Summer 2013: Villa Transfers, Speculation, Suggestions and Rumours

[ozzjim]

as much as i would love some of these players coming back or to the Villa, they are tired old names trotted out every transfer window,
we just aren't there any more, like my ex wife once said to me, we have 'moved on'

just look at the last window, when fellow strugglers were signing Sisoko and Samba we were bringing in  an absolute unknown from France who even most of them hadn't heard of,
 no one could understand it, meltdown on the transfer thread, until maybe Monday night when Syla the unknown played a major part in our relegation battle, and we now all think he might well turn out to be a good player for us

I just think this is now Lambert and his backroom staffs mindset, I think he loves the fact we are the youngest team in the prem, he loves the togetherness of the squad, he loves the fact they will give their all on the pitch, and the big earners are all lined up on the side lines for now, ready to be shunted away

that's why I don't think we will be going down well trodden paths for a while, its a brand new policy and its different from anything that has gone before, that's my take on it anyway,
 obviously if we sign a couple of 30+ year olds I will have read it wrong but I think it will be more of the same from Lambert, and it gets my vote

You are spot on John re Sylla. On the face of it, 2m on a 22 year old destroyer who has looked like he is taking a bit of time to settle and has plenty of potential, but as I have now said a few times, it has shocked me that in his 8 apps, we have won 5, drawn 2 and only lost to Liverpool. That is a pretty damned good return on spending 2m on an unknown from the French 2nd division. We have indeed, moved on.

Still like Lescott though in our back 4. More likely to end up with Chester if Hull mess things up.

[Ger Regan]

Murphy, according to their manager at least, is a better player than Westwood and scores some goals.

Not a lot by his stats, but a few. 8-9 a season. Which would be lovely to add to our game. I think I have more trust in Lambert buying a player than I have had in any Villa manager possibly since Little, who got 2 wrong, that we all, to a man pretty much wanted at the time.

Collymore is the obvious one, but who was the second again? Memory's not what it was.....

[ADVILLAFAN]

Murphy, according to their manager at least, is a better player than Westwood and scores some goals.

Not a lot by his stats, but a few. 8-9 a season. Which would be lovely to add to our game. I think I have more trust in Lambert buying a player than I have had in any Villa manager possibly since Little, who got 2 wrong, that we all, to a man pretty much wanted at the time.

Collymore is the obvious one, but who was the second again? Memory's not what it was.....

I'm gonna guess at Curcic, who was insane.

[ozzjim]

Murphy, according to their manager at least, is a better player than Westwood and scores some goals.

Not a lot by his stats, but a few. 8-9 a season. Which would be lovely to add to our game. I think I have more trust in Lambert buying a player than I have had in any Villa manager possibly since Little, who got 2 wrong, that we all, to a man pretty much wanted at the time.

Collymore is the obvious one, but who was the second again? Memory's not what it was.....

I'm gonna guess at Curcic, who was insane.

It was indeed, or at least in my fuzzy memory.

[Concrete John]

as much as i would love some of these players coming back or to the Villa, they are tired old names trotted out every transfer window,
we just aren't there any more, like my ex wife once said to me, we have 'moved on'

just look at the last window, when fellow strugglers were signing Sisoko and Samba we were bringing in  an absolute unknown from France who even most of them hadn't heard of,
 no one could understand it, meltdown on the transfer thread, until maybe Monday night when Syla the unknown played a major part in our relegation battle, and we now all think he might well turn out to be a good player for us

I just think this is now Lambert and his backroom staffs mindset, I think he loves the fact we are the youngest team in the prem, he loves the togetherness of the squad, he loves the fact they will give their all on the pitch, and the big earners are all lined up on the side lines for now, ready to be shunted away

that's why I don't think we will be going down well trodden paths for a while, its a brand new policy and its different from anything that has gone before, that's my take on it anyway,
 obviously if we sign a couple of 30+ year olds I will have read it wrong but I think it will be more of the same from Lambert, and it gets my vote

You are spot on John re Sylla. On the face of it, 2m on a 22 year old destroyer who has looked like he is taking a bit of time to settle and has plenty of potential, but as I have now said a few times, it has shocked me that in his 8 apps, we have won 5, drawn 2 and only lost to Liverpool. That is a pretty damned good return on spending 2m on an unknown from the French 2nd division. We have indeed, moved on.

