Summer Transfer Window 2022

[John]

11 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Phase one of the transfer list sorted?

Edit: We can probably add the likes of Declan Rice to lists like these.

That reminds me, in the days of the bloke below there would have been a press conference called, during which a piece of paper was waved around (Neville Chamberlain style) that had written upon it names such as Haaland, Mbappe and Rice, to wet our appetites (that actually did happen once):

 

[Reivax_Villa]

Who else is dreading the transfer window this summer?

 

[KAZZAM]

12 minutes ago, Reivax_Villa said:

Who else is dreading the transfer window this summer?

 

Another window where we buy lots of players to marginally improve positions and don't improve the glaring obvious ones.

Check. 

[HalfTimePost]

10 minutes ago, Reivax_Villa said:

Who else is dreading the transfer window this summer?

 

It comes in waves for me, at times I'm dreading it, wasting money on Liverpools 2016 team and losing out on exciting targets to Newcastle who play the role of Man City to Lerners Villa and ruin the NSWE-era, who eventually give up the spending as they see their money wasted.

But then other times.. I'm very excited, there will be a lot of movement which makes for an exciting transfer window, we know we'll have big ambitions, with great owners and a manager who - for all his faults - will be able to attract better players than we could have previously.

It'll be a very interesting window for us, with some big targets and big money. Which is about all you can ask for as a fan whilst there's no football being played

 

[Delphinho123]

I honestly don't know what to expect this transfer window. I want to be enthusiastic, but then I remember our activity from last Summer and it fills me with dread. Not least because it showed a lack of preparation and footballing expertise within the club. I had very little hope at the start of the season as some posters on here can attest to. Here's why. 

Top Line: The club didn't know/expect Grealish was leaving. And that fuc**d everything. 

We went into the window in a strong position. Genuine challengers to the top 8, one of the best players in the world, and off the back of a really good points haul - albeit we finished 11th. 
The window started excellently. We bought Buendia who I know still divides opinion on here, but it was an excellent signing given we beat Arsenal to his signature. We had someone to complement Grealish on the right side and he slotted almost immediately into our 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 formation. At this point, I was expecting another solid window.
The club then gets word Grealish is leaving, something they didn't expect given the exposure they gave him during the kit launch, and they panic. We then go and sign Bailey - a player who prefers to play on the right hand side and in exactly the same position as Buendia plays? Why? We already have Buendia there and Traore, who, I don't rate but understand he has a place in the squad and is probably a reasonable back up. Bailey is an exciting talent but he doesn't fit. 
We then go and sign Ings. Why? This goes against everything the club wants to do in terms of sell on value, reasonable wages, long contracts etc. We can argue on here all day about having two good strikers at the club, but we're an 11th place team with some glaring deficiencies in other areas of the side that need urgent attention. Why go and sign another striker to compete with your record signing off the back of a very strong season playing as a lone striker? It's a panic move and it's a bad decision. 

After Grealish leaves, we then hear the famous Purslow interview about signing Ings, Bailey and Buendia to statistically replace Grealish' output. We don't sign any more players and the window shuts. We're left with two right sided forwards and a striker who doesn't suit our system. We haven't actually bought a left sided player to replace Grealish and we haven't bought any midfielders - an area that obviously needed improving. The season starts and everything mentioned above, becomes a problem for Smith. We start playing different formations to accommodate Ings and Watkins who play awfully together. We're playing Buendia as a 10 and everything we'd built the season before, had crumbled to try and accommodate and justify a downright awful transfer window. Oh, and teams are still walking through our central midfield - Imagine the shock!

What we should have done when Grealish left is spend the money on a left sided forward to replace him. Play Buendia on the right where he's excelled for Norwich and sign two new central midfielders to sure us up in the middle of the park. It was painfully obvious to see at the time and doesn't fall into the category of 'hindsight is a wonderful thing'. It was fu**ng obvious at the time. The squad was left with a massive imbalance. Two 'top' strikers, three/four right sided forwards, no left sided forward and no defensively capable midfielders. 

That's why I'm nervous about this Summer window. We sign players that we don't need, that don't fit a system and we continue to neglect areas of the side that desperately need improvement. 
Honestly, if we don't sign at least two defensively minded midfielders then you can forget any kind of success next season. 

Rant over. Sorry for the long post. Like I've said before, this Summer will at least be exciting even if it's reckless. 

 

Edited April 20, 2022 by Delphinho123

[KMitch]

1 hour ago, Reivax_Villa said:

Who else is dreading the transfer window this summer?

 

I was optimistic a year ago.  Now?  I'm jaded again...  Same old Villa.

