Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Percy McCarthy on October 20, 2020, 06:55:56 AM
-
I think it’s time for a reappraisal of our business last summer, which attracted a lot of criticism throughout the season. Konsa, Luiz, Trezeguet not looking so bad now are they? Maybe some of the others will prove their worth in time if they can get into this new, improved team?
Konsa and Mings alone look worth our total outlay.
-
Jesus needs to rise again.
-
I was less critical of the signings during the season .... although I was also less critical of Bruce up until a couple of weeks before cabbagegate and defended TSM for longer than most - so it's more nature than clairvoyance! But my feeling was that we brought a lot of players who were new to the league, new to the country, new to eachother - and it didn't take much to puncture their confidence. It wasn't that they were generally bad players.
Anyway, for me:
Konsa, Mings, Luiz - definite bargains
Targett, Trez - seem to have taken time to adapt, but look bargains
Engels, Wes, Heaton - all had bad injuries, so jury's out
Nakamba, Guilbert - not great or not fancied, but we've got what we paid for
AEG, Hause, Samatta, Jota, Drinkwater, Baston - disappointing
I'd argue the summer transfer business wasn't that bad, but injuries & the January transfers dragged it down to looking hit & miss. The only real blunder for me is Samatta - the rest of the players who've been disappointing were cheap punts to bulk out the squad.
-
I was less critical of the signings during the season .... although I was also less critical of Bruce up until a couple of weeks before cabbagegate and defended TSM for longer than most - so it's more nature than clairvoyance! But my feeling was that we brought a lot of players who were new to the league, new to the country, new to eachother - and it didn't take much to puncture their confidence. It wasn't that they were generally bad players.
Anyway, for me:
Konsa, Mings, Luiz - definite bargains
Targett, Trez - seem to have taken time to adapt, but look bargains
Engels, Wes, Heaton - all had bad injuries, so jury's out
Nakamba, Guilbert - not great or not fancied, but we've got what we paid for
AEG, Hause, Samatta, Jota, Drinkwater, Baston - disappointing
I'd argue the summer transfer business wasn't that bad, but injuries & the January transfers dragged it down to looking hit & miss. The only real blunder for me is Samatta - the rest of the players who've been disappointing were cheap punts to bulk out the squad.
pretty much agree with your whole post Algy- we’ll put. The only thing I can’t really fathom is Guilbert. To me he’s always looked decent, but have to concede that Cash looks a very good upgrade, but I don’t think Guilbert is at much less of a level than Targett at left back. He’s only young too, so hopefully he learns more and we have two really good players in that position. I think they must have just seen something in Cash to convince them to ‘splash the Cash’ for Matty, that maybe we wouldn’t have seen as fans?
-
The Guilbert situation is precisely the sort of thing clubs do when they're at the level to which we aspire. Just because a player is pretty good, and no-one has any real complaints about them, is no reason not to take the opportunity to look for a better player when they become available.
If our improvement continues over the next few years, I look forward to seeing players we thought were plenty good enough to play for us being replaced by even better ones. Players we think of as "almost first name on the team sheet" today, becoming squad players. That's when we'll know we're back among the top sides.
-
Konsa, Mings, Luiz, Trez, Heaton (Even with injury) - I'd say value for money at this time. Could transpire to be 'bargains' but other than Luiz would we get much more than our outlay currently, not sure. A good season from Luiz and he could readily be a 50m player - Brazilian international helps.
Targett, - lot of money for a player who probably wouldn't get in most teams, though showing signs of improvement
Wes - I honestly think with him in the 3-5-2 formation v Burnley he played exceptionally well. We simplywon't know for a good few months
Guilbert - not great or not fancied, but we've got what we paid for. Agree.
Nakamba, Engels, AEG, Hause, Samatta, Jota, Drinkwater, Baston - disappointing. Of those still here I wouldn't like to see them as other than match day subs. We signed 4-5 first teamers during the recent window to ensure they largely will be
-
The main thing for me last year was the decision to go into the new season with the untried Wesley as our only real striking option. It was a dangerous gamble to take. This year, the quality of players bought seems to be higher, but we again seem to have gambled on one main striker in Watkins staying fit.
-
We'd already be looking at getting back double what we paid for Konsa and Mings. The former is now shining in the best defence in the league while we bought the latter as a utility player with little Premier experience and a reputation for injuries and we'd be selling an England regular. If Trez keeps up his form treble what we paid is possible and Luiz really would be a bidding war.
