The deadly summers of 2013 and 2014

[KevinGage]

And yet go back to summer 2013 and there were posts commending our transfer business and comparisons being made with Lamberk and Klopp and (even more laughably) Lamberk and Saunders.

My concern at the time was that rather than young and hungry really meant young a cheap. On the plus side, most of the dross signed during that era won't cripple the club financially (it killed us a competitive force, mind).

The Houllier and McLeish deals in particular make the case for a transfer committee a strong one.

[Hookeysmith]

Fill your team with championship grade players and eventually you will end up there.

The money wasted by MON on dross like Heskey,Beye, Sidwell etc was the catalyst  for Lerner to start pulling up the financial drawbridge. The biggest mistake was Lerner handing so much control to MON. Everything since has been ever decreasing circles to this point

[rob_bridge]

Good post indeed, enjoying reading your contributions lately.

£17m on Given, Hutton and N'Zogbia.  Sweet Jesus and the orphans.

And add £30m in wages for proper Premiership players

[old man villa fan]

One of our problems over the last few seasons is that the squad the managers have been picking from has only been around 20 of the 25 players and that we have had constant injuries to those 20, which has resulted in players being played out of position.

[conman]

One of our problems over the last few seasons is that the squad the managers have been picking from has only been around 20 of the 25 players and that we have had constant injuries to those 20, which has resulted in players being played out of position.

every club has injuries

[old man villa fan]

One of our problems over the last few seasons is that the squad the managers have been picking from has only been around 20 of the 25 players and that we have had constant injuries to those 20, which has resulted in players being played out of position.

every club has injuries

Yes and our squad looked as though it was set up on the basis of we wouldn't get any.

[conman]

One of our problems over the last few seasons is that the squad the managers have been picking from has only been around 20 of the 25 players and that we have had constant injuries to those 20, which has resulted in players being played out of position.

every club has injuries

Yes and our squad looked as though it was set up on the basis of we wouldn't get any.

yeah we should have had a squad of 30 then when the other clubs were only allowed 25 but they will be ok as they have crystal balls

[Ivo Stas]

I keep seeing articles (like this one: http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/10118235/aston-villa-getting-what-they-deserve-says-matt-law) blaming our woes on our 'transfer committee'. For instance:

Hendrik Almstadt went in as sporting director, but he's never been a sporting director. Paddy Reilly gets made chief scout but he was just a stats man that got promoted and promoted. Nobody has the CV to be doing the job they're doing, and it's showing because they are making disastrous decisions.

However, if you accept that the recent foreign signings have been committee-led and the domestic signings have been manager-led, I would argue that the Almstadt/Reilly are doing the better job.

Transfer committee: Gil, Amavi, Veretout, Gana, Adama, Crespo, Ayew
Lambert/Sherwood:  Sinclair, Richards, Gestede, Lescott, Bunn

[saunders_heroes]

I keep seeing articles (like this one: http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/10118235/aston-villa-getting-what-they-deserve-says-matt-law) blaming our woes on our 'transfer committee'. For instance:

Hendrik Almstadt went in as sporting director, but he's never been a sporting director. Paddy Reilly gets made chief scout but he was just a stats man that got promoted and promoted. Nobody has the CV to be doing the job they're doing, and it's showing because they are making disastrous decisions.

However, if you accept that the recent foreign signings have been committee-led and the domestic signings have been manager-led, I would argue that the Almstadt/Reilly are doing the better job.

Transfer committee: Gil, Amavi, Veretout, Gana, Adama, Crespo, Ayew
Lambert/Sherwood:  Sinclair, Richards, Gestede, Lescott, Bunn

We can't really claim any signings as a success when we're rock bottom of the league with just one win all season though, can we?

[Ivo Stas]

We can't really claim any signings as a success when we're rock bottom of the league with just one win all season though, can we?

I'm just uncomfortable with the 'narrative' that our recent signings from the French and Spanish leagues are the reason we are going down, when (in my opinion) they are actually our better (or, if you prefer, less worse) players.

[saunders_heroes]

We can't really claim any signings as a success when we're rock bottom of the league with just one win all season though, can we?

I'm just uncomfortable with the 'narrative' that our recent signings from the French and Spanish leagues are the reason we are going down, when (in my opinion) they are actually our better (or, if you prefer, less worse) players.

I get what you're saying, but when we're rock bottom 11 points adrift in January it's hard to regard any of our signings positively.

[Ads]

I agree with your analysis Ivo. We have actually bought some.good quality; Veretout, Amavi and Ayew would have added something to O'Neill's sides. All the dross like Westwood,  Hutton, N'Zogbia etc bought in previous summers aren't worthy of playing for us.

[sickbeggar]

I agree with your analysis Ivo. We have actually bought some.good quality; Veretout, Amavi and Ayew would have added something to O'Neill's sides. All the dross like Westwood,  Hutton, N'Zogbia etc bought in previous summers aren't worthy of playing for us.

The problem with transfer committies is does it get players that the manager wants? I'm sure most of us would have preferred Ayew and co, to the sort of players MON bought in at times but if he doesn't rate them or suit his style of play, then it doesn't matter how good they are. With this latest lot, who do show so promise at times, you get the feeling we were buying for the next manager, not Sherwood. If you have a manager, then for better or worse he has to choose the players he buys IMHO, and if you don't trust him to do that you might as well sack him.

[aj2k77]

I'd argue we've bought very little quality. Even the better transfers of the summer, Amavi doesn't look a defender, Gueye has completely disappeared and Veretout looks Ok in a terrible team. Ayew seems to be the one stand out. No one is bottom of the league with 8pts if they've got 6 good players in the side.

[Irish villain]

I keep seeing articles (like this one: http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/10118235/aston-villa-getting-what-they-deserve-says-matt-law) blaming our woes on our 'transfer committee'. For instance:

Hendrik Almstadt went in as sporting director, but he's never been a sporting director. Paddy Reilly gets made chief scout but he was just a stats man that got promoted and promoted. Nobody has the CV to be doing the job they're doing, and it's showing because they are making disastrous decisions.

However, if you accept that the recent foreign signings have been committee-led and the domestic signings have been manager-led, I would argue that the Almstadt/Reilly are doing the better job.

Transfer committee: Gil, Amavi, Veretout, Gana, Adama, Crespo, Ayew
Lambert/Sherwood:  Sinclair, Richards, Gestede, Lescott, Bunn

We can't really claim any signings as a success when we're rock bottom of the league with just one win all season though, can we?

Indeed. Moreover, our previous manager was hired by the board from a 'shortlist of one' wasn't it? And he had, what, half a season's management experience? Granted, he kept us up, but he was a huge gamble long term. Just fits in with a pattern of terrible decisions stretching back five years.