Summer transfer window 2021

[Keyblade]

1 minute ago, KMitch said:

I can't wait for the window to shut so I can stop checking this thread daily for transfer updates, but instead find myself reading page after page of the doom mongers spewing the same garbage for the last 8+ seasons.  Some of you moaners must be great at parties...  Unbelievable. This culture of instant gratification/entitlement makes me hate being a fan of sports.  Nothing is good enough for some people...

This is the strongest Villa team we've had during my 15 years of following the Premier League, and yes that includes our 07-08 squad.  We have the best youth team setup in the country with several superb talents on the verge of breaking through, and just brought in 4 quality players this summer.  Yeah, we sold Jack...  Boo hoo...  We got the 6th highest transfer fee of all time for him, when we nearly sold him for Josh Onomah and a bag of crisps 3 summers ago.  We finally have some smart men who have business sense in control of the club, along with a fantastic manager who worked his way up to the Premier League from League 1 and hasn't let us down yet.  If they've decided to not spend more money or not to buy this magical brick shithouse defensive midfielder who will magically allow us to qualify for the Champions League, I trust them.  UTV!!!

It's exhausting. I'm thinking of taking a break from On Topic. It does not reflect the reality we see on the pitch and around the club in general.

[DCJonah]

1 minute ago, KMitch said:

I can't wait for the window to shut so I can stop checking this thread daily for transfer updates, but instead find myself reading page after page of the doom mongers spewing the same garbage for the last 8+ seasons.  Some of you moaners must be great at parties...  Unbelievable. This culture of instant gratification/entitlement makes me hate being a fan of sports.  Nothing is good enough for some people...

This is the strongest Villa team we've had during my 15 years of following the Premier League, and yes that includes our 07-08 squad.  We have the best youth team setup in the country with several superb talents on the verge of breaking through, and just brought in 4 quality players this summer.  Yeah, we sold Jack...  Boo hoo...  We got the 6th highest transfer fee of all time for him, when we nearly sold him for Josh Onomah and a bag of crisps 3 summers ago.  We finally have some smart men who have business sense in control of the club, along with a fantastic manager who worked his way up to the Premier League from League 1 and hasn't let us down yet.  If they've decided to not spend more money or not to buy this magical brick shithouse defensive midfielder who will magically allow us to qualify for the Champions League, I trust them.  UTV!!!

God, I wish I hadn't run out of likes. 

I'm exactly on this page as well. I've never known a time like it at the club with so many demanding of instant success. 

I said it last year. Our average league position in premier league history is 10th. And now all of a sudden not challenging for Europe is an utter disaster. 

Nothing in our premier league history can lead to this entitlement. We've always been a very average team with the odd good year and a few **** shit ones in every so often. 

[villa4europe]

2 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

Match of the day after the Newcastle game. Lineker asks Smith what the aim is and he said improvement on last season. He's said that multiple times. Mings came out and said something similar recently as well

They really aren't. People are making a big deal out of it, because it justifies their moans. 

Completely agree

As per the grealish thread I'd also say some posters need to take pinches of salt with some of these press conferences and statements too, we don't know what goes on behind closed doors, what the expectations are, what has to happen this year... And no one is going to say it in a press conference 

Its all guff, usually guff with a lot of flowers on it too, not actually sure why people bother with them if I'm honest 

It'll all come back when someone gets injured and Smith doesn't get his PhD out and give the exact time and date as to when the player will fully recover 

[DCJonah]

1 minute ago, Keyblade said:

It's exhausting. I'm thinking of taking a break from On Topic. It does not reflect the reality we see on the pitch and around the club in general.

I managed to get a ticket for Newcastle. First time I've been back to VP since Bruce was manager. 

It was so nice to realise that the vibe on here is not representative of the villa fan base in general. 

[KMitch]

1 minute ago, Keyblade said:

It's exhausting. I'm thinking of taking a break from On Topic. It does not reflect the reality we see on the pitch and around the club in general.

Same...  Smith and the Villa board have some of the highest fan approval ratings in the Premier League, but based on the amount of noise 4-5 regulars on here make in every single thread, you'd think we're back to the dark days of O'Dreary, Eck, or cabbage tossing.  I love this club and the direction we're going in.  Would I make some of the same decisions they have made so far?  No...  but I'm not in charge and I know they're much more qualified to run things than I am.  

[Phil Silvers]

Ffs using up me likes on gifs taking the pee out of Deeney. Close the thread.

[VillaFaninLondon]

11 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

God, I wish I hadn't run out of likes. 

I'm exactly on this page as well. I've never known a time like it at the club with so many demanding of instant success. 

I said it last year. Our average league position in premier league history is 10th. And now all of a sudden not challenging for Europe is an utter disaster. 

Nothing in our premier league history can lead to this entitlement. We've always been a very average team with the odd good year and a few **** shit ones in every so often. 

Well you carry on being happy with very average then. 

