dn1982

I'd say most of the fans moaning about today are the ones who thought we'd be sitting here after 2 defeats saying I told you so. Unfortunately we've looked decent so far and Lamberts signings this year look like they're going to improve us massively. We've played 2 teams tipped to have very good seasons and had only 2/3 shots on target against us. The defence looks very solid and even though we aren't creating loads we are getting it wide and putting in good balls. To me that's creating. If Benteke or Kozak played today they would have scored but we had Gabby who has gone to pot. If Lambert can get 1/2 more attacking players in with the return of those 2 we will score goals and with the added steel in defence we could be I for a good season. Today was probably the strongest bench we've had in years and Sod's law Lambert had to use his subs to stop NZogbia getting a 2nd yellow an injury to Cissokho and I think Richardson aswell who was stretching and holding his leg prior to his substitution. If that never happened I'm sure Cole and Grealish would have got on.

I think the subs were a defining issue and for us NZogbia was on a yellow and could easily have got a 2nd just before he was subbed. Then Cissokho getting injured and just before he came off Richardson was holding his leg not sure if he was injured butch is delivery from that left side was starting to cause trouble. If NZogbia and Cissokho could have stayed on I think we would definitely have seen at least one of Cole or Grealish. Mike Dean was awful gave silly bookings and strange fouls. Overall I'm quite happy the way we played. Newcastle will be looking to catch Everton after their spending and for me there wasn't much in it. Having Gabby and Weimann in the team harms us but it won't be for too much longer. Hopefully we can sign 2 more attack minded players and I think we'll be set. Looking forward to Wednseday now give the likes of Cole Grealish Sanchez Gardner Bacuna a start and let them stake a claim.

I recall that late chance against Stoke, when Bacuna was bursting into the box and the pass was on but Grealish passed to the left instead. He was in the position but didn't make the pass, and that is why we need and have needed a player who can make those passes for a while now.

At 1 nil up away it was better to keep possession than try a risky pass. That for me shows maturity.

His athletic ability doesn't result in anything though. Maybe he'll close someone down half a second faster or outpace his marker before spooning the ball out.

I'd rather have someone who can do something with the ball.

Who do we have?

 

Grealish comes to mind. Cole if he could play 90 minutes week in week out. Kozak and Benteke can't come back soon enough.

 

There's quite a lot of pressure on this kid; and your post is also based on about 30 minutes of Premier League football.  Hell of a mantle

Bent? He doesn't move much but put the ball in the box and he'll be there. Even try Weimann as he still moves about Gabby is getting more and more stationary. He never runs a channel anymore at one stage he was marking a CM!!

His athletic ability doesn't result in anything though. Maybe he'll close someone down half a second faster or outpace his marker before spooning the ball out.

 

I'd rather have someone who can do something with the ball.

His speed gets him there faster but his brain nullifies that most often time. He seems to think he's a target man!!

If you haven't seen much of him why are you saying he's not that good? He's got more potential than anyone who's come through for a while, but until he plays more making a judgment either way is very silly imo

I've seen him every minute he has played in a senior shirt I'm not impressed that was the point.

Then again I think there is a chance Sanchez will turn out to be djemba djemba

He hasn't had enough games to be judged fully but if you have seen every minute how was you not impressed with him against Parma? He went past players like they wasn't there He also played with maturity when he came on against Stoke. He may not make it but from what I've seen he has the potential to do very well.

Contracts for delph, gabby, vlaar and grealish should certainly be number 1 priority. How much value is there that could potentially sign agreements leaving the club for nothing in just 4 months?

 

I wouldn't give Gabby a new contract.[/quote

I would, performance related.

Performance related would be a great idea not sure he'd be happy paying us though

We have been very coy with our acquisitions, not paying over the odds for average players like the rest of the league seem to be doing. By saying he'll only sign players if the price is right, he's not giving the selling clubs (if any are in the pipeline) the imputes to increase the price. 

