Ollie Watkins

[KevinRichardsonsMoustache]

4 minutes ago, Awol said:

 

If we invest heavily in another striker we’d probably look to play them both - though Wesley in a 3-5-2 with Watkins might work really well & could see Wes getting a ton of assists that way over a season. 

This is interesting. The lack of support for whoever was playing upfront last season was chronic. Just to have this option would be nice. 

[useless]

We're not signing Watkins as a winger it doesn't matter how many more goals Benrahma scored than him from the wing, we're signing him as a centre-forward where he scored 26 goals and was player of the season in the championship, I watched at least ten Brentford games last season and Watkins was mostly excellent, have more confidence in him making the step up to the premier league than any other player I saw last season in that division, he performed better for Brentford last season than Abraham did for us when we were promoted, much more of an all round game.

 

[Lord Willard]

6 minutes ago, Rightdm00 said:

Based on this logic you would have completely missed on Vardy who scored 4 and 16 in his 2 championship seasons. 

Last year people were on here discounting Tammy's 25 goals like the championship is some Sunday league.  Now we are willing to pay £45 million for him.   Turns out if you can hit a quarter century in the championship you can probably do a job in the Prem.  

This is a roll of the dice but clubs of our stature can't attract proven quality, yet.  Ollie ticks all the boxes, athletic, pace, attitude... We get this one right and in the near future we may be able to sell the Villa dream to talent of a higher level. Right now I think Ollie is about the best we can do. So if he signs we need to get behind him and hope for the best. 

Tammy is the perfect comparison!!!! His first season in the Championship he scored 23 goals. The following season in the Prem he scored 5 goals in 31 matches. 

I can't help but feel this will be the same for Ollie

[briny_ear]

9 minutes ago, Awol said:

I think that’s why talk about playing him on a wing is wide of the mark. We’re signing him based on his success as a striker and will play him as one, imo. 

If we invest heavily in another striker we’d probably look to play them both - though Wesley in a 3-5-2 with Watkins might work really well & could see Wes getting a ton of assists that way over a season. 

Never thought of Smith as a two-up-front type of guy tbf.

[Adam2003]

17 minutes ago, Lord Willard said:

Benramha has scored 17 goals this season. That's 7 more goal in the same role that he could only manage 10 from? 

 

Well yeah we should sign him too 

[Tomaszk]

21 minutes ago, Lord Willard said:

Benramha has scored 17 goals this season. That's 7 more goal in the same role that he could only manage 10 from? 

 

Benrahma had a brilliant striker to play off in Watkins

[DaveAV1]

1 hour ago, Tomaszk said:

Only thing is obviously the price, but it ain't my money and he's a really good player. I'm worried more about wasting money on bad players than overspending on good ones.

For me this hits the nail on the head. If we buy a good striker  for £25m when perhaps we valued him at £20m but he scores goals that make us a better side then perhaps you could argue we overspent by £5m. If however we decide to buy an ok striker for £15m and he doesn’t score many goals then we’ve wasted £15m. 

I know all signings are a risk, but you generally get what you pay for. Overall we need a balanced approach. One or two bigger signings, a couple of solid additions that are better than we’ve got and perhaps a couple of potential gems that may not be starters straight away but have a lot of talent that needs to develop. The hope is that they all improve us and we can in turn improve them. Easy sitting here, not quite as easy sitting behind some desks at Villa Park and BMH I’d imagine. 

[DaveAV1]

3 hours ago, Follyfoot said:

Share?

Get your own lunch. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

23 minutes ago, Lord Willard said:

Compare their finishing to Ollie's. Right in the corners where decent goal keepers can't get them. 

So you’ve watched all their championship goals? 

[Awol]

7 minutes ago, briny_ear said:

Never thought of Smith as a two-up-front type of guy tbf.

No, but I can’t see Purslow sanctioning a second 20M+ purchase on a forward to sit on the bench for 30 games either - and I think we’ll make one. 

Cash said in his video for Villa TV today that he’s coming in to play as an attacking wing back, Targett is also at his best in that role. 

If we bring in another CB who is good enough to start then maybe we might do, and just get the one quality winger for the right? 

Last season showed we need tactical options to change a game when things aren’t working. A rigid 4-3-3 where the big game-changing sub is Nakamba for Hourihane won’t cut it this season. 

So after Watkins I reckon we’ll see a RW, CM, CB and another striker. LB doesn’t seem like a priority 

[juanpablosaliceband]

36 minutes ago, Lord Willard said:

Tammy is the perfect comparison!!!! His first season in the Championship he scored 23 goals. The following season in the Prem he scored 5 goals in 31 matches. 

I can't help but feel this will be the same for Ollie

Harsh to leave out his early season glut of goals. He got 15 in 34 league games which is  a good return. 

[Powehi]

49 minutes ago, briny_ear said:

Never thought of Smith as a two-up-front type of guy tbf.

[TRO]

2 hours ago, The Fun Factory said:

I don't think you should lump Kodjia with those two. He had a fantastic first season. Second season he wasn't fit. Third season Smith didn't take to him but still scored some important goals. Last season it was inevitable he would be off.  Gestede was just a lump and Hogan was bought on the back of 1 good season not the 3 Watkins has had.

I didn't.

I was reacting to a post by Spoony....who mentioned them.

