Who should we have brought in?

[themossman]

For me, the last player we bought that didn't feel like a gamble was Petrov. Although the change of league added some uncertainty.

[Dave Cooper please]

Payet
Austin
The other Ayew

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Well, by the very title this is a hindsight sort of thread!

[Dave]

I think West Ham have recruited well (surprisingly).  I can't say I've seen much of him but Bakary Sakho going to Palace on a free may have been worth a shout (although his wage demands were probably daft).  We seem to have bought players that 'might' be great rather than being the finished article now.  Perhaps in the long-term that will pay off but for now we are struggling and if things don't change soon we'll end up adrift at the bottom with Sunderland.  We're second favourites for relegation at the bookies - they're not often wrong...

It's been years since we've bought any ''finished articles''.

The likes of Cole and Senderos look pretty finished to me.

[Des Little]

We needed a keeper.  We still do.

[Drummond]

Messi, Ronaldo, Casillas,

[pauliewalnuts]

It was a mistake not strengthening up front.

Benteke's goals kept us alive last year. That doesn't mean we needed a direct like for like replacement, a carbon copy of him would be hard to find, if not impossible - after all, how many other people have those absurd micro-ears?

Ayew strikes me as a Weimann replacement and Gestede is a punt on someone who will give us another option up front.

It is very hard to see where the goals are going to come from for the rest of the season.

[aj2k77]

It's clear that he wanted Adebayor, so why didn't we go out and get another in if he knew we would be a striker short? It's such a massive gamble looking at a player who's only ever scored goals in one season (Ayew) and a bloke who's done it in the Championship but no higher (Gestede).

We knew Gabby was finished, and he doesn't seem to rate Kozak. So it leaves us with fuck all. It's not hindsight either, most people from day 1 in August to the end of the window wanted/expected a Striker.

[tomd2103]

It was a mistake not strengthening up front.

Benteke's goals kept us alive last year. That doesn't mean we needed a direct like for like replacement, a carbon copy of him would be hard to find, if not impossible - after all, how many other people have those absurd micro-ears?

Ayew strikes me as a Weimann replacement and Gestede is a punt on someone who will give us another option up front.

It is very hard to see where the goals are going to come from for the rest of the season.

Agree with that.  We look a striker short and although we have Traore to come back, I think we are missing a bit of pace out wide as well. 

[Dante Lavelli]

It's clear that he wanted Adebayor, so why didn't we go out and get another in if he knew we would be a striker short? It's such a massive gamble looking at a player who's only ever scored goals in one season (Ayew) and a bloke who's done it in the Championship but no higher (Gestede).

Whoever we signed was going to be a gamble one way or another or have a ceiling of how good they can be (Austin) as that is the market we have to operate within.

My preference at the time was Embolo [young striker likely to cost £15m ish i.e. off the top shelf of FM wonder-kids] and Adebeyor (as insurance, along with Gabby/Kozak) and as this never happened I will always be right in my mind.

[KRS]

A lot of the talk pre-season was that we needed to replace Bentekes goals from all corners of the pitch rather than be reliant upon a new CF to carry the burden. It is evident that not only have we not signed a forward capable of scoring a few, we also haven't signed any goal scoring midfielders or any that create a sufficient number of chances for others.

No doubt we have an improved squad upon last season, but the goal scoring problem is as evident as it ever was.

[passitsideways]

A lot of the talk pre-season was that we needed to replace Bentekes goals from all corners of the pitch rather than be reliant upon a new CF to carry the burden. It is evident that not only have we not signed a forward capable of scoring a few, we also haven't signed any goal scoring midfielders or any that create a sufficient number of chances for others.

No doubt we have an improved squad upon last season, but the goal scoring problem is as evident as it ever was.

Hypothetically we have though, in the form of Veretout and Adama, though they'll not yield immediate rewards which I suppose is your point. Also, in saying that, I think a lot of us expected part of it to be fulfilled by in-house options like Grealish, Gil, Sinclair, Kozak, Westwood and Gardner (the latter three being more hopeful than anything and so far done about as much as we realistically thought.)

[KevinGage]

Austin
Barry
Matt Phillips
Heaton

Westwood might actually be a decent option from the bench if we ever find ourselves winning a game in the latter stages again.  An extra body who is neat neat and tidy, and can keep possession ticking over. But he shouldn't be a guaranteed starter. Midfield sets the tempo, and he is rarely -if ever- been a player in there who can make a difference for us. In the past, you would say if Cowans, Townsend, Barry or even Draper played well, the Villa would play well. That applies to Stan too, who was closer to Westwood in style.  He's a poor man's Petrov, and that is one of the reasons why we have been a poorer team over the past three years.

We signed two keepers in summer, but neither of them seem capable of pushing Guzan for a first team spot, so I don't see the point. Though I accept the lad signed from Belgium is more of a long-term project at his age.

[oldhill_avfc]

I remember reading a similar view about Benteke from fans of his former club - Blew hot and cold, was lazy and not interested, poor touch etc. He turned out to be (in my opinion) the best attacking player ive ever seen at Villa Park. Gestede and Ayew both look off the pace at the moment but lets give them a chance. We also need to develop play to work to their strengths.

Benteke now looks rubbish at Liverpool every time I see him play and id imagine there are probably similar threads on their forums (overhead worldie aside!)

You can usually tell within minutes as to whether a play has got 'it' or not.  By way of example,  I was so underwhelmed when we signed Withe, but seeing him play his first home you could instantly see he had what was needed.

In my opinion Gestede and Ayew are never going to amount to anything.  They are not off the pace, unfortunately they are not good enough.  There's no pint in trying to get a team built around them.

The option we should be trying is Kozak.  He has got something. 

[Phil from the upper holte]

We did go for Adebeyor but he's a cock socket and wanted a sign from god..Maybe god does exist?

[Drummond]

A lot of the talk pre-season was that we needed to replace Bentekes goals from all corners of the pitch rather than be reliant upon a new CF to carry the burden. It is evident that not only have we not signed a forward capable of scoring a few, we also haven't signed any goal scoring midfielders or any that create a sufficient number of chances for others.

No doubt we have an improved squad upon last season, but the goal scoring problem is as evident as it ever was.

I suppose the signing of sinclair and his 5 goals doesn't count.