New head of scouting appointed.

[dave.woodhall]

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-former-wigan-head-8334537

[rob_bridge]

Doug'll be disappointed he didn't get the gig.

VillaKicks too, I suppose.

[The Left Side]

Sounds like he has Villa in his family, I remember Bobby Downes being at BH, best of luck!

[Nelly]

Positive, welcome aboard.

[eamonn]

Poaching someone from Wigan? How the Villa have fallen etc. etc.

[Ron Manager]

Poaching someone from Wigan? How the Villa have fallen etc. etc.

He wasn't poached. He got the spanish archer when Dave got rid of Uwe Rosler.

[SoccerHQ]

Poaching someone from Wigan? How the Villa have fallen etc. etc.

How long has he been at Wigan as if he was there when they scouted Antonio Valencia, Palacios and Figueroa he'll be a good appointment.

[pauliewalnuts]

Jack Grealish and Callum Robinson are the latest names to move into the first team but owner Randy Lerner wants to see more development from within.

I bet he does.

[Toronto Villa]

Surprised that Whelan allowed him to come to poxy club like us and didn't have him lined up for Barcelona or Bayern...

[OCD]

Jack Grealish and Callum Robinson are the latest names to move into the first team but owner Randy Lerner wants to see more development from within.

I bet he does.

Somebody should tell him that we need a manager who will play kids when they've got the talent.

[brian green]

One of the problems OCD is that almost without exception for the last four and a half seasons we have been playing survival football. You can't throw youngsters into that kind of situation and not hinder or destroy their potential. It is one thing to bring on young talent, it is another to turn them into premiership players.

[ciggiesnbeer]

Poaching someone from Wigan? How the Villa have fallen etc. etc.

How long has he been at Wigan as if he was there when they scouted Antonio Valencia, Palacios and Figueroa he'll be a good appointment.

From what I can gather he came in with Uwe and this is his first job as a scout, he was an agent before.

So he has been in the job a year if I am right.

[Boz]

He probably came cheap, as it looks like he's still going to be learning about scouting in the real world against clubs like Chelsea, ManUre etc.

[letsshakehands]

Went to primary school with David, remember him having a couple of birthday parties at BH thanks to his dad. Welcome back to Villa.

[supertom]

One of the problems OCD is that almost without exception for the last four and a half seasons we have been playing survival football. You can't throw youngsters into that kind of situation and not hinder or destroy their potential. It is one thing to bring on young talent, it is another to turn them into premiership players.

My issue with some of our signings, on the cheaper end, has been that our academy should be producing as good, if not better than the likes of Tonev, Sylla, Bowery, Bennett etc.
I'd have been easing a few more of our own kids in over the last couple of years, or giving them more loans to get them ready.
Johnson as an example has some ability, but he's 22 now and just appears to be drifting under the radar. With better handling he could have been ready for the first team tail end of last season, and into this season. And almost all those cheap young punts from the lower leagues or abroad have fallen by the wayside.

For me I'd concentrate our signings on the sort of players like Benteke, Sanchez, Okore, and Kozak.
I'd forgo trying any more Sylla, Bowery etc punts and just raise our own. Get them out for 1-2 months, a season here and there. Include them in pre-season and introduce them gradually into the first team. I think Jack should have seen 1-2 starts by now and certainly, in this hectic period coming up I'd like to see Jack getting a start or two. In the league in the next 3 games (to rest others) and definitely in the FA Cup tie.

It hasn't hurt Grealish to go out at 17-18 on loan, so I'd be looking to do the same for a few more so they may be ready by 19-20 to make the step up into our first team.
If they're not ready, then we need to be investing more into our academy rather than buying more Bowery's, or indeed too many more over the hill players like Cole and Richardson.