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September Optimism Gauge


maqroll

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I'm optimistic for the future, but not so much for now. If we stay up, I think we can really kick on in the next couple of seasons after this one. Going down would be a disaster imo despite us having lots of young players, we don't have that experienced spine that could be relied on to bring us back up. I trust PL believes he has enough quality in the squad to do what he needs to do this season before kicking on from there.

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The most excited I've been about the Villa in years. Really looking forward to seeing this group of players grow into a proper footballing side.

It's fresh and has needed doing for ages and now the gloom can finally be lifted off the pitch (if only the same could be said for the stands).

This team, as it is, is going to lose some BUT this team is also going to win some and I'd much rather we lose three and win two than go "undefeated" and draw five. Because... that was the problem... remember.

A team and a manager I can believe in again, well done Lambert and good luck for the season ahead.

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Once we get Dunne back I think we'll be fine.

We can still put out a team like this:

Given

Lowton Vlaar Dunne Bennet

Herd KEA Ireland

Benteke Bent Agbonlahor

Which should be more than enough to avoid relegation, plenty of international class players in there.

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i look at it like this....

PL knows as do most fans that most of the current squad couldn't give a monkeys about putting on the villa shirt & giving their best week in week out. bringing a few Top Drawer signings isn't going to help get rid of the dead wood in the team & we will struggle.

We need a whole new team which gives you 2 quick fix options. Learner gives you £100 million to go & buy a team of "household" names, which he isn't going to do (wheather he has the cash or not) after getting his financial fingers burnt by MON or the other option is you buy a team of cheap unknowns & take a gamble

In reality we'd all like a £100 million pound team but as it's not possible i'd rather have a team of talented unknowns who will wear the shirt with pride & give a 100% than half a team that can't be bothered. if we do struggle (& i think we will) i'd rather have a team of fighters & tryers than a team with one eye on their relegation clauses.

well done PL

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Why does it have to be one extreme?

Why is it either buy cheap lower league talent or spend £100 million?

Is there no Inbetween? Could we not snap up young talent and sign some quality?

While signing Westwood and Bennett to build for the future could we not balance that with players like Adam Johnson?

I don't see why it has to be the cheap gamble or the ridiculous high spending.

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Once we get Dunne back I think we'll be fine.

We can still put out a team like this:

Given

Lowton Vlaar Dunne Bennet

Herd KEA Ireland

Benteke Bent Agbonlahor

Which should be more than enough to avoid relegation, plenty of international class players in there.

I will also feel a lot better when Dunne is back.

I think of all positions on the pitch the CB is the one where experience is the most crucial.

With two experienced heads in there directing the youngsters around them I think we will be more stable.

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Once we get Dunne back I think we'll be fine.

We can still put out a team like this:

Given

Lowton Vlaar Dunne Bennet

Herd KEA Ireland

Benteke Bent Agbonlahor

Which should be more than enough to avoid relegation, plenty of international class players in there.

I will also feel a lot better when Dunne is back.

I think of all positions on the pitch the CB is the one where experience is the most crucial.

With two experienced heads in there directing the youngsters around them I think we will be more stable.

Completely.

You can get away with playing young full backs when you have two solid centre backs.

Similarly you could get away with playing Westwood in midfield if you put KEA and Ireland in alongside him.

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I actually think these players will come good, but I think we needed some experience in the middle too. It's too much to ask of these players to come in and be a hit straight away. We just need to hope we are not cut adrift by Jan.

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Why does it have to be one extreme?

Why is it either buy cheap lower league talent or spend £100 million?

Is there now Inbetween? Could we not snap up young talent and sign some quality?

While signing Westwood and Bennett to build for the future could we not balance that with players like Adam Johnson?

I don't see why it has to be the cheap gamble or the ridiculous high spending.

i don't think there is a inbetween.. Randy can't/won't spend the money. i would have loved say 2/3 quality prem players to compliment what we've signed but then it's back to the reducing the wage bill issue again. we have to have affordable players now. we could never have paid AJ's wages. that is where we are as a club now unfortunately.

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I'm very optimistic for September and the rest of the season. Unlike some other's, I'm happy with what we've done in the transfer market and I feel that our first 11 when fully fit is good enough to get us around 10th. Maybe we could have a bit more depth but I think 10 - 12 team's in the prem could say the same thing and people seem to forget this because of how unlucky we were with injuries the last 2 season's.

Also don't understand this big deal of prem experience, I'd rather have what seem's to be good leader's in Vlaar and KEA and young player's with big potential like Lowton and Bennett ( Both of whom I really rate ).

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Every game is going to be like a cup game for us and any team playing us, Villa right now are an unknown quantity and just like lower league teams in the cup are always prone to surprises. Yes we are risking relegation with this move, but in my opinion we are being priced out of this league anyway so we may as well try something daring and new.

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Oh, and FWIW, I think QPR will still struggle this year despite signing a shit load of high waged players.

