Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Five Villa Tattoos on April 09, 2022, 11:05:26 PM
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Personal opinion but Ings, Watkins,Luiz, Konsa and Mings can all go for starters.
All five have been given ample game time and are not of the quality needed if we want to kick on.
Bailey, Troare and Sanson I suspect are all duds but without decent game time it's difficult to confirm.
Either way we need to start getting our wage bill down and improve the quality or I fear next season we'll really struggle.
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The spine is mediocre at best. Mings, Luiz and Watkins are never top half players in a 100 years.
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The spine is mediocre at best. Mings, Luiz and Watkins are never top half players in a 100 years.
I like Mings (although it could be just that I like Mings), but Watkins, Luiz and McGinn ought to be nowhere near our first team.
Also, Traore hasn't had a chance under Gerrard. He's worth looking at IMAO.
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To be honest they can all go bar Ramsey, Emi1 and Little Phil
By all go I mean if we get good offers for any of them I would take it
Think most of them are fine and can do a job and think it’s about moving on some players and getting the best amount of cash we can to reinvest
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Clearouts just don't happen though. Someone has to want to buy the players for a start
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Build the team around Martinez, Cash, Ramsey, McGinn (further forward) and Coutinho (if we can convince him). Keep Digne, Buendia and Bailey. The rest very 'meh' for me at the moment.
My biggest criticism of SG is that he had imposed his formation on our squad whereas our squad is built for wing play. Part of a manager's job is to manage his resources and I feel he should have found a system to utilise the players we had (Traore, Buendia, Bailey etc) until such time as he had a window to bring in players for his system. But that's by the by.
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There's no chance we're keeping Coutinho.
It's going to be the ultimate humiliation watching him fuck off to somewhere like Spurs or Arsenal. And who can blame him, not fancying taking part in shit shows like today?
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If we finish below 10th with very little sign of progress we are losing Martinez and Coutinho will go in any case to wherever his profile will make him a permanent fixture in the Brazil WC lineup. So we need to plan for that.
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There is lot of culpability resting with Purslow. Having spend the £100 million or so on players like Traore, Bailey, Ings and Buendia he panicked and sacked Smith and replaced him with a "label" who is averse to playing wide attacking forwards. True madness.
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If we finish below 10th with very little sign of progress we are losing Martinez and Coutinho will go in any case to wherever his profile will make him a permanent fixture in the Brazil WC lineup. So we need to plan for that.
I don't think we'll lose Martinez for anything other than a huge fee. And he hasn't been great this season anyway (not that I'd want to lose him).
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The spine is mediocre at best. Mings, Luiz and Watkins are never top half players in a 100 years.
Luiz will be a top half player in a euro league somewhere. He hasn't had a great season by any means but talk Arsenal rate him so with one year left he'll be tempting for someone at 25m given his age and international experience.
Likes of Mings and McGinn are about right for us tbh. Both been good servants, more than played their parts in moving us from bottom half championship to upper bottom half prem and can still have excellent games but we know by now neither will ever be regulars if we're in serious contention to finish 6th in 2-3 years time.
It's harder to rotate CBs so think McGinn is the barometer. We get a new DM in and he'll surely revert from playing every single minute of every game to more of a rotation option e.g. starts 3 out of 5 games.
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If we finish below 10th with very little sign of progress we are losing Martinez and Coutinho will go in any case to wherever his profile will make him a permanent fixture in the Brazil WC lineup. So we need to plan for that.
Martinez signed a new 5 year deal a few months ago. We could easily demand 60m for him given his achievements with Argentina and most of the CL sides are sorted with keepers.
We'll see on Coutinho. I still think regardless of results he's enjoying playing week in week out again and has a good rapport with Gerrard so I'm more convinced than most he'll sign full time. What last month has shown is we need a proper structure around him to really get the best of him against top half teams but thought he was fantastic first half so that shows the potential when he has a functioning midfield behind him.
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Neil Moxley leaking we'll consider bids in summer for Sanson (no shock) and Bailey (big what IF imo).
Also some talk of a Ings-Bissouma swop deal being planned which would actually suit both parties so could have some potential.
