January Transfer Speculation (or lack of) Thread

[SoccerHQ]

Greg is spot on next season regarding the squad and club in general is a massive worry, as long as Bent stays post Jan we will be ok for this season but come the start of next season I dread to think about the state we will be in.   

Yep I agree with that.

Next season is going to be a big struggle for the club I fear unless things drastically change.

The club is just plodding along the minute like Newcastle were probably the season before they went down. Everton are similar to us but have a very good manager who constantly overachieves with what he has to work with, we don't.

[KevinGage]

Defoe and Bent didn't work as a partnership at Tottingham, so I'm not sure why it would work now.

It would definitely be a case of one or t'other.  I wouldn't actually be against letting Bent go for the right price, providing we got a price far in excess of his worth and were able to spend the bulk of it on team strengthening.

But seeing as neither of those things look remotely likely, we should be focussing on finding a system that gets the best out of our most expensive asset.

[Shrek]

Defoe is better than Bent, he creates his own goals, he contributes to the team and is all round a better footballer.

It could only happen if Bent went.

[KevinGage]

I'm not sure he contributes to the team more, Defoe is a pretty selfish player -will always go for a shot at goal even if the odds are against it and a team mate is in a better position.

He's a better finisher than Bent and looks like a more natural footballer, but Bent has better movement and anticipation as to where the ball will drop in the box.  He might miss a few, but it's a skill to find that space in the first place.

[Clampy]

I think we need to forget about signing Defoe, even if Bent was sold. For one, Redknapp has signed him twice and i don't think he'd let him go and secondly, he likes to play his football down south. I'm not sure he'd settle up here.

We've already got a very good goalscorer, who's already proved what an asset he can be to us. Selling him would just strengthen whoever we sold him to and we've done enough of that already.

[Greg N'Ash]

Defoe and Bent didn't work as a partnership at Tottingham, so I'm not sure why it would work now.

It would definitely be a case of one or t'other.  I wouldn't actually be against letting Bent go for the right price, providing we got a price far in excess of his worth and were able to spend the bulk of it on team strengthening.

But seeing as neither of those things look remotely likely, we should be focussing on finding a system that gets the best out of our most expensive asset.

we all saw the system that Bent thrived in last season and thats not gonna happen. We really are in a mess because we spent a hell of a lot of money buying players to suit the previous managers idea's only to find ourselves retrogressing to what we have now. I can only imagine Bent will eventually be sold unless Lerner does another about turn, sacks the manager, and decides he wants to play football again.. And then we'll have the likes of our back 4 to deal with again...total and utter mess really.

[VancouverLion]

I cannot believe that some people are not that arsed if we let Bent go!!  We've been crying out for a 20 goal a season striker for decades, now we have one FFS!!!

We're fast becoming a laughing stock, unbelievable!
If we let Bent go now, we may aswell pack it in, what's the point?!

[Greg N'Ash]

I cannot believe that some people are not that arsed if we let Bent go!!  We've been crying out for a 20 goal a season striker for decades, now we have one FFS!!!

We're fast becoming a laughing stock, unbelievable!
If we let Bent go now, we may aswell pack it in, what's the point?!

I don't think anyone wants to see him go, but the trouble is if you're not going to play to his strengths then he's no longer a 20 goal a season striker. we played to his strengths last season and the defence started shipping goals at a staggering rate. Unfortunately instead of getting new defenders in and solving the problem, we kept the hoofers and brought in a manager who likes a "cough"  no nonsence approach, probably for cost reasons. So regrettably i think its more likely we'll get in a forward who suits that stylerather than devalue Bent even more playing him in a set-up that doesn't suit him.

[ROBBO]

Houllier was trying to get us playing decent attractive football, he had the contacts to make things exciting next season, Mcleish will bore the pants of us and eventually get us relegated. Brilliant bit of business by the Villa board.

[VancouverLion]

But we can't sell our best players just becuase our manager is clueless, can we?...
I just cannot get my head around how much of a shambles we've become, it's not right!
Next we'll be bringing in Jason Roberts on loan!

[Greg N'Ash]

But we can't sell our best players just becuase our manager is clueless, can we?...
I just cannot get my head around how much of a shambles we've become, it's not right!
Next we'll be bringing in Jason Roberts on loan!

to be fair to the guy, you've got a team weaker by young and downing from last season and no money to replace the defence even if he wanted to, so playing a game that would suit bent would probably be pretty suicidal all told

[hawkeye]

Bent is a very one dimensional and limited footballer and contributes very little. The issue is when Bent misses its a bigger problem because his only attribute is scoring. He should look at Andy Cole who was very similar but improved the rest of his game. He worked on his upper body strength and became more effective, he was however playing with great players.

I cant see him staying long term.

[Greg N'Ash]

Bent is a very one dimensional and limited footballer and contributes very little. The issue is when Bent misses its a bigger problem because his only attribute is scoring. He should look at Andy Cole who was very similar but improved the rest of his game. He worked on his upper body strength and became more effective, he was however playing with great players.

I cant see him staying long term.

while i agree he's one dimensional and limited i'd rather say thats the point of him. Your original lazy bastard goal hanging, shit for 89 minutes and gets a hattrick striker. As i said when he signed he can be utter bobbins as long as he keeps scoring.

[Shrek]

We've been crying out for a 20 goal a season striker yes, but when was the last 20 goal a season striker that was as shit a footballer as Bent? He is shit in the air, shit on the ball, and contributes nothing else to the team.

I would rather keep him yes, but id sell for a profit, if it benefited Villa in the long term.

It's no coincidence that spurs sold him and improved. He is a luxury, a team being managed by someone like AM can't afford.

Randy seriously needs to look in the mirror.

[VancouverLion]

But we can't sell our best players just becuase our manager is clueless, can we?...
I just cannot get my head around how much of a shambles we've become, it's not right!
Next we'll be bringing in Jason Roberts on loan!

to be fair to the guy, you've got a team weaker by young and downing from last season and no money to replace the defence even if he wanted to, so playing a game that would suit bent would probably be pretty suicidal all told

But last week against Arsenal we did play a game to suit Bent & if we could match that level of performance every week, Bent would get us the goals & into europe.
We've proved we can play well albeit one game, Stoke was ok, but the signs are we could be getting there.
Selling him imo would be a massive mistake, as massive a mistake as the board made in the summer.