I'm much happier with our policy than theirs, if Tony Fernandes gets bored, they are ****. Before this summer they were already said to be running at 180 percent of revenue, while they didn't shed any big earners apart from Barton this summer.

Pompey all over again, Added to this they have a capacity of 20k, really no scope for growth.

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Is there no Inbetween?

could we not balance that with players like Adam Johnson?

johnson will be on somewhere between 60k - 80k a week so IMO no there isnt a way of balancing it

yossi benayoun on loan for me would have been a great signing to add some experience and some calmness in the middle, he's only on 92k a week

its **** daft

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Why does it have to be one extreme?

Why is it either buy cheap lower league talent or spend £100 million?

Is there no Inbetween? Could we not snap up young talent and sign some quality?

While signing Westwood and Bennett to build for the future could we not balance that with players like Adam Johnson?

I don't see why it has to be the cheap gamble or the ridiculous high spending.

I'll use this as an example. What do you think would be so much better about us having him ? City weren't interested in using him, England have hardly used him, he has scored a few flash goals and little else, yet would demand a huge fee and huge wages.

In fact you could easily make a case that he is NOT an experienced player at all.

Assuming he even wanted to come to the Midlands and a Club who have had a dire couple of years.

And assuming that he plays a role the Manager wants. And assuming the Manager is keen on his attitude, his application , and the example he would set the younger ones.

And so on. Liverpool did great with their 'experienced' players last year didn't they ? Carrol, Adam, Downing - what an advert for your approach they are !!!!!

I don't understand why you would be so much happier with that, than with what is a clear plan to have young hungry players (who the Manager has identififed as having the ability, temperament and character).

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I'm optimistic for the season - Lambert has been backed, there's no doubt about that now, and he's bought in the type of players that he wants and who he thinks will do the business for us. I have faith in him and I like what he's doing and the way he is going about doing it.

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I like many believe that the team needed to have an overhaul due to the amount of players that took little to no pride in wearing the shirt. I would have like to see a signing in midfield with more experience but hey ho.

This season will be a struggle but we have to back Lambert and the team. I see little between us and the likes of Norwich, Fulham, Reading, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, QPR, West Brom, West Ham and Wigan.

If PL can more out of the players that were already here (Ireland, Nzogbia, Gabby) we will be ok.

UTV

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Optimistic? Well that depends on what one should expect. We all agreed that we needed a spending spree on the last day to stand a chance this season. We did buy players, but the problem is that all the clubs around us did the same and even to a better degree. Fulham getting Berbatov is a good example, they have a very exciting team suddenly and one that will finish above us all things normal. We have basically gotten Vlaar, El Ahmadi and probably Benteke to give us a few options - all the others are players that will needa long time to take the level or figure very little in the side. The new striker is basically for the future, Lowton is inexperienced and probably a long way behind even Hutton at the moment, the same thing can be said about Bennett with regards to Warnock. Say what you want about said players, but they are experienced at this level and have hundreds of games behind them. Both have also, at one point during their Premier League-career, been in high regard. Warnock was a very welcome addition to our squad a few years ago, there is no denying that if so, hindsight is a bitch. I would MUCH rather start with Warnock and Hutton compared to Bennett and Lowton, they should learn and develop, not get thrown into the side just because Lambert don't like the sight of the others. It is a very dangerous game bringing up semi-professionals to our first-team when we are going to play Newcastle away. Chances are we will get raped several times this season if our experienced players are rotting on the bench. I do like bringing in raw talent, it is a vital and very exciting part of the game, but throwing them all into the team when our team is already inexperienced and in lack of leadership and coherency, I think we are going to struggle immensely.

So optimistic? Well not really, not this season anyway. Just looking and the other squads, many whom are settled and have apparent attacking patterns, as well as defensive strengths, we are fighting with very young and unproven players without any form of established plan. This will take time and we are already at 0 points after 2 games and still a very tough away-game to play tomorrow. What do I expect? Well we can discard Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Everton, Fulham, Sunderland, Stoke, Swansea and probably QPR. The rest of the teams are AVFC, West Ham, Norwich, Reading, Southampton, West Brom and Wigan. I think all of those teams are going to struggle in the battle for relegation, including us. Stoke have invested very cleverly in Charlie Adam, who might not be a great footballer but just the perfect tool for their approach. They will safely end up around 10-12th. Reading and Soton have the promotion-spirit in them and one of them are probably going to surprise a few. Reading might too, but their squad is not better than ours. Wigan will go down this season I am sure, but the two other places are up for grabs. At this moment I think at best we will challenge for 14th, with relegation as a valid outcome. All in all, I expect a very hard season and one where we should be prepared for the worst. The level of the Premier League is probably at its all-time high, when clubs like QPR are getting Julio Cesar and Fulham are getting Dimitar Berbatov. We are doing it the sensible way, an admirable approach and probably the right one with regards to the future, but that sentiment counts for nothing when one goes down in the end. It is a bitch when measly clubs like QPR get rich owners, and people can say whatever they want about their wages to turnover-ratio, but if they can pay the bills then nothing will stop them will it?

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