STO Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 5 hours ago, Aston_Villan4 said: 10 players!? Thats pretty much rebuilding the squad. Given we have Wesley, El Ghazi, Trezeguet, Targett as former first teamers out on loan, then the likes of Luiz, Bailey, Sanson either not fancied or not good enough, I honestly expect Gerrard to bring in at least 4 players and get rid of some of those named. The squad needs changing, call it a rebuild if you like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 3 hours ago, sne said: Don't think we'll ever manage (or be allowed to) to bridge the financial gap between the elite clubs and us. Exactly, I think the only way is to continue the path of signing young and hungry players, developing them and eventually selling for profit. I'm not sure we have the resources to sign these 'winners' that everybody thinks we will be able to sign ahead of other clubs who are ahead of us, especially a number if them in this next window. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 3 minutes ago, sharkyvilla said: Exactly, I think the only way is to continue the path of signing young and hungry players, developing them and eventually selling for profit. I'm not sure we have the resources to sign these 'winners' that everybody thinks we will be able to sign ahead of other clubs who are ahead of us, especially a number if them in this next window. I could be reading it wrong. I don't think Stevie G is going to be signing young and hungry. I think we're going to get a lot of Lucas Digne types - Joe Gomez for one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerCollins29 Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 Just now, hippo said: I could be reading it wrong. I don't think Stevie G is going to be signing young and hungry. I think we're going to get a lot of Lucas Digne types - Joe Gomez for one. It worries me that when SG does leave, we are going to be in an everton style mess 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 Just now, GingerCollins29 said: It worries me that when SG does leave, we are going to be in an everton style mess Yeah that bothers me. I see our youngsters blocked by a load of expensive 29 year olds -and seeking first team football elsewhere. The Digne/Target fiasco is a worrying sign of things to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 4 minutes ago, hippo said: The Digne/Target fiasco is a worrying sign of things to come. How is that a fiasco? We upgraded our left back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippo Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 1 minute ago, Xela said: How is that a fiasco? We upgraded our left back. Seriously ? We let a decent player join a rival club - with only a nominal loan fee incoming. Now the upgrade is injured and we are forced to play a 37 year old full back. Your call - but that situation has been handled poorly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 4 hours ago, GingerCollins29 said: I don't think the manager has any clue what he wants to try and do, now that his tactics used from Rangers dont work What are your expectations? As @useless said, since Gerrard arrived we are 8th in the table - behind the traditional top 6, and Wolves, who to be fair, are doing well. Most fans would have taken 8th this season, and would probably agree in terms of our squad, its about our ceiling. The current squad isn't good enough to break the top 6 or so at the moment. Its going to be an interesting summer for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaParkAvenue Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 1 hour ago, useless said: It's more than possible to significantly improve what we already have, I would suggest to one and all to not get too attached to too many of our current team as many of them will be upgraded in the summer. Next season the pressure will be on Gerraradical because we will have a team expected to seriously challenge for top six and trophies. If a team buys more than a few players for the regular starting XI during one summer, the next season is bound to be ”transitional”. Not enough time together in pre season plus some players will always need time to adjust. Big personnel changes this summer almost guarantees no top 6 finish until 2023/2024 at the earliest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Albrighton Posted March 19, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted March 19, 2022 (edited) Five times. Not bad. Not bad at all. Edited March 20, 2022 by Mark Albrighton The multiple posts have been deleted, thus making this post and the one below seem slightly strange. This edit is to inform future generations who may one day read this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhan_Zhuang Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul514 Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 (edited) 10 hours ago, Xela said: What are your expectations? As @useless said, since Gerrard arrived we are 8th in the table - behind the traditional top 6, and Wolves, who to be fair, are doing well. Most fans would have taken 8th this season, and would probably agree in terms of our squad, its about our ceiling. The current squad isn't good enough to break the top 6 or so at the moment. Its going to be an interesting summer for sure. I don't do places I