 

If he says 'yes I'm very keen to add another player' and on transfer deadline day we make a bid, that club is going to know that Lambert wants to add the player and will add a few quid..

 

Wow, you must have a MSc in Economics as well as in Advanced Negotiation Techniques.

 

So you think every selling club go to media sites and look for articles where the buying club has made any remarks of potential deals? Give me a break, this is not how it works. Villa are pretty much skint, like every other club in Europe seems to be except for the lucky few. People KNOW that Paris St. Germain, Manchester City, United and Real Madrid have cash to spend, they will easily crank up the price here and there. Most players have a set value and if there is reluctance to sell you know the player will oppose it and react with a transfer request etc.

 

Whether we go out to say "we are going to buy a new player" as opposed to "we might strike a deal if the price is right" means absolutely nothing when dealing for players within the range we are looking at. Just look at the players we have signed over the last year; Richardson was a freebie, any club would love to sell Senderos, Cissokho came back from a failed loan at Liverpool, Sanchez wasn't very cheap for his age, Kozak certainly wasn't cheap given the ability he has shown in his career and so on. Let's say we go for a player we value at 3M, it's not like the club is going to say 5M based on an interview Lambert has made. They could of course demand 5M from the start, but that is down to negotiation and meeting in the middle. The players we are looking at are probably a) players not worthy of a spot in his current team in the Premier League, loans or c) players from Europe (belonging to clubs with lackluster economy).

 

The art of selling players is easy. If you want to keep said player, hike up the price and refuse to sell unless the price reaches astronomical figures. If the player is surplus to requirements, you are glad to get rid of him. Would we hike up the price if someone came in for a bid for Luna, Bent or Bennett? Of course not, we would pay for their flights. Would we hike up the price for Vlaar or Benteke? Certainly.

I think we have done good business in this window. Would you consider. £12m for Long or £11m for McCormack good business? Southampton are paying over the odds because people know they're desperate and have money. We got Richardson for £300k with a year left and he looks a good addition. Cissokho never had a good time at Liverpool but at 26 for a player that went for a lot of money in the past we have got another good deal. £4m for a 28 yo isn't a lot I like that we don't go around saying we have this or that and until the window closes we won't know how much we have to spend but ATM we have improved the team and it hasn't cost loads.

Why can't fans be both happy at where we are now and still be unhappy about previous years? This summer Lerner tried to sell us as he believed he couldn't take us where we want to go. After trying to sell us he realised he needed to do something now and since then he's decision along with Lambert have IMO been very good. New players New coach New CEO all have and will make a massive differnce to us. The appointment of Fox is a big coup. Lerner has always backed Lambert in summer windows and has done again and I've always believe 3/4 good acquisitions this summer would make a big differnce to us. Only time will tell if this is true but the signs are encouraging. Once you have a youngish sqaud in place you don't need to spend huge to do well in this league if you're run properly and buy and sell at the right times. Hopefully the lessons have been learned and we can grow year on year. There's a lot worse owners out there than Lerner sometimes it's better the devil you know.

What language did he do his interview in?

It's not about Ron Vlaar Naz - it's about losing £20-30m by letting these players leave for nothing - or spending an additional £4-6m in wages to keep them because we let the contracts run short enough to put them in the driving seat. This isn't a club that can afford to do that - and it's wasting money and letting money walk out the door that will be the most likely thing to relegate us in my opinion.

You let a player get to less than 18 months and he can start to up his wage demands knowing you need to protect your investment - let him get into his last year and you start to look at paying a lot more than you need to.

If we'd offered new contracts to these players last summer we'd potentially have saved ourselves a fortune, as it stands now, we have to weigh up whether four months of Ron Vlaar is worth more to us than a nominal fee.

It's mismanagement, and for me it's our biggest failing.

This is where Lerner needs to step up to the plate and as he said himself concentrate on things for the new season. Signing up Vlaar, Delph and Grealish would give the side as much of a boost as signing Sanchez IMO.

