Johan Lange

[Jareth]

8 hours ago, hippo said:

Thought this guys brief was strategic recruitment:-

Young, Ings, Sanson, Buendia 

Non particularly bad players  - but not what was needed ....and where was the DM 

Looks like another bullshiter has arrived.

FFS - swallow the bad times as well as the good. Privileged BS. 

[hippo]

2 hours ago, Jareth said:

FFS - swallow the bad times as well as the good. Privileged BS. 

What so the guy in charge of recruitment is beyond reproach ?

[villalad21]

Young=Elmo replacement. I was getting pelted for calling him Elmo 2.0 but that's how the signing is turning out thus far.

Buendia + Bailey= This one is a little strange. One of them would have been enough. They are both natural right inside forwards. We didn't need both, and the recruitment staff did a poor research if they expected Buendia to perform as a 10. Never worked there at Norwich.

Ings= The signing itself isn't a misfit. The problem is Smith trying to shoehorning both him and Watkins into the same team when he doesn't have to, and it's hurting the team.

Tuanzebe=Decent back up for Konsa and Mings but same problem as above. Smith shoehorning them all into a formation that doesn't get the best out of the players.

The recruitment isn't the issue. They are being horribly mismanaged at the moment. A lot of these issues would be solved if he'd change to 4-3-3.

[thabucks]

The power hierarchy set up is pretty clear but I do wonder how much of a say Lange would have on Smith’s position as manager. 

As his job is to have a plan & the list ready for when the day comes in choosing the next manager, could his opinion carry similar weight to Purslow when reporting to NSWE? 

Edited October 23, 2021 by thabucks

[Villaphan04]

22 hours ago, hippo said:

Thought this guys brief was strategic recruitment:-

Young, Ings, Sanson, Buendia 

Non particularly bad players  - but not what was needed ....and where was the DM 

Looks like another bullshiter has arrived.

believe it's well documented that Sanson would've been the midfielder that we would've targeted in the summer but we got a jump on it in Jan. And was very much a Lange signing. 

[foreveryoung]

Smith chooses from a list of players Lange has been looking at, he has the last say. he has confirmed this in many of his sports seminars. 

[Risso]

So far I don't think we've been especially well served by either Pitarch or Lange, at least I can't see much evidence of them having much of a positive effect.

[hippo]

1 hour ago, Risso said:

So far I don't think we've been especially well served by either Pitarch or Lange, at least I can't see much evidence of them having much of a positive effect.

Indeed our best batch of signings seem to come when we had no sporting director. After Susso left and before Lange came in.

[Peter Griffin]

15 hours ago, hippo said:

What so the guy in charge of recruitment is beyond reproach ?

Are u writing off Buendia already, what about Baily, you didn't mention him?

[Peter Griffin]

2 hours ago, Risso said:

So far I don't think we've been especially well served by either Pitarch or Lange, at least I can't see much evidence of them having much of a positive effect.

Is our promotion and staying in the PL fully down to Smith's coaching and tactics and nothing to do with the players we have bought? I think we have a good squad and I think everyone on VT believes we should be nowhere near relegation 

[Peter Griffin]

40 minutes ago, hippo said:

Indeed our best batch of signings seem to come when we had no sporting director. After Susso left and before Lange came in.

Any chance you would enlighten us as to who they were. Before you post your reply, just an FYI, Suso left Villa on July 28th 2020 and two days later, July 30th, Lange joined Aston Villa. I have looked at Transfermarkt and other sources and I can't find any players Villa signed in between Suso and Lange but clearly I must be wrong as you know the batch of players we signed when we only had Smith to trust with signings. How many were there?

[OutByEaster?]

2 hours ago, hippo said:

Indeed our best batch of signings seem to come when we had no sporting director. After Susso left and before Lange came in.

I think our best batch of signings came under Paddy Reilly, who everyone hated and was part of the relegation set up. In retrospect, he was the only one doing his job well.

 

[maqroll]

2 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

I think our best batch of signings came under Paddy Reilly, who everyone hated and was part of the relegation set up. In retrospect, he was the only one doing his job well.

 

I get vertigo remembering that we had Idrissa Gueye on the books. 

[hippo]

9 hours ago, Peter Griffin said:

Any chance you would enlighten us as to who they were. Before you post your reply, just an FYI, Suso left Villa on July 28th 2020 and two days later, July 30th, Lange joined Aston Villa. I have looked at Transfermarkt and other sources and I can't find any players Villa signed in between Suso and Lange but clearly I must be wrong as you know the batch of players we signed when we only had Smith to trust with signings. How many were there?