El Ghazi hasn't improved but again we'd be selling a Premier League player with all that that entails for resale value, Hause cost pennies and again will have appreciated in value with experience. Guilbert and Targett might at the moment be losses. We'll have to see if Nakamba has benefitted in the same way as the others, while the rest were either cheap/free and been discarded or have got injuries to get over.
-
Konsa and Luiz are now showing the consistency their undoubted talent hinted at at various points last season. They both looked hugely improved after the restart, and have carried on this season in the same vein. Targett looks better than last season, but is still my main concern in the team, and I would think left back will be next on the list of areas to improve.
-
I definitely think Konsa, Mings, and Luiz have doubled in value and Freddie Guilbert looks to be a back up at the moment and Targett is improving and Trez as been brilliant for us.
-
el ghazi was £4.5m and hause was £3m. they are decent squad players.
i also thought wesley was having his most effective game away at burnley as well. look forward to seeing him back.
like the rest of the defence, targett has played better in empty stadiums. i imagine a combination of being able to better communicate with each other, listen to instructions from the bench, and not having to put up with crap from braying idiots in the crowd.
-
Hause isn't really decent though is he? Hopefully Engels can get back to something like his early season form last year, and benefits from the increase in stability throughout the rest of the team, if called upon.
-
I dont think Hause has been too bad, the whole 'playing out from the back' doesn't suit him too much but he's quick and strong in the air. We'd make a profit if we sold him on.
-
I dont think Hause has been too bad, the whole 'playing out from the back' doesn't suit him too much but he's quick and strong in the air. We'd make a profit if we sold him on.
I think there's two arguments. He's not completely awful and we'd make a profit if we sold him on, but do I want him playing in defence for us in the new and improved Aston Villa? Not one bit.
-
Konsa, Mings, Luiz - brilliant signings.
Trez - unsung hero, good signing
Engels, Wes, Heaton -I've liked what I've seen; though we've signed players who, so far, have proven better in Konsa, Watkins and Martinez
Targett - doing ok right now and causes problems with Jack on the left, also part of the best defence in the division
Nakamba, Guilbert, - can do a job and will improve
AEG, Hause, - squad players who at the time were better than what we had. AEG in particular scored some vital goals,
Samatta, Jota, Drinkwater, Baston - just not good enough, the first two worth a punt, the last two just weren't.
-
I dont think Hause has been too bad, the whole 'playing out from the back' doesn't suit him too much but he's quick and strong in the air. We'd make a profit if we sold him on.
I think there's two arguments. He's not completely awful and we'd make a profit if we sold him on, but do I want him playing in defence for us in the new and improved Aston Villa? Not one bit.
Ard we going to get a better player for £3m who is happy to play at most 7-8 games a year? In a year or 2 revan and bridge might be able to provide the same cover but for now he's a decent 4th choice.
-
el ghazi was £4.5m and hause was £3m. they are decent squad players.
i also thought wesley was having his most effective game away at burnley as well. look forward to seeing him back.
like the rest of the defence, targett has played better in empty stadiums. i imagine a combination of being able to better communicate with each other, listen to instructions from the bench, and not having to put up with crap from braying idiots in the crowd.
Yes at least we didn't stump £25m on sub who isn't very good. Those prices aren't too bad just think they aren't good enough to be anything other than bit part players if we are to be serious about top half. We wouldn't lose money on them. We may on Marvellous.
-
Sorry to take this off topic a bit, but I think the best of business this window was Martinez. Your keeper for me is the most important position in your side. This guy looks to be on a par with Bozzie. Maybe a bit better as his distribution is better. Absolute quality signing.
-
Sorry to take this off topic a bit, but I think the best of business this window was Martinez. Your keeper for me is the most important position in your side. This guy looks to be on a par with Bozzie. Maybe a bit better as his distribution is better. Absolute quality signing.
In terms of the upgrade, I completely agree.
-
The question wasn't really whether they would or would not evolve into decent signings it's whether they were what they needed at that time. For me the answer in a lot of the cases was no and we very nearly paid for it by relegation. The reality is without the freakishness of the lockdown we would have.
I agree with Risso, the main failure was going into the season so light up front. It was utter madness relying on Wesley as our only viable option and I still think Maupay would have been a far better choice. Wesley may ultimately turn out to be a world beater, but we didn't really have the luxury of time to ease him in and find that out.
