Villarocker

Southgate will watch him in training 3ith his other - unknown - coaches and see a player that the defenders and defensive midfielders cannot get the ball off. He will then not select Jack for the starting lineup and bring him on in the 85th so he can get none of the ball and justify his original non-selection.

If we sign Watkins surely it will be to play as a striker. Otherwise, that ends any reason to buy Benrahma if Watkins is to play wide left. Does Smith see Watkins as the better option for wide left knowing he can play down the middle as well whereas Benrahma would be wide left only? I hope they've been honest with Watkins if that is the case. I wouldn't want a situation where he thinks he joins to play as a striker only to find himself running up and down the left wing. If they then buy a new striker they surely have to offload Davis on loan or sell him. If not him, maybe sell Samatta? We won't need the new guy, Wesley, Samatta and Watkins as well as Davis. Where is the right-sided forward? Were they thinking that Cash could play that or do they have all their eggs in the Rashica link?

I just hope that we buy two wide forwards and a striker who are better than what we currently have. Jack needs others to be able to get on the ball and do something with it so he can last games out more and take less hits.

According to the England manager that position is already occupied by the great Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

The guy on tweeter, who said we're going to see madness next week, is now saying we're looking at only buying one out and out winger as Watkins will sign and can be used there. He says we are more interested in signing another striker and currently looking at Swansea players and suggesting it could be Joe Rodon, whoever that is.

To be fair, I read an article saying that Mattia Perin was transfer - listed by Juve. I think the "Villa are looking at Emi Martinez" May be us putting something out there to try to force Juve's hand a bit to get a deal done for Perin. No itk just my own thoughts considering we are looking for a new goalkeeper.

That is just sooooooo funny. That ladsv reaction reminds me so much of when my son was his age lol. To be fair, his reaction would be that of the Villa faithful if we sign someone from Juve this week.

Do you think that Cash/Henry will make much difference to Guilbert/Targett - consider in the layout of £25m-£30m?

There's a guy on tweeter that says we will see this week why Villa have waited so long to do deals. He says it's going to be madness. Mind you, he is also saying we are competing with Real Madrid to sign one of Juventus' transfer-listed players. Let's hope he's right on the deals next week though as we could do with getting some new faces in to start training with the current squad.

I can't imagine Villa paying Watkins 70kpw. If they do I'll be amazed and concerned in equal measures. However, if he scores 15+ per season nobody will care what he earns.

Good point, John. Maybe Deano was promised a huge bonus by the Chairman at Brentford if he got them promoted and he is trying a unique way of trying to claim it.

If a team full or Brentford players were that good they would already be in the Premier League when Smith managed them previously.

So, basically, we are just now filling this out to 200? Is there any chance at all of him signing? Even 1%?

Now, that makes me f**king mad. We are either looking at batshit crazy lazy journalism or, our manager wants a team full of Brentford players... Rico Henry Ezra Konsa John Swift Said Benrahma Diego Jota Olly Watkins It is seriously taking the piss if true that we ars after who the reports say we're after.

It's always good to know what you're thinking though mate. I often read your posts and see similar thoughts to my own.

Maybe it just went off in his man bag?

If those 4 players were: Benrahma to replace Trezeguet Watkins to replace Wesley/Samatta Rashica to replace El Ghazi Cash to replace Guilbert Swift to replace Lansbury on bench Do you think that would be the kind of improvement to move us up the table? Judging by what I've seen I think that the wings would be massively improved upon. Not certain about Cash and Watkins improving their positions though. The invisible man would be an improvement on Lansbury.

My thoughts exactly

Targett is more than adequate for us right now. He suffered defensively because he got absolutely zero cover from Jack pre-lockdown. Jack goes everywhere looking for the ball and Targett is left 1 v 2 against opposition right backs and wingers. First game v Leicester at Villa Park proved that when Ricardo - their right back - got MOTM. Dean Smith saw it game in game out where you could see him shouting at Jack to get back into position. If he keeps playing Jack wide left, which Jack doesn't like, we will constantly be exposed down that side. We need a solid left-sided forward who does the defensive part as well. Or, change to having 5 at the back with Targett having that cover on his side.

Personally, I think Jack was staying with Villa as long as they stayed in the Premier League and will do so next season too as long as there are signs of improvement - no relegation battle. However, if, as people suggest, Jack is waiting to see Villa's ambition in the transfer market before deciding his future, do people think the links to Cash, Watkins, Benrahma, Rashica will be enough to keep hold of him?

That's where I'm at TRO. I just hope it is all rumours that our main targets are Cash, Watkins, Benrahma and Swift. If they do sign I'll support them, of course I will. I just fear that the PL will be too big a step for them and we end up with an expensive team of Championship level players. I said it in another thread; if the rumours do play out to be true, is it a case of Dean Smith thinking that he wants to bring in players that he's seen plenty of and who will settle quickly, without any language barriers? That may well be his thought process. Guess we just have to wait and see what plays out and hope it all works out for the best.

I was thinking he may go 5-3-2 with Jack playing behind the two strikers.

What if he is buying Cash to play the right-sided forward role that El Ghazi was shite at last season? That is possible.

I have to say Nick that I'm getting the same vibe about our reported targets as you are. Cash, Watkins and Swift are not kids with potential. They are playing to a decent level in the Championship already but it is a big step up to the Premier League. I said it earlier today that if you keep buying Championship players we will end up as Championship team. Now, that may prove to be wrong and these lads, if they all sign, may well make me eat my words - I certainly hope they do. But, I'm concerned by the reports of who we are aiming for, Rashica apart. Even Edouard doesn't convince me tgat he is the answer although he came through a good club in PSG. If we are spending £12m on Cash I'd rather we tried for someone like Denzel Dumfries at PSV Eindhoven as he has been in the team of the season for the last two seasons in the Eridivisie and can play both RB and RCB. He wouldn't cost much more than £12m and I'd feel a lot better about him than Cash. Maybe Smith wants some players who he has seen lots of first hand? Maybe he thinks they can settle in quicker and have no language barriers?

Lol fair shout. Do you think they would go straight into the side or would you see Swift as a back-up player?