Libor Kozák

[AntrimBlack]

20 hours ago, Rds1983 said:

Start him. Helps us (hopefully) get the win, gives him better fitness and sharpness so he hopefully is more clinical against WBA and also helps him get used to playing competitively with some of our summer signings.

I am hoping our first team summer signings will not be playing.

[Delphinho123]

4 hours ago, Dante_Lockhart said:

I'm beginning to think you just like to do the opposite to what everyone else does mate. People praise Kozak and Veretout, you say they're crap. If we say Zog is crap I bet you'll jump to his defence.

Nope. Zog is crap too.

We're bottom of the league with 12 points because most of our players are crap.

Or are they not? Am I missing something?

[GeordieVillan]

I would play him and Gestede tonight as a pair, and also Ayew. In fact I would be pretty much full strength other than maybe Lescott being rested. We need a moral boosting convincing win, there is no benefit at all in playing the youngsters or reserves, and I don't think our players are so tired that they need a break. It would great for our strikers to get amongst the goals tonight.

Lets see if the aggression and intensity of our direct play against Leicester in the second half can be repeated, and if so, then we use the same tactics on Saturday.

[Barney_avfc]

http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/01/19/genoa-president-claims-aston-villa-have-changed-their-mind-about/

Genoa president claims Aston Villa have changed their mind about selling Libor Kozak. 

[Czechlad]

Good. He will be a valuable asset for the championship and hopefully we can get him scoring a few while we are still in the league. 

[VillaChris]

I was thinking back to 13/14 and when he came in and scored a few goals just today...I remember a few on here saying well we can sell Benteke now as we have someone who can score regularly e.g. if he can score 4 in 10 games he can score 15 over a season.

I remember arguing vigorously at the time that shouldn't happen as Kozak's all round game was nowhere near Benteke's and we'd majorly decline as a team.

What has happened is we've actually replaced Benteke with an even poorer forward than Kozak in Gestede.

At least Libor moves, creates space and shows good positional sense, Rudy has no idea on any of this.

Yeah he has 5 goals but if Libor had played his minutes I think he'd have scored more and we'd have looked a bit more threatening going forward as he can link things a little better and Ayew seems to like playing with him.

Keep him until the summer and then re evaluate.

[lexicon]

12 hours ago, Barney_avfc said:

http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/01/19/genoa-president-claims-aston-villa-have-changed-their-mind-about/

Genoa president claims Aston Villa have changed their mind about selling Libor Kozak. 

Excellent stuff - great to see Libor proving his worth. 

[villa89]

Bizarre that a player cast out into the wilderness can suddenly be brought back into the fold. When we did that with Hutton and N'Zogbia it didn't work out so well. I hope Libor does well but it's just another sign of the shambles of a club this is. They don't know what players they want to sell and what players they want to keep.

[dont_do_it_doug.]

17 minutes ago, villa89 said:

Bizarre that a player cast out into the wilderness can suddenly be brought back into the fold. When we did that with Hutton and N'Zogbia it didn't work out so well. I hope Libor does well but it's just another sign of the shambles of a club this is. They don't know what players they want to sell and what players they want to keep.

He wasn't really in the wilderness. He suffered a horrific injury and he has taken a long time to come back from it, when he was "ready" I can't say for sure, but that isn't comparable to the bomb squad at all nor is it another sign that the club is a shambles. IMO. 

[dn1982]

Kozak is the best big CF we have at the club at the minute. His work rate is very good and he seems to come alive around the box which from what I've seen so far is the complete opposite of Gestede. To have any chance of getting anywhere near survival we will need a better CF but until then he should be first choice. 

[Stevo985]

I'm wondering if there were some coaches or backroom staff that had completely written Kozak off.

Sherwood said the other day that he didn't know anything about him, which would suggest he was never even considering him as an option. And it's taken Garde a while to finally give him a chance.

I'm wondering if someone there had decided he was a lost cause and that was causing the management to not give him a chance.

 

That's based on absolutely nothing but my random musings.

[Michael118]

1 hour ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

He wasn't really in the wilderness. He suffered a horrific injury and he has taken a long time to come back from it, when he was "ready" I can't say for sure, but that isn't comparable to the bomb squad at all nor is it another sign that the club is a shambles. IMO. 

He scored 3 goals in pre season. That sounds ready enough to be given an opportunity at some point over the next 20 matches. 

Can't believe the comments from Tim Sherwood if they are correct. He would have seen Kozak most days in training and was managing when Kozak was scoring in pre season. Whatever was going on behind the scenes, if anything even was, it's up to Tim Sherwood as manager to explore all his options when the current ones were not performing.

I also remember him being asked about Kozak not long before he left and he said he preferred other options.

 

 

 

[dont_do_it_doug.]

I would put zero stock in whatever comes out of Tim Sherwood's mouth. He's covering his arse in case Kozak scores a boat load of goals.