Trez is turning into a decent player and Luiz is just outstanding, but again they were big gambles and both started very slowly. I think Benrahma & Philips would have been better choices in terms of hitting the ground running (I appreciate there's a cost issue here)
Obviously all's well that ends well and I'm delighted with how some of the players have now kicked on. But I'm not going to sit here and say I think it was a great summers business when really it was a huge gambe that save for the lockdown would have cost us our place in the PL.
-
el ghazi was £4.5m and hause was £3m. they are decent squad players.
i also thought wesley was having his most effective game away at burnley as well. look forward to seeing him back.
like the rest of the defence, targett has played better in empty stadiums. i imagine a combination of being able to better communicate with each other, listen to instructions from the bench, and not having to put up with crap from braying idiots in the crowd.
You make some good points.
I also wonder whether the overall improvement in quality in the first XI will drag up the quality of others in the squad: we know, for example, that AEG has talent - he's demonstrated goalscoring, anticipation and dribbling in the past - and maybe he will be a more confident and effective player with the new experience he's having now.
-
Everytime i watch Mings and Konsa recently i think how we discussed how we might of over paid for both of them (£25 inc add ons and £14 respectively)
And then i think
Dias @ £62m
Mustafi @ £35m
and (Stop laughing)
McGuire @ £80m ;D ;D ;D ;D
Boy did we find some bargains
-
Those fees for Hause and AEG are so low that’s comparable to fees in the 90’s!
-
Ard we going to get a better player for £3m who is happy to play at most 7-8 games a year? In a year or 2 revan and bridge might be able to provide the same cover but for now he's a decent 4th choice.
Can't see him getting a game at all this season, barring a horrendous injury list. I'd say he's 5th choice behind Engels and Elmo the utility centre back. He's not the worst we've ever had by a long way, and he played his part in us getting up when came on in the play off final, he's just not up to the standard we've set so far this season.
-
The question wasn't really whether they would or would not evolve into decent signings it's whether they were what they needed at that time. For me the answer in a lot of the cases was no and we very nearly paid for it by relegation. The reality is without the freakishness of the lockdown we would have.
I agree with Risso, the main failure was going into the season so light up front. It was utter madness relying on Wesley as our only viable option and I still think Maupay would have been a far better choice. Wesley may ultimately turn out to be a world beater, but we didn't really have the luxury of time to ease him in and find that out.
Trez is turning into a decent player and Luiz is just outstanding, but again they were big gambles and both started very slowly. I think Benrahma & Philips would have been better choices in terms of hitting the ground running (I appreciate there's a cost issue here)
Obviously all's well that ends well and I'm delighted with how some of the players have now kicked on. But I'm not going to sit here and say I think it was a great summers business when really it was a huge gambe that save for the lockdown would have cost us our place in the PL.
As you say Benrahma for trez is a non-starter, he'd have been more the double the price we paid and we spent, by all accounts, almost every penny we were allowed to by FFP rules. Phillips though is bizarre, he had no more experience than Luiz, was more expensive and, on the evidence this season, is nothing like as good a player.
There were 2 major problems last season, no cover for Wesley was first, I don't think we've repeated that this season because I think Davis is decent cover for the next couple of months and then Wesley will be back and we'll have more than enough. The second was a coaching issue more than the signings, we weren't as fit as we needed to be to play how we wanted and we were tactically naive. Between those 2 we dropped a huge number of points late in games this season we've already picked up 4 points with late winners, it's a huge turnaround and isn't solely due to new signings, the whole attitude of the club is better because we now 'know' we belong.
-
Weird how things turn out. There's no proof of course, but without Covid, Smith would almost certainly have been potted after the Chelsea game, we'd probably have gone down and we'd all now be hoping that Jack never plays for England as a Man U player!
-
I agree Luiz looks better than Philips now. But he started very slowly and despite the odd flash of excellence made a lot of costly mistakes. It wasn't really until after lockdown that he excelled. I just feel Philips would have settled into the team better and been far more productive more quickly, which frankly in our precarious position is what we needed. Like I said all's well that ends well, but we got very, very lucky.
-
Yes we got 'lucky', but we made it count unlike others, and we had by far the hardest task of any team, given the signings required (a legacy of the previous incumbants) and the short time frame afforded post play of final win.