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If we finish below 10th with very little sign of progress we are losing Martinez and Coutinho will go in any case to wherever his profile will make him a permanent fixture in the Brazil WC lineup. So we need to plan for that.
I don't think we'll lose Martinez for anything other than a huge fee. And he hasn't been great this season anyway (not that I'd want to lose him).
An uncomfortable truth but there it is. I, too, want to keep him but not a stellar season by any means. The only other player I care about staying is Ramsey.
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I think Martinez is over rated on here.
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It’s easier to say who I really want to keep.
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I’d agree with everything in the OP, although I’d keep Konsa personally, as I think he’s been hampered by playing alongside an erratic Mings.
I can see Coutinho packing his bags (who could blame him), which would give Buendia his chance for a way back in.
There are two or three in that starting line up who I don’t even think will
play again this season after that shit show in the second half.
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There's the potential for a good team as shown by the first half display. My first departures would be McGinn and Luiz though. Neither have been consistently good enough for all the time we've been in the Premier League and thee years is ample evidence. A defensive midfielder who can't defend, and an attacking midfielder who can't pass or score goals are of very little use. I don't care what Luiz does for Brazil or that McGinn has scored a few goals against shit countries for Scotland.
Next in line would be Watkins. Every inch the lower league player given a golden ticket for the big time.
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We can’t change 5 or 6 of our starting players so I think the clear out will be a lot more modest than people think. I wouldn’t be surprised if Watkins, Luiz move on and I suspect we’ll try to ship out Sanson, Traore & Bailey.
I think we would be giving ourselves too much to do if we need to find a top quality centre back and striker in addition to a DM so I can’t see us ripping it up much beyond that this window.
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easier to look at the keep list.
Keep:
Martinez
Cash
Digne
Chambers
Ramsey
Coutinho
Buendia
Archer
I don't mind Luiz, Konsa, Mings and McGinn staying - but they need to be pushed harder for their positions - I don't like the fact that they're guaranteed to play if they're fit - they need to be replaced and pushed down the pecking order.
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Traore, El Ghazi and Trez need to go whatever happens. Even if we have to release them all.
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easier to look at the keep list.
Keep:
Martinez
Cash
Digne
Chambers
Ramsey
Coutinho
Buendia
Archer
I’d add Konsa, McGinn and Watkins. Their form is poor but on the whole when not being messed around they’ve got a proven record.
Not fussed about continho - his wages would pay for 2 or 3 other options.
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easier to look at the keep list.
Keep:
Martinez
Cash
Digne
Chambers
Ramsey
Coutinho
Buendia
Archer
I’d add Konsa, McGinn and Watkins. Their form is poor but on the whole when not being messed around they’ve got a proven record.
Not fussed about continho - his wages would pay for 2 or 3 other options.
yeah I edited my post with a few that we could keep but they'd need to be pushed down the pecking order
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No way are Villa going to be "clearing out" some of the names being mentioned on here. The likes of Konsa, Watkins, McGinn and Mings have lost confidence under our manager, but that doesn't make them bad players. Can they be upgraded? Of course they can, but that takes time and plenty of cash. We can't keep throwing money at the problem though.
We need a combination of good coaching and management to work with the good players we have allied to clear upgrades in positions we are desperately short of quality in eg dcm.
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We've got some good players, but for where we want to head, a number of them need to become squad rather than starters.
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Cash, Martinez and Ramsey are the ones you unequivocally say "Keep".
Digne will be our first choice LB. Coutinho looks likely to stay just because he wants regular football and I think Gerrard has sold him the "project".
McGinn is a cult hero and will always be remembered fondly, but has been woeful for some time now and we'd certainly make a tidy profit if we sell him.
Mings is a tough one because, whilst I think a large group of our fan base are far too quick to criticise him and I am proud to have him associated with the club for his off the pitch stuff... He ain't a good enough player to get us to where we want to be. Again, we would get good money for him as an established England International.
Konsa, who was a Rolls-Royce of a defender, looks like a red-card/goal conceded waiting to happen. His drop off in form this season has been startling. Could see him going.