Still like Lescott though in our back 4. More likely to end up with Chester if Hull mess things up.

It'll also be interesting to find out how much of the 2012 deals were down to the necessity of needing so many players with relatively little money, whilst also still addressing the wage bill issue.  Lambert wasn't really in a position to get an established PL player for circa £10m and £60k a week, but he might be this summer.

[Reuben]

People talking about better players leaving (e.g Benteke to Liverpool) but the Europa league sides are going to be Swansea, Wigan and 5th place aren't they?  Does the 6th place team get through this year as well?

[Ger Regan]

Murphy, according to their manager at least, is a better player than Westwood and scores some goals.

Not a lot by his stats, but a few. 8-9 a season. Which would be lovely to add to our game. I think I have more trust in Lambert buying a player than I have had in any Villa manager possibly since Little, who got 2 wrong, that we all, to a man pretty much wanted at the time.

Collymore is the obvious one, but who was the second again? Memory's not what it was.....

I'm gonna guess at Curcic, who was insane.

It was indeed, or at least in my fuzzy memory.

Ah yes, that guy.

[eastie]

People talking about better players leaving (e.g Benteke to Liverpool) but the Europa league sides are going to be Swansea, Wigan and 5th place aren't they?  Does the 6th place team get through this year as well?

Only 5th place in the league.

[Concrete John]

5th is likely to be one of Chelsea, Arsenal or Spurs.  For a variety of reasons, I will find humour in any one of those three not making the CL places.

[MoetVillan]

Im a bit disappointed that Everscum wont be one.  Not because i like them, but the reasons are twofold, another of the Cockerny trio wont make Europe (Plus at least they have tried to build their squad the right way), and itll screw a small squad like Everton up next year to be playing an extra 86 or however many games.  This year Chelski will have played the equivalent of an extra league campaign thanks to their Euro commitments.  Ok when you can rotate like they can, but for a smaller squad, it will be tough, see Everscum.

[eastie]

The whole Europa league needs a total revamp- its ridiculous to maybe play 19 games to win a cup competition and this idea of 3rd place champions league teams joining it at a later stage is nonsense.

[eastie]

Do people feel nzogbia is worth another go next season or should be prepared to sell at a loss?

[Brend'Watkins]

Do people feel nzogbia is worth another go next season or should be prepared to sell at a loss?

Definitely keep as far as I'm concerned.  He offers something different when we need to be on the offense.

[Dante Lavelli]

Do people feel nzogbia is worth another go next season or should be prepared to sell at a loss?

Definitely keep as far as I'm concerned.  He offers something different when we need to be on the offense.

If someone makes a good offer (or he engineers a move) then sell, otherwise keep as he does offer something different.

[brontebilly]

Murphy, according to their manager at least, is a better player than Westwood and scores some goals.

Not a lot by his stats, but a few. 8-9 a season. Which would be lovely to add to our game. I think I have more trust in Lambert buying a player than I have had in any Villa manager possibly since Little, who got 2 wrong, that we all, to a man pretty much wanted at the time.

long winded post alert....

Collymore and Curcic were/are mentally unstable. I think its best if we stay well away from throwing big money at players with dubious injury problems, physical or mental. On loan or short term contract fine. Also see Stephen Ireland for another example that has stung us badly.

A look at wikipedia indicates Carl Tiler and Fernando Nelson would probably rank as unsuccessful signing under Little but nothing too major. Still think Little would be ideal for Lambert as an assistant manager. Was obvious during the Newcastle home game recently that Little still has a huge passion for Villa and he was pointing out some very obvious tactical flaws with how Lambert had set us up in the first half of that game. Rather than Culverhouse rowing with fans behind the home dugout, Lambert would benefit hugely from Little next to him I reckon. Alas its unlikely to happen.