[itdoesntmatterwhatthissay]

2 hours ago, villa89 said:

Bizarre that a player cast out into the wilderness can suddenly be brought back into the fold. When we did that with Hutton and N'Zogbia it didn't work out so well. I hope Libor does well but it's just another sign of the shambles of a club this is. They don't know what players they want to sell and what players they want to keep.

Might have been pressure from fans, shop window or because Gestede needed a break/is hopeless.

Either way he's proved he's a good match player who understands how to use his talents when the pressure is on. Might not be good enough but I'm very happy he at least got some minutes to remind Gestede and others their places aren't guaranteed.

[itdoesntmatterwhatthissay]

13 minutes ago, Michael118 said:

He scored 3 goals in pre season. That sounds ready enough to be given an opportunity at some point over the next 20 matches. 

Can't believe the comments from Tim Sherwood if they are correct. He would have seen Kozak most days in training and was managing when Kozak was scoring in pre season. Whatever was going on behind the scenes, if anything even was, it's up to Tim Sherwood as manager to explore all his options when the current ones were not performing.

I also remember him being asked about Kozak not long before he left and he said he preferred other options.

That's what bothered me the most, pre season was pretty awful really. We didn't look up for it, didn't play that well as a team but Kozak took some of that negative focus away. 
Sherwood needed that because some were concerned about the way we were playing but he didn't seem to recognise what Kozak added.
First rule of being a good manager, don't ignore those who change games for you, especially if they make your job less intense.

[DCJonah]

I still hope that come next season he's a back up option, regardless of the league we are in. But full credit for the difference he's made and the attitude he's shown, shows up some of our players in the squad. 

[bobzy]

29 minutes ago, DCJonah said:

I still hope that come next season he's a back up option, regardless of the league we are in. But full credit for the difference he's made and the attitude he's shown, shows up some of our players in the squad. 

Agree entirely.

Quite liked his gesture when Gana scored against Wycombe - Gana runs off to celebrate with Cissokho(?) and Veretout(?), Kozak ignores it and gives Gestede a fist bump for the assist.

He's not the greatest player in the world, but I really like him as an individual and he's made a difference coming back into the first team setup.

[Czechlad]

Kozak was literally one of the nicest footballers I ever met. I was at the Houston Dynamo vs Villa match last year and I made sure to sit directly behind the Villa bench to see if anyone would sign my shirt or take a photo. Clark, Cole, Grealish, Hutton, and Weimann all spent some time interacting with the fans. Others like Benteke, Agbonlahor, and Delph did not even acknowledge the Villa supporters. Then I saw Kozak come out. I waved at him and showed him I was wearing his shirt. He came over and chatted with me for quite a while actually. He seemed shocked to find a fellow Czech at the match. He signed my shirt, got a photo, and even held a conversation with me for a little while. Told me how he can't wait to get back on the field, but then of course this was before the doctors screwed up his broken leg. Asked me how I ended up in Houston from Czech (oil industry). At the end of the match he came over again and thanked us for coming. It was really nice. The guy really seems like a good person. 

 

That interaction really made me a big fan and made me want to see him representing this club. 

Edited January 20, 2016 by Czechlad

[heid3ster]

The fact that he can come back from an horrific injury and bungled recovery process shows me that he has a little mental steel, something that is sorely lacking in our team at the moment. Yeah, his touch is rusty and he's hesitant in front of goal a little right now -- it's to be expected, he's been out for two years. I don't think he'll ever get us Benteke-level numbers of goals, and in that regard he won't be "our savior" this season, but even in his current rusty state I think he's a better starting option than Gestede, who should only ever be a Plan B in my opinion.

[villa89]

6 hours ago, Czechlad said:

Kozak was literally one of the nicest footballers I ever met. I was at the Houston Dynamo vs Villa match last year and I made sure to sit directly behind the Villa bench to see if anyone would sign my shirt or take a photo. Clark, Cole, Grealish, Hutton, and Weimann all spent some time interacting with the fans. Others like Benteke, Agbonlahor, and Delph did not even acknowledge the Villa supporters. Then I saw Kozak come out. I waved at him and showed him I was wearing his shirt. He came over and chatted with me for quite a while actually. He seemed shocked to find a fellow Czech at the match. He signed my shirt, got a photo, and even held a conversation with me for a little while. Told me how he can't wait to get back on the field, but then of course this was before the doctors screwed up his broken leg. Asked me how I ended up in Houston from Czech (oil industry). At the end of the match he came over again and thanked us for coming. It was really nice. The guy really seems like a good person. 

 

That interaction really made me a big fan and made me want to see him representing this club. 

To be fair the fact that you are Czech and presumably spoke to him in his native tongue gave you a bit of an advantage over the average fan looking for an autograph. He wasn't likely to call you a *insert Czech word for word removed*.