-
The question wasn't really whether they would or would not evolve into decent signings it's whether they were what they needed at that time. For me the answer in a lot of the cases was no and we very nearly paid for it by relegation. The reality is without the freakishness of the lockdown we would have.
I agree with Risso, the main failure was going into the season so light up front. It was utter madness relying on Wesley as our only viable option and I still think Maupay would have been a far better choice. Wesley may ultimately turn out to be a world beater, but we didn't really have the luxury of time to ease him in and find that out.
Trez is turning into a decent player and Luiz is just outstanding, but again they were big gambles and both started very slowly. I think Benrahma & Philips would have been better choices in terms of hitting the ground running (I appreciate there's a cost issue here)
Obviously all's well that ends well and I'm delighted with how some of the players have now kicked on. But I'm not going to sit here and say I think it was a great summers business when really it was a huge gambe that save for the lockdown would have cost us our place in the PL.
As you say Benrahma for trez is a non-starter, he'd have been more the double the price we paid and we spent, by all accounts, almost every penny we were allowed to by FFP rules. Phillips though is bizarre, he had no more experience than Luiz, was more expensive and, on the evidence this season, is nothing like as good a player.
There were 2 major problems last season, no cover for Wesley was first, I don't think we've repeated that this season because I think Davis is decent cover for the next couple of months and then Wesley will be back and we'll have more than enough. The second was a coaching issue more than the signings, we weren't as fit as we needed to be to play how we wanted and we were tactically naive. Between those 2 we dropped a huge number of points late in games this season we've already picked up 4 points with late winners, it's a huge turnaround and isn't solely due to new signings, the whole attitude of the club is better because we now 'know' we belong.
The biggest mistake wasn't in the summer, it was in January with the signing of Drinkwater. Some signings don't work out for whatever reason, but not many actually contribute to the team being a good 20% worse. He was astonishingly awful, and it wasn't as if it wasn't completely predictable from the outset. Having someone that shit, and a really unlikeable character to boot in the camp was probably the worst bit of business we've done. Happy to chalk it down to Suso though! ;)
-
The question wasn't really whether they would or would not evolve into decent signings it's whether they were what they needed at that time. For me the answer in a lot of the cases was no and we very nearly paid for it by relegation. The reality is without the freakishness of the lockdown we would have.
I agree with Risso, the main failure was going into the season so light up front. It was utter madness relying on Wesley as our only viable option and I still think Maupay would have been a far better choice. Wesley may ultimately turn out to be a world beater, but we didn't really have the luxury of time to ease him in and find that out.
Trez is turning into a decent player and Luiz is just outstanding, but again they were big gambles and both started very slowly. I think Benrahma & Philips would have been better choices in terms of hitting the ground running (I appreciate there's a cost issue here)
Obviously all's well that ends well and I'm delighted with how some of the players have now kicked on. But I'm not going to sit here and say I think it was a great summers business when really it was a huge gambe that save for the lockdown would have cost us our place in the PL.
As you say Benrahma for trez is a non-starter, he'd have been more the double the price we paid and we spent, by all accounts, almost every penny we were allowed to by FFP rules. Phillips though is bizarre, he had no more experience than Luiz, was more expensive and, on the evidence this season, is nothing like as good a player.
There were 2 major problems last season, no cover for Wesley was first, I don't think we've repeated that this season because I think Davis is decent cover for the next couple of months and then Wesley will be back and we'll have more than enough. The second was a coaching issue more than the signings, we weren't as fit as we needed to be to play how we wanted and we were tactically naive. Between those 2 we dropped a huge number of points late in games this season we've already picked up 4 points with late winners, it's a huge turnaround and isn't solely due to new signings, the whole attitude of the club is better because we now 'know' we belong.
The biggest mistake wasn't in the summer, it was in January with the signing of Drinkwater. Some signings don't work out for whatever reason, but not many actually contribute to the team being a good 20% worse. He was astonishingly awful, and it wasn't as if it wasn't completely predictable from the outset. Having someone that shit, and a really unlikeable character to boot in the camp was probably the worst bit of business we've done. Happy to chalk it down to Suso though! ;)
I suspect all of our January plans were ruined in the space of about 25minutes against Burnley. Before that game I think they'd probably pooled all the money available on adding another body in midfield and then picking up a loanee striker (Giroud was being linked and I'm sure there was a story a month or so back that backed it up). Losing Wes and Heaton meant a complete rethink with a half scouted Samatta, a gamble on Reina being capable of a swansong and then 2 wild punts to replace kodjia and give us the extra midfielder. None of that excuses Drinkwater being so unfit that we should never have gone through with it but I think it is why the window felt like such a mess.