On a limited budget even hated former managers like DOL and McLeish did relatively well with signings not that we care to remember. For some reason Houllier's reign is seen in a more positive light despite a complete Balaban esque flop in Makoun and a short term fix on the Bent splurge. There was little opposition when Nzogbia was signed by McLeish for half the cost Downing was sold for. Even Alan Hutton was a cheaper replacement for Luke Young and had done relatively well on a loan spell at Sunderland not too long before. Luke Young didnt exactly prove us wrong at QPR unfortunately Hutton was an unmitigated disaster. Sometimes thats just the way it goes.

In terms of signings that supporters were against from the start,  many of MON's ones stand out. Was there a single Villa fan that thought Heskey or Harewood were good signings? Or the unnecessary signings of Habib Beye and Cuellar. There cant have been many supporters that thought Davies was twice the player Cahill was and twice the money. Warnock and Shorey had been destroyed against Villa at their previous clubs, I was against both of those lazy signings. Others like Reo Coker, Young, Downing, Milner, Petrov were overpriced but largely welcomed. Sidwell was seen as a good signing that unfortunately had little impact. To be fair to MON there was little opposition to some of his sales like Ridgewell, Whittingham, Gardner, Moore and Davis who with the exception of Moore (to some extent) went to have good careers elsewhere but the sales were right at the time.

Lambert has bought himself with goodwill with a huge success with Benteke. Bringing back Guzan has worked out brilliantly. Westwood, obviously a player he was keen on has been a good addition with scope to improve further. Lowton and Bennett have shown positives but for long parts of the season both their limitations have been painfully evident. Think lads are going well overboard on Lowton after his excellent showing against Sunderland. He has a lot of improving to do as a defender. El Ahmadi has been a big disappointment in his first year, Vlaar less so but not great either.

To improve our side for next season we need to bring in better players that can fit into our system. An experienced centre midfielder capable of breaking forward to score is a must for me. Westwood and Delph cant do it. Gardner has never done it at senior level and has had serious injuries. Even if El Ahmadi settles he isnt that type of player. Gareth Barry performed that role brilliantly towards the end of his time at Villa. For me he is gettable and the type of character that will benefit the squad hugely. Even now playing deep in midfield, he is still one of Man City's better players. He is still more than capable of filling in for Delph or Westwood playing deep. Milner too would be a great fit but his contract isnt running out and I think City will try and keep him on. for his versatility. Sad as he would improve as a player with us but being a bit part player at club and international level seems to suit him.

Lescott is gettable for definite and we have probably already made our interest clear I suspect. Neither Clark or Baker are up to it and at this stage dont look like they will ever be. Lescott also provides cover at left back but more importantly is quick, can bring the ball out of the back, is good in the air in both penalty boxes. A Birmingham lad coming 'home' the season before a World Cup, a lot of boxes seem to be ticked. Cant see what likely english clubs for him will be more attractive. His age for a centre half aint a big problem. Dunne for all his faults was our best centre half when he was fit in his time at the club. He fucked away a lot of his career by not looking after himself off the pitch. Lescott is capable of playing on into his 30s and is worth throwing investing a bit more wages wise I think. Whether he is the leader we need at the back would be my only question mark. Vlaar certainly isnt. The likes of Vidic and even Nastasic prove that there are vastly superior defenders available at the right price in Europe. But Lescott just seems right for us next season.

Provided we do the business against Norwich next weekend and stay up, I think Villa will be an attractive place for players in the summer. We are playing some good football, a lot of young players, highly thought of manager, well received generally in the media etc. Coming up to a World Cup, players are looking for a place to shine. For me, I think unfortunately we need to start preparing for Benteke's departure maybe the summer after the WC. Jay Rodrigues seems on a huge upward curve and would be a great fit in our tactical set up. Always the chance of second season syndrome for Benteke and Weimann. Gabby is more than capable of being the shite Gabby for a decent stretch. Nzogbia is probably someone we will cash in on. We need to strengthen up front too in the summer. Austin, Grigg or someone of that ilk is more likely though