Popular Post Pilchard Posted September 1, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted September 1, 2015 Interested to gauge the general opinion on the transfer window now it's finally shut (and in true Villa style for the second season running we've signed a player after it had shut). It seems like there are a couple of gripes - net spend and the lack of a striker. Net spend? I fully expected us to be well in profit by the end of the window so no complaints from me - Lerner wasn't going to suddenly start spending money - if he'd had his way he'd have been way from Villa for two years now so he was never going to sanction spending on the scale I think some are expecting. And as for a striker, well it sounds like we were as close as we can get to signing on until the fruit loop went loopy in which case it was a narrow escape and there was no point in in just buying any player - perhaps showing lessons of the past have been learnt. Lets give Sellers or R-Murphy a go. Keeper wise there is a huge question mark over Guzan - but we know how well he can perform - he's very much a player who needs that trust and confidence but he is certainly capable of being what we need. Defence was the area that needed most work and it looks like we've got a brand new back four. Amavi looks very good - his age is showing with some poor decision making but nethertheless, looks a cracking player. Richards is growing into the role, and now with Lescott he's got one of his best mates alongside him. Right back - I imagine Ilori will be playing there. It's easy to forget Crespo too. The biggest bonus is that the Chuckle Brothers are both suddenly nowhere near a starting spot and we've weakened a rival by sending the worst left back I've seen for Villa on loan to them. We've improved by bringing in Gana to replace that lying, bench loving judas, Vertout is going to take a little patience I think but the clips of him look like we may eventually have a replacement for Milner. Adama is the most exciting out of the lot and looks one hell of a player (him and Grealish in the same team....YES!). The strikers do have a question mark and it does worry me. I think we were caught out by Adebeyor's odd 'u-turn', but seeing the rumoured reasons for it - we dodged a bullet. Not sure about Berbatov - I don't think he's the type of striker we needed. Had Ayew started well then we wouldn't be worrying about this. Lots of comparisons with his brother - but his brother had a full pre-season with Swansea - Jordan joined us half fit, halfway through ours. It took a few weeks to get Benteke firing again - I trust Tim to do it with Ayew too. He did it at Spurs, he's done it here once already. We've got a much better team, much better squad. Sadly others have also improved their teams and squads and we started way behind everyone else in terms of quality. With so many signings, it's going to take a while to gel and as such this season might not be much (or any) better than last season. But it's putting us on a better footing for the future and it's going to be interesting to see what this group of players can do.... 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 (edited) Plenty of potential (Amavi, Gueye and Traore look impressive) but the spine of the team has been weakened considerably. From Guzan -Vlaar - Delph - Benteke, only one stayed and even he should be replaced. Looking at the squad, far too much deadwood remains and we remain distinctly average in some key positions. Time will tell, but I'm not convinced that we've done enough to climb the table. Edited September 1, 2015 by CarewsEyebrowDesigner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Bar getting the experienced striker in, I think it has gone very well. Well done to everyone involved in it, now it's down to Tim and the coaches to develop the team. I wouldn't be surprised if Lescott and Sinclair are the two most important signings to start with and gradually the team clicks in a couple of months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awol Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Best window in living memory (mine anyway!) and genuinely thrilled with some of the additions made. Signing what looks like a potential new right back in addition to the solid Lescott is the cherry on the cake, and (nod to the net spend merchants) for Sherwood to have done this while spending so little of the "Club's money" i.e. over and above revenues from sales, is remarkable. I think it will take some time to work out the best forward line but the biggest dilemma seems to be how to shoehorn as much of this new talent as possible onto the pitch at the same time. I didn't expect to have such a great problem at the end of last season. Guzan is probably the weakest link now, but given what I hope is our new first choice back 4 he should get much better protection. He remains a great shot stopper, hopefully having Lescott and Micah glaring at him will sort out his distribution - most of the time. Now the transfer circus is over I literally cannot wait to see what this team will do once everyone settles in, but the greater excitement is what they could grow into as a unit. So in summary it's been a bloody marvellous window and I've got a sense of positivity about the team that I didn't think possible 8 weeks ago. Take a bow Mr Sherwood on behalf of all at the club. You seem to have played a blinder. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post markavfc40 Posted September 1, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted September 1, 2015 (edited) Thirteen players have come in. Six of them in Richards, Lescott, Amavi, Gueye, Traore and Sinclair for me improve the match day squad immensely. Veretout, Gestede and Ayew I think will take time to adjust to the league/step up in standard but hopefully, will prove to be astute additions. Lloric looks a promising player. Crespo was never more than a squad filler to cover a number of positions. Bunn is a backup keeper. Sarkic is a young prospect. I see some are disappointed in the net spend. I think we have though got some real bargains. Sinclair is worth way more than the 2.5mill we paid. Richards on a free is a masterstroke. From the little we have seen of him Gueye looks a steal at 8 mill. Likewise Amavi and Traore. Spending more wouldn’t necessarily have resulted in us bringing in better players. For the first time in years I actually think we have brought in proven quality with a mixture of players with the potential to improve alongside some experienced heads to help them along. Time will be the judge of how well we have done this window but for me the early signs look promising. There is no doubt though that it will take time for the players to gel and for the new lads, especially the young ones from abroad, time to settle. I just hope we as supporters can show a little patience and not jump on the managers, or the players, back before the players have had chance to bed in and the manager settles on his best team. For what it is worth I am really excited by what I have seen from us so far and I am confident there is way more to come from us once the players all settle in. I fully expect some poor results and performances along the way but also for us to give some sides a real good hiding. I am really looking forward to seeing what Sherwood can do with some very exciting prospects but am pleased he has been astute enough to bring in some older heads. I think we'll be fine this season in terms of being out of danger of the drop and it will be a mid table finish but not a dull season due to the manner in which we will approach games. Edited September 1, 2015 by markavfc40 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Despite it losing Benteke and Delph, I think we have a better team and will score more goals and concede less, and win more matches than we did last season. Sherwood and the scouts have done a good job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackbauer24 Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 I have made no secret of my continuing disappointment in Lerner and his disregard for Aston Villa. I think this window has been a very entertaining failure. That's best way I can put it. If you make a team of the players we've signed and play it against a team of the players who've left (as I did in another thread) then it becomes fairly apparent we have, at best, stood still. The quality is more evenly been spread so areas such as defence are improved but strikeforce weakened, where as the midfield has also more evenly spread the quality. Ultimately though, the lack of a more recognisable striker will hurt us. We released Bent, Weimann, Helenius and kids and should have replaced them more ambitiously, Benteke was not replaceable in a realistic budget. And that is the final element; we all accept we have a limited budget but given we lost our best players, needed an overhaul, have a new manager and finished 17th last season, I'm fuming that we spent so little money that wasn't from sales and even more disappointed that Lerner has somehow managed to sneak this past a large majority of fans who have been seduced by the pure numbers rather than the difference in quality. He can sell the whole first XI next season for £30m but as long as we buy 40 relatively unknown foreign players for £10m that may or may not end up both being good enough and settling in the Premier League it will keep the masses happy. No money doesn't necessarily equal success, but lack of investment guarantees failure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Albrighton Posted September 1, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted September 1, 2015 Pretty much agree with everything markavfc40 has said. It's been an exciting window, it's felt like the most positive summer in years. At the very least I think it's given the club and us as fans a much needed shot in the arm. Bring on the next 34 matches, it's going to be interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 If we hadn't kicked a ball yet then I think 95% of us would be incredibly happy, unfortunately we have and we look shy of quality upfront again, ayew and gestede look worrying, Richards I'm still not convinced by but I'm happy with the partnership with lescott, Gana looks good, Amavi and ayew look like brilliant prospects Think a fair few teams have had worse windows than us that's for sure I think more than anything the whole thing, especially today just reaffirms to me that football isnt going to change, it's broken as ****, we will continue to lose players, continue to scrape round with mixed results, whilst the teams at the top continue to blow us out of the water, city signing 3 £40m+ players, Chelsea loaning out 33 players, Utd spunking huge amounts of money 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 13 players in Vlaar, Benteke, Delph, Bennett (L), Baker (L), Robinson (L), Given, Tonev, Bent, Luna, Weimann, Lowton - 12 players in/around the first team out. Quality in the squad has gone up, but we still lack in important areas. Keeper is no different, still weak, Defence is stronger, midfield is stronger - depending on potential and the strike force is weaker. Great work by Sherwood, Fox and Reilly. Poor from Lerner, who could have allowed the club to spend it's own money on a keeper and a striker, which would have improved what we have. Currently we are relying on potential to hit the ground running, or find their feet really quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 I thought Jim White was excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Gueye, Veretout, Amavi and Adama are absolutely sensational buys. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannedfromHandV Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 We will be fine, and we will score more goals than last season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 And Sinclair has to be bargain of summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romavillan Posted September 1, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted September 1, 2015 I don't think Guzan is weak, he might not be the best keeper int he league but I'd not say he's weak. We have had an incredible window by our standards, and a good one by anyone's standards if you ask me. We have improved immensely IMO, and have yet to see the side play anywhere near it's potential. We will have to be patient in that respect, I think it won't be till the turn of the year that we can really start to judge the work done over the summer. In terms of playing style and creativity and attacking intent the changes are like night and day. I can't believe people are disappointed, look at where we were last Jan FFS. Gana, Amavi and Richards have already shown in a very short time they improve us immensely. Troare, well, let's wait and see but **** me that looks like a masterstroke of a signing. Up top which is everyone's big worry we have some promising young players which may or may not start banging them in. For me the best thing about all the changes though is we are no longer a one trick pony, yes Benteke was a guarantee, but now even without that guarantee I think we will see goals coming from midfield, and other areas hopefully. Goals throughout the side is something we have lacked for so long and takign the burden of doing all the work off these young forwards may help them turn into what we all want them to be. Onwards and upwards, great work by Sherwood, Fox and Reilly indeed, totally agree with that. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 I don't think Guzan is weak, he might not be the best keeper int he league but I'd not say he's weak. We have had an incredible window by our standards, and a good one by anyone's standards if you ask me. We have improved immensely IMO, and have yet to see the side play anywhere near it's potential. We will have to be patient in that respect, I think it won't be till the turn of the year that we can really start to judge the work done over the summer. In terms of playing style and creativity and attacking intent the changes are like night and day. I can't believe people are disappointed, look at where we were last Jan FFS. Gana, Amavi and Richards have already shown in a very short time they improve us immensely. Troare, well, let's wait and see but **** me that looks like a masterstroke of a signing. Up top which is everyone's big worry we have some promising young players which may or may not start banging them in. For me the best thing about all the changes though is we are no longer a one trick pony, yes Benteke was a guarantee, but now even without that guarantee I think we will see goals coming from midfield, and other areas hopefully. Goals throughout the side is something we have lacked for so long and takign the burden of doing all the work off these young forwards may help them turn into what we all want them to be. Onwards and upwards, great work by Sherwood, Fox and Reilly indeed, totally agree with that. Good post mate. I think we will do well this year, we just might need to be patient whilst players settle. If Adebayor had come in, it would have been an almost perfect window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godders Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 I have made no secret of my continuing disappointment in Lerner and his disregard for Aston Villa. I think this window has been a very entertaining failure. That's best way I can put it. If you make a team of the players we've signed and play it against a team of the players who've left (as I did in another thread) then it becomes fairly apparent we have, at best, stood still. The quality is more evenly been spread so areas such as defence are improved but strikeforce weakened, where as the midfield has also more evenly spread the quality. Ultimately though, the lack of a more recognisable striker will hurt us. We released Bent, Weimann, Helenius and kids and should have replaced them more ambitiously, Benteke was not replaceable in a realistic budget. And that is the final element; we all accept we have a limited budget but given we lost our best players, needed an overhaul, have a new manager and finished 17th last season, I'm fuming that we spent so little money that wasn't from sales and even more disappointed that Lerner has somehow managed to sneak this past a large majority of fans who have been seduced by the pure numbers rather than the difference in quality. He can sell the whole first XI next season for £30m but as long as we buy 40 relatively unknown foreign players for £10m that may or may not end up both being good enough and settling in the Premier League it will keep the masses happy. No money doesn't necessarily equal success, but lack of investment guarantees failure. This is a perfectly reasonable opinion, and one I think a few others on here will share. Not me though I'm afraid. Taking your points on board, I would say that we are in a much better position than we were this time last season, and I would suggest that you may even be alluding to this in your post. My reasoning is this... Even assuming we've just done enough to stand still (I personally think we've done better than that), the prevailing consensus here is that we're a decent striker away from being a significantly better team than under Lambert. That's one player. One person we need to find in January, or find within the squad (e.g. Ayew coming good) to keep us clear of another relegation dogfight. Could we really have said that this time last year? I don't think so. So, yes we may still be a player shy of where we, as fans, want to be, and yes, when January comes, we may all be moaning about Lerner's shallowness of pocket. However the quality we've bought in right across the park means we will hit the ground running if we do find that player, rather than another season of hoping and praying Tekkers doesn't get injured, or goes through a dry patch. For that reason, I think this has been a very good window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 13 players in Vlaar, Benteke, Delph, Bennett (L), Baker (L), Robinson (L), Given, Tonev, Bent, Luna, Weimann, Lowton - 12 players in/around the first team out. Quality in the squad has gone up, but we still lack in important areas. Keeper is no different, still weak, Defence is stronger, midfield is stronger - depending on potential and the strike force is weaker. Great work by Sherwood, Fox and Reilly. Poor from Lerner, who could have allowed the club to spend it's own money on a keeper and a striker, which would have improved what we have. Currently we are relying on potential to hit the ground running, or find their feet really quickly. Surely having spent £16m on two strikers who supposedly aren't good enough to the point we need to sign a third one on deadline day, it's not great work by Sherwood, Fox and Reilly? It wasn't money that was the issue with Adebayor, the funds seemed to be there, in fact I think Randy had very little to do with this transfer window, good or bad, other than setting a budget at the start of it. Who knows how much is left in the kitty, I'm guessing the Adebayor loan fee plus the potential fee for Ilori means there is some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHV Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 (edited) Fantastic window, the squad is much better and there is a lot more creativity and flair. Edited September 1, 2015 by KHV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAZZAM Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Think we bought well except for Gestede personally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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