-
where is Drinkwater now ?
-
Konsa and Luiz were great picks and proving that every week now. 30m for those two is great value in these times.
Still think over time Engels and Gulibert could develop but looks like neither will get much of a chance.
Interesting it's gone along similar lines of Wyness saying you needed 3 teams to become effective top half prem team. 18 that got us up at Wembley included Green, Jedinak, Whelan and Adomah. Then we just about stayed up last year with Hourihane and Hause starting 20 + games each and now hopefully likes of Barkley, Martinez and Watkins will push us on to best season in over a decade.
-
I suspect all of our January plans were ruined in the space of about 25minutes against Burnley. Before that game I think they'd probably pooled all the money available on adding another body in midfield and then picking up a loanee striker (Giroud was being linked and I'm sure there was a story a month or so back that backed it up). Losing Wes and Heaton meant a complete rethink with a half scouted Samatta, a gamble on Reina being capable of a swansong and then 2 wild punts to replace kodjia and give us the extra midfielder. None of that excuses Drinkwater being so unfit that we should never have gone through with it but I think it is why the window felt like such a mess.
That's all fair enough. Samatta might have worked out, might not, but didn't look completely out of place, at least initially. Reina was a bit past it and prone to the odd brain fart, but ultimately played his part in us staying up. Drinkwater though, the world and his dog knew he was a washed up, pisshead trouble maker, but not only did they go through with it, on having seen him train, they then decided to actually start him in the first team. Against Man City. All water under the bridge now thankfully, and hopefully lesson learned.
-
I have some sympathy for the much maligned Suso, as he clearly had a tight brief to follow and had to find a lot of players for the money. Getting so many in at once was always going to leave the manager struggling to get a team to gel.
Having said that it was still a poor window then, as it left us with an egregiously bad forward line and a midfield where any combination looked lightweight.
Luiz, Konsa and Trez all now look like very good value for the money spent, but for the first half a season all of them looked ropey. This is the problem with chucking too many inexperienced players in at once, and is what happened a few years ago with Vertout, Gana, Ayew, Traore etc many of which went on to do better elsewhere. I have a feeling Nakamba will come good (looked great for a few games when he first came in to the team last season), and whilst I don't rate Wesley I am hoping he also proves me wrong.
Where we did pay for experience it didn't really work out last season. Mings did not have a good season, and neither did Targett. Heaton looked good until injured.
Hause and El Ghazi get a lot of stick, but both were cheap and have talent. In their new role they are both back up players, and are fine for 3rd choice in their positions. Ditto Guilbert who I like.
To answer the original question, I'd say then that last year it was a bad window (but understandable given how many players we had to get in), but this year it's a good one! Having survived by the smallest of margins the business now looks much better. With a seasons experience Konsa, Mings, Targett, Trez and Luiz all look far better and very good value. Hause, Heaton, Guilbert, Nakamba and El Ghazi look like OK back up players.
This much better window, was only possible because of the last one.
-
Interesting it's gone along similar lines of Wyness saying you needed 3 teams to become effective top half prem team. 18 that got us up at Wembley included Green, Jedinak, Whelan and Adomah. Then we just about stayed up last year with Hourihane and Hause starting 20 + games each and now hopefully likes of Barkley, Martinez and Watkins will push us on to best season in over a decade.
The reason we needed the 'stay up' team was because we made such a fucking horrible mess of the promotion team, thanks in part to Wyness. I'd have preferred to go the Newcastle and Sheff Utd (and likely Leeds) route of skipping a season in the relegation battle by having a core of the team in the championship that were good enough to step up. Having the sign half a squad in the short summer after the play offs was definitely the worst way to handle promotion (as Fulham had already shown). That aside, as I've said before I always took that line as more of a justification for us appointing Bruce and playing his agricultural bullshit when a lot of fans wanted us to start building a club style as part of the promotion push.
-
We skipped a few seasons didn't we?!
-
where is Drinkwater now ?