As usual he just seems to hide away in the States?

Even more worrying without a proper CEO. Lambert's been banging on about new contracts since before January I think yet nothing happened, so if it didn't get sorted with Faulkner here I can't see it being sorted without him.

Yet without a proper CEO we've signed 2 players this week?? It's frustrating they've not been signed up but no one knows if they've been offered contracts or not. I'd be a lot more worried if they've turned down deals. Hopefully things are progressing behind the scenes but for me only Vlaar deserves a pay rise and with it being his last contract he may just hold out to see if we get sold.

I don't think any fan has forgotten or had their kind bleached by the sun it's just living and dealing with reality. You can moan all you like about last year and I'd say the 'vast majority' wanted Lambert gone but the fact is he hasn't. Now I'm sure the 'vast majority' want us to succeed and to do that Lambert has to do well and for that reason I think he'll be backed and it's the reason I back him. Ultimately results will be the deciding factor and if we are struggling I fully expect him to get sacked. I get the feeling some fans would rather we do badly just to get rid of Lambert. madness

I'd agree with you the Southampton team from last year represents a clear step up but it's not that team anymore. They've lost half of it and the other best 2 players want out. They've just spent £12m on Long and if a Lambert done that we'd be going wild. We aren't content at staying up we was pushing top 10 until we collapsed at the end of last season and Lambert has stated he wasn't a top half finish. You may think we'll struggle but I and others think different. If Vlaar left for Southampton I'd be dissapointed as they aren't a clear step up and I doubt the wages on offer would be out of our reach. If he wants to go at least better yourself.

I don't agree. They have lost some players but they are reinvesting the money in new ones. Shane Long was grossly overpriced but he is still an option they didn't have last season as Pellè is Lambert's direct replacement.

Regarding us, who cares what our manager claims to be aiming for. We have been devoid of ambition for the last few years anyway but know we it's even worse being in effective limbo due to the ownership situation. As is evident by the fact we are probably going to not even spend £10m this window, we are doing the bare minimum to stay up and anything further will just be a bonus. Our situation is in no way on an even keel to Southampton's.

Yes they're are replacing them but are they the same standard? Are they better ? No and no for me they're worse. We are stronger than last year at present and they are weaker. Just because they're buying foreign names doesn't mean a jot and having a manager that's not been tested in the PL can go either way they may have a lot of money in the bank but I'm sure the fans would rather have the players back. If we sold half our team fans would be in meltdown but another team does it and they're still seen as better than us? You seem to forget we was level with Stoke when we played them in March and they finished 9th and we went on an unbelievably terrible run so a top half finish isn't beyond our scope.

I think Southampton represent a clear step up myself. They remain a team that will be aiming to finish in the top-half whereas we will continue to be content with just staying up. My opinion of Vlaar wouldn't be affected in the slighest if he did want to move to them.

I'd agree with you the Southampton team from last year represents a clear step up but it's not that team anymore. They've lost half of it and the other best 2 players want out. They've just spent £12m on Long and if a Lambert done that we'd be going wild. We aren't content at staying up we was pushing top 10 until we collapsed at the end of last season and Lambert has stated he wasn't a top half finish. You may think we'll struggle but I and others think different. If Vlaar left for Southampton I'd be dissapointed as they aren't a clear step up and I doubt the wages on offer would be out of our reach. If he wants to go at least better yourself.

Boy oh boy season ticket sales really must be bad if they are reduced to making stuff like this up.

 

Why does every link to a player we like have to be some sort of conspiracy on behalf of the club to drum up ticket sales? You do realise that the papers make this kind of shit up all the time don't you?

 

It's such a tired old cliche.

If that was true QPR would have about a million ST's with the amount of rumours Arry generates

Man City took weeks to finalise the Mangala deal because of 3rd party ownership people need to realise it's not FM you don't sign a player by pressing next!

