HalfTimePost Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 I love that promising young players across Europe realise that Aston Villa is an exciting place for them to be, and Paul Lambert seems to really know his onions about world football too - at all sorts of levels. Same here, when we started this 'young and hungry' venture being seen as a club to have young talent developed at and players wanting to come here, I saw, as the 'end game' like thats what we need to be aspiring too, because if we can do that, then at some point down the line we can really build something. I did not expect players to be choosing us over clubs like Chelsea because of this so quickly though. Heres to hoping he signs and we can continue this over the next few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 The Premier League Udinese, always thought it would be a model that suits us It'll get to the point where the superstar kids will leave for huge money, we'll have the good kids that will be loyal for 3/4 seasons then we'll get a fair amount of money and then we'll have our own heroes like Stan Petrov, Laursen etc that are the experienced heads (or captains) and have played with us for 6/7 seasons. It's a good model and eventually you'll get European football because the best kids from abroad will see you as a stepping stone. Whether you can then win something and hold onto them is another thing - without them asking for large contracts which is what got us into trouble in the first place, but I'm extremely happy with where we're at, at this moment in time. Let's aim for a solid mid-table finish this year, maybe even top half, buy again next year with Benteke money and see where the next 3 seasons takes us! UTV First things first though, let's get these kids on board ASAP, come on Jores!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeyAnty Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 My mate who is a Liverpool fan and hates Villa was saying to me yesterday that Villa are a very good club to go to at the moment for anyone with potential. Seems to think that when we are competiting with other clubs our level, a player will choose us every time because of the plan Lambert has in place. I was very impressed as he never has nothing good to say about Villa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biskitt Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 ^^^ Exactly. The only way we can compete in the long term is taking this type of approach. Apart from Barcelona, Real Madrid and possibly Bayern, every club in the world is a selling club. Some of the players we are signing will not work out and will not fulfill there potential, fail to settlle etc but I'd rather we sign players at £2-3m who we think can improve dramatically, rather than £4-8 million on the likes of Harewood, NRC, Sidwell, Beye who we know are not going to get any better. Some of the players we do sign though could well go on to be big stars and move for big money in the future which we then reinvest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lp_villa830 Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Vlaar, Baker, Clark and Okore are it appears our 4 centre halves for next year. Do they have enough experience between them to cope with the pressures of the PL. Last season 3 of them struggled and adding this one lad doesn't help much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodytom Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Vlaar, Baker, Clark and Okore are it appears our 4 centre halves for next year. Do they have enough experience between them to cope with the pressures of the PL. Last season 3 of them struggled and adding this one lad doesn't help much. Im not confident in that foursome tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeyAnty Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Vlaar, Baker, Clark and Okore are it appears our 4 centre halves for next year. Do they have enough experience between them to cope with the pressures of the PL. Last season 3 of them struggled and adding this one lad doesn't help much. IMO we will be a mid table club next season. I dont think we should get carried away on our expectations for next season. This is going to take at least 3 years before we can compete for a top 6 spot. But the important thing is that we have a plan to get there, unlike in the past where we just sleep wandered from one season to the next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Vlaar, Baker, Clark and Okore are it appears our 4 centre halves for next year. Do they have enough experience between them to cope with the pressures of the PL. Last season 3 of them struggled and adding this one lad doesn't help much. as a 4 they would be OK and improve development, as much as he had a stinker last year Clark would probably be in top 6 4th choice centre halfs in the league Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 All 3 of baker, Clark and Vlaar have the experience of a full season behind them. Okore (my phone hates his name) is already playing at a high level. I'm happy with those 4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lp_villa830 Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 I don't doubt they they all have potential to improve, but if our strikers struggle for goals next year we aren't going to grind out many results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 I don't doubt they they all have potential to improve, but if our strikers struggle for goals next year we aren't going to grind out many results. Why would our strikers struggle for goals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarpie Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 (edited) It all depends on how strong Okore is mentally, some players thrives on challenge and under pressure and some unfortunately crumble, as he's basicly danish and scandinavians are usually well grounded mentally I'd think he'd do good. Edited June 13, 2013 by Jarpie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Vlaar, Baker, Clark and Okore are it appears our 4 centre halves for next year. Do they have enough experience between them to cope with the pressures of the PL. Last season 3 of them struggled and adding this one lad doesn't help much. Baker will improve considerably next season i'm sure. Okore sounds like a really hungry guy and Vlaar will have adapted fully to Prem now. The whole defence will be improved. Especially with better midfield cover for them and a left back too. It's hard to organise and structure a new defence during a season of people finding their feet, Lambert finding a tactic that fits the team etc.. Now we'll have 5 or 6 new players who are there to fight for places in the team which will breed competition and thus improve performances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lp_villa830 Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Gabby isn't prolific and despite Weimann and Benteke having fabulous season just it is not guaranteed that they will have the same impact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 We've made two and we'll probably make one more another attacking signing this Summer. Plenty of competition there to ensure we retain a potent attack. Lambert is happy to have a team win 3-2 or 2-1 and so am I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Gabby isn't prolific and despite Weimann and Benteke having fabulous season just it is not guaranteed that they will have the same impact. There's no guarantee our defence won't improve as a unit, that Okore isn't the second coming. All we can do is stick to the philosophy, keep bringing in these young, hungry players, those chomping at the bit to prove themselves, better themselves, bleed for the shirt. Talent will take care of the rest. There are no guarantees in football, even less so when you're fighting your way up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lp_villa830 Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 You are right, but it has happened in the PL before strikers looking class then dipping. Centre halves tend to need that experience to improve and while they gained some last year, id feel much more confident about the season ahead if we were looking to bring in one battle hardened defender who doesn't need to adapt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ironsid Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 The defence had extra pressure put on them in the first two thirds of the season because the midfield wasn't gelling. There was little or no effective screen in front of them. As the midfield improved the defence were better able to cope although, admittedly, there were still some balls ups. Additions to the midfield during this window will, hopefully, help stabilise things a bit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob182 Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Very exciting signing, probably more so than the link to Hellenius. But it rings the same old bells as last season. We are not signing a player that is going to make us better instantly. People in the other thread were talking about good riddance to Bent since the new striker was coming in. Well, I beg to differ, with Hellnius in and Bent out we would be worse off next season. Sure we have Benteke, but we always have to plan for the worst-case scenario in terms of form and injuries. I very much doubt Hellenius would make a much bigger impression than let's say Bowery in the Prem 2013/14. Likewise, trade Bowery to the poor Danish league and he would score lots of goals. I don't think we'll definitely be worse off with Bent out and Helenius in. With the minutes to go, chasing a game, I'd rather bring on a young player on the up, that is going to bust a gut to prove his worth, than having a disheartened experienced player that could mope around the pitch, like Bent has been known to do. Obviously Bent has a proven record, and if he was to be first choice striker, he would get us goals. But I don't think he suits a bench-warmer role. He's not an impact player. I'd happily go into next season with Helenius instead of Bent. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 You are right, but it has happened in the PL before strikers looking class then dipping. Centre halves tend to need that experience to improve and while they gained some last year, id feel much more confident about the season ahead if we were looking to bring in one battle hardened defender who doesn't need to adapt. A fair point. My main issue with that approach is who and where are these battle hardened defenders? Who is going to pay for them and do they bring the guarantees you're looking for? I'd love us to go find the next Mellberg, but how realistic is that? I'd like to think its possible, but with how global the game has become it's a much harder prospect. Even the great bearded one cost us some £6m over 10 years ago. We're not in that market anymore and we're way too soon into the plan to break from the philosophy already. Yes it has it's negatives but hey, at least we have direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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