Summer transfer rumours, speculation and out-and-out b*ll*cks.

[Risso]

If we don't strengthen, we're in for a season of struggle.  Our squad showed it wasn't good enough last season, and we've lost lots of players from it.  Any attempt to spin this as a positive is utter madness.

[Chris Smith]

Paul, Luke Young can cover left back. While we are paying Beye I can't see them sanctioning another full back coming in so we have him along with Cuellar and Lichaj to cover on the right. Not ideal, I agree, but that's a consequence of them getting a grip on the wage bill.

[LeeB]

If we don't strengthen, we're in for a season of struggle.  Our squad showed it wasn't good enough last season, and we've lost lots of players from it.  Any attempt to spin this as a positive is utter madness.

You could argue that the squad was strong enough, but wasn't managed in the right way.

Wibble.

[nick harper]

To have a good look at Clarke, Bannan, Delph, Delf etc they are need to play games. This is a big season for them, one in which they have to show that they have what it takes. I can see the logic in giving them the opportunity before deciding where to strengthen.

I'm concerned that we're short at full back and in a ball winning midfielder, other than that if the youngsters feature, the rejects produce what they are capable of and we sign CNZ I think we have a decent squad, at least enough for top 8.

Agree, other than a wide player to replace Downing, he must find a good defensive midfield player. We are too light in there now NRC has gone.

[Hookeysmith]

The general has clearly stated on VT that if we are not in a stronger squad position this year than last he will be amazed - so sure was he that he said something along the lines of "I will accept your apologies"

A big statement to make surely?

There are 6 weeks to go before the end of the TW
There is not a lot of action in any quarters by any teams
We have to stop measuring ourselves against the mancs / Chelsea and the stupid Scousers and realise how difficult it is to manage ever spiralling stupid wages (lets face it we are hardly the best supported team in the league are we?)
Maybe niavely but when Randy came on board he allowed MON a free hand and the first part of his rule proved to be successful - then MON lost the plot with wages and player aquisistions (Heskey / Beye / Sidwell et al)

Is it any wonder the belt is being tightened now?

IF Randy took all the flak only to set up McCleish then he would be a right cnut - ask yourself in the time we have known him is Randy that type of bloke?

He maybe a bit starstruck with MON, he maybe not as good a businessman as we thought

but overall he is a man of honour and integrity (even if we think it is a weakness sometimes) i really and honestly dont think he would have set McCleish up for a fall

time will tell

[Risso]

If we don't strengthen, we're in for a season of struggle.  Our squad showed it wasn't good enough last season, and we've lost lots of players from it.  Any attempt to spin this as a positive is utter madness.

You could argue that the squad was strong enough, but wasn't managed in the right way.

Wibble.

Even if that's true, which I dispute, it certainly isn't strong enough now, and the addition of one more winger isn't even close to bringing in the players we need.

[Dante Lavelli]

A good point earlier - randy could spend another £30m and maybe finish 7th and earn an extra £3m in finishing position or spend no more and finish maybe 10th and thereby save his £30m investment.

To make the champions league would cost massive £100m minimum, maybe we have accepted mid table is as good as it gets.

Eastie, I've not read the 5-10 posts after my last but what you say is exactly my point and strangely contrary to what you normally demand. We should unite the club from the fans up in a relegation battle and then give our youngsters a bash. We might come 17th but at least we'd know how good Bannan, Clark, Albrighton are without spending 10-15m hedging our bets on unknown replacements.

Let's imagine Bannan is awesome next year........ That'd save us £20m (Henderson) if it works which would mean we could paper over all sorts of cracks....

Yet again, that only applies if you have kids with potential to give a look to.  If we sign nzogbia and stop we'll be in a situation where injuries to nzogbia, albrighton or warnock will force us to play one of the youngsters out of position to fill the hole.  That's not fair on the kids and is going to do nothing for their development in most cases.

2-3 players to fill these gaps and an extra central defender (if cuellar is sold) are needed if only to have injury cover.  If this involves signing players like Naughton on loan then I can live with that but we do need to get some numbers in, be it as young backup on the cheap or as established players to challenge for starts.

We're not Man U, we have to trust/invests in our babies.

[Concrete John]

OK, not read all the posts on this thread since McLeish's comments last night, but here's my take:-

Firstly, this is what he actually said; “For the time being, it will just be one and we’ll be doing further assessment of the squad over the next few weeks."  So it's not a case of 'no more signings and that is it', but rather he wants more time to see what he's got in pre-season and maybe even the first game or two of the PL itself.

Also, I can see this position changing if others leave, such as Cuellar.  The lack of experienced CB cover and the space he'd make on the wagebill would mean another signing, IMO.

