So what have we learnt from this transfer window?

[Londonvilla]

So what have we learnt from this transfer window?

Love it or hate it, the 2013 summer transfer window is now closed. In recent times none of our managers have been able to hold onto their jobs (for one reason or another) and conduct business over three transfer windows. So it is reasonable for us to start judging whether Paul Lambert is either a man with a plan or turning us into the next Wigan?

So what have we learnt from this transfer window?

1)   Lambert said that he wanted young hungry players; did he get this type of player in the transfer window? The answer is probably yes, in that he got players who want to prove themselves in the most popular league in the world. However have you noticed that all the new players also other things in common ,have a great engine, can shoot from anywhere, can play in different positions and whose natural instincts are to pass the ball. However will this mean that we will be the new Dortmund selling our young talent when we want, at the top prices, or the new Wigan selling our best players and not re-investing the money into the squad?

2)   Some players bought in the summer transfer window may not come good until the end of the season or the beginning of the next season. – For a lot of Villa fans KEA and concrete Ron were not good enough to ply their trade in the premiership and certainly not good enough for the Villa. So far this season both have proved that they can play at this level and if they can add consistency to their overall performance and they will prove to be successful purchases. I wouldn’t expect too much from the new players until after Christmas when hopefully we will get a run in the FA Cup. They’re all young players and we will see the best of them next season.

3)   We tried and failed to get a creative midfield player, however at least Lambert knows we need one. – If you’re not going to the win the league, then you should try to be entertaining at home. Over the last three seasons our performance at home has been dreadful. The main reason has been that if a team comes to Villa Park and shuts up shop then we do not have the “magic man” who can unlock a defence. On this site there have been a number of arguments about whether we need an attacking midfield player playing behind a central striker. This is missing the point. It does not matter whether your “magic man” plays wide (like bale did for Tottenham) or plays deep (like Stephen Gerard does for Liverpool) as long as you have one, we need someone who can dribble past a defender, or play a defence splitting pass. If we had this type of player Benteke would score 30 goals this season. Our failure to capture a creative midfield player who can dribble and take free kicks will stop us from getting into the Europa league.

4)   Gary Gardner your time has come. – Cometh the hour cometh the man. Could Gary Gardner be the missing link? Superb at set pieces, possesses a range of passing skills, can shoot from distance, and as slow as my grandmother. The players who have moved into the first-team squad from the youth team (like Grealish) now have an opportunity (up to Christmas when the new players will have bedded in) to show us whether they can cut it at this level. The question is will they take the chance.

5)   Fishmongers never shout come here and buy your rotten fish. – All fishmongers lie, they have signs outside their shops saying fresh fish, however the fish they sell are dead and the moment living things die, they start to decay. What fishmongers know is that you can’t sell fish by shouting, “come and get you’re slightly decaying’s salmon.” With this in mind I think the bomb squad was a bad idea we should have allowed these players to play in at least one preseason game so that other clubs could take a look at them. None of the bomb squad ever slagged off the club or the fans and should have been treated with a little bit more respect. In saying that I’m glad, overjoyed, and relieved, that they’ve gone and I’m sure that they will prove themselves which will mean that we will get a transfer fee from the ones who are still in contract.

6)   Aston Villa are a work in progress our problem will be if we do really well this season how long before Lambert is offered a job in Germany? With no director of football when Lambert eventually goes (he’s never showed any loyalty to his previous clubs) he’ll take his coaching staff and we will be starting back at the beginning. We should have a director of football to ensure continuity in relation to transfer dealings. It works for Barcelona, Madrid and Tottenham so why not us?

7)   Randy Lerner will not spend big money until he recoups some the £150 million + that he laid out in transfer fees. Randy Lerner is not as rich as he was when he first came to the Villa if you look at his net worth in terms of cash and assets. Villa Park, the Villa first-team, and Villa fans are not cash cows. Compare us to Tottenham who pay double what we do for season tickets, they have a huge waiting list for season tickets and will fill out any new stadium they build. They buy players cheaply then lone them out so they get experience and then sell them at high prices. (Admittedly I hope they get their fingers burnt with a bunch of high-paid primadonna’s that they’ve just brought into their club) however the point is clear, we don’t yet generate the income to support ready-made world-class players. So we need to continue to buy rough diamonds and work on them until they sparkle. This means Villa fans need to be patient. It’s taken three years for Delph to shine and all the fans need to remember this when our new young players make mistakes.

Let’s tell the truth getting rid of most of the bomb squad, and keeping Christian Benteke, means that the summer transfer window has been a huge success, but what if you disregard players signing new contracts and players leaving the club. Has this been a good summer transfer window for players coming into the club?

Taking all of the above into consideration I think everyone at the club can congratulate themselves on a very good summer transfer window and if you give Tottenham 9 out of 10 for their transfer window (bale is not worth more than Ronaldo) and West Brom 1 out of 10 (they did get rid of Odemwingie ) then I think that the Villa transfer window in relation to incoming players can be considered a 6 out of10 which could rise to an 8 out of 10 next season when these players have bedded in. In relation to outgoing players the only score you can give it is 9 out of ten, but what do you think?

Marks for incoming transfers?

Marks for outgoing transfers?

So what have we learnt from this transfer window?

[john e]

Natalie Sawyers lost to much weight

[SoccerHQ]

I think a lot of the other premier league teams look much weaker than last season after tonight.

Take West Ham, I think they'll be comfortably mid table this season and never be in any danger of being relegated but they barely had a shot on target at home to Stoke who are one of the worst away teams in the league.