Luiz, again has been playing out of position for so long it's hard to really know what his role is, but he looks lazy and disinterested to me. Sell sell sell.
Buendia struggled at the start of the season, played himself into form and was then usurped by Coutinho. A shame for him, but I definitely see a future for him at the club.
Watkins, for all of his industry, fits into that mould of simply not being clinical enough. And the whole looking miserable when anyone but him scores thing makes me irrationally angry. Another one we could make big money on.
Danny Ings is a proven goalscorer and if we hadn't bought him last summer, he's exactly the type of player we'd be looking at as a no-brainer to bring in this summer. So of course it hasn't worked for him here. I guarantee that if he leaves, he'll score 20+ for his new club. That's just the way it goes.
Special mention to Ashley Young who has been a disaster of a signing. I honestly thought his Villa legacy couldn't be anymore taunted than it was when he threw himself down to win United a penalty against us, but here we are.
Finally we have the likes of Sanson, Bailey and Traore. A combination of bad luck, injuries and limited impact being made in their time on the pitch. I don't see a future for any of them here.
Now, there is absolutely no way that we are going to sell nine of our first team squad in the summer... But I wouldn't be shocked or disappointed at any of those I've mentioned leaving. It's all starting to feel a bit precarious.
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We don't need to be looking to move on anyone except the players who haven't been involved this season and for the most part looked sub standard before, Guilbert, Hause, Hourahane, Trezeguet, Wesley, El Ghazi, Davis and then anyone who is 'not at it' behind the scenes who i would guess would be Sanson and Bailey and then anyone whos interested in moving and isn't too good anyway (Luiz). I think i'd also move Young on due to his age. That's still 11 players, plus the GK loanee will be sent back and we'll have Steer back. For me, Luiz is the worst player that has been a regular in the starting 11 this season.
Anyone else in the squad we should be aiming to keep unless we get silly money offers and have a good plan of who to replace with, with the exception of Martinez who we should be trying to keep at all costs as we simply won't find a GK as good as him let alone better.
So that leaves;
Martinez, Another, Steer
Cash, Another, Konsa, Chambers, Mings, Another, Dinge, Targett
Nakamba, Another, Another, McGinn, Ramsey, Another
Another, Buendia
Traore
Ings, Watkins, Another, Archer. (24 players)
Not included Chuk due to the contract situation or Coutinho as i don't think he'll sign.
We could promote a few others as well as Archer to the first team squad but that's potentially 8 new signings without offloading many of the current starters that people want to shift. There's only so much you want to do in one go. I'd prefer us to play the 2 up front with one behind rather than wingers and big money needs to be spent on a DM, Coutinho replacement, CF and CB. For the others we can look for value for money punts, or maybe promote youth players.
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I think there will be a big clear-out - just hope it starts early and is properly coordinated to manage integration for incomers.
Trez
AEG (£10m)
Wesley
Luiz (£25m)
Watkins (£40m)
Ings (£12m)
Targett (£15m)
Konsa (£20m)
Bailey (£15m)
Traore (£6m)
Davis (£15m)
Circa £160-170m generated - Add £50m from the owners and we could bring in 5 upgrades to be blended in with remaining first team squad members and some youngsters.
Wage bill will probably go up by 30-40%.
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Ramsey is the only midfielder I like and he is so inconsistent, ad you'd expect. That's a huge problem.
For all the money we've spent, the middle of the park is a little light in every department. A rough metric, but with Marv, Luiz, McGinn, Sanson, Ramsey who are pur options, the outlay is £37m-ish. Our full backs cost about the same.
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wouldn't surprise me if McGinn, Watkins and Mings move on. Gerrard has doubts about our defence, Mings is the biggest asset money wise; McGinn who I fear would look good in a decent team is at the moment giving ball after ball away; as for Watkins we need a reliable striker read into it what you want.
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Trezeguet, El Ghazi, Wesley, Guilbert, Davis, Sanson, Luiz, Kalinic, Steer, Targett all made available and Young, Hourihane released. If we get offers for Traore and Bailey, I reckon we will listen to them too. If we can swap Ings for Bissouma then I'd go for that too.
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One from each category:
Ings / Watkins
McGinn / Luiz / Sanson (would consider selling two here)
Mings/Konsa
Bailey/Traore
For a change I’d like to sell players at close to their ceiling price rather than giving them away to free up wages/squad places.
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One from each category:
Ings / Watkins
McGinn / Luiz / Sanson (would consider selling two here)
Mings/Konsa
Bailey/Traore
For a change I’d like to sell players at close to their ceiling price rather than giving them away to free up wages/squad places.
The last bit is key. We have only really generated any decent money from one player sale so far under NSWE (admittedly it was quite a lot). It’s something we will have to do if we are going to continue investing in the playing squad at the rate we are. The problem we might well have there is, while I could see a scenario in that we would be in a position where we are relatively happy for one of Konsa/Mings to leave, for example, I’m not certain there would be loads of takers at the money we would want.
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Didn’t we have a clearout in 2015, then promptly got relegated?
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No, we sold Benteke who'd been keeping us up and replaced him with a lamppost.
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Where do you start?
Defenders who can't defend and strikers who can't score with a weak ,pathetic midfield.
Easier to say who you'd keep and even then I'm struggling
Same old with Villa. How much money have we wasted on absolute crap
Just feel like giving up!
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Where do you start?
Defenders who can't defend and strikers who can't score with a weak ,pathetic midfield.
Easier to say who you'd keep and even then I'm struggling
Same old with Villa. How much money have we wasted on absolute crap
Just feel like giving up!
Don't let us stop you.
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For a change I’d like to sell players at close to their ceiling price rather than giving them away to free up wages/squad places.
That’s crazy talk, It’ll never catch on.
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The System S G wants to play ie no wingers,must have been discussed before he was hired. So we must have have decided to move on El Ghazi Bert T Trezeguet and Bailey. Which is slightly disconcerting.
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There are a number who will go. But it doesn't need a massive overhaul. The squad that thumped Liverpool has lost Grealish, Targett and Barkley and replaced them with Buendia, Digne and Coutinho with the addition of Bailey and Ings to replace Trez and AEG.
I'm coming round to the idea that it's the system and it's taking time to bed in. Our players weren't shit before and haven't turned to shit now. The onus is on the coaching staff to get it sorted.
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We'll see a clear out.
Those not good enough, Trez, El Ghazi, Guilbert, Hause & Hourihane. - £20m
Those who want to leave, Targett, Sanson & Luiz. - £40m
Those we can get some money for, Ings, Davis, & Traore. £30m
We'll spend £150m on a first choice centre-half, defensive midfield & striker. Plus £30m on Coutinho.
Another £20m spent on a young left back.
Bailey will be given another season, Archer & Kesler will be integrated into the squad.
We'll let Chukwuemeka run down his contract & get whatever we can from a tribunal, unless someone makes us an offer or he signs a new contract. I think Ramsey has taken his pathway into the team.
Ramsey 2, Philogene-Bidace, Barry, O'Reilly, Bogarde will go out on loan & possibly Iroegbunam.
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There are a number who will go. But it doesn't need a massive overhaul. The squad that thumped Liverpool has lost Grealish, Targett and Barkley and replaced them with Buendia, Digne and Coutinho with the addition of Bailey and Ings to replace Trez and AEG.
I'm coming round to the idea that it's the system and it's taking time to bed in. Our players weren't shit before and haven't turned to shit now. The onus is on the coaching staff to get it sorted.
Had we taken our chances yesterday, it would've been another famous battering (for Spurs). That game v Liverpool -every shot we had went in, either off somebody's elbow, arse or knee as well as some good goals - yesterday was like the complete opposite.
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Similar view to many on here, but apart from Coutinho, Martinez, Ramsey and possibly the two full backs, we have a team of decent mid-table players.
McGinn, Watkins, Mings etc. are all very good players who have been fantastic in establishing us as a mid-table Premier League side. There is no point having a mass clearout of this type of player unless we're confident we can replace them with better options. Equally, we'll never be anything more than a mid-table Premier League side unless we do replace them with better options, so I guess it's a balancing act. It'll certainly be a very interesting Summer. I guess signing Coutinho permanently will be the first priority, then we'll go from there.
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I'd like to see mings and konsa with an actual DM in front of them
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Trezeguet, El Ghazi, Wesley, Guilbert, Davis, Sanson, Luiz, Kalinic, Steer, Targett all made available and Young, Hourihane released. If we get offers for Traore and Bailey, I reckon we will listen to them too. If we can swap Ings for Bissouma then I'd go for that too.
sounds good to me
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I'd like to see mings and konsa with an actual DM in front of them
It will be interesting to see if the return of Nakamba coincides with an upturn in form, defensively at least, over the last seven games. It’s the one hope at the moment as there are no other changes that feel like they will make a difference.
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Didn’t we have a clearout in 2015, then promptly got relegated?
Sort of, but as pointed out the big loss was Benteke. It won't hurt to offload all of the senior players that are currently out on loan apart from maybe Targett and that would be a lot off the wage bill.
We also used some idiotic computer stats based system for recruitment that summer and topped up with a few well known has beens so hopefully things will be somewhat different this time. That said they need to not make a Leon Bailey type cock up this summer as a couple of those would hurt us badly.
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I’d agree with everything in the OP, although I’d keep Konsa personally, as I think he’s been hampered by playing alongside an erratic Mings.
I can see Coutinho packing his bags (who could blame him), which would give Buendia his chance for a way back in.
There are two or three in that starting line up who I don’t even think will
play again this season after that shit show in the second half.
So I go the other way on the centre-half’s. I like Konsa, but I think he puts a lot of pressure on Mings - in that it’s all put on Mings to bring the ball out and take risks. I think Konsa isn’t taking enough responsibility, perhaps because he’s so woefully out of form.
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I’d agree with everything in the OP, although I’d keep Konsa personally, as I think he’s been hampered by playing alongside an erratic Mings.
I can see Coutinho packing his bags (who could blame him), which would give Buendia his chance for a way back in.
There are two or three in that starting line up who I don’t even think will
play again this season after that shit show in the second half.
So I go the other way on the centre-half’s. I like Konsa, but I think he puts a lot of pressure on Mings - in that it’s all put on Mings to bring the ball out and take risks. I think Konsa isn’t taking enough responsibility, perhaps because he’s so woefully out of form.
I agree, this year Mings has definitely been the stronger one of the 2, and I think the way Mings and Chambers have looked as a pair has underlined how much Konsa has been weighing him down. I really like Konsa but he's had a terrible season and I have no idea why, culminating in him barely looking like a professional footballer on saturday, it's the most disappointing performance I've sene from a Villa player in a long time.
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I thought Ezri was comfortable with the ball, having been a full-back previously and played for a progressive Championship side in Brentford. So it really annoys me that he doesn't take any responsibility for distribution from the back, squaring it to Mings whenver he can.
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I thought Ezri was comfortable with the ball, having been a full-back previously and played for a progressive Championship side in Brentford. So it really annoys me that he doesn't take any responsibility for distribution from the back, squaring it to Mings whenver he can.
This season he rarely passes to anyone other than Mings and Cash unless McGinn or Luiz run almost on top of him and then he'll give them the ball, he was much more willing to both carry the ball out of defence and look for positive passes last season.
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So what do we put that down to? Lack of confidence playing in front of spectators compared to behind closed doors?
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Any ‘clearout’ is hugely dependent on who we can get in and this is where I hope Lange and his team are already working on. For example, I didn’t mind Targett but Digne is better.
The exodus will start with El Ghazi, Trez, Targett and possibly Ings, Hause, Traore and Sanson, but players like Konsa, McGinn, Mings, Watkins will only go if we can get better replacements.
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Think of the defenders, Konsa is the most likely to be moved on. We'd probably get a decent fee for him - around the same as we'd get for Mings. As others have alluded to he doesn't seem as self-confident as Mings - regularly gives the ball to Ty to get rid of rather than do the job himself. We'll also be looking at far better candidates if it's for a regular spot in the first team rather than acting as a backup like Hause & Chambers are at the moment.
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I hope there isn't a clear out, because I don't trust Gerrard to manage it and the subsequent incomigs.
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I’d agree with everything in the OP, although I’d keep Konsa personally, as I think he’s been hampered by playing alongside an erratic Mings.
I can see Coutinho packing his bags (who could blame him), which would give Buendia his chance for a way back in.
There are two or three in that starting line up who I don’t even think will
play again this season after that shit show in the second half.
I've said this to anyone who would listen for 12 months and even when they were both playing well!
Konsa is a great defender but is not a leader like Mings and doesn't like to play the ball...it nearly always goes back to Mings when he gets it who will then be under pressure because the opposition will know where its going.....
So I go the other way on the centre-half’s. I like Konsa, but I think he puts a lot of pressure on Mings - in that it’s all put on Mings to bring the ball out and take risks. I think Konsa isn’t taking enough responsibility, perhaps because he’s so woefully out of form.
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I am a little worried about what type of player Gerrard will go for. Talk of Luis Suarez is interesting, but Cameron Archer is more interesting and less of a gamble.
Players that are taking a step up from lower leagues (Cash, Mings, Konsa, Buendia), or who are looking for first team football (Martinez, Chambers) seem to work out better than players looking for a last pay day (Ross Barkley, Ings)
I don't know, i just don't get the excited feeling that we are going to spend big and get it right. It's probably just all the years of getting my hopes up, to see it come to nothing much. Plus the thought that in a season or two Gerrard probably won't be here and we start all over again.
Win a few games and i will probably change my mind.
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Win a few games and i will probably change my mind.
There's a slight flaw in that plan.
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Ross Barkley was 26 when he was on loan with us. He wasn't looking for a last pay day, he was trying to get his career back on track. He didn't of course, but there you go.
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I think Martinez is over rated on here.
And presumably by his Copa America winning international manager
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I think Martinez is over rated on here.
And presumably by his Copa America winning international manager
He has had some pretty poor performances particularly after flying back from International duty. He has failed to save a few that a world class goalkeeper should.
I am not saying he is a poor goalkeeper just that he is revered beyond his actual performances.
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I think Martinez is over rated on here.
And presumably by his Copa America winning international manager
He has had some pretty poor performances particularly after flying back from International duty. He has failed to save a few that a world class goalkeeper should.
I am not saying he is a poor goalkeeper just that he is revered beyond his actual performances.
Maybe that reflects what's in front of him though. Either way doesn't belong on a Clearout thread, he's the best keeper we've had for many years
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I think Martinez is over rated on here.
And presumably by his Copa America winning international manager
He has had some pretty poor performances particularly after flying back from International duty. He has failed to save a few that a world class goalkeeper should.
I am not saying he is a poor goalkeeper just that he is revered beyond his actual performances.
Maybe that reflects what's in front of him though. Either way doesn't belong on a Clearout thread, he's the best keeper we've had for many years
Agree, he is not a clear out candidate.
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I'd shift on the players not involved, as if they can't get a game now then they never will under Gerard.
Trezeguet, El Ghazi, Traore just don't fit his system and are not getting game time, neither does Bailey but think he needs longer to be given a go in other positions. Hause, Guilbert, Hause, Steer, Sanson and Young could all go and have no impact on the squad given how little they feature.
Targett will go, as he won't want to play second fiddle.
Luiz should go. His contract is running down, and he is rubbish. Watkins I would sacrifice to generate funds.
Mings, Konsa, McGinn, Nakamba, and Ings I would keep as squad fillers, unless we get big offers for them. In which case would take the cash.
Martinez, Ramsey, buendia, Martinez and cash I would build around.
Archer, Davis, Tim, Kessler-Hayden, and Chukwuemeka I would introduce more next season.
Edit forgot our best player! Obviously would keep Coutinho if at all possible.
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I don’t think we will see more than 4 of the squad moved on possibly two of the wingers a keeper and a midfielder .
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There's a very good article by Matt Maher on the Express & Star (quick aside: unlike Birmingham Live, the Express & Star actually report Villa news/opinion and avoid click-baiting) on why clear-outs just aren't possible any more:
https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/football/aston-villa/2022/04/15/matt-maher-pressing-the-reset-button-is-easier-said-than-done/
This is one of my fears about Gerrard - aside from all the defeats at the hands of teams like Arsenal and Spurs who then go on to lose to Brighton - that he intends to be a chequebook manager when what we really need is someone (Bielsa comes to mind) who can get more out of the current squad.
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Personal opinion but Ings, Watkins,Luiz, Konsa and Mings can all go for starters.
All five have been given ample game time and are not of the quality needed if we want to kick on.
Bailey, Troare and Sanson I suspect are all duds but without decent game time it's difficult to confirm.
Either way we need to start getting our wage bill down and improve the quality or I fear next season we'll really struggle.
Konsa and Mings were excellent last year (occasional Mingstake aside), kept a lot of clean sheets.
Watkins is a good player, perhaps 15 goals a season is his ceiling but he is young and (assuming we are to be a pressing-from-the-front team) fits our style of play.
Luiz, I feel, should play as an 8 rather than a 6 (with Nakamba behind him).
I wouldn't clear out any of those four.
The Ings signing felt wrong from the start. He was too old at 29 to be spending $30m (although perhaps we can hope to recoup some of that by using him as a makeweight in a deal with Brighton for Bissouma) and we had to change our system (from 4-3-3 to 5-3-2) to accommodate him.
...and changing to a 5-3-2 (under Smith) and now a 4-1-2-1-2 diamond (under Gerrard) has meant no room for wingers hence Traore (who was starting to rack up the goals and assists towards the end of last season) and Bailey look redundant. (I just can't get my head around spending £30m on both Bailey and Ings when they both can't play in the same system - unless Smith had it in mind to play Bailey as a wing-back).
Sansom has looked too lightweight from the start. He's had plenty of chances now and not registered a single goal nor assist (unless you count assisting the opposition scoring).
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I think Martinez is over rated on here.
He's certainly not the best Villa keeper ever nor of the Premier League era, as I've heard many say. Bosnich for one was superior. I'd rank Martinez about the same level as Spink (although I started watching Villa in the Venglos season so I only saw late-period Spink).
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There's a very good article by Matt Maher on the Express & Star (quick aside: unlike Birmingham Live, the Express & Star actually report Villa news/opinion and avoid click-baiting) on why clear-outs just aren't possible any more:
https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/football/aston-villa/2022/04/15/matt-maher-pressing-the-reset-button-is-easier-said-than-done/
This is one of my fears about Gerrard - aside from all the defeats at the hands of teams like Arsenal and Spurs who then go on to lose to Brighton - that he intends to be a chequebook manager when what we really need is someone (Bielsa comes to mind) who can get more out of the current squad.
Very interesting, but throughly depressing read.
Basically we have well over 100m of "talent" that we wont be able to sale, and want to upgrade.
I think in reality we will probably by 3 or 4 good players - and maybe cash in on some more marketable ones like Luiz, Targett and maybe McGinn. It kind feels like you have 1 chance to sale these players, at the point where they stop becoming first choice players. With Targett, it probably worked, with AEG it certainly didnt.
Conversly though - shoudlnt this mean there are a load of good value deals to be done?
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Kalinic is contracted til 2023? 'kin 'ell...nice "work" if you can geddit.
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There's a very good article by Matt Maher on the Express & Star (quick aside: unlike Birmingham Live, the Express & Star actually report Villa news/opinion and avoid click-baiting) on why clear-outs just aren't possible any more:
https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/football/aston-villa/2022/04/15/matt-maher-pressing-the-reset-button-is-easier-said-than-done/
This is one of my fears about Gerrard - aside from all the defeats at the hands of teams like Arsenal and Spurs who then go on to lose to Brighton - that he intends to be a chequebook manager when what we really need is someone (Bielsa comes to mind) who can get more out of the current squad.
Good, if depressing, article. It is the worry, that we've got several players we'll struggle to give away (Kalinic, Guilbert, Wesley) cos honestly, they're getting paid huge sums of money and must know there's next to zero chance of them seeing that again. We've also got a group of players (AEG, Trez, maybe Sanson) who it'll be difficult to shift as they're not likely to improve any team that can actually afford their wages.
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There's a very good article by Matt Maher on the Express & Star (quick aside: unlike Birmingham Live, the Express & Star actually report Villa news/opinion and avoid click-baiting) on why clear-outs just aren't possible any more:
https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/football/aston-villa/2022/04/15/matt-maher-pressing-the-reset-button-is-easier-said-than-done/
This is one of my fears about Gerrard - aside from all the defeats at the hands of teams like Arsenal and Spurs who then go on to lose to Brighton - that he intends to be a chequebook manager when what we really need is someone (Bielsa comes to mind) who can get more out of the current squad.
Good, if depressing, article. It is the worry, that we've got several players we'll struggle to give away (Kalinic, Guilbert, Wesley) cos honestly, they're getting paid huge sums of money and must know there's next to zero chance of them seeing that again. We've also got a group of players (AEG, Trez, maybe Sanson) who it'll be difficult to shift as they're not likely to improve any team that can actually afford their wages.
I guess there is an element of why the clubs find it so hard to turn down big offers.
For example, if you look at the 100m for Joe as paying off every failed transfer (probably in the last 5 - 10 years).
Playing devils advocate, I guess though it makes the "signing players with resell value" pretty pointless, as it looks like that doesnt actually happen often. I guess the key is there salary is cheaper than those at their peak.
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I think Sanson has looked tidy on the very few opportunities he’s had and certainly deserves a longer run in the side. He obviously wasn’t Smith’s cup of tea and the same goes for Gerrard which is a pity as he was highly rated but it just hasn’t worked for him.
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I think Sanson has looked tidy on the very few opportunities he’s had and certainly deserves a longer run in the side. He obviously wasn’t Smith’s cup of tea and the same goes for Gerrard which is a pity as he was highly rated but it just hasn’t worked for him.
That’s the key for me with Sanson. Two managers appear not to rate him and to be honest, when he has played he is no better than the player he’s replaced.
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I think Sanson has looked tidy on the very few opportunities he’s had and certainly deserves a longer run in the side. He obviously wasn’t Smith’s cup of tea and the same goes for Gerrard which is a pity as he was highly rated but it just hasn’t worked for him.
That’s the key for me with Sanson. Two managers appear not to rate him and to be honest, when he has played he is no better than the player he’s replaced.
The fact 2 managers don’t like him must tell us something - but I think he looks good and would probably have got a lot more football if Ramsey had come on so much
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I think Sanson has looked tidy on the very few opportunities he’s had and certainly deserves a longer run in the side. He obviously wasn’t Smith’s cup of tea and the same goes for Gerrard which is a pity as he was highly rated but it just hasn’t worked for him.
I think him and Traore will get loaned out tbh. We can surely sell Gulibert as apparently he keeps doing well on loan so surely a club in France will sign him permanently with just 12 months on his deal. Or perhaps someone like Fulham might go for him.
Hopefully with a full pre season Bailey can come back and make a sustained impact next season. Would be hugely disappointing if we just give up on him as there's a really talented player lurking there but feels like Gerrard's system is exactly the wrong fit for him.
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The emergence of Ramsey has, no doubt, proved an obstacle but you’d think the stuttering form of both McGinn and Luiz would have seen him get a lot more game time. He’ll be down as another failed transfer along with a few others in the squad.
Edit. In response to Beard82
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The emergence of Ramsey has, no doubt, proved an obstacle but you’d think the stuttering form of both McGinn and Luiz would have seen him get a lot more game time. He’ll be down as another failed transfer along with a few others in the squad.
Edit. In response to Beard82
I agree tbh even Ramsey looks like a rest wouldn’t hurt him at times over the last few games.
I though smith was making a point - not sure with gerrard