NRC didn't like playing the role. Always thought of himself a box to box midfielder. If he convinced himself of staying as a DM, he'd have had a better career for me.

NRC didn't like playing the role. Always thought of himself a box to box midfielder. If he convinced himself of staying as a DM, he'd have had a better career for me.

Totally agree. A box to box player has to score goals and NRC was a headless chicken in the box but could have been very good DM. It's amazing how some players think of themselves when they'd attributes say different hopefully signing Sanchez will enable us to play more attacking as he'll have the ability to cover better than Westwood.

MK Dons away I've never been and you get as many tickets as you need.

I'm behind the manager and the team. The time for sacking him has gone so he'll get my full support but for it to stay that way he needs to improve the way we play. Our home form is the single biggest thing though that needs to be addressed even before performances. We need to have a go and get results sounds easy!!

i don't understand this third party bollocks. Surely just a farcical con to make some suit rocket polishers some extra cash? Should be **** outlawed.

It's so clubs can afford to buy players. It happens all over Europe it's a case of the 3rd party gambling on a player increasing in value and them making a tidy profit. Falcao and Mangala being 2 massive ones recently. It may be a way in future for PL clubs to get around FFP but it'd need a rule change here.

How come all these people who know why we didn't sign Ki didn't have any information before hand? Surely there contacts would let them in on other stuff? I seriously doubt if we don't sign Sanchez it'll be wages as the issue.

No issues with Visa for this guy. Aston Villa are an A rating sponsor under Home Office rules for Tier 5 Sports visa and he has played the required games including recent World Cup

Going OT

Is there anything more stupid than a work permit for a footballer? There should only be 1 question on the form - "how much per year will they contribute to us in tax" - even of he's on relatively poor wages, say £10k a week (which he won't be) using my lazy ignorant tax maths that's £5k a week in tax, £260k a year, over a 5 year contract he will contribute more in tax than 99% of us here will in our life time...

It makes absolutely no sense to me

Well, the obvious thing would be that some english bloke could do the same job and pay the same tax, isn't it? So the money he keeps stay in England, sts.

In theory, but in reality? The foreigner from outside the EU will prevent a foreigner from inside the EU from getting the job...

I can also understand the idea that they don't want the youth teams full of South Americans but again that could be sorted by looking at the tax contribution

I think you've missed his point! You don't want any old crap coming in so you must have a standard. If money was the standard it doesn't matter who gets it English or foreign the tax take would be the same so why bring more crap in?

So if you create a chance and that person doesn't score it's the creators fault? Westwood is the only decent passer we have at the minute. People love Delph yet he doesn't create much. I think if Westwood took people on instead of passing it he'd get more recognition! He has to up his game this year but if as a passing midfielder you have zero movement up front you'll never look brilliant.

Westwood hasn't got the ability to take people on like delph.

I know and Delph hasn't got his passing ability that's the point

Delph has lots of qualities thats why people rate him. Westwood trying to take people on wouldn't make people rate him more.

Westwood has lots too and they're different to Delphs yet some people rate Delph a lot more. My point is Delph looks a more exciting player because he goes past people where as Westwood keeps things ticking over. If you look at their stats there's nothing in it.

So if you create a chance and that person doesn't score it's the creators fault? Westwood is the only decent passer we have at the minute. People love Delph yet he doesn't create much. I think if Westwood took people on instead of passing it he'd get more recognition! He has to up his game this year but if as a passing midfielder you have zero movement up front you'll never look brilliant.

Westwood hasn't got the ability to take people on like delph.

I know and Delph hasn't got his passing ability that's the point

So if you create a chance and that person doesn't score it's the creators fault? Westwood is the only decent passer we have at the minute. People love Delph yet he doesn't create much. I think if Westwood took people on instead of passing it he'd get more recognition! He has to up his game this year but if as a passing midfielder you have zero movement up front you'll never look brilliant.