And to give it some balance, what I don't like the idea of us not getting a DCM, which seems to me to be a big hole in our squad.  Parker is avilable and we should be after him regardless of what else we might have coming through the ranks.

[Mazrim]

Well, I'm not advocating not strengthening and depending on the likes of Warnock would seem perilous but in terms of using the youngsters more, I'm excited. If we dont, there really isnt much point. We cant buy the best players but we could theoretically produce some. So its still the only way we can compete in this climate in my opinion.

I dont care if anybody thinks that's spin, I have no need to. It's consistently been my opinion for some time now.
That's not to say there arent players we need that the youngsters currently dont cover. There are.
N'Zogbia is certainly one. I'm not completely convinced by our left back options and I'd like to know who McLeish thinks wil be the defensive midfielder although there are options there.

I reckon the plan is to get N'Zogbia asap. Go to this Asia trophy, which will in essence act as a testing ground for who is and who isnt going to be of use this season, then get back and address any needs in the transfer market.
And if so, that's fine by me. For now.

I dont believe there isnt money there to address needs at that stage.

[LeeB]

If we don't strengthen, we're in for a season of struggle.  Our squad showed it wasn't good enough last season, and we've lost lots of players from it.  Any attempt to spin this as a positive is utter madness.

You could argue that the squad was strong enough, but wasn't managed in the right way.

Wibble.

Even if that's true, which I dispute, it certainly isn't strong enough now, and the addition of one more winger isn't even close to bringing in the players we need.

I don't believe it myself, but it has some merit if he gets the arseholes playing again.

However I wont be taking the "one more in" line as gospel anyway, although it might make a few of the more highly strung fans jumpy, I don't think it's unwise for a club that's pulled in £40m or so in transfers to lead everyone else to think were skint.

[Chris Smith]

If we don't strengthen, we're in for a season of struggle.  Our squad showed it wasn't good enough last season, and we've lost lots of players from it.  Any attempt to spin this as a positive is utter madness.

It's not spin, it's accepting the reality of the situation. As a fan I want us to spend a trillion pounds but can understand why they want to see what they can get out of those who are already here. So, for example we buy a new central midfield player how do we then give Bannan, Delph, Makoun and Ireland all an opportunity to prove themselves?

[VillaAlways]

The thing with the transfer market is that there's really fuck all going on. I'm betting that behind the scenes are a bunch of clubs and agents being dicks in negotiating player deals. There's not rush right now, and the prices will all reflect the lack of real urgency. As the window winds down the urgency increases and as such obstacles that existed weeks before start to come down. The Dave Whelan's of the world realise, let's sell to Villa now because nobody has come in with more.

I'm betting McLeish's statement reflects the current state of affairs. They've probably looked at it and said, let's take a step back, go with what we've got and go back in a week or so. Agents will continue to do their job and if a player Villa want suddenly becomes available and the selling club want to do business, the deal will get done.

Yep, that's where I'm at, TV (see my post of a few pages back). Lots of needless stressing on here, whereas the guy in the hotseat has taken a step back.

Just seen the interview and that's exactly how I see it too

[Hookeysmith]

Well, I'm not advocating not strengthening and depending on the likes of Warnock would seem perilous but in terms of using the youngsters more, I'm excited. If we dont, there really isnt much point. We cant buy the best players but we could theoretically produce some. So its still the only way we can compete in this climate in my opinion.

I dont care if anybody thinks that's spin, I have no need to. It's consistently been my opinion for some time now.
That's not to say there arent players we need that the youngsters currently dont cover. There are.
N'Zogbia is certainly one. I'm not completely convinced by our left back options and I'd like to know who McLeish thinks wil be the defensive midfielder although there are options there.

I reckon the plan is to get N'Zogbia asap. Go to this Asia trophy, which will in essence act as a testing ground for who is and who isnt going to be of use this season, then get back and address any needs in the transfer market.
And if so, that's fine by me. For now.

I dont believe there isnt money there to address needs at that stage.

My thoughts exactly

[Concrete John]

Here's another thing - we've lost a lot of players this summer, but only 4 that had a 1st team impact, who were Freidel, NRC, Downing and Ash.  So, who have we replaced/improved on?

Freidel - Given.  Good move and should be at least the equal of Big Brad.
Downing - N'Zogbia (probably).  Good move and again should at least give us the same amount of goals and assists.
NRC - Nobody.  As I mentioned above, I think this is the real problem area in our side.
Ash - Nobody.  However, I think this is a key area where McLeish wants to take a look at a few and see if Ireland, Delph, Bannan or Gardner the Younger can step up. 

[Greg N'Ash]

We've got a shitter squad, and a shitter manager than last season. if 1 player is coming in, then that isn't going to change. Just got to pray the youth can keep us up really.