[foreveryoung]

36 minutes ago, Farlz said:

What is with the major rush to get into Europe by the way? 

[DCJonah]

1 minute ago, VillaFaninLondon said:

Well you carry on being happy with very average then. 

I am. Absolutely. Happiest I've been supporting this club since MON left. 

Apart from those MON years, I can't remember a time I've been more excited about our future. A time I've liked so many of our players and manager. 

What's there to be unhappy about? You've seen life in the championship. What's so bad about average in the Premier league? 

I might get bored of it after a few years. But right now? Iove it. Absolutely love it.

 

[HalfTimePost]

1 minute ago, DCJonah said:

I am. Absolutely. Happiest I've been supporting this club since MON left. 

Apart from those MON years, I can't remember a time I've been more excited about our future. A time I've liked so many of our players and manager. 

What's there to be unhappy about? You've seen life in the championship. What's so bad about average in the Premier league? 

I might get bored of it after a few years. But right now? Iove it. Absolutely love it.

 

Couldn't agree more

[pintpotvilla]

1 minute ago, DCJonah said:

I am. Absolutely. Happiest I've been supporting this club since MON left. 

Apart from those MON years, I can't remember a time I've been more excited about our future. A time I've liked so many of our players and manager. 

What's there to be unhappy about? You've seen life in the championship. What's so bad about average in the Premier league? 

I might get bored of it after a few years. But right now? Iove it. Absolutely love it.

 

Why can't we all see things like you? You are absolutely right There is nothing to moan about We are on the way up UTV

[Czarnikjak]

21 minutes ago, KMitch said:

I can't wait for the window to shut so I can stop checking this thread daily for transfer updates, but instead find myself reading page after page of the doom mongers spewing the same garbage for the last 8+ seasons.  Some of you moaners must be great at parties...  Unbelievable. This culture of instant gratification/entitlement makes me hate being a fan of sports.  Nothing is good enough for some people...

This is the strongest Villa team we've had during my 15 years of following the Premier League, and yes that includes our 07-08 squad.  We have the best youth team setup in the country with several superb talents on the verge of breaking through, and just brought in 4 quality players this summer.  Yeah, we sold Jack...  Boo hoo...  We got the 6th highest transfer fee of all time for him, when we nearly sold him for Josh Onomah and a bag of crisps 3 summers ago.  We finally have some smart men who have business sense in control of the club, along with a fantastic manager who worked his way up to the Premier League from League 1 and hasn't let us down yet.  If they've decided to not spend more money or not to buy this magical brick shithouse defensive midfielder who will magically allow us to qualify for the Champions League, I trust them.  UTV!!!

You need to stop posting here. Your post is far too sensible and measured.

[romavillan]

5 minutes ago, VillaFaninLondon said:

Well you carry on being happy with very average then. 

Haha, gtfo. Describe in what ways we could be in a better position in the time we have had since nswe took over and dean smith got the job.

[KMitch]

4 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

I am. Absolutely. Happiest I've been supporting this club since MON left. 

Apart from those MON years, I can't remember a time I've been more excited about our future. A time I've liked so many of our players and manager. 

What's there to be unhappy about? You've seen life in the championship. What's so bad about average in the Premier league? 

I might get bored of it after a few years. But right now? Iove it. Absolutely love it.

 

Hear hear!!!  I'd rather be happy and realistic about our current state than miserable and entitled.  

[Big Salad]

Why the **** is half our fan base so entitled?

I just don't get it. I understand wanting the best for your club, but I swear a lot of our fans are bipolar. One day they love the team but God forbid if something doesn't go right the next day they just can't cope with it and draw up plans to riot the club offices.

 

Edited August 30, 2021 by Big Salad

[Indigo]

1 hour ago, Monkeypuzzle said:

I have to respectfully disagree. With the exception of right back (assuming Guilbert does go) we have two valid options for every position and the flexibility to play several different formations. A squad of 25 first team players is not needed as we do not have extra European fixtures to play. Of course in many positions we have one player who is clearly better than the other but our back up options are of much greater quality than we have had for a very long time. We are also carrying very little in terms of dead weight, Davis and Trezeguet are arguably the only ones in this category. We have had bloated squads before but there were many players in those squads that we feared being anywhere near the starting line up or even on the bench.

Is there another Premier League team, not playing in Europe, that has 22 quality first team squad players, covering every position and without lots of dead wood? It would be lovely to get an upgrade for Nakamba maybe, but not as vital as many here seem to think. We can always get someone in January if the club think it is needed but they seem happy with the squad for now.

We have been very unlucky with injuries, illnesses and disruptions to preseason preparations but we are still doing ok this season. If we had all our first team players and they all had a good preseason we might be flying but as it is the squad is doing its job and coping with less than ideal situations. We've had at least six potential first choice players out so far (Watkins, Bailey, Traore, McGinn, Sanson, Mings) and we have coped just fine. We are not dealing with a weak squad in my opinion.

