Season 2015/16 - What lies ahead for claret & blue.

[Dave]

Given replaced Guzan for the rest of the season after his Man City error, with the exception of Burnley.
Given gets shipped to Stoke and we get a free from Norwich!!!
I'm sorry but it stinks of cost cutting at its worst, is this the type of player you would like to bring into the club?

Replacing one player who isn't going to play for another that isn't going to play and saving £40k per week into the bargain?

I'd say that's cost-cutting at it's best.

[peter w]

Yes, we have managed to get rid of some of the bomb squad, but replacing Given for Bunn, obviously a cost cutting exercise but really !

Where's the problem here?

Depends how you look at it Dave.
Given replaced Guzan for the rest of the season after his Man City error, with the exception of Burnley.
Given gets shipped to Stoke and we get a free from Norwich!!!
I'm sorry but it stinks of cost cutting at its worst, is this the type of player you would like to bring into the club?
And how will Guzan feel, I'd be mighty peeved in the circumstances, Given was made no1 and now replaced with currant Bunn, does this make him our new no.1.

I can't see an issue with this. I still think Guzan is a better keeper than Given and Bunn looks a decent back up keeper and is only 30. He seems to have been a bit unlucky with injuries but I would imagine his salary is nowhere near what we were paying Given.

Agreed. And also worth remembering he had a burgeoning reputation as a youngetser. Plus Jed Steer is still a potentially decent keeper.

[darren woolley]

I don't feel the excitement going into this season I'm a bit worried about what's going to happen I just hope it's not another relegation struggle for us.

[Legion]

#prayfor17th

[Toronto Villa]

Way too early to make a call on how well we'll do. We managed to do a lot better last season just by changing attitude and in the end it's not like mid table teams (points wise) were massively ahead. Positions 9 down were quite compressed in the end. I don't think we will be in a relegation battle and with the right types of signing (Gueye and hopefully Amavi will be a good start) we can start to look up not down.

[The Laughing Policeman]

The new owners will be unveiled next week and they'll proceed to spend a hundred million quid on new players. The team will then go on to win the league with a record number of points and goals. They'll also win the League and FA Cups at a canter. And Tim Sherwood will be hailed as the new Messiah.

Dead easy this prediction malarkey.

[Gregorys Boy]

The question of whether selling Given for Bunn is good cost cutting depends on how expandable you see Given to be.  If he would play Given in all the Cup games at least then to me that would make keeping him worth while, if not then maybe not.  Of course he might do that with Bunn but unlike Given he is unproven.  I can see why Sherwood made that call, but I don't know if I would have. 

As for this season? I expect us to struggle again, but if we can hold onto some of our better players, and the squad gels more and one or two new players make an impact then fingers crossed we will look more secure than for most of last season.  Once again the standard of the league is looking pretty poor which should help us.  My main question mark is over the manager, he was a big gamble anyway, but as a short term manager to give the players a lift he made sense, but I'm not convinced that he has what it takes to move us forward in the long term.  How he keeps his head when the going gets tough and his flexibility when it comes to tactics could define our season I think.  Right now I think we will finish maybe one or two players higher than we did last season, and then of course it would be a bonus to have another decent run in the cup.  I don't expect much of an improvement in other words. 

[cdward]

One of the big differences we now have is a decent back room set up. From specialist goalkeeping coaches/coaches to new assistant manager, compared to what we have had for the last few seasons, this is a massive improvement. I am hoping this will add stability and a cohesive idea of how we want to play. This coupled with an energetic ambitious manager, who now has an opportunity to build his own team (on and off the pitch) and really prove himself.

[Des Little]

Same old
Same old

We go again

[dekko]

We'll be fine

[Mister E]

The question of whether selling Given for Bunn is good cost cutting depends on how expandable you see Given to be.  If he would play Given in all the Cup games at least then to me that would make keeping him worth while, if not then maybe not.  Of course he might do that with Bunn but unlike Given he is unproven.  I can see why Sherwood made that call, but I don't know if I would have. 

As for this season? I expect us to struggle again, but if we can hold onto some of our better players, and the squad gels more and one or two new players make an impact then fingers crossed we will look more secure than for most of last season.  Once again the standard of the league is looking pretty poor which should help us.  My main question mark is over the manager, he was a big gamble anyway, but as a short term manager to give the players a lift he made sense, but I'm not convinced that he has what it takes to move us forward in the long term.  How he keeps his head when the going gets tough and his flexibility when it comes to tactics could define our season I think.  Right now I think we will finish maybe one or two players higher than we did last season, and then of course it would be a bonus to have another decent run in the cup.  I don't expect much of an improvement in other words. 

shouldn't you at least wait until early August to see who we've signed / sold before trying to wind people up?

[N'Zimidy]

As ridiculous as it sounds I'd be rather excited if we sold Benteke and replaced him with three or four new faces. A couple of quality winger / forwards relegating Gabby to the reserves, a new centre forward and a good left back and we'll be well on our way to a top half finish.

As it stands if Benteke stays and we only bring in one more player, I'd be pretty disillusioned. Just seems like it will be another year of the same.

[Steve67]

Whilst I am really bored of all the hat about Benteke and the slow way we are dealing with transfers incoming, my impatience, I would rather wait until the end of the transfer window before I really start moaning. Ideally, we sign another couple of decent players before the season starts. Work still to be done, fricking get on with it!

[Gregorys Boy]

The question of whether selling Given for Bunn is good cost cutting depends on how expandable you see Given to be.  If he would play Given in all the Cup games at least then to me that would make keeping him worth while, if not then maybe not.  Of course he might do that with Bunn but unlike Given he is unproven.  I can see why Sherwood made that call, but I don't know if I would have. 

As for this season? I expect us to struggle again, but if we can hold onto some of our better players, and the squad gels more and one or two new players make an impact then fingers crossed we will look more secure than for most of last season.  Once again the standard of the league is looking pretty poor which should help us.  My main question mark is over the manager, he was a big gamble anyway, but as a short term manager to give the players a lift he made sense, but I'm not convinced that he has what it takes to move us forward in the long term.  How he keeps his head when the going gets tough and his flexibility when it comes to tactics could define our season I think.  Right now I think we will finish maybe one or two players higher than we did last season, and then of course it would be a bonus to have another decent run in the cup.  I don't expect much of an improvement in other words. 

shouldn't you at least wait until early August to see who we've signed / sold before trying to wind people up?

Not trying to wind anyone up just giving my opinion as it stands now which I made clear in the post.  To me the issue is Sherwood, the manager is the most important part of a football club being successful and we're going to find out over the next season if he is more than just a bubbley young manager.

[ciggiesnbeer]

Down by Christmas. Club dissolved next season. Villa park to be demolished and the earth salted.

On the plus side I reckon we will hang on to benteke.