Down the pub at a guess
-
Interesting it's gone along similar lines of Wyness saying you needed 3 teams to become effective top half prem team. 18 that got us up at Wembley included Green, Jedinak, Whelan and Adomah. Then we just about stayed up last year with Hourihane and Hause starting 20 + games each and now hopefully likes of Barkley, Martinez and Watkins will push us on to best season in over a decade.
The reason we needed the 'stay up' team was because we made such a fucking horrible mess of the promotion team, thanks in part to Wyness. I'd have preferred to go the Newcastle and Sheff Utd (and likely Leeds) route of skipping a season in the relegation battle by having a core of the team in the championship that were good enough to step up. Having the sign half a squad in the short summer after the play offs was definitely the worst way to handle promotion (as Fulham had already shown). That aside, as I've said before I always took that line as more of a justification for us appointing Bruce and playing his agricultural bullshit when a lot of fans wanted us to start building a club style as part of the promotion push.
Newcastle had 15 points by end of December in their first season up and that was with world class manager and squad that got nearly 100 points when promoted so not sure they avoided the relegation battle but were safe before final day at least.
The plan under previous lot was to of course get promoted in 2018 which was messed up and then the cards collapsed. Just thinking going up then would've probably meant Snodgrass and Johnstone signed full time, Axel back on season long loan and someone like Whelan might've still been capable of premier league as he was still a regular for Stoke in 16/17. Was also talk of targeting Fellani and Javier Hernandez although given one is in CHina and the other MLS I doubt either would've made the impact required, they would've been the experienced signings anyway.
Think that team would've been of similar level to what we put together last season at a lower cost but as you said wouldn't have done us much good in long run and we'd still have had a slow death at premier league level.
It's very difficult to have a team promoted that can then finish top half consistntly in premier league which Sheffield United certainly won't be doing this season. From what I've seen from Leeds they'll stay up but will finish between 11th-14th.
Wolves done it but we know that's an abnormal situation as no other promoted club in recent times has access to what they do.
-
Newcastle had 15 points by end of December in their first season up and that was with world class manager and squad that got nearly 100 points when promoted
Blimey, I remember that now. I'd stopped bothering to look at the PL table, and when hearing that they'd recorded their first win in November, I think, I had a look and was staggered to see that they weren't even bottom, let alone cut adrift as I'd expected. I'm not completely certain, but I've a feeling that that solitary win lifted them clear of the bottom three at the time.
-
The second was a coaching issue more than the signings, we weren't as fit as we needed to be to play how we wanted and we were tactically naive. Between those 2 we dropped a huge number of points late in games this season we've already picked up 4 points with late winners, it's a huge turnaround and isn't solely due to new signings, the whole attitude of the club is better because we now 'know' we belong.
This is a fundamental point; one articulated on here this time last year and since.
We've got fitter, the new players are properly integrated, the tactics and game-management are much-improved; and, we got off to a flyer which has undoubtedly helped confidence.
All of which will be tested when the inevitable injuries, suspensions and form-loss occur.
-
Newcastle had 15 points by end of December in their first season up and that was with world class manager and squad that got nearly 100 points when promoted
Blimey, I remember that now. I'd stopped bothering to look at the PL table, and when hearing that they'd recorded their first win in November, I think, I had a look and was staggered to see that they weren't even bottom, let alone cut adrift as I'd expected. I'm not completely certain, but I've a feeling that that solitary win lifted them clear of the bottom three at the time.
All true, but they were never in serious danger of going down, and largely because they had a squad that was too good for the championship and just added to it. We couldn't do that and instead we rebuilt almost completely. If you look at the number of players in our current squad that we owned in the play off team it's frightening how much has changed in 15months.
Playoff 18:
Steer
Elmo
Tuanzebe - GONE
Mings - Signed
Taylor
McGinn
Hourihane
Grealish
Adomah - GONE
Tammy - GONE
El Ghazi - Signed
Whelan - GONE
Lansbury
Jedinak - GONE
Green - GONE
Kodjia - GONE
Kalinic
Hause - Signed
By next summer we could easily be in a place where McGinn and Grealish are the only players we have left from that final that we actually owned at the time. Hourihane, Lansbury, Taylor and Elmo will all be out of contract, you'd expect Kalinic will go and Steer might well feel it's time to move on. That's an insane amount of churn in 2 years and even of the 3 we signed only Mings will definitely be around for next season.
-
Looks like Axel had a great game for Yanited yesterday.
-
Looks like Axel had a great game for Yanited yesterday.
I'm please for him (not them though).