I actually think the three promoted teams have a good shot at staying up now, think Hull have signed really well getting in Figueroa, Shane Long, Huddlestone etc. Palace might still go down but they were much better than Sunderland at the weekend.

What it means for us is we can finish in the top 10 and have a good year as long as people don't panic if we lose a few more games.

That said I wanted a playmaker in today ahead of another out and out striker. Think that's a missed opportunity.

[PeterWithesShin]

We're back!

[Lizz]

The gravitas of SSN showing Big Ben chime 11.00pm almost had me in tears - of laughter.

[Toronto Villa]

You never get everything you want in a transfer window but we got a lot of what we needed. We are much better off through addition and subtraction to this time last season. Let the games begin!

[claretandbeer]

Londonvilla has made some good points,especially the fact that Lerner is intent on recouping some money.Next year the bomb squad's wages will have been reduced ,so perhaps that will be the season for reinvestment.The bomb squad is the only issue I have with Lambert.I think that you should sell as dear as possible and that means praising players and not ostracising them,Spurs are a good example.
As for Lambert leaving and a director of football,I think they are intertwined. He has his preferred coach/assistant ,Culverhouse,and his scout/assessor of the opposition (forgot his name),so there's a team in place with a good scouting system. So a director of football doesn't seem relevant here and I can't see them relocating to Germany ,on less money as well.It has been mentioned before ,but there aren't many bigger clubs than Villa who are not in the Champions League and the only way Lambert will get one of them is by getting Villa into the CL and we won't have any worries then.
As for an exciting midfielder,a player I would like to have seen,at least it doesn't block Gardner,Tonev,Helenius or Grealish.

[tomd2103]

So what have we learnt from this transfer window?

Love it or hate it, the 2013 summer transfer window is now closed. In recent times none of our managers have been able to hold onto their jobs (for one reason or another) and conduct business over three transfer windows. So it is reasonable for us to start judging whether Paul Lambert is either a man with a plan or turning us into the next Wigan?

So what have we learnt from this transfer window?

3)   We tried and failed to get a creative midfield player, however at least Lambert knows we need one. – If you’re not going to the win the league, then you should try to be entertaining at home. Over the last three seasons our performance at home has been dreadful. The main reason has been that if a team comes to Villa Park and shuts up shop then we do not have the “magic man” who can unlock a defence. On this site there have been a number of arguments about whether we need an attacking midfield player playing behind a central striker. This is missing the point. It does not matter whether your “magic man” plays wide (like bale did for Tottenham) or plays deep (like Stephen Gerard does for Liverpool) as long as you have one, we need someone who can dribble past a defender, or play a defence splitting pass. If we had this type of player Benteke would score 30 goals this season. Our failure to capture a creative midfield player who can dribble and take free kicks will stop us from getting into the Europa league.

I too would have liked to seen that type of player come in, but perhaps PL sees Tonev as being able to play that role and felt that a further addition was unnecessary.

[olaftab]

An excellent TF for AVFC. Very pleased with work done by Lambert and Faulkner. One thing is clear that neither  ITK here or elsewhere or media are going to guess what Paul Lambert will do in the market. He knows and has good scouting support to pick players without anyone getting a sniff. Even our eastie has struggled!
Well done Villa.

[Irish villain]

Good window for Villa. Probably could have done with some creative spark but meh. We should be a good bet for a  top eight finish now.

What have I learned? Clubs at the 'top table' NEED big transfers every window even if they actually don't need the player. Psychologically, they are damaged if they don't spend about £18m+ on at least one player. At the 'top' it's all psychology and mind games. If Moyes signed nobody his rivals would have a psychological advantage on his side/in the media etc.

If we reach the top four again I hope we stick to our guns as I'd hate to see us join that circus. Sadly, we'd probably have to in order to fuel the onward push. Modern football is a load of balls.

[Damo70]

Arsene Wenger is not a great player in the transfer market.

Manchester United aren't as big a draw without Fergie.

You could put 'Arry in charge of Shard End Paperboys and he would still get players on loan from the Premier League and be interveiwed on SKY.

Turns out Blues could afford to bring someone in. (Undisclosed fee).

[Somniloquism]

I actually think the three promoted teams have a good shot at staying up now, think Hull have signed really well getting in Figueroa, Shane Long, Huddlestone etc.

"We asked 100 people someone Hull signed in the transfer window, you said Shane Long, our survey said......."

Duh- Duh

[SheffieldVillain]

The exciting thing for me is that we just don't know how good the window has been for us. Take this time last year - if someone had said mark the signings of Benteke, Lowton, Guzan, Westwood, I think most people would have been at best in the 'meh' camp. If even 2 or 3 of his signings this year are near that standard, we are going to have a good year. Based on evidence so far Okore and Luna look to me to be exactly that at the very least.

What have we learnt? Lambert doesn't put up with the likes of Dunne and Ireland. It's his way or you're gone. And about time too.

Exciting times.

[timeoutbigbar]

Reasonable window, it now waits to see how they perform throughout the season.

Re Gary Gardner, I've seen a fair bit of him (not as much as many on here) but I have to say I haven't been massively impressed.  I really hope I am proved wrong but I haven't seen much evidence to say he is better than his brother.

[PeterWithesShin]

I'm delighted with this window. Take a look at our squad and see the potential it has and the youth of it. The change in this squad in the 3 transfer windows Lambert has had is staggering.

I love you Paul.