do points.... I wanted 60 points and we are going to be nowhere near that. Also perhaps the squad is missing something to be a top 6 squad, but the current squad is most definitely good enough to challenge. Wolves and West Ham do not have better squads than us, our number one problem is our lack of DCM's and deciding to play this stupid narrow formation with a squad built for 4231 Edited March 20, 2022 by paul514 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 5 minutes ago, paul514 said: I don't do places I do points.... I wanted 60 points and we are going to be nowhere near that. Also perhaps the squad is missing something to be a top 6 squad, but the current squad is most definitely good enough to challenge. Wolves and West Ham do not have better squads than us, our number one problem is our lack of DCM's and deciding to play this stupid narrow formation with a squad built for 4231 Places is more important. I'd rather win the league on 85 points than come second on 90! West Ham are better than us. Wolves - arguable, but they are above us and doing well. You are right about the midfield, I think we will be much better when we upgrade there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul514 Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 Just now, Xela said: Places is more important. I'd rather win the league on 85 points than come second on 90! West Ham are better than us. Wolves - arguable, but they are above us and doing well. You are right about the midfield, I think we will be much better when we upgrade there. Points is how I measure progress unless there is a significant marker to be achieved i.e. 17th, 6th, 4th, 1st. Personally I think we are pissing the progress we have made up the wall with this formation and the transfer business to come this summer to suit that formation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 (edited) 21 minutes ago, paul514 said: Points is how I measure progress unless there is a significant marker to be achieved i.e. 17th, 6th, 4th, 1st. Personally I think we are pissing the progress we have made up the wall with this formation and the transfer business to come this summer to suit that formation. Last seasons points where good enough for 7-9th in the majority of seasons. So progress in positions is often a bit of a misnomer. We were 8 points better off than when we last finished in the top ten, four points off one of MON's sixth place finishes. I'm pretty sure without Covid we'd have been a bit higher up the league too! So yes, I agree! Edited March 20, 2022 by Dale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_Afro Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 31 minutes ago, paul514 said: Points is how I measure progress unless there is a significant marker to be achieved i.e. 17th, 6th, 4th, 1st. Personally I think we are pissing the progress we have made up the wall with this formation and the transfer business to come this summer to suit that formation. I like the points measure over places too but I think it’s hard to compare this season to last because of Covid. Last season was so unique. All of our good form and most of our points came when there were no fans in the stadia. I haven’t worked it out but if you compare our ppg last season when stadia were full, compared to the ppg that Gerrard has achieved so far, that would possibly be a better barometer of progress. I also respect your view that you are concerned about the transfer business likely to happen in the summer but there’s way too much negativity on here. Let’s wait and see what happens and then criticise then if we get it wrong. I don’t share your concerns. Our January window was first class. One of the problems we have is, in my view, our last summer window was poor. I really trust Gerrard to get it right in the summer and then we will see what happens. We just need to give the bloke a chance. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
striker Posted March 20, 2022 Visiting Supporter Share Posted March 20, 2022 Just imagine current Villa squad in Europe then trying to stay in the Premiership. Major struggle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 We have a good squad, just lacking a top level CDM. Our problems right now are the system and way we play is a steep learning curve and not one suited to the squad we have. I think we all know 4 2 3 1 with the 3 rotating positions during the game and Watkins up top on his own is the best fit for the players we have. If Gerrard had been a fan of the system and wanted us to play it from the start we would be further up the table than we are. Instead we're going for the "here is how we will play" and then slowly adapting the squad to the system. This method is more for the elite teams imo and pragmatism is better suited for a team our level. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WallisFrizz Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 This summer’s ESR/JWP? I’d be over the moon if it happened (although that is huge money) but can’t see it myself. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 15 minutes ago, WallisFrizz said: This summer’s ESR/JWP? I’d be over the moon if it happened (although that is huge money) but can’t see it myself. As nice as it would be, I cant see it happening! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts