Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: SoccerHQ on May 03, 2014, 06:24:37 PM
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So what do we need to achieve this next season?
In an ideal world a takeover and a new manager but let's say things stay as they are what do we need to get an extra 10 points over a season that we presently lack.
To me if Lambert somehow keeps his job we need to tell him right you've got 20m + to spend, make sure you spend most of that on two creative midfielders.
I don't think we're ever going to be defensively secure under him but plenty of other sides above us have similar defensive records and yet likes of Newcastle and Stoke are comfortably above us in the league.
It can't be that much to ask to target 48-50 points from a 38 game season which is usually good enough for top 10 these days.
To ever challenge 4th-6th again we either need an unbelievable run of success from the next batch of signings or more likely a takeover but that's all speculation at the minute.
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Not having longterm injuries will be a start. We must be due a run of luck on that front by now.
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If he gets £20m to spend next season we'll be in the exact same boat as we are now. To challenge I think we need 7 players, and not lower league rubbish on £10k per week either.
Unless Lerner has a complete change of heart (which I don't see happening) I can't see him investing in the squad sufficiently to get us back up the table to where we belong.
He needs to sell up.
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Better use of whatever transfer funds we have. If we are going young and hungry use the academy, and spend the budget on more experienced quality players. If we get a new owner get in 5 or 6 players to move us forward quickly and importantly a manager who knows what to do with the players.
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If he gets £20m to spend next season we'll be in the exact same boat as we are now. To challenge I think we need 7 players, and not lower league rubbish on £10k per week either.
Unless Lerner has a complete change of heart (which I don't see happening) I can't see him investing in the squad sufficiently to get us back up the table to where we belong.
He needs to sell up.
Would you not think we'd have a chance of top 10 next season if say we signed Holtby and Sigurdsson for a combined 15m and the other 5m went on Bertrand or even Lescott on a free and that money went on his wages instead?
It's not that difficult to finish in the top 10, Newcastle have won 4 league games since Jan 1st and have never been in danger of dropping out, Palace were in the top 10 recently.
Challenging for 4th-6th yes we need a new manager/owner and significant funds for that.
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Better use of whatever transfer funds we have. If we are going young and hungry use the academy, and spend the budget on more experienced quality players. If we get a new owner get in 5 or 6 players to move us forward quickly and importantly a manager who knows what to do with the players.
Yes this is the stage we've reached. I have no issues with the likes of Robinson, Grealish and Carruthers on the bench regulary next season, these guys will no worse than Tonev, Sylla and Bowery to name three I'd get rid of.
This is the route Southampton have gone down, building a strong first 11 and then filling the bench with academy products.
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If he gets £20m to spend next season we'll be in the exact same boat as we are now. To challenge I think we need 7 players, and not lower league rubbish on £10k per week either.
Unless Lerner has a complete change of heart (which I don't see happening) I can't see him investing in the squad sufficiently to get us back up the table to where we belong.
He needs to sell up.
Would you not think we'd have a chance of top 10 next season if say we signed Holtby and Sigurdsson for a combined 15m and the other 5m went on Bertrand or even Lescott on a free and that money went on his wages instead?
It's not that difficult to finish in the top 10, Newcastle have won 4 league games since Jan 1st and have never been in danger of dropping out, Palace were in the top 10 recently.
Challenging for 4th-6th yes we need a new manager/owner and significant funds for that.
Wages is just as important than transfer fees, but we don't pay the going rate to get the better players.
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I agree the wages are an issue, that's why it's laughable when we get linked with people like Hernandez, he's probably on 50k at United.
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I don't think that the transfer budget that's the issue, it's the wage cap. We won't attract the players that we need whilst we don't pay the going rate for quality players.
Lerner has spent three seasons bringing the wage bill under control. He ain't gonna undo all of that careful budgeting. We need new investment or new owners otherwise we're in for more of the same next season and beyond..
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Better use of whatever transfer funds we have. If we are going young and hungry use the academy, and spend the budget on more experienced quality players. If we get a new owner get in 5 or 6 players to move us forward quickly and importantly a manager who knows what to do with the players.
Yes this is the stage we've reached. I have no issues with the likes of Robinson, Grealish and Carruthers on the bench regulary next season, these guys will no worse than Tonev, Sylla and Bowery to name three I'd get rid of.
This is the route Southampton have gone down, building a strong first 11 and then filling the bench with academy products.
We've got academy players in the team now in Weimann, Baker and Clark and to be honest they're part of the reason why we're so bad - we overrate them too much. We've been calling out for Robinson for ages now, yet we came on in the last home game he looked like a little boy lost.
Academy players are not the answer. We need real investment from the chairman, and if Lerner isn't prepared to give it he should look for someone who will.
Hopefully it'll happen this summer.
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I agree the wages are an issue, that's why it's laughable when we get linked with people like Hernandez, he's probably on 50k at United.
I still believe we refused to spend the required sums on wages while we had/have the likes Bent, Ireland, Given, Hutton etc on the books. I'm sure that as this has eased and when it will erased, we will get back to spending the right money on quality players. Those contracts killed us and it stopped us from operating like a PL club wanting to compete at the top end of the table. Reading between the lines that's what Lambert has been alluding to and suggesting with his comments this week. I don't think it's lost on anyone what is needed, it's when can we start doing it again?
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Better use of whatever transfer funds we have. If we are going young and hungry use the academy, and spend the budget on more experienced quality players. If we get a new owner get in 5 or 6 players to move us forward quickly and importantly a manager who knows what to do with the players.
Yes this is the stage we've reached. I have no issues with the likes of Robinson, Grealish and Carruthers on the bench regulary next season, these guys will no worse than Tonev, Sylla and Bowery to name three I'd get rid of.
This is the route Southampton have gone down, building a strong first 11 and then filling the bench with academy products.
We've got academy players in the team now in Weimann, Baker and Clark and to be honest they're part of the reason why we're so bad - we overrate them too much. We've been calling out for Robinson for ages now, yet we came on in the last home game he looked like a little boy lost.
Academy players are not the answer. We need real investment from the chairman, and if Lerner isn't prepared to give it he should look for someone who will.
Hopefully it'll happen this summer.
To warm the bench and bring through gradually rather than throwing them start in or shall we keep on spending on average players like KEA, Sylla, Tonev, etc?
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To throw something else into the mix, surely the new TV deal which sees that side that finishes bottom this season get more then Man Ure got for winning it last season provides more cash for transfers and wages?
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I cant believe that some of the players that won the Youth European competition are worse than Sylla Tonev, Bowery and KEA.
With £20 million and decent wages on a left back centre half and a decent midfield player we should easily get a top 10 finish.
Top 6 would need significant investment and a new first 11.
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Those who brought the kids through at Southampton and now Fulham need to be grabbed hold of and the scouts.
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Does anyone know what our annual wage bill is? Recall it was c.85m a couple of years back.
A top half finish will require 40-50m on players. The squad is very weak. Seems pretty critical we need this level of investment to avoid another relegation fight
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Does anyone know what our annual wage bill is? Recall it was c.85m a couple of years back.
A top half finish will require 40-50m on players. The squad is very weak. Seems pretty critical we need this level of investment to avoid another relegation fight
It wouldn't though. Newcastle didn't spend a penny last summer and have been comfortably top 10 most of this season. Southampton have been 8th for most of this season, they spent about 30m on three good players and have decided to include plenty of their academy in their 18 so that's the right route to go down imo rather than end up with three average LBs in our squad like we do now as an example of where we've gone for quantity over quality.
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If he gets £20m to spend next season we'll be in the exact same boat as we are now. To challenge I think we need 7 players, and not lower league rubbish on £10k per week either.
Unless Lerner has a complete change of heart (which I don't see happening) I can't see him investing in the squad sufficiently to get us back up the table to where we belong.
He needs to sell up.
Yup.
One thing I will add is that, after Lerner's statement the other day (the weird "Charles, Jores, Libor one"), it is pretty clear that if he remains chairman, Lambert is going nowhere.
To make that statement, to then stay up, but to sack the manager, would be a massive contradiction with what he's just said.
The way I see it:
Lerner stays, investment doesn't improve, Lambert stays = more of this season and last.
Lerner stays, investment doesn't improve, Lambert goes = more of the same, but slightly better - maybe.
Basically, the money situation must improve.
If the board are not scared shitless by what has happened this season and last, then we're going to find ourselves in big trouble sooner or later, as they'll be totally detached from reality.
Now we have a slightly odd situation, where Lerner said a few days ago "I'll talk about the ownership situation at the end of the season". The obvious inference from that is that something is happening, or he wants something to happen - otherwise, he'd just have said "I'm staying". Even he would have worked out that that would be the obvious answer.
I just really, really hope that he doesn't say at the end of the season "I've decided to start to look for a buyer" - that could take ages, and the funding is clearly not going to improve much while he's still looking. I just hope he's found a decent buyer and we can move on.
Otherwise, I fear we're fucked.
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Firstly I would still be looking to get rid of Lambert. Tactically he doesn't have what it takes. Secondly, whether it's Randy calling the shots or a new owner, we need to loosen the purse strings.
-Make sure we've got Delph on a longer deal.
-Give Albrighton an extension of 1-2 years. Long term he's probably not good enough, but for the short term, he's one of our better players.
-Finally cull the remainder of the bomb squad.
-Try and ship off 3-4 of the cheap punts who haven't made it. Tonev, Sylla, Bowery etc. Their squad places should be given to our academy. The cheap brigade have 2 games and the pre-season fixtures to prove their worth. JB gave a good account of himself today, but needs to reproduce that.
-Most important part: Sign 4-5 good quality players who are good enough to play regularly at this level and jump straight into our first 18. I would include Bertrand in among these. The midfield is the absolute priority.
-Whoever is in charge needs to play to players strengths. Weimann is a center-forward. Bacuna isn't a defender. If we also want to player better football we need to sign more technically adept footballers (particularly in midfield).
Simples.
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Unless the headlines.." villa sold" + "lambert sacked"..appear before next August we will be going down.
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If he gets £20m to spend next season we'll be in the exact same boat as we are now. To challenge I think we need 7 players, and not lower league rubbish on £10k per week either.
Unless Lerner has a complete change of heart (which I don't see happening) I can't see him investing in the squad sufficiently to get us back up the table to where we belong.
He needs to sell up.
Do you want a Playstation 4 too? Basically, you want a Sugar Daddy who will spend and spend and spend and spend.
Reality is we have a massive debt, third after Chelsea and The Plastics, a poor turnover (10th - less than West Ham, Everton and the Barcodes) and based on the last season, we're paying almost 86% of our turnover on wages. Add to that we have some of the cheapest tickets in the PL, so at some point, whether it be Lerner or a new owner, something has to give.
We've tried the spend and spend and spend and spend and look where we are today. Knackered.
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Reality is we have a massive debt, third after Chelsea and The Plastics
We don't have any debt.
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Reality is we have a massive debt, third after Chelsea and The Plastics
We don't have any debt.
We have a net debt of 189m.
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Reality is we have a massive debt, third after Chelsea and The Plastics
We don't have any debt.
We have a net debt of 189m.
No we don't.
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Reality is we have a massive debt, third after Chelsea and The Plastics
We don't have any debt.
We have a net debt of 189m.
No we don't.
You should tell Randy, I'm sure he'll be delighted.
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Reality is we have a massive debt, third after Chelsea and The Plastics
We don't have any debt.
We have a net debt of 189m.
No we don't.
You should tell Randy, I'm sure he'll be delighted.
You shouldn't be reading that Guardian article which refers to season 2012-13, and should pay more attention on what's happened since.
Including the writing off of another 90m of debt in February.
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If we can't afford to match financial weight with Southampton we may as well give up now. I would imagine too, if we get taken over, any new owner will invest a significant amount to make us competitive again.
Even if Randy stays, we've almost got our house in order again and we'll probably see the back of the remaining big contract players. Lambert will want more money and may walk if he didn't get it. Any new manager worth his salt will readily identify that we'd need to spend at least 30 million. I don't think there's any two ways about it, Randy will have to dip his hands in his pockets again if he's still here.
We shall see.
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Southampton isn't a financial model that I would be following. By all accounts they are in a world of trouble.
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Southampton isn't a financial model that I would be following. By all accounts they are in a world of trouble.
That is true. I was merely referring to spending 30 million on transfers in a window. I don't think that should be beyond us.
As it seems to be, it's probably a bit beyond them, combined with all the money they've forked out on new developments.
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Fundamentally, we are going to have to realise that you can not just hugely cut the wage bill and not expect to suffer on the pitch.
Last summer, we bought yet more untried, relatively cheap players from lower leagues in this country, or low wage leagues in Europe. What we got was a team which looked like it was made up of extremely mediocre players - which is what it was.
Where Lambert went wrong was that he then managed to make it look even worse than you'd expect it to.
So long as they (the upper beings at the club) were scared shitless by this season, then maybe we have a chance of learning something.
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I don't think the jump to top 10 is that big a leap to be honest. Newcastle are going to finish in there despite having a dreadful second half to the season. If Southampton end up selling a few players they'll find it hard to get there again. In reality we're fighting with a number of sides in a similar boat to us. The question is the coaching/management of the club going to differentiate ourselves from the others vying for positions 8-10?
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I don't think the jump to top 10 is that big a leap to be honest. Newcastle are going to finish in there despite having a dreadful second half to the season. If Southampton end up selling a few players they'll find it hard to get there again. In reality we're fighting with a number of sides in a similar boat to us. The question is the coaching/management of the club going to differentiate ourselves from the others vying for positions 8-10?
Aye that's the point and why it's more of a realistic thread than what do we need to get in the top 6 which is obviously an new owner, manager and mostly a new team.
Newcastle have won 4 league games since Boxing day, same for us. They also didn't spend a penny last summer. They have been comfortably top half most of the season thanks to Cabaye and Remy, two quality players who aren't/won't be there next season.
Last year WBA finished in the top half despite not spending much, neither have Stoke this year, it doesn't take that much investment just say a ratio of 13 wins, 11 draws and 14 defeats which gets you 50 points in a season.
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I don't think the jump to top 10 is that big a leap to be honest. Newcastle are going to finish in there despite having a dreadful second half to the season. If Southampton end up selling a few players they'll find it hard to get there again. In reality we're fighting with a number of sides in a similar boat to us. The question is the coaching/management of the club going to differentiate ourselves from the others vying for positions 8-10?
I mean certainly there's a few of our players who have potential to step up a level and perhaps also play a more attractive brand of football under the right management.
I felt a few weeks back Tonev looked lively when he appeared and the lads a Bulgarian international. Bowery played well today. Lowton looked more like his old self. Westwood is comfortable on the ball. Bacuna has had a largely decent first season. Are they good enough to be first 11, 30+ games a season? Not yet, but there's some ability there.
It wouldn't take as huge a shift in personnel to make us a better footballing side as some may imagine. But we need a better tactician within the management and some more established, experienced quality in the playing staff who can offer the impact and consistency perhaps still beyond some of the younger players. 4-5 good quality senior players should do the trick.
Even in our current budget a better manager could get us to mid-table. We've a solid spine of players, some good youngsters, and a few of the cheap imports who might yet flourish.
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I have said before that three real quality signings would make a big difference. Obviously by improving the team and also I believe we would see an improvement in the other players.
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In fantasy land sign Lescott, Hernandez and Holtby and imo that would be easily enough for top 10, maybe even 8th if we get lucky with injuries.
Ironically enough 20m would cover those given Lescott's on a free, Holtby would be about 8m and Hernandez 12m but the combined wages of those 3 probably won't be far off 200k which is the issue.
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Reality is we have a massive debt, third after Chelsea and The Plastics
We don't have any debt.
We have a net debt of 189m.
No we don't.
You should tell Randy, I'm sure he'll be delighted.
You shouldn't be reading that Guardian article which refers to season 2012-13, and should pay more attention on what's happened since. Including the writing off of another 90m of debt in February.
Paulie, the debt hasn't disappeared. It's not a gift from Randy, it's basically an I.O.U. that somebody will eventually have to pick up. All Randy has done is solve the immediate problem of the liquidity of the club.
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Reality is we have a massive debt, third after Chelsea and The Plastics
We don't have any debt.
We have a net debt of 189m.
No we don't.
You should tell Randy, I'm sure he'll be delighted.
You shouldn't be reading that Guardian article which refers to season 2012-13, and should pay more attention on what's happened since. Including the writing off of another 90m of debt in February.
Paulie, the debt hasn't disappeared. It's not a gift from Randy, it's basically an I.O.U. that somebody will eventually have to pick up. All Randy has done is solve the immediate problem of the liquidity of the club.
It isn't, the debt has been written off - it's not an IOU that anyone is going to pick up, because it's not there any more.
He might not have written it all off, but it certainly isnt 190m any more.
Do you honestly think he's asking for £200m to sell a club with £190m of debt?
He wrote 90m off in February. That's gone, not there.
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The asking price will include the debt. Basically everything he's poured into the club. He may have to take a hit but I don't believe for one milisecond he's going to take a 90m hit. No chance.
As for these low wages we're paying, where did you get the numbers or is it guess work? Spurs have been paying low wages for years and it never seemed to do them much harm. It can only be a couple of years ago it was leaked that their club captain was on 35k a week whilst we were paying crap players way more.
The way forward is start with a bloody good manager that knows how to get the best out of his players, irrespective of how much they cost, where they came from or how much we pay them. Everything else thereafter will fall into place.
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If we'd played like we did today on just four occasions against teams who are no better than Hull - Palace, Stoke, Fulham and West Ham - we'd have probably got another ten points and been tenth now.
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The asking price will include the debt. Basically everything he's poured into the club. He may have to take a hit but I don't believe for one milisecond he's going to take a 90m hit. No chance.
That's the point paulie's making - he has already taken that £90m hit.
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If we'd played like we did today on just four occasions against teams who are no better than Hull - Palace, Stoke, Fulham and West Ham - we'd have probably got another ten points and been tenth now.
Hull played with less intensity than all of those. One of the best teams we have played this season was Malaga, and they weren't messing around, but did not play at the intensity they would in an important game.
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You could argue that if Okores and Benteke had played more we'd have collected enough points to have been safely in mid table with Newcastle. However, injuries are part and parcel of the game and you have to have enough quality in your squad to accommodate such setbacks. Look at the players Chelsea had unavailable last weekend then still went to Liverpool and won. Our problem is we lack quality in depth. Players like Weimann, El Ahmadi, Baker, Clark, Lowton and Bacuna would be acceptable as squad players who fill in for injuries and suspensions every now and again, but these players are regular starters for us in the Premier League. In my opinion, we have only half a team of players good enough to challenge for a place in the top eight, namely Guzan, Vlaar, Okores, Westwood, Delph and Benteke. That is a decent spine to the team. When we look at recruiting this summer, instead of bringing in half a dozen gambles like the Sylla, Helenius and Luna we should at least buy two proven quality performers, one of which would have to be a midfield player.
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Its understandable not being able to financially compete at the top end of the table but our squad looks weaker than Hulls, to put that right is going to cost money Im not sure we have, or have but dont want to part with.
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2 quality full backs one who might be Bertrand, then 2 midfielders - a no nonsense powerful type and a creative eye for a pass/goal one and then I think we have a chance :
Guzan
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Okores
Vlaar
Westwood
Delph
?
?
Weimann
Benteke
Subs would be any 7 from Steer Lowton Clark Bacuna Gabby Kozak NZogbia and the youth like Grealish
Get rid : Bennett Baker Luna KEA Sylla Albrighton Bowery Tonev
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If we can sign say 2 or 3 more quality players (circa £7m each value) and get our other big players back and fit - benteke Kozak Okore and Zog we are top 10 IMHO
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Ten goal decimation of Morton by Hamilton Academicals of which seven were scored by two non-Scots players. Mickael Antoine(4) and Anthony Ardeu(3)
Mickaël Antoine-Curier (born 5 March 1983) is a French-born Guadeloupean professional footballer who currently plays for Hamilton Academical as a striker.
Anthony Andreu (born 22 May 1988) is a French professional footballer who plays for Scottish club Hamilton Academical, as a midfielder.
Career
Andreu spent his early career in France and Switzerland with Monaco, Chênois and Stade Nyonnais.[1][2] He signed for Scottish club Livingston in June 2012, alongside David Luongo.[3] On 2 May 2013 it was announced that he was leaving the club at the end of the 2012–13 season.[4] He signed a one-year contract with Hamilton Academical on 1 August 2013,
OK Antoine is 30 but he can do it..what a game it must have been..Scottish footie I know but? If we ain't got any money presently then these are available..probably well under the spotlight now.
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At the end of the day lambert is like the guy who has been tasked with rebuilding and renovating an old classic car yet he cannot afford the quality or new parts needed to do the task properly so he has to shop around old scrap yards and take a chance on second hand parts hoping they gonna do the job (sylla,kea,tonev etc).
Hopefully when the financial constraints come off him then he can be truly judged.
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as long as it's at Harchester United or some such club, great
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2 quality full backs one who might be Bertrand, then 2 midfielders - a no nonsense powerful type and a creative eye for a pass/goal one and then I think we have a chance :
Guzan
?
?
Okores
Vlaar
Westwood
Delph
?
?
Weimann
Benteke
Subs would be any 7 from Steer Lowton Clark Bacuna Gabby Kozak NZogbia and the youth like Grealish
Get rid : Bennett Baker Luna KEA Sylla Albrighton Bowery Tonev
No centre backs? That is out biggest weakness and would be top of my shopping list - at least two proven players needed. Vlaar is injury prone, Baker and Clark not good enough and Okore unproven.
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Westwood isn't anywhere near good enough for a top 10 team, and Weimann would be a squad player as well. We need real quality to make strides, and that means paying decent money...this current squad would struggle to get us promoted out of the Championship. It's that poor.
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There's a fair old lot of crap in the squad, that's for sure, but two or three smart additions might just be enough to let us enjoy a secure mid table season (oh, the giddy ambition!). Players like Bacuna, El Ahmadi aren't bad squad players and would probably look more useful alongside better players.
Trying to pick a team from the squad that looks a decent bet for mid table obscurity, I get something like this:
Guzan
A new RB Vlaar Okore Bertrand
Westwood A new DCM Delph
A new ACM
Benteke Weimann
Ideally, I'd be looking at replacing Weimann and Westwood, really, but I'm trying to be a bit realistic!
That would leave a subs bench of : Steer, Clark, Lowton/Bacuna, El Ahmadi, Albrighton, Helenius/Kozak, N'Zogbia
You could also switch around to have wingers playing in a wider 4-3-3, so N'Zogbia and Albrighton would take those spots.
Oh, and a better manager, too.
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I'd say if we had a decent bit of investment with a new owner (s), I'd look to build the team around Guzan, Vlaar, Delph & Benteke.
Get rid of:
Baker, Clark, Tonev, Sylla, KEA, Bowery, Luna.
Pretty much the rest I'd keep around for squad depth and competition unless there was value in selling them (I'd certainly look into cutting ties with Gabby, but that's for another time). As much as I'd like to be able to sign quality in every position, I don't think the need for, say, a new right back is as pressing as the need to get some proper centre halfs in and allocate funds for that position.