[DaveAV1]

16 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

I honestly don't know what to expect this transfer window. I want to be enthusiastic, but then I remember our activity from last Summer and it fills me with dread. Not least because it showed a lack of preparation and footballing expertise within the club. I had very little hope at the start of the season as some posters on here can attest to. Here's why. 

Top Line: The club didn't know/expect Grealish was leaving. And that fuc**d everything. 

We went into the window in a strong position. Genuine challengers to the top 8, one of the best players in the world, and off the back of a really good points haul - albeit we finished 11th. 
The window started excellently. We bought Buendia who I know still divides opinion on here, but it was an excellent signing given we beat Arsenal to his signature. We had someone to complement Grealish on the right side and he slotted almost immediately into our 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 formation. At this point, I was expecting another solid window.
The club then gets word Grealish is leaving, something they didn't expect given the exposure they gave him during the kit launch, and they panic. We then go and sign Bailey - a player who prefers to play on the right hand side and in exactly the same position as Buendia plays? Why? We already have Buendia there and Traore, who, I don't rate but understand he has a place in the squad and is probably a reasonable back up. Bailey is an exciting talent but he doesn't fit. 
We then go and sign Ings. Why? This goes against everything the club wants to do in terms of sell on value, reasonable wages, long contracts etc. We can argue on here all day about having two good strikers at the club, but we're an 11th place team with some glaring deficiencies in other areas of the side that need urgent attention. Why go and sign another striker to compete with your record signing off the back of a very strong season playing as a lone striker? It's a panic move and it's a bad decision. 

After Grealish leaves, we then hear the famous Purslow interview about signing Ings, Bailey and Buendia to statistically replace Grealish' output. We don't sign any more players and the window shuts. We're left with two right sided forwards and a striker who doesn't suit our system. We haven't actually bought a left sided player to replace Grealish and we haven't bought any midfielders - an area that obviously needed improving. The season starts and everything mentioned above, becomes a problem for Smith. We start playing different formations to accommodate Ings and Watkins who play awfully together. We're playing Buendia as a 10 and everything we'd built the season before, had crumbled to try and accommodate and justify a downright awful transfer window. Oh, and teams are still walking through our central midfield - Imagine the shock!

What we should have done when Grealish left is spend the money on a left sided forward to replace him. Play Buendia on the right where he's excelled for Norwich and sign two new central midfielders to sure us up in the middle of the park. It was painfully obvious to see at the time and doesn't fall into the category of 'hindsight is a wonderful thing'. It was fu**ng obvious at the time. The squad was left with a massive imbalance. Two 'top' strikers, three/four right sided forwards, no left sided forward and no defensively capable midfielders. 

That's why I'm nervous about this Summer window. We sign players that we don't need, that don't fit a system and we continue to neglect areas of the side that desperately need improvement. 
Honestly, if we don't sign at least two defensively minded midfielders then you can forget any kind of success next season. 

Rant over. Sorry for the long post. Like I've said before, this Summer will at least be exciting even if it's reckless. 

 

Feel free to keep ranting! That pretty much sums the situation up in the post Grealish era. A large part of the reason why Dean struggled and also why SG is struggling. I can’t understand why people don’t think we need to recruit and try to remedy the problems you’ve mentioned above. Well I do understand why many don’t, it’s a convenient stick to bash SG with. 
 

If we appointed, Klopp, Pep, or prime time Fergie, the first thing they would do is take an axe to the present squad and get some balance, particularly to the midfield. 

[Phil Silvers]

1 hour ago, Reivax_Villa said:

Who else is dreading the transfer window this summer?

 

Why, it's an opportunity to improve things, I'm convinced that the Villa curse ends this Easter, it's going to be one way traffic from here on in, we will recruit players that improve us and we will sell players that are holding us back. A better team and no more voodoo crap to put up with and we'll be in our way to champs league qualification and in time trophies will follow. waiterrrrr, drink. 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

Only thing I'm potentially " dreading " about the transfer window is Newcastle.

Aside from that, I'm actually quite excited about finally upgrading and changing the dynamic of our midfield, that's the most important thing for me.

I'd be ok with blowing the chunk of our budget on DCM/CM and CB and nothing else.

Like or dislike him, fact is SG is one of the best Midfielders to ever do it. I trust his judgement in that area of the pitch.

Edited April 20, 2022 by JAMAICAN-VILLAN

[VillaParkAvenue]

5 minutes ago, DaveAV1 said:

Feel free to keep ranting! That pretty much sums the situation up in the post Grealish era. A large part of the reason why Dean struggled and also why SG is struggling. I can’t understand why people don’t think we need to recruit and try to remedy the problems you’ve mentioned above. Well I do understand why many don’t, it’s a convenient stick to bash SG with. 
 

