flashingqwerty

Well, i watch a fair amount of Forest last season, and i saw nothing from Cash that made him look as good as Fred, and he was playing lesser opposition. His defending isnt great, has a habit of not tracking back and losing his man, just like Fred, and his crossing isnt brilliant either. Fred was a standout fullback in his last season in france in a very poor team. And he improved a lot towards the end of the season. Fred has the experience at a higher level than Cash and has proven his ability at that level. Putting Cash into the team early this season could break him. Used in rotation this season, to take over next season would be in the players and the clubs best interests.

IMO Fred is better than Cash right now. cash will undoubtedly be better in the future, but Cash isn't a signing i feel improves the 1st 11. We still desperately need 2 wide players and a striker as a minimum. I would probably add a CM, CB and GK to that list.

If you take the promise we showed in the first few games, and combine it with the will and focus we showed in the last few, then i agree our starting 11 CAN compete. BUT we are always only 1 injury away from playing the likes of Nyland, Lansbury, Vassiliev. Theres also the question of form, Mings, Grealish, Luiz, McGinn all suffered with poor form for long periods, and the likes Trez and AEG just dont seem good enough With a shorter, compressed season, injuries are likely to play an even bigger part, and we simply dont have the personnel to handle it.

Hmmm i've lost a week down the back of the couch again...

Bring in 2 quality wingers and that's all he needs to do.

Its a speculation thread, so all we have is what's in the media to form an opinion until signings are made. To be a week before the opening day of the season with no new blood is highly concerning.

I disagree. Both are unproven at this level and could just as easily flop as succeed. Wes, when fit, is a better player than Watkins, and i still think Guilbert is better than Cash right now. Even with Watkins and Cash in the 1st 11, we'd struggle massively to stay up. I'm concerned, and look forward to the club rubbing my words in my face!

If that's the best we can attract/afford, then we truly are a championship club. That group is not good enough.

The players we are being linked to are massively uninspiring. Wheres the ambition? Think we will be lucky to avoid another relegation battle if Watkins, Wilson, Cash and Swift are the best we can muster...

This is in line with what i've been told. Realistically wont be starting games until christmas at the earliest.

If Targett goes to leicester, i will eat my hat

Im responding to speculation in a speculation thread. At no point have i said anything is true, so 0lease refrain from putting words in my mouth.

70k pw for Watkins? Jesus wept!

I've picked on you Tro, cos i know you will take my response in the context that it is meant, when i could have replied to any number of others that look at raw words and not meaning. Davis and Watkins, though both strikers, perform two very different roles and have completely different attributes. As a defensive forward, Davis is someone who holds the ball up and provides an out when the side is under pressure, whilst then bringing others into play when we are on top and in posession. He isnt there to score lots of goals, but to provide relief, and allow others to run beyond him to do that. Its no coincidence that our defence fares better and our posession stats improve when he is on the pitch. Players of this type dont command big fees as they do not do the flashy stuff and dont grab headlines. Davis and Watkins wont compete with each other, they would be utilised in different circumstances. In so far as the 25m price tag, i would not pay that for him. I think we overpaid for Wes, and i think Wes is the better player between him and watkins. I appreciate Wes is currently injured, but, buying an equal oe lesser version of what you have isnt ambition, which our owners say they have, so i would expect us to be looking to bring in someone better than we have. I havent seen us linked to a striker i believe to be significantly better. Belotti would be someone we may perhaps get, but there are many others across Europe well within our reach.

If Wes was fit, i'd play him over Watkins. I don't see much between watkins and davis tbh, just one is a goalscorer and one is a defensive forward. Watkins is another squad filler rather than a starter imho

Benrahma at least is much better than Trez and AEG, he may not be PL quality, but is better than those two. I would not, however, spend 25-30m on him, as there are much better players out there in that price range. My issue is with spending decent amounts of money on players that will have little impact on the first 11, in Swift and Cash, when our focus should be 9n players to impact the first team. Yeah, transfers don't happen in order of priority, but those 2 offer so little that it seems impossibly naeive that we could not have signed someone who could improve our first 11 by now. It really feels like we have another relegation season ahead to me based on 90% of thelinks to date, with nothing to suggest we are going to do anything in line with our stated lofty ambitions. Its time for these new, rich, owners to put up or shut up. So far its all lip service and no action.

Matt Cash? Massive 'meh'. Is he better than Guilbert? I'm not convinced. Better than Elmo, probably. Worth 15m considering how poor we are on the wing and up front? Not a chance. This is not a signing that will take us away from relegation at all. John Swift, not even close to as good as Luiz and McGinn, and I mean not even close. Better than Lansbury, sure, but better than Hourihane and Nakamba? Not convinced at all. Another player that will not move us away from relegation candidates and massively underwhelming. If the links to these two and the likes of Watkins are the best we have to look forward to this window, then i'm afraid there are huge issues at b6, as these signings will not take us into mid table safety never mind top 10. Negligible squad upgrades at best, with almost no improvement on the starting 11. No good enough, and will leave us fighting relegation again.

YAWN

Commenting on potential, or lack thereof, without having seen someone play? So you base your opinion 9n what, that he hasn't got as much potential? Having been a goalkeeper, and goalkeeping coach in the past, and having seen Sarkic for our u23 and during his loan spells, i can safely say the lad has significant potential. You say Cahill was proven at )L level, but the villa coaching staff at the time felt he wasn't ready for a team competing in the top half, so you think your judgement of his readiness is superior to the villa coaching staff at the time? In hindsight perhaps, but hindsight is 20-20. Fact is, Cahill struggled for large parts of his villa career, and was let ho because he wasn't good enough to be on our bench most of the time. Sarkic probably isn't quite ready for the PL yet, but as goalies go, hes still an infant. I'd still say he is at least 9n par, ability wise, with Steer and Nyland, and only game time will see him progress. I'd have much rather we played Sarkic than Reina, think it would have done him the world of good, but any chance of that went when he refused to sign a new contract after being recalled, and then effectively replaced by Reina. Can't recall Reina making any saves that Sarkic wouldn't have made, and its not as though Reina made no mistakes. Whilst I am sure he had a massive impact in the dressing room, his performances on the pitch were bang average at best, and I believe blooding a good prospect would have served us better in the long run. Don't fool yourself into thinking the staff at Villa didn't rate him, because he left. There were attempts by the club to sign him on an extended contract into may/june, but the player felt badly treated and refused, and I back him in that. Should never have been recalled.l, and had he not been, i'd wager he'd still be a villa player today. The situation was handled poorly by the club, we've lost a talent, and i hope its not on a level with Cahill in 4/5 years.

He has potential to be a top class keeper, more potential than Cahill had when he left. I'm massively disappointed in Villa that they effectively let him go by recalling him. Hope i'm wrong.

We didn't lose him in the summer, we lost him in January. He was recalled because we had Steer and Heaton injured, and needed cover. He was getting 1st team games out on loan, and playing well, so to be recalled, he would be expecting some game time. We then sign Reina, and he never gets a place on the bench. I his shoes, i'd be pissed off too. Should not have recalled him from loan. Feels like a Gary Cahill in the making, this one.

I do think there was something to that given what Suso has said, and some of the other articles around talking about players coming if X manager was appointed type deals. No smoke without fire. He likely got the Suso end of the conversation rather than the Purslow end.