doesn't take a lot to identify a player like that, although huge amounts of scouting, analysis and background checks will still be done. But in my view it is a little too simplistic to view it this way or to directly or indirectly raise questions of Lange.

In the Reilly/Sherwood era the issue we had was a disconnect between the two, with Suso and Smith I think privately Smith would perhaps admit he should have been stronger that summer about who came in to the club. But we had a huge amount to do in a short period of time and ultimately the recruitment proved to be mostly good even if not straight away.

That takes us to now... I think Smith has perhaps has more of a voice or more authority and they've seen how well Watkins, Cash and Konsa have done. So I think there is more influence from the manager than we've seen previously during Suso or Reilly's times with us. I see that as a huge positive.

As for Lange himself, his role isn't as I understand it the same as Reilly or Suso it is significantly bigger with a far wider reaching remit, extending to all aspects of the club and a staff twice the size of that when promoted.

Even if every signing we make this summer is domestic I don't see an issue with it neither do I think it should be seen as any kind of indication about the job Lange and his team are doing. We should also remember the circumstances we find ourselves in globally, signing players from within the English game makes sense because there are so many complications for those potentially moving internationally at this moment in time.

The work Lange and his staff are doing will benefit this club way beyond this window.

I think its a really significant point, in most jobs ,you create your own power base, and success is a key component in securing it.

Dean has not come in as a big name....but it is not beyond him to create one with us.