Well Susso left at the end of the season we avoided relegation by a single point.

Lange joined shortly after the following season.

It was in this period we signed Cash, Watkins, Martinez etc.

[His Name Is Death]

6 hours ago, maqroll said:

I get vertigo remembering that we had Idrissa Gueye on the books. 

I suspect we’ll get it again when Buendia and Watkins move on to clubs with better systems.

Signings of ours tend to have a knack of finding their feet again once they’ve left us.

[MaVilla]

I don't get why people are questioning our signings, I agree that we were stupid not to sign a DM, to the point of it being criminally stupid.

Maybe deano said he didnt want a DM??, who knows......we can't say with certainty that it was Lange's decision  not to can we?!

however the players we have signed in the last two summers, I actually think they were really good purchases.

Overall, personally I think martinez, cash, sanson, traore, buendia, Bailey, ings etc were all ranging between good and excellent purchases.

Now, whether we are getting the best out of them or utilising them correctly is a wholly different arguement, and one I think it the more pertinent debate.

Ironically, that kinda sounds similar to the gueye, veretout, amavi etc summer where we signed some very good players and didn't integrate and utilise them properly.

[hippo]

4 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

I don't get why people are questioning our signings, I agree that we were stupid not to sign a DM, to the point of it being criminally stupid.

Maybe deano said he didnt want a DM??, who knows......we can't say with certainty that it was Lange's decision  not to can we?!

however the players we have signed in the last two summers, I actually think they were really good purchases.

Overall, personally I think martinez, cash, sanson, traore, buendia, Bailey, ings etc were all ranging between good and excellent purchases.

Now, whether we are getting the best out of them or utilising them correctly is a wholly different arguement, and one I think it the more pertinent debate.

Ironically, that kinda sounds similar to the gueye, veretout, amavi etc summer where we signed some very good players and didn't integrate and utilise them properly.

If you've not seen the best of them. How can you be sure they are good PL quality players.

Also on the paddy Reilly era - he signed a bunch of 21 year olds as the mainstay of a newly built PL team. Had those players been signed as project players alongside a more established settled team they may well have thrived.

With the exception of Veretout who admitted later - that as soon as he got to villa he pretty much had his eye on a move away. 

[hippo]

11 minutes ago, His Name Is Death said:

I suspect we’ll get it again when Buendia and Watkins move on to clubs with better systems.

Signings of ours tend to have a knack of finding their feet again once they’ve left us.

Do they ?

Sure the paddy Reilly guys. But I can't think of many in recent years who have flopped at villa and are now cutting it in the higher echelons of football.

[MaVilla]

12 minutes ago, hippo said:

If you've not seen the best of them. How can you be sure they are good PL quality players.

 

Granted some are my own opinion, but Martinez, Bailey and Ings are clearly PL level, Martinez and Ings by current and historic performance, and Bailey for anyone who has eyes.

Cash is clearly at least a good signing for anyone who has watched us play, and for all Traore's weaknesses, i defy anyone to show evidence that he wasnt on balance, at least a good signing for the squad.

Buendia in the 19/20 PL season with Norwich, was only behind De Bruyne and Grealish for chance creation, in a team that actually got relegated, i think anyone who doesnt see Buendia's ability needs to get their spectacles checked, but granted he doesnt seem to have settled with us yet, and possibly is being used incorrectly, or our tactics dont suit the players we have, or a mixture of them, or a mixture of other things.

Buendia also tore the championship a new one last year, and although this isnt a guaranteed marker, you could see his ability (see other players like Maddison, Eze, Olise), the guy is seriously talented.

I think the only one of the players i listed that is debatable with anyone who does their homework, is Sanson, and i suppose i can agree that at this time he hasnt proven to be a "good" signing, its just my own opinion that i tihnk he will prove to be a good signing, if he stays fit and get the requisite opportunities, i suppose time will tell with that one.

[Peter Griffin]

1 hour ago, hippo said:

Well Susso left at the end of the season we avoided relegation by a single point.

Lange joined shortly after the following season.

It was in this period we signed Cash, Watkins, Martinez etc.

That's not correct. Check the dates. Aston Villa did not sign any players during the period between Suso and Lange. I know it looks good for the Dean Smith narrative but unfortunately this one doesn't work