Why do you think the squad is light?

I think given the circumstances of the season just two more would have made sense, not that some kind of Bruce-level negligence has gone on. As I said all going well I actually think our starting XI and bench is better than most here seem to, but it was quite widely reported at different stages of the window that we were looking at bringing in another keeper and a midfielder, which to me would have made sense and left the squad far from bloated on paper. 

Given Martinez possibly missing out on a few games this season I'm personally a tad wary of Steer alone being adequate back up, and aside from any judgements on his ability Nakamba might be missing for a while on international duty, whilst also in that area of the pitch Luiz hasn't really had any kind proper rest for a good while.

As I said, I like the squad, just not 100% comfortable in thinking that we won't find ourselves in a similar predicament as the last few weeks at some point again.

[est1874]

22 minutes ago, KMitch said:

I can't wait for the window to shut so I can stop checking this thread daily for transfer updates, but instead find myself reading page after page of the doom mongers spewing the same garbage for the last 8+ seasons.  Some of you moaners must be great at parties...  Unbelievable. This culture of instant gratification/entitlement makes me hate being a fan of sports.  Nothing is good enough for some people...

This is the strongest Villa team we've had during my 15 years of following the Premier League, and yes that includes our 07-08 squad.  We have the best youth team setup in the country with several superb talents on the verge of breaking through, and just brought in 4 quality players this summer.  Yeah, we sold Jack...  Boo hoo...  We got the 6th highest transfer fee of all time for him, when we nearly sold him for Josh Onomah and a bag of crisps 3 summers ago.  We finally have some smart men who have business sense in control of the club, along with a fantastic manager who worked his way up to the Premier League from League 1 and hasn't let us down yet.  If they've decided to not spend more money or not to buy this magical brick shithouse defensive midfielder who will magically allow us to qualify for the Champions League, I trust them.  UTV!!!

You've been following the Premier League for 15 years? What were you watching before that, Peppa Pig?

[Villa87]

Some good posts here

Regarding transfers, I very much doubt we will see any incomings now. This is a very very well run club with a clear plan. We identify targets and do all we can to get them in early. We are not going to throw money at players for the sake of it, but will hold cash back in reserve for the right player. Yes, a quality CM would be bloody fantastic (and needed) but the whole set up at the club is spot on. We are in capable hands. 

[a-k]

2 hours ago, Czarnikjak said:

Net Spend is a meaningless figure, not reflecting how the transfers are actually accounted and paid for.

Our actual cash spent this summer on transfers will significantly outweigh the cash received. People seem to forget we still paying large chunks of moneys for our 2019 and 2020 summer transfers. For example we still had to pay outstanding £6m to Bournemouth for Mings last month.

Sorry, but this is a moot point. We know that Buendia was brought in to play with JG, Young was already incoming, and that we were offering JG a new deal of around +100k p/w more. It can be argued whether Bailey would also have come even if JG stayed, but let's consider that he was brought in with the JG money. So, irrespective of other fees to be paid from dealings from previous windows, we were at minimum looking of an outlay of 35mil in transfer fees and around 200k p/w in wages (in addition to JG's original salary, although I may even be underestimating Young's + Buendia's weekly pay). We then end up with 100mil incoming and JG's p/w off the books. We have since brought in Bailey (30 mil), Ings (25 mil), Tuanzebe (5 mil? loan fee), at let's say a combined 300k p/w. 

So, our plans were at minimum to spend 35 mil in fees and increase the wage bill by around 200k p/w. We have since received 100 mil in fees and spent 60 mil. We have then decreased the wage bill by 100k p/w (underestimating JG's deal for simplicity) and increased the bill by 300k p/w. Therefore, we now have 40mil in the bank from transfers fees when we were meant to outlay 35mil (i.e., net difference of 75mil worth of money to spend), and have broken even on weekly salary (meant to increase by 200k p/w, in the end got 3 players in at 300k p/w combined while dropping 100k p/w from JG).

These calculations are all based on the original outlay that was planned even knowing we had other payments from previous years. Now, we may have since looked at players and tried to get some but they didn't work out for whatever reason (fee was too much even though we have the money, player didn't want to come, etc.), but to say that net spend is meaningless in our case and that we don't have cash to spend is incorrect, sorry. The only other reason I could see us holding on to the extra money is if we feel our commercial value (or the extra revenue) from having JG has dropped by a substantial amount now that he is gone, but who knows. NSWE have brought us a long way and I believe we will continue in the right direction with them, but from the outside looking in it is disappointing that we are well off our initial planned spend.

[KMitch]

Just now, est1874 said:

You've been following the Premier League for 15 years? What were you watching before that, Peppa Pig?

It wasn't really broadcast in the USA before that.  Hell, up until ~2010 I had to Torrent copies of recorded games from a seedy forum just to watch most Villa games.