If we appointed, Klopp, Pep, or prime time Fergie, the first thing they would do is take an axe to the present squad and get some balance, particularly to the midfield. 

I agree with most of the description of PGV (Post Grealish Villa). Are there really that many fans who don't want to improve the squad, just to see SG fail?

In my opinion we have a squad that needs strengthening, and also a head coach who seems to underperform with the squad we have. I see a worrying tendency lately of going for solutions that look good on paper, signing and appointing big names in the hope of elevating the club's status. Chasing players who are at other PL clubs, or players sought after by bigger clubs. The same goes for appointing SG, a world famous name but with largely unknown managerial skills.

[Zatman]

2 hours ago, Reivax_Villa said:

Who else is dreading the transfer window this summer?

 

Me it has 2015 vibes for me. An unproven out of his depth manager potenially signing his buddies while we get some exciting signings from our DoF who will be binned or not integrated

[Rustibrooks]

I'm actually feeling quite positive for this window, we should address the midfield straight away. We've been linked with a few CM/DMs in the last few weeks/months which is promising at least. I'm totally fine with us spending most of our budget in the middle,  also I'm happy if the report is true that we want to lower the fee for signing Coutinho. We may as well try to do so with Barca since they are desperate for him to get off the books,  plus he'll probably be our highest paid player. 

 

[HalfTimePost]

If only we had other RB and LB options that we hadn't weirdly loaned all out.

Anyway, Hickey is the obvious target here as he can play both until he naturally overtakes Digne and KKH can compete with Cash at RB

[IrishVilla10]

 

5 minutes ago, Zatman said:

Me it has 2015 vibes for me. An unproven out of his depth manager potenially signing his buddies while we get some exciting signings from our DoF who will be binned or not integrated

Such a wild claim tbh. Just to add I’m calling this now, Lange vs Gerrard signings. This will be the next topic of hate for Gerrard 

Edited April 20, 2022 by IrishVilla10

[Delphinho123]

1 minute ago, HalfTimePost said:

If only we had other RB and LB options that we hadn't weirdly loaned all out.

Anyway, Hickey is the obvious target here as he can play both until he naturally overtakes Digne and KKH can compete with Cash at RB

So that's new full backs, new centre halfs, new central midfielders, new strikers and new wingers we've been linked to.
I know it's all clickbait and nonsense but there isn't smoke without fire and the noises we're hearing all lead to a chaotic summer for in's and out's!

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

5 minutes ago, Zatman said:

Me it has 2015 vibes for me. An unproven out of his depth manager potenially signing his buddies while we get some exciting signings from our DoF who will be binned or not integrated

Yes... This summer will be comparable to Tim Sherwood/Remi Garde under Randy Lerner towards our relegation days

Totally valid observation.

[Rustibrooks]

1 minute ago, HalfTimePost said:

If only we had other RB and LB options that we hadn't weirdly loaned all out.

Anyway, Hickey is the obvious target here as he can play both until he naturally overtakes Digne and KKH can compete with Cash at RB

Scenes if Targett decides to stay to fight for the LB position.

Would you guys be fine with Guilbert staying on to rotate with Cash, then KKH going out on loan to a championship side and us signing Hickey if Targett leaves?

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

4 minutes ago, HalfTimePost said:

If only we had other RB and LB options that we hadn't weirdly loaned all out.

Anyway, Hickey is the obvious target here as he can play both until he naturally overtakes Digne and KKH can compete with Cash at RB

To be fair, they will all be back in the summer. It's whether they are deemed as adequate or not I guess.

I'd stubbornly keep Targett, but it seems his mind has been made up.

How long till Newcastle sign competetion for him and he gets upset and wants to move again? Lol

[IrishVilla10]

1 minute ago, Rustibrooks said:

Scenes if Targett decides to stay to fight for the LB position.

Would you guys be fine with Guilbert staying on to rotate with Cash, then KKH going out on loan to a championship side and us signing Hickey if Targett leaves?

Always forget about Guilbert. I think this is the best possible outcome 

[Zatman]

1 minute ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Yes... This summer will be comparable to Tim Sherwood/Remi Garde under Randy Lerner towards our relegation days

Totally valid observation.

Sherwood had a better start at Villa than Gerrard. Not sure whats wild about that, he had 10 wins from 20 with a shitter squad and played better football 

Should we have given him the transfer window. No but we did and I fear similar mistakes are being made. Hoe long did we have Richards on the wage bill?