I'd like us to get a mobile centre forward who can bridge the gap at the start of the season while we wait for Kozak & Benteke to regain fitness, a left back, two new centre halves, two centre midfielders (one ball winning, one ball playing)and two wingers.
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Lerner out - a new owner that has investment needed and the sense to get footballing nous into the club set up
Falkner out - a new CEO that understands football as well as the commercial corporate world
DoF In - a new role to ensure consistency across managers and the various levels of the club of footballing style and approach and scouting and transfer dealings
Lambert out - a new manager that has more tactical nous than Lambert but that can build upon what we have in place already, preferably someone technically minded with an attacking and creative approach to football
Out - Bent, Hutton, Tonev, Herd, Bennett, Helenius, Holt, Luna, Sylla, Bowery
In - Left Back - Bertrand, Central Defender - Lescott, Defensive Mid, Attacking Mid (No 10 type), Box to Box Mid - ?, Winger - ?
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20 million on three midfielders would do it. The proportion spent on an attacking midfielder and a physical holding player, who isn't just a Reo-Coker, but has some quality on the ball. I would then look to see if we can get a wideman with a delivery on him and pace. Likely to be a touch over £20 million.
We then need to work the loans to get in a centre half and full back. With Okore, Benteke and Kozak coming back, the new midfielders bringing the best out of Westwood and Delph, then we will be in a much stronger position.
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There's a fair old lot of crap in the squad, that's for sure, but two or three smart additions might just be enough to let us enjoy a secure mid table season (oh, the giddy ambition!). Players like Bacuna, El Ahmadi aren't bad squad players and would probably look more useful alongside better players.
Trying to pick a team from the squad that looks a decent bet for mid table obscurity, I get something like this:
Guzan
A new RB Vlaar Okore Bertrand
Westwood A new DCM Delph
A new ACM
Benteke Weimann
Ideally, I'd be looking at replacing Weimann and Westwood, really, but I'm trying to be a bit realistic!
That would leave a subs bench of : Steer, Clark, Lowton/Bacuna, El Ahmadi, Albrighton, Helenius/Kozak, N'Zogbia
You could also switch around to have wingers playing in a wider 4-3-3, so N'Zogbia and Albrighton would take those spots.
Oh, and a better manager, too.
Yeah I'd pretty much go with that XI, though I do think we need a sitting midfielder who is more experienced and defensively stronger than Westwood. I agree we probably need a similar player to Delph to play in midfield (someone like Mulumbu from Albion) and an attacking midfielder who can also play out wide if we need to change formation. I also agree that we need a new RB (and LB if Bertrand is not signed permanently).
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Don't get peoples fascination with Bertrand. He's played 2ish very good games, some average games and a couple of poor games. It's clearly obvious to me that he's a player who thinks "I've won the league and Champions League - what the fuck am I doing here!?!?!?!?".
We don't want players like that. Especially for the money he'll be wanting.
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I think athletico madrid's team cost about £40m. Just saying.
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Don't get peoples fascination with Bertrand. He's played 2ish very good games, some average games and a couple of poor games. It's clearly obvious to me that he's a player who thinks "I've won the league and Champions League - what the fuck am I doing here!?!?!?!?".
We don't want players like that. Especially for the money he'll be wanting.
Not saying much but he is better than the Luna and Bennett comedy act we've had for the previous two years in that position. And Warnock before him of course.
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Don't get peoples fascination with Bertrand. He's played 2ish very good games, some average games and a couple of poor games. It's clearly obvious to me that he's a player who thinks "I've won the league and Champions League - what the fuck am I doing here!?!?!?!?".
We don't want players like that. Especially for the money he'll be wanting.
It's funny that what is 'clearly obvious' to one person, isn't necessarily clearly obvious to others. So what is it that is so clearly obvious has led you to believe that about him?
To me I would say that he has clearly strengthened us significantly and taken away much of the startling fragility we had at left back when Bennet or Lunar were playing there. I think we'd find it hard to find someone else of his quality at left back at the current time.