Edited September 3, 2020 by TRO

[brummybloke]

1 hour ago, juanpablosaliceband said:

Harsh to leave out his early season glut of goals. He got 15 in 34 league games which is  a good return. 

That was 2 years later, the 5 were for swansea after playing for Bristol City the year before.

Tammy was however, a lot younger and physically not as strong as last season.

Edited September 3, 2020 by brummybloke

[juanpablosaliceband]

1 hour ago, brummybloke said:

That was 2 years later, the 5 were for swansea after playing for Bristol City the year before.

Tammy was however, a lot younger and physically not as strong as last season.

Sorry. My mistake. 

[KentVillan]

3 hours ago, Awol said:

No, but I can’t see Purslow sanctioning a second 20M+ purchase on a forward to sit on the bench for 30 games either - and I think we’ll make one. 

Cash said in his video for Villa TV today that he’s coming in to play as an attacking wing back, Targett is also at his best in that role. 

If we bring in another CB who is good enough to start then maybe we might do, and just get the one quality winger for the right? 

Last season showed we need tactical options to change a game when things aren’t working. A rigid 4-3-3 where the big game-changing sub is Nakamba for Hourihane won’t cut it this season. 

So after Watkins I reckon we’ll see a RW, CM, CB and another striker. LB doesn’t seem like a priority 

Might just mean attacking full back in a back 4 though? Smith likes to push his full backs up whatever system he plays.

I'm pretty sure 4-3-3 (or variant like 4-1-4-1, 4-2-3-1) will be our preferred formation, and then we'll have 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 as a Plan B. Might be wrong, but I just think Smith's preference where possible is to get the 4-3-3 going first, and then switch if results aren't going his way or if we're facing certain teams (e.g. he likes back 3 against direct, aerial teams like Burnley who play 4-4-2 since it gives us an extra CB on set pieces).

If we get Watkins in, our options are going to be excellent. I could see Smith sometimes using him the way Rooney was sometimes used at United - on one side of a 4-3-3, but effectively a striker when we're attacking... tucking back into the wing position when we lose the ball. He's got the engine for it.

Main role for Watkins though will surely be similar to Abraham in 2018/19 - a marauding lone striker.

[peterw]

18 hours ago, TRO said:

That is true....but the downside is, clubs like Brentford then want top dollar for their developed players ( nothing wrong with that from their point of view),players, we could have developed through the loan system......blimey, we could have loaned him to a club like Brentford.

We will keep paying through the nose unless we takes a few gambles of our own.

In the ideal world, Keinan Davis should be loaned out, to help him develop his game and sharpness.

But that is also dependent on other factors. The selling club obviously want to get the best deal for their club. The fee we would have paid may be similar but its the add ons that Brentford could offer rather than us making the deal better for the selling club. It is more likely that their player would make 20-25 appearances for brentford and getting them to finish higher up the table than the same add on deal with us.

the other thing for the player is his progression. Why not just go to Brentford (get the signing on fee) and then get the next move (with the higher signing on fee and wages), ratehr than just go to Villa and be farmed out in year 1. if it had have failed or not worked at at brentford, he may have been languishing in our reserves. At least at Brentford he would be in and around the first team largely regardless.

[jonjon]

8 hours ago, Lord Willard said:

No matter how many analysis and videos I watch. I just don't get it why people are loving this signing. Can someone explain why they think he is going to be wonderful. What are his attributes are etc. 

He hasn't been prolific in his career until last season.  He clearly isn't a natural finisher. 

He will work hard 100% but my bet would be he scores the same amount of goals as Che Adams this season..4. 

 

How on earth can you base his performance and your views on videos alone, I have watched him week in week out and I can assure you that with his year by year improvement he's ready for the big step up, his time has come, as for comment that he's not a natural finisher, you will soon change your mind when he comes to you.

[KenjiOgiwara]

The rumoured price for him really is the kicker though. I can see him improving our squad, and versatility and athleticism is generally underrated. I can easily see him being a better option up front than Wesley. I like the idea of signing English good championship players. 

But at a price of £ 22 -  28 million there's so many options around the top leagues we should be looking at. And that's before you consider the weight he will carry being a record signing.

One part of me thinks we should just move on and let Brentford try and get that money from someone else. Ultimately we can't spend infinite amount of money and value for money is important. 

But the other part of me is thinking it's not my money and if it improves the squad and gives us a better play than Wesley, Samatta, Davis, Trez, AEG etc. so be it. 

 

Edited September 4, 2020 by KenjiOgiwara

[Kiwivillan]

Just now, KenjiOgiwara said:

The rumoured price for him really is the kicker though. I can see him improving our squad, and versatility and athleticism is generally underrated. I can easily see him being a better option up front than Wesley. I like the idea of signing English good championship players. 

But at a price of £ 22 -  28 million there's so many options around the top leagues we should be looking at. And that's before you consider the weight he will carry being a record signing.

One part of me thinks we should just move on and let Brentford try and get that money from someone else. Ultimately we can't spend infinite amount of money and value for money is important. 

But the other part of me is thinking it's not my money and if it improves the squad and gives us a better play than Wesley, Samatta, Davis, Trez, AEG etc. so be it. 

That's the going rate these days and has been for a while. How much did Webster a CB cost Brighton, Bowen to West Ham or even silly money Solanke to Bournemouth several seasons ago