Summer Transfer Window 2022

[HalfTimePost]

16 minutes ago, Rustibrooks said:

 

So Sangare and de Tomas(maybe?) just judging on the players we've been linked to the most recently that fit the description

I've read this thread maybe 5 times a day for the last 6 weeks. I think I've probably seen 860 of the 874 pages and I've never heard of de Tomas or seen a link to him

[PaulMcGrath_5]

2 minutes ago, HalfTimePost said:

I've read this thread maybe 5 times a day for the last 6 weeks. I think I've probably seen 860 of the 874 pages and I've never heard of de Tomas or seen a link to him

Those 14 pages are jammed full of De Tomas content. 

Edited August 4, 2022 by PaulMcGrath_5

[macandally]

9 hours ago, allani said:

Our Board very clearly stated that the plan was to get promoted, establish ourselves in the PL and then aim to push for European qualification.  Sanson was bought in the middle of those stages.  I don't think that is particularly controversial.  Of course buying players who can then develop and grow to the next level is a key part and maybe Sanson will improve to the point where he plays a key role in us getting 8th.  But I don't think he is a rung above McGinn or Luiz and I don't think he gives us the balance needed to really push the established sides.  

I don’t think we have seen the best of Sanson because we haven’t been allowed to.  The Premier Leagues pace and power is unlike any other, you need a run of games to pick up the tempo and I think you will see that with Carlos and Kamara initially, however they will likely be given the time to settle that Sanson has not.

Whilst I remember what Deano/Purslow said about squad to go up/stay up etc, I think we are in a different place now and will not be looking to buy players who clearly are limited.

[VillanousOne]

2 minutes ago, HalfTimePost said:

I've read this thread maybe 5 times a day for the last 6 weeks. I think I've probably seen 860 of the 874 pages and I've never heard of de Tomas or seen a link to him

type 'de tomas aston villa' into Google and there's a fair few very recent articles, been a while since he's been mentioned on here though

[Jas10]

Whatever that means…
 

[Rustibrooks]

He wouldn't come here, but imagine if we were to go for Cody Gakpo along with Sangare

 

[Hank Scorpio]

2 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

Whatever that means…
 

It means little as it's most likely rubbish!

[macandally]

9 hours ago, allani said:

The calibre of player we have attracted / signed in every window since this Board took over has improved.  Some players we bought in earlier windows have developed and progressed to the next level but quite a lot haven't.  Those that haven't have either already been sold or are now squad players rather than starters. That doesn't make them bad signings.  I am struggling to follow why you think this is rubbish.  It is quite clearly happening.  It is almost impossible to buy 15 young players at an average of £7-10 million a pop and expect them to all develop into Top 8 level players.  I think our recruitment policy has been pretty successful in the main.  AEG / Trez -> Bertie & Bailey -> Emi2 & Couts (and now possibly a resurgent Bailey as well giving us pretty good depth / options).  You can do the same thing in pretty much every single position in our team.  There are a few that have kicked on - Emi, Cash and McGinn being obvious examples.

First season was firefighting, we basically rebuilt the team from scratch on a limited FFP budget. We then stayed up by virtue of a technical hitch!

That was a wake up call, we had to upgrade players, it wasn’t strategy, it was necessity!  That saw us slightly more comfortable, but still not where we want to be but Jan/this summer is the first time I think we have some time on our side rather than “fire fighting”.

I think you see that as some form of plan, I see it as responding to events.  Either way, I don’t think anyone at the club “planned” to bring i players for 2 years, I think that is just people stepping up or not.

[theboyangel]

2 hours ago, Dillon66 said:

Isn't he a porn star ?

Come again?

[Keyblade]

1 hour ago, DCJonah said:

I agree. 

I do find the shift in tone quite amusing though. The 2020/21 season there seemed to be annoyance that Dean Smith wasn't having us up in a European fight and people acted like it was impending doom if we failed to get high in the league. 

Now it seems to be no rush and take our time and if we finish top 10 then great. 

 

Oh I remember. I was getting pelters for saying we were a midtable team. I was happy with 11th-12th then, and I'd be happy with 8th or 9th this season. We're not quite there yet. I think we could sneak 7th if Gerrard can get this group performing to their maximum, but we'll see about that.

[KevinRichardsonsMoustache]

11 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

Whatever that means…
 

It's amazing the lengths these 'writers' will go to avoid admitting that they have no f-ing clue what is going on. The contortions to the English language are cringeworthy. 

It's like David Brent is in charge of transfer gossip. 

Edited August 4, 2022 by KevinRichardsonsMoustache

[PaulMcGrath_5]

Just now, KevinRichardsonsMoustache said:

It's amazing the lengths these 'writers' will go to not admit that they have no f-ing clue what is going on. The contortions to the English language are cringeworthy. 

It's like David Brent is in charge of transfer gossip. 

That's as stiff as you like and it won't damage your rug.

[Peter Griffin]

3 hours ago, VillaFaninLondon said:

2010/11 actually. And that is an epic failure on our part, this club used to finish top 10 virtually every season before 2011, if we didn't it usually ended in a manager's dismissal. Think of all the clubs that have finished in the top 10 since 2011 - Swansea, Stoke, Sheff U, Burnley, Southampton, Brighton, even Wet Bum finished top 10 twice in that time. It's ridiculous we've not been top 10 for so long at the expense of those clubs. I've supported this club since the mid 90s and every season for 15 years our aim was to finish in Europe (not just top 10) and most seasons we did finish around 6th, 7th, 8th. So yes top 10 will be an achievement of sorts I guess, but the investment is currently only enough to sneak top 10 in my view. If anything bad happens - injuries, Gerrard getting things wrong, Covid, signings not hitting top form immediately, etc - we could easily miss out again and finish bottom half. Surely the goal should be to invest at the very minimum what West Ham are investing if we want to get close to them and so far we haven't, their net spend this summer is around 100m whereas ours is 5m (or 30m if you include January). 

I disagree with that. Our goal should be to invest in the right players at Villa to bring Villa forward. We got Kamara on a free and they are signing Onana for 33.5m, I much prefer Kamara to Onana

[Jas10]

3 minutes ago, KevinRichardsonsMoustache said:

It's amazing the lengths these 'writers' will go to avoid admitting that they have no f-ing clue what is going on. The contortions to the English language are cringeworthy. 

It's like David Brent is in charge of transfer gossip. 

[Peter Griffin]

1 hour ago, DCJonah said:

I agree. 

I do find the shift in tone quite amusing though. The 2020/21 season there seemed to be annoyance that Dean Smith wasn't having us up in a European fight and people acted like it was impending doom if we failed to get high in the league. 

Now it seems to be no rush and take our time and if we finish top 10 then great. 

 

Under Smith just about everyone said they would be happy with a top 10 place, that has not changed with Gerrard. Nobody is saying that their aim is 10th, everyone is saying we what to be fighting for a European place but people are also saying they don't believe we will get Europe but it would be good to finish top half. We haven't finished top half in over a decade. 

The goal posts are not changing because we have changed manager

[Peter Griffin]

1 hour ago, romavillan said:

Yep big reason Smith got the boot was after that run it was deemed no chance for top 8 now, underperforming with a good enough squad etc.

If Gerrard benefits from some more realistic expectations and the result is stable management and progress up the table then that's a good thing for us now. Harsh on Smith that it didn't happen in time for him but still, if we've got hopes more in line with reality we'll be a lot happier...

I suspect the threat of relegation had a bearing on the decision too

[chrisvilla4]

If we get 2 more players I'm going full Hornkamp 

[TRO]

13 hours ago, paul514 said:

Nothing I just sit here like a normal fan waiting to be proven right.

if I’m proven wrong then we have done well so it isn’t too bad a position to be in.

Hedging bets...ok

[PaulMcGrath_5]

4 minutes ago, chrisvilla4 said:

If we get 2 more players I'm going full Hornkamp 

[allani]

35 minutes ago, macandally said:

I don’t think we have seen the best of Sanson because we haven’t been allowed to.  The Premier Leagues pace and power is unlike any other, you need a run of games to pick up the tempo and I think you will see that with Carlos and Kamara initially, however they will likely be given the time to settle that Sanson has not.

Whilst I remember what Deano/Purslow said about squad to go up/stay up etc, I think we are in a different place now and will not be looking to buy players who clearly are limited.

You are probably right.  I think Sanson was unlucky to get injured and not get time to "settle in" to the Premier League and has been trying to play catch-up ever since.  I agree that we haven't seen his best but I remain unconvinced that his best is much different / better than McGinn and Luiz.  I think we are moving beyond that level of player.

On the second point I absolutely agree 100%.  We are now in a very different place and have the luxury of being able to focus on quality rather than quantity.  I do think the recruitment looks more coordinated now as well - I mean you can absolutely see how every player we have signed recently fits in with the direction we are aiming to go - whereas even last summer it was sometimes a little confusing (although I think the strategy was massively impacted by Jack leaving relatively late in the day).  Clearly a mix between experience and potential growth - plus I do think that we are seeing